5th July v Luddesdowne (H)
The 2nd XI hosted Luddesdowne Cricket Club at home this week.
Before the match they were a place higher than us in the compact bottom half of the Division 7 table. This match gave us an opportunity to go ahead of them and to get out of the bottom thee places. That is what we duly did.
With rain in the air, and more forecast we agreed to reduce the match to 35 overs per side. This was adjusted again to 30 overs after repeated rain interruptions. Luddesdowne won the toss (Heads) and put us into bat. Our pair of Ed’s opened, Bartlett brandishing a new blade and putting it to good early use. We were 18-0 from three at the first and longest rain interruption. Fifty minutes later we were back out playing, with sawdust and rags to dry the ball. We continued our good start, adjusting to the reduced allocation of overs.
Wesson received the ball of the day, that pitched outside off and nipped back sharply taking his edge on the way. The keeper pouched it and Ed was on his way for 15. Ejas and Bartlett batted well together both hitting sixes. Unsurprisingly Ejas hit the biggest one, straight in to Helga’s garden. She emerged with the ball and a basket of berries she had been picking, surprised, conversational and thankfully unscathed.
Batting got easier as the bowlers rotated. Bartlett made an excellent, stylish 75 before he was bowled. Ejas then combined with the Arthur who took a couple of balls to get his eye in and then began unfurling some sumptuous shots. Arthur’s on-drive was arguably the shot of the day, caressed with perfect timing all along the ground to just beat the chasing fielder to the line.
With 10 overs to go we had nudged past 120-2. The last ten overs would bring a 100 or so, as we picked up regular boundaries and the wheels began to come off for Luddesdowne. Ejas was finally bowled for 77 and Plunkett out LBW for 22. Calypso and Dave Whittaker batted at 5 and 6 and added a further 25 in eight balls to end up 22 and 3 not out respectively. We finished on 228-3 from our 30 overs, a total we would be normally challenged to make in 40.
If we thought Luddesdowne were defeated we were wrong. Our early bouyant mood was challenged in the first three balls, each dispatched for four from Rakesh’s opening deliveries. At the end of the first over they were more than up with the rate and it was clear their number one batter would be the one who could quickly get on top of the run chase.
We set about trying to bowl to the other batsmen and restricting the flow. Rakesh struck first, getting their youthful opening bat LBW for 1. We continued to press with the new batsmen and we were able to restrict their scoring. After 10 overs they were 55-1 and drifting away from the required rate.
Ejas opened the bowling with Rakesh. Despite not bowling this season he found a good rhythm, stayed accurate and generated some good pace. Ed pulled off more than one diving stop and our fielding was sharp again. Dave in particular put in an excellent fielding performance, chasing everything and cutting off at least five boundaries. His flick up from the boot, in to hands whilst running around the pavilion curve was remarkable and drew gasps from the small crowd and cheers from the oppo.
Ejas picked up two wickets, the second and most important was their hard-hitting opener who missed a rapid straight one and turnrd to see his stumps rearranged. With the fall of his wicket it felt we had the game in our grasp. Their batters continued to make progress but never came close to hitting enough boundaries to close the gap.
Both Bartlett’s bowled well, Ed picking up a wicket and Leo joining Calypso to deliver the last few overs. Leo bowled tidily and with enough pace to prevent too much attacking from their lower order.
There were no wickets for George who gave it good flight and came up against their imaginative number 5, playing both sides of the wicket and reversing him on more than one occasion. On the slow turning wicket that match-up was tilted in favour of the batter.
Luddesdowne finished 153-4 from their 30, 75 runs adrift and well beaten by another solid Speldhurst performance. When the other results landed in Play Cricket on Sunday the result had lifted us to fourth in the league, quite the turnaround. We won’t rest easy though. The teams below us are bunched on similar points totals and only one victory away from pushing us back down.
Next week we are back to Horton Kirby (again?, already?) for a much stiffer challenge. They’re currently second in the league and beat us comfortably last time, so we need to keep building on our recent momentum. Fingers crossed for a good selection week. And Calypso must remember the directions to the ground :-).
Well done all for another victory. A huge thanks to David who completed our eleven at short notice and who put in an excellent fielding performance to set the tone.
MOTM – Ejas for excellent quick runs and an important bowling performance.
POTM1 – Ed Bartlett for a well-constructed innings, tidy bowling and lots of running in the field
POTM2 – Arthur Plunkett for that on-drive and athleticism in the field, sweeping by the bench
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698503
12th July v Horton Kirby (A)
The 2nd XI were away this week to Horton Kirby on the middle day of yet another heatwave. We were relieved to win the toss (Heads) and chose to bat, hoping to avoid the worst of the soaring afternoon temperatures.
It’s fair to say batting proved tricky on a slightly unpredictable pitch. Their tall opening bowler did well, managing good pace and control. He was joined by a wily slow bowler who has been there, and done that and knew exactly how to tempt our batters to swing harder than they should.
Wickets fell early and regularly, attributable to their discipline and our over exuberance. Hassan and Bell both got decent balls from the quicker bowler, the former out to a not-ungiveable LBW and the latter to one that nipped back appreciably and stayed lower than most.
Calypso held an end as the wickets fell. Bell Junior scooped an off drive to cover. Roberts was bowled by Mr Wily. Owain Lloyd-James, making a welcome return to cricket hung around for a while, playing sensibly until he was laconically and excellently caught by short extra in one hand as the ball appeared to be looping over him.
Both Greenways came and went, George driving uppishly and Anthony bowled by a replacement Wily who bore a striking resemblance to Captain Birdseye.
Rakesh was on the wrong end of a bad call from the skipper and was run out for low single digits (sorry again Rakesh!).
Calypso’s concentration gave out in the 26th over, playing across one from Birdseye, LBW for 68.
Poynter junior played an excellent knock, ending up 21 not out and partnering James who made a good contribution (12) to add last wicket runs. Their efforts pushed across the lower bating points thresholds and were valuable as a result.
We were cooked in the sun, all done for 136 and Horton Kirby were in fine spirits as they tucked into a leisurely tea.
Our fielding performance was mixed. The ground fielding was good but we failed to exert any real pressure with the ball. Roberts had a tough day at the office (there will be better days ahead), and was removed from the attack, halfway through his second over and after his third rapid beamer. Calypso bowled the rest of the over inauspiciously starting with a wide. He too struggled for any consistency and was replaced by Poynter after a couple of overs, who did a much better job.
Rakesh and Poynter were our bowling highlights. Rakesh ended up with two from his unbroken spell including the wicket of the Division 7 leading run scorer caught by Calypso at extra cover.
Ted Bell effected a brilliant run out with a true “bullet-arm” to dismiss Hammill. He ran around the boundary, picked up cleanly and let the ball fly. low, fast, over the stumps to Hasan who did the rest. There will not be many better examples of ground fielding this season.
George and Owain wheeled away together, both tidy but wicketless. The inevitable end came from Ted’s only over (more work for you next time Ted) as they struck a couple of boundaries to finish 140-3 from 27.
Another visit to Horton Kirby and another loss to the second-placed team. There isn’t a huge gulf between the sides in terms of cricketing skill but it is notable they played with a single change in their side from our encounter earlier in the season whereas we were a much changed eleven.
They are a side that have played together for years, they know their roles and they execute them with just enough skill to out-compete us. I’d say their edge is in their tall opening bowler who has taken seven wickets againt us for next to nothing.
After ten matches we are fifth, dropping a single place this week. The lower half is bunched around us and good results over the high summer will see us secure.
In a twist of cricketing fate we get to play Horton Kirby again(!) next week, this time at home. Let’s hope the opening bowler is on a well-deserved sojourn to the Italian lakes.
MOTM – Calypso for scoring enough runs to make a game of it
POTM1 – Poynter for another solid knock and excellent bowlong
POTM2 – Ted Bell for that excellent run out, a highlight on a hot afternoon
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698508
26th July v Kildown and Lamberhurst (H)
Second XI Vs. Kilndown & Lamberhurst
It was a difficult week for the Second XI against Kilndown and Lamberhurst at home. Kildown won the toss and chose to bat first.
We struggled throughout our bowling performance. Highlights were James Roche who bowled with the most control, Joel who kept wicket very neatly given the 25 year gap in service and Arthur who literally threw himself around the outfield to cut off what would otherwise have been boundaries. Matt Bell bowled well and combined with Ted to take a Father/Son bowled and caught.
They made 268-3 from their 40 overs,
Which was always going to be a tall order for us.
We folded for 94 in 23 overs.
There was little positive to take from our batting performance. Roche and Plunkett top scored with 26 and 19 respectively.
So, a tough week which leaves us just ahead of the relegation zone. We will need to play well in the remaining games to stay in Division 7.
That’s all this week folks.
Next week we are away at Leigh under a different skipper (Calypso is away for the weekend). Points would be helpful. Go well.
POTM – James Roche for the best all round bowling and batting performance.
MOTM1 – Joel Turner for excellent keeping (2 byes) after a quarter century break in keeping duties.
MOTM2 – Arthur Plunkett for the second highest top score and the most effective and dedicated fielding performance.
Scorecard: https://speldhurst.play-cricket.com/website/results/6698515
Speldhurst Cricket Club 