Samuel and Nav opened the bowling. Arun had the opener caught sharply at the wicket by Langridge to make the break through. Rich Brewer came on after Nav’s 6 over opening spell, in which the youngest member of my squad acquitted himself well as he did when asked to step up to the 1st XI at Leeds Broomfield. Brewer bowled a tight line and took two key wickets in his 4th over off shall we say interesting deliveries, but it put pressure on Willesborough to push for more. Arun finished his spell with 1 for 21 off 12 overs, yet again a great performance! Golden arm came on (Sunnucks T) to take the key wicket of Wilmer the Willesborough skipper caught by Langridge. Sunnucks finished with 5 for 38 off 11 overs taking the last wicket with the last ball of the match to gain maximum points. Marden won by 59 runs, a welcome win 1st time in 3 visits to Willesborough!!!

SELECTION:

HORTON KIRBY HOME – 1:30 SHARP

HUNTER

LANGRIDGE

SUNNUCKS T

SUNNUCKS P

SAMUEL A

BRANDRETH T

BLYTHIN

TAPLIN M

WITHERS GREEN

BREWER

STILEMAN

2nd XI - V’s West Farleigh - Lost by 3 Wickets

Here we go again!! But what a fantastic game of cricket with the scores tied after 89.5 over’s!! The last ball of the match was hit hard in the air to mid off where the chance was spilled and the single needed to win the game was scrambled. Farleigh owed their victory to a phenomenal innings by the number 9 batsman (ex-Hollingbourne Captain) Dave Brown who ended on 67 not out having arrived at the wicket with his side reeling on 166 for 6 and their top scoring opener retired hurt and unavailable to bat. Brown quite rightly took the aerial route realising he wasn’t going to win the match along the ground and high on adrenalin he hit seven sixes including three in the last over to finish the job.

90 over’s earlier things had started rather more sedately with openers Thomas and Thomas struggling against the early swing of M Brooke. With both in the hutch for 17, Sam (78 not out) steadied the ship and batted very responsibly for the remaining 40 over’s building what looked to be a match winning partnership of 159 with Adam Fraser. Nigel looked in good nick creaming four fours in his brief innings of 18 before he was LBW to a controversial decision. The Farleigh skipper could have reversed this but in the heat of battle chose not to do so.

Charlie was out caught sweeping against the spin and this brought Fraser the wicket for a magnificent knock of 93 not out with six towering sixes including one slap bang in the middle of the roof of the Mr Whippy ice cream van which then ballooned 40 feet up into the air and hit the slates on the adjoining house. A remarkable shot especially as the van was moving!

Farleigh set off in pursuit with their young opener soon falling to a smart catch by Nigel in the covers off JM. The other opener rode his luck although he eventually pulled his calf muscle which saw him leave the pitch in agony. Fraser, RHD and Lampard chipped away at the middle order and George Thomas bowled three tidy over’s near the end when Brown began to launch his assault (character building stuff for a 16 year old). Dai stepped up to the plate for the final over (23 still needed!!) and apparently his stress counselling is going well! For those who played in the Horton Kirby game last year it brought back horrible memories and sooner or later this team is going to be on the winning side of a similar result!

Many thanks to Bob Grabham who umpired for the entire match and will probably be deleted from Nigel’s Christmas card list and for all those who contributed to one of the most remarkable finishes seen at our historic ground for many a year.

The team for Saturday Bearstead away 1:30 start. Meet at the Oak On The Green from 12:30pm.

THOMAS R

WATTS

ANDREWS

SLOAN

THOMAS D

MORTIMER T

MORTIMER M

BURDGE

NAV

HUMPHREY R

MATTISON S

Sorry to those who haven’t made the cut this week. It’s been hard to keep up with who is away and who is available. Make sure RH and I know you are about and we will get you in when we can.