New Ash Green (7 points) 179 all out (44.2 overs)
Nonington (20 points) 183-5 (42.2 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 5 wickets

Having lost the toss and been asked to bat on a wicket still drying after overnight rain New Ash Green were soon in trouble at 2-2 and 14-3, but Vic Mayers and Marc Klus steadied the ship, putting on 48 before Mayers was out for 34. Klus went on to make 40, and after he had gone Andy Mayers (37) and Paul Sumner (18) put on 49 for the 7th wicket before they both fell on 155. Arron Ward and Micky Sumner kept the board ticking over, but couldn’t quite use up the full 46 overs, though 179 was a more than respectable total.

In reply Micky Sumner showed what New Ash Green have been missing all season with a strong opening spell, but although he beat the bat a number of times he couldn’t get a wicket. It was the contrasting pairing of Vic Mayers and Matt Scanlan who eventually made the breakthrough, and Scanlan turned the ball prodigiously to take 4-42 in ten overs, but in the end the steadiness of Nonington’s batting was sufficient to get them home with a few overs to spare. For the third week running, though, New Ash Green have been in the game, and at last a few of the batsmen put some runs on the board. If they can break the losing habit you have to feel they would be capable of winning against any of the sides in the division.

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Borstal (20 points) 152 all out (46 overs)
New Ash Green (13 points) 141 all out (44.3 overs)
New Ash Green lost by 11 runs

Having no umpire New Ash Green were expecting to be invited to bat first, so were delighted when Bortsal chose to do so instead. John Harley started with a slightly shaky over, but Graeme Poole got some good movement off the pitch, and when Harely had the dangerous looking West smartly stumped down the leg side New Ash Green were in control. Billy Hatch was very steady, but his new partner Chris Mills, a Charles Duguid look-alike, was rather more adventurous, particularly with his running. He enjoyed a great deal of luck, with three clear run out opportunities missed, two because the throw in pitched short of the keeper and shot along the ground, and one because the Matthew Quantrill’s inner gloves were too slippery to pick the ball up with! Even with this aggressiveness the scoring rate was barely more than pedestrian, and Mills eventually fell to Keith Bushell’s slower ball. Borstal skipper Sohrab Peerbaccus initially looked confident, but was soon pinned down by Bushell’s swing and Dan Lewsey’s accuracy and was stumped trying to attack Lewsey. O’Neill similarly lost patience and was bowled middle stump trying to play Keith Bushell to leg. With Hatch still crawling along and time running out the experience Taher Amijee (a Sharad Bawdekar look-alike to go with Charles Duguid) lifted the scoring rate and again increased the aggression between the wickets, but Graeme Poole’s return brought both their wickets, Hatch for a patient 37 off 120 balls without a single boundary. Two more wickets quickly followed, and Poole and Harley seemed to have the batsmen tied down, but the batsmen managed to wriggle away and from 131-8 the 9th wicket pair lifted the total to 152 before Poole got his fourth wicket from the penultimate ball and a suicidal attempt at a run brought the fifth bonus point from the last ball. All the bowlers finished with similar figures, but Poole was the pick with 4-32 from 11 overs.

In contrast to Borstal’s slow start New Ash Green set off at a good pace despite Amijee opening the bowling with his very slow but accurate spin. Quantrill and Joe Elisak were able to keep the runs ticking over from him, while at the other end Max Woolgar bowled too short and failed to intimidate either batsman, with Elisak in particular taking him on. Woolgar was hit out of the attack with 0-32 in 5 overs, and his replacement Robert Tear started with an over which was also too short, but he tightened up after that and proved to be Borstal’s best bowler. Nonetheless the opening partnership had reached 69 in quick time when Elisak tried to pull Amijee and was LBW for 20. Karl Bartlett played steadily and just before the halfway stage New Ash Green were looking very comfortable at 90-1 when Quantrill chased a wide one lazily, got a nick and saw 1st slip parry the ball up for the keeper to take the rebound. His departure for 45 brought a slowing in the scoring rate, and the wickets began to tumble, although most batsmen contributed a few. The run out of Dan Lewsey was perhaps crucial, the not out king having seen the side to victory on numerous occasions this season, and having been well ahead of the rate New Ash Green were beginning to sink behind it. With a solid tail, though, a tight finish was still on the cards, and with Graeme Poole steady at the other end both Keith Bushell and John Harley struck some effective blows to keep New Ash Green in the hunt, but both managed to find fielders before the last few runs could be gleaned. A good performance all round, though, and good bonus points, which should be enough to ensure the second team avoid relegation this year and can begin to build on the strength of their young players next year.

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Friendly Match

Harrietsham 124 all out (36 overs)
New Ash Green 87-9 (43 overs)
Match Drawn

A sunny day and flat pitch should have ensured a feast of runs, but two sides with no confidence in their batting and plenty of bowling dictated otherwise. Having persuaded Harrietsham to bat John Harley bowled a tidy opening spell and took 2-17 in 10 overs after coming back to mop up the number 11. Dan Lewsey was also effective after a first over where he couldn’t control the swing, while Kieran Poole finally had something going his way this season, taking 4-43 in the middle order. Adam reeves completed an impressive bowling line up with 2-14, and there was no room for Matt Bushe and Simon Freeman to even turn their arms over. An excellent all round fielding display, with just one dropped catch and some good ones held ensured that Harrietsham were bowled out with 25 minutes to spare before the supposed tea time, leaving New Ash Green with nearly an hour and a half plus twenty overs to chase 124.

That sounds easy, but with only one player in the side who had made over 20 for New Ash Green this season, and eight who had yet to make double figures it was something of a challenge. Toby Hawkins bravely took on the opening role in his first game of the season, but got a good ball early on, and Phil Markham got a couple of twos before he also fell. Graeme Poole took the opportunity to play himself in and play a steady innings, while at the other end Simon Freeman was desperately trying to avoid his first dismissal of the season, having been promised £20 each by Matt Bushe and Dan Lewsey if he could be not out from number 4. Luckily extras were scoring freely, byes in particular, as neither batsman was setting the world on fire, but both were taking the chance to get some good batting practice. Freeman survived 36 balls, but contributed just one run to a stand of 31 before he was eventually dismissed LBW, to the relief of the watching Bushe and Lewsey. Poole had been beginning to strike some good shots and there was some hope that he might have accelerated and given the innings the impetus it needed when much to his annoyance he played on for 17. Dan Lewsey shored up the remainder of the innings, and even managed to get himself 16 runs, but although most other contributed a few runs no one could lift the rate above a paltry two per over once the extras started to dry up. Harrietsham were slow through their overs, and only managed to bowl 43, which they may have ended up regretting, and incredibly the game ended in a draw with Kieran Poole helping Lewsey see out the final few balls.

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