Match Report

On another steamy day in east Kent, the outfield resembling that in Karachi, the Stragglers very nearly pulled off an unlikely victory, and ended up with a very respectable draw. Electing to field in the heat of the afternoon, James Felton opened with a very tidy over, followed by Freddie Evans, who made an immediate breakthrough. What a start. However, James then got on the receiving end of Dave Shelly, who was clearly in a hurry, smacking James to the boundary with a degree of impoliteness. After 8 overs, they were (really he was) going at nearly nine an over, and Patch turned to the spin twins – Will Evans and Archie Brown. Archie teased out a second, by which time Dave had reached his half-century and the score was on 66. Will joined in with a third, Dave still going strong, heading towards his century at pace. Disappointingly, both Will and Archie were let down in the field, when Dave offered chances, neither straightforward, but likely to be match significant. Suddenly, a clatter of wickets, as Will (2 for 41) induced a miscue, held well by George Long at mid-wicket – plenty of time to see it coming. And then in the next over, with Dave on 96, Archie (3 for 23) found the finest of edges through to Mitch behind the stumps. He followed it up with an LBW shout, which could have been given out by the square leg umpire, the score now 121 for 6, with no other batsmen yet in double figures. However, as to be expected, the lower order arrived with a bit more muscle. Harry Heming floated one up to be hit by the HC skipper straight to Archie at long on. Numbers 6 and 9 now upped the tempo ‘to have some fun’, and it looked as if they were set to bat right through tea. However, they had not previously come across Rex Long, held back by Patch for just such a situation. Rex bowled two in two balls (2 for 26), one batsman getting in an awful tangle trying to switch hit Rex into the orchard; bowling at the stumps tends to pay dividends. 215 for 7 had become 215 for 9. One boundary later and the innings was over, John Julian sending a top edge almost straight up in the air (and the wind) for a rather apprehensive Chairman to collect on the way down. 219 all out was a very commendable effort, even with the fielding misdemeanours, and we had even given ourselves another few minutes for an excellent tea.

Freddie Fisher and George Long strolled to the crease to open the Straggler innings. Sadly, they both strolled back rather too soon, 6 for 2 in the second over. James Felton looked in command, but he edged through to the keeper to leave Will Chilcott and Harry Heming to begin a recovery. Will (24) departed with the score on 45 for 4, bringing Freddie E to the crease. He and Harry (32) fell either side of the drinks break to leave the Stragglers looking down the barrel – 80 for 6, with 20 overs remaining. Now, two long-standing friends came together, Archie Brown and Xandy Long. Playing cricket together since Wellesley House, coached by the President, they put their heads down and batted with great concentration. The run rate was not much of a problem and, if it ever looked like becoming one, Xandy waltzed down the wicket and deposited the ball into the distance. With the crowd beginning to dream, Xandy (35) was undone going back to a ball, which kept low, their partnership of 80 in 15 overs setting the game up for a gripping finale. Patch joined Archie and they smacked 37 in three overs to leave a paltry 23 for the final three. Archie (60), however, took on one that was just too wide and was a couple of yards adrift, when the bails came off. Patch was now managing the strike, with Rex at the other end finding a nice edge to the third man boundary to assist. Aiming to flick a leg-side 6, Patch (15) turned it into a gentle edge to short fine, 204 for 9, with 10 balls remaining. Will Evans and Rex resisted to the last. A great fun game, played, as always in great spirit, and with young Alex Hills appearing, once again, in the ranks of the opposition.