Saturday 8th July & Sunday 9th
July 2006
Upchurch v New Ash Green
Saturday 8th July 2006
Kent League
Match - 100 Overs
Rodmersham (20 points) 207-9 dec. (50 overs)
New Ash Green (4 points) 79 all out (31.3 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 128 runs.
A tough weekend in the league with both sides playing top of the
table opposition, and although availability was up on the last couple of weeks
neither were anywhere near full strength. Upchurch elected to bat first, and
initially struggled to make much headway, with Hewitt, Stuart and Cox all
picking up early wickets to reduce Upchurch to 34-3. The middle order staged
something of a recovery and Dean Headley added a quickfire
30 down the order to ensure that Upchurch reached 200, but Andy Cox ripped
through the lower middle order to get New Ash Green maximum bowling bonus
points for the third week running.
Once again the batting failed to live up to the bowling, with
only Andy Cox (10) making double figures in the top 6. Seeing off the opening
bowlers, including Headley, gave Andy Stuart (22) and Lee Saunders (12) the
chance to put on 30 for the 7th wicket, but once their partnership
was broken the end came quickly.
Click HERE for latest league table.
New Ash Green II v High Halstow
II
Saturday 8th July 2006
Mid-Kent
League Match - 92 Overs
New Ash Green
(4 points) 140 all out (43.3 overs)
High Halstow (20 points) 141-3 (37.5 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 7 wickets.
Against top of the table opposition and with
two of their most stalwart performers lost to the 1st XI being asked
to bat first on a hard and rather uneven wicket had potential disaster written
all over it for New Ash Green. Fortunately their opponents were a couple of
bowlers down on full strength, and showed a slightly surprising lack of
strength in depth. Although Paul Belsey was a real
handful, cutting the ball down the hill and getting a lot of bounce off a
length, New Ash Green coped well, with Matthew Quantrill
riding his luck somewhat in putting the bouncing ball over the fielders on his
way to 45. He was bowled by a Yorker just as a really big score was beginning
to look on, but David Baker batted well to make 38, let down only by his
fitness as he tired with a half century in his sights. Luke Shaw with 15 and
James Oliver with 10 also reached double figures, and for a while it looked as
if New Ash Green might be the first team to deprive High Halstow
of maximum bowling points this season until Belsey
snapped up the tail with 2 overs to spare.
In reply Halstow were
able to play the bouncing ball better than New Ash Green had done, hitting
Graeme Poole out of the attack, though Luke Shaw was again tidy. The slower
pace of Keith Bushell and Dan Lewsey,
though, put them under pressure, and when Bushell
picked up two wickets, and Lewsey another courtesy of
a smart stumping, Halstow were under pressure at 75-3,
with not a huge amount of batting remaining. Had New Ash Green taken some of
the chances they created after this – none of them routine, but certainly takeable – an upset of seismic proportions might have been
on the card. However Richie Lapthorn
and Darren Peake survived,
played out Bushell (2-21 in 12) and picked off the
remaining runs without too much alarm. On paper a heavy defeat, but comfortably
the 2nd XI’s best performance of the season, and giving hope that
there may still be some wins to come against sides lower in the table.
Click HERE for latest league table.
Sunday 9th July 2006
No
match had been arranged in the (with hindsight ludicrously optimistic) hope
that