Knockers Vs Eridge

Win :: Played on Sunday 17th August 2025

Knockers
217-4

Eridge
209-8

Match Report

"_that's when good neighbours...become...gooood friends_"

Knockers arrived at a sun-kissed Eridge, sporting 3 debutents, a debuting captain, a returning F.Young (severely hungover courtesy of JJ's wedding - many happy returns! ), and a seeimgly-cursed Mike, still searching for his first competitive cricket victory.

A won toss and Knockers were in, batting first for a 35 over game. Skip-for -the-day Horner and Will 'Upstairs' Nicklin marched out - providing excellent intel on former teammates whilst receiving plenty of 'encouragement' in the field. Both capitalised on the bad balls and hit some fluent boundaries, though some dropped catches aided our cause, as was the case throughout the innings. A 60 run partnership laid the foundations, before a nip-backer took Horner's off peg.

Lander's’ swishing blade kept the runs flowing with 3 sweet boundaries, before he too lost his stumps to their spinner. Prof also received a good ball nipping back in just after drinks. All the while, Nicklin continued piling up the runs, including some beautiful flicks off his legs into the deep, bringing up a half-century.

Adil joined proceedings, and with some sharp running and punishment of bad balls, the runs kept piling up, and a partnership blossomed. Will 'The Neighbour' took the attack to the bowlers, and with a huge six over the legside boundary, brought up a debut to remember - a standing ovation for a sublime 100, not out as Horner waved him back in. A healthy knock for the average.

Freddie awoke from his nap and swiftly returned, leaving Mike and Adil the final overs to boost our already-imposing score. Some fine swings of the willow pushed us up to 217-4, with Adil accumulating a vital 43*, and Mike a quick 13* - runs that may turn out to be more than useful by the end...

Tea was a sight to behold - proper scotch eggs and sausage rolls, sandwiches overflowing with fillings, and 3 home-baked sweet treats, the flapjacks leaving many a customer satisfied.

One debutant had more than delivered- could our other new ringers Felix and George do the same? The captain paired them together with the new ball (well, only when he had remembered to get it after we bowled the first over using the old ball (sorry George)).

George was unlucky from one end, keeping the batsman guessing and beating the bat often with his left arm angle. The pressure built, and from the other, Felix reaped the rewards of a blistering spell of fast bowling. Getting the ball to swing back in up the hill, 4 wickets fell in quick succession, the beautiful death rattle for 3, and a plumb lbw the reluctant umpire eventually had to concede. In a true break from other captain traditions, Felix was kept on for one more over after his 4th wicket, and he duly completed an excellent 5-for with another bowled.

The first change bowlers gave George and Felix a well-deseved rest. A rarely-spotted fast-bowling Ziggy took a few balls to find his rhythm, but then settled in to a good line and length at pace, and almost claimed a desrved wicket with a diving c&b chance. And from the other end, hungover or not, Freddie was near unplayable, getting exaggerated flight and spin that left batters in a twist. Jai deserves plaudits for his keeping to this wizardry.

When a bustling Mike 'Simon Jones' Sharpe picked up the vital wicket of their only set batter, caught by a tumbling Skip at cover, Eridge were 111-7 in the 24th over, needing over 100 runs in 11 overs, and seemingly out of it. But their captain and elegant left-hander had other ideas - some swings over the short boundary put the pressure back on Knockers, and some wides, no-balls, and overthrows started to creep in. Their lefty raised a fine fifty, and the home crowd started to believe.

It came down to the final over - 18 runs to win, 6 balls to be delivered by the skip. The first - in the batter's arc, swung to the midwicket boundary for 4. The second - wider ball hacked into the deep, a hustling Sharpe kept it to 2. The third - only a single managed. With 11 needed of 3, their captain heaved the ball towards the shorter boundary...where Adil, as calm as you like, took the catch in the deep. A sigh of relief, and with the new batter unable to clear the ropes, Knockers victory was sealed by just 10 runs.

A deserving Felix led the team off to applause from all, and we enjoyed a few beers and homemade bloody Mary's from homegrown tomatoes as the sun set on a grand day of cricket, played in a great spirit. Mike's curse was broken, and the demons of the infamous '9 at Eridge' game put to rest. Top marks to all for a proper team effort, and a big welcome to Will, George and Felix - we'd be delighted to have you all back for many more games to come.

 

Batting

Batsman	How Out	4s	6s	Runs
Seb Horner	bowled	0	0	29
Will Nicklin	not out	0	0	100
Matt Landers	bowled	0	0	14
John Mitchell	bowled	0	0	1
Adil Omar	not out	0	0	43
Freddie Young	caught	0	0	2
Michael Sharpe	not out	0	0	12
Jai Shah	dnb	0	0	0
David Bowen	dnb	0	0	0
Felix Dickenson	dnb	0	0	0
George Elysee	dnb	0	0	0

 

Bowling

Bowler	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts
George Elysee	7.0	0	50	0
Felix Dickenson	7.0	1	30	5
David Bowen	5.0	0	28	0
Freddie Young	7.0	1	16	1
Michael Sharpe	5.0	0	39	1
Adil Omar	3.0	0	28	0
Seb Horner	1.0	0	8	1