Junior BB (203/6) v Shepway Stragglers - Match abandoned.
Scorecard here
Well it seems that the weather is doing its best to thwart us this week. We lost the game on Monday to rain against the Hoggets, and Wednesday's match against the Chief was curtailed. On Friday, rain was forecast to arrive late afternoon, however it never really left us and despite trying to squeeze a game in, we only managed four overs of their innings before it became too heavy to continue.
However there were some very promising aspects to our batting. Having lost the toss and been asked to bat first, we opened up with the Tonbridge pairing of Alex Moen and Charlie Oster. This could well be a first, as Charlie normally bats at 10 or 11, however he showed for too much skill to remain that low down the order in the future.
His timing was terrific and he hit some lovely boundaries before he was caught for 13 at second slip off the accurate Nick Wright. There was quite some considerable doubt about whether this was in fact a bunk ball - the umpire at the bowlers end was not sure at all - however Charlie took the catcher's word and walked off.
Rory Pritchard was looking to improve on his innings against Leeds, but was caught on the back foot by a quick single from Alex and was never likely to get home. He was run out for 1.
Captain George Wooldridge (21) had his father keeping behind him but didn't let this distract him. He hit 5 lovely 4s before unfortunately he was again attracted to spin and was bowled by Nick Healy trying to come down the wicket.
Freddie Falcon was also looking to hit over the top and was caught at mid on off Nick for 9. This brought Hugo P to the crease to join his old chum Alex. After a scratchy start, where he survived thanks to some streaky edges, Hugo played a terrific knock in difficult conditions, visibly growing in confidence.
He and Alex put on 49 before Alex was caught at mid wicket for 47 looking to accelerate. It was was a another lovely innings looked extremely solid and in good form. This brought in Will Falcon, just as the rain was getting heavier. After an initial break and delay, when tea was taken, we decided to shorten the game which left us five overs to complete our innings.
Will came out on fire and smashed 32 off 14 balls with some clean hitting - the partnership was 53 off 26 balls. With Hugo's acceleration (54*) and Benny Smallwood's wonderful improvisation (14*) with scoops over the keeper, we were able to finish on 203-6 off 32 overs, which the Stragglers were chasing off 25 overs.
Alas the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and after just four overs from Will and Sean, during which we created more than one chance, it was too wet to continue. We shook hands and headed home.
I am really sorry that couple of the team did not have the chance to do very much, notably Oli, Rufus and Sean, but thanks for your support and understanding.
So we move onto the last few games this week, and thanks again to all who came to support and watch. Special thanks to Seb Pollington for sharing the umpiring duties with me on a pretty grim day.
Mark