Saturday 29th May and Sunday 30th May2004
New Ash Green v Downham
& Bellingham
Saturday 29th May 2004
Kent League
Match - 100 Overs
New Ash Green
(0 points) 94 all out (44 overs)
Down & Bell (16 points) 96-1 (22 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 9 wickets.
It appears that there may be a certain
reluctance to write a first team report from amongst those who played…I may get
a full report in due course, but in the meantime here is a report based on the
scorecard and snippets of information received.
Down & Bell won the toss and put NAG in. In
the absence of Andy Cox Andy Payne opened with Marc Klus,
but after a positive start Klus was out with the
score on 14 skying an attacking shot. Vaughan John
then helped Payne take the score to 38 before being caught off the spin of
Chris Mendham. Chris Yue then took the total to 47-2
before chaos seems to have set in. The next 6 wickets fell for the addition of
3 runs, Vic Mayers being stumped first ball when
(possibly…so he claims…this is all just second hand, so don’t blame me…in any
event he wasn’t happy about it, whatever the truth of the matter) walking down
the wicket thinking the ball was dead. Dominic Adolphe
did score 6 runs before he too went, leaving the score on 56-9. Andy Stuart and
James Hewitt restored some order by putting on 38 for the last wicket, comfortably the best partnership of the innings,
before Stuart, at no. 11, was bowled for 19, the top score of the innings!
Mendham finished with 6-18 in 12 overs.
In response Down & Bell knocked off the
runs comfortably for the loss of just one wicket. Chris Yue
apparently got the ‘yips’ and sprayed his bowling everywhere, Vic Mayers tried to bowl too fast while still feeling a tad
upset at the manner of his dismissal and Andy Mayers
had an injury and had to be taken off. Even Simon Duke was given the chance to
fulfil his ambition of becoming a first team bowler, but could do nothing to
stop the rout, and allegedly bowled the worst ball of the day. Andy Stuart
bowled the most economical spell (actually as Pete Burke has now pointed out
Pete bowled a more economical spell, and apparently the runs he conceded went
through Dominic Adolphe in the slips), and James
Hewitt took the one wicket, but there never seems to have been much doubt about
the result.
Click HERE for full scorecard from KCL site
Click HERE for latest league table.
Walmer II v New Ash Green II
Saturday 29th May 2004
Kent League
Match - 100 Overs
Walmer II (5 points) 227-4 (50 overs)
New Ash Green II (16 points) 228-4 (46.5 overs)
New Ash Green won by 6 wickets.
Things seemed to be starting to go right for
New Ash Green with the addition of 4 new recruits bolstering numbers and
meaning that a reasonably strong 2nd XI as well as a 3rd
XI could be put out despite a number of absentees. However it couldn’t all go
as smoothly as that….
On the morning of the game two of the new
recruits dropped out, one ill and one with family problems. One replacement was
found, though he was not a ‘real’ cricketer, but with the early meet for the
trip to Walmer there wasn’t time to find another.
Indeed the time taken, together with other traffic delays, meant the game
eventually started some 20 minutes late, with New Ash Green taking the field
with 10 men, though in one small triumph they did at least have an umpire for
the first time this season. That fact may have been crucial, as it meant for
the first time this season there was a toss, and Matthew Quantrill
won it. Although the pitch looked good he wasn’t sure (probably rightly as it
turned out) that he had the bowling attack to defend a total, so chose to bowl
first and chase.
New recruit Bobby Kanda and Keith Bushell opened, but although the pitch gave some help to
the bowlers with the occasional ‘lively’ bounce and there was some swing they couldn’t make a breakthrough. Openers Rod Cotton and
Phi Holiday tested the fielders with quick running between the wickets, and for
the most part found them wanting. New Ash Green were
persistently slow to cut off singles and chase in the outfield, only (and
crucially) improving in the last few overs. Until
then they probably gave away as many as 40 runs in slack fielding, much to the
frustration of the bowlers, and of Neil Howick. Shiv Kanda, another debutant, did manage to break the
opening stand with one that lifted and was gloved by
Nonetheless despite the end of innings slow
down Walmer would have thought they had plenty of
runs. They were proved comfortably wrong, though, by a text book run chase.
With a still mostly decent wicket and lightning fast outfield, and plenty of
strikers of the ball down the order New Ash Green needed a solid base from
which to launch an attack, and they got one from Rob Jansen and Matthew Quantrill. They put on 91 for the 1st wicket
before Jansen was out just after the drinks interval for an excellent 45.
Although the Walmer fielders were sharper (and
greater in number!) than New Ash Green’s the batsmen still made them work,
pushing singles into the gaps wherever possible, and taking advantage of the
outfield by stroking the bad balls to the boundaries. Once Jansen was out there
followed a brief period of doubt as Dan Lewsey and
Bobby Kanda fell cheaply, but Quantrill was then
joined by Neil Howick, who (despite occasionally
swinging the bat so hard that he fell over on the ground made slippery by brief
bursts of rain!) played some tremendous shots in his usual style. More
aggressive running between the wicket kept the pressure on the batting side,
and as the scoring rate accelerated dramatically the fielding side’s heads
seemed to go down. Indeed they seemed to acknowledge defeat well before it was
inevitable, almost giving up changing fielding positions in response to the
batsmen’s increasing range of shots. The aggressive running did eventually give
them some hope when Howick set off for a run that was
never on and didn’t stop, being run out for 29 to end a partnership of 58 for
the 4th wicket, but by now Quantrill had
his eye in enough to take over the run scoring mantle, advancing down the
wicket to score runs almost at will against a demoralised field. He moved
rapidly to his century, and shortly afterwards the game was wrapped up with a
cracking cover drive from Shiv Kanda – a glimpse of
what we hope is to come from our new recruits in future! In the end New Ash
Green won comfortably, with three overs and 5 wickets
to spare, the base they had been given allowing some 120 runs to be added in
the last 17 overs. Quantrill
finished 105*, but was able to play his anchor role only because of the support
from others around him, and the authority with which the team played was
largely responsible for Walmer giving up so early and
making the task so easy. It is hard to believe a New Ash Green side could look
like they were always going to get 228, but it really did seem inevitable
through most of this innings. Lets just hope there are
more batting performances of this quality to come!
Click HERE for full scorecard from KCL site.
Click HERE for latest league table.
New Ash Green III v Blackheath V
Saturday 29th May 2004
League Match -
45 Overs per side
Blackheath V 287-7
(45 overs)
New Ash Green III 85 all out (20.2)
New Ash Green lost by 202 runs.
With a combination of April's torrential rain and early/mid May's
player shortage leading to earlier cancellations and forfeitures, this was the first
game of the season for the 3rd team. In the absence of Graham Hampsheir (the usual captain), Matthew Scanlan
made his debut as 3rd team captain, and seemed to have that vital streak of
luck which all great captains need:- first the opposition turned up with only
10 players (and no umpire), and then Scanners won the toss and elected to get
first use of the strip, which had been so carefully rolled and marked by
Matthew 'Todd' Bushe and Jasper 'The Cat' Holliday,
responding to Keith Bushell's call for support on
Saturday morning.
In the face of sharp opening spells from Steve Ball and Robin
Wills, the Blackheath opening pair got away to a solid start, with the
hard-hitting chap in the Pakistani helmet (Syed?)
taking a liking to anything even slightly outside his off stump. However, Robin
Wills then produced a couple of beautiful inswingers,
both pitched well up, to remove the leg stump of the dangerous looking South
African (Laran?) for 7 and then do likewise to the
number 3 for a duck. Sadly Scanners' luck then took a turn for worse, as
wicketkeeper Richard Pink (keeping for only the 3rd time,
and looking to transfer his goalkeeping skills behind the sticks) gleefully
told us he'd overheard the opposition saying they didn't bat below 3. This
turned out to
be over-optimistic (perhaps a deliberate ploy to lull us into a false sense of
security?!), as the Pakistani opener got within a sniff of his 50 before Alan
Carter found his inside edge and he played on for 44, and then both the number
4 and 5 bats got 50's. New Ash Green pulled themselves out of this rut somewhat
with a couple of run outs - Scanners from mid off with a direct underarm throw,
and Pink with a great piece of wicketkeeping
inspiration (and clear contender for champagne moment), as he let the ball go
through his legs and then sat on it, fooling the batsmen into thinking it had
gone past him for byes (which in fairness had happened a couple of times by then).
As they set off for the run Richard produced the ball from under him and
completed the run out with an underarm throw - the benefits of playing
bowls, so he tells us!
Having rotated his bowlers well, with Paul Rourk,
Sam Wilson and Matt Bushe all unable to find that
killer delivery in their short spells (Bushe did see one
chance put down at point, but he himself admitted it was a shocking delivery!),
captain Scanners finally brought himself on as the 7th bowler used. In a
blatant display of plagiarism he then took 2 wickets, both beautiful inswingers, both pitched well up, to remove the leg stumps
of the numbers 6 and 7 batsmen. To paraphrase Robin Wills' observation,
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! The innings closed at 287 for 7,
which sounds a lot, but could have been far worse were it not for the dogged in-fielding
of Sam Wilson and Robin Wills, Steve Ball keeping so busy in front of the
clubhouse at fine leg, some spectacular sliding saves on the ropes from Graham
Poole, and the determination of Carter & Pink to get anything on the ball
to stop it - whilst they both wished they'd been wearing a box, they did
improve their Bee Gees impersonation careers no end!
After impressing with the ball, Robin Wills was then persuaded (press-ganged?)
into opening the batting with the ever-willing Richard Pink, as New Ash Green
attempted to make inroads into the imposing total. Richard fell early to the
impressive South African opener, and then Charles Duguid
sacrificed his wicket looking for an early blitz on the other opening bowler.
This brought Graham Poole to the crease, and for a while it all seemed quite
easy, Graham playing the supporting role in a 32-run partnership as Robin
sensibly picked the gaps in the field for a flurry of fours. Graham, Matt Bushe and Scanners then lost their wickets in quick succession
to the South African, looking more and more like a man who should and could be
playing at a far higher level. Scanners in particular felt a tad aggrieved with
the pitch, as he got one which shot through at ankle height on him. At 63 for 5
Jasper Holliday then marched to the crease, in the frame of mind to learn from
past mistakes, play sensibly (within his limits?!) and not lose his head and
his wicket. He and Robin got a nice little partnership going, as Robin
progressed with some more solid boundary blows and Jasper adopted a "none
shall pass" defensive outlook, whilst looking to nudge the ball into gaps
for ones & twos where he could. Some aggressive running between the wickets
put pressure on the field, and the partnership reached 19 before Robin tried
one lusty blow too many and was out for 38. Jasper then got one that reared up
sharply from the wicket at chest height, and could only parry it to first slip.
His claims afterwards that it came off his forearm counted for nowt, as apparently there was some
glove there too. Sadly the tail was unable to wag, with Carter and Wilson quickly
back in the pavilion and Steve Ball left stranded on 0 not out, with Paul Rourk absent having had to leave at tea due to illness in
the family.
The final score of 85 all out made the margin of defeat 202 runs,
but as Alan Carter pointed out afterwards this was a strong Blackheath side
which were just too good for us, with certain individuals who looked capable of
playing at a far higher level. We can feel positive about the team spirit
shown in the field, and surely we can't face sides of that strength all season
long!
* * * * *
Sorry if it's a bit rambling, I wanted to get as many details in as I could
and give credit to everyone who really gave it a good go against heavy odds.
Cheers,
Jasper.
Horsmonden v New Ash Green
Sunday 30th May 2004
Horsmonden (5 pts) 226-6
New Ash Green (1 pt) 223-7
New Ash Green lost by 3 runs
If Saturday’s 2nd XI game was a text book run chase
this was a prime example of how to blow a chase. Horsmonden
won the toss chose to bat first, making a steady if unspectacular start on what
seemed to be a pretty good wicket. Their number 3 introduced a distinct village
feel to the game by batting without gloves, but the number 4, Andy Watts,
looked a much more classical player, driving anything pitched up very strongly.
He was dropped in mid-innings slicing one to Matthew Quantrill
at point and went on to make 75, but with wickets falling regularly around him Horsmonden looked to be making a good, but not ungettable total until the 7th wicket pair of
Graham Bateup (41*) and Andy May (26*) added an
unbeaten 66 in the last 7 overs, thrashing all the
bowling around. Keith Bushell took 2-22 in 7 steady overs at the start, but none of the other bowlers produced
figures to be proud of, though Keir Wilson showed the
benefit of regular net practice with his brother in bowling a very useful spell
at the end.
Facing another 200+ total, but with only 40 overs
to get them in New Ash Green needed a positive start, and Vic Mayers and Matthew Quantrill
provided it. Mayers belied his poor batting form this
season with some confident pulls for 4 and 6, while Quantrill
needed little time to get his eye in following his innings the previous day,
reverse sweeping the opening bowler for 4 in the 6th over. This
positive approach allowed them to put on 62 for the first wicket in just 12 overs before Mayers was caught at
mid-on for 27. Andy Stuart soon followed him back to the pavilion, playing
round a straight one, but Marc Klus showed his intent
from his first ball, a powerful off drive for 4. He and Quantrill
carried on the powerful hitting and quick running, keeping the target well
within reach as they added 89 for the 3rd wicket before Klus was run out, by a direct hit on one stump from the
boundary, for 44. Andy Mayers carried on pretty much
as Klus had, and with Quantrill
also upping the scoring rate the target was being reached with ease. Some
powerful blows from Mayers compensated for a slowing
down from Quantrill who began to lose his timing as
tiredness took over, and as Quantrill reached his
hundred and Mayers smashed another couple of 4’s over
cover the game looked won. However two low scoring overs
brought the pressure back on. With two overs left 11
runs were needed. Quantrill took a single, and Mayers again put the ball over extra cover for 4 to leave 6
needed from 10 balls. However the shot had bounced over the fence into some
bushes, and there was a delay of 3 or 4 minutes while the ball was searched
for. This disruption seemed to affect Mayers who had
a nervous push at the next ball before swinging wildly at the next one and
being bowled. Dan Lewsey then missed a golden
opportunity with a leg side full toss next ball and was bowled by the last,
leaving the spinner Andy Watts with 2-43 in 6 overs.
Young Matt Devlin, having bowled tidily till then was entrusted with the last
over, with 6 still needed. Without an experienced partner Quantrill
now needed a boundary rather than singles, and to the first ball he tried for a
straight drive, only for his tired shot to be beaten by inswing,
leaving him bowled for 101, having been on the field for all but the last 5
balls of the weekend, 176 overs in total. Keir Wilson had a big swing at the next ball and was also
bowled, the 4th wicket to fall with the score on 221. Keith Bushell survived the hat trick ball, but could only
scramble a single from the penultimate ball, and Matt Bushe,
needing 6 to win or 4 to tie from the last ball couldn’t make contact, though a
bye was scrambled to reduce the margin to an agonising 3 runs. Horsmonden were delighted with this dramatic turn around,
and Devlin was deserved hero of the hour, producing the match’s best bowling
figures, 2-15 in 4 overs. New Ash Green, though
annoyed to lose having seemingly had the game in the bag, can take heart from
another excellent total, and at least a great match was enjoyed by all.
Click HERE for full scorecard from KCL site