11th May v Weald (A)
A new season for the 2nd XI started at the picturesque ground of Weald on Saturday. It was a beautiful afternoon and spirits were high when we won the toss and chose to field. The groundsman had done a great job to produce a straw-coloured seck, but Dave the stand-in skipper suggested it would be tricky to bat on early on.
Down to ten men it could have been a long afternoon indeed, but there was plenty of energy is the field. Ben Roberts opened the bowling down the hill and after a couple of sighters got his radar locked-in. He bowled with good pace and a “heavy ball” that kept the scoring down in the early overs. Will Plunkett kindly took on responsibility for running up the hill and delivered 9 excellent overs, broken only by the drinks break at 15 overs. Both ended up wicket-less, Ben unable to complete his full nine overs due to a nasty blister that was brought on by wearing formal shoes to his rugby end-of-season on the evening before.
With the score on around 50 for none from the first twelve overs things were in reasonable shape. Thomas Plunkett, younger brother of Will was one of our two under-13s in our side, and he took the first change from Ben. He bowled well, in two spells of 4 and 3 overs, unphased by the challenge of facing experienced batsmen with wickets in hand. He kept the ball up and rarely lost his line which was impressive, finishing with figures of 7-0-0-45. Our first wicket came from the arm of Sam Poynter our second U13, making his adult cricket debut for SCC. He bowled the settled opener with one that kept low but was gun barrel straight. This brought Brooker to the crease, who made 80 odd in the same fixture last year and was remembered by Nick Fowler who came on to replace Will. We went more defensive in the field, challenging him to hit over the top on the leg-side which he threatened to do repeatedly before Nick got him with one that turned past the bat, bowling him for a relatively cheap 15. Poynter picked up a second, whipped off middle stump to the leg-side only to be brilliantly and laconically caught in one hand by Will at square leg. This flurry of wickets and Will’s excellent grab boosted our energy further and when Fowler bowled their opening bat for 25, Weald were 116-4 and the skipper started to believe we would keep them below 200. Their batsmen had other ideas, swinging hard at anything off line and making crucial boundaries. Calypso replaced Poynter who ended with an excellent 5-1-2-25, and picked up a couple of wickets. Juggling the bowling to make up the overs he switched ends and bowled less effectively up the hill getting a couple more but also being whacked for plenty in his penultimate over by Banerjee who ended up 50 not out. With Weald’s lower order making brisk but effective contributions they managed to push their score to 224-8 in 40 overs. So, not under the 200 we’d hoped but a creditable performance in the field with no dropped catches. The bowling of Tom and Sam and the catch of Will’s were the highlights. Tristan kept well with no missed chances.
It’s fair to say we could have batted better. Price and Thorpe opened against Banerjee who bowled very tidy medium pace, giving no room and a leg spinner who quickly settled on his line and length. Tristan swept effectively from him for four to start the scoring. Thorpe got hold of him as well and thought he’d punched it back past the bowler only for him to stick out an arm and take a good caught and bowled chance. The first of five ducks. Calypso fell for 1 playing around a turning ball that stayed low. The redoubtable Fowler went in at four and was the backbone of our slim innings. Determined to exceed our previous lowest score (29), Fowler hung in whilst the middle order fell around him. Plunkett senior came and went for a duck after Price fell for 5. Tom Poynter, Sam’s father, who had expected to spectate rather than play was bowled by the relentless Banerjee first ball. Yaz denied the hatrick ball and stuck with Fowler for a few overs as we got the score towards 29. Roberts bashed a boundary after Fowler fell. Sam looked stylish and kept the bowlers out ending up 1 not out on senior debut. Tom was the ninth and final wicket to fall caught off Barnes who took four wickets after a wayward start.
It was a tough afternoon and not at all what we’d hoped for, but the game was played in good spirits and the youngsters in our side did well. We are a better side than that and we will come back stronger. Calypso needs to take some skippering lessons and has an even greater appreciation for what it takes to be captain and for Ben Harrison who did the role so well before him for all of those years. Onwards and upwards!
18th May v Fordcombe (A)
Match two of the season saw us play Fordcombe 1st XI at home following a pitch inspection to confirm playability after the heavy rain on Friday evening. Both teams were keen to play despite the general dampness. Fordcombe won the toss and chose to field under leaden skies.
Tristan opened with Hassan, a new player to Speldhurst, an experienced batsmen who has played for Southborough. Despite our initial concerns over the literal sticky wicket we started brightly, helped by some wayward and short pitched bowling that skidded on nicely. Tristan hit the first ball of the innings for four and collected regular boundaries over the opening overs to keep things ticking over nicely. Hassan supported well, pushing singles and playing with a sound technique until the 7th over when he clipped one aerially down the hill and was caught with the score on 31. Calypso went in at three and added 21 with Tristan albeit at a slower rate as the Fordcombe bowlers settled into their work and made use of the drying pitch that had begun to pop occasionally off a length. Closing on drinks the pair has a chat about accelerating the scoring by putting more pressure on the fielders. The plan was good but the execution was lacking as Calypso called Tristan through for a tight single when the bowler parried a backfoot drive. Price was about a foot short of his crease and run out for a well made 31.
James Flemington who was playing his first game of the season came and went in a single ball as the bowler rudely bowled a decent one first up. Fowler, who had driven to and from Worcester in the morning came in at five and we’d added seven before Calypso slapped a full toss at cover and was caught for 16. Oakenfold and Fowler pushed the score to 72 before Oakenfold was caught for 2. Ben Roberts came in next at 7 and made 2 before being caught.
This brought in Matt Johnston who was making his debut for the club having last played cricket 25 years ago and being a decent baseball player 20 years ago! Matt was full of enthusiasm but confessed in the G&D after the game that the bowling looks much easier from the pavilion than when you’re standing in the middle :-). Fowler fell next without advancing the total and we were 76-7. This brought Shaz to the crease, and unexpectedly promoted a couple of batting positions due to the speed with which the wickets were falling. Johnston wound up for one which would have cleared the village hall had he hit it. Unfortunately he didn’t and we were 8 down with the score stuck at 76. Thorpe and Shaz hung around for a few overs keeping the bowlers out but not making huge progress on the scoring front.
With Thorpe caught for 1, Sam Poynter bustled to the crease full of youthful confidence. He played a couple of decent balls before Shaz called him through for a very optimistic run and he was run out with the score on 79. We’d more than doubled our score from the previous week but it was another tough day with the bat in difficult conditions.
Over the 20 minutes during the innings break the sun emerged from behind the clouds and the the afternoon took on a far more summery feel. It’s fair to say that Fordcombe had the better of the ‘seeing’ conditions, although the pitch remained tricky to bat on.
Ben Roberts opened the bowling from the pavilion end, having recovered from a nasty blister he developed in the previous game. He bowled some good balls with decent pace. J Flem bowled from the village hall end and after a couple of looseners, settled into an immaculate line and length, challenging the outside edge.
The Fordcombe openers batted positively, seizing on anything loose and benefiting from a much drier outfield than we had contended with. One highlight (?) was the ball disappearing into the newly constructed shed off the bowling of J Flem as it passed through the gap between the door and the frame for 4 byes. Having not yet learned the combination for the lock, there was a short delay whilst the skipper retrieved his phone to look it up.
With the ball retrieved J Flem continued to bowl well and was rewarded in his 3rd over picking up the wicket of Zeeshan for 6, caught by the ever-dependable Fowler, with the score on 26. A glimmer of hope then, that got stronger when J Flem picked up the new batter with the next ball caught very well by Sam Poynter at extra cover.
There was a renewed energy and a feeling that we could still be in the game if we could get a couple more. Benjy Shackleton (expertly coached at Speldhurst as an 11-year-old), batted well making 23, before we was caught by Fowler off the bowling of Poynter with the score on 49. Needing only 31 to win Richard Shackleton supported his skipper Max O’Collins who made a rapid 40 and finished the game, hitting Fowler for successive fours.
It was another heavy defeat but we’d made progress with a better batting performance. There was continued encouragement in the performance of Sam Poynter who bowled and fielded well. He also did an admirable job of scoring, on both the book and the app. At one point he also managed to fit in an ice cream when the van arrived at the ground. True multi-tasking. It was great to see J Flem again and he bowled an effective spell in his first outing. Our ground fielding was solid and Fowler ever-reliable in the field, taking all the chances that came his way.
There is no 2nd XI game next week but we are intending to do a net session to practice 🙂 if we continue to double our runs every week then I’m looking forward to our fourth match when we should make close to 300!
Speldhurst Cricket Club 