Saturday 7^th August and Sunday 8^th August 2004

Catford Wanderers v New Ash Green
Saturday 7^th August 2004

Kent League Match - 100 Overs

Catford Wanderers (20 points) 158 all out (44 overs)
New Ash Green (5 points) 134 all out (41.4 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 24 runs.

A hot day on a parched field in South London, but the humidity of recent days had at least abated and when the breeze was blowing it was a wonderful day for cricket. New Ash Green won the toss, but on the back of poor performances batting first elected to bowl, which must have delighted their promotion chasing hosts, who were undoubtedly looking for 20 points. With Chris Yue still hospitalised, (but happily it seems now off the critical list and we all hope on the road to a full recovery) James Hewitt on holiday and Andy Stuart still not fully recovered from a thigh strain It was a different looking New Ash Green bowling attack. Stuart did take the new ball, but could only manage three overs before deciding not to risk aggravating the injury, while at the other end Mick Sumner opened as Andy Cox had decided to try and use his full allocation as a spin bowler in light of the conditions.

Dan Sanjeewa and Delroy Taylor opening for Catford looked to attack anything they could, though there were enough good balls to keep them in check, and their runs were not scored without risk. When Vic Mayers came on to replace Stuart he was able to peg them back a bit, and after 54 had been added for the 1^st wicket at around 4 an over Mayers finally made the breakthrough as Sanjeewa seemed to misjudge the line, playing round a straight ball and looking very bemused by the fact that he had been bowled. Taylor followed not long afterwards, mistiming a clip to leg to gently spoon up catch to Kieran Hoddinott, and Catford’s middle order soon looked to be struggling. The introduction of Andy Cox’s spin showed them to be highly nervous, and Matthew Quantrill behind the stumps was soon living on his nerves as almost all the batsmen seemed to want to charge down the wicket at every opportunity. It was Mayers, though, who continued to take the wickets, interrupted only by a run out from a direct hit by Simon Duke as the batsman bizarrely tried to take a run having hit it straight to him, and was roundly condemned by the Catford umpire for his folly. When Mayers took his fifth wicket Catford were 99-6 and in dire trouble, but Brookes and Rose survived a number of alarms early on and Brookes in particular started to get a few shots away with more confidence. Vic Mayers finished with figures of 15-5-47-5, spoiled by going for 13 in his last over, bowled immediately after the drinks break, which perhaps was a mistake! He was replaced by Simon Duke, who in his second over finally made the breakthrough, Rose holing out to long on for 17 much to his disgust – his bat made it most of the way back to the pavilion under its own steam….41 had been added for the 7^th wicket, but after that the end came fairly rapidly. Brookes was beaten by turn from Cox and stumped for 33, Patrick Henry hit a huge six off Duke, but was then smartly stumped by Quantrill from a legside ball that was virtually a wide and as the last pair tried to play out the overs Graham Wood was caught off his gloves at short extra by Stuart from a ball that turned and bounced from Cox, the very last ball of his 15. He finished with 2-43 from his 15 overs and Duke took 2-10 in 4. A total of 158 on a good wicket in hot conditions was far better than New Ash Green might have expected against a promotion chasing side, and justified the decision to bowl first.

New Ash Green had 56 overs to chase, at less than 3 an over, but after recent batting performances were lacking in confidence. Matthew Quantrill and Marc Klus opened, and a single off the first over seemed sedate enough. Catford pace bowler Patrick Henry then opened with a full toss, which Quantrill punched away for 4 and a short ball outside off stump, to which Quantrill got a flying edge through second slips hands for 4 more. Three more short balls brought 3 leg byes and the last down the legside to Klus another 4 leg byes. The next over from Graham Wood brought 4 byes as the keeper tried to stand up to Quantrill and was beaten down the leg side, and then 4 more as, with the keeper back again, Quantrill used his feet to get to the ball and flick it through mid-wicket. After three overs the score was 26-0, and Catford seemed to be in disarray. They started to tighten up a bit over the next few overs, though, and in the seventh, with the score on 35 Quantrill again got a flying edge to a short wide one, this time from Wood, but this time was well caught by Henry at second slip, reaching above his head with both hands. New Zealander Elvis Murrey was next to the crease, making his debut in place of Chris Yue. He had looked a quality batsman in the nets and hopes were high that he would make a substantial contribution, but unfortunately he almost immediately got a leading edge and skied the ball in the air to be out for a duck. Marc Klus, having seemed solid, was then bowled by obe from Wood which moved a touch off the seam, and Ben Boss played on to one from Henry to leave the game transformed at 54-4. Andy Cox and Simon Duke dug in, though, knowing they had plenty of time, and saw off the opening bowlers, and indeed a selection of replacements. Both picked off loose balls when they came, and they put on 55 for the 5^th wicket and seemed to have swung the game decisively back New Ash Green’s way when Duke was caught at slip trying to run the spin of Delroy Taylor down to third man. This was the signal for Henry to return and his pace caused the lower order all sorts of problems. No one below number 6 scored a run, and although a variety of extras and some good shots from Cox kept the scoreboard ticking over the wickets fell too quickly, until Cox, now needing 30 for the last wicket with Micky Sumner was finally bowled by Henry for 49. Henry, after his terrible first over, recovered to take 5-48 in 13.4 overs, while Graham Wood took the first three wickets and was very economical, finishing with 12-7-13-3. All the same it was a sad collapse for New Ash Green who had twice looked favourites to win and were left feeling that they had missed out on the win that would probably have secured them safety from relegation. A much improved performance against a top side should, though, give them more confidence for the next two games against fellow strugglers and performances at the same level should still see them keep their place in the league.

Click HERE for full scorecard from KCL site

Click HERE for latest league table.

New Ash Green II v CAtford Wanderers II
Saturday 7^th August 2004

Kent League Match - 100 Overs

Catford Wanderers II (20 points) 167 all out (46.3 overs)
New Ash Green II (5 points) 129 all out (31.1 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 38 runs.

Know very little about the game – report awaited. Apparently Catford collapsed from 101-3 to 109-9 according to their first team, but they seem to have had a crucial 10^th wicket partnership if that is the case. Still seems to have been another improved and more competitive performance for the second XI, just too little too late sadly. Lets hope we can keep up this standard for next year and make a serious attempt to bounce back as soon as possible.

Click HERE for full scorecard from KCL site.

Click HERE for latest league table.

Benenden v New Ash Green
Sunday 8^th August 2004

Kent Village League Match – 40 overs per side

New Ash Green (1 pt) 196-9
Benenden (5 pts) 197-4
New Ash Green lost by 6 wickets

An improvement on recent weeks – New Ash Green raised a Sunday side for the first time for several matches. It looked a strong side on paper as well, with Darren Phillips and Dominic Adolphe making rare appearances, Ben Boss making his Sunday debut and most of the Sunday regulars being available. What’s more it was a beautiful day for it, sunny with a bit of breeze, though it did get a bit more humid later. The setting was superb, on Benenden village green, surrounded by old houses and leading up to the most impressive church. So impressive in fact that there were spectators setting up seats to watch the match well before the scheduled start time and at one point a tourist bus drove past and stopped to watch.

The fist task for New Ash Green, though, was to find the ground. Matthew Quantrill was there by 2 p.m., just as the first of the home side were arriving. By 2.30 he was beginning to wonder if Jasper Holliday’s party had taken its toll of the squad…

Eventually at about 2.45 the main party arrived, having been stuck in Maidstone for some time, the centre of the town being, apparently, closed. The last three, Adolphe, Phillips and Hoddinott, trailed in about 10 minutes later just as the match was starting. Fortunately Andy Mayers performed his most important duty as captain well and won the toss, giving New Ash Green first use of a grassy but otherwise even looking track. With the short straight boundaries, the anticipated mildness of the attack and a strong batting line up New Ash Green were hoping for a big total – if they had known how poorly they were going to bowl they would have been looking for a mammoth one!

As it was Matthew Quantrill and Andy Mayers set off steadily enough, though there was enough seam movement and bounce in the wicket to make the run rate slow to start. They seemed to be starting to pick up the rate when Mayers hit two consecutive fours, but in the next over he nudged one away that bounced high outside off stump and was quite brilliantly caught one handed in the gully by Andy Morrison. This brought in Darren Phillips, and it was quickly plain that he had decided not to let his lack off games drive him into his shell – in fact he seemed to have turned into Adolphe, advancing down the track to virtually every ball. Although he failed to score for a while this tactic certainly unsettled the bowlers, and had the bonus effect that they mostly bowled short to him guaranteeing that he could have a swing without worrying about being bowled as the ball was bound to go over the stumps. With Quantrill suddenly coming to life by pulling two consecutive fours the scoring rate began to pick up, and as Phillips got his eye in it really began to race along. When the second change bowler Dabin (not, it seems, a Benenden regular but a guest) turned out to be rather faster and doing more with the ball than the previous three it had looked as if New Ash Green would struggle to increase the rate, but from 40-1 after 17 overs both batsmen started playing much more positively. Phillips hit a big straight six and sent the ball flying in all direction from the middle and off think edges as he swung hard at almost everything, while Quantrill nudged ones and twos mixed with occasional fours and the next 12 overs saw another 74 runs added before Phillips was stumped off a wide for 32, ending a partnership of 97 for the second wicket. In the very next over Quantrill was bowled for 57 by one which just nudged the off bail, leaving one bail balancing neatly on middle stump, the other unfortunately just dropping to the ground. There should have been plenty of batting to carry on the attack, but Ben Boss and Marc Klus both fell cheaply. Dominic Adolphe and Vic Mayers though did attack, Adolphe hitting two consecutive sixes, the second of which was a huge hit which crossed the long on boundary and smashed tiles on the roof of a house. Mayers also added two big sixes of his own, the second of which looked as if it had cleared a house over the main road at the bottom of the ground, though that seems to have been an optical illusion as the ball was recovered from the front of the house! Mayers and Adolphe put on 42 in 5 overs before Adolphe was caught for 26 skying one, and with the aid of some aggressive (suicidal?) running from Chris Hoddinott Mayers carried the scoring on till he was 9^th out from the penultimate ball for 26. Ben Cooke survived the last ball to deprive Benenden of a bowling bonus point, and along the way New Ash Green secured only their second league point of the season when they passed 160.

Matt Bushe, after his massive improvement on tour was given the task of opening the bowling, with Dominic Adolphe at the other end, the aim being to try and tie the openers down with some accurate slow bowling. This worked for the first over, the batsmen trying to run aggressively and on the last ball of the first over trying to take one straight to Matthew Quantrill at point. The return throw was poor, but not so poor that the run out was missed, had it been good the batsman would have been yards out! Adolphe also had a moderately tidy first over, but after that things went badly downhill. Both bowlers produced too many short and wide balls, and were hammered, Each going for 24 in their three overs before being taken off. Andy Mayers brought himself on, but also started poorly, bowling three wides in his first over and conceding 10 in his next, while at the other end Chris Hoddinott was also bowling poorly and going for 28 in three overs, so that at the end of 12 overs the score was 91-1. After that Mayers tightened up and bowled well and Matthew Quantrill at the other end bowling flatter spin was much more accurate than the other spinners. By now though the batsmen had their eye in and were cruising. Gary Marshall made 57 before nudging Mayers low to slip where Adolphe took the catch, while Charlie Sorenson made 63 before pulling Quantrill straight to Vic Mayers at mid-wicket, the pair adding 117 for the 2^nd wicket. These wickets only served to bring in the ‘guest’ players, who both looked to be high class players, and they cruised towards the win. Ben Boss bowled respectably replacing Mayers (1-40 in 9 overs), but the real star was Ben Cooke who replaced Quantrill and bowled the best spell of the innings. So tiny did he look as he marked out his run up that a passing female walking her dog insisted on stopping to watch as he looked so sweet, but against good class batsmen he bowled a good line and length and conceded nothing more than a single as his 4 overs went for just 10 runs. Boss took a wicket as Ellwood skied him and was caught and bowled, but Dabin then hit him for 6 and rather disappointingly with the scores level the next ball was called wide to end the match.

New Ash Green had regained some self-respect, but the initial bowling was far too poor, and once the batsmen were away there was little that could be done to tie them down with such short boundaries. It was still a lovely afternoon’s cricket, and showed that it would be a great shame to lose the Village League fixtures on a Sunday, something which may be unavoidable following the concessions earlier in the season.

Click HERE for full scorecard from KCL site

Click HERE for latest league table

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