8th June v Stonehouse (A)
The 2s were away at Stonehouse this week in our fourth league match of the season. We welcomed Philip Saville to the team, playing his first match for a while, and answering the call from Francis when numbers were looking difficult for selection, mid-week. Abdul Rahman, who has played with the first team this season, also made his 2s debut.
We recorded our first win of the season which felt very good and will hopefully set us on a positive path for the next few games. Calypso won the toss and elected to field, preferring to chase on a wicket that didn’t look great, but was hard and ended up being an excellent batting track.
Ejas opened our bowling and tore in down this hill, generating plenty of pace and bounce. He was joined by Abdul who bowled with less fire but found good movement through the air. With the score on 7, the opener attempted to cut a short wide one from Ejas and managed only to pick out Johnston who took a good catch at extra cover. Our opening bowlers combined for our second wicket, Ejas taking a good catch in the deep as the batsman swung Rahman away towards third man with the score on 20.
As the sunshine of the early afternoon gave way to clouds and darkening skies the wickets came regularly. Ejas again, with a proper looking cricket wicket found the outside edge of their number three and the catch was taken smartly by Wesson, 20-3. Ejas struck again in the final over of his spell, another nick and another catch safely taken by Wesson with first slip appealing vociferously. Ejas finished an excellent opening spell with figures of 5-1-3-20. Stonehouse were 42-4 and Speldhurst 2s were winning.
Roberts, arriving straight from work in the morning arrived just in time to take the first change and was supported by Calypso replacing Rahman. Wickets continued to come with Calypso picking up 3 in his spell of 9 overs and Roberts bowling a beauty to dismiss their number 7. A funny moment arrived with Calypso taking the edge of the bat, only for the ball to spin high above the batsmen and seemingly hang in the air, a tantalising 3 feet from our keeper. Everyone on the pitch, except Ed, realised where the ball was and he was none the wiser as it dropped quietly back to the ground, spinning back on to the stumps for the most bizarre “played on” dismissal.
At 99-8 the skipper could be heard whispering to Wesson that he felt confident we’d be chasing a little over one hundred, and that we’d be back in Speldhurst for the England v Australia T20 fixture. Oh, the best laid plans. What followed was a mix of good resistance from the tail, some doughty blows and some fairly wayward bowling. As the sun re-emerged, both batsmen took a shine to Fowler who was deposited for a couple of large sixes. He was joined by Johnston, making his bowling debut after some practice in the nets. It’s fair to say that Matt got value from his spell of two overs, squeezing in three overs worth of deliveries and ending frustrated and wicketless, but determined to come back for more next week. Rahman and Poynter re-exerted some control, both taking wickets to finish the innings at 200 all out from 35 overs. Well done again, to Sam who impressed Ed with his bowling up the hill and ended up with the best economy of all bowlers 2-0-1-4.
At the break we were slightly puzzled at how it had got away from us, and Stonehouse were duly buoyed by their lower order performance. Still, the sun had come out and the light was good. Fowler, the archetypal team player, agreed to bat out of position and opened with Calypso. Their opening bowler who had eaten many cans of spinach and had enormous biceps charged in, Deane-like from the top end. He was joined by a slippery off-break bowler who didn’t turn it much sideways but varied his length and found the edge two or three times in his opening spell. We nudged and nurdled our way to 18 when Fowler was unlucky to get a rare straight, slower ball from the fast bowler, out for 1 with the score on 18.
In came Wesson at three, refreshed after a longer stint behind the stumps than planned. Both batsmen rode their luck as the increasingly chirpy Stonehouse side felt they were gaining an advantage. It looked for several overs like this would be another difficult batting day, but as their opening bowlers gave way to the second change, the balance began to shift. The pitch was bouncy and true and with the better bowlers resting, Wesson and Calypso made steady progress towards 87-1 at drinks. We continued in a similar fashion after the break, managing not to lose concentration and dare I say, beginning to enjoy the challenge. Calypso passed 50, followed shortly by Wesson and the pair had made a stand of 115 before Ed was finally bowled for an excellent 52 with the score on 131-2. His was the shot of the day, a smooth, well-timed cover drive all along the ground for four.
Poynter came in at 4, batting with excellent defence and a good dose of courage as the Stonehouse bowlers didn’t adjust for his age. There was a particularly nasty delivery that bounced and struck Sammy on his top hand, but he kept the ball down and didn’t back away. With 2 to his name, and looking to keep scoring he pushed one in the air and was caught, 154-3 with 8 overs to go.
Ejas batted at 5 and helped relieve the pressure with two huge sixes that put a meaningful dent in the runs remaining. He was caught going for a third. 168-4 with 5 overs remaining. Saville joined Calypso at the crease, batting 6 and promising that he enjoyed running hard, a promise that he duly backed up with well taken singles and a neat deflection through third man for four.
From there it was a case of pressing on, and taking each ball as it came. We made it in the 38th over, with a rather muted and confused celebration as no-one was quite sure if we’d made 200 or 201. A quick check confirmed we’d done it, 201-6 with Calypso 104* and Saville 6*.
What a turnaround from the three weeks before. A decent pitch and, like the 1s, a really solid batting performance. Our fielding was much better than the prior week as well, with most of the chances taken, and excellent spells from Ejas and Rahman. Our learning point for this week is our bowling. With the exception of Poynter everyone went at above 4 runs per over. If we can bring that down a fraction we’ll put ourselves in a winning position more often. Thanks to Mark Thorpe for putting in an excellent, unbroken umpiring spell and to Yaz for his excellent fielding and catching. Next week we play Plaxtol at the Skinner’s School.
With that winning feeling and 20 points in the bag, I’m looking forward to it already.
15th June v Plaxtol – CANCELLED
22nd June v Marden
Having won the toss and opted to bat first, we were optimistic about our chances of securing a victory given the team we had.
Hassan and James opened the innings but luck was not on James’ side as he returned to the pavilion early and took over the scorebook duties.
Ejas came in with full energy and determination to make a 100. However, despite his efforts, he could only manage to score much less than expected. Our vice-captain Nick, was visibly unhappy with the team’s performance and unfortunately was back sooner than we’d hoped.
Under pressure to prevent a collapse, stand-in Captain Siraj decided to send Pierre up the order. Pierre, with his dodgy leg, stayed at the crease for a considerable time, showing resilience and determination.
Our big hitter, J-Oak, tried his best but it wasn’t his day. Omar, confident of saving the game, too returned quickly suggesting he needed more net sessions. Our baseball player, Matt, still getting used to the shape of a cricket bat, couldn’t contribute much to the score.
Shaz, in a selfless move, gave his place to Abdoul on the condition that he scored a minimum of 25 runs for the club. Unfortunately, Abdoul was run out by our square leg umpire Ejas, adding to our misfortunes. Amir and Siraj tried their best to keep the scoreboard, but it wasn’t enough.
After a short tea break, Siraj took the privilege of opening the bowling. He maintained a good economy rate but was unable to claim any wickets.
Junior and Senior Roche bowled exceptionally well, collectively taking 3 wickets for the Roche family. Senior Roche, however, mentioned he wants to take a month-long break to rest his leg and come back stronger.
Conclusion: Our fielding proved to be much stronger than our batting. It will be crucial for the team to regroup, focus on batting practice, and come back stronger in the next match
27th June v West Farleigh
This week the 2s played West Farleigh at home, under blue skies and on a straw coloured wicket that was hard and true. The skipper returned to his habit of calling incorrectly at the toss and we were asked to bowl.
Ejas and Pannell Jr opened the bowling. Ejas was rapid and his early deliveries were hitting Price’s gloves hard. We almost achieved a run out after the first delivery which burst through the gloves and dribbled away behind keeper and first slip. The non-striker called for an ambitious run and would have been stranded had Calypso’s under arm effort not missed by an inch. Following this early scare both batsmen settled in, taking full advantage of anything loose and benefiting from a dry outfield that carried the ball quickly to the boundary. Joseph was too short in his opening over, and he was punished with two boundaries. West Farleigh were up and away, quickly getting to 22 from the first three overs.
It looked like it was going to be a long, hot afternoon but both bowlers settled into a rhythm, The next three overs went for 13 and we began to apply pressure. Pannell bowled both opening batsmen in successive overs with near identical deliveries knocking back the off stump (40-2). Ejas continued to threaten, beating the outside edge and hitting the bat hard. Both opening bowlers were replaced after 6 overs, to afford some rest on a sweaty afternoon.
Fowler came on to replace Ejas from the village hall end, and Pannell senior replaced Pannell junior from the pavilion end. Both bowled economically, but Fowler had the cutting edge, taking 3 wickets from his unbroken spell of nine overs, all caught, by himself, Hasan and Greenway respectively. The West Farleigh middle order batted well enough, adding 66 for batsmen three to six, but never getting away from us. We had them 115-5 in the 27 over.
Thomas Plunkett replaced Pannell for an excellent spell of four overs, keeping the ball pitched up and with an unwavering line on middle-and-off. He accounted for their number four, well caught by Ejas for 33. We broke for a second round of drinks at 30 overs with the score on 130, and with a target to restrict the total to 170. Their number 7 had other ideas, and was the beneficiary of some fortune as he swung hard and connected often enough to end up 52 not out. Our bowlers returned to complete their spells, Ejas quickly accounted for their number 8, hitting the base of off-stump. At the end of the 40th over West Farleigh had made 182-7.
The mid-innings interval was elevated by a fine selection of cakes from Min, Alison, Judy, Sarah and Calypso’s mum. Thank you all for your generosity which was appreciated by home and away sides alike.
Our batting response didn’t measure up to the cake selection I’m afraid.
The West Farleigh opening bowlers showed great control, with Brooke, their pick, bowling consistent away swing with an economical action.
Calypso was out LBW from the fourth ball of the response. Hadi was adjudged caught behind, tickling the ball to the keeper down the leg side shortly after, and when Dixon was undone by one that didn’t swing from Brooke (LBW), we were 13-3 from the first 8 overs.
For a while it looked like we might rival our total at Weald. However, Tristan was resolute, hitting four boundaries and top scoring with 26. None of our late middle order could get a foothold, each departing for less than double figures.
Yaz struck a couple of good boundaries down the hill to spare some of our blushes as he pushed the score past 50. Plunkett ended up 1 not out, more than holding his own with the bat and rounding off an excellent performance. We made 58 from the bat and ended up on 67 thanks to extras.
So, a rather listless performance with the bat saw us soundly beaten. On reflection I think the heat had something to do with it, the skipper was definitely not feeling fully energised as he went out to bat.
The bright spots this week were the performance from Plunkett, the pace of Ejas, the wicket clattering of J Pannell, and our fielding, which was disciplined throughout a hot afternoon.
Next week we are away at Penshurst whose performance in the last 5 games is exactly the opposite of our; three wins, one loss and one rained-off. It could be a tough assignment but we’ll go and try our best at their picturesque ground.
Speldhurst Cricket Club 