It’s summertime in Plummergen and cricket madness has overtaken Miss Emily Seeton’s pretty village. The pavilion urgently needs repairs, but there’s a needle match coming up against arch rivals Murreystone. Miss S’s chums Sir George Colveston and his son Nigel talk of little else, especially as the opposition’s demon bowler wrought havoc at last year’s game, while their own star, the village blacksmith, has a broken arm after a dispute with a mysteriously tipsy Shire horse.

Miss S’s artistic talents are required to sketch the players and raise money for the pavilion – she knows little of cricket, but her uncanny depictions point the way to a burglarious gang who’ve been robbing local villages.