Hollingbourne

Match Report

The season finale at Hollingbourne, played in the low light of autumn in a stunning bowl in the Downs, has seen some high class, hard fought and always enjoyable contests in the last few years. To round off the 2015 season the Stragglers arrived with a full complement of Smallwoods, Hugo freshly returned from the Southern Hemisphere and some of the Parisian tourists, possibly still a little green round the gills. Hugo proceeded to bowl one of the spells of the season taking 2 in two balls in his second over (including one of the Hollingbourne Australian pros first ball, on the day before his return down under), while not conceding a run in his 5 overs. Life was not so fruitful at the other end, as the Master Brewer found that he had not only failed to turn on his radar, but seemed to be bowling with his eyes shut. In between the wides (and Jonathan was not alone, as almost all the Straggler bowlers contributed to wides being top scorer) Jonathan found a perfect length, but there was a risk that each over might continue after dark, and he was relieved. Patch Mitchell and Jasper then created mayhem in the middle order, leaving a normally robust and aggressive Hollingbourne batting line up in disarray at 56 for 6. Patch’s spell of 4 for 8 enabled him to sneak in at the last moment and top the bowling averages. Benny bowled a short spell with considerable guile, and the tail was wrapped up by Graeme Tyndall (another slip catch – what is going on?), and the Chairman, leaving a modest target of 121.

Jonathan’s day could only get better, or could it? With Bobby and Yvonne arriving to join the crowd, Jonathan went back to an unplayable googly and was castled for a duck. At the other end Jasper (35) was continuing where he left off in Paris, and George BW (55*) doing his best to make up for the missed opportunity there, now that he could see the ball. Always up with the pace, the Stragglers managed to lose 5 wickets, Nige having used his unconventional foot wear to dance down the pitch and club a mighty blow back over the bowler’s head before gently lobbing the next ball back to the bowler. With 19 overs still left in the game, Hugo and George calmly knocked off the singles required to see the Stragglers home. As ever Hollingbourne provided us with a wonderful welcome and a great spot to bring the season to a close.