Weekend of 19/05/2007 to 20/05/2007

Ashford 1st team made it played three, won three on Saturday against Gravesend at Ball Lane, but The Ants had to dig deep and show some resilience that was, at times, missing last season.

Bowling first, Ashford nearly had a breakthrough in the first over when Watson had a sharp chance dropped behind the wicket but both Gravesend openers survived a great opening salvo from Watson and Mo Raza. Both bats played sensibly and had taken the score to 50 for no loss when John Brazier produced a fantastic piece of fielding to run out Gravesend's number 1. Watson then produced a stunning one-handed catch at second slip to remove the left-handed Maurice and Stuart Paine bettered Brazier's effort with another fantastic piece of fielding to score another direct hit from cover. Si Taylor (2 for 48) and Alex Watson (1 for 54) finished their respective spells and Gravesend were struggling to set a big total thanks to some sharp fielding and tight bowling.

With the pressure building on Gravesend's Aussie, Groth Thomas (57), he became another run out victim, again thanks to a great return from Stuart Paine. With spinners Ali Neale and Liam Tegg now operating, Pedro Venus (40) was the last recognised Gravesend batsmen and when he became the first of Liam Tegg’s two bat-pad successes, both well taken by Shannon Fattore, Gravesend were struggling to reach 175. A couple of lusty blows from the tail saw the vistors set a total of 177 from their allotted 50 overs. Nigel Crannis and Luke Harcourt, who stepped into the side following a couple of late withdrawals, both fielded superbly, with Crannis taking a fine catch at square leg.

Chasing 178, Ashford were found guilty of over-confidence early doors with poor shots accounting for Tegg, Paine and Day, and when Brazier was adjudged caught behind, The Ants were precariously placed at 48 for 4. Shannon Fattore and Simon Taylor started to repair the early damage with Fattore in particular looking ominous, striking the ball hard through the covers. Fattore (58) had just reached his half century when a mix up with Taylor saw him run out. Watson soon followed, LBW, and young Ali Neale joined Taylor with 30 overs to go and 90 runs needed. Neale played sensibly early on and with Taylor, keen to make amends for the run out, Ashford started to creep up towards their target. Neale then got his eye in and produced some fine shots and overtook his ‘senior partner’ reaching his maiden league fifty. Taylor (44 not out) then stroked the winning runs through backward point to secure the 16 points in the 43rd over. For the visitors, Dale Clarkson's early spell produced figures of 3 for 26. Neale finished on 54 not out and all the side were thrilled to see him take responsibility and see his side home.

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Gravesend 176-8 (50 overs) (A.Watson 1-54 , S.Taylor 2-48, L.Tegg 2-25)

Ashford 178-6 (43.3 overs) (S.Fattore 58, A.Neale 54*, S.Taylor 44*)

Won by 4 wkts

Acting skipper Neil Tegg won the toss and asked Bromley Common to bat first. Opening bowlers Ben Ealham and Colin Paine worried the openers at times but were unable to secure the vital breakthrough and at 75 -0 it looked like the Ashford lads would be chasing 250-plus. However the introduction of 15 year old Matt Nash into the attack saw him take a wicket with only his third ball bowling Brett Walker for 25 and, with Chris Senior also brought on, these two pegged the run rate back quite considerably. Senior then removed the dangerous Jay Mannall for 68 and bowled a tremendous 15 over spell ending up with 2 for 43. Nash bowled a very tidy 5 overs ending up with 1 for 22 and young James Rodway also bowled well. Ealham then came back and bowled a great last 6 overs making it difficult for the opposition to score despite having wickets in hand. Given the start they had Ashford were happy to restrict the home side to 213-6 off their 50 overs.

Not for the first time this season Ashford got off to a poor start with openers Neil Tegg and "Aussie" James Anthony quickly back in the pavilion, but Assan Raza and Tony Rolfe restored some order until Rolfe was caught for 19 with the score on 55. Chris Senior hang around for a while but like those before him never really got going. Ben Ealham then gave Ashford hope with a quick 30 before being caught behind and with Raza also perishing for a very valuable 40 Ashford were now struggling. Wickets continued to fall and at 144-9 with 11 overs remaining a Bromley Common victory looked inevitable - but they had not accounted for the determination of the last two young Ashford batsmen. Dean Clark 19 not out and Matt Nash 6 not out both played superbly to hold on for a draw and gained 2 extra points by taking the score to 176-9, as well as denying the home side 6 points which could prove crucial as the season unfolds. Clark in particular played several great pull shots.

With six of the side aged 18 or under this again was a very spirited performance and with skipper Darran Wood back for this weeks game with Old Wilsonians the Ashford lads will be looking to get back to winning ways.

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Bromley Common 213-6 (50 overs) (B.Ealham 2-46, C.Senior 2-43, M.Nash 1-22)

Ashford 176-9 (50 overs) (A.Raza 40, B.Ealham 30, D.Clark 19*)

Losing Draw

After an absence of several years it is great that Ashford now have a full Sunday fixture list this season and this continued with an exciting game against Hythe Green. In a 40-over game Ashford batted first and soon lost opener Dean Clark for 3. Darran Wood was then joined by Bob Bradley but despite some trusty blows by Wood runs were hard to come by. With Wood and Bradley falling for 21 and 14 respectively and only 57 runs coming from the first 20 overs it was left to "Aussie" James Anthony and Neil Tegg to increase the pace. With some good running between the wickets and some great on drives by Anthony these two moved the score on well before Anthony was run out for a valuable 34. Phil May then joined Tegg and these two continued to push the score on with Tegg leading the charge and reaching a well deserved 51 not out in very quick time as the Ashford innings closed on 174-6, May making a very useful 19.

Simon Taylor and Darran Wood bowled tightly at first, but a few big shots from Moloney saw Hythe Green well up with the run rate. Mark Wright in his first over then clean bowled Moloney for 49 and with two excellent spells from 13 year old's James May and Ben Wright who both picked up a wicket each, the game was well poised going into the last 5 overs. Leg Spinner Dean Clark and James Anthony then grabbed two wickets and Hythe Green needed 9 to win from the last over. Clark bowled well and three runs were still required from the last ball. The Hythe Green batsmen could only scramble two and the game ended in a tie.

Ashford 174-6 (40 overs) (N.Tegg 51*, J.Anthony 34, D.Wood 21)

Hythe Green 174-7 (40 overs) (No bowling stats available)

Match Tied

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