Milstead

Match Report

As the unseasonably tropical sun extended across the manicured thatch of the Milstead pavilion, it was clear there was no better place to be than the Kent countryside. But the morning had not mirrored this image of serenity. Two last-minute Straggler dropouts had nearly caused WhatsApp’s servers to crash before Toby Snape and Dom Titcomb came thundering down the M2 to our rescue.

Unfortunately for our opposition, these two additions put the icing on a particularly fearsome Straggler XI. Baker White and Titcomb were sent in to open proceedings, the latter declaring that he would only play if he were batting in the Top 4. The confidence was well placed with a cultured 91, matching his partner run for run until Baker White upped the ante, dispatching a six to bring up his hundred and retire undefeated. The long wait in the taxing sun had perhaps taken its toll on the subsequent Straggler batsman, with Premnath and McCreery both holing out to the wily spin of Yeats. The Snape brothers then arrived at the crease and opened their shoulders to close out the innings with some clean hitting. The scoreboard read 287-5, as the team tucked into the feast that Milstead so excellently provide.

Once the generously filled paper plates had been dealt with, Louis Glynn-Williams made his way down the Milstead hill with metronomic ease. His six overs conceding just a single run and a superb inswinger, which saw the end of Milstead’s #3. At the other end, Idris Kaplan completed the herculean feat of an 8-over ascent up Mount Milstead, picking up two wickets in the process. Will McCreery made good use of the turn on offer, bowling very tidily (1 for 22), while Joe Gordon (1-11) and Dom Titcomb (2-29) excelled down the hill.  But the game reached its boiling point, when Hugo Snape took his mark at the end of his (40+ yard) run up. After being denied a close LBW shout, the red mist descended and frothing at the mouth, he proceeded to launch an aerial assault on the unsuspecting Milstead Number 6*.  Words were exchanged and some tense moments followed before a truce was eventually brokered. It was finally left to Jacob Furedi, running in to bowl for the first time in 10 years, who dealt the final two blows. The first seeing Hugo exacting revenge by catching his former adversary at cow corner, and the second courtesy of an extraordinary diving catch by Kieran Premnath at long on – a tumultuous conclusion to a fine victory!

*Based on a true story