Saturday 14th August & Sunday 15th August
Saturday 14th August & Sunday 15th August
Kent Regional Cricket League - 46 Overs per side
Match cancelled due to waterlogged pitch
Very heay rain the day before the game made play seem unlikely, but the morning failed to bring the forecast light rain, and had the weather improved a game might have been possible. The sides gathered and some preparations were made on the wicket, whereupon a light rain started to fall and soon set in enough that everyone was happy to call the game off.
Kent Regional Cricket League - 46 Overs per side
New Ash Green conceded
Barely enough for one eleven yet again.
Current League TableFriendly Match - proper cricket
New Ash Green 258-3 dec. (34.1 overs)
Harrietsham 261-8 (49 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 2 wickets
A Harrietsham wicket that was damp but well rolled promised to be even and slow, and mostly turned out to be, though the wind throughout the day ensured that by the end the ball was coming onto the bat rather better than it had early on. Harrietsham therefore had little hesitation in inserting New Ash Green when they won the toss, although John Harley had been planning to bat first given his potential batting line up. Scott McKechnie and Matthew Quantrill got away to a quick start, but in the third over with the score in the twenties McKechnie had a huge slice of luck when he was through a shot too early and the ball ballooned off the back of his bat up towards gully. The fielder seemed to have all the time in the world to step in and take the simplest of catches, but ended up being far too casual, trotting in and waving just one hand at the ball, barely making contact with it before it hit the ground. It was a miss that Harrietsham were soon to regret as McKechnie decided to try and take the slow pitch out of the game by coming down the pitch and attacking, and he was son racing the scoreboard along with a series of powerful drives and pulls. Quantrill was no slouch himself, though not hitting the ball quite as hard, and the score raced along against everything the bowlers had to offer. The next 28 overs brought another 200 runs and barely a chance, though both batsmen were dropped off very difficult chances and there were another couple of McKechnie's big shots that perhaps more confident and competent fielders might have made more of an effort to catch. In the end it was the pitch that did for the partnership, a season's best and the second best in club history of 224, when a short ball died and caught Quantrill LBW in front of the stumps as he tried to pull. McKechnie launched a few more big blows, losing Chris Bartram to a less straightforward LBW decision, and Karl Bartlett struck a good four before McKechnie finally found a fielder (oddly the same one who had missed him early on) who could catch on the boundary, falling for 162, one run short of a club record score. That brought about a very early declaration, a luxury not often afforded to New Ash Green, and one some of their opponents have not taken as often as they might have done.
This resulted in an eight over spell before tea, during which Harrietsham did not give the appearance of being capable of making a stiff target, even with all the extra time they would have to bat. The early part of the innings was most notable for John Harley's struggles with a wonky knee and his run up, leading to the unique sight of him bowling off two paces, catching fielders by surprise unable to take their usual long rest between balls. It was Martin Ives, though, who impressed with the ball, starting with two maidens and then picking up the first wicket when he was hit straight to point where Martin Bartlett took the first of two very comfortable catches. Tea came at 24-1 after 8 overs, and the target still looking distant, though a very delicious tea may have put Martin Ives off his bowling, as his first over afterwards was somewhat erratic and saw the end of his bowling for the day. However his first ball did produce the most bizarre moment of the day. As the team retook the field after tea Phil “the psychic octopus” Steers said to Matthew Quantrill “I can feel a run out coming for you”, and lo and behold the first ball was a head high full toss, which the batsman swung at and top edged up into the covers. Quantrill was under it and took the catch, but the ball had clearly been called a no ball. The batsmen however were having something of a debate about what to do and by the time Quantrill had the ball they were both in the middle of the wicket. Quantrill had one stump to aim at at the bowler's end, but he didn't let psychic Phil down and left the batsman stranded, much to his disgust – on his return to the pavilion his bat disappeared some distance into the long grass.
With Ives unable to control the ball for the rest of the over Steers took over from him, and for a while the game drifted somewhat. An occasional attacking shot meant the run rate didn't get completely out of hand, but neither side were on top. Mark Chapelhow replaced John Harley and eventually produced a wicket when the batsman waited so long for a slow ball that he was left with no power in his shot and hit it tamely to Martin Bartlett. However as the twenty overs approached the batsmen started to take more chances and the run rate required remained steady at around 7 an over. James Turner replaced Chapelhow and took a wicket when a big swing was launched too early and the ball bounced gently onto the stumps, but he and Chris Bartram both continued to concede runs at one end. Luckily at the other Martin Bartlett was bowling a very steady spell, picking up the wicket of Harrietsham skipper Martensteyn for 46 and conceding just 10 runs in six overs. This seemed to be swinging the game New Ash Green's way, but a critical moment came when Bartlett pulled up injured as he ran in to start his seventh over. He had to leave the field, depriving New Ash Green of their most economical bowler and of a fielder for the remainder of the innings. Matthew Quantrill kept things reasonably tight at one end, but couldn't break through, though he did look to have a run out with another direct hit at the bowler's end, but the umpire (the Harrietsham skipper) claimed the bat was in – which it may have been, as the batsman had thrown it some distance from him! Hashim Khan was enjoying the improving condition of the pitch and swinging at anything he could get his bat under, and he was scoring enough runs off John Harley and Quantrill's replacement Scott McKechnie to make up for the lack of much scoring from his partners, There was another critical moment when a straight hit was stopped by John Harley and flicked onto the stumps, catching Khan out of his ground, but the umpire again not looking and not giving it out despite calls form his own team on the sideline for a video decision. The game ebbed and flowed, and by the start of the last over Harrietsham needed 7 to win, and seemed favourites until Khan missed the first ball and was bowled by McKechnie. New Ash Green must have felt that they could at least hold on for the draw then, but nudges and edges left 2 needed from the last ball, and with the field in McKechnie lost control of the ball and bowled a head high full toss which the batsman deflected over slip for 4. It was something of a bitter pill to lose a game like that, but it made a pleasant change to actually have a close game for New Ash Green this year, and given the number of overs the sides had, the wickets lost, the doubtful decisions, the much improved batting conditions and the injury to Martin Bartlett this was truly a game where a defeat felt like something of a moral victory!