2008 Season
21/09/08: Chevening v Ide Hill: match report to come
20/09/08: Chevening v Bells Yew Green: match report to come
14/09/08: Chevening (201-8) beat St John's (76) by 125 runs
Chevening pulled off a convincing win on Sunday against a depleted St John's side (they had seven players). Despite the lack of fielders, Chevening's score of 201-8 was an excellent one: the pitch was slow and most of the boundaries were long. David Franklin and George Fisk did most of the damage, putting on 124 for the second wicket before Fisk was bowled for a quickfire 73. Wickets then fell at regular intervals until skipper Roy Smithers came in to steady the ship, and he guided the team through to tea after Franklin had departed for 86. One of the St John's bowlers finished with figures of 6-96 from 18 overs.
In reply, the seam bowlers were having little joy due to the lifelessness of the pitch. In the end, all six wickets were taken with spin; the first went to James Clayton and the next five were shared between Smithers (3-10) and Franklin (2-7). The key wicket was an excellent catch from Will Fry in the deep, and Pete Rushbrook was cat-like behind the stumps on his birthday. St John's were eventually all out for 76, giving Chevening the win by 125 runs.
13/09/08: Chevening (130-8) lost to Woldingham (132) by 2 runs
A thrilling finish saw Chevening lose their game by just 2 runs on Saturday. Some excellent early bowling from openers Rob McAllister and Paul Blake reduced the opposition to 25-5, but a sixth-wicket recovery helped them claw it back to reach a defendable 132 all out. They then bowled tightly on a very difficult pitch to bat on, and we needed five to win with one ball left. A wide was bowled, leaving a boundary for the win - but we could only muster a single. Mark Burkitt batted well for 47.
07/09/08: Chevening v West Peckham cancelled due to rain.
06/09/08: Chevening v Gills Green cancelled due to rain.
31/08/08: Chevening v SR & Kenley cancelled due to rain.
30/08/08: Chevening (149) lost to Sissinghurst II (168) by 19 runs
A below-par batting effort resulted in Chevening's third league defeat in a row, despite the efforts of Simon Baldwin, who had earlier taken 5-28: Chevening's best bowling figures of the season so far. Simon Martin looked like he might win Chevening another game with his determined middle-order batting, but when he was out for 47, Chevening folded quickly. John Smith also batted resolutely for 18, and Simon Baldwin (22) and Simon Smithers (23) contributed earlier on.
23/08/08: Chevening (145-5, 3 pts) lost to Halstead (155-9, 11pts) by 10 runs
After a slow start, an excellent 63* from Simon Smithers was not enough to secure victory for Chevening, who fell a disappointing ten runs short. Simon Baldwin (25) also contributed. Rob McAllister took another three-for in Halstead's innings, as did Chris Hadlow. View report on the play-cricket site.
17/08/08: Chevening (153-8) beat Wrotham (111) by 42 runs
An excellent bowling performance meant Wrotham were bowled out for 111 on Sunday. Since this was a 12-a-side game, this gave them the biggest "Nelson" in the history of cricket, finishing on 111-11. Will Fry took 3-19, James Clayton 2-20 and Carl Smithers on debut took 1-2 without conceding a run off the bat. He also batted with Roy, his grandfather, meaning all three Smithers generations have played for Chevening this weekend. In Chevening's innings, they recovered from 40-5 to post 153 after John Smith (43) and John Recaldin (44) put on 100.
16/08/08: Chevening (150-6, 3 pts) lost to Weald (186-9, 13 pts) by 36 runs
Chevening ended up falling 36 runs short in a spirited effort against Weald on Saturday with only nine players. Rob McAllister and Paul Blake took three wickets apiece, and Simon Smithers scored 48*. Full report on the play-cricket site.
10/08/08: Chevening (79-1) drew with Belvedere (186)
Chevening's match away against Belvedere was abandoned due to rain as a draw after Chevening got off to a promising start in their chase. After bowling out the home side for 186, with David Franklin and debutant Tom Wild taking three wickets apiece, David (42*) and Mike Franklin (20) then managed to put on 79 for the first wicket in very bad light. The match survived one interval for heavy rain but once the rain came second time round, there was no hope of a result. Another miserable day's weather.
09/08/08: Chevening (202-7, 14 pts) beat Kilndown (200-7, 4 pts) by 3 wickets
On a cold, damp, rainy, windy, dreary, drab and generally awful day in August, Chevening ended up pulling it together to secure an excellent win against Kilndown. Mark Burkitt scored his third 57 of the season and his second against that opposition, and Rob McAllister took three wickets before taking Chevening to the brink of victory with some superb lower-order batting with Simon Martin (40*). It went to the last over but Kilndown's competitive score of 200-7 was overhauled. Top effort to come away with a win on what was (as you probably gathered) a truly miserable day! View full report on the play-cricket site.
03/8/08: Chevening vs Halstead cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch.
02/8/08: Chevening (130-2, 12 pts) beat Kemsing (129-6, 1 pt) by 8 wickets
Chevening chased down a small total without any alarms for the second match in a row, this time in the league against Kemsing. Andy Black was the mainstay of the Chevening innings with 59; the full report is on the play-cricket site.
27/7/08: Chevening (126-1) beat Brasted Invicta (125) by 9 wickets
Chevening produced a fantastic performance to brush aside a strong Brasted Invicta team on Sunday. James Clayton (2-22) and Will Fry (3-26) bowled superbly at the start of the innings, before Rob Allen (4-38) cleaned up the tail, as well as getting rid of Brasted's half-centurion Keith Cheese (52). The traditional Chevening way of approaching a low total is to do everything in their power to "make it interesting", but assured batting from David Franklin (56*) and an explosive maiden fifty from Aleks Wrobel (52*) who hit the winning four with a crashing cover drive - saw the team home comfortably.
26/7/08: Chevening (152-8, 1 pt) lost to Knockholt (153-2, 13 pts) by 8 wickets
Chevening lost convincingly to Knockholt as their below-par score of 152-8 was knocked off with some ease. Full report on the play-cricket site.
20/7/08: Chevening (133-9) beat North Downs (69) by 64 runs
Another clinical display with the ball, this time from the Sunday side, capped off a great weekend for Chevening. After winning the toss and batting first, Chevening were in trouble at 27-5, but David Franklin (48) and Rob Allen (28) steadied the innings. When Franklin was caught and bowled, Will Fry came in to bat and scored a disciplined 12* to guide Chevening to the close without being bowled out. In reply, Chevening's bowling was excellent, with Rob Allen (2-30) and Aleks Wrobel (0-19) getting some pace early on. Will Fry bowled very well to take 3-14, but the star of the show was (not for the first time in his Chevening career) skipper Roy Smithers, who ended up with astonishing figures of 6.3-3-3-4. A mention also for Chris Barrett, who took two excellent catches, and James Denman, who got a run-out with a deadly-accurate throw from the deep.
19/7/08: Chevening (82-9, 14 pts) beat Speldhurst (78, 2 pts) by 1 wicket
Chevening somehow scraped home in an unbelievable match on Saturday against Speldhurst. After winning the toss and choosing to field, Chevening opened the attack with Rob McAllister and Paul Blake, who bowled brilliantly to share seven wickets between them and leaving the opposition on the brink of humiliation at 37-7. A mini-revival followed as the eighth-wicket pair put on 38, but when that partnership was broken thanks to an excellently-judged catch from Andy Black, Chevening were able to mop up the tail quickly to secure the maximum four bowling points. Their bowlers were backed up by a near-perfect display of fielding, with Mark Burkitt, Rob Hadlow, Mark Challis and David Franklin also holding on to some great catches.
However, the game was only half-done. The players went out again before tea and five Chevening batsmen returned before the interval, as a hostile spell of bowling from both the Speldhurst openers left Chevening in trouble at 39-5 at tea. There was pace and bounce from one end and late swing (both ways) from the other, and the good bowling did not stop once they'd finished their nine overs each. Mark Challis steadied the innings in typical fashion but then overbalanced and was stumped for 18; an excellent piece of wicket-keeping. Rob McAllister batted like a man possessed, determined to see the game through. When Paul Blake was bowled to leave Chevening eight down with 15 to win, Speldhurst were favourites.
Enter Chris Hadlow, who hit two fours in two balls to reduce the deficit (one of them a sumptuous cover drive which was widely considered the "shot of the day"). Another boundary levelled the scores and Chevening were ecstatic. Then one slipped through Chris's defences: 78-9, with the senior pro Johnny Martin striding to the crease at no.11. One to win. Dot ball first up. The next one was full on leg stump; Johnny tried to nudge it into the leg-side but could only get the thinnest of inside-edges -- which narrowly missed the stumps and went all the way across the quick outfield down to the fine-leg boundary for four. Chevening had won by 1 wicket in a bizarre but brilliant game of cricket.
13/7/08: Chevening drew with Ash
Chevening ended up batting out for the draw on Sunday against Ash, with Mike Franklin scoring 20, his highest score for the club, and Pete Rushbrook scoring a match-saving 37. Full match report to follow.
12/7/08: Chevening (140-9, 1 pt) lost to Shoreham (144-4, 13 pts)
A bad day at the office for Chevening, despite a well-made 63 from Mark Burkitt. You can view the full match report on the play-cricket site.
06/7/08: Chevening vs St Mary's cancelled due to rain.
05/7/08: Chevening (226-4, 14 pts) beat Bidborough II (225-6, 3 pts) by 6 wickets
A superb run-chase from Chevening gave them victory over a spirited Bidborough side on Saturday. Bidborough batted first, and took advantage of the small boundary to rack up a century opening partnership between Eames (80) and Hollins (48). However, Chevening kept their heads up and got back into the game, with Simon Baldwin taking 3-58 to restrict Bidborough to 225-6 after it had looked like a score of 250+ might be on the cards. In reply, everyone chipped in for Chevening, with Mark Challis leading the way again with 56*. David Franklin scored a quickfire 40 from no.5, and Simon Baldwin (41), Simon Smithers (33*), Andy Black (19) and Mark Burkitt (17) were all in the runs. An excellent performance from Chevening and a great game of cricket. Thanks go to the away side for the mountain of chips in the pub afterwards!
