Bearsted Beaten

The 2s kept up their 100% start to the season with a convincing victory against fourth in the table Bearsted, inspired by a sensational spell of bowling from skipper John Hall which featured an amazing triple wicket maiden. The setting was the picturesque village green where cricket has been played since the middle of the eighteenth century. Despite the green tinge in the wicket the batsmen were eyeing up a very short boundary and the opportunity to hit Jon Stockley’s van too!

John won the toss and followed the favoured early season model of us having a chase and the Bearsted batsmen were soon struggling. With Max & Marcus elsewhere, and Lucas playing as a batsman, it was left to the other two young ‘quicks’ - Dru and John!- to open the bowling. The pressure was quickly on the openers as tight bowling, supported by strong fielding saw the Bearsted score move slowly. Dru seems to get better with every spell he bowls and the pressure and pace exerted from his end set up the perfect conditions for John. With one wicket falling early, John’s 4th over was one that will be long remembered with two catches – one an absolute stunner from Dru – leading to a hat-trick ball. Whilst that didn’t happen, a perfect swinging delivery from the last ball of the over saw the off stump hit, the triple wicket maiden recorded and Bearsted in deep trouble. Two further wickets fell quickly and Bearsted were 6 down before they’d reached 30.

As with the previous weekend against Farningham, the ‘tail wagged’ and runs came a little easier in the middle overs with the short boundary and - to be fair- the longer one too reached on a few occasions. However Bearsted didn’t ever look like posting a great score and Keith Hall, Alex Wood and Chris Preen all took a wicket. John brought himself back on and the Bearsted innings duly came to a close with a nonchalant one-handed catch from Chris; he definitely had the look of someone who had completed his GCSE exams this week! John’s figures of 6 for 10 from 6.5 overs will take some beating this year though I’m sure Dru, Lucas, Marcus, Keith et al will give it a good go over the final two-thirds of the season.

Two other things to note from the fielding performance. Harry Crawford kept wicket superbly. He really seems to be growing in confidence and he certainly kept the score down with a couple of excellent stops ‘down the leg side’. Jon Stockley – always effervescent in the field - wrote himself into Bearsted folklore with an attempted diving stop on the boundary. Though we were genuinely worried for a short time that Jon had suffered a serious knee injury it turned out that ice, ibuprofen and a prawn sandwich was the treatment required. However the divot Jon left in the outfield proved historic as the largest ever recorded at Bearsted in 270 years of cricket!

With no pressure on the run rate, the successful chase was going to be about not losing too many wickets. Unfortunately, openers James Malley and Lucas fell quickly to accurate balls from the Bearsted openers. However, as Chris joined Keith at the crease, our numbers 3 and 4 went about their business steadily with some good shots meaning the bowlers were never on top. Keith’s timing was exquisite with leg glances in particular bringing good runs and a few hefty blows from Chris – one hit the road and bounced over the cars!- saw any early Outwood concern diminished. By the time Keith fell for an important 23 the game was close to being won. There was still time for Chris to secure his first 50 of the season and for Harry to hit the winning boundary for the second week in succession.

A strong performance all round, with the victory secured by 6 wickets in the 25th over. That’s now six wins from six with a promotion “40-pointer” versus Locksbottom to look forward to next.