So, back to Limpsfield for the visit of Gravesend then, one of the stronger sides to visit us during the season. The place has changed a bit since our last visit... Broken windows and fencing, hot water supply disconnected, table still roped off, un-flagged boundaries...The absence of Jim very obvious...still, at least the catering was an improvement on the usual fare. Well done Steve! Bradley won toss and had no hesitation in electing to bat and deflecting Gravesend's suggestion of an overs match in favour of the timed format.
Freeman and Makin opened the Beechwood batting and initially it looked like Keith was the dominant partner but I have to say, I didn't see a lot of this partnership as myself and Stu found ourselves on the golf course, trying to retrieve a frisbee/kite combo which Joe managed to get lodged up a tree...still, got us out of our usual long stints in the coats! Back to the cricket and Beechwood were going along quite nicely, Tony and Keith steadily accumulating runs off Gravesend's opening bowlers but all was about to change with the introduction of change bowlers Allen (J) and particularly Mumford. Keith, spotting the briskness of Mumford promptly ran himself out with the score on 62 and after several scoreless overs Tony then snicked to 'keeper off the same bowler. Warner and Sheikh were next in and Adrian was very cautious in his early moments at the crease but Tariq was occasionally allowed to free his arms to get the scoreboard moving again. With the score on 81 Tariq was perhaps unluckily adjudged lbw to Allen's off-spin and Hill was unable to last more than one delivery leaving Beechwood slightly reeling at 81-4. McCrea was next in and got his head down to keep Adrian company.
Adrian was starting to find the middle of the bat now and upped the scoring rate considerably, Ian sensibly giving him plenty of the strike and towards the closure of the innings it would be fair to say that Gravesend somewhat took their feet off the gas a little. The runs had to be taken though and Adrian was in the nick to take advantage of this, passing his fifty and hitting successive maximums on his way to an unbeaten 84; a valuable and impressive knock from him and an equally valuable one from Ian who finished undefeated on 15. Beechwood closed their innings on 177-4 which looked a very unlikely total at one point.
Tea was taken and we were treated to some vintage "Victorisms" from Stu during the interval. In fact he was more Gripper Stebson than Victor Meldrew for a while but he simmered down before we took the field...just. Garnett and McLachlan opened the bowling for Beechwood and although Hamish struggled with his length early on so did their opener and he was unable to keep out Hamish's yorker and Gravesend were one down with just three runs on the board. Scott, having no luck with the ball of late had chances dropped by Tony and Stuart (just to perk him up a bit more!!) but Hamish broke through again, clean bowling McDermot with the score on 34. Scott got in on the act next dismissing the dangerous looking Rana with a sharp caught and bowled and Tony held his next slip chance off Hamish to leave Gravesend 53-4. The arrival of next man Bradford turned fortunes around for the batting side however, with a display of strokes, some orthodox, some definitely not but the scoring rate increased as a result whatever. Hamish's impressive spell of 3-33 ended and he was replaced by Savory who almost immediately had a stumping appeal turned down against Bradford, but he and opener Allen (M) were putting a fifty-stand together at this point and this was only ended when Cooksley held a smart catch off Scott to remove Allen with the score 105.
Bradford then edged Savory to slip shortly afterwards, Tony holding on again, and when Scott bowled next man Errington making the score 112-7 the pendulum looked to have swung back in Beechwood's favour. However Mr Mumford was waiting to take the stage again and he looked more than capable with the bat upon his arrival and his partnership with Allen(J) inched Gravesend nearer their target. Another smart Cooksley catch accounted for Allen with the score on 140 and it was game on again for Beechwood. Scott's heroically long spell ended and McCrea replaced him at the A25 end. Seven overs left, two wickets or 28 runs to win...another potential nail-biter on the cards but new bat Mann agriculturally swung a couple of boundaries to keep things interesting. Over 36 out of 39 would prove to be the crucial one...Savory would need to keep it tight but he had a stinker and Mumford smited him for
15 runs and crucially conceded a single off the last ball, giving Beechwood no respite for the next over. Macca stepped up to bowl this but three Mumford strokes later it was all over, Gravesend getting home with two and a bit overs to go. Beechwood ran them close though and on another day with a bit more luck the result could have been reversed.
Keith was in an entertaining mode again, a successful stumping appeal was overturned when the umpire realised that Keith had failed to dislodge the bails (!!) and one of Scott's wicket-taking balls deflected off the bails into his chest causing him to pull a few stern-looking faces for a few seconds. Marvellous! Well played Gravesend and thanks to them for supporting our raffle...thanks again to Cookie for the tea and thanks to the ladies who helped to get it all ready. Oh, and by the way, when we dropped Tariq at Oxted station later on, there was a familiar face smiling at me from the beer-garden of the pub next door... Oscar, doing what he does best!!
Beechwood:
Boss, Cooksley, Freeman, Garnett, Hill (c), Makin (wk), McCrea, McLachlan, Savory, Sheikh, Warner
Final word from the DoC:
Another close one that didn't go our way. Let's see if we can finally get one over on Pinewoods on Sunday, and show a bit of killer instinct for once! |
