Ley Hill 3rds v Kenton 4 August 2007  

With jelly beans in the cricketing news all week following mysterious goings on at the Trent Bridge Test, one wonders where the idea might have come from…was it from our match at London Marshes a few weeks back (see match report) when the match winning ingredient was jelly babies?? Perhaps the England dressing room log on to lhcc.org…. 

The wicket at Bellingdon for this one had its own version of jelly beans strategically placed at one end of the wicket, but on closer inspection these looked remarkably like rabbit droppings, and during the toss up formalities I declined the invitation from Kenton’s captain to taste one and prove otherwise! 

On (at last) a beautiful summer’s day it was the heat that largely inspired Hill to bat first on yet again calling the right option. Having said that, the wicket at least looked the part and Dave Peterson hadnot only sorted out the team in the absence of both myself and Dave Mortimer but also put in a tremendous effort in the week scything through nettles of jungle like proportions round part of the boundary. The ground looked a picture. What a shame he got dragged away to play for the 2s after all that effort! 

(Incidentally, on reflection I don’t recall losing a toss yet this season, shame I’m not playing one of those ‘heads and tails’ games that seem to prevail these days at almost any function involving an expensive dinner)! 

Inevitably, at the peak of the holiday season, with many of our regulars sunning themselves all over the globe (eg McCarthy in Turkey, Mortimer in Norway, Rainey in Kosovo and Bell in Ealing etc) and others now forming the backbone of the seconds, we turned to our ever-increasing band of juniors to make up the talented part of the team and this week saw no less than five (aged 14 or younger) take the field. These were Alex Partington, David Falconer, Michael Morris, Ami Starling and James Copestick. Alongside them were old pros Rothwell, Peplow, Kaye, Walter and Ian Partington with his long-awaited cricketing comeback, with Harvey Mash our notional ‘athlete’ at the peak of his powers. One look at the opposition suggested that they perhaps looked the part more than us but time would tell. They certainly had more players in that rather important 15 to 50 category which apparently testosterone tends to favour!! 

The presence of youngsters in the team, sunshine and the prospect of a Rothwell tea attracted a large ‘crowd’ and Hill was well supported throughout, notably by a vociferous Debbie Starling, mother of Ami. 

Following the ominous early departure of Terry, caught by second slip via juggling from both the keeper and first slip (never seen that before), Alex, David and Ian Peplow set about rebuilding the innings and we were sailing along relatively calmly at 43 for 2 when disaster struck and we were suddenly 43 for 5. The middle order then managed to see off Kenton’s two very useful seamers before managing to score a few runs when the slower bowlers came on. Good contributions from Ian Partington and Tim Kaye and support from Ami, James and Michael at the end, saw the final total eventually reach 100, with Walter top scoring on 30 and extras (as always) providing a very valuable 26.   

This was about 150 short of our original target but fortunately the opposition arguably over-indulged in the Rothwell tea and after Terry’s first over they were 3 for 2 thanks to a sharp slip catch by Walter and Terry bowling number 3 first ball. The hat trick eluded him but Ami then held on to a fine catch in the covers looking in to the sun and Michael Morris, opening from the other end, tempted an indiscretion from another of their top order to give stand-in keeper Ian Peplow a catch to leave Kenton reeling at 14 for 4. We were starting to pinch ourselves! 

The introduction of Alex Partington after Michael’s spell brought a sensational return as Alex claimed no less than three lbws (including two in successive deliveries) and induced Kenton’s top player to hole out to Harvey. 33 for 8; what’s going on! Kenton’s umpire was not very popular with his own men but he certainly was with us and the old pros behind the wicket thought each an excellent shout. 

Our tails were certainly up now but our luck looked as if it might run out. With Michael and Alex bowled out and 74 year old Terry Rothwell beginning to tire, Ami almost claimed the breakthrough but Kenton’s skipper Phil, together with their young wicket keeper very sensibly gradually took the score to over 80 and into the final 20 overs. The tension mounted and with resources so limited that he even had a bowl himself, skipper Walter was running out of ideas. Even the drinks break didn’t bring its customary wicket. 

A brief rest for 89 year old Terry and a switch of ends did the trick and Phil was removed courtesy of another smart slip catch by Walter. This brought a second very competent junior to the wicket and Kenton edged closer, not least via a generous wide count. 

David Falconer bowled four tight overs and Harvey couldn’t quite hold on to a diving catch in the covers but with half a dozen overs remaining eventually the keeper made a mistake and knocked it back to Terry for a match winning catch and a five wicket haul. Phew… a win by four runs that kept up the recent sequence of incredibly tight matches between the two teams. 

Well done both sides for a very entertaining traditional timed game which went to the wire, and particular congratulations to our five youngsters for their batting, bowling and enthusiastic fielding throughout. And well done 107 year old Terry, with 5 for 40 from no less than 16 overs.