Saturday 2nd September & Sunday
3rd September 2006
New Ash Green v Rodmersham
Saturday 2nd September 2006
Kent League
Match - 88 Overs (reduced due to rain)
Rodmersham (2 points) 114 all out (42.1 overs)
New Ash Green (16 points) 118-5 (38.5 overs)
New Ash Green won by 5 wickets.
After last week’s full strength team New Ash Green had plenty of
players to choose from, but not quite the depth in quality they have had.
Nonetheless they were one up on their opponents, who had only 10 men and no
umpire, gifting New Ash Green the toss for a change. Rodmersham
were duly asked to bat first, and all their batsmen seemed to have struggled
with Vic Mayers, Andy Cox and James Hewitt all
producing economical spells. Hewitt led the way with 4-28 in 13 overs, Cox had 2-19 in his 13 and Mayers
finished things off with 2-17 in 9.2 overs, with Matt
Scanlan picking up the last wicket. It was also
another good day behind the stumps for Scott McKechnie
with 2 catches and a stumping off Hewitt.
New Ash Green also found things difficult in reply, with Andy
Payne and Matt Scanlan going cheaply and Dan Walton
taking a long time to make his 14. Arron Ward, given
a chance at number 4, made a slightly quicker 13 and James Hewitt and Andy Cox
then put on a steady 38 to take New ash Green within
sight of victory. The windy overcast conditions had hitherto been mainly dry,
but an increasing amount of drizzle was now blowing across the field, and one
or two Rodmersham fielders were making pointed
remarks about the conditions, though in truth it was not raining hard enough to
bring an end to a September village match! When Cox was bowled Marc Klus and Hewitt carried on the accumulation of runs as Rodmersham returned to their opening attack in a last throw
of the dice. Hewitt and Klus tried to speed things
up, but in the increasingly difficult conditions they struggled to up the rate
much. Rodmersham’s complaints about the conditions
reached a peak when Richard Cooper, in his last over and with the scores almost
level hurled himself into a delivery and onto the ground. There was a certain
lack of sympathy among the New Ash Green section, as he was one of the more
vocal players in the opposition, the main suggestion being that he should be
getting a yellow card for ‘simulation’. Whether genuine or not his fall did not
affect the umpire’s view, and Cooper hobbled out of the attack and left the
rest of his over to Neil Barton, whom Hewitt promptly despatched for 2 fours to
give New Ash Green their third successive win, and an outside chance of evading
relegation – a chance that was dashed by the news that both their relegation
rivals had also won their last matches.
Click HERE for latest league table.
Betteshanger CW II v New Ash Green
II
Saturday 2nd September 2006
Mid-Kent
League Match - 80 Overs (reduced due to anticipated
rain!)
New Ash Green (4
points) 82 all out (34.5 overs)
Betteshanger (20 points) 83-3 (19.2 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 7 wickets.
A dire weather forecast and a morning of low
grey clouds and a brisk wind did not encourage enthusiasm for the long drive to
Deal to take on Betteshanger, but with no actual rain
the journey had to be made. The ground, under these hostile conditions, did not
look the most welcoming, but the wicket was surprisingly firm and the rain
continued to stay away. Expecting a few interruptions the Captains elected to
make it a 40 over game, to allow for some delays, though as things turned out
there were no delays and neither side needed 40 overs.
New Ash Green had the rare luxury of being able to toss the coin, courtesy of
John Harding’s umpiring, but managed to lose it, and not surprisingly were asked to bat. It was soon evident that although the
pitch was firm the bounce was distinctly variable, particularly on balls that
were short outside off stump and might normally have been somewhat hittable! This
added to the rather lush outfield meant that the contrasting opening bowlers
were not easy to score off, Pete Smart bowling through 10 overs
for just 5 runs, while Paul Mortimer, pitching the ball up at a brisk pace was
also difficult to get away. John Howland perished early, and Matt Dehaney, after battling for a while lost patience and was
caught in the covers. David Baker also fell quickly, but Lee Saunders kept Matthew
Quantrill company for a
while, the pair being the only batsmen to get past 3. Saunders hit the first
boundary of the innings when the first change bowler Liam Collins slipped in a
leg side full toss, and Quantrill went one better to
a similar ball in the next over, clearing the legside
boundary. However Saunders was caught in the covers almost immediately
afterwards, having just reached double figures. Matt Bushe
also played soundly for a while, but he perished to the leg spin of Josh Jones,
trying to score the 4 runs which would have brought up his hundred for the
season but being caught at deep square leg. Ben Cooke struggled to get the ball
away, but stayed in for a while before also slicing Jones up to gully. Mortimer
returned to partner Jones, and the third (and last) boundary of the innings
came when Quantrill flicked him through mid-wicket
for 4, but in the same over Luke Shaw was bowled and immediately afterwards Quantrill went for 48, mistiming a pull from Jones. The end
was not long coming, Mortimer having Joe Elisak LBW
to consolidate his Duck Cup lead and John Harley bowled two balls later.
The conditions weren’t easy, but 82 did not
look enough even with a relatively strong bowling attack. John Harley and Matt Dehaney both bowled well enough, but with little luck.
Barry Wilson, Betteshanger’s star batsman played
solidly, while John Marsh swung the bat at anything pitched up with great
effect. Harley did eventually get Marsh, for 25, but Wilson and Paul Mortimer
were cruising to victory when Keith Bushell replaced Harley.
Struggling with the cross wind he was initially wayward, and 2 wides and 8 runs in his first 5 balls left Betteshanger needing
just 5 to win. Bushell redeemed himself by bowling
Mortimer with his next ball, and a change of bowling at the other end paid
dividends as Ben Cooke started with a tidy maiden. Bushell
then produced a much better over, a wicket maiden, though he was helped a touch
by the pitch when a shortish ball shot through low to
pin the batsman LBW plumb in front of middle stump. With only 5 runs needed Betteshanger were under no real pressure, but it still took
them another two and a half overs to edge to victory,
so New Ash Green had restored a little bit of pride before the end of their
league season. Inevitably they finished comfortable bottom of the division and
will be relegated to division 2B, but there are enough signs of promise to
think that they should be reasonably competitive in that division next year.
Click HERE for latest league table.
Gravesend RFC II v New Ash Green
Sunday 3rd September 2006
Medway Sunday League
Match - 40 Overs per side
Gravesend RFC II 177
all out (39.4 overs)
New Ash Green 154-9 (30 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 17 runs.
A more promising
performance for New Ash Green at the end of the season. Winning the toss they
were able to bowl first, and Sunday regular John Harley was joined by debutant Amjad Ali in a good opening partnership. Although Ali
bowled well it was Harley who took the first four wickets and reduced
A target of 177 has been beyond New Ash Green
in most Sunday games (indeed in most games) this season, and when Matt Bushe was out to the first ball of the innings to re-ignite
the Duck Cup fight they looked to be struggling again. However Scott McKechnie built on a good day behind the stumps (3 catches
and 2 stumpings to add to 2 and 1 on Saturday) with
24 and Olly Harding made 23 as they put on 53 for the
second wicket, before both fell for the same score. Lee Saunders consolidated
his position as the 3rd highest runscorer
for the club this season in making 9 in a partnership of 29 with Amjad Ali, but after that it was all Ali as he went on to
make 74 not out. However without support from the tail he was unable to make
enough for victory, though John Harley at least ensured that New Ash Green
survived till the end.
Click
HERE for latest league table.