Another victim of the early season weather, and given the grey dank day it was probably a good thing it was called off well in advance.

New Ash Green 151-3 (40 overs)
Loose 152-5 (22.4 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 5 wickets

With Loose playing on the artificial track at Maidstone Grammar School this was the first match of the season to beat the weather, and after a gey start the day even offered some brief spells of sunshine to celebrate the start of the season. Playing on an artificial wicket also produced a rather different type of game from the usual early season low & slow fare, a point made brutally clear when Matthew Quantrill fended the first ball of the game away from his face. However although the opener Steve Boston was difficult to get away throughout the innings he couldn't break through and from a slow start Quantrill and Dan Lewsey set a steady base. Gradually improving their timing they were still unbeaten, with few scares, at the half way point, having reached 52, and gradually accelerated afterwards. For the second year in a row New Ash Green posted a century opening stand in the first game of the season, and with 8 overs remaining the score had reached 124 and a very respectable total looked well within reach. The return of Boston put paid to that though - Lewsey got a flying edge on the first ball and was brilliantly caught one handed at slip, and with Boston producing a series of inswinging yorkers only one more run was taken from his last four overs. Quantrill eventually skied one at the other end for 74 and was followed by Ian Davies, perishing in at attempt to keep the momentum up. Vaughan John played a variety of good and lucky shots to keep some sort of run rate up at the other end from Boston, and with assistance from John Harding managed to take the score past 150 in the final over.

151 in an early season match would normally be a respectable total, but on this track it was probably below par and needed some tidy bowling to defend. Unfortunately New Ash Green were slightly lacking in that, and even more so in tidy fielding. After a wide first ball from which 2 runs were taken the next two outside off stump were smashed through the covers for four by Greg Thursting. An attempt at a repeat next ball flew to slip where a hard chance was put down, and by the end of the first over the score had advanced to 18. Worse was to follow for New Ash Green as Matt Bushe's first, seemingly innocuous, ball was steered gently to point and again put down, this time a rather easier chance. This turned out to be a critical mistake as the two reprieved batsmen proceeded to make mincemeat of most of the bowling, taking the score to 95 by the 11th over. Skipper John harley turned to the spin of Simon Freeman, who actually had the batsmen in trouble in his first over and made the breakthrough when Thursting skied to mid-wicket and was well caught by John Howland for 53. Freeman almost had another breakthrough next over, but a hard chance was spilt on the boundary, and as Freeman lost his length slightly the over was expensive and he was removed from the attack. In seeming desperation the skipper turned to the occasional spin of John Howland, but before he could start to weave his magic a second wicket fell when Loose skipper Pete Cavender drilled a ball from Ian Davies straight at Matt Bushe, who clung onto it well. This revealed a sudden drop in the standard of the batsmen, and when Hayward holed out on the boundary in Howland's next over the game was suddenly changed. Vaughan John came on at the other end and although now needing less than 20 to win Loose looked quite tentative in their approach. Howland picked up a second wicket LBW and John had one taken at silly mid off by John Harley. One or two more shots went in the air just out of fielders' reach to add to the tension, but in the end the 6th wicket pair were able to take Loose home with plenty in hand. However the tense final few overs had served to remind New Ash Green of the importance of holding their catches - had they taken even one of the earlier drops the game could have had a very different result.

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