7th August v Linton Park CC
Match cancelled due to rain
14th August v Eynsford CC
Match conceded due to lack of availability
21st August v Southborough CC
Last minute injury, illness and a flat tyre meant that the 2s started their crunch match against Southborough with just 9 players. An unideal start indeed, but with a strong team we were still confident. A steady start from our opening pair of James Roche and Mark Flemington saw a good new ball attack blunted. Mark’s departure was quickly followed by Chris Pannell – a delivery that most cricketers would not have survived. Nick Fowler joined James and a counterattack ensued: a measured partnership of 60 brought Roche (54) his half century; young Benji Dekker was then deceived by a delivery descending from the stratosphere; and a quick partnership of 50 with skipper Harrison accelerated Fowler towards a sensational season’s best 62*.
Defending 149 in 30 overs was more than achievable, and with an opening bowling partnership feature two Roches the crowd could hardly contain their excitement. Unfortunately, Southbrough were strong, belying their (former) position at the bottom of the table. Measured batting brushed off our stellar opening attack just one wicket down, and our first change of Siraj Deane (1-21) and Alex Lees (2-23) bought us wickets at the expense of runs. In the end, Southborough reached our total with overs to spare. Half centuries from Roche and Fowler and some very promising leg spin from young Alex Lees were the highlights and with two games remaining, points are needed for survival. It will be an exciting two weeks!
28th August v Sissinghurst
Our opposition took the wise decision to bat first on a flat looking track which had yielded runs all year. Opening bowlers Skipper and Harry Dunmall (2-33) struggled to hold the door as they were greeted by a pre-disgruntled opening batsman, who clearly had frustration to expel. But at 50-0 from seven overs, we took 3-6 in the next five. Game on. Very tidy middle overs from Mark Flemington and Paul Eames, two fantastic catches from Iqbal Sidhu, and an astonishing spell of death bowling from James Roche (4-15 from 9 overs) and Dunmall were the highlights. In the end, 162-9 understated what was our best bowling and fielding performance of the year.
Our batting, however, suffered from the same affliction as always. The top order struggled to score against tidy opening bowling, and when the first change offered little rest-bite we found ourselves 63-6 with just 15 overs left. A 50 partnership from Harrison (56) and Dunmall (39) took it deep, but we lost Dunmall with 43 still to win from 36 balls. New man Mark Thorpe was caught valiantly swinging the bat. Mr Eames ran like a maniac for several overs (including a two to short mid-wicket!) But 20 from the final over was too many, and we fell eight runs short.
Speldhurst Cricket Club 