Ley Hill 3rds v Old Citizens (at Bellingdon) on Saturday 19 May 

At last the big day had arrived: a historic event in the history of Ley Hill Cricket Club….our first official game at the club’s new second ground ….Bellingdon. After weeks of preparation that involved a huge amount of work, brilliantly orchestrated by Chairman Robin Carr, the lads were completely focused for this momentous occasion.  

On 19 May 2007 the ‘new Wembley’ was not the only legendary sporting arena staging its first fixture following some horrendously expensive refurbishment. The Wembley budget ran to £800m, and after much lobbying of Treasurer Jon Lown by various members of the committee (many of whom also happen to be squad members of the 3rds) much to Lown’s horror, the Bellingon budget fell not far short. 

The money has been well spent however. On Saturday the ground looked idyllic; cut outfield, cleaned pavilion shaded by a trimmed willow tree, shiny new boundary markers, and a perfectly cut strip that was both straight and the requisite length! All this and, remarkably, not a weed in sight…. anywhere on the field! Apart from one D Peterson, not even the most ardent Chelsea and Manchester United fans amongst our number put the Cup Final ahead of this. 

Skipper Ian Walter had fretted all week about not forgetting anything….keys to the pavilion and village hall (for teas), tea bags, milk, sugar, squash, plastic cups, drink containers, as well of course, stumps, bails, umpires coats, boundary markers, match ball, spare balls, first aid kit, team etc, a monumental organisational task, considerably aided by the fact that fortunately Pauline Kaye had kindly offered to do teas.  

All we needed was opposition! One chap sitting alone in his car was eventually asked whether he was either just dropping off rubbish at the recycling centre (which is conveniently adjacent to the ground) or an Old Citizen. Joy……he was the latter, and unbelievably had travelled all the way from Oxted for the occasion. By 2.05 the opposition numbers had grown to 7, from as far afield now as Basildon (!) and to avoid further restlessness amongst the large crowd that by now had gathered, a somewhat academic toss was one by Old Citizens (incidentally the old boys of City of London School) who reluctantly ‘chose’ to bat first. 

Hill fielded a young side with three sets of brothers, 2 Thompsons, 2 Falconers and 2 Crichtons, all juniors, in the same team; another club record no doubt. After one ball of Jack Thompson’s first over it was apparent that in all the weeks of work on the new facilities one item had been possibly under-prepared….the wicket!! Inevitably it was on the soft side after the recent damp spell but unfortunately its bounce was, to say the least irregular, ranging from none at all to ribcage level. 

Bowlers were licking their lips and Stuart Crichton struck in his first over with the day’s first shooter to claim a wicket. It was immediately apparent that runs would be hard to come by and a straight ball had every chance of claiming a scalp. Lewis Thompson bowled some beautiful leg breaks that were turning sideways to claim two wickets (the same as brother Jack) and wily old campaigners Denis McCarthy and Terry Rothwell also took two each, with Terry missing out on the hat trick ball left over from a fortnight ago at Staines. So Old Citizens (who ultimately comprised ten players sourced form all over the south of England) eventually stumbled to an all out total of 78 (in 40 overs!), of which 30 were down to their opener who was last man out and the only player all afternoon to reach double figures.  

We all then adjourned to a magnificent spread laid out in the village hall and the youngsters in the team in particular made very short work of anything that did not resemble a healthy sandwich!   

Ever one to give youth an opportunity Walter opted for a top five of Richard Falconer, Sam Martin, Peter Crichton, David Falconer and Jack Thompson, hoping that between them they would muster the requisite 79.  

As it turned out, from the relatively comfortable position of 21 for 2 the innings collapsed to 34 for 9 (aaaaaaaagh) as Old Citizens’ opening bowlers (indeed, the only two bowlers they utilised) realised that all they had to do was pitch it on the cut grass for wickets to fall. Denis ‘Billy Bowden’ McCarthy fingered out David Falconer and Tim Kaye in the space of three balls while Jack succumbed to a shooter and Walter was leg before wicket first ball to a good length ball that never left the ground. Some late brave hitting from Stuart, Lewis and Denis brought some respectability (45!) but we were sunk without trace by 33 (only 14 if you discount extras!) before the start of the final twenty overs. So 19 wickets had fallen in 62 overs with only 96 runs coming from the bat all afternoon!   

Had we been allowed a morale-boosting team huddle (banned of course under child protection principles) things might have turned out differently.

 

Anxious to capture this moment in the history of Ley Hill CC both teams then assembled for a photographic record, a lengthy procedure as letters of consent were of course required from the parents of each member of the opposition. 

And so we put everything away, locked up and retreated to the clubhouse at Ley Hill. All in all a very successful afternoon and thank you to all those that have made the second ground at Bellingdon possible. A little more work on the square, possibly with a more reliable roller than that hired at Easter, coupled some drier weather, and we will have another ground to be very proud of.