8th May v Bearsted CC 1st XI
Match abandoned due to rain
15th May v Outwood CC 1st XI
Having agreed to reduce the overs to 25 per side, captain Ben Brandt won an important toss and although the track was dry, there was plenty of early movement and Mike Jeffreys (4-29) produced a match-defining opening spell in which he dismissed Outwood’s top three batsmen for only two runs between them – one bowled and two lbw (their umpire!).
Despite three rain interruptions during the innings, all of our bowlers maintained a stranglehold throughout and a final total of 97-6 was unlikely to be enough if we batted remotely well.
An aggressive tone was set from the start, and a belligerent second wicket stand of 81 between Ollie Crees (43) and Mark Utting (37) put the result beyond doubt. This was the first time we have managed to beat Outwood away in the league and, for skipper Brandt, it provided a much-cherished first victory after more than a year of waiting!
Take a look at the scorecard here.
22nd May v Bidborough CC 1st XI
Match abandoned due to rain
29th May v Meopham CC 1st XI
Skipper Brandt chose to field first and all were reasonably happy to contain the opposition to 183 all out from 40 overs. At 117-6 we might have hoped for even less. The wickets were shared around but Mike Jeffreys once again took the bowling honours with 4-35 – two at the top and two at the death.
In reply we lost our top three early and were tottering at 21-3 before a partnership of 88 between Ben Brandt and Harry Fitzgerald brought us back into the game. Ben was then bowled for 37 but Harry pressed on in dominating fashion, well supported by MJ (30*) and we were able to celebrate a 6-wicket victory with 9 balls remaining. Harry finished 79 not out – a fabulous knock under pressure!
Take a look at the scorecard here.
See the full list of individual batting, bowling and fielding statistics for the current 1st XI league season.
Speldhurst Cricket Club 