1st XI vs Bentley CC, 1st XI

And so it came to the final game of the season to determine whether we gained the promotion that looked a certainty only a month earlier, and even then, we had to rely on another result to give us hope.

The day started with us third in the table, 12 points behind Woodford Wells and 23 behind already promoted Harold Wood. The two met, and we needed a Harold Wood victory to allow us to snatch back a promotion place, should we beat Bentley at The Shen.

The match didn’t start too well with us losing the toss and being put in to bat on a pitch that was damp and would favour the bowlers. This was proved by the fact that we scored only 19 runs in the first 10 overs and took nearly 21 overs to pass 50. In that time, we managed to lose three wickets. We clearly struggled as opening bowler Matt Coleman bowled his 10-over spell and finished with figures of 10-7-4-2! The only stand-out of our innings was Will Howard, who was the last wicket to fall in the final over, eight short of a well-deserved century as we were bowled out for 195, a score that at the halfway stage of our innings was highly improbable.

Tom Arnold got us off to a great start, taking a wicket with the third ball of the first over. The batsmen then settled, and we had to wait until the 17^th over before the next wicket fell to Alex Rickenbach getting his man LBW. The score had reached 62 and the game was starting to run away from us, but a wicket in the next over from Dan Green temporarily slowed down the charge.

By the time we got to the drinks break, Bentley were 99-3 and looking comfortable. It took a brilliant catch on the boundary from Tom Austin off the bowling of Alex to break up a 73-run partnership for the fourth wicket, with the score on 137. Needing only 59 from 19 overs meant that we were still up against it. Alex took his third wicket at the end of his next over, giving us a realistic chance of a possible win.

146 for five became 157-6 when Dan found an edge that was gratefully accepted by first slip Ryan Plom. With all their top batsmen now out, it was now an even match which could go either way. At the start of the 38^th over, Bentley needed 28 runs with four wickets in hand. Dan turned the match on its head by taking two wickets with the first two balls of his final over and a third wicket with his last ball to gain his first five-wicket haul for the 1^st XI and finish with figures of 10-2-27-5. Remarkably, this was the FIFTH time that Dan had taken five wickets this season across various formats and for both youth and adult cricket, so it’s a credit to him that he has performed so fantastically.

The game was over two balls later when Tom got his second wicket, uprooting the stumps, to leave Bentley all out for 171, giving us a victory margin of 24 runs and an unlikely win.

Meanwhile, Harold Wood did us no favours as they were well and truly thumped by Woodford Wells, who reached their target with over 20 overs to spare. Their victory not only secured their promotion, but saw them go up as champions as they overtook Harold Wood and win the league by seven points. We finished five points behind in third, with lots of questions raised.

Dave Hickey announced his resignation as captain after the game, having led the 1^st XI for the last three years. Having got the team so close to promotion twice in the last two years, he feels it’s time for a change. Personally, I’d like to thank Dave for all his work over the last three years and hope he gets back to enjoying his cricket. Who takes over?