7th June v Horsmonden (A)
The Second XI played away at Horsmonden this week under grey skies and a Met Office yellow warning for thunderstorms.
Our pitch inspection revealed a series of evenly spaced holes in the wicket. As the skipper explained, these were caused by “spiking” the wicket for aeration in February. The subsequent dry spell has caused the holes to open again as the filler material has dried and blown away.
A toss to win then, with an intent to bowl first. As Ollie would remark on Sunday at Bernard’s memorial match, you would have been very silly (insert the real phrase) to have planned otherwise. Unfortunately, we lost the toss (Tails), and were predictably invited to have the first bat.
Calypso opened with Tristan who was unfortunate to pick out mid wicket as he slapped a full toss straight to the man positioned there in the second over. Adam Nash, a late swap for Ejas came in at three. He and the skipper made good progress, picking out the loose balls and fending off the ones that were bouncing unpredictably. They’d moved the score to 50-1 off the first 10 when the skipper cut uppishly and was caught at point for 19. Fowler joined Nash at the crease and they pushed along until the rain interruption caused a hurried deployment of the covers.
The pitch was even more tricky after the rain break with the ball as likely to shoot along the ground as it was to whistle past, chest high.
It’s fair to say our progress slowed somewhat and wickets fell steadily. Nash made the top score of 26 before being superbly caught by backward points, low to the ground. Joel was unlucky to be adjudged LBW for 0. Fowler and Roberts looked as settled as they could have done for the next few overs but the threat of a wicket was never far away.
Fowler was bowled by a classic pea-roller from their Malinga-like sling bowler. Roberts followed in similar fashion shortly after. Our pair of Sam’s were not on the same wavelength running wise. The irrepressible Poynter was unlucky to be run out as Harman called him through after the ball went through a fielder’s hands in a dropped catch. Harman battled away for several overs, twice experiencing the ball leaping off the pitch and the edge of his bat to clatter into his helmet. Greenway Senior, Krishnakumar and Greenway Junior each kept Sam company for a while but found it difficult to score. Our innings was complete when George fell for 1.
We had set Horsmonden 106 to win, which was always going to be difficult to defend. Our task was to stretch it out as far as possible in the hope that the promised rain would come to our rescue.
Roberts and Nash opened the bowling. Roberts struggled with his run up at first, but was dangerous when he got it right. Nash from the other end was exemplary, bowling off a short run he was superbly consistent and he gave us early hope as he dismissed batter number 1 in his first over with the score on 3. Nash took the next wicket as well with their score on 28 as their number 3 edged rhrought to Tristan.
Nash’s consistency could not be matched at the other end. Calypso had an off-day with the ball, but was grateful for the boundary coaching of our 1s skipper who had come along to watch with Happy. Brandty thought that he was much more effective when the ball landed on the cut strip rather than sailing wide or not bouncing at all. Fair enough :-).
There was drama when Nick Fowler, one of our most committed cricketers threw himself fully horizontal in an attempt to take a catch at mid-on. There was a moment when all parts of Fowler were airborne and a subsequent moment when the ball grazed his fingers in mid-air. The final moment of Nick’s game came shortly after when he painfully hit the ground, right knee first and had to be escorted from the pitch. It looked horribly painful, and we all wish him a speedy recovery over the next couple of weeks. We certainly need him back.
Fortunately for us, Ollie, who (legend has it) never travels without whites in his car, offered to come on as substitute fielder, and Mark their skipper generously agreed.
Mark batted well, beaten by Nash on a number of occasions but never edging. George took over from the wayward Pannell and bowled well. His highlight came when he switched to round the wicket to their resolute number 4 and bowled him, behind his legs for 10. It was Gatting-esque to watch the disbelief spread across his face has he realised what had happened (74-3).
Poynter replaced Nash and was the only other bowler to offer real consistency. He took two wickets, both caught, one by himself and one excellently by Nash at Poynt (74-4) and (90-5,). Sam returned figures of 4-0-2-12 which was an excellent effort again.
With only 16 needed and five wickets in hand they made it to the target, never looking 100% comfortable but not under real pressure. Predictably, as we were getting changed the heavens opened and what would have been a match-ending deluge finally arrived :-). Another 3 overs of batting and we might have been saved … Another day.
And so, to the performances.
MOTM – Adam Nash. Pure class with the ball and top score.
POTM 1 – Sam Poynter. Excellent spell with the ball and keeping the opposition umpire amused with his cricketimg knowledge.
POTM 2 – George Greenway. “That ball”.
Well done to all, we will go again next week against Hartley County Club at home. Have a good week!
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698486
14th June v Hartley Country Club
This week saw the Second XI take on the Hartley Country Club (two places above us in the league), on a sunny but blustery afternoon at home. It would be a rollercoaster of a day.
Selection was a fluid affair and the skipper was relieved to be asked to bat, having lost the toss (Heads). Thanks to Tom Poynter who agreed to be our eleventh player, despite being to committed to the London to Brighton cycle race taking place the next day.
With Wesson known to be arriving around 2pm Calypso decided to change up the batting order to give a chance to some of the players that always find themselves coming in towards the end of the innings. Anthony and Michael “Mad+Dog” James opened for us but were unable to advance the score. Anthony was bowled from a swinging ball from their medium pacer at the village hall end, and James followed in the same fashion shortly after.
P came in at three and Sam Poynter at four. There was a brief moment of calm as both played cautiously but Pierre was unable to latch on to the full pitched, legside bowling from the other opener. Playing straight, rather than going cross-batted he missed one as the wind gusted and the ball floated behind his legs and just clipped the very base of leg stump leaving us at 12-3. Pierre shuffled off disconsolate, declaring he’s never been bowled behind his legs by a medium pacer.
Sam Harman joined Sam Poynter batting at 5 and the two of them did well to stem the fall of wickets. Poynter hit a boundary on his way to a patient 13 before being caught. Harman made 16 with two boundaries and kept Calypso company for a few overs. When he also fell to a catch the score was 40 odd for 5 and the Hartley fielders were decidedly chipper. Rakesh came in at 7 with instructions to hang about and to take the overs in batches of 5. Our first target was to get to drinks with no further losses, to give Ed a chance to arrive and get padded up. We made it to drinks at around 70-5 with a few boundaries struck along the way.
After the drinks the plan was the same and Rakesh did brilliantly. Never looking entirely comfortable he kept the good balls out and hit strongly when the loose ones came. The bowlers were changed around and it became easier to score against the spinners. The ball was stopping and sitting up, and if you waited it would reach a good height to hit. The two batters ran well, putting the Hartley side under pressure and beginning to benefit as a result. When Calypso was dropped at backward point on 30 odd it felt like our luck had changed. This was confirmed when a quick single from Calypso yielded four overthrows. It was this moment that led to a scoring confusion and the wrong batter being credited the runs.
In the end the running and the heat did for Rakesh. Called through for one more single he was short of his ground when the stumps were broken with the score on 160-6 having made a match turning 40.
Wesson came in next, very out of position, and got going quickly. He is very good off his legs and hit the shot of the day with a sweetly timed pick-up from middle stump down the slope. When he was bowled by the returning opener it brought “swishy Johnston” to the crease. With only a few deliveries left there was a lot of air movement from Matt’s blade but little contact. That didn’t matter though, he got a couple away and ran really well to make the most out of all remaining opportunities. Speldhurst closed the innings on 215-7 with Pannell 99 not out (later adjusted to 104).
The Hartley innings was a more steady affair than ours. Pierre opened the bowling with Poynter and they established a decent line and length. Hartley went along at 5 and over for the first five. Pierre pulled up lame after his third over, having heard his own calf muscle go ‘pop’. He carried on regardless, shortening his run up from two steps to half a step and continuing to bowl a superb line and length.
Poynter got his reward and the first wicket when their opener drove to Calypso at mid-off. Roche completed his overs grimacing by the end and wicketless but he would have his moment later in the game with an excellent run-out from a direct hit to dismiss their number six.
Pannell bowled reasonably picking up two wickets but again struggling after over number six with a temporary attack of the ‘yips’. Rakesh, rested after his batting efforts bowled with him and continued his excellent all-round match. He went wicketless in his first spell, but he bowled tidily. At drinks we felt we had the game under control. They need 140 odd from the last twenty and we had them 3 down.
George Greenway continued his excellent rum of bowling form, flighting the ball nicely and drawing purrs of pleasure from P who was strategically positioned at first slip to avoid movement. “Mad-dog” roved all afternoon and kept both sides on their toes as a result. Greenway bowled their number four with a beautifully flighted ripper and it brought Dummer senior to the crease. He batted very well at 5, striking the ball cleanly and taking two or three boundaries an over to tip the balance of the game again in their favour. With ten overs left they still needed more than six an over but we felt if Dummer stayed in, we would be in trouble. We focused on trying to bowl at the other batter and managed to limit some of the damage.
The last few overs were exceptional for a number of reasons. Poynter replaced Pannell and immediately had a positive effect, drying up the scoring and only going for runs when Dummer knew he had no option but to try and smash a boundary. Rakesh came back successfully for a second spell, managing to get his shoulder going again and claiming a wicket. With two overs to go they needed 35, but Dummer was still in and the danger was clear. He situation was graver still when Johnston had to leave for an evening concert with 10 overs to go.
Poynter finished his second spell and bowled the penultimate over. managing to limit the damage to ten runs. With only two tested bowling options left, Pannell entrusted Greenway to the final over with Hartley needing an unlikely 25 to win. With recent memories of our tied game against Leigh, we posted most of our fielders to the boundary. Greenway was unflappable. He bowled calmly and beautifully to close it out with Dummer ending up with a rapid 76 not out. An afternoon of ups and downs had finished with victory for us by a margin of 15 runs. Not quite Headingly 1981 but it felt good to hang on.
Thanks to Mrs P (senior), Alison, and Suzie for a superb selection of cakes.
Well done to the young guns. You two were genuinely our best options at the death. Good on you for standing up and bowling so well. Another well done to Rakesh who made an important contribution with both bat and ball. Thanks to Tom for fielding and we hope the cycling went well.
Next week we take on bottom of the table Flimwell away, and we hope to build on our momentum.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698491
21st June v Flimwell (A)
The Second XI made their way through heavy coast-bound traffic on the way over to Flimwell on another hot Saturday afternoon for cricket. It is worth noting this was a “home” fixture on account of the SCC ground being unavailable due to the fete.
Expecting to play with nine players our spirits were lifted by the appearance of one Nick Coffin who had been persuaded to play on Friday evening by Ed and half a bottle of whisky (thank you Ed).
We were relieved to hear of Flimwell’s selection woes that meant they also played with ten, made up mostly of players from other local sides. Calypso’s decent form with the coin toss this year saw another successful call (heads) and Speldhurst chose to bat.
Tristan and Ed Bartlett opened the batting and they made steady progress with stout defence and the odd eye-catching boundary. Ed was first to be out, caught and bowled for 11. Tristan then had the company of a second Ed (Wesson) who got going quickly and played some excellent sweep shots to pick up the pace. Tristan fell when he skied the leg spinner and was gone for 14 with the score on 40-2 from 15.
Sam P came in at four, continuing the plan of his skipper to give him proper time at the crease to build an innings. He did well, initially with Ed and then Calypso, after Ed was bowled for 14. Sam made 22 at a decent rate and ended up with third top score from the Speldhurst side. He is looking increasingly comfortable in adult cricket and the two boundaries he struck were met with much enthusiasm from the travelling support.
Sam’s exit brought Coffin to the crease and it was as if he’d never been away. Striding in he confidently suggested we should be targeting 210, meaning 9 per over for the last ten, and we set about giving it a good go. With three overs left the skipper was out to a well-taken catch by his opposing captain for 60. Rakesh finished the innings with Coffin, adding a further 20 odd runs between them. Rakesh was solid, but unable to reprise the swashbuckling efforts of last week. We ended on 185 with Nick on 27, Rakesh on 6 and both not out.
During the break Tom Poynter led the stretching exercises (much to the amusement of Sammy), and in that moment Speldhurst looked like a well-drilled fielding side. Unfortunately, that was probably the high point of our fielding display.
We struggled to keep the shackles on for long enough which meant they made inexorable progress towards the target. Rakesh was the pick of the bowling attack, getting through his full allotment of overs up the hill on a hot afternoon, managing 2 maidens, an economy under 4 runs per over and 2 wickets.
Sam did well opening from down the hill and made an early breakthrough to dismiss their hard hitting all-rounder LBW. Rakesh was the able to chip away at the other end, combining with Ed for a proper cricket wicket to dismiss a former Skinners boy at three. When he bowled their other opener, hitting the top of off, there was a thought we might prevail. However the score was already well advanced (70-3) in little over 14 overs and if any batter got in we would struggle.
Which is exactly what happened. The next pair finished their innings, both ending up 60-ish not out. One was well played, the other was fortunate. We dropped a number of chances along the way which might have changed the course, but they still had their handy skipper to come. The chance was always slim, and slimmer still when our fielding side was reduced to nine with Tristan’s planned but early departure.
Coffin bowled really well for a man returning from (temporary?) retirement, quickly getting back in to the rhythm. Ed Bartlett and Calypso struggled with line and length (skipper definitely needs some bowling coaching please Rob M). Leo Bartlett was unlucky to have just two overs, thanks to his captain being profligate with the remaining runs at the other end. Leo showed great resilience to step up to bowl the closing overs and was unlucky not to nick-off the more fortunate batter.
And so it finished at a canter, the ball disappearing again into the undergrowth from Calypso’s bowling to signal the end.
Well done to everyone for a great effort on a really hot day. Tom Poynter was the standout in the field, throwing himself around, even when the cause was lost to deny them runs. Sam batted with increasing maturity that bodes well for him and the club. Leo showed good resolve to run in and bowl at two batters on the charge.
We will try again next week. Same venue, same side, and on the “away” fixture, but hopefully a different outcome.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698495
28th June v Flimwell (again)
For the second week in a row the 2nd XI travelled to Flimwell in even hotter sunshine and ready to reverse the result from the previous week. We fielded a full eleven. Flimwell only had ten. Early advantage to Speldhurst.
We lost the toss (Heads) and following our sloppy performance in the field in the prior week, we were asked to bowl.
The fielding performance this week could not have been in greater contrast. Our four bowlers delivered the most complete, consistent performance of the season so far, backed up by an excellent fielding display. We took all of the catches, we shut down singles and chased hard to the boundary to turn boundaries into twos. The results speak for themselves.
We needed only 25.4 overs to take their 9 wickets. Just under one-third of those we bowled were maidens, two of which were wicket maidens (Roberts & Farid). Our wides and no-balls numbered only nine through the whole innings. Roberts bowled with great heart and returned his most disciplined spell of the season so far to end up with 2 for 16 from 5. He was partnered by Farid who grew with confidence through his straight nine overs running up the hill to take 3 for 22. By the end Omar had the ball on a string, bowling a beautiful length with enough swing to finish his spell with three straight maidens.
Rakesh continued his excellent form, taking 2 for 22 from 8. He is fast becoming a regular and highly valued member of the bowling squad. George “G” Greenway finished it for us ny taking 2 for 22 from 4 overs, again bowling a majority of good length spinning balls to leave their lower order puzzled and swinging hard to try and counter.
Ejas kept wicket brilliantly, putting himself between more than one of Roberts’ heavy balls that were otherwise destined for the boundary. He kept the batters on their toes with sharp glove work to our slower bowlers.
Refreshingly we took all of our catches, Roberts (3), Calypso (1), A Greenway (1), G C&B (1). The best was Omar’s, running hard around the fine-leg boundary and taking a low, sliding catch to dismiss their opener.
The upside of this disciplined performance was 14 fewer overs in the field and we retired to our changing room with confidence that we would easily chase the 97 we needed to win.
And so it was. Oakenfold and Ted Bell opened the batting. They were confident from the start against decent spells from both of the Flimwell opening bowlers. Oakenfold played with immaculate defence, playing the ball late and under his eyes, and thwacking the loose stuff to ensure we didn’t drop below 4 runs per over for the first 10 overs. Ted did well and played sensibly to get himself in. His leg side flick up and over mid-on was nonchalant and beautiful to watch, drawing comparisons from the Flimwell slip-fielder of the one legged Pietersen “flamingo”.
Having got himself in Ted was drawn into slashing at a wide one, looping a catch to their skipper at point for 10. Ejas batted at three and immediately stamped his authority. His was the biggest hit of the day, launching a full-toss over mid-wicket, out of the ground and into a neighbouring walled garden. New ball please. As rapidly as he got to 18 he was out going for another big shot. By then though we were two thirds of the way to our target.
George at four did his coaches proud with excellent technique. His challenge is to generate enough power of the slower bowlers to penetrate the inner field. As he grows and gains strength that will happen, and he will have sound technique to back it up. He got one away, hit through the “V” for a boundary before he was bowled.
Ed Bartlett went in at five as middle order ballast. He batted really well, sweeping their loopy spinners for four boundaries on his 28. Leo batted with his dad for a few balls at six and was unlucky to get under the ball when attempting to straight drive. He was well caught and bowled. Calypso joined Ed at seven and they saw Speldhurst home with no further chances or fireworks. Ed hit the winning runs and we were done inside the 24th over.
The whole match felt very controlled. There was no real drama and from having them 60 odd for 5 it felt we were destined to win. Admittedly we had a full side and they fielded with 10, but on that performance I’m not sure it would have mattered. We were better than them in all disciplines.
Well done to the juniors for all acquitting yourselves so well. It is genuinely a pleasure to watch you play with increasing confidence. Thank you to Anthony for being our late addition, you fielded sharply. Ejas, great keeping and biffing. If we can be consistent with our availability I am confident we will continue to build through the league and will put thoughts of relegation well behind us. I’m looking forward to Luddesdowne at home next week.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698498
Speldhurst Cricket Club 