Mid-Kent League Match - 46 Overs per side, Maximum 12 per bowler

Yalding (7 pts) 73 all out
New Ash Green (20 pts) 74-5
New Ash Green won by 5 wickets.

Ian Shambrook was the name on everyone's lips at the close of New Ash Green 1st XI's latest victory. He was also the name that appeared in the bowler column of no less than seven of the Yalding player's dismissals.

"Awesome" was the verdict of Ash Green skipper Andy Stuart having watched this single handed demolition. Shambrook ended the game with the figures of 7.4 overs, 3 maidens, 18 runs and 7 wickets.

Stuart lost another toss and was invited to lead his team into the field on what was touted by meteorologists as being the hottest day of the year. However the innings of Yalding was short lived. Only left handed opener Sands making 13 and late middle order batsman Holmes with an unbeaten 17 offered any sort of resistance to the pace attack of NAG.

With the game 14 overs old Stuart rested opening bowler Andy Cox and had a tough decision as to who to replace him with. Either Shambrook or the ever reliable James Hewitt were the options at his disposal and his decision proved to be the correct one fourteen overs later when the innings finished.

Shambrook swung the ball in to the Yalding batsmen and cut it away at will. On four occasions he found the outside edge of the bat and three of the four nestled in John Harding's gloves. The other edge was schnaffled expertly by Cox at first slip. An LBW decision and two batsmen bowled completed the seven.

Yalding were bowled out for 73 and New Ash Green had 63 overs to get the runs. The Mayers father/son opening partnership made steady progress before dad Vic watched son Andy get bowled for 13. As other wickets dropped there was a feeling of unease around the NAG dressing room until Simon Duke strode to the crease. His quick fire 20, which included three boundaries and one big appeal for caught behind, and the solid 21 from Mayers senior ensured that even though five wickets were lost NAG scored twenty more points in their quest for promotion. It was left to Hewitt and Harding to finish the game with a boundary a piece and some thirty overs to spare.

New Ash Green II v Yalding II
Saturday 23rd June 2001

Mid-Kent League Match - 46 Overs per side, Maximum 12 per bowler

New Ash Green (20 pts) 306-6
Yalding (3 pts) 115 all out
New Ash Green Won by 191 runs.

Sunny weather again, and despite some drop outs New Ash Green were at reasonable strength. Yalding on the other hand had had drop outs and two of their players taken (to no avail - see above) by their first team on the morning of the game, and they could only muster 8 players. Yalding captain Grant Hopkins' day did not get any better when he lost the toss and New Ash Green elected to bat.

A good opening spell from Nigel Ryan, who started with 7 overs for 12 runs, kept New Ash Green in check, but he had no luck, with Andy Payne being badly dropped in the covers on 3, a miss which was to prove very costly. Payne soon started picking off the loose balls with powerful driving, and although a couple of wickets fell cheaply to Grant Hopkins, Dominic Adolphe soon started to match Payne as they took the lesser bowlers to pieces. They put on 136 for the 3rd wicket before Payne eventually mis-hit one to mid off for 112. With 10 overs remaining Christian Hoddinott joined Adolphe and knocked off a quickfire 30 before Adolphe seemed to get nervous as he approached his century and lost his way somewhat before being stumped on 96, a score which included 20 4's and one 5. The remaining batsmen kept the tempo going to carry the total past 300 in the final over, a new club record. Hopkins ended up with 4-54, but the pick of the bowlers was Ryan who troubled all the batsmen and deserved better than his eventual 0-42. The less said about the remaining bowlers' figures the better....

For New Ash Green it was now a matter of keeping their concentration and making sure they capitalised on their big score by getting all 7 Yalding wickets and getting maximum points. After Mick Sumner's beautifully pitched chinaman, followed up by an away cutter, had taken two wickets, both clean bowled, in the third over, and Dominic Adolphe's brilliant diving slip catch had taken the third wicket soon afterwards it was just a matter of whittling out the rest. Lee Brimstone entertained the spectators briefly in smashing his way to 46, taking 20 off one over from Andy Harrington, but when Mick Sumner returned as a spinner Brimstone was stumped a long way down the pitch and New Ash Green had completed the win with time to spare.

Stone v New Ash Green III
Saturday 23rd June 2001

Friendly Game - 40 Overs per side

New Ash Green 115-5
Stone 119-7
Stone won by 3 wickets.

Losing 8 players during the week, including two on the morning of the game, left New Ash Green's 3rd XI desperately depleted despite vigorous recruiting, but with only 9 men, one of whom had to leave half way through the game, they put up a brave effort and made a close game of it.

Batting first New Ash Green were indebted to Russell Edwards for his 28 and Kieran Hoddinott for 19 not out, but the main contributor was wides with approaching 30. (The score card is a little unclear in that area!) Thanks partly to those wides New Ash Green had reached the 40's as early as the ninth over, but once Edwards had gone things slowed down considerably and they grafted their way to 115-5 at the end of their 40 overs. Ring, with 2-12 in 10 overs, was the pick of the bowlers.

With restricted resources, though they were generously lent 3 substitute fielders, New Ash Green relied mainly on the bowling of Edwards and Sharad Bawdekar, with John Howland chipping in with a short spell and taking 2-23 and Jon Brandling-Harris also bowling a short spell. Edwards took 2-28 in 14 overs, and Bawdekar 3-33 in 12, and Stone had to depend on Harris batting through the innings for 41 not out to carry them to their target with only 4 overs to spare.

Despite the embarrassment of being so short of players, this ended up being a fine effort by those who did play, and hopefully everyone who took part enjoyed their game.

New Ash Green v Old Anchorians
Sunday 24th June 2001

Friendly Match

New Ash Green 144 all out
Old Anchorians 145-5
Old Anchorians won by 5 wickets.

New Ash Green won the toss and chose to bat first. Christian Hoddinott was out early on, but Dominic Adolphe and Matthew Scanlan took the score up to 60-1 before a middle order collapse which left the score on 64-5. Skipper Darren Phillips (36) and Sharad Bawdekar (23) added some respectability to the score, taking it to 144 at the end.

When New Ash Green took the field four quick overs of 'pace' from left armer Adolphe made an early breakthrough, and 14 overs of tight bowling from Bawdekar earned him two wickets. Phillips picked up two wickets, but had both not out batsmen dropped, and Anchorians got home with 4 overs to spare.