Saturday 29th April 2017, a day that will forever be remembered in Bexley CC’s history as members of the 5th and 6th XI plus longstanding members headed to Loring Hall for the unveiling of the new square. The pitch was opened with short speeches by Chairman Peter Bleksley and President Allan Jones whilst glasses of champagne were enjoyed, with thanks being made to a number of people whose hard work had created the opportunity for the second square at Loring Hall (Paul Ladbrook for securing the Sport England funding for covers, scoreboard etc; John Trice and his ground committee; the planning and development committee and Peter Bleksley for their hard work in making things a reality and last but by certainly no means least the Brian Kennett Trust for the funding of a significant amount of the project).

A glass was raised to our former President Brian, the covers were removed, we were split into teams and away we went. I am unsure if a toss took place but the 5s were to bat first, with 6th XI captain Steve Griggs taking the new ball from the Pavilion End. As to be expected on a new wicket that was not quite ready for cricket the ball kept somewhat low early on, but one got up enough for Stephen Course to nudge the first runs on the new square down to third man. The 6th XI were soon on top though, with Connor Daly trapping David Hendry (1) LBW and Griggsy (1-12) bowling Course (5) with a fearsome off cutter. Rick Melbourne batted aggressively and began to get the scoreboard ticking, but Harry Turner (2) and Ian Shanks (7) came and went to Daly (2-27) and Bambaulker (1-21), leaving the 5s struggling on 49-4.

The 5th XI rallied and Dave Dixon and Rick Melbourne shared a stand of 41 before parting in quick succession. Melbourne (45) falling LBW to the impressive Oliver Smith (1-31) on debut and Dixon (28) being caught off the bowling of Gethin Joyce (who finished with an impressive 2-23 on debut). Abdur Rehman (0) soon followed, also at the hands of Gethin Joyce to leave the 5s 94-7. Mike Dixon (18) and Rob Taylor (25*) rallied, with the highest partnership of the innings at 52 before Mike was stumped by Balaji Balakrishnan off the bowling of Georgia Tyler in the final overs. 28 extras helped the 5s to 162-8 from their 36 overs.

A superb tea was enjoyed between innings, thank you to Sarah Bleksley and Kelly Deppe for this.

The 6s began their reply positively, with Peter Bleksley punishing some short pitched bowling from Rob Taylor. He was ably supported by Vince Moore who played the ball well off the front foot after an early scare when a fierce drive was dropped by Melbourne at short extra cover. The 5s introduced Ben Bleksley to the attack early on and the plan appeared to have worked when his dad picked out Dave Dixon from Ben’s first delivery, alas Dave could not hold on. The evergreen Mike Shelvey (1-11) was the man that got the breakthrough, bowling the chairman for an impressive 42. Gary Carter was brilliantly run out by Abdur Rehman for 3 and Ben Bleksley (1-31) dismissed Shrikant Bambaulker LBW without scoring. Gary Joyce arrived at the crease and batted positively, but Moore fell for 38, brilliantly caught at square leg by Harry Turner off the bowling of Mike Dixon. Mike then picked up two more quick wickets, bowling Oliver Smith (2) and having Joyce stumped for 27 to finish with impressive figures of 3-15 and the game was swinging the 5th XI’s way. Harry Turner and Callum Deppe were left bowling at the death, with Harry picking up 2 wickets (Georgia Tyler for 1 and Balaji Balakrishnan for 10, both bowled) and Callum 1 (Viraj Vartak for 13 caught at point), whilst Ian Shanks also picked up a run-out. The 6s were all out from the penultimate ball of the innings for 147, losing by 15 runs.

A close game to open up with, but this was less about the cricket and more about the occasion and the beginning of a new dawn at Bexley CC with the 2nd pitch at Loring. Thanks go to Ian for umpiring and everybody that took part and watched a game played in great spirit. I am sure Brian would have felt very proud of watching on, as I am sure he was on Saturday.

Written by S. Course