Farningham 2nd XI (H)
3rd June 2023
The opposition: Farningham. Position: top of the league. A very long day in the sun threatened.
It all started in typically organised fashion, as the captain realised that his wicketkeeping gloves were halfway to Four Elms in the boot of Muddy’s car. After obliterating the landspeed record on the way to (and from) Hildenborough, captain Happy arrived late but was pleased to find all duties complete. Now just to win the toss…
This did not happen. We bowled first, and the wicket resembled the M25 shortly after a total resurfacing. Omar and Plunkett opened proceedings youthfully, and two near-perfect overs from Omar were rewarded with a wicket, but was then curtailed by run-up troubles. Plunkett toiled heroically, bowling with good pace and tightened his length up well. J Flem also managed to nab a wicket, and was finally able to work out where he was chucking it when threatened to be taken off. Drinks: 100-4. Balanced.
The next 20 overs belonged to Farningham, despite bowling them out. Playdell single-mindedly hacked his way along slowly, whilst their number five mixed up some village mows with some extraordinary sixes that seemed to best gravity. They ended on 238, wickets shared. Mostly tidy middle overs spin from Zach and Mark, and excellent death bowling from Omar and (the world’s most dangerous bowler) Ejas.
239 to win was daunting. Until the third over went for 22 runs. Happy and M Flem had the 100 up after 15 overs before Happy (75) fell before drinks to the slowest bowler ever to grace the Speldhurst square. Distraught. M Flem and Calypso then resolutely saw off the slows whilst the latter got his eye in, before M Flem (40) swished at one too many.
The last 15 overs were the Calypso-Fowler Show. Some quick running made the most of a defensive field, and some swashbuckling biffs made the most of some iffy bowling. Both batsmen brilliant. Needing 7 runs per over for the last 15 seemed steep, but any nerves were quashed by Calypso (61) bludgeoning (beautifully) 17 off the 33rd over. Fowler (45) then took 12 from the 36th, despite both his feet falling off, and we were basically home and dry. Vingt points dans le sac.
Well done to all, a truly brilliant win. And sorry to all those who didn’t get a bat or bowl (didn’t plan on getting to 240 with eight wickets in hand!) Scorecard.
Four Elms 2nd XI (A)
10th June 2023
It was 31 degrees. The Four Elms pavilion shimmered in the distance as we stalked across the outfield from the car park, factor 50 stained our skin pale, and the words “win the toss and bat or I’m going home” rang in the Skipper’s ears as he wandered back out to the middle.
Luckily, Four Elms boasted a grand total of four players at 12.55pm, so the toss was forfeited, match (graciously) delayed, and we were set to bat.
When we did get underway, and after a brief scare of seeing A. Kale on the teamsheet (it was his son, thankfully), an unchanged top four brimmed with confidence after last week. Unfortunately, the pitch contained more demons than expected and the Skipper showed enough ineptitude towards the variable bounce to lose his wicket early. Luckily, that brought Calypso to the crease: top of the fantasy standings for willow-wielders. Could he keep his place? He could. 95 runs amassed at nearly a run a ball, cutting the Panama hat-toting West Indian opening bowler, sweeping the burly South African spinner, and dispatching wayward children to the boundary with disdain. Out in the final over selflessly and selfishly chasing runs.
M Flem, Fowler and Mark Thorpe continued their own good form, accompanying Calypso throughout his innings, and Freddie Franks made quite the impact on his league debut, clubbing 36 from 22 to help set Four Elms a daunting 227 to win. Slightly above par.
Tea: bar was open, see attached.
Fielding was never going to be our strong suit. A multitude of injuries, both existing and newly acquired, meant mobility was at an all time low. That said, every member of the team gave their absolute all in every over, and without that effort the second half could have been very different.
Omar opened the bowling, instantly swinging the ball viciously into the left handers and uprooted the middle stump with ball number three. Unfortunately that brought Allman to the crease. 130ish last year. He waited patiently for the occasional loose delivery, pounced, and brought up his 50 in reasonably quick time. At 100-1, the game was on a knife edge. Omar, Nick and Freddie had bowled well, but with no further breakthrough. Enter: Calypso. First over: breakthrough, batsman flattened, bails dislodged, words exchanged.
Nine over spells from spin twins Flemington and Calypso dominated the middle overs, with Calypso finding wickets (3-53), and M Flem finding dots (0-36). Unfortunately, as Four Elms did, we kept dropping catches, and if we’d held on to even half this would’ve been a very simple win. Nick Fowler didn’t though, and snaffled two important ones. The highlight, however, was (one-legged) Harrison Snr’s diving catch (graceful tumble?) to dismiss their dangerous captain, sparking a lower order collapse and turning the game.
Some very tidy death bowling from Omar (2-49), Nick Fowler (1-20) and Freddie (2-44) finished off proceedings, and the game was in the bag.
Injured players: 5. Dropped catches: lost count… Points: 20. Scorecard
Flimwell 1st XI (A)
10th June 2023
A strong 2nd XI meandered their way through heavy traffic to Flimwell on Saturday, and an inspiring Stuart Broad spell on the way down had convinced the captain that immediate pressure on bottom-of-the-league Flimwell was on the menu.
Unfortunately, the decision to bowl first was met with troubled looks and raised eyebrows from fellow teammates. Perhaps correctly!
The first 20 overs moved at a snail’s pace (for me). The sun burst through the clouds as soon as we took the field, and some recent university returners had unexpectedly bolstered the Flimwell opening partnership.
Despite the distractions, Amir and Siraj bowled admirably sharing the new ball. Amir a tad rusty from several months bookworming, but Siraj bowled his usual immaculate channel with his usual complete lack of luck, and finished wicketless. Ejas and Freddie completed the four-man pace attack, but both struggled to adjust to the sloping Flimwell pitch, and we chaperoned the oppo to 104-1 at drinks.
Something needed to change. Ideally it would have been the captain (who felt a little queasy with his decision-making) but we opted for a change of pace instead. And it worked! Spin twins Calypso and M Flem settled into long spells, dismissed their lanky opener and exposed their weaker middle order. Wickets fell at regular intervals, two for M Flem and another three for Calypso, both bowling with accuracy, spin and bounce. A big step up in fielding also helped our cause, and featured two sharp run-outs. The second 20 overs: 86-7. MUCH better.
Tea was generally genial.
190 looked utterly chaseable at 0-0. At 22-2, having lost Skipper strangled down leg and Calypso ‘fine being away from the middle’, it looked trickier. But The Oak, a man on a mission, had other ideas. Grabbing the role of momentum-builder with both hands, he bludgeoned 32 at better than a run a ball to push the field back for the rest of the innings. The losses of Oak and J Flem, both attempting aerial acceleration, arrested our fast progress for a short while, but M Flem and Ejas provided stabilisation as we found ourselves at 63-4. An excellent and sensible 50 partnership followed. Needed.
Once M Flem perished having done his job, Freddie and Ejas took us home in style and rapid fashion. Freddie showed his class by biffing the red to all parts. Ejas was even musclier, scoring his first EVER 50 in some style. Blocking anything remotely dangerous, and swotting anything else with pure disdain. His six over the trees (see attached) was still on the way up as it disappeared into the clouds. He’d waited 19 years for that ball.
In the end, the match was finished with another six and a five-wicket win was secured. Three victories on the bounce, and up to fifth in the table. Handy. Scorecard
Stonehouse 1st XI (A)
24th June 2023
Match report: 2nd XI v Stonehouse
The stage was set. Speldhurst 2s were aiming for a fourth win on the bounce for the first time since 2013, and only Stonehouse stood in our way. After the debacle of last week, Skipper was delighted to lose the toss and was sent into bat. Only to continue his fine form and depart promptly after. Mass fantasy transfers for the week ahead, methinks.
Tristan and Calypso settled in against some good opening bowling, battling swing and variable bounce from one end and spin from the other. With liquids imbibed at 15 overs, the duo decided to up the ante. Some sharp running pushed the rate, but Tristan fell. But not before he’d biffed a few to the boundary for a good 32.
Ejas wasn’t able to capitalise on last week’s good form, but Freddie was. Another quick 30 from him, including a big straight six (completely ignoring captain instructions!) and we were rocketing towards a good total. Unfortunately, any good momentum was hampered by regular wickets falling. Ejas and Freddie bowled, Calypso chipped to mid-on for a swashbuckling 55, and Thorpe run out.
At one point it looked like we might crumble Speldy-style, but a few positive runs from Pannell Jnr and Plunkett, and some tail-wagging from Siraj and Omar got us to a respectable 186. Under par (probably), but certainly competitive.
But with a very strong bowling unit, confidence was high. Freddie was whipping up the team into a chirpy mood, Ejas ‘Mystic Meg’ Deane was feeling especially prophetic, and the crowd (Shaz and Yaz, not the Calypso Fan Club) was tucking into Domino’s on the boundary edge.
Siraj and Omar opened with threatening control, and the former was rewarded with a well-deserved LBW after weeks of painful bad luck with ball in hand. Omar (0-18) continued to swing the ball both ways, but the batsmen couldn’t get anywhere near him and he ended wicketless but economical.
Amir came on and struck immediately. Predicted by Ejas of course, Chris took a good fast catch at backward point. And then again, as if watching the highlights of the first. Suddenly Stonehouse had their three best batters back in the hutch and we were firmly on top.
We continued to pick up wickets when we needed them, but Stonehouse continually re-applied pressure with a sharp scoring rate. Number of overs was not going to be an issue. Amir and Freddie (1-26) picked up a wicket each, and Calypso (1-30) carried on where he left off in his thundering new role as all-rounder. Amir (3-41) in particular bowled fabulously with good pace and rhythm, seaming the ball both ways (not in the same delivery). Ejas continued to lend his mysticism, predicting Freddie’s lithe boundary run-out and the tweaking the field (without consulting the captain, of course) to ensure Will (1-21) was rewarded with a good catch the very next ball.
Siraj returned and promptly finished things off with two wickets. Mild discomfort only as their number nine picked off this second (perfectly good) ball for a towering six, but he was well gobbled by Thorpe at mid-on as Siraj finished with an excellent 3-25.
So another 20 points, 120% pub attendance, and the first ‘Perfect Month’ in living memory (we also managed 80 points in June 2019, but only thanks to a concession). We now sit only two points from the promotion places in Div 6, but only eight points separate five teams in the middle. Over to the 1s…
Speldhurst Cricket Club 
You must be logged in to post a comment.