Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th May
Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th May
Kent Regional Cricket League - 46 Overs per side
New Ash Green (4pts) 155 all out (46 overs)
Holborough Anchorians (20 pts) 156-3 (23.5 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 7 wickets
It was a promising start for New Ash Green, despite the shortage of first team regulars. Asked to bat first on a wicket which was never helpful to the batsmen they started soundly with each opener getting off the mark with a rasping cover drive for four. Matt Clark looked as if he belonged at the top of the order in league cricket, and Matthew Quantrill maintained his early season form, and it was only a superb low catch from another good drive that broke the partnership. Andy Harrington hasn't had much batting this season, but played solidly as Quantrill continued to prosper and although they weren't racing through the runs they looked to be setting a very solid base for a score over 200. Quantrill reached his fifty with a six, but then inexplicably played a soft shot straight to mid off, after which things started to all away. Harrington timed a few shots but was beaten by bounce, and although Joe Elisak looked the part momentarily only Karl Bartlett was able to survive long, ending on 19 not out, though Martin Ives also connected with a couple of solid blows. The remaining wickets tumbled, culminating in a hat trick off the final three balls of the innings, which concluded with Dan Lewsey swinging and missing, and seeing the ball rebound off the keepers pads onto the stumps as he wandered out of his ground. Nonetheless with the team available and on the unhelpful wicket it was a sound enough total, which suggests the side may well be competitive when at full strength in this division. That feeling has frequently existed in the past, but the performances of Matt Clark, Karl Bartlett and Joe Elisak in particular did suggest there is real hope that the side can at last develop some strength in depth in the batting.
If there were batsmen missing this was doubly the case on the bowling front, with none of the likely first choice bowling line up available. Dan Lewsey opted to try something different by opening with Joe Elisak's spin, but the first ball was marginally over pitched and was clouted for six on the full by Atif Ahmed. Ahmed continued to play aggressively, but less convincingly, for the next few overs and there followed something of a cat and mouse game with the unfortunate Lee Saunders, as the ball constantly dropped tantalisingly near him at square leg, either just out of reach or to give difficult chances which he failed to hold, much to his disgust – though it provided him with a valuable lesson on the merits (or otherwise) of mixing the excesses of student life with league cricket. Ahmed did eventually fall when he charged Dan Lewsey but was beaten by the ballooning bounce and was stumped. After that, though, Holborough's skipper Chris Skilton played a rather more sensibly aggressive innings, ably supported by Pete Hudson, and despite some useful balls from the bowlers the loose balls were put away aggressively and the partnership took them to the brink of victory before Skilton got a thin edge to one from Adam Brown. The pitch still had time to take another victim as one form Andy Harrington bounced and took the glove, but Holborough coasted to a victory that would have been far more of a struggle against New Ash Green's first choice bowlers. As ever the team can be competitive if it wants to be, it just requires the commitment to support the developing talent that undoubtedly does exist.
Scorecard
Current League Table
New Ash Green conceded
Another difficult week for availability left the bulk of what should have been the second team playing in the first team, and no chance of putting out a second team, so the game had to be conceded.
Friendly Match - Proper Cricket
Horton Kirby 245-6 (36 overs)
New Ash Green 120 all out (29.5 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 125 runs
After some misunderstanding over the fixture a weak New Ash Green side ended up playing Horton Kirby's first team, who even with a few hangers on were really in a different league to most of the New Ash Green side. The bowlers were all a little expensive, but none disgraced themselves and no batsman got past 55, though New Ash Green's fielding did let the bowlers down somewhat. There were two wickets for Ryan McKivett and Dan Lewsey and one each for John Harley, in a marathon stint, and Chris Sooknanan in a rather shorter spell, and Ryan Harley bowled well but lacked support from his fielders.
Having misunderstood the time regulations Horton Kirby's skipper had batted on longer than he meant to and so opened the game up from the start, bowling spin himself from the off. It was enough to do for Dan Lewsey, swinging and missing at the second ball, but Dave Harley and Karl Bartlett had a very positive second wicket stand, thumping the ball around with confidence and taking advantage of a few fielding lapses as well. At 63-1 approaching the start of the 20 overs the win wasn't on but a respectable performance looked likely, until Bartlett was beaten by the spin and fell for 33. That was the trigger for mass panic, and in the blink of an eye the score had subsided to 67-6 and then 78-7. The unlikely JH combination of Jasper Holliday and John Harley stopped the rot, making 28 for the 8th wicket before Holliday was caught behind for 13. Harley continued to swing merrily, adding another 14 for the 9th wicket with his nephew Ryan, before eventually being out (for the first time this season) for 20, his highest score for the club. The end followed shortly, but given the mismatch between the sides it appears to have been a reasonably entertaining game all round.