Friendly Match - 40 overs

New Ash Green 134-5
East Malling 137-2
East Malling won by 8 wickets.

NAG batted first and were rubbish, Paul Sumner smashed 35 not out off a pie chucker, Shane Hampsheir looked solid scoring 12 not out.

East Malling scored the runs with ease, James Davison scored 76, NAG's bowling was just as bad as their batting.

Pete Burke did pick up 2 for 12.

New Ash Green v Crusaders
Sunday 16th September 2001

Friendly Match

New Ash Green 61 all out
Crusaders 62-4
Crusaders won by 6 wickets.

The usual annual problems with the junior football club making fixtures during cricket matches and not bothering to tell anyone else meant that at the last minute New Ash Green's last home game of the season had to be re-arranged and played at Luddesdowne, who had had their fixture cancelled at the last minute. Further problems were caused by the change of venue as two players failed to find the ground, and New Ash Green were forced to play with nine men.

Having won the toss and elected to bat New Ash Green were soon regretting it as the pitch started to break up, although in most cases it was poor shot selection rather than the wicket which caused wickets to fall. Worries about the pitch did make scoring difficult though, and only Matthew Quantrill with 33 was able to get into double figures. Anthony Scanlan and Matthew Pennell, both of whom have hardly played all season, played useful supporting roles, but having finally seen off the openers New Ash Green lost their last three wickets in the first two overs of the change bowlers, neither of whom actually appeared to offer much of a threat!

Defending 61 on a small ground with 9 fielders was not going to be easy, although there was hope when Matt Pennell bowled the opening bat second ball and the Paul Sumner, aided by a confused piece of calling, ran out the other opener without him facing. 0-2 in the first over looked good, but although there were a few shots in the air early on the remaining Crusaders batsmen hit the ball much more cleanly than New Ash Green had done. Two more wickets did fall, but Crusaders cruised to a 6 wicket triumph in time for tea.

Being a side who enjoy their cricket Crusaders agreed without hesitation to a beer match and even loaned New Ash Green a player to even up the numbers. It is tempting to report this in great detail, as NAG played much better when the pressure was off and scored 168 in 16 overs! The bowling was, of course, considerably less serious, but Micky Sumner's innings of 71 in about 30 balls was still impressive, not least when he hit the last four balls of one over for 6, a feat which takes some doing even on a small ground against easy bowling. Crusaders scored about 110 in reply, but by the end I don't think anyone was keeping much track of the score. All I can say is that pretty well everyone had a good time, even in the first game, and Crusaders are a great example of how friendly cricket can still be played seriously without taking it seriously!