Surprised Alex Moen is batting 7 for Bickley. Tonbridge lad , Kent Academy , 1st class cap playing for Cambridge. Just goes to show the depth if batting at some of these clubs.
Surprised Alex Moen is batting 7 for Bickley. Tonbridge lad , Kent Academy , 1st class cap playing for Cambridge. Just goes to show the depth if batting at some of these clubs.
I believe Alex batted at 5 for Cambridge is batting but 7 for Bickley because of their strength and also because he is a very good finisher, particularly against spin. He was the player who said to me that the trouble with Bickley is that they have nine very good number 6s - in addition they have nine bowlers and two keepers.
There aren't many volunteers to open at the Club (both openers are 19 and the youngest pairing in the KPL) and following those two, batting between 3 and 6, are an overseas, two First Class cricketers and an MCC young cricketer/county 2s player. Which is just as well because Bickley went, as I say, from 39-0 against a decent bowling attack including David Moody, nephew of Tom, who is contracted as both a State and Big Bash player in Australia, to 39-3 yesterday. Alex had a bit of success opening at the end of 2018 but in 2019 struggled in that position and with 56 of the 60 top 6s in the KCL yesterday getting 27 or less, it is the likes of Alex coming in at 7 that can and do make the difference between winning and losing a game. He won't ever have to worry about not getting a bat!
Well done paddyp17 My 16 year old son took his first ever 5fer today as well , for our firsts in second division mid essex , unfortunately/fortunately I’m injured so got to see it oppo were pony all out for 96 and we knocked it off for two .
we’ve got some Pakistani musician who has 100k+ instagram or something followers who comes over here and plays cricket in the summer , fuck knows how he ended up at our shithouse park team but he’s not been over cos of covid but he’s a beast of a player … faced two balls today 4 & 6 to finish the game off
Your reports and commentary are wasted on here. Surely a TMS slot or at least a column in Wisden is just around the corner.
My son played away against East Hanningfield , which is Barry Hearns team . He played for us as a youngster and popped down for an hour or so with his rescue dog . Think he’s 74 and had a chat with him and he still keeps in touch with a few at our club and had been to an ex players funeral a few weeks back and he joined our club at 14 (to play adult stuff) cos he was asked did he play when he was walking through the park and he was disillusioned (at 14 lol) with getting no game time at Buckhurst Hill , he still plays for Essex over 70’s . The ground is nice and backs on to his house and he said Eddies two daughters play cricket .
Anyway we bowled first and they got to 202 in their 45 overs which looked a decent score on a track that wasn’t well prepared, their groundsman has been in hospital for a few weeks and they’re struggling to work their equipment. my son bowled 9 overs took 1 for 26 but dropped a fella who went on to get 90 odd (out in the last over) in his 50s and he’d already been dropped in single figures , both very catchable . One of our players who didn’t fancy playing away but was a late call up from the 2nds and was prolly 5th bowler on the day took 6 for 30 His best league figures !
We lost an early wicket and then our cheat code came in , Mustafa Zahid , a Pakistani musical composer . He plays for us Saturday and Sunday and two other clubs during the week during the English summer when he’s over here just to play cricket . He got an undefeated 100+ to see us home which he dedicated to our recently passed away club stalwart player/umpire/scorer/bar steward of 40 years . Finishing the game off with a 6 that went over the boundary by 30 yards . on a wicket that would hit your ankles and pass your nose on the next ball it was a brilliant innings and a pleasure to watch . Hes a real humble guy as well , I need to find out why he ended up at our scruffy little club , possibly a friend of a friend . He changed his bat after two balls and the one he used was an old one of Mohammed Hafiz’s !
Bickley were away to Lordswood yesterday and the game didn't go without a couple of incidents, one of which involved yours truly while sitting on the side. I have to be careful what I say and for that reason will keep matters to the game itself.
Bickley won the toss and as is the way elected to bat. Seb lost his opening partner, Jotty Singh, with the score on 24 and was himself caught behind for 29 (35) at 58. Bickley lost wickets at regular intervals and at 109-7 it looked like they wouldn't be able to set a decent total. But thanks chiefly to a defiant 49 (86) from Michael Ridley they were all out with a ball to go for 177.
Lockhart got Lordswood off to a flyer with 22 off 14 balls but, despite losing Jason Benn again through injury mid game and even at 59-2, one felt that the almost limitless bowling options (nine in fact) that Bickley possess might be too much for Lordswood. And so it proved with Lordswood all out for 105. Max Luckett picked up 3-20, the skipper Dan Magin 3-29 and Elliot Hooper posted a miserly return of 10-2-10-2.
Bickley now sit joint 2nd with Hayes the only unbeaten side on top though they had a scare yesterday in losing 8 wickets chasing down Tunbridge Wells total of 112. Such is the nature of the KPL this season - it really is incredibly hard to score runs on some of these pace less, variable bounce and often green tracks.
Bickley were away to Lordswood yesterday and the game didn't go without a couple of incidents, one of which involved yours truly while sitting on the side. I have to be careful what I say and for that reason will keep matters to the game itself.
Surely it’s because you weren’t careful with what you said that there was an incident!! Spill the beans …or give us a taster
Bickley were away to Lordswood yesterday and the game didn't go without a couple of incidents, one of which involved yours truly while sitting on the side. I have to be careful what I say and for that reason will keep matters to the game itself.
Surely it’s because you weren’t careful with what you said that there was an incident!! Spill the beans …or give us a taster
The reason that I'm reluctant to do so is that the circumstances of the first incident that led to that player having a go at me and reacting as he did is probably not one for a public forum. He later apologised at tea time and admitted that he had allowed the situation to get the better of him.
Bickley were away to Lordswood yesterday and the game didn't go without a couple of incidents, one of which involved yours truly while sitting on the side. I have to be careful what I say and for that reason will keep matters to the game itself.
Surely it’s because you weren’t careful with what you said that there was an incident!! Spill the beans …or give us a taster
The reason that I'm reluctant to do so is that the circumstances of the first incident that led to that player having a go at me and reacting as he did is probably not one for a public forum. He later apologised at tea time and admitted that he had allowed the situation to get the better of him.
Lordswood are a Medway team so probably a Gills supporter. Did you politely request he move his caravan so that you could get a better view of the game?
Our cheat code scored another undefeated 100 in a Sunday friendly at a picturesque Essendon cricket club my son bowled 7 overs of the finest pies 0-50 and they set 212 our gun opened and got 100+ not out and we got the score comfortably 1 down don’t think he should bat so high up in Sunday friendlies unless against stronger teams , in the league I’m all for him ripping it up . Spoke to him afterwards and he didn’t start boozing till 5 years ago ..
I asked why he joined our freak show , been 10 years now , he likes the people One of Saturdays oppo asked if he wanted to play paid cricket on Sundays but he said he’s happy playing with us lot . Top player think he’s got 300+ average from his 4 knocks for us this season
I just love reading these stories on here, brings back some great memories from playing back home.
We finished our season here in March and my stodgy opening batting amassed a grand total of 47 runs for the season at an average of about 3.8!
Still, it was all a bloody good laugh, especially our away game at Brisbane Valleys when we got a bloke down from the 1st XI.
He was down with us as the 1st and 2nds were both playing miles away and he doesn't drive, despite being 45 years old, so he can only play where he can get a train to the game.
So, let's call him Dave, turns up about 18 stone with a big old beer belly and really glassy eyed and the skipper puts him in at four.
We lose two early wickets, including my son, but I am grinding it out and tell Dave when he comes out to take it easy as the damp pitch was doing a bit - but he barely seemed to hear me!
As he walked to take strike I realized that the reason he couldn't hear me was that he was absolutely off his fucking tits, his breath absolutely wreaked of Rum.
Then the penny starts to drop, it's not that he CAN'T drive, he's a massive pisshead and is on a bloody drink driving ban!
Despite my counsel Dave heaved hopelessly at his first few balls, missing them all by miles, but gradually settles down and starts playing proper shots.
Within a couple of overs he was smacking their poor teenage bowlers to every corner of Brisbane which was a good job because he could barely run a single through his incapacitated state, he was wheezing like a sick dog just smacking the boundaries.
He ended up scoring 95 before playing on and then laying flat on a park bench for an hour to recover.
During the tea break he went for a piss so I took the liberty of having a quick look in his open cricket bag and saw not one but TWO empty bottles of Southern Comfort, this guy was a SERIOUS drinker.
We gave him a lift back to the station after the game and he asked us to stop at the off license "so I can get some smokes" but came back to the car with a bottle of something in a brown paper bag which he was obviously planning to polish off on the way home on the train!
Can't judge him too harshly though, in that one innings he became our second highest run scorer for the whole season!
Bickley were away to Lordswood yesterday and the game didn't go without a couple of incidents, one of which involved yours truly while sitting on the side. I have to be careful what I say and for that reason will keep matters to the game itself.
Surely it’s because you weren’t careful with what you said that there was an incident!! Spill the beans …or give us a taster
The reason that I'm reluctant to do so is that the circumstances of the first incident that led to that player having a go at me and reacting as he did is probably not one for a public forum. He later apologised at tea time and admitted that he had allowed the situation to get the better of him.
I drink over that club fairly frequently and can hazard a guess who was involved. If its who I think it was he spends a lot of time during the summer apologising for stuff he has said or done.
Few worrying signs at the lower levels of the game...less colts cricket being played ,more concessions this year than last in both Sussex leagues and krcl and concessions happening in the kent league itself
Bickley won the toss yesterday and as is convention elected to bat against Sandwich. An innings of two halves, for the first 25 overs they built a good platform at 85-2 but for the second achieved just 84-8 and didn't even use up all of the overs.
Setting the opposition 170 is about par for Bickley but, in order to be successful, the bowling and fielding has to be right on the money. And the fielding, especially, simply wasn't with three or four chances for wickets missed. That was the difference and Sandwich won comfortably for four down with more than half a dozen overs to go.
It would be remiss of me not to praise Sandwich for the way they go about playing - like Bickley, positive, competitive but fair. A real family run club and a throw back to how it used to be played before individuals decided to make a cricket club their own personal "project" by buying success. One only has to look at Hartley, winners of the KPL five seasons out of six between 2011 and 2016 and now playing in Division 6A of the Kent Village League to see how things chance when those individuals get fed up with their current "toy". That said, it's great to see the names of Tutt and Redwood returning to play for them this season.
South Loughton firsts played away at Galleywood in a top of the table clash and we were put in and scrambled to 212 in 45 overs on another uneven wicket Our young 15 year old opener got 61 having been dropped 5 times along the way and our gun Pakistani proved he’s human with a duck …. we got tied up in the middle overs but an over late on of 266642 got our top scorer to 78 not out but the oppos fielding was appalling 10 dropped chances and maybe a couple more that could have been snaffled .
no one knew what a good score was but they got stuck in the middle overs without losing wickets and let the run rate tick up my son bowled 9 overs 0-34 with 15 coming in his last two . the run rate ticked up and up and needing 24 from the last two with two 15 year olds bowling for us and 5 wickets left it was in the balance Dot dot dot single 6 and dropped on boundary for 2 (and that was their mistake they should have just taken one cos the older guy struggled to get it away but the youngster could bang it ) 15 needed off the last over with the weaker batsman on strike and it went dot 2 2 dot single and the basher had 1 ball to score 10 … cricket wise they fucked up 5 batsman in the hutch and didn’t gamble early enough but we go top of table by a point 2nds are 3rd in table and our newly formed 3rds (amalgamated with an old club Matthews who used to just play friendlies) are 2nd in their league . I may struggle to get back in to any of our sides if I ever get back to fitness …that’s a lie the standard of the thirds in a league 11 is soooooooo bad
Hayes win again this time without Blakey. Riding high at the top of the table. Beckenham sans Blake and McVicar winless this season so far. Amazing how things can turn around in a couple of seasons.
Hayes win again this time without Blakey. Riding high at the top of the table. Beckenham sans Blake and McVicar winless this season so far. Amazing how things can turn around in a couple of seasons.
Beckenham have lost, in addition to Blake and McVicar, Johan Malcolm has been injured for the last month too and Jahid Ahmed returned to Blackheath this season.
Hayes win again this time without Blakey. Riding high at the top of the table. Beckenham sans Blake and McVicar winless this season so far. Amazing how things can turn around in a couple of seasons.
Beckenham have lost, in addition to Blake and McVicar, Johan Malcolm has been injured for the last month too and Jahid Ahmed returned to Blackheath this season.
I did Beckenham 2s and although they have a couple of good youngsters nobody obviously ready to step up. I'm doing the first team on Tuesday in the T20 and that is a mix of both sides I'm told. Jahid is a massive difference as he is very good...
That was only the seventh ball of the game but the fines pot must have been overflowing after this incident for:
Lack of calling from both AshBurton junior and player "taking" the catch Player dropping catch Player with wayward first throw Player not backing up Same player for wayward second throw Bowler making insufficient effort to stop second throw Two players standing and having a chat instead of backing up second throw Umpire getting in way of both throws Fine leg standing with hands on hips and only then deciding to chase down the overthrow AshBurton junior showing lack of support for the efforts of his team mates in throwing his gloves to the ground
That was only the seventh ball of the game but the fines pot must have been overflowing after this incident for:
Lack of calling from both AshBurton junior and player "taking" the catch Player dropping catch Player with wayward first throw Player not backing up Same player for wayward second throw Bowler making insufficient effort to stop second throw Two players standing and having a chat instead of backing up second throw Umpire getting in way of both throws Fine leg standing with hands on hips and only then deciding to chase down the overthrow AshBurton junior showing lack of support for the efforts of his team mates in throwing his gloves to the ground
A bit like Harmison’s wide, this early action certainly set the tone for the rest of the match (er, season?)
Bit harsh on Ash Jr though - the non-catcher definitely calls for it. He was just a bit worried about the incoming rugby tackle.
Hahaha..ive just looked at that clip...I just imagined my younger self skippering that lot ..frankly the " hair dryer " would be well and truly on full blast....its not even village..more like " carry on horn park lane" ...thankyou for posting..club cricket at it's best/worst..what a game
Comments
There aren't many volunteers to open at the Club (both openers are 19 and the youngest pairing in the KPL) and following those two, batting between 3 and 6, are an overseas, two First Class cricketers and an MCC young cricketer/county 2s player. Which is just as well because Bickley went, as I say, from 39-0 against a decent bowling attack including David Moody, nephew of Tom, who is contracted as both a State and Big Bash player in Australia, to 39-3 yesterday. Alex had a bit of success opening at the end of 2018 but in 2019 struggled in that position and with 56 of the 60 top 6s in the KCL yesterday getting 27 or less, it is the likes of Alex coming in at 7 that can and do make the difference between winning and losing a game. He won't ever have to worry about not getting a bat!
Surely a TMS slot or at least a column in Wisden is just around the corner.
He played for us as a youngster and popped down for an hour or so with his rescue dog .
Think he’s 74 and had a chat with him and he still keeps in touch with a few at our club and had been to an ex players funeral a few weeks back and he joined our club at 14 (to play adult stuff) cos he was asked did he play when he was walking through the park and he was disillusioned (at 14 lol) with getting no game time at Buckhurst Hill , he still plays for Essex over 70’s .
The ground is nice and backs on to his house and he said Eddies two daughters play cricket .
Anyway we bowled first and they got to 202 in their 45 overs which looked a decent score on a track that wasn’t well prepared, their groundsman has been in hospital for a few weeks and they’re struggling to work their equipment.
my son bowled 9 overs took 1 for 26 but dropped a fella who went on to get 90 odd (out in the last over) in his 50s and he’d already been dropped in single figures , both very catchable .
One of our players who didn’t fancy playing away but was a late call up from the 2nds and was prolly 5th bowler on the day took 6 for 30 His best league figures !
We lost an early wicket and then our cheat code came in , Mustafa Zahid , a Pakistani musical composer .
He plays for us Saturday and Sunday and two other clubs during the week during the English summer when he’s over here just to play cricket .
He got an undefeated 100+ to see us home which he dedicated to our recently passed away club stalwart player/umpire/scorer/bar steward of 40 years .
Finishing the game off with a 6 that went over the boundary by 30 yards .
on a wicket that would hit your ankles and pass your nose on the next ball it was a brilliant innings and a pleasure to watch .
Hes a real humble guy as well , I need to find out why he ended up at our scruffy little club , possibly a friend of a friend .
He changed his bat after two balls and the one he used was an old one of Mohammed Hafiz’s !
Bickley won the toss and as is the way elected to bat. Seb lost his opening partner, Jotty Singh, with the score on 24 and was himself caught behind for 29 (35) at 58. Bickley lost wickets at regular intervals and at 109-7 it looked like they wouldn't be able to set a decent total. But thanks chiefly to a defiant 49 (86) from Michael Ridley they were all out with a ball to go for 177.
Lockhart got Lordswood off to a flyer with 22 off 14 balls but, despite losing Jason Benn again through injury mid game and even at 59-2, one felt that the almost limitless bowling options (nine in fact) that Bickley possess might be too much for Lordswood. And so it proved with Lordswood all out for 105. Max Luckett picked up 3-20, the skipper Dan Magin 3-29 and Elliot Hooper posted a miserly return of 10-2-10-2.
Bickley now sit joint 2nd with Hayes the only unbeaten side on top though they had a scare yesterday in losing 8 wickets chasing down Tunbridge Wells total of 112. Such is the nature of the KPL this season - it really is incredibly hard to score runs on some of these pace less, variable bounce and often green tracks.
Spill the beans …or give us a taster
my son bowled 7 overs of the finest pies 0-50
and they set 212
our gun opened and got 100+ not out and we got the score comfortably 1 down
don’t think he should bat so high up in Sunday friendlies unless against stronger teams , in the league I’m all for him ripping it up .
Spoke to him afterwards and he didn’t start boozing till 5 years ago ..
One of Saturdays oppo asked if he wanted to play paid cricket on Sundays but he said he’s happy playing with us lot .
Top player think he’s got 300+ average from his 4 knocks for us this season
We finished our season here in March and my stodgy opening batting amassed a grand total of 47 runs for the season at an average of about 3.8!
Still, it was all a bloody good laugh, especially our away game at Brisbane Valleys when we got a bloke down from the 1st XI.
He was down with us as the 1st and 2nds were both playing miles away and he doesn't drive, despite being 45 years old, so he can only play where he can get a train to the game.
So, let's call him Dave, turns up about 18 stone with a big old beer belly and really glassy eyed and the skipper puts him in at four.
We lose two early wickets, including my son, but I am grinding it out and tell Dave when he comes out to take it easy as the damp pitch was doing a bit - but he barely seemed to hear me!
As he walked to take strike I realized that the reason he couldn't hear me was that he was absolutely off his fucking tits, his breath absolutely wreaked of Rum.
Then the penny starts to drop, it's not that he CAN'T drive, he's a massive pisshead and is on a bloody drink driving ban!
Despite my counsel Dave heaved hopelessly at his first few balls, missing them all by miles, but gradually settles down and starts playing proper shots.
Within a couple of overs he was smacking their poor teenage bowlers to every corner of Brisbane which was a good job because he could barely run a single through his incapacitated state, he was wheezing like a sick dog just smacking the boundaries.
He ended up scoring 95 before playing on and then laying flat on a park bench for an hour to recover.
During the tea break he went for a piss so I took the liberty of having a quick look in his open cricket bag and saw not one but TWO empty bottles of Southern Comfort, this guy was a SERIOUS drinker.
We gave him a lift back to the station after the game and he asked us to stop at the off license "so I can get some smokes" but came back to the car with a bottle of something in a brown paper bag which he was obviously planning to polish off on the way home on the train!
Can't judge him too harshly though, in that one innings he became our second highest run scorer for the whole season!
Setting the opposition 170 is about par for Bickley but, in order to be successful, the bowling and fielding has to be right on the money. And the fielding, especially, simply wasn't with three or four chances for wickets missed. That was the difference and Sandwich won comfortably for four down with more than half a dozen overs to go.
It would be remiss of me not to praise Sandwich for the way they go about playing - like Bickley, positive, competitive but fair. A real family run club and a throw back to how it used to be played before individuals decided to make a cricket club their own personal "project" by buying success. One only has to look at Hartley, winners of the KPL five seasons out of six between 2011 and 2016 and now playing in Division 6A of the Kent Village League to see how things chance when those individuals get fed up with their current "toy". That said, it's great to see the names of Tutt and Redwood returning to play for them this season.
Our young 15 year old opener got 61 having been dropped 5 times along the way and our gun Pakistani proved he’s human with a duck ….
we got tied up in the middle overs but an over late on of 266642 got our top scorer to 78 not out but the oppos fielding was appalling 10 dropped chances and maybe a couple more that could have been snaffled .
no one knew what a good score was but they got stuck in the middle overs without losing wickets and let the run rate tick up
my son bowled 9 overs 0-34 with 15 coming in his last two .
the run rate ticked up and up and needing 24 from the last two with two 15 year olds bowling for us and 5 wickets left it was in the balance
Dot dot dot single 6 and dropped on boundary for 2 (and that was their mistake they should have just taken one cos the older guy struggled to get it away but the youngster could bang it )
15 needed off the last over with the weaker batsman on strike and it went dot 2 2 dot single and the basher had 1 ball to score 10 …
cricket wise they fucked up 5 batsman in the hutch and didn’t gamble early enough
but we go top of table by a point
2nds are 3rd in table
and our newly formed 3rds (amalgamated with an old club Matthews who used to just play friendlies) are 2nd in their league .
I may struggle to get back in to any of our sides if I ever get back to fitness …that’s a lie the standard of the thirds in a league 11 is soooooooo bad
Thank god for this thread.
Lack of calling from both AshBurton junior and player "taking" the catch
Player dropping catch
Player with wayward first throw
Player not backing up
Same player for wayward second throw
Bowler making insufficient effort to stop second throw
Two players standing and having a chat instead of backing up second throw
Umpire getting in way of both throws
Fine leg standing with hands on hips and only then deciding to chase down the overthrow
AshBurton junior showing lack of support for the efforts of his team mates in throwing his gloves to the ground
Bit harsh on Ash Jr though - the non-catcher definitely calls for it. He was just a bit worried about the incoming rugby tackle.