Tag: Speldhurst

Falconhurst 150-9 in 35 overs (McCallister 30, Owen Fowler 8-1-25-2, Ben Harrison 5-2-9-2, Nick Fowler 4-0-25-2) lost to Speldhurst friendly XI 153-7 in 32.2 overs (Tristan Price 30, Ollie Crees 50, McCallister 9-1-40-3, J Tipper 6-1-27-2) by 3 wickets.

Now the league season is over, it is only right that the weather is now perfect for cricket – and Saturday was no exception as we hosted Falconhurst.

We bowled first, spearheaded by the excellent Owen Fowler (2-25 from 8 overs) and Will Plunkett (1-26 from 6). Whilst only one wicket fell in their opening spells, both bowled admirably and proved very difficult to get away.

Jo Price then bowled fast and tidily; Nick Fowler, who dropped a catch off his son earlier, had one caught by his son; and we were treated to dual leg spin from Tom Hinton and Ollie Crees (or O. Priest, as their scorebook noted) – Hinton’s economy of 4.14 runs/over much better than Crees’ 12.5! In the end, they reached 149.

In response, Hinton fluently got himself to 28 with no alarm before falling, followed quickly by Arthur Plunkett – beaten by a good one.

The third-wicket partnership of 62 between O Priest (50) and T Price (30) made victory seem inevitable, but losing two Prices in three balls made Ollie’s belligerent fifty even more valuable.

In the end, we were treated to some good biffing from Mike James (17) and a sumptuous cover drive from
Will Plunkett to get us over the line. A win with 2.3 overs and 3 wickets remaining. Perfect.

I finally got some runs with the bat, taken long enough.

I have to say the skipper Ben Harrison took an amazing catch at mid-on, he is properly the 2nd best fielder that I have played with and the other player went on to play international cricket.

This was my last game of the season and considering most of the matches are league games, I enjoyed my first season with Speldhurst. Good atmosphere in the club.

Speldhurst II 109 in 39.1 overs (Ben Harrison 39, Josh Patterson 6-0-27-2, 8.2-1-10-4) lost to Bidborough III 110-3 in 17.1 overs (H Whitehouse 32, Clint Hillhouse 33, James Roche 5-0-27-2) by 7 wickets.

The final-week showdown with Bidborough. Unfortunately, we had only our blushes to save having been mathematically relegated the previous weekend.

Furthermore, Bidborough still had a very slim chance of survival so whilst availability dictated we had just the 10 players, Bidborough had (understandably) done some shuffling around of their player pool to field a very strong 11.

Batting first seemed like a good option and Tristan Price and James Roche repelled a very good opening pair. Unfortunately a lack of communication stranded both in the middle of the pitch trying to steal a run – James was the unfortunate soul to trudge (very slowly) back to the changing room.

The going was slow throughout. Resistance came in the form of Skipper Harrison (39) and Adam Nash (19), but we were eventually bowled out for 109.

With wickets needed quickly, unconventional field setting was the sensible (and most entertaining) option. Having got to 30 very quickly, exemplary bowling and fielding grabbed us 3 wickets for 3 runs.

The cat was then firmly amongst the Bidborough pigeons. But after weathering a challenging 10 overs, the batsman cut loose and got to 109 relatively quickly.

Top opening spells from Nash and Roche were the highlights, and did what every 2nd XI player has done all season: made their Skipper proud.

I managed to make 2 before being bowled.

I’m not sure how we ended up being relegated with the players we have, but we did. Hopefully were bounce back next year.

Sissinghurst CC II 162-9 in 40 overs (Colin Jenkins 34, Andrew Knowler 64, Harry Dunmall 9-0-33-2, James Roche 9-2-15-4) beat Speldhurst CC II 154 in 39.5 overs (Harry Dunmall 39, Ben Harrison 56, Colin Jenkins 9-2-19-2, Gary Nutbourne 9-1-22-3, Michael Winner 7.5-0-43-3, Kieran Martin 6-1-23-2) by 8 runs.

Our opposition took the wise decision to bat first on a flat looking track which had yielded runs all year.

Opening bowlers Skipper and Harry Dunmall (2-33) struggled to hold the door as they were greeted by a pre-disgruntled opening batsman, who clearly had frustration to expel. But at 50-0 from seven overs, we took 3-6 in the next five. Game on.

Very tidy middle overs from Mark Flemington and Paul Eames, two fantastic catches from Iqbal Sidhu, and an astonishing spell of death bowling from James Roche (4-15 from 9 overs) and Dunmall were the highlights. In the end, 162-9 understated what was our best bowling and fielding performance of the year.

Our batting, however, suffered from the same affliction as always. The top order struggled to score against tidy opening bowling, and when the first change offered little rest-bite we found ourselves 63-6 with just 15 overs left.

A 50 partnership from Harrison (56) and Dunmall (39) took it deep, but we lost Dunmall with 43 still to win from 36 balls.

New man Mark Thorpe was caught valiantly swinging the bat. Mr Eames ran like a maniac for several overs (including a two to short mid-wicket!) But 20 from the final over was too many, and we fell eight runs short.

It was probably my best day in the field and I was 0 not out with the brilliant innings from the skipper Ben.

Speldhurst II 149-8 in 35 overs (James Flemington 51, Arthur Plunkett 45, Nicholas Scott 6-2-24-2, Scott Conway 3-0-15-2) drew with Penshurst Park II 40-1 in 10 overs

Another wet weekend was promised as the 2s hosted Penshurst – top of the league, and responsible for our infamous 29 all out earlier this season. With sweet revenge on our minds, and a shortened game of 35 overs per side agreed, our openers calmly negotiated the opening bowlers to leave us 63-0 from 18 overs – not many times this season has our number six batsman been able to umpire overs 10-20, without having already batted!

When wickets did fall, they fell in neat batches of three, but this did not distract from two classy knocks: 51 from James Flemington, which lifted him coolly to the summit of the 2s top run-scorers list, and a brutal 46 (26 balls) from Arthur Plunkett which saw him try to hit most deliveries into his own back garden!

I managed to make 3 not out at the end of the innings.

With 149 on the board, we knew we were in with a good shout. SCC newbie Gary Humble acquitted himself excellently in his first three overs for the club, conceding just four runs. His next four balls however, saw him pick up an arm injury and then go for 17! In the end just 10 overs of tight bowling and fielding were managed by a high-energy, high-quality Speldhurst side hell-bent on retribution!

Farningham II 192-6 in 40 overs (Simon Evans 63, Richard Pleydell 47*, Owain Withers 3-0-17-2) lost to Speldhurst II 193-7 in 36.3 overs (Mark Flemington 36, James Greenidge 93, Kevin Cullern 7-0-25-2, Chris Scott 8-0-30-3) by 3 wickets.

The 2s were asked to field at a warm Farningham which made a change regarding the weather, and it quickly became clear why. The pitch was hard and flat, and wickets were hard to come by, especially if you drop five catches before the first drinks break!

The breakthrough came through a suicidal run out, and a retired “tired”. We did take some late wickets through Owain Withers but plaudits go to the middle-overs squeeze provided by ‘spin twins’ Mark Flemington and James Greenidge. Both bowled nine overs for 25 runs and this in my eyes won the match.

Batting came second and came easier. M Flemington and Ed Wesson opened proceedings, both looking good until Ed missed one. Mr Greenidge then came to the crease with the full weight of his name and heritage behind him. He did not disappoint! The highlight of his fabulous 93 being a flicked six into the pavilion – the lowlight was him being out with 6 still needed to win.

Despite a late collapse (of course) we got there. With overthrows! I was actually out there at the winning time and ended with 6 not out which included the over throws. Fiery Farningham were audibly disappointed – couldn’t have happened to a nicer bunch…

Bidborough III 133-4 in 35 overs (Alex Latham 43*, Andrew Reid 42, Ben Harrison 8-0-33-2) beat Speldhurst II 122 in 33.3 overs (James Flemington 38, George Van Der Westhuizen 7.3-0-21-5, Ant Davis 8-3-17-2) by 11 runs.

Another Friday night monsoon made Bidborough’s second ground, Vizards, a damp affair and another reduced overs match. The decision to bowl first was looking good when we had the opposition 3 wickets down with not many runs on the board, for perhaps the fourth time this season. It was a shame therefore, that we didn’t take another wicket until the penultimate over, again, for perhaps the fourth time this season.

A sharp, controlled opening 8 overs from Siraj Deane was the highlight with a very sharp run-out from Owen Fowler.

The batting looked good for a while without ever getting ahead of the rate. A short double-Flemington partnership provided mid-innings stability, but after that partnership was broken wickets fell at alarmingly regular intervals.

A youthful stand between Arthur Plunkett and Sam Mercer gave hope and, with 25 needed from 5 overs, only wickets stood between us and victory. In the end wickets won, and we fell 11 runs short.

A bright 21 from young Plunkett included the biggest six anyone on the team had ever seen, and upon measurement we confirmed it would have indeed been six at every single cricket ground on the planet. At least the football is coming home!

This result leaves the 2s level on points with our opponents in 7th place.

I finally managed to get my first run for Speldhurst, with a push into the covers, but that was the only run as I was last out in a game we should have won.