1st July v Eynsford (H)
Eynsford was always going to be a useful outfit. Considered one of Speldhurst’s (many) bogey teams, AND top of the league. After a perfect June, could we start July in a similar fashion?
The pitch was green and spongy, making it one of the easier decisions to bowl after winning the toss with Peter’s lucky double-headed coins. Omar and Will did so very commendably once again. Both bowled with control with only infrequent discrepancies in either line or length, but very rarely at the same time. Plunks removed the younger Hamill opener, whilst the elder stuck around without troubling the scorer too much. Long, economical spells and sharp fielding meant we were reasonably content in restricting them to about 70-1 at drinks. Pressure on them.
Pressure oft produces opportunity for bowling profit. And it did. But Eynsford rode their luck well and their number three batted excellently, anchoring their innings. Dubbel-Mark (Utting plus Flem) bowled with rigid control for their nine overs each, largely restricting boundaries to the dangerous downhill side and picked up wickets in the meantime. Calypso snaffled a good c ‘n’ b, and returned very tidy figures despite self-criticism. Big O came back and picked up a deserved wicket at the death. 179-6. Chaseable on a flattening deck.
Batting: Captain Happy’s day finished similarly to recent weeks: swatted a couple of bad balls away and then was found completely insufficient in the face of a better ball. Luckily, M Flem and Calypso also batted as they have all summer: M Flem resolutely; Calypso vivaciously. Suddenly we’re 100-1 and very much on top. Calypso was advancing and driving, M Flem cutting and glancing. After that though, the situation unravelled swiftly.
M Flem fell trying to clear the infield one time too many, Fowler was juggled then held in the deep, and Calypso’s leading edge proved his downfall after dispatching the prettiest of straight maximums. 2s newbie Mark Utting looked comfy as you like, and his brand new willow produced boundaries but was then bested. Eames Jnr and Calypso Jnr looked promising, both hitting the odd boundary, but ran runs had dried up and the pressure of doing a ‘Speldy’ was building. Ultimately, it was too much. Despite a thumping, baseball six from Plunkett (his first, he proclaimed gleefully) and downright stubbornness from Thorpe, we succumbed to a seven-run loss in the final over.
A fabulous game of cricket against a very amenable opposition, but the streak is over. Attention turns to Marden, their balcony, bar and electronic scoreboard. Not one to miss out on! Oh and we amassed 12 (!) losing points and we’re still 5th. Good stuff.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/5547974
8th July v Marden (A)
The twos arrived at Marden under grey skies and in warm, humid air. The facilities, described by our regular captain as the best in the county, did not disappoint. We were quickly ushered in to one of the many available changing rooms with room to swing many cats.
Temporary skipper Calypso, who last captained an under 14s side (as a 14-year-old, it should be added), lost the toss. Rob, the very friendly and equally stand-in captain chose to bat first on what he gleefully described as a road after the coin came up tails.
Undaunted, Speldhurst acquitted themselves well thought-out the afternoon with good concentration and sharpness, despite the sticky conditions and a first innings extended by a rain interruption. Benjy, Freddy’s mate from Uni was particularly athletic, pulling out several boundary-saving stops in the opening overs. We began with the youthful pace of Omar and Amir who both bowled well on what was, indeed, a road. Omar bagged the first wicket in the fifth over with a beautiful inswinger to the left-handed opener, the ball nipping back further to clatter into the top of leg stump. Amir did well to adjust his line to accommodate a regular rotation between left and right-hander and bowled economically throughout. The rain began to fall in the tenth over with the score on 56-1 which meant we experienced the novelty of helping the Marden team roll on their covers before retiring for shelter. All told, we were off for around 45 minutes.
It felt like a day to keep the bowlers rotating. Roche Jr came on as first change and bowled tidily, often beating the outside edge but without luck in his opening spell. An acceleration in scoring forced more changes with Freddy and M Flem coming on just before drinks. Franks bowled exuberantly and could be heard commentating on his own efforts from time to time. Mark bowled with control picking up 3 wickets, including the two top scorers. He was the only bowler to complete his allotted overs as the skipper searched for answers at the other end. Calypso brought himself on in the 29th over only to be dispatched to all parts by an alarmingly big-hitting number five (Gedney). Having conceded 41 in 3 overs he withdrew from battle and went back to Roche, joined by Ejas to finish the innings. Both bowled well to contain the onslaught, Roche picking up a wicket in his final over to finish with excellent figures off 1 for 36 from 8. Ejas bowled the best spell the stand-in skipper has seen him bowl, with good pace and a decent line. He picked up the crucial wicket of Gedney, stumps splattered, without which the chase would surely have been in excess of 300. By the end we needed 286 to win.
With the required run rate at 7 an over without a ball bowled, the batting response began with Roche and Freddy, both of whom made rapid progress in the opening few overs. Freddy continued his form as cameo-maker in chief, whacking the ball hard to the boundary in a rapid 14 and running hard to support the elegant Roche. Hearts were in mouths early when Roche clipped for 6 off his legs and through the hands of a boundary riding deep-midwicket, but it was Freddy who fell first. He told the skipper later that he’d lost the sight in his left eye for a moment due to over exertion and felt it best to crack on for the good of the team. Calypso joined Roche in a stand that pushed the innings to around 130 by the drinks break. Roche batted sublimely with effortless boundary hitting and the pair ran hard to keep in touch of the required rate. Starting again after drinks against two slower bowlers tempered the rate slightly and Calypso fell for 47 to the pesky leading edge, trying to clip the ball behind on the leg side.
In an effort to keep the scoring rate up Ejas went in at 4 and obliged with some lusty blows, but the required run rate began to climb despite his efforts. Roche fell next, caught after making a very pretty 70 and from there wickets fell regularly with progress towards the required total slowing. Calypso gave M Flem out for LBW after debating all possible reasons that the ball might not have hit the stumps and coming up short. Tristan pushed a few in a situation not ideally suited to his game. Benjy batted brightly and struck what looked to be a straight-ish six before an athletic fielder appeared on the boundary and snaffled it to cut short his debut. Amir’s dismissal first ball meant Yaz faced a Stokesian umbrella field when he came in but he defended stoutly to snuff out the prospect and hit a well struck four in the next over to continue the resistance. Omar showed his batting talents with some very correct drives belying his spot at 8. Shaz and he kept the bowlers at bay until the 36th over when Omar played across the line and was adjudged LBW, leaving Shaz, unbeaten on 2 and Speldhurst 100 runs short of the target.
It was a shame to lose for the second week in a row, but the effort couldn’t be faulted. The game was played in good spirits and several of the Speldhurst XI joined the Marden players for a Harvey’s on the balcony overlooking the ground as the heat and stickiness went out of the day.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/5547982
15th July v Groombridge (H)
It was another difficult week for the Saturday 2s, hosting an in-form Groombridge 1s at home. Calypso, the stand-in captain, lost a second toss in as many weeks and Speldhurst were invited to bat first on what we thought could literally be a “sticky wicket” following the copious rain on Friday. With the wind picking up as predicted it didn’t make for the friendliest of batting conditions.
Joe Oakenfold opened the batting with M Flem and was quick to latch on to some short, wayward bowling, hoisting a mighty six down the hill toward the Price’s house to get the innings off to a good start. Speldhurst made rapid progress, mostly from the bat of Oakenfold to reach 20 inside the first three overs before he holed out for 18 looking for another boundary. This brought Calypso to the crease and together with Mark they batted steadily against an improving length and line from the two opening bowlers. Both bowled with good pace on a wicket that seamed and bounced appreciably. Calypso fell next, walking after tickling one fine to the keeper who took a good catch down the leg side.
This brought the dependable J Flem to the crease to join Mark and for a few overs we had a productive father/son partnership. Mark nudged the ball into vacant areas and ran quickly. J Flem hit some pretty strokes through the covers and began to nullify the impact of the opening attack, before Mark was bowled for 9. The first change in bowling saw a spate of four consecutive wides before Secker tightened his line and bowled with decent pace and an awkward, high angle. Tristan batted well with James for a few overs pushing several boundaries down the hill along the ground to reach 16, the third-highest score of the innings. Things were stabilising when J Flem pushed the ball into the offside close to a fielder. Tristan thought a run was possible and committed himself to making it happen. Unfortunately, James was of a different opinion and remained within his crease as Price arrived to join him, decelerating forlornly as he did so. With both batsmen at the village hall end, Groombridge had plenty of time to complete the run out and Tristan trudged back to the pavilion.
From there the Speldhurst innings began to falter. Ejas came and went for 4 having bravely fended off a nasty short delivery. He was followed by Siraj, LBW for 4. Yaz was given out caught first ball from another brutish short ball from Secker who had hit an excellent line and challenging length. P Eames Jr. made 1, but hung around for long enough for J Flem to add more useful runs. Mark Thorpe came up against a useful spell from Tuscano, their off-spinner, who turned the ball significantly, beating the thrusting Thorpe and eventually getting one through the gate. Amir, batting last did well, ending up 7 not out and enabling J Flem to reach a well-made 54 before he was stumped seeking to add late runs to push the total further. In the end, Speldhurst subsided to 135 all out, with 16 extras contributing equal third-top score.
Tea was an excellent affair featuring four homemade cakes courtesy of Lizzie, Alison, Min and Judy. This went some way to lifting a deflated Speldhurst side and they took the field in windy conditions, with an optimistic plan to rotate bowling regularly to keep the Groombridge batsmen off balance.
J Flem and Siraj opened the bowling but the plan was quickly quashed with some very aggressive batting from the Groombridge openers including two enormous sixes, one straight, from the pavilion end, dispatched into the nursery garden and a second, even bigger and louder threatening the glass in Tristan’s house. J Flem, reading the signs, requested he be removed from the attack after a couple of overs and we turned to the spin of M Flem to stem the flow. Mark bowled well again with good control, conceding only 25 from his full allocation of 9 overs and crucially removing both the big-hitting opener and their number three who had an even bigger back lift and a bat swing threatened even longer blows. At 50 ish for 2, from not many overs, Speldhurst did well to force Groombridge to take drinks at 20 overs. Oakenfold bowled tidily for 5 overs, extracting as much spin as his Groombridge opposite number, but without luck. Ejas again came on for a last hurrah, instructed by his skipper to bowl as hard and fast as he could to see if he could disrupt Groombridge’s serene progress. He did exactly that, unlucky not to burst through to bowl their number two with a beautiful yorker. In the change between this and the final over both batsmen could be heard wondering why Ejas had not bowled earlier – a tactical error by the stand-in skippy. From there it was a formality. Groombridge knocked off the final runs, completing their innings in comfort at 139 for 2.
Another week, another loss, and in the post-match reflection we concluded that it was one of those days, not a great day for cricket, a lacklustre performance by the Speldhurst side, but fun nonetheless and with cause for optimism with the form of Ejas and Amir. And we won the battle of extras, conceding only 7 🙂
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/5547987
22nd July v Pembury (A)
ABANDONED
29th July v Weald (H)
Frankly, July has been slightly less fun than our triumphant and unbeaten June. Zero wins for the month had put a little pressure on the mighty 2s, but that could all change as we welcomed Weald, our bogey team, to the Rec. Spongy wicket, so there was pressure on the toss, but Peter’s lucky ha’penny failed me, and we found ourselves walking out to bat…
It was a fleeting feeling however, as I heard my off-stump crash whilst leaving a straight one, and I walked back quite soon after. Iqbal joined me back in the Pav a few balls later, and to cap off a tremendous seven balls, J Flem trudged back after smacking a half-tracker at point. The phrase “you don’t win many matches from 5-3” was bandied around, and the day had the makings of a very unpleasant one.
Luckily, most of the team had other ideas, and the recovery was well underway when Flem and I went for a grumpy game of Boundary Bowls. It started with Fowler and Franks, both totally determined in defence, battling their inner aggressive tendencies they pushed and nurdled us back on track. When Freddie was bowled by one that kept a little low, Ejas took up the mantle. Again, belying natural tendencies and age, Ejas kept a cool head and allowed Nick to do the majority of the shot-making and six-biffing. Nick’s innings was one of domination in both defence and attack, and he brought up his excellent 50 with just 85 on the board. Unfortunately Ejas fell the very next ball, but help was not far away.
OLJ, in his annual cricketing appearance, looked comfortable immediately, but Nick fell soon after 50. Owain negotiated 17 invaluable runs, with able support from Siraj, Tristan, Yaz and Amir who all helped scramble our way to 142. Something to defend, but we needed to bowl well.
Luckily, we did. Siraj opened up, immediately settling into an immaculate line and length that every bat struggled to keep out, let alone score from. He bowled nine fantastic overs, taking 2-11, concluding one of the best spells of bowling seen at Speldhurst since Señor MJ’s best days (not that those are particularly behind him of course…). It was certainly the most dangerous spell of bowling the 2nd XI has ever seen.
All in all, 19 of our first 20 overs were bowled by Deanes, and they went for just 36 runs. Amir and Ejas backed up their father with complete accomplishment. Amir (1-13) picked up his deserved wicket: caught brother. Ejas (2-24) removed the leg stump of their dogged number four with his very first ball and bowled aggressively throughout, mixing violent inswinging yorkers with patient channel bowling.
Six down at drinks, and we were on top, but the dangerous (and grumpy) Brooker (averaging 80+ this season) was still there. He quickly made his way to 23 with a few very lusty blows to the leg-side boundary, which made us a little hot under the collar. Luckily, his general grumpiness led to some (very) lazy running, so we decided to REALLY piss him off, and run him out. Grumpiness visibly increased. Huge moment.
Their captain was now at the crease, who did his level best to shepherd their tail to the 142 they needed, but tight bowling throughout from J Flem and OLJ and wicket-taking prowess from Freddie got us their 10 wickets with 30 runs going spare. Comfy.
A superb all-round team performance, fantastic fielding from absolutely everyone (including a brilliant tumbling slip catch from J Flem), splattered with sensational individual performances from Fowler with the bat, Siraj with the ball, and me with the late-night pizza. Some are calling it the greatest sporting comeback in history. We’re not disagreeing.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/5547995
Speldhurst Cricket Club 