BB - 234 all out, 43 overs
The Hurlingham Club - 174 all out, 41.4 overs
BB Win
Clouds gathered over South-West London as a brave group of 11 Men of Kent, Kentish Men and Men of Kentish connection, brethren and brethren to be all, gathered to do battle against the Hurlingham Club. The skipper, seeing a green wicket but aware of the ground’s reputation of being a road, declared confidently that it was a good toss to lose. Upon losing the toss and then the passing of that most British of weather- the sun shower, this confidence waned as the openers strapped on their pads and a pair of strapping left arm seamers went through their warmups (of course reduced due to wandering cricket status.)
However, these doubt were quickly shown to be unfounded as the Middleton Brothers- Brother Sam and Charlie (Candidate) saw off the new ball with a combination of watchful defence and confident attacking of the bad ball got the BB off to a superb start, with Charlie taking the majority of the strike and the runs in a solid stand of 41 off 10 overs before he was caught in the covers for 28 which brought Brother Charlie Harvey to the crease to join his old school pal Sam. A good partnership of 69 in only 9 overs followed, as Harvey hit powerfully through the covers and Middleton Senior hitting strongly down the ground before Harvey, whose attacking instincts had served so well, played one stroke too many and was caught for a quickfire 33, bringing about drinks. Sadly, this caused a break in concentration for Middleton who was dismissed an over after the restart, yorked for an excellent 52 ball 46, a knock deserving of 50. Despite the skipper deliberating putting Brother Harry Sherwin as a ‘Lunchwatchman’ the club’s engine room of Brothers Nathan Roberts and Andy Pask were bought together with 7 overs to lunch. The idea of Pask batting at 5 was to match our trump card against the change bowlers but at this stage the Hurlingham, perhaps reading the BB’s mind, unveiled their best bowler, Peterson, who swung and seamed the ball in both directions at high speeds. However, Pask as ever was undaunted, standing tall and striking 7 fours in a brisk 31 off just 26 balls in a partnership of 49 with Roberts before being brilliant caught, one handed at point the ball before the luncheon interval, with Roberts undefeated on a miserly 8 and the BB 159-4 off 27 overs, set for a sizeable total.
After enjoying the Club’s BBQ and watching some International Croquet (England vs Spain) the BB dragged themselves back to the pitch as Roberts and Richardson restarted the BB innings. Roberts, seemingly carrying on his fine form, stroking the ball with rare power through the covers and holding the pose as his wife and guests watched on, clearly keen to impress. He reached 20 in no time and seemed set to take the BB to new heights before, incredulously and against the run of play, he played all around a medium pace full toss and was struck on the foot, plumb in front (2 days later and he assures the skipper his foot is still twice the size of normal.) From here, Brother Richardson took on the mantle as Skipper Brother Regan joined him at the crease. Piers showed his true class in facing down a truly outstanding seam bowler, hitting the bad balls to the boundary as Regan did his best to survive before the latter, foolishly trying to get on top of the bowling rather than showing some cricketing intelligence and playing for his partner, was cleaned up for 10. From here sadly the tail had little answer to a tremendous spell and started to fall like dominoes. Richardson thus went on the attack, determined to drag the BB up to a defendable total. With vicious power he deposited anything short of a length to and over the boundary before being last man out for 41, bowled trying to hit the ball into the Thames and sadly the BB innings ended the very next ball to be all out for a slightly under par 234.
In years gone by, such a score would have been easy meat at the Hurlingham but with this new, balanced wicket the BB felt in with a sniff. Richardson and Will Potter (Guest) took the new ball and both round lateral movement in the air and off the pitch. The pristine outfield meant that if one pierced the infield it was an inevitable boundary but both found good control of line and length before Potter took the first wicket, bowling the opener with an absolute peach that took the top off off stump after swinging in and seaming away. Richardson, not to be undone, the very next over induced the finest of knicks through to Brother Bertie Berger behind the wicket who took a good catch, leaving the Hurlingham Club 33-2 and the BB on top. After both completed super spells, Richardson unlucky not to get another after Roberts dropped a fine effort at second slip straight into the skipper’s gullet at first, Sherwin was bought on for the first spell of spin bowling of the day, partnered with Brother Will Meredith’s medium pace off a 4 pace run up. Both kept it tight until tea which the Hurlingham took at 70-4 off 18 overs.
With the BB guests now well into the Rosé and the party in full swing, the umpires did well to get the players back onto the field after around a 20 minute break, despite Roberts attempts to slow the proceedings down. However, the quick turnaround suited the Brethren as Meredith produced an extraordinary spell of seam bowling, dismissing two batsman in an over shortly after tea. However, an excellent innings from the hosts’ number 3, Kidwell, ably supported by his middle order threatened to derail the BB effort. Meredith was rewarded towards the end of his fine burst by an brilliant catch by Pask at short cover but Sherwin was unlucky, despite inducing numerous false shots the Hurlingham found themselves at 165-5 with 15 overs left, ahead of the rate and looking to cruise home. However, Roberts, who at this point had given up pretending that Regan was in charge by any means and was firmly and openly calling the shots, bought about some superb bowling changes. Bringing back the openers for short bursts one after another, holding up one end whilst allowing Regan to bowl his donkey drops at the other. The pressure this created forced Kidwell to play more expansively and thus he was trapped LBW, sweeping for a well-made 68, the innings of the match. From here, much like the BB, the Hurlingham’s tail collapsed as 166-5 became 174 all out in 5 overs, giving the BB victory by, what anyone watching or involved would know was an overly flattering margin to the Brethren.
Afterwards refreshments were taken at the Club’s excellent bar, with expresso martinis reinvigorating the travelling supporters. These Men and Maids of Kent, Kentish Maidens and Men and simply those unfortunate enough to be associated with the Brethren had provided exceptional support all day, despite the weather not producing the warm, summery day for a picnic as advertised. Indeed, special mention must go the true (wo)man of the match, Emily Macmillan (guest of Brother Richardson), who epitomised the social and fun side of BB cricket which is why so many generations have loved playing and watching the club over so many decades.
