4s win top of the table clash
'The town of Chislehurst hadn't been this excited since the old police station became a Prezzo'
Bexley 4th XI made the relatively short journey to Chislehurst & West Kent to take on their 2nd XI in a top of the table clash. The town of Chislehurst hadn’t been this excited since the old police station became a Prezzo.
Despite heavy rain over the previous few days, the wicket looked excellent and would inevitably improve with the promised sunshine. The toss would therefore be crucial. Good fortune landed at my feet when the Chislehurst captain informed me that he would be without an umpire for the first hour and as such the toss was forfeited. I eagerly invited him to bat first.
Since becoming captain, I have become almost as much of a Play-Cricket ‘statto’ as Adrian Wiltshire. I knew that their openers were the spine of their batting line up and if we could get them early, we had a good chance of restricting them to a low score.
Despite a bit of ‘leakage’ at the start, opening bowlers Marcus Ritson and Fred Woodgate were able to tie down the openers and slowly create frustration. Archie Hobbs-Moore came on first change and took the first wicket, with an excellent low catch by Bis Das at mid-on. Thomas Copp at the other end bowled with good pace and had their number three caught behind by Michael Maietta’s chest.
After being given a stern talking to by Adam Riley for not bowling in recent weeks, I brought myself on for the first time this year (I’m just such a team player). Naturally I removed the gun opener for 53 and proceeded to finish with 3-16 off 7.
We continued to take regular wickets (Freddy Farage, nephew of Nigel, being one of them), with one for Ian Clark and two each for Archie and Marcus, who both returned to bowl exceptional spells at the end of the innings.
We just finished short of bowling them out, despite their number 11 smashing the granny out of it to Mike behind the stumps and starting to walk off, only to realise the umpire wasn’t going to give it and shamelessly walking back. Chislehurst ended on 147-9 off their 46 overs, probably 10-15 more than they should have.
A wonderful tea ensued, complete with home-made sandwiches, cakes and scones. 8/10.
We then set about the chase in temperatures barely above freezing. My theory of batting on concrete in the late afternoon sun was but a distant memory. Humza departed early on for 11 which brought Mike to the crease. He and Bis proceeded to put together a good partnership, both hitting boundaries with easy. Bis tried one too many and was caught at mid-on for 37. Mike, jealous of the way Bis had been dismissed proceeded to hit one straight to mid-off, also for 37.
Batting stalwart Adrian Wiltshire and Liam Cook safely saw us home in the 40th over, with a combination of boundaries and excellent running between the wickets. Adrian once again finished not out on 19 and I am sure he will thank me for highlighting that he currently average 58 in league cricket. Liam made an excellent 37, all the better after he suffered a bad injury to his shoulder whilst fielding (minor knock to you and I).
Another 16 points for the 4th XI sees us sitting top of the standings on 48 points after three games. The side has shown excellent standards in all three areas of the game (except when Coppy dropped Farage’s nephew off of me. Fuming) along with an enthusiastic attitude towards the game.
This Saturday we take on Frindsbury 2nd XI at Chis and Sid, hoping to continue our winning run. I am also hoping that their captain has forgiven me for leaving their ground last year without paying for teas.
James Harris