Speldhurst Cricket Club

If anyone other than the Orange Man still doesn’t believe in global warming have a wander around the Rec, where the outfield could double for the Sahara Desert with a small oasis of green known in Arabic as a صغيرة بوابة or wicket.

The oasis has proved a source of great sustenance for batters (modern idiom) but a poisoned well for bowlers. The average winning score in July and the first weekend in August, is 305 across six games and an aggregate per game of over 500 runs. This needs to be placed in context with the Nevill Ground where the curation has been so poor that TW 1’s had points docked for a very dodgy surface and have de-camped to the more reliable pitches at the sports club of the Wesson Group corporate headquarters.

I mused in the last Ramblings whether we were upwardly mobile in the two league teams or if availability would have us nervously looking at relegation dogfights ahead. The former happily proved more accurate with successful months for both teams and some superb personal performances none more so than Adam Nash’s tsunami of runs that sees him on over 400 league runs on the first day in August. It’s a while since that happened at SCC!

Your scribe recalls opining, a while ago, into the bottom of a glass of Larkins (remember that?), when the young pup version of Adam was plying his trade as a spinner who could bat a bit in the 2’s, that batting might ultimately be his forte……..just saying!

The 1’s have shown that at full strength they can beat anyone in Division 2 and I suspect a reasonable number of teams in Div 1 as well. When not, we are generally competitive but not always successful. Slightly frustrating but it does point to a greater strength in depth within the squad than we have seen for quite a few years.

I hope that the ambition for the 1’s is now better than mid table mediocrity and a potential springboard for a tilt at a return to the topflight next season.

The 2’s had a great July with three wins and a bye week which included hundreds for the skipper and a first for the club for Nick Fowler who is having a wonderful all-round campaign after last season’s injury woes. Chris continues to show that he is a batsman a class above Division 7 and is neck and neck with Adam in terms of the most prolific blade in the club.

As with the 1’s the team are definitely looking upwards despite a reverse today and I hope that good availability will enable them to push towards the upper reaches of the table even if promotion is now a bit of a stretch. Without stealing Francis’s thunder (see below) it has been wonderful to see so many of our home-grown young cricketers playing and contributing to the success of our league sides this year. This neatly segues into the latest JCS report which this time is a bit of a stat-fest:

JUNIOR CRICKET UPDATE 31 JULY 2026

In my last report I promised lots of stats for those of you who like that sort of thing.

INVICTA JUNIOR CRICKET LEAGUE

Under 11 played in the Sevenoaks Division
Finished 6 out of 9 clubs
Won 4 Lost 4
19 players were used across the 8 matches

Under 13 A played in the Championship Division
Finished 4 out of 11 clubs
Won 6 Lost 3
16 players were used across the 9 matches.

Under 13 B played in Tunbridge Wells Division 2
Finished 4 out of 8 clubs
Won 3 Lost 4
27 players were used across the 7 matches.

Under 15 played in the Tunbridge Wells Division
Finished 6 out of 6
Won 1 Lost 9
17 Under 15 players were used across the 10 matches but a lot of Under 13s also playe

BRIEF REPORT ON EACH TEAM

Except for the Under 13A team where it was important to field a strong team each week all teams aimed to give experience to as wide a range of players as possible

Under 11s did very creditably for a very inexperienced squad. 90% of last year’s highly successful Under 11 squad had moved up to the Under 13s in 2026

The Under 13A team was mainly made up of Under 12s and did well to finish as high as fourth given the size and reputation of all the other clubs in the Division.

The Under 13B team had a good season to finish mid table given the number of inexperienced players in the squad

The Under 15s had real problems with availability for a range of justifiable reasons. The replacements from the Under 13s were often Under 12s.

JUNIOR CRICKETERS PLAYING SENIOR CRICKET.

More of our older young cricketers decided to follow the example of George Greenway who took the highest number of League wickets for Second XI last year. The number of young cricketers (and parents of young cricketers) in Senior Cricket teams increases every week.

Last Saturday and the Saturday before there were 8 young cricketers and parents playing in the two League XIs. Parents and young cricketers weren’t just making up the numbers but made significant contributions in each match

Back to general non statistical waffle next month as we round off another very enjoyable Junior Cricket season.

Francis Booth

It is extraordinary to think that we are just a month a way from the end of the league season and just five more opportunities to play in what seems to have been very enjoyable competitions for both teams. The off season is a long one so please do not regret not playing a bit more when you really could have done.

For those going on holiday have a good one and those returning, hopefully you do so with renewed vigour for the rest of the cricketing summer.

Regards.
Mark