Handbook on line 2012 - Forester Kent Cricket League - Uk.net

REPORTS
Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League Shepherd Neame Kent Cricket League
Surrey Championship Divisions 2-5
REPORTS
Division 3-5 Win
Sovereign Trophy
On Wednesday 3rd August 2011 the Kent League
Representative Division 3-5 League Side travelled to
Three Bridges Cricket Club to contest the Sovereign
Trophy Final.
This was the Kent League’s first appearance in the final
in the revamped competition that had been running
since 2006. In the last 4 years the side had reached
the Semi Finals on 3 occasions but had been unable to
secure that elusive finals place.
The road to the final had not been an easy one for the
side who had to travel to last years winners the Mid
Essex League in the 1st Round before a comprehensive
victory over pre tournament favourites the Essex
League Division 1-3 side by 10 wickets and a nail biting
roller coaster victory over the Hertfordshire League
Side.
In the final Kent were facing their old adversaries the
Surrey League who had been responsible for knocking
the Kent side out at the Semi Final stage in two of the
last 3 years.
Upon arriving at Three Bridges both sides looked at the
wicket and felt that there would be lots of runs with
a hard fast track and an even quicker outfield and on
a blisteringly hot day the toss seemed to be crucial. At
the toss the Kent League skipper Stuart Clarke won it
and to the surprise of many onlookers elected to bowl
first looking to unleash his impressive seam attack on a
Surrey side that was full of batting.
The choice to bowl first for Kent paid dividends. Early
on Matt Iles produced an excellent spell of hostile seam
bowling. Iles was ably assisted by the evergreen Rupert
Staple who bowled with excellent control on a wicket
that had both some pace and bounce.
With neither bowler giving the Surrey side any
restpite it was not long before wickets started to
fall with Iles removing Tomlinson for 2 clean bowled
and Staple taking the prized wicket of Surrey League
run machine Arvind Maan smartly caught by Bromley
Common’s captain Leigh Walker. At 30/2 Kent had made
an excellent start but knew the pressure had to be
maintained.
With this in mind Ben Entacott was introduced to
replace Iles a like for like replacement, however the first
few balls of Entacott’s spell were loose and it seemed
that Surrey were going to get the opportunity to
counter attack.
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However it only takes one ball and Entacott with his last
ball of the first over had Surrey Captain and ex Oxford
University and Lancashire 2nd XI Nick Woods caught by
Neil Scott at extra cover to a wide and full half volley.
Huge relief for the Kent side with the match well and
truly in the balance at 53/3. Staple finished his 9 over
spell off the reel with fantastic figures of 1/19 off 9 overs
and was replaced by key all rounder Hayden James.
It was at this point that the match turned with the Kent
side seizing the initiative and bowling away the Surrey
middle order thanks to some fantastic catching and
accurate bowling, Entacott removed Wendell Sebastian
and Richard Johnson in quick succession finishing with
figures of 3/30 and the introduction of Scott saw the
removal of the stubborn Daryl Hattingh who had
occupied the crease for 66 balls for just 10 runs thanks
to some smart keeping from Richard Harmer.
At 87/6 Kent sensed an opportunity to quickly finish off
the innings however they encountered late middle order
resistance from Tom Caines and Mike O’Mahony. Both
batsmen were severe against spin bowlers Lee Hall and
Faisal Zaman which meant that a change of tactic was
required and the seamers were brought back.
With both batsmen now in, and 91 runs added for the
seventh wicket, Surrey had repaired the damage and
seemed intent on getting a score of around 230 which
would have been a challenging total. Hayden James,
however, with ball in hand had other ideas and again
turned the game back in Kent’s favour removing Caines
for 41 and O’Mahony for a hard hitting 59 off just 53
balls.
With some accurate seam bowling and good catching,
three wickets fell to James who finished with 3/35 and
with the returning Iles being difficult to get away the
runs dried up and it was fitting that Iles finished the
innings dismissing Leigh Padfield cleaned bowled for one
and finishing with figures of 2/21. This left Surrey having
registered a total of 195, leaving Kent 196 to chase
down in 45 overs.
The Kent reply was started by Skipper Clarke leading
by example as he had done throughout the whole
tournament (having scored 226 runs in the previous 3
matches) assisted by wicketkeeper Harmer. Both Clarke
and Harmer faced the hostile bowling of Padfield who
was the fastest bowler in the whole competition and
the equally aggressive Dhillion Wouterz.
Harmer made an aggressive start looking to dictate
to Padfield and after two excellent pull shots looked
well set. However Padfield had the last laugh with an
exceptionally quick delivery cleaning up Harmer for 18
and leaving Kent at 23/1. The loss of Harmer brought
Walker to the crease who with his pedigree was
probably the most talented of batsmen in the Kent side
who had flattered to deceive in the tournament.
His partnership with Clarke was going to be crucial and
what was more crucial was that both Clarke and Walker
gave chances early on in their innings Clarke when
on 3 and Walker having only scored 6. Both batsmen
knuckled down intent on making Surrey regret those
costly drops.
Steady accumulation from both batsmen kept the run
rate in check and saw 96 runs added for the 2nd wicket
and at 119/1 it appeared that Kent were on their way to
cruising to their target, however Clarke was dismissed
for a circumspect 33 having been run out by his partner
Walker.
With Clarke’s dismissal all rounder James entered
the action intent on dictating to the bowlers. Walker
after an excellent 58 then had a rush of blood getting
stumped following his 74 ball vigil again raising hope of
a Surrey fight back and when Scott was harshly adjusted
LBW for 7, Kent had wobbled to 145/4 still 51 runs
away from victory.
The wobble was halted by Sidcup legend and run
machine Phil Robinson coming in at an unaccustomed
number 6 slot and offering good support to the
aggressive James. Having bludgeoned 37 runs off only
36 balls James was intent on finishing the game early
however fell to a very tame caught and bowled dismissal
leaving Kent still requiring 22 runs with 8 overs
remaining.
Lee Hall accompanied Robinson at the crease and the
pair ensured the target was reached with the loss of no
further wickets and with 4.5 overs in hand. Robinson
and Hall finished unbeaten on 18 and 12 respectively.
A jubilant Kent side celebrated their historic 5 wicket
victory and it was also good to see that the Man of the
Match award as adjudicated by the umpires was given to
Hayden James for his all round performance of 37 runs
and 3/35 and a well deserved bottle of Verve Clique
was presented to him. It was then left for Stuart Clarke
to receive the Sovereign Trophy from the Club Cricket
Conference along with a cheque for £1,000 to the Kent
League.
It was mission accomplished for the Kent side and
thanks must go to all involved behind the scenes as well
as the players on the day with help received from Chris
Tarrant of Old Colfeians and Jon Taylor of Blackheath as
well as special mention to Adrian Jewell of Downham
& Bellingham for scoring throughout the whole
competition.
Stuart Clarke
Byes 1, Leg Byes 11, Wides 12,
Total 195/10 in 44.3 Overs
11-1, 30-2, 53-3, 63-4, 68-5, 87-6, 178-7, 184-8, 185-9, 195-
Matt Iles 7.3-1-21-2, Ruper Staple 9-4-19-1, Ben Entacott 5-0-30-3
Hayden James 8-0-35-3, Neil Scott 6-1-17-1, Phile Robinson 4-0-18-0
Lee Hall 2-0-16-0, Faisal Zaman 3-0-27-0
Kent League Division 3-5
Leg Byes 1, Wides 15
23-1, 119-2, 134-3, 145-4, 174-5,
Runs Balls 4’s 6’s
Arvind Maan Ct Walker B. Staple 12 27 3
Stuart Tomlinson B. Iles 2 8
Nick Woods* Ct Scott B. Entacott 24 44 4
Darryl Hattingh+ Ct Harmer B. Scott 10 66
Wendell Sebastian Ct Harmer B. Entacott 6 8 1
Richard Johnson Ct Walker B. Entacott 4 4 1
Tom Caines B.James 41 83 3
Mike O’Mahony Ct Zaman B. James 59 53 10
Ned Lack Ct Hall B.James 2 7
Dhillon Wouterz Not Out 10 4 2
Leigh Padfield B.Iles 1 2
Runs Balls 4’s 6’s
Stuart Clarke Run Out 33 54 5
Richard Harmer + B. Padfield 18 23 2
Leigh Walker St Hattingh B. Maan 58 74 8 1
Hayden James Ct Wiids B. Woods 37 36 5
Neil Scott LBW B. Wouterz 7 14 1
Phil Robinson Not Out 18 17 3
Lee Hall
Rupert Staple
Matt Iles
Ben Entacott
Faisal Zaman
Not Out 12 24 1
Total 199/5 in 40.1 Overs
Dhillion Wouterz 8-0-31-1, Leigh Padfield 2-0-26-1, Richard Johnson 6-1-22-0
Mike O’Mahony 2-0-16-0, Arvind Maan 0-0-39-1, Tom Caines 5-1-24-0
Ned Lack 2-0-15-0, Nick Woods 3.1-0-19-1
Kent League Division 3-5 won the toss and
elected to bowl.
Kent League Division 3-5 won by 5 wickets.
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