Knockers Vs Eridge

Win :: Played on Sunday 14th August 2022

Eridge
171-6

Knockers
174-5

Match Report

Eridge is a beautiful ground. The entrance is private. The wind whistles in the trees. The bar is fully stocked. Knockers meandered to the middle in drips and drabs, mumbling of train cancellations, Orpington fires and odysseys completed from North Norfolk and Bristol for the right to represent this esteemed institution. In Marsh’s absence, usurper Calver stepped in for the toss successfully negotiating up from 30 to 35 overs and happily losing the toss. Only mad dogs and Knockers field in the midday sun.

The opening spells from O. Marsh and Stevens were hostile, hitting the middle of the pitch hard and exclusively hitting the middle of the pitch. Marsh found a bit of nibble, his first delivery nearly decapitating an innocuous ant crossing the strip, so low was the carry. Stevens opted to question the batsmen’s confidence in donning only hats, only to see his ball disappear to the square leg boundary. Yet, Stevens brought first blood with a caught and bowler’s opportunity, before Brettle quite spectacularly snaffled the leather diving forward from point. Marsh nonchalantly cartwheeled a stump and it was time for a change.

I never thought that John Mitchell would act as the master to a young pupil, but so commanding was his control of line and, sometimes, length that Brettle could only hope to be a shadow of the great man in his pursuit of perfecting the bomb. Dave plugged away economically at the other end, snaffling the opener Utting as Gibbs replaced Mitchell and matched his three overs for 14 runs with some diamonds in amongst a fair amount of rough. Bowen was electric, posing all sorts of problems for the batsmen albeit none that earned a wicket and Brettle tested the fortitude of the fence surrounding the boundary. Calver and V. Shah bowled tidily with a breakthrough for Vinit but it was the return of Marsh and Stevens which brought destruction to the opposition, including a wonderful caught and bowled wicket from the latter.

The return of tea was celebrated by all and many a carbohydrate was consumed. Sandwiches ranged from ham and tomato, tuna and sweetcorn, egg and mayo and more, with sausage rolls, scotch eggs and crisps completing the beige bonanza. For those so inclined, carrot and cucumber sticks were apologetically covered in the corner, with pineapple and strawberries accompanying the much underrated jafa cake for the sweet.

In their pursuit of 172, Brettle and Calver did not hang around. Since finesse was earning little by way of reward, Calver hacked a quick 13 before Brettle and J. Shah settled in, the latter making sure to watch the ball carefully at all times. Brettle’s eye catching cameo was brought to an end on 20 with one that was never going to turn and so entered M. Landers into the fray. Shah feigned confusion, frequently checking that the canyon he had made on the crease was in fact on leg stump, while Landers often remonstrated with himself that he should just get some runs.

The two looked assured, taking easy singles and playing a number of excellent strokes, most notably a cover drive of Landers for four runs. Shah fell on 46 which saw Mitchell come and go, Marsh puncture the serenity of the day for a blunt 11 including a mammoth 6 before Alfie Gibbs brought calm to the middle. Landers (61*) and Gibbs (12*) were in no hurry to run anything despite needing 22 off of 24 balls much to the horror of the pavilion. However, a few hard blows and a sweet drive later the target had been chased and sweet nectar was once again being consumed.

RC

 

Batting

Batsman	How Out	4s	6s	Runs
Richard Calver	caught	1	1	13
Will Brettle	bowled	2	0	20
Jai Shah	caught	7	0	46
Matt Landers	not out	10	1	61
John Mitchell	bowled	0	0	0
Ollie Marsh	caught	2	0	11
Alfie Gibbs	not out	1	0	12
David Bowen	dnb	0	0	0
Luke Stevens	dnb	0	0	0
Vinit Shah	dnb	0	0	0
Neil Dave	dnb	0	0	0

 

Bowling

Bowler	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts
Luke Stevens	5.0	0	27	2
Ollie Marsh	5.0	3	6	2
John Mitchell	3.0	0	14	0
Neil Dave	4.0	0	12	1
Alfie Gibbs	3.0	0	14	0
David Bowen	6.0	1	22	0
Will Brettle	1.0	0	17	0
Richard Calver	5.0	0	27	0
Vinit Shah	3.0	0	29	1