Weekend of 02/06/2007 to 03/06/2007

Ashford 1sts consolidated their position at the top of the table with a 4-wicket win over Wickham Park at Ball Lane on Saturday.

Wickham won the toss and decided to bat on a gloriously hot sunny day but were soon deep in trouble at 32 for 5. Nad Campbell (3 for 19) and Alex Watson (1 for 8) were the early destroyers thanks to some excellent swing bowling and good catching. Glyn Gunning and Andrew Bowles started to slowly repair some of the early damage but Ashford's early safe hands were now missing and several chances were missed. Simon Taylor and Craig Buckham were the two unlucky bowlers as chance after chance went begging and Wickham crept past the 100 mark. A fine run out by Gary Sutton to dismiss Gunning for 47 and a superb piece of fielding by Campbell in the next over to run out Bowles for 41 put The Ants back on track and thanks to a couple of lusty blows from the tail, Wickham were finally dismissed for 148 in the 43rd over. Buckham finished with 3 for 63 off his 15 overs.

Ashford lost skipper Julian Day in the second over for 13 and Liam Tegg (2) followed shortly after to a fine diving catch at mid on. 24 for 2 was not the ideal start to the run chase but Stuart Paine and Shannon Fattore looked to have everything under control and were pushing the score along a 5 an over before Paine was caught behind for 29. Gary Sutton (27) looked in good form before playing on and when John Brazier and Simon Taylor fell in quick succession it was left to Fattore, who batted very well to reach his second half century of the season, and Buckham to see Ashford home in the 30th over. Fattore finished on 60 not out. For the visitors, Wickham's 6'7" skipper, Jodie Hatch, took 3 for 38.

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Wickham Park 148 all out (45 overs) (N.Campbell 3-19, C.Buckham 3-63, S.Fattore 1-2)

Ashford 149-6 (30.2 overs) (S.Fattore 60*, S.Paine 29, G.Sutton 27)

Won by 4 wkts

On a bright sunny afternoon Ashford made the trip to Upchurch to find the wicket still very damp from the midweek rain. It was therefore very surprising and to Ashford's relief that the home side chose to bat first. Despite a few trusty blows from opener Phil Danton, Upchurch were soon in trouble with opening bowlers Colin Paine and Mohsin Raza both grabbing wickets. With Ben Ealham replacing Raza, a combination of very indifferent shots and some very straight bowling from Paine (2 wickets) and Ealham (3 wickets ) soon led to Upchurch being deep in trouble at 45-6. Opener Trevor Collis held firm and together with David Lloyd these two restored some respectability, taking the score to 89 before Lloyd was brilliantly run out by Ben Ealham. With Collis unluckily playing on soon after for a patient 38 the innings was wrapped up by a quick couple of wickets from Chris Senior to leave Ashford chasing 116 for victory.

Upchurch got an early breakthrough when Ashford skipper Darran Wood was caught for 2, but Neil Tegg and Ahsan Raza progressed the score along without any drama until Tegg was unluckily forced to retire hurt for 19 after being struck on the hand by a beamer. X-rays later confirmed a break and he is likely to be out for at least 4 weeks. Ben Ealham continued the good work and took Ashford to the brink of victory before being caught for 21. However it was fitting that 17 year old Raza should hit the winning run as again he batted with superb composure on not the easiest of wickets to finish 61 not out.

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Upchurch 115 all out (38.3 overs) (C.Paine 2-38, B.Ealham 3-25, C.Senior 2-7)

Ashford 116-2 (38 overs) (A.Raza 61*, B.Ealham 21, N.Tegg 19)

Won by 8 wkts

Match report not available.

Ashford won the toss and elected to bat in the Sunday friendly with Lenham. Captain Liam Tegg was very quickly into his stride, dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground and when his opening partner Dean Clark was bowled for 5 the score was already on 53. Simon Taylor then joined Tegg and these two continued to take the attack to the Lenham bowlers with Tegg racing to 50 in 32 balls. With the score on 127, Tegg was eventually caught on the boundary for 84 but Taylor continued to dominate and it was no surprise when he reached his century. With "Aussie" James Anthony making a patient 21 and Taylor finishing 117 not out the Ashford innings closed on 245-3.

Father and son combination Mark and Ben Wright opened the bowling with young Ben bowling a very tidy four overs before another youngster Alex Boatfield took over and grabbed the first wicket. His four overs only cost two runs. Leg spinner Dean Clark then was brought into the attack and quickly removed the other opener but then wickets were hard to come by for the next 20 overs until Clark struck with two wickets in successive overs. First team bowlers Liam Tegg and Simon Taylor then bowled a short spell in tandem with Tegg managing to remove the stubborn Nurden for 43 and Taylor also claiming an LBW. Captain Tegg then turned to debutantes Andy Smith, Dave Buckham and Etian Bradley, who between them bowled the last 9 overs but despite two run outs in the last over Lenham hung on for the draw closing on 208-9.

Ashford 245-3 (S.Taylor 117*, L.Tegg 84, J.Anthony 21)

Lenham 208-9 (No bowling stats available)

Match Drawn

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