"Quote" rel="PaddyP17">Great news for Seb! There's going to be some class in there - a former England ODI captain, no less!
Strange that I can't seem to find records on Play-Cricket for Min Patel (last I knew he was at Gravesend?) and Alex Tudor (who's at Spencer in the Surrey Championship IIRC), but nonetheless, I expect they'd all give Seb a pretty tough time out there, even if they've probably lost a few miles per hour.
I hope he bats relatively selfishly for the experience!
Min hasn't played for a couple of years because of his involvement at Kent but this is his record:
Seb was invited to trial for the annual fundraiser for Leigh Academy against the PCA (used to be against Lashings) on the 29th June at Bexley. Whilst he doesn't go there, the side to play the PCA comes under the Academy banner and is made up of local school and club cricketers.
The good news for Seb is that he has made the team (and is the youngest to do so this year) and whilst he probably won't keep, as that will probably be an 18 year old who has done it for the last couple of years, he is due to bat at 5 against a PCA side with the following confirmed so far:
Mark Ramprakash Owais Shah Adam Hollioake Alex Tudor Min Patel Dominic Cork Mal Loye Ali Brown Matthew Hoggard
It will be a fantastic experience for him to play against that lot especially with a number of them being former England internationals - and I wouldn't mind betting that the likes of Cork, Tudor and Hoggard are still pretty useful with the ball.
Not forgetting Min Patel
I'm going to put my neck on the chopping block and say that Min might be the least of his worries as he has at least faced him in the nets over the course of the last two or three years. Sorry Seb!
He still has a faster ball. It's just not as fast as it once was.
That said, he is incredibly fit for his age but holds no prisoners when it comes to coaching - it's "sink or swim" and if he thinks a kid doesn't fancy facing bouncers from his "slinger" (which he actually bowls rather than throws to get more speed and bounce) then he will just target them even more!
He still has a faster ball. It's just not as fast as it once was.
That said, he is incredibly fit for his age but holds no prisoners when it comes to coaching - it's "sink or swim" and if he thinks a kid doesn't fancy facing bouncers from his "slinger" (which he actually bowls rather than throws to get more speed and bounce) then he will just target them even more!
Heavily involved with Mayfield cricket club down here aswell, We “Hastings 2nds” have gone joint top of the league with Portslade 1sts after our 3rd win on the bounce, onto Burgess Hill 1sts Saturday at home.
Adam hollioake is an absolute legend. Proper T20/one day player but in the wrong era. Of he was playing now I would bet he would make millions travelling the world playing T20 and would be an England legend in the shorter formats. Had big offers to go to the very first IPL but I believe he turned them down to stay at Surrey.
Apparently my reward for getting injured and going wicketless is promotion to the 3s, what is going on here? Am I that expendable, Paddy?
See it as a well-judged tactical decision - you were the joint top scorer at Loring Hall last week and you get to advise others on the state of the pitch this week!
Oh man, some nasty stuff from the weekend is being followed up on. Our 3s game vs Swanscombe and Greenhithe was ill-tempered at best, and our 3s skipper is probably reporting them to the league.
Harry is one of the chillest guys I know, so for him to take action is unprecedented. (For reference, he didn't even complain when at the age of 23 he was made Pastoral Head of Sixth Form(!!!!!) at his school, despite not actually being a fully qualified teacher.)
An excerpt from my report is as follows (I had come into this without context, it's worth bearing in mind, but I was only ever polite):
I overheard one of the S&G blokes saying things like "We’ve come off the pitch with a f**king win, you have f**king bottled it” (and similar), followed by the words “F**king pussy”, directed at one of our players.
I then asked that particular belligerent, “Excuse me, what did you say?”, at which point he came over to me, saying “Your lot need to-“. Then, realising I hadn’t been involved earlier, he started over by approaching to within a foot of me, and asking me “Who the f**k are you?” I said I was a member of OCCC, and was then promptly told by this man, “Oh, f**k off”. I definitely think he was looking for a fight.
------------------------
Not the nicest bunch. Apparently after they hit a six and the ball was irretrievable, and our lot asked for a spare ball with three balls left in the innings, they said "come and find one your f**king selves", out of absolutely nowhere. Interesting.
Oh man, some nasty stuff from the weekend is being followed up on. Our 3s game vs Swanscombe and Greenhithe was ill-tempered at best, and our 3s skipper is probably reporting them to the league.
Harry is one of the chillest guys I know, so for him to take action is unprecedented. (For reference, he didn't even complain when at the age of 23 he was made Pastoral Head of Sixth Form(!!!!!) at his school, despite not actually being a fully qualified teacher.)
An excerpt from my report is as follows (I had come into this without context, it's worth bearing in mind, but I was only ever polite):
I overheard one of the S&G blokes saying things like "We’ve come off the pitch with a f**king win, you have f**king bottled it” (and similar), followed by the words “F**king pussy”, directed at one of our players.
I then asked that particular belligerent, “Excuse me, what did you say?”, at which point he came over to me, saying “Your lot need to-“. Then, realising I hadn’t been involved earlier, he started over by approaching to within a foot of me, and asking me “Who the f**k are you?” I said I was a member of OCCC, and was then promptly told by this man, “Oh, f**k off”. I definitely think he was looking for a fight.
------------------------
Not the nicest bunch. Apparently after they hit a six and the ball was irretrievable, and our lot asked for a spare ball with three balls left in the innings, they said "come and find one your f**king selves", out of absolutely nowhere. Interesting.
Christ, no time for that - not why I play the game.
On the flip side, had a brilliantly spirited game against Bromley Town on Saturday - great bunch.
Stayed at their club for quite a few hours afterwards and nearly all 22 were sat with eachother. I normally like to have one beer at an oppos club and then get back to Beckenham to see the rest of my mates in the other sides, so just shows what a good bunch they were.
I enjoyed my time so much that I thought I would leave my lid there so I could go there this evening and collect it :-)
Oh man, some nasty stuff from the weekend is being followed up on. Our 3s game vs Swanscombe and Greenhithe was ill-tempered at best, and our 3s skipper is probably reporting them to the league.
Harry is one of the chillest guys I know, so for him to take action is unprecedented. (For reference, he didn't even complain when at the age of 23 he was made Pastoral Head of Sixth Form(!!!!!) at his school, despite not actually being a fully qualified teacher.)
An excerpt from my report is as follows (I had come into this without context, it's worth bearing in mind, but I was only ever polite):
I overheard one of the S&G blokes saying things like "We’ve come off the pitch with a f**king win, you have f**king bottled it” (and similar), followed by the words “F**king pussy”, directed at one of our players.
I then asked that particular belligerent, “Excuse me, what did you say?”, at which point he came over to me, saying “Your lot need to-“. Then, realising I hadn’t been involved earlier, he started over by approaching to within a foot of me, and asking me “Who the f**k are you?” I said I was a member of OCCC, and was then promptly told by this man, “Oh, f**k off”. I definitely think he was looking for a fight.
------------------------
Not the nicest bunch. Apparently after they hit a six and the ball was irretrievable, and our lot asked for a spare ball with three balls left in the innings, they said "come and find one your f**king selves", out of absolutely nowhere. Interesting.
Always a problem when you don't have umpires...
And that is becoming a massive issue. Less and less people are prepared to give up their weekends to umpire and/or score.
This season in the 2s we already have two Dads who have years of experience in umpiring who want to do it so there isn't any need for me to do so but I do score when our scorer is unavailable. Last season, when Seb was in the 4s who had Geoff Burton and I would umpire too if the opposition didn't have one. Sadly Geoff passed away suddenly during the winter so the 4s have gone from two umpires every week to most weeks having no one.
Equally colts seem less reluctant to learn how to score and I think we as a Club need to push for them all to learn how to do so and also for more parents to be qualified at not just scoring but umpiring too because we're not a baby sitting service for their offspring and there's enough pressure on skippers organising things on the day without the hassle of sorting those two jobs out.
Christ, no time for that - not why I play the game.
On the flip side, had a brilliantly spirited game against Bromley Town on Saturday - great bunch.
Stayed at their club for quite a few hours afterwards and nearly all 22 were sat with eachother. I normally like to have one beer at an oppos club and then get back to Beckenham to see the rest of my mates in the other sides, so just shows what a good bunch they were.
I enjoyed my time so much that I thought I would leave my lid there so I could go there this evening and collect it :-)
Oh man, some nasty stuff from the weekend is being followed up on. Our 3s game vs Swanscombe and Greenhithe was ill-tempered at best, and our 3s skipper is probably reporting them to the league.
Harry is one of the chillest guys I know, so for him to take action is unprecedented. (For reference, he didn't even complain when at the age of 23 he was made Pastoral Head of Sixth Form(!!!!!) at his school, despite not actually being a fully qualified teacher.)
An excerpt from my report is as follows (I had come into this without context, it's worth bearing in mind, but I was only ever polite):
I overheard one of the S&G blokes saying things like "We’ve come off the pitch with a f**king win, you have f**king bottled it” (and similar), followed by the words “F**king pussy”, directed at one of our players.
I then asked that particular belligerent, “Excuse me, what did you say?”, at which point he came over to me, saying “Your lot need to-“. Then, realising I hadn’t been involved earlier, he started over by approaching to within a foot of me, and asking me “Who the f**k are you?” I said I was a member of OCCC, and was then promptly told by this man, “Oh, f**k off”. I definitely think he was looking for a fight.
------------------------
Not the nicest bunch. Apparently after they hit a six and the ball was irretrievable, and our lot asked for a spare ball with three balls left in the innings, they said "come and find one your f**king selves", out of absolutely nowhere. Interesting.
Always a problem when you don't have umpires...
And that is becoming a massive issue. Less and less people are prepared to give up their weekends to umpire and/or score.
This season in the 2s we already have two Dads who have years of experience in umpiring who want to do it so there isn't any need for me to do so but I do score when our scorer is unavailable. Last season, when Seb was in the 4s who had Geoff Burton and I would umpire too if the opposition didn't have one. Sadly Geoff passed away suddenly during the winter so the 4s have gone from two umpires every week to most weeks having no one.
Equally colts seem less reluctant to learn how to score and I think we as a Club need to push for them all to learn how to do so and also for more parents to be qualified at not just scoring but umpiring too because we're not a baby sitting service for their offspring and there's enough pressure on skippers organising things on the day without the hassle of sorting those two jobs out.
It's a little naive to think, though, that 3rd and 4th XIs are going to have committed umpires and scorers. We don't even have 11 players some weeks.
Oh man, some nasty stuff from the weekend is being followed up on. Our 3s game vs Swanscombe and Greenhithe was ill-tempered at best, and our 3s skipper is probably reporting them to the league.
Harry is one of the chillest guys I know, so for him to take action is unprecedented. (For reference, he didn't even complain when at the age of 23 he was made Pastoral Head of Sixth Form(!!!!!) at his school, despite not actually being a fully qualified teacher.)
An excerpt from my report is as follows (I had come into this without context, it's worth bearing in mind, but I was only ever polite):
I overheard one of the S&G blokes saying things like "We’ve come off the pitch with a f**king win, you have f**king bottled it” (and similar), followed by the words “F**king pussy”, directed at one of our players.
I then asked that particular belligerent, “Excuse me, what did you say?”, at which point he came over to me, saying “Your lot need to-“. Then, realising I hadn’t been involved earlier, he started over by approaching to within a foot of me, and asking me “Who the f**k are you?” I said I was a member of OCCC, and was then promptly told by this man, “Oh, f**k off”. I definitely think he was looking for a fight.
------------------------
Not the nicest bunch. Apparently after they hit a six and the ball was irretrievable, and our lot asked for a spare ball with three balls left in the innings, they said "come and find one your f**king selves", out of absolutely nowhere. Interesting.
tbf, people from Greenhithe & Swanscombe shouldn't be allowed to play cricket.
Oh man, some nasty stuff from the weekend is being followed up on. Our 3s game vs Swanscombe and Greenhithe was ill-tempered at best, and our 3s skipper is probably reporting them to the league.
Harry is one of the chillest guys I know, so for him to take action is unprecedented. (For reference, he didn't even complain when at the age of 23 he was made Pastoral Head of Sixth Form(!!!!!) at his school, despite not actually being a fully qualified teacher.)
An excerpt from my report is as follows (I had come into this without context, it's worth bearing in mind, but I was only ever polite):
I overheard one of the S&G blokes saying things like "We’ve come off the pitch with a f**king win, you have f**king bottled it” (and similar), followed by the words “F**king pussy”, directed at one of our players.
I then asked that particular belligerent, “Excuse me, what did you say?”, at which point he came over to me, saying “Your lot need to-“. Then, realising I hadn’t been involved earlier, he started over by approaching to within a foot of me, and asking me “Who the f**k are you?” I said I was a member of OCCC, and was then promptly told by this man, “Oh, f**k off”. I definitely think he was looking for a fight.
------------------------
Not the nicest bunch. Apparently after they hit a six and the ball was irretrievable, and our lot asked for a spare ball with three balls left in the innings, they said "come and find one your f**king selves", out of absolutely nowhere. Interesting.
Always a problem when you don't have umpires...
And that is becoming a massive issue. Less and less people are prepared to give up their weekends to umpire and/or score.
This season in the 2s we already have two Dads who have years of experience in umpiring who want to do it so there isn't any need for me to do so but I do score when our scorer is unavailable. Last season, when Seb was in the 4s who had Geoff Burton and I would umpire too if the opposition didn't have one. Sadly Geoff passed away suddenly during the winter so the 4s have gone from two umpires every week to most weeks having no one.
Equally colts seem less reluctant to learn how to score and I think we as a Club need to push for them all to learn how to do so and also for more parents to be qualified at not just scoring but umpiring too because we're not a baby sitting service for their offspring and there's enough pressure on skippers organising things on the day without the hassle of sorting those two jobs out.
It's a little naive to think, though, that 3rd and 4th XIs are going to have committed umpires and scorers. We don't even have 11 players some weeks.
I agree with the sentiment that there is a limit but we do have a bigger pool of players which is why we run 7 teams most weeks and consequently should have potentially enough to go down to the 3s (playing against most Club's 1s) and probably the 4s (playing against most clubs' 2s) so far as helping with umpiring and scoring is concerned.
Christ, no time for that - not why I play the game.
On the flip side, had a brilliantly spirited game against Bromley Town on Saturday - great bunch.
Stayed at their club for quite a few hours afterwards and nearly all 22 were sat with eachother. I normally like to have one beer at an oppos club and then get back to Beckenham to see the rest of my mates in the other sides, so just shows what a good bunch they were.
I enjoyed my time so much that I thought I would leave my lid there so I could go there this evening and collect it :-)
How's your new keeper/opener settling in?
Lovely kid - really nice guy.
I've taken him under my wing a little bit to bed him in with everyone.
It's his 18th on Thursday so we'll all be getting him suitably smashed!
The first ball I bowled to him at his first net session pinned him on the shoulder, looked a painful one. He's soon realised that a good ball like that is a rarity from me and that I'm shite :-)
Christ, no time for that - not why I play the game.
On the flip side, had a brilliantly spirited game against Bromley Town on Saturday - great bunch.
Stayed at their club for quite a few hours afterwards and nearly all 22 were sat with eachother. I normally like to have one beer at an oppos club and then get back to Beckenham to see the rest of my mates in the other sides, so just shows what a good bunch they were.
I enjoyed my time so much that I thought I would leave my lid there so I could go there this evening and collect it :-)
How's your new keeper/opener settling in?
Lovely kid - really nice guy.
I've taken him under my wing a little bit to bed him in with everyone.
It's his 18th on Thursday so we'll all be getting him suitably smashed!
The first ball I bowled to him at his first net session pinned him on the shoulder, looked a painful one. He's soon realised that a good ball like that is a rarity from me and that I'm shite :-)
Apparently my reward for getting injured and going wicketless is promotion to the 3s, what is going on here? Am I that expendable, Paddy?
Serves you right for being the club’s leading wicket taker. I’m keeping you company apparently.
Loring Hall Pitch 2 is only a year old and will need time to "bed in". So, as Leuth will no doubt confirm, it's front foot and don't expect the ball to get up - even from a long hop!
Lovely surroundings though and good to have those pitches rather than the ones that the 3s/4s and 5s/6s used to have to use at Chis & Sid and Dartford GS!
Indeed, thanks for the warning! I played on the new square last year on a rare Sunday appearance - it was not a pitch on which to play back to a 14 year old slow-medium bowler with a low trajectory. Though from @Leuth’s account, that seemed to be the least of our batting issues last Saturday (I was being cultural at Glyndebourne so missed this particular debacle).
This Sunday I will be making my annual guest appearance for “The Invalids” CC (mainly because a workmate is their match manager for the fixture against his local club, Castle Hill, in Brenchley).
This is real old fashioned Sunday cricket, nice leisurely 2.30 start, none of this set number of overs nonsense (well, maybe last 20 overs from 6pm), scrumptious tea, all amid a lovely setting in the Kent countryside. One for the traditionalists, maybe even @Riviera.
I believe The Invalids were founded near the end of World War 1 - quite literally an idea hatched by wounded servicemen recovering together in hospital that they form a team and play together after they recover. Today they are a wandering side who have a rule that they will only play at grounds located outside the M25 (that bit may be made up).
These days the side is well stocked with colourful characters, in particular members of the acting and theatre professions (plus the odd accountant to keep order). Last year I had the honour of batting with Richard Durden, who recently played Jan Smuts in Churchill. Unfortunately this was only for a short time as I ran him out after a couple of overs. He wasn’t best pleased.
This Sunday I will be making my annual guest appearance for “The Invalids” CC (mainly because a workmate is their match manager for the fixture against his local club, Castle Hill, in Brenchley).
This is real old fashioned Sunday cricket, nice leisurely 2.30 start, none of this set number of overs nonsense (well, maybe last 20 overs from 6pm), scrumptious tea, all amid a lovely setting in the Kent countryside. One for the traditionalists, maybe even @Riviera.
I believe The Invalids were founded near the end of World War 1 - quite literally an idea hatched by wounded servicemen recovering together in hospital that they form a team and play together after they recover. Today they are a wandering side who have a rule that they will only play at grounds located outside the M25 (that bit may be made up).
These days the side is well stocked with colourful characters, in particular members of the acting and theatre professions (plus the odd accountant to keep order). Last year I had the honour of batting with Richard Durden, who recently played Jan Smuts in Churchill. Unfortunately this was only for a short time as I ran him out after a couple of overs. He wasn’t best pleased.
Hi Ash, I was brought up playing for Castle Hill, and have definitely played against Invalids before. Don't play these days as live up in London but is a lovely club and as you said a great, traditional afternoon of cricket! Enjoy it!
Strange that @Addickted2TheReds has not reported back on the weekend’s proceedings.
Maybe this is why:
Beckenham 1s: 90 all out (lost by 137 runs) 2s: 156-5 (lost by 6 wickets) 3s: 81 all out (lost by 8 wickets) 4s: 74 all out (lost by 137 runs) 5s: 42 all out (lost by 154 runs)
This degree of synchronised carnage would take some beating.
It appears that Beckenham are going through a period of transition as they have lost a few players from the top two sides through injury and departure and that has affected those teams lower down. When Bexley played their 2s they had no colts playing (in fact I reckon that they only had one player under 25 although Harry Jones, who is the same age as Seb, has played for them since) whereas we had half a dozen. Beckenham also probably have a fair number at private schools and Uni who will, no doubt, return.
I was speaking to someone who is heavily involved in the Colts section who says that they have had a big drop off from playing numbers at the upper age groups but that they have no less than FIVE U11 sides so there should be a resurgence in adult playing numbers in a few years time.
This is all reflected in the fact that their bottom four sides have actually only won one match between them this season.
Yes very well said.
My son cannot get a sniff at U 13 level A team who have 4 sides ( he is in the B Team). Oscar plays for district at U 12's and hit 62no last week at school, so not shabby. Standard is very good.
So in 2026 - 2028 Beckenham will be back I have no doubt!
This Sunday I will be making my annual guest appearance for “The Invalids” CC (mainly because a workmate is their match manager for the fixture against his local club, Castle Hill, in Brenchley).
This is real old fashioned Sunday cricket, nice leisurely 2.30 start, none of this set number of overs nonsense (well, maybe last 20 overs from 6pm), scrumptious tea, all amid a lovely setting in the Kent countryside. One for the traditionalists, maybe even @Riviera.
I believe The Invalids were founded near the end of World War 1 - quite literally an idea hatched by wounded servicemen recovering together in hospital that they form a team and play together after they recover. Today they are a wandering side who have a rule that they will only play at grounds located outside the M25 (that bit may be made up).
These days the side is well stocked with colourful characters, in particular members of the acting and theatre professions (plus the odd accountant to keep order). Last year I had the honour of batting with Richard Durden, who recently played Jan Smuts in Churchill. Unfortunately this was only for a short time as I ran him out after a couple of overs. He wasn’t best pleased.
Sounds idyllic.
My favourite fixture was always our Sunday 2's away game V Ightham. Lunch in the George and Dragon and couple of pints of Fremlins. 2.30 start, we'd always bat first get 220 and declare around 4.30 then bowl them out for about 100. Beautiful postage stamp of a ground with a backdrop over the Weald, the view was to die for. Only downside was that they insisted on going to a really crap pub after the game where they had a cask of ale on the bar which was always warm and flat. We used to get away as quick as was politely acceptable and shoot back to the Beehive asap.
Strange that @Addickted2TheReds has not reported back on the weekend’s proceedings.
Maybe this is why:
Beckenham 1s: 90 all out (lost by 137 runs) 2s: 156-5 (lost by 6 wickets) 3s: 81 all out (lost by 8 wickets) 4s: 74 all out (lost by 137 runs) 5s: 42 all out (lost by 154 runs)
This degree of synchronised carnage would take some beating.
It appears that Beckenham are going through a period of transition as they have lost a few players from the top two sides through injury and departure and that has affected those teams lower down. When Bexley played their 2s they had no colts playing (in fact I reckon that they only had one player under 25 although Harry Jones, who is the same age as Seb, has played for them since) whereas we had half a dozen. Beckenham also probably have a fair number at private schools and Uni who will, no doubt, return.
I was speaking to someone who is heavily involved in the Colts section who says that they have had a big drop off from playing numbers at the upper age groups but that they have no less than FIVE U11 sides so there should be a resurgence in adult playing numbers in a few years time.
This is all reflected in the fact that their bottom four sides have actually only won one match between them this season.
Yes very well said.
My son cannot get a sniff at U 13 level A team who have 4 sides ( he is in the B Team). Oscar plays for district at U 12's and hit 62no last week at school, so not shabby. Standard is very good.
So in 2026 - 2028 Beckenham will be back I have no doubt!
They'll both have been snapped up by Bickley Park by then, playing for a few hundred a game!
This Sunday I will be making my annual guest appearance for “The Invalids” CC (mainly because a workmate is their match manager for the fixture against his local club, Castle Hill, in Brenchley).
This is real old fashioned Sunday cricket, nice leisurely 2.30 start, none of this set number of overs nonsense (well, maybe last 20 overs from 6pm), scrumptious tea, all amid a lovely setting in the Kent countryside. One for the traditionalists, maybe even @Riviera.
I believe The Invalids were founded near the end of World War 1 - quite literally an idea hatched by wounded servicemen recovering together in hospital that they form a team and play together after they recover. Today they are a wandering side who have a rule that they will only play at grounds located outside the M25 (that bit may be made up).
These days the side is well stocked with colourful characters, in particular members of the acting and theatre professions (plus the odd accountant to keep order). Last year I had the honour of batting with Richard Durden, who recently played Jan Smuts in Churchill. Unfortunately this was only for a short time as I ran him out after a couple of overs. He wasn’t best pleased.
Sounds idyllic.
My favourite fixture was always our Sunday 2's away game V Ightham. Lunch in the George and Dragon and couple of pints of Fremlins. 2.30 start, we'd always bat first get 220 and declare around 4.30 then bowl them out for about 100. Beautiful postage stamp of a ground with a backdrop over the Weald, the view was to die for. Only downside was that they insisted on going to a really crap pub after the game where they had a cask of ale on the bar which was always warm and flat. We used to get away as quick as was politely acceptable and shoot back to the Beehive asap.
I do believe that I played in one of your matches there. In fact, I distinctly remember a former President of Blackheath CC struggling to hit the ball of the square. But, there again, in his case, that could have been any square!
This Sunday I will be making my annual guest appearance for “The Invalids” CC (mainly because a workmate is their match manager for the fixture against his local club, Castle Hill, in Brenchley).
This is real old fashioned Sunday cricket, nice leisurely 2.30 start, none of this set number of overs nonsense (well, maybe last 20 overs from 6pm), scrumptious tea, all amid a lovely setting in the Kent countryside. One for the traditionalists, maybe even @Riviera.
I believe The Invalids were founded near the end of World War 1 - quite literally an idea hatched by wounded servicemen recovering together in hospital that they form a team and play together after they recover. Today they are a wandering side who have a rule that they will only play at grounds located outside the M25 (that bit may be made up).
These days the side is well stocked with colourful characters, in particular members of the acting and theatre professions (plus the odd accountant to keep order). Last year I had the honour of batting with Richard Durden, who recently played Jan Smuts in Churchill. Unfortunately this was only for a short time as I ran him out after a couple of overs. He wasn’t best pleased.
Sounds idyllic.
My favourite fixture was always our Sunday 2's away game V Ightham. Lunch in the George and Dragon and couple of pints of Fremlins. 2.30 start, we'd always bat first get 220 and declare around 4.30 then bowl them out for about 100. Beautiful postage stamp of a ground with a backdrop over the Weald, the view was to die for. Only downside was that they insisted on going to a really crap pub after the game where they had a cask of ale on the bar which was always warm and flat. We used to get away as quick as was politely acceptable and shoot back to the Beehive asap.
Jesus Christ, must have been a bloody shocking pub if you couldn’t wait to get back to The Beehive!
Comments
Strange that I can't seem to find records on Play-Cricket for Min Patel (last I knew he was at Gravesend?) and Alex Tudor (who's at Spencer in the Surrey Championship IIRC), but nonetheless, I expect they'd all give Seb a pretty tough time out there, even if they've probably lost a few miles per hour.
I hope he bats relatively selfishly for the experience!
Min hasn't played for a couple of years because of his involvement at Kent but this is his record:
http://kcl.play-cricket.com/website/player_stats_widget/fielding_stats/107202?rule_type_id=179
Alex Tudor has been heavily committed to his own coaching company and that might be the reason why he hasn't played "proper" cricket since 2015:
http://spencer.play-cricket.com/website/player_stats_widget/bowling_stats/591665?rule_type_id=179
That said, he is incredibly fit for his age but holds no prisoners when it comes to coaching - it's "sink or swim" and if he thinks a kid doesn't fancy facing bouncers from his "slinger" (which he actually bowls rather than throws to get more speed and bounce) then he will just target them even more!
Great man and knows my old man.
Harry is one of the chillest guys I know, so for him to take action is unprecedented. (For reference, he didn't even complain when at the age of 23 he was made Pastoral Head of Sixth Form(!!!!!) at his school, despite not actually being a fully qualified teacher.)
An excerpt from my report is as follows (I had come into this without context, it's worth bearing in mind, but I was only ever polite):
I overheard one of the S&G blokes saying things like "We’ve come off the pitch with a f**king win, you have f**king bottled it” (and similar), followed by the words “F**king pussy”, directed at one of our players.
I then asked that particular belligerent, “Excuse me, what did you say?”, at which point he came over to me, saying “Your lot need to-“. Then, realising I hadn’t been involved earlier, he started over by approaching to within a foot of me, and asking me “Who the f**k are you?” I said I was a member of OCCC, and was then promptly told by this man, “Oh, f**k off”. I definitely think he was looking for a fight.
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Not the nicest bunch. Apparently after they hit a six and the ball was irretrievable, and our lot asked for a spare ball with three balls left in the innings, they said "come and find one your f**king selves", out of absolutely nowhere. Interesting.
On the flip side, had a brilliantly spirited game against Bromley Town on Saturday - great bunch.
Stayed at their club for quite a few hours afterwards and nearly all 22 were sat with eachother. I normally like to have one beer at an oppos club and then get back to Beckenham to see the rest of my mates in the other sides, so just shows what a good bunch they were.
I enjoyed my time so much that I thought I would leave my lid there so I could go there this evening and collect it :-)
This season in the 2s we already have two Dads who have years of experience in umpiring who want to do it so there isn't any need for me to do so but I do score when our scorer is unavailable. Last season, when Seb was in the 4s who had Geoff Burton and I would umpire too if the opposition didn't have one. Sadly Geoff passed away suddenly during the winter so the 4s have gone from two umpires every week to most weeks having no one.
Equally colts seem less reluctant to learn how to score and I think we as a Club need to push for them all to learn how to do so and also for more parents to be qualified at not just scoring but umpiring too because we're not a baby sitting service for their offspring and there's enough pressure on skippers organising things on the day without the hassle of sorting those two jobs out.
I've taken him under my wing a little bit to bed him in with everyone.
It's his 18th on Thursday so we'll all be getting him suitably smashed!
The first ball I bowled to him at his first net session pinned him on the shoulder, looked a painful one. He's soon realised that a good ball like that is a rarity from me and that I'm shite :-)
Lovely surroundings though and good to have those pitches rather than the ones that the 3s/4s and 5s/6s used to have to use at Chis & Sid and Dartford GS!
This is real old fashioned Sunday cricket, nice leisurely 2.30 start, none of this set number of overs nonsense (well, maybe last 20 overs from 6pm), scrumptious tea, all amid a lovely setting in the Kent countryside. One for the traditionalists, maybe even @Riviera.
I believe The Invalids were founded near the end of World War 1 - quite literally an idea hatched by wounded servicemen recovering together in hospital that they form a team and play together after they recover. Today they are a wandering side who have a rule that they will only play at grounds located outside the M25 (that bit may be made up).
These days the side is well stocked with colourful characters, in particular members of the acting and theatre professions (plus the odd accountant to keep order). Last year I had the honour of batting with Richard Durden, who recently played Jan Smuts in Churchill. Unfortunately this was only for a short time as I ran him out after a couple of overs. He wasn’t best pleased.
My son cannot get a sniff at U 13 level A team who have 4 sides ( he is in the B Team). Oscar plays for district at U 12's and hit 62no last week at school, so not shabby. Standard is very good.
So in 2026 - 2028 Beckenham will be back I have no doubt!
My favourite fixture was always our Sunday 2's away game V Ightham. Lunch in the George and Dragon and couple of pints of Fremlins. 2.30 start, we'd always bat first get 220 and declare around 4.30 then bowl them out for about 100. Beautiful postage stamp of a ground with a backdrop over the Weald, the view was to die for. Only downside was that they insisted on going to a really crap pub after the game where they had a cask of ale on the bar which was always warm and flat. We used to get away as quick as was politely acceptable and shoot back to the Beehive asap.