Saturday 21st May & Sunday 22nd May 2005
Rodmersham v New Ash Green
Saturday 21st May 2005
Kent League
Match - 100 Overs
New Ash Green
(0 points) 49 all out (37.4 overs)
Rodmersham (16 points) 50-2 (23.3 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 8 wickets.
Not sure that anyone in the 1st XI will want to
provide a report for this, but I suspect that the conditions had a large part
to do with this. 49 in nearly 38 overs suggest that
New Ash Green fought hard in difficult conditions, and the fact that Rodmersham took nearly 24 overs
to get them, with Botha only making 19 in that length
of time shows this was not quite such a massacre as a cursory glance at the
scores might suggest. Batting second was certainly much easier at home, so the
toss probably had a big effect on the margin if not the result itself.
Click HERE for latest league table.
New Ash Green IV v Cowdrey
II
Saturday 21st May 2005
Mid-Kent
League Match - 92 Overs
New Ash Green
(20 points) 176-4 (46 overs)
Cowdrey (7 points) 130 all out (45 overs)
New Ash Green won by 46 runs.
The cricketing Gods seemed to be smiling on New
Ash Green skipper Matthew Quantrill, helping him to celebrate his 40th
birthday with the aid of some generous gifts from Cowdrey.
Initially the morning
rain and New Ash Green’s lack of an umpire seemed to be conspiring in favour of
Cowdrey, last season’s league runners up, ensuring
that they could claim the toss and insert New Ash Green on a wicket still very
soft on top. The first ball from Ian Scott rose off a length and touched Quantrill’s bat on its way down the leg side, only for
keeper Dave Elliott to
put down a relatively simple chance. Despite that let off New Ash
Green’s openers endured a torrid time in those first few overs,
the ball jagging around off the seam, bouncing anywhere from ankle to shoulder
height and sometimes stopping and at others scurrying through. The variation
was too much for new boy Raj Rajananphan,
who mistimed a drive early on and looped one up to mid off for a duck.
Quantrill and Dan Walton survived, assisted by two successive short balls from
Scott which sat up and were pulled for 4, taking some pressure from the
batsmen. As so often in these conditions a brisk wind dried the pitch, the ball
lost its hardness and the pitch became much more consistent. Although it always
remained slow and gave the bowlers far more help than the batsmen it was never
again quite as dangerous. Working on the basis that in these conditions wickets
in hand and the freedom to attack late in the innings are the keys to a big
score Quantrill and Walton were content to survive, picking up the odd run here
and there and seeing off the opening bowlers. At the halfway stage the score
had advanced only to 43, but crucially without further loss. Indeed given the
lush outfield which made reaching the boundaries hard work, that 43 was
probably worth more than the 61 which had been on the board at the same stage
the previous week.
Cowdrey skipper Dick Simmonds had been mercilessly drawing the keeper’s
attention to the dropped catch, and at the drinks break he swapped roles,
taking over the gloves. To his horror, and Elliott’s
undisguised delight, on the second ball after the break Quantrill got a thin
edge which he put down, and by the end of the over he had conceded more byes
than Elliott had in 23 overs. Quantrill took
advantage of this second birthday gift as he and Walton, now getting used to
the still improving conditions and able to take more risks, upped the scoring
rate steadily. With 8 overs remaining they had added
120 and looked set for a brutal assault in the last few overs
when the rain returned in the form of a very heavy shower followed by 20
minutes of lighter rain. Tea was taken and the batsmen had to return to try and
mount their final charge cold and with the pitch freshened up by the rain.
Walton fell almost immediately for 44, but Quantrill and Dominic Adolphe were able to keep the score ticking over steadily,
if not as fast as might have been hoped without the unwanted interruption.
Quantrill eventually went for 77 having a severe rush of blood to the head,
trying to take a single that was never on and being beaten by Scott’s direct
hit when Adolphe sent him back. Paul Sumner, promoted
to number 5 to swing the bat helped Adolphe to push
the score on past 170 before Adolphe was caught in
the last over. The final total of 176-4 was worth in excess of 200 allowing for
the conditions, and would have been grabbed with both hands after the first few
overs when getting to 50 had looked a mountainous
task.
Although the pitch had once again dried out by
the time Cowdrey started out on their run chase Pete
Burke and Paul Sumner ensured that their batsmen didn’t have a much easier time
than New Ash Green’s. Burke took two early wickets, one with the help of a
simple catch by Quantrill at short square, and after
11 overs Cowdrey had
crawled to 15-2. Cowdrey captain Simmonds
then chanced his arm, mowing Sumner for 11 in his 6th over, but both
bowlers then tied him down again until frustrated he heaved at Burke and was
bowled. Both opening bowlers then came off, and once again New Ash Green
embarked on the search for a 4th bowler to accompany Dan Lewsey. Matt Bushe had taken
first claim on this position with a good spell against the Mote, but he threw
in a few too many loose balls today, the cardinal sin on such a slow wicket,
and Dave Elliott helped himself. Next up was Alan Carter, with his first spell
of the season. Again he bowled some good balls, but slipped in too many loose
ones, and with Elliott and opener Anthony Bryant both looking confident Cowdrey were getting back in the game. Indeed the
doomsayers in the New Ash Green side (Dominic Adolphe)
were convinced the game was as good as over, but the truth of it was that New
Ash Green were still very much on top. Cowdrey needed virtually 5 an over even at this stage,
which they were going to struggle to achieve against Burke, Sumner and Lewsey
even with wickets in hand. The batsmen had had to take risks even to get the
runs they were getting, and it was unlikely they could carry on doing so
without paying the penalty. Nonetheless finding someone to bowl the remaining 5
overs tidily was going to help calm the nerves, and
with Rajananphan keeping wicket Quantrill was able to
give himself a birthday treat and have a go himself. The wicket was ideally
suited for his slow seam bowling and he was able to put the ball in place
accurately enough to slow the run rate when Cowdrey
needed it to increase. In frustration Elliott swung at the first ball of Quantrill’s 3rd over, missed the slow off break
and was bowled. The partnership of 74 for the 4th wicket had
certainly opened the game up, but its ending was very much the end of the Cowdrey revival. Smith survived when he was fooled by Quantrill’s slower ball and skied it, only to be dropped at
mid on, but in the same over he was beaten again and lobbed the ball gently
back to Quantrill. In Lewsey’s next over Ian Scott
smashed his first ball in the air to the covers to find Quantrill jumping to
take the catch, and to the first ball of Quantrill’s
next Bryant, who had been in from the start, had a swing at a centre stump yorker and was bowled. 4 wickets had fallen for 8 runs in
the space of 25 balls, and the only question remaining was the margin of
victory and the number of bonus points each side would get. Paul Sumner and
Pete Burke came back on to wrap things up, and ensured full bonus points for
New Ash Green with an over to spare, leaving Quantrill to celebrate his
birthday with 77 runs, 3-9, 3 catches and most importantly of all a maximum
points victory which takes New Ash Green to the top of the league.
Click HERE for latest league table.
New Ash Green v Old Anchorians
Sunday 22nd May 2005
SundayLeague Match - 40 Overs per
side
Old Anchorians 236-7 (40 overs)
New Ash Green 109 all out (37.4 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 127 runs.
There was better news than the previous week
for the Sunday team, as 11 players were arranged well in advance, and with a
1pm meet at Manor Field for a 2pm start away in Gillingham all seemed under
control. Even the late drop out of
Stuart Little was dealt with swiftly, Ollie Cooper
stepping in to join his dad Tim, having stayed in his kit following an
appearance for the colts earlier in the day.
Transport issues meant that the captain & his vice (Dan & Alan)
were running 15 minutes late, so at 1.15 10 players prepared to set off and
meet their 11th, Alan’s mate Derek, who was meeting at the Old Anchorians’ ground, only to encounter the advance party of
Old A’s players at the gates to Manor Field, armed with a fixture list showing
the match being scheduled for New Ash Green & Hartley to host! Some swift negotiations ensued, mainly around
getting the cash to send Hayley Cooke off to sort out
emergency teas, and with Keith Bushell on hand to
direct pitch preparations whilst the remainder of Old A’s team (plus the
debutant Derek) negotiated their way through the lanes, the game was able to
start at 2.15 without the loss of any overs.
Having informed their captain that we had 3
players aged under 21 and were thus claiming 1 bonus point (thanks to what all
agreed was a positive league rule), Captain Carter won the toss and inserted
the opposition, taking the view that the best development opportunity for the
team on this occasion would be a stint in the field (I believe the expression
was ‘we’ve not got much batting so we’d better have a bowl’)! With Saturday second team experience in Dan Lewsey & Keith, NAG&H opened with what Dan
described as the slowest opening pair he’d ever seen, but this didn’t seem a
problem as the Old A’s openers treated both with due respect in their initial
5-over spells, before Keith got Selby to direct a catch to Scanlan
in the covers, which he took with ease. This
was then followed up by a second wicket next ball, as Charlton missed a
straight one and headed straight back to the pavilion, leaving Old A’s 35 for
2.
Alan then brought on his youngest bowler, Ollie
Cooper, for his second spell of the day, and Bushtaq
for his second spell of the weekend.
Both showed a lot of promise without making the breakthrough, in
particular Ollie coming down the hill from the Pavilion End, but unfortunately
they found the opener Skilton and his new partner
Moore in no mood for generosity, with anything lacking in line or length
receiving harsh treatment. Ollie came
off after his maximum stint of 4 overs with figures
of 0/23, and was replaced by Mike Wederell, making
his first appearance for the club in some 3 seasons. Struggling somewhat to find his line and
length, as one might expect after that break, he too found the Old A’s batsman
in the mood to despatch anything loose, and came out of the attack with 0/32
off 3. These figures mask the positives
he showed when he did put the ball in the right place, which should happen more
regularly with a few net sessions, and a little bad luck when Bushtaq couldn’t take a difficult chance one-handed at
point when
At this stage Old A’s were moving up through
the gears, with Skilton and Moore sharing a century
stand, so realising that old heads were required Alan brought himself on to
replace Bushtaq and introduced Derek from the
Pavilion End. Skilton’s
gamble in advancing down the track brought him runs over the top through the
‘V’, before a swirling chance evaded Dan at long on. At this stage Keith suggested that a
fuller-pitched delivery would probably see the batsman york himself, and that expert advice paid immediate
dividends as Skilton was bowled for 68 leaving Old
A’s 165 for 3. At the other end Derek’s
slow right arm was tempting
With Alan coming off with figures of 1 for 30
off 5, the opening bowlers returned at the death, and a wicket soon arrived as
Moore, having completed his century, went for a non-existent second run and was
run out for 105 with Old A’s 213 for 4. Keith
resumed at the Pavilion End in the same miserly mood and soon bowled Kirby
leaving Old A’s 230 for 5. At this stage
a guest star entered, as the 9 men of Old A’s had their numbers supplemented by
Ben Cooke, in attendance to spectate but keen as
always for a match. Treating the new man
with due respect, NAG&H tightened the field slightly, only to see Jasper ‘anyone
remember that catch at the Moratuwa International?’ Holliday
ground an absolute dolly at short extra cover.
Fortunately his blushes were saved as Keith found his way through Ben’s
defences next ball to have him bowled for 0, with Old A’s 234 for 6. This quickly became 234 for 7 as Dan removed
Rose for 30, and the innings soon ended with Old A’s 236 for 7 from their full
40 overs. Pick
of the bowling was Keith, with a well-deserved 4 for 20 off 8 overs, ably supported by Dan’s 1 for 34 from his 9 overs.
So at the halfway stage NAG&H faced a stiff
target to chase, but by and large the attitude was positive – there had been
good spells from the senior bowlers, promise to build on from the younger
bowlers, and some impressive fielding at times, in particular from Matt Scanlan (as you’d expect from someone of his ability and
experience), and the hard working Tim Cooper & Mike Wederell. Special mention should also go to Graeme
Poole for agreeing to keep wicket at the last minute.
After an excellent tea put together at very
short notice (thanks once again to Hayley Cooke &
Mrs Cooper for that), Graeme Poole swapped the keeper’s pads for some batting
ones to go out and open with Scanners. A
couple of early blows suggested that Scanners was after the £10 the watching
Dominic Adolphe had offered if he could get 175(!)
himself and carry NAG&H to victory, but he then mis-timed
a pull to square leg and was out for 9 with the score on 11. Graeme’s patient innings took him to 6 (all
scored behind square, he happily noted afterwards!) before he was caught behind
off the miserly Sandhu, leaving NAG&H on 17 for
2. The experienced Derek at number 3
moved the score on to 26 before he was caught for 8 off the first change bowler
Kirby, and with the number 4 Mike Wederell at the
non-strikers end, Tim Cooper came and went at number 5, bowled by Sandhu without scoring, with NAG&H now 26 for 4. At this point Alan came in at number 6, and
with a captain’s innings required runs were added before Mike became the first
victim of the experienced Barton’s looping slow right arm – bowled without
having got off the mark with NAG&H 38 for 5.
At this point Jasper went out with the chance
to show what he had learned in winter nets – after 2 hideous cross-batted
swipes at his first 2 deliveries from Barton it appeared the answer was very
little! Fortunately some calming words
from Alan appeared to help, and these 2 set about accumulating a few runs and
trying to make use of the overs available to the
side. In 7 overs
together these 2 shared (well, Alan dominated) the largest partnership of the
innings (37 runs) – some aggressive running and genuine scoring shots from both
batsmen contributing. This took the
score on to 76 before Jasper was bowled by Barton for 7, attempting to repeat
his favourite over-used sweep shot – at least by then he had shown that the
forward defensive he had been taught over the winter could also be employed
when he applied himself!
The fall of that wicket brought the bowling
hero Keith to the wicket, and he was comfortably playing himself in and taking
the runs available when a tired Alan was caught behind off Barton for a
top-score 31, having accumulated his runs whilst taking minimal risks, setting
a good example to the younger and less experienced players. That left the score 83 for 7 and brought vice-captain Dan Lewsey to the
wicket. Old A’s then decided to let Ben
Cooke seek his revenge on Keith, but having survived that threat Keith fell the next over to Barton with his personal total 16 and
the team 80 for 8. Ollie Cooper then
walked out to face his fellow colt, and sadly for NAG&H Ben Cooke found his
way through the young batsman’s defences for 1, leaving the total 90 for
9.
Last man Bushtaq then
strode to the middle with the challenge to take NAG&H past the 100 and see
us through to the end of our 40 overs. Having shown that he had been developing his
forward defensive over the winter, Bushtaq seemed
happy to see the end of Ben after his full allocation - as Mike Cooke
commented, how ironic that Ben’s best bowling figures for some time, 1 for 3 off
4 with 2 maidens, should come against the club! With slow accumulation edging the total
closer to 3 figures, Dan was close to adopting the ‘none shall pass’ attitude
of Monty Python’s Black Knight (as seen at Wickham
Park in 2004 amongst other occasions), although when runs were offered he
wasn’t going to refuse them! Bushtaq supported him ably without taking unnecessary
risks, and had made his way to 4 before he fell to
In summary, readers who have made it this far
may be surprised to read that a 127 run defeat can hold so many positives,
although those who remember the ill-fated 3rd team of 2004 will recall the
silver linings that this reporter always seeks to find! If we can build on the plus points shown by
the players as mentioned above, and gain the support from yet more senior
figures in the club, be it in terms of helping us to put out a full 11 or
giving us guidance and coaching outside of matches, then this year could allow
these Sunday players to develop into a valuable resource for the club, whilst
continuing to enjoy our game as a social & development side should.