Friendly Match - 40 Overs

Grays & Chadwell 111-8
New Ash Green 112-1
New Ash Green won by 9 wickets.

Due to the bank holiday I have not received the match report from the captain. The above are the approximate scores and reports reaching me suggest that Grays were very poor, the wickets were equally spread about, and NAG won in about 22 overs, with Marc Klus making 60+ not out. Full report to follow when available, hopefully on Wednesday!

Darren Phillips' XI v Graham Hampsheir's XI
Saturday 3rd May 2003

Friendly Match - 40 Overs

Graham Hampsheir's XI 299-4
Darren Phillips' XI 96 all out
Graham Hampsheir's XI won by 203 runs.

With Saturday's 2nd XI opposition pulling out and New Ash Green having enough players to put out a 3rd XI as well it was decided to play an 'intra-club' game rather than seek opposition for both sides via the fixture bureau. Possibly given the state of the field and the lack of bowling once Pete Burke had been drafted by the first XI this was no bad thing - it certainly ensured that 21 New Ash Green members got a game of cricket (the 22nd being Dominic Adolphe who mysteriously failed to appear.)

The match was originally billed as 2nd XI v 3rd XI, but in fact the teams were supposedly distributed more evenly than that. In the end it was almost more of a case of a youth XI v mature XI, with Darren Phillips' XI ending up with the majority of the young players, and perhaps this lack of experience told in the end.

The game was also notable for two moments of great cricket, both involving Rob Clive and oddly enough occurring on the first and last balls of the game. Rob was very unlucky to find the first ball he has faced this season being a beautiful inswinging yorker from Robin Wills, which knocked his off stump out of the ground. He seemed doubly unlucky as the bowler lost his length badly and bowled poorly for the rest of the opening spell, though he did return to bowl much better later on. From this poor start Graham Hampsheir's XI recovered very strongly, firstly through a rejuvenated Charles Duguid who swung the bat lustily before being stumped off the bowling of 9 year old Ben Cooke. After that it was 206 runs before another wicket was taken as, Wills apart, the rest of the Phillips' XI bowling was very ordinary. Paul Sumner and Graham Hampsheir both hit the ball hard, both giving some difficult chances as they inevitably failed to time the ball well on the still damp pitch. The chances weren't taken, though, and eventually Sumner retired on 126, his maiden century. Shane Hampsheir helped his dad to carry on the attack before Wills returned to take his wicket and Lyle Ellard celebrated joyously as he picked up the wicket of young Kieron Poole, but Graham Hampsheir remained unbeaten on 97, having failed to hit the six he needed to bring up a century off the last ball. Rob Wills ended with 2-25 in 8 overs, but the rest of the bowling is best not mentioned, particularly the skipper who was the most expensive, going for 31 in 3 overs.

Chasing 300 exactly in 40 overs was always going to be a mammoth task against a more mature bowling attack and fielding side, and with two of the seasons newcomers Alan Carter and Paul Rourk producing very steady opening spells the task rapidly became impossible. Rob Jansen was the victim of an LBW decision for 0, about which he was not best pleased, and Matthew Quantrill was run out in a mix up with SamWilson for 16, and with only Darren Phillips left as a recognised batsman it soon became purely a matter of how big the victory margin would be. Carter took 2-10 in 9 overs, but (statistically at least) the pick of the bowlers was Charles Duguid who took 3-7 in 1.1 overs, 5 of the 7 being wides. It was Charles who finished the game off with another moment of brilliance involving Rob Clive when Mike Cooke edged the ball in front of slip and Rob dived forward to scoop the ball up one handed just above the ground - a superb catch by any standards.

Not the greatest of games as a contest, but a number of colts and new players had the chance to go through their paces and the game seems to have been enjoyed by most. We just have to hope that it provided enough practice for the serious stuff which starts next week.

Chislehurst & West Kent II v New Ash Green
Sunday 4th May 2003

Friendly Match

New Ash Green 231-3 declared (34 overs)
Chislehurst & West Kent II 113-7 (all out)
New Ash Green won by 118 runs.

This was typical 21st century Sunday cricket with Chislehurst fielding 9 players, one of whom had to leave half way through the game, while NAG had 10, two of whom were under 10 years old. On a wicket seeming astonishingly dry considering recent rainfall and with the sun beating down New Ash Green were delighted to win the toss and choose to bat. Andy Cox and Matthew Quantrill had little trouble negotiating the opening bowlers and with Cox timing the ball better than Quantrill he contributed 67 of a first wicket partnership of 109 before being caught top edging a full toss. Quantrill made 37 and the increasingly sprightly Charles Duguid struck a whirlwind 28. New signing Paul Barber looked impressive for a man who hadn't picked up a bat for 18 months, making 72 not out and making particularly good use of the short boundaries to hit 4 sixes. With the run rate consistently high throughout the innings New Ash Green were able to declare after only 34 overs with a comfortable looking score on the board.

With only 7 wickets needed following the departure of one of the nine fielders New Ash Green were in a strong position from the start. When Paul Rourk (2-15 in 7) took two wickets in his second over the game was pretty much over as a contest, and with both the nine year olds Ben Cooke and Olly Cooper bowling decent spells, Andy Mayers going through virtually every variety of pace and spin imaginable and Andy Cox (2-15 in 5) turning some impressive leg breaks the wickets were quickly whittled away. The Chislehurst skipper, Crowdy, came in last with a runner after twisting an ankle in the field, and showed that it might at least have been a closer game had he been fully fit by being the only man to make double figures and going on to make 35. The last pair lasted for 14 of the last 20 overs before Crowdy was tempted down the wicket by his opposite number Darren Phillips and was stumped to bring the game to an end, though Phillips triumph failed to disguise the fact that he went for more than 10 an over for the second time in the weekend, this time when the general scoring rate was no more than 3 an over. Crowdy was the top scoring batsman but he couldn't overtake extras with 48, including some 27 wides (the umpires being surprisingly tough on the young bowlers) and 18 byes as the inconsistent bounce and indifferent bowling line caused problems for the wicket keeper.