Friendly Match

New Ash Green 221-7 declared.
Northants Police 182-8.
Match Drawn.

After a toss which appeared to the watching spectators to be something of a formality, since both Captains appeared to know what would be happening before the coin was spun, New Ash Green batted. Captain James Hewitt boldly promoted himself to open the batting together with his specially imported overseas player, Paul Bennett, brought in from Sri Lanka for the day. Although Bennett struck some fine shots in his 25 he was too impatient and was soon caught, and Hewitt (12) followed him back to the pavilion shortly afterwards. Simon Duke (39) with assistance from Rob Jansen and Steve Hurst kept the score moving along, but the pace really picked up with the aggressive batting and running of Matthew Quantrill (45) and Rob Newmarch (25*) who added 68 for the sixth wicket at better than a run a ball. A brief cameo from Neil Howick and an even shorter appearance from Andy Stuart brought the declaration at 221-7 after 39 overs.

Given an hour and twenty minutes, plus the final twenty overs, and on a good track, the Police should have been in with a good shout. However although the batsmen looked very capable, they found the pace and movement of Andy Cox, Andy Stuart and Paul Bennett impossible to get away. Only one wicket fell, and that to an unlucky inside edge onto the stumps, but the police fell way behind the asking rate. Dark clouds meant that the pace bowlers had to be taken off, to return only as spinners if at all, and PC's Rhodes and Baker put on 109 for the 2nd wicket with some fine strokes off a variety of bowlers. However the pressure of keeping up a high scoring rate against the deadly accurate spin of Steve Hurst and the loopy pie throwing of James Hewitt proved too much, and once the wickets started to fall the floodgates opened. Hurst took a deserved 3-24, each wicket marked by his trade mark celebratory arms raised jump in the air, while Hewitt also picked up 4-20. Sadly though the game then drifted to a draw with neither side really making any effort to press for victory, the Police's ninth wicket pair surviving to make 182-8.

Lest anyone think that Mr. Hewitt excelled himself by opening the batting and having a bowl it has to be said that he didn't even once ask to keep wicket, and he did provide the teas almost entirely by himself, aided only by an unsolicited chocolate cake. Thanks are due to him for arranging and funding the match, and for surviving the barrage of helpful advice offered to him by the various alternative captains on the field.