Junior Cricket Update – Please all read!

by Peter Smith | Nov 11, 2020 | Archives

Please read the following note from the Chairman on Junior Cricket at Sissinghurst. This impacts all members not just juniors.

Sissinghurst Juniors Chairmans Note November 2020[1444]

Team Sheets 5/6th September

by Peter Smith | Sep 2, 2020 | Archives

Weekend Reports – 40 Point Saturday

by Peter Smith | Sep 1, 2020 | Archives

The first team travelled to Speldhurst on Saturday to face off in the first round of the play-offs looking to gain a win and therefore guarantee that they avoided the wooden spoon. Things started well as the skipper managed to win the toss on what was a very damp wicket, due to overnight rain,  and invited Speldhurst to set a total. The wicket, as predicted, made run scoring very difficult and Karl Rummery and Gus Freeman bowled very tidy spells to start with. After initial defiance from the openers Gus managed to open up an end as he clean bowled the keeper, and then took out the number 3 with his first delivery – caught behind. This opened up a chance of a hat trick but Gus blew this as he bowled one short and wide allowing the new batsman to let it through to the keeper. HOWEVER the new man decided that this was the time to unfurl a helicopter cut shot, only managing to feather a catch through to Jamie behind the sticks and the celebrations could begin… well they could have had he not grounded it! Amongst this carnage, opener Pat Green had looked assured but he fell to Metcalf who lured him in with an off side wide followed by the surprise straight ball that pinned him LBW. Pete Masters once more convinced batsman that he would turn the ball only to bowl straight and catch them out! He took five wickets here earning himself a place on the honours board and it would be churlish of me to mention the half trackers he fed their set batsman to get him up to a 50. The Speldhurst innings closed on 134 which, whilst not many, would be difficult to chase on a popping wicket – and the team really should have kept them under 100 after such a good start. Special mention must go to the fielding performance of Fred “Swiss Cheese” Smith who has absolutely zero chance of catching Corona virus.

The aforementioned Smith got us off to a rollicking start in our chase as the scoreboard read 8-0 after the first over and victory seemed to be a formality. 10 overs later at 35-4 things were not looking so rosy. Jeffries, who had struck an undefeated 50 with the bat, tightened his grip on the man of the match award by by taking the first three wickets. At this point with players frantically padding up there was a small calm in the storm as the skipper added his agricultural style to the patience of young Jack Greig in a useful partnership of 43. Just as it looked like they had broken the back of the pursuit, Cooper threw it away as he top edged a hook shot to mid wicket. It was an unforgivable shot from a Captain and he should be (and is) deeply ashamed. Rix entered the fray and was busy but when he was dismissed for 7, 30 runs were still required and they were becoming very hard to come by. Neal Metcalf came in to play a mature innings supporting Jack but unfortunately, Jack (37) fell with 20 required after a great knock that had all but won us the game. Vice Captain Rummery strode out full of purpose looking to add to his miserly bowling (0-16 in his 8 overs) with his usual lusty blows. With three overs to go 13 more were required and a big over here would see us comfortably home,  unfortunately this over involved 6 identical plays and misses from the big man and it is fair to say nerves were shredded on the boundary. So 13 required from the last two overs and through some “enterprising” running and inventive stroke play we tied the score with two balls remaining. Karl was on strike and visions of those plays and misses were swimming in our minds! Sure enough Karl swiped and missed but Neal was alive to the situation and almost overtook the ball on the way to snatching a single to the keeper, the throw to the non strikers end missed and we had done it! A fantastic nail biting finish to a game that had been played in a great spirit. Special mention to Jeffries who with 50* and 5 wickets deserved to be on the winning team.

The second team looked to get back to winning ways at Home to West Farleigh but after losing the toss had to battle it out on a tough wicket that had been treated to a soaking thanks to dear old mother nature and her hilarious take on a British Summer. Phil Buckingham “Palace” was unperturbed by the conditions as he continued his late season form, and not even the loss of the incomparable Tom Elliott for 5 could disturb his equilibrium. He was supported by useful hands from Tom Dyas (17) and Henry Parton (14) and it was almost a shock when he missed a straight one to be dismissed for an attractive 47. That old-stager AK was there to pick up the slack as he posted 27 of the queens runs, not out of course, steering the innings towards the realms of respectability. It is to be noted that Micky Winner hid himself down the order again, delegation is the art of captaincy and this had nothing to do with the wicket being tricky. the final total of 128 looked light but what happened next was the stuff of legends.

At 21-0 after 5 overs the West Farleigh chase was off to a great start as the Elliott brothers strived for the all important breakthrough, but their patience paid off as Arthur broke the partnership in the 6th over with Henry adding another – dragging the score back to 31-2 after 10. The skipper then turned to more experience with the wily “spin” of Brown at one end and the seam of Staines at the other. Brownie snuck out the number 4, but then a strong partnership developed that looked to be taking the game away from Sissinghurst. Opener Clark and McGrath added 35 key runs here and with the score at 80-3 hope looked lost, with Clark in particular looking to finish things early. Cometh the hour, cometh the man as the sage once said and up stepped Nathan Staines nipping one back through the defences of Clark to remove him for a well made 49 and to throw the match wide open once again. Back came Arthur Elliott in to the attack and he struck again to finish with excellent figures of 2-18 from his 8 overs. the skipper had also been persuaded to bowl and he added another victim to his ever growing list. However McGrath was still there and he was determined to get his team over the line.

As the last over was set to be bowled 22 runs were needed and the ball was thrown to 13 year old Henry Elliott, huge pressure for the youngster! A single from the first ball saw McGrath back on strike and he struck two sixes to put WF firmly in control. Many an older man would have succumbed under this pressure, indeed some say his father was seen whimpering in the outfield, but not our Henry! He pulled up his socks and delivered three perfect balls in the block hole that the batsman could only squirt away and the team were home by 5 runs for a famous victory. As Henry carried his now semi-conscious father from the field rumours are he said “pressure, what pressure?”.

Bodiam were the visitors to the King George Field on Sunday, and despite more very early rain the 40 over game started on time with a relived skipper guesting in the Sunday team winning the toss and electing to bowl. That relief didn’t last long as a parade of Bodiam batsman queued up to feast on runs. The skipper ambitiously bought himself on to bowl after 6 overs muttering something about pitching the ball up and leading by example. the next 6 balls all pitched next to his own toes and he learned a thing or two about humility. Bowling changes were regular but the batsman continued to hold sway, with the first three batsman retiring on 50. The celebration when we finally took a wicket was perhaps a little tongue in cheek but Paul Massey and Kieran Martin combined to ruin at least one batsman’s afternoon. At the close of innings 256 had been posted and it could have been more had it not been for the excellent bowling of Charlie Streeten and Ed May. The two youngsters showed how it should be done and the older members could do with taking note.

I’d like to now say that Bodiam were taken unawares as we romped home to victory but the truth is somewhat different. Wickets fell regularly and we failed to build any real partnerships and put the bowlers under pressure. Ed and charlie again did well striking boundaries before their ambition was punished by accurate bowling. unfortunately only one batsman reached double figures as we were bowled out for 178. Modesty prevents me from telling you how we got that many despite only one person passing double figures. Ah no go on then Cooper made 133 as he slogged with his eyes closed. Some other parents commented that it was an interesting parenting tactic to hit sixes at his own children but it is probably best to move on! Credit to Bodiam for retiring their batsman and keeping the bowling changes coming as we managed to give everyone the chance of a good game of cricket.

Dads & Sisters v Lads!

by Peter Smith | Sep 1, 2020 | Archives

Dads get bragging rights in inaugural match.

A fine BH Monday at Sissinghurst CC saw the Dads overcome their offspring and (in some cases) surrogate children for the day.

The afternoon started with a BBQ (Braai) expertly overseen by our resident Saffer Tony Hammond. The Politburo were quick to get stuck in led by Chief Burgermeister Digger.

With no obvious signs of poisoning from the rusty BBQ the match got underway with the Lads being asked to set the Old Boys a target in a 24 over per side match.

Apologies for any mistakes or oversights that may have been due to a Harveys haze!

Big things were expected from the ‘youth’ given their pre-match ‘chat’. They were in for a shock with the first 3 of Henry Elliott, Henry Parton and Daniel Hammond whipped out in quick succession by a clearly fired up Paul Dyas, who picked up two, and ‘steady’ Ollie Streeten who knocked over dangerman ‘Dolly’.

The youngsters ship was steadied by an excellent knock from Will Bligh who retired 22 n.o. (retirement set at 20). But wickets continued to fall the other end with Tom Dyas (fresh from his knock of 39 against Kent the day before) snaffled at gully by Paul Dyas off Ollie Streeten. Queue large celebration from Dyas senior.

Aston Burford was bowled round his legs by Bligh senior and Ed Steele quickly followed clearly un-nerved by the raw pace of some old bloke.

The tail wagged with Arthur Elliott and Jack Dyas both retiring n.o. on 20 and 23 respectively whilst wickets continued to tumble the other end with wickets for Tony Hammond and Ben Meredith in one over spells that felt like two (given the number of extras!) Hector Powell, Felix Elliott and Max Meredith all came and went cheaply and James Steele smashed a half volley down the ground that had 4 written all over it. Unfortunately for him Ben Meredith stuck up a hand (still in ice) and to the amazement of Ben himself the ball stuck.

This meant the retirees could start to return and Will Bligh returned first. He didn’t add to his total after being bowled by Nathan Staines. Nathan’s ears were visibly bleeding following the boundary abuse given by his surrogate for the day, ‘Dolly’. Revenge would follow later.

Rebecca Steele bowled well to pick up one wicket whilst Ian Burford, Tom Elliott, Trev Wright and Jon Agar all kept things tight.

Arthur Elliott and Jack Dyas returned to continue their innings but Arthur was stumped without adding to his score and Jack added one ending up top scorer on 24 not out in a total of 119.

The ‘Dad’s’ opened up with the experienced Trevor Wright and Tony Hammond. Looking for a strong base from Trev the Dads were in shock as he was back in the pavilion after 2 balls having been bowled by Henry Elliott with an ‘unplayable’ delivery (according to Trev). Rebecca quickly followed and after 1 over the Dads were reeling on 0-2. Tony H and Ian Burford came in and smashed some quick 4’s before they were sent packing by Daniel (see ya’ dad) and Dolly. Yours truly was out caught chasing a wide delivery from Ed Steele (I’m always telling the juniors to leave the wide ones – practice what you preach numpty) but this brought big hitting Jon Agar to the crease to give the innings some impetus. Jon duly delivered with a couple of big sixes quickly retiring on 22 n.o.

Ollie Streeten came and went giving another wicket to Ed Steele which brought Paul ‘Ducky’ Dyas and James Bligh together. In 3 previous SCC innings Paul had not scored a run but that was all forgotten as he hit 22 retired n.o. James added 13 before falling to Charlie Streeten.

Enter Nathan to face his surrogate Dolly. All players had pre-match drawn a particular shot to play as their first shot of the day. Nathan’s was a mow over cow corner and he duly delivered with a big six – time to give some stick back.

Tom Elliott and Ben Meredith fell cheaply but that brought Jon back in to partner Nathan and the 119 was surpassed in the 22^nd over with Jon finishing on 29 n.o and Nathan 17 n.o.

An excellent day was had by all and hopefully this will become an annual event.
Tony Reader