Northfleet 120-9 declared (45 overs)
New Ash Green 121-7 (34.1 overs)
New Ash Green won by 3 wickets

There was plenty of rain in the week, but it finally dried up in time for it to be just about possible to prepare a wicket at the Manor Field for the first time this season, and although it was still soft and very slow and low it played pretty consistently throughout. With a strong line up New Ash Green were almost hoping to lose the toss and be asked to bat first – they achieved the first part of the plan, but were surprised to be asked to take the field first. Lee Saunders and John Harley both exploited the conditions and the new ball well, Saunders gaining some swing and movement off the pitch even if there were one or two loose deliveries in his first bowl of the season. It was John Harley who made the breakthrough though, when Northfleet skipper Louis Newell lost patience with being tied down, went down the pitch and missed an aggressive drive. At first change Dan Lewsey also managed consistency in his first bowl of the season, while Adam Reeves overcame some initial nerves to also bowl a consistent spell. Lewsey picked up three wickets, including one form the only ball of the day which misbehaved badly, a startled Asif Malik being unable to get out of the way of one that leapt up at him and lobbing it gently up in the air from the shoulder of the bat. Steve Potter, with some powerful hitting, and Denis King with more orthodox batting, staged something of a recovery before Potter inexplicably swung across the line to a straight ball from Matt Dehaney and was bowled. King and Matt Kingsnorth kept plugging away, but found it impossible to significantly lift the scoring rate, and Dehaney and the returning John Harley picked up a couple of wickets each. Despite having 9 overs from Harley New Ash Green got through 45 overs in two and a half hours but couldn't quite get the last wicket, a drop on the last ball allowing Northfleet to scramble to 120-9 – the exact lowest end of the target range New Ash Green had reckoned would make a reasonable challenge.

That target initially looked extremely easy as Ian Martin in particular looked in sparkling touch. As early as the fourth over he cut Neil Morris for four and then hit him back over his head for a huge six, but the conditions were still not ideal for scoring quickly. Martin's innings was brought to a premature end when he set off for a quick single and slipped when sent back by his partner, Matthew Quantrill, leaving himself stranded and run out for 16. With plenty of batting left New Ash Green should still have had no problems, but the game really settled down into a war of attrition after this, with Northfleet just using three seam bowlers (Morris bowling unchanged from one end) meaning that they ended up bowling only 35 overs. Ian Davies was extremely unlucky to get a shocking LBW decision, where the bowler had actually stopped his appeal half way through and not looked at the umpire, who had his finger in the air almost instantly. Matt Bushe unwisely swung at a straight ball, and Matt Scanlan perhaps looked to get aggressive too soon with four an over needed from the last 20, though he was also perhaps a little unlucky to be adjudged LBW. Joe Elisak batted soundly, though, and with Quantrill took the total up to 90 before not quite getting over the top of the fielders. Lee Saunders and Matt Dehaney both perished, but Quantrill and Dan Lewsey pushed the ball around well, running hard keeping the score ticking over nicely, Quantrill finally being able to bring up the winning run from the first ball of the last over, finishing on 69*. It looked a tight result, but given that New Ash Green had had ten less overs to bat in and that they had given far more bowlers a go it was a comfortable and deserved win despite some underperformances with the bat.

Click here for full scorecard.

Brasted & Sundridge Exiles 202-7 (40 overs)
New Ash Green 203-4 (38.3 overs)
New Ash Green won by 6 wickets

A very grassy looking wicket and outfield at Knole Paddock, combined with another slow but even wicket meant that runs looked likely to be at a premium in this game. New Ash Green asked Brasted & Sundridge to bat first, and John Harley and Dan Lewsey started tidily against mostly negative batting. Nick Walsh showed some signs of aggression, though, occasionally unleashing a big heave over cow corner against Lewsey. Lewsey did get Bentley, the other opener, bowled, though this had the effect of bringing in a younger, fitter batsman and an increased aggressiveness between the wickets. Having used their two 'regular' bowlers New Ash Green now turned to a little experimentation in the form of Vaughan John and Simon Freeman. Freeman struck first when Hubbard charged and had a huge swing, missing and being stumped, before John got Walsh, who had already been missed a couple of times, caught and bowled almost immediately afterwards. That, however, brought together Colin Freeman and Sam Plumb, and with Plumb in particular very powerful on anything loose they seemed to be taking the game away from New Ash Green. They were helped in this by some shocking fielding from New Ash Green, from which virtually no one was exempt from blame. Catches varying from hard to very easy were missed, and misfields abounded as 102 were added for the fourth wicket at an increasing pace. Eventually Plumb mishit one in the air to cover where Jasper Holliday held him, and a few balls later Foreman was LBW to John Harley. Nick Warren was shockingly dropped on 0 before going on to hit a quick 23 and keep the momentum going nearly to the end before he was smartly stumped in the penultimate over off the deserving Matt Bushe. Bushe added another wicket to finish with 3-33 in 8 overs, but the 8th wicket pair scrambled enough runs in the last over to take the total past 200.

In the conditions 200 looked a big score, especially for a side fairly light on established batting, and there was much gloom in some quarters about the poor fielding display. However although Brasted & Sundridge were a much more athletic side in general and made fewer errors the most expensive drop of the day was yet to come, and by the end of the game there had been far more stress and angst amongst their fielders than amongst New Ash Green's. Matthew Quantrill and Vaughan John started off at a reasonable pace, John in particular picking off balls on his leg stump well. They were going comfortably in the 30s when one from the opening bowler, Warren, lifted a bit on Quantrill and he edged a fairly simple chance to slip and was put down. Carrying on at better than four an over New Ash Green were well set when John got under a pull and was caught at square leg for 33, ending a partnership of 68. Picking up a bat for the first time in 2008 Charlie Cutting initially looked a bit leaden footed, but he showed his potential with a couple of rasping drives, and kept the run rate going nicely before inexplicably missing a slow full toss and being bowled for 13 just after the drinks break. With New Ash Green having plenty of wickets in hand and only slightly behind the run rate Brasted & Sundridge were clearly starting to worry, and there was a real edge to the bickering in the field, that perhaps might not have been there if they had known the batting records of the remaining batsmen. However Quantrill was still there, making Brasted & Sundridge well and truly pay for their drop, finding gaps and running hard, occasionally managing to find the boundaries. John Howland played an excellent supporting role and they added 66 for the third wicket, keeping up with the required rate, before Howland was bowled. The captains originally having agreed no limit on bowlers because New Ash Green feared they were short it was Brasted & Sundridge who were taking advantage of that now with the return of their opening bowlers, but they couldn't keep the ball straight enough to prevent Quantrill continuing to work it into gaps all around the field. Matt Clark continued the work John Howland had done in a supporting role, and when he perished trying to hit over the infield Dan Lewsey carried on where he and Quantrill had left off the previous day. The hard work of all the batsmen was reflected in a hard run three that brought up Quantrill's century, followed almost immediately by another three. Every time the rate began to rise New Ash Green would find a good over, and in the end in a remarkable reflection of Saturday's match Quantrill hit the winning runs with Lewsey on 7* at the other end to bring up a win which had seemed completely out of reach at tea.

Click here for full scorecard.

Wilmington 57 all out (20.4 overs)
New Ash Green 59-7 (23.1 overs)
New Ash Green won by 3 wickets

Wilmington as usual provided a sporting wicket with an outfield that looked as if it hadn’t seen a mower for a week or two and a pitch that may not have seen a roller for a while longer. The result was a wicket of variable bounce and considerable movement, and New Ash Green were no doubt happy to win the toss and bat first. Certainly John Harley made the most of it, and after Lee Saunders had removed himself from the attack through injury he and Dan Lewsey carved through the Wilmington top order, Harley taking 5-10 in his eight overs while Lewsey took 2-22. Wilmington were reduced to 16-5 at one point before Jon Steel rescued them with some hard hitting – something that was needed to find the boundary. Steel made 31 before being 8th out for 31, out of 36 runs added when he was at the crease. Matt Bushe and a run out polished off the tail leaving New Ash Green with an apparently easy target of 58 the score was probably worth double that in normal conditions.

Batting for ten overs before tea they set off soundly enough, but suffered a setback when Ian Martin failed to clear the fielders and was out for 8. James Porter survived a run out chance when the fielder missed the wicket from a few feet away and struck a couple of lusty blows before he was out, and John Harding and Matt Clark saw the side safely through to tea at a comfortable looking 30-2 with lots of time and batting to come. Wilmington skipper Tim Cotton struck two quick blows after tea, removing Clark and Martin Fry, before ending his spell with 4-12. Matt Scanlan then helped Harding to carry the total to 49, but with 9 needed to win and 6 wickets in hand there was something of a wobble. Jon Steel had now turned his attention to bowling, and Scanlan tried perhaps too hard to force the pace and was caught in the covers. In the next over John Harding ended the hopes of a weekend of wicketkeeper opening batsmen hitting the winning runs when he nicked behind, and poor Andy Oliver got a nasty straight shooter for his first ball of the season, all while just one run was added. Cometh the hour, though, cometh the man, and this weekend the man has been Dan Lewsey. Coming in on all three days with the pressure on to finish off the win he has seen it through coolly on each occasion, and today was no exception. There were two vociferous appeals against Lee Saunders, one for LBW when he was way down the wicket and the other for a catch off what looked to be a bump ball but the fielder claimed had come up off the boot, but both were turned down and to the delight of New Ash Green’s army of travelling fans (9 of them at one point or other) Lee Saunders finished the match off with possibly the best shot of the day, a straight drive off Steel that was hit so well that it made it all along the ground for four even on this exceptionally grassy outfield. So an amazing three wins out of three for the weekend, something not achieved for some time and cause for optimism heading into the league season.

Click here for full scorecard.