10th May v Horton Kirby (A)
A baking hot day at a new ground for most of us and we were a little surprised to be asked to bat first on a track which was hard and dry.
When the first ball of the match shot through from back of a length at knee height for four byes we quickly began to recalibrate our scoring ambitions.
Happy succumbed to a leading edge early on but a steady partnership between Ollie Crees and Ali Wood gave us hope of a decent score. The introduction of spin from both ends changed the game however. Tight lines and inconsistent bounce slowed our rate and brought wickets at both ends.
The unfortunate run out of Ali for a top score of 36 didn’t help either. 18 overs later we had advanced the score from 45-1 from 12 overs to 95-6 from 30. Some clean strikes from Nick Fowler helped us up to 138-9 but it felt well below par.
On first impressions Horton Kirby’s batting didn’t match their bowling and we took two quick wickets to offer hope. There was a fair bit of early season rust in our bowling however and despite a couple more wickets to the wiles of Andy Eames and a tidy spell of left arm spin from Bob Mason, there were enough opportunities for aggressive stroke play and the target was reached pretty comfortably after only 22 overs.
I felt that, even defending such a low score, a more confident attack would have pushed them close but since we have won our first league match of the season only once in the last 10 years this is an early setback the 1s are well used to.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698019
17th May v Withyham (H)
Last week vs Withyham we experienced a similar result to last season, albeit in a very different way. A glorious day with a fantastic-looking pitch meant winning the toss and choosing to bat was an easy call. Losing Pat after an aggressive start meant yours truly came to the crease, and with Happy managed to put on 84 in decent time before being stumped, bringing Ali Wood to the crease, who was swiftly caught and bowled rather athletically from a surprising source. Muddy joined me to pile on more runs before I got a leading edge, falling for 87 in the 24th over—a lot of runs left out there. Thankfully the run rate was increased even further with Creef striding to the crease; however, wickets started to fall at regular intervals, leaving us looking at a slightly sub-par total. A superb rearguard action by Andy Eames, supported by Joel and Joe, pushed us up to a great total of 256.
We always knew the bowling might be slightly short this year with the loss of Dunmall, but a dangerous opening spell by Happy—taking two wickets including the big one of the guy who scored eight tons last year—and a really disciplined spell from Andy Eames had us slightly ahead at drinks. However, some solid batting from Withyham, poor fielding from us (including a howler of a drop from yours truly), and some wayward bowling led to a comfortable chase for Withyham, with two of their players getting big scores—a ton and 98 (run out by Pat’s foot at the non-striker’s end). A good effort, but against a good side, still short.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698025
24th May v Sissinghurst (H)
However, things changed on a wet, muddy and windy day the next week, playing one of our favourite opponents: Sissinghurst. Losing the toss, only having 10 players due to two dropouts across the club in the last 24 hours, and a wet, muddy pitch was hardly ideal—so we were put in to bat.
Newbie James Heis opened up with Pat, Pat looking rather fluent and punishing anything too full with a series of gorgeous on and straight drives. Just as Heis was starting to score, he ran himself out with a suicidal call from the non-striker’s end, bringing yours truly to the crease. Hardly my most fluent performance—I tried to grind out some runs while Pat flayed it to all corners. We put on 50 together until, for the second week in a row, he was caught and bowled.
That brought Ali Wood to the crease, and we put on 70 before I edged one behind for 40. Only the keeper partially appealed, and I walked off to the berating of all my teammates. Lesson learned.
Olly Crees joined Ali and was back to his brutal best, bludgeoning it to all parts, until both fell in the 40s in quick succession. That started a tumble of wickets and a slight fear we wouldn’t bat our overs—but a rather generous 25 wides from Sissinghurst pushed us up to a very competitive 221 on a pitch that was starting to cut up.
Our bowling was considerably shorter than last week, however Pat and Siraj opened up with probing deliveries, bringing wickets at regular intervals, albeit going for a fair few runs. Ali Wood was brought on and bowled superbly—economical and dangerous—picking up a key wicket thanks to a superb running, diving catch from Olly Crees behind the stumps.
Throwing the ball to U13 Thomas Plunkett turned out to be the game-changing decision. He bowled a superb five-over spell and took two wickets, including the dangerous batter who had been smashing it to all parts—thanks in part to some inspired advice from Pat.
With Sissinghurst always ahead of the run rate, we knew we had to bowl them out. I tried Heis—somewhat rusty but showing promise—before turning to myself in the hope of surprising them. To everyone’s surprise, it came out well, and with Pat and Siraj picking up a wicket each on their return, we needed one more wicket from the last five overs, with only 16 runs required.
A full ball was bowled, a miscued shot followed, and a tumbling captain completed a caught and bowled. A glorious Speldhurst victory by 8 runs—against all the odds.
A nice session in the pub followed—for some longer than others—and a very welcome victory early in the season. To many more!
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698032
31st May v Ightham (A)
Another week, and pigs are indeed flying: another win!
Losing the toss on a roasting hot day, with a hard track and only 9 players at the ground, we were put into the field. My initial thoughts were, “Oh no, not again…” However, with a somewhat under-the-weather Tristan arriving in time to bowl the second over, and Tom “Lionel Messi” Plunkett showing up four overs in, we were up to our full contingent without too much trouble.
By that point, we’d already taken three wickets: their gun opener missed a straight full toss from Andy Eames, a suicidal run out followed, and then a good nick to me at slip from Andy again. Happy was sadly lacking some of the rhythm from his previous opening spell, so I turned to Pat, who bowled a superb spell, tight and probing, though without much early reward. Lionel Plunkett took up the ball at the other end and bowled with a skill belying his youth. Once again, he proved he thoroughly deserves his place in an adult 1st XI side at just 13 years old.
Five down at a much-needed drinks break, their skipper dug in and formed a partnership, taking them past 100 and crafting a well-made 50, chancing his arm and benefitting from some fortuitous miscues and tough chances going down. Nash bowled with pace and plenty of promise, if not much success this time, while yours truly burgled another wicket before wisely deciding to bring on some actual bowling again. Pat returned and picked up more wickets, bowling superbly. Happy’s second spell was much improved and rightly rewarded with a wicket. Andy Eames wrapped up the innings by tempting their skipper once too often, with a relieved catch from me on the edge of the ring sealing it.
158 all out. A terrific team performance and a total that felt well under par on a small ground with a decent pitch.
And so it proved. They had a nippy bowler at one end who bowled dangerously but erratically, and, for the first time in my career, we faced three different bowlers from the other end in the first three overs. One of those, Pat took a particular liking to, smashing 24 off an over including one rather large six (see Andy Eames’ post for the video). Pat’s typically rapid innings ended on 44, caught going big down the ground, but the damage felt done by the time I strolled to the crease.
Myself and Happy put together an 80-run partnership without too much trouble, helped along by some generous bowling. That was until Happy played one cross-batted shot too many and got bowled, shortly after promising the skipper we’d finish with no more wickets lost and play sensibly.
Creef strode out, smashed two fours, and with a boundary needed to win, tried to launch a high, flighty ball over most of Kent and got caught. Flem followed, three needed, and was unfortunately bowled second ball trying to work a full straight one to the rope. Nash then joined me for a solid 0 not out, with me finishing on 55 not out and a very one-sided win in the book.
Nice to be on the right side of these for a change. Long may it continue.
We look forward to Cudham at home this weekend, hoping to make it three from three. Still in shock from writing that sentence…
One final note. Please do try to come down on Sunday to celebrate Bernard and everything he meant to the club. It should be a great, fun day for all the family.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698036
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