Our final Saturday Away match saw us travel to Egerton. The ground looked good but the pitch was a bit of a pudding, Egerton were also 2 short and Gregg who had come along to spectate agreed to play for Egerton and their 11th man turned up shortly after the start. So at 2pm we began Batting first. Trev and Colin opened and against some very tight bowling especially from veteran Paul Hope. Progress was steady, a run rate of about 3 an over for the first hour was not enough to keep our regular supporter Ian interested and he left to find entertainment elsewhere. Ironically after he left Trev opened up and took 20 off one over. He had just reached his 50 and the opening stand had reached 86 when Trev was first man out caught for 50. Matt was promoted to 3 and after scoring 2 runs he was bowled and we were 101-2. Andy went out at number 4 and with Colin put together an unbroken partnership of 96. Colin passed his 50 shortly before tea again a mixture of resolute defence and well played aggression. Andy had smashed his way to 45 with 4 big sixes. At tea we were 197-2 with Colin 56 not out and Andy 45 not out.
We enjoyed a lovely tea and in evening sunshine we took to the field. Alan opened the bowling with Luke and any short balls were punished. The Egerton openers scored quickly and were soon past 50 with P.Elworthy getting to his 50 within the first 9 overs. At 66 for none we were desperate for a wicket and a thoughtful Milo at deep square leg was clearly looking at his bowling options. We needed a wicket but we also needed to keep the runs down. Who should he chose, Robin, Andy, Matt or even himself. We all awaited his decision, he took Luke off after 4 overs, he was rather unlucky as a few shots had been in the air and dropped between fielders. His decision was a bold one and was received with amazement from Gregg on the sidelines, Milo threw the ball to Graham Samson. Robin knowing Grahams bowling pretty well decided to back track at square leg to just inside the boundary. Graham off his familiar 2 steps pitched his first ball on leg stump half way down, T.Lamports eyes lit up and he smashed the ball...straight to Robin at deep square leg, catch taken first wicket down 66-1. Milo clearly feeling inspired took Alan off and replaced him with Andy. His first ball was a short long hop that Elworthy smashed in the air and was well caught by Matt 74-2. Skipper Lawton and Hope were now batting for Egerton and looked quite solid scoring fairly quickly. Matt replaced Golden Arm Graham and after 5 overs Robin replaced Andy. Lawton managed to smack a ball low back to Robin that hit him on the foot (yes it bloody hurt). Not being able to run much he decided to resort to spin which turned out to be a good idea as there was alot of turn there. The Egerton 3 & 4 added 57 for the third wicket when Matt bowled Lawton for 34 and Egerton were 131-3. Gregg came in 5 and despite Milo setting a very leg side field he resisted his normal shot but was bamboozled by Robin who had him LBW for 1 (very plum), 140-4. Hope and number 6 Rogers added 24 for the 5th wicket as the overs started to come down. At 164 Robin tempted Rogers to drive and he hit it straight in the air for Matt to take another good catch. At 164-5 and with about 10 overs left it was still looking good for Egerton, Hope was batting well and runs were still coming. The turning point in the game came when Egerton had moved to 180-5 and with about 5 overs left they were looking good for the win. Andy was now bowling from the other end and started his 8th over. First ball he bowled Palmer for 8, 2nd ball he had Croucher Caught and Bowled, 3rd Ball and Sauvage was LBW so 180-5 went to 180-8 in the space of 3 balls and Andy had a Hat-Trick, his second this year. 3 balls later he had bowled the Egerton youngster Garner and it was 180-9 and with it Andy had a 5 wicket haul, there were 3 overs left. Robin bowled a tight over for just 2 runs and Andy bowled his last and the penultimate over. We needed 1 wicket Egerton needed 16 to win. Andy bowled 4 good balls to Hope but then he was hit for a 4 and a 6 taking Hope past 50. So at the start of the last over Egerton were 192-9 and were 1 shot away from victory. Fortunately number 11 Pearson was facing and Robins 2nd ball turned through the gate and bowled him leg stump, an unlikely victory was secured and we all walked off applauding Andy for his bowling Milo for his inspired captaincy and the weather for holding off. (It started to rain about 20 minutes after we had finished). So an exciting game that was full of personal performances, Trev and Colin scoring 50's Andy 45 not out, 5 Wickets and a Hat-Trick and 50's for Elworthy and Hope on the Egerton side. Robin bowled 9.2 tight overs taking 3-19.
Robin Reporting.

Blue House

The penultimate league game of the season arrived with Bilsington lying in third place in the table. Our 2 defeats to the teams above us leave us adrift of the promotion places but needing to win the last 2 games to secure third place. I don`t report on defeats as arrogant is as arrogant does.

A horrible wet Sunday saw the minibus splash its way to Tonbridge with most of us doubting the game would take place. It rained all the way and was raining when we arrived but the ground was in decent nick and after the drizzle stopped the game got under way pretty much on time.

Blue House won the toss and opted to field. This looked the wrong choice as Trev got stuck in from the first ball and with Colin got things going nicely. At 24 Trev was bowled and Graham came in. After a few more boundaries the track suddenly turned into a minefield with the ball spitting up off a length and the runs dried up. Colin took one full on the top of his bonce, I got smacked on the thumb and Sean was noticeably absent.

At 60-1 off 15 overs a decent total was possible but from here on in it was a battle for all of us , Colin went for 21, Graham 16, Frithy 11, Phil 20. Matt played some interesting shots in his 18 and it hardly needs saying that Tom, on 19, and Ian were not out. Bilsington 150 for 9.

Blue Houses innings got off to a very similar start to ours, attack from the first ball. Ian was on the receiving end of some lofted straight drives and was replaced by Graham with similar results. Matt was despatched to long on, which didn`t deter the batsman from playing the shot and he holed out to Matt the next time he tried it. Apparently I would be fortunate to See You Next Tuesday. After that little episode wickets fell regularly with Ed taking 3, Graham 3, Paul 1 and Ian the final 3. Some good catching, (Colin?) especially from Trev with 3 and Matt in the deep saw Blue House all out for 121. Another win defending a low score, Bilsingtons speciality.

We eventually located the pub/club, and despite several of us ragamuffins failing to meet the dress and behavioural standards of the establishment we were allowed in. Ed was outside sorting out Willow, when a passing drunk/tard/weirdo/tranny/gheyer took a shine to Ed and offered to partake in some sort of unmentionableness. Nice work.

So with one game to go we are 5 points ahead of Pluckley. Ed is currently leading the divisional bowling with 18 wickets and will probably bowl in the last game I should imagine. As for me and Paul? Bowling boots? Nope won`t be needing em.
Graham Bingham Reporting

With Selling pulling out Milo headed to the Emergency Fixtures and was rewarded with a Home game against Elham Valley, we had had a very close game with them a few weeks ago. It was blustery but thankfully it stayed dry for most of the day. Elham batted first and were soon in trouble when one opener called for a suicidal run and Alan follwing through on his own bowling calmly picked up the ball and threw down the stumps 4-1. Robin opened the bowling with Alan and with the ball swinging he kept the runs down. Elham had reached 25 when they lost their second wicket the Number 3 LBW to Robin. After 7 overs from Alan he was replaced by Danny, Alan was a tad unlucky having a couple of edges go through and over the slips. Danny got the opener out early in his spell caught at short mid wicket by Colin Martin. Elham were 31 -3. A good parntership followed and 40 runs were added some by luck some by good shots. It was Danny again who got the important wicket with C Taylor skying a catch to Robin at deep cover. 70-4 soon became 71-5 as Milo who had replaced Robin picked up a wicket with Andy Robinson taking a nice catch at slip. Robin had bowled a very tight 10 overs taking 1-23. T.Goss was now batting for Elham and he had scored runs against us in the previous game so we knew he was dangerous. The pitch had also started to play a part with some indifferent bounce, one of the perils of uncovered pitches especially as there had been a bit of rain in the morning. This was proven when Elhams number 7 played well forward to a ball from Danny that was just short of a length and it popped a little taking him full in the face. Some claret and water follwed and he took the wise decision to take a break and have a sit down to recover. What followed was Danny picking up a further 3 wickets for a 5 wicket haul and T.Goss passing his 50 to take the Elham score to 147-8 at tea. Danny ending with his best figures for the season 5-36, well bowled Danny, and Milo picking up 1-14.
We enjoyed another fabulous Bilsington Tea and took up our bats to try and knock the runs off. Milo again mixed up the batting order to give chances to some guys who had not batted that much this year and Colin and Andy went out to open. Andy was first back with the score on 9 playing on for 8. Colin was joined by Luke at 3 and he was looking quite comfortable until he smacked a half volley straight to a fielder and was caught for 1, 15-2. Tom playing one of his few Saturday games went at 4 and got what he described as a magic ball and was bowled for 2 (Jacko umpiring calmly declared that he just missed a straight one). 33-3 and Dave Nice went in at 5 sadly he did not last long but edged a ball that was superbly caught by the wicket keeper, 37-4 and things were looking bad. Robin went in at 6 and seemed to be batting quite nicely. Colin was still there at the other end and with a mixture of aggression and stoic defence a small partnership developed. Then we got some bad luck with the score on 60 Colin hit the ball straight to the bowler who deflected it onto the stumps with Robin just out of his ground, Run Out and we were 60-5 Robin had made 16. Trev went in at 7 and again with Colin put together a partnership, Trev making 13 before he was deceived by the Elham spinner and was bowled for 13. We were now 97-6. Danny joined Colin and smashed his customary 4 early on but then was involved in a potential Run Out. Trying to make his ground the ball was thrown to the keeper and the diving Danny appeared to be short of his crease when the keeper demolished all 3 stumps however it seemed that he was not in control of the ball and all but admitted that so despite Danny being out of his crease he was Not Out. Sadly he did not last much longer and was caught at slip for 5, 104-7. Milo batting at 9 failed to trouble the scores and even with Colin still there things were looking grim we were 117-8, but there were only a few overs left. Alan joined Colin and did mange to score 8 runs before he was bowled, 124-9. It had now begun to spit a bit and it was very gloomy. Graham Samson joined Colin and batted the remainder of an over, we had 3 overs to survive or score the 24 runs for victory. Colin who had been there since ball 1 finally gave in and was bowled for a very well made 48, a real shame he could not make it to 50 he had shown great defence but had also hit 8 boundaries, well batted Colin. So we were 124-all out and recorded only our 2nd defeat of 2010. We have to thank Elham for coming to play us at short notice and giving us a good game.
Robin Smith Reporting.

Saturday dawned grey and damp again and the prospect of a game looked dodgy. However it brightened up and we made our way to Elham Valley for a 2pm start. Despite the attraction of Derby Live on TV after Tea Milo won the toss and decided to bat. In form Trev was sent out with Andy Robinson to open up. Against some young tight bowlers they made steady progress and Andy had just started to find his form when he was deceived by a slower ball and was bowled for 23 with the score on 40. Milo joined Trev and together they took the score to 72 when Trev was caught for 33. As our batting had been strong in previous weeks Milo promoted Alan Morris to number 4 as he has not had much of a bat lately. He was unlucky to be caught close in from a defensive shot he had made 4 and we were 79-3. Danny was back in his number 5 spot but he had a rare failure making only 5 and we were now 84-4. Gregg was also promoted up the order to 6 but he was soon back in the hutch for 1, 92-5. Milo was going well at the other end and he was joined by Colin Martin. There was still an hour and a half left for us to bat so there was no need for these two to hurry. They put together a nice parntership of 61 when Colin was caught for 22 the total now looking much better at 153-6. Robin came in at 8 to join Milo and after Milo had told him there was plenty of time (just of half an hour) Milo skied one and was caught for a very well made and important 42. Matt O Driscolls, daughters boyfriend Jordan came in at 9 not having played since school. He was kindly introduced to us by Matt with with the words "this is Jordan he is here to make up the numbers" !! Sadly Jordan got a good ball and was bowled for 0. Matt followed and was perhaps the victim or Karma as he too failed to score and we were 173-9 with about 20 minutes left. Dave Nice joined Robin and they managed to creep the score towards 200 a very well set field reducing the boundaries. Robin was dismissed with the last ball of the innings for a patient (by his standards) 27 and Dave remained 6 not out. We had put together a total of 196 all out the 33 extras conceded by Elham being very useful.
We sat in the sun and enjoyed our Tea then faced the task of bowling Elham out. Danny and Alan opened the bowling Danny bowling a good spell and Alan finding the slowish pitch not helping his short ball as the batsmen seemed to have time to hit him to the boundary at will. The Elham openers seemed intent on scoring the 197 required themselves and they soon passed 50 then 100. It was only in about the 30th over that we got a breakthrough when the batsmen took a risky 3 to Andy Robinson, his return was good and Matt took off the bails and we had our first wicket. 126-1. Robin got the second wicket a couple of overs later with the total now 139-2. We were now into the last 20 overs so even at this point it looked tight but we knew we needed to get the other opener out and Matt obliged by bowling a long hop that did not get up as much as expected and the batsman played over the top and was bowled. The total have moved on to 150-3. The runs were still coming although not as fast as earlier but the overs were also running out. The young Elham batsman were still intent on scoring quickly and this was the downfall of a couple as they took very risky runs to balls that were missed by the batsmen, Dave Nice effecting 2 run outs from behind the stumps. With 4 overs left Elham were 187-5 Danny came back on and picked up a quick wicket then Robin picked up 3 in 2 overs the Dangerous Risby well caught by Matt on the boundary. The last over began with Elham needing 7 to win and us needing 2 wickets. Robin bowled a tight over giving away just 1 run and we also picked up 1 wicket but it was not quite enough for either side. A great game and a great comeback by Bilsington, Elham were looking good at 150 for 2 but we took 7 wickets for 41 runs and came very close to winning it in the final over. Robin ending up with 4 wickets and Matt and Danny taking 1 each. Good Cricket.

Saturday began cloudy and damp and it did not look good for the game at Stowting. However no call came and despite a very over cast sky we arrived at Stowting and the game was on. Milo lost the toss and we were asked to bat first. Milo decided to change the batting order a bit as there were a few players who had not batted much this season. This gave Colin Martin the chance to open with Trev. It was a steady opening partnership against some tight bowling. Trev was playing a few shots while Colin was defending well at the other end. As we were playing a time game not an overs game, plus the fact that we had 2 and a half hours to bat, there was no real need to go mad. Colin and Trev took the score past 50 with Colin getting some ironic cheers from his team-mates when he scored his first few runs. The score was approaching 100 and Colin opened his shoulders a bit and we saw our first 100 opening stand of the season, well done Colin and Trev. Colin was first man out with the score on 108, Colin out for a well made 34. By this time the clouds had cleared and it turned into a lovely afternoon/evening. Sean joined Trev and with about 45 minutes until tea he decided to hit out against the slow bowlers that were now on. Sadly he was caught for 5 the total now 137-2. Trev was still going well the other end and had passed his 50, he was joined by Andy (who had just had his first tea of the day thanks to his Mum, and we all enjoyed the cakes she brought) sadly Andy got his first Golden Duck of the season and we were 140-3. In came Robin who had been promoted up the order into the Danny Samson number 5 position. With about 30 mins left until Tea both Robin and Trev decided to just go for it with Trev playing some lovely shots and Robin clubbing in his usual way, Trev got to his century with about 20 minutes left. This was his second ton in 3 weeks and he admitted he was exhausted but it was another great knock well paced and included six 4's and one 6. At tea they had added another 77 runs and were both not out, Trev was unbeaten on 120 and Robin made 40. 217-3 another great score and a good total to defend.
We all enjoyed a lovely tea before taking the field. Alan opened the bowling with Luke and Luke took a wicket with his first ball as M Jackson scooped an easy catch to Robin at gully. Cliff Ball came in at 3 for Stowting and we all new he was the prize wicket Ball having scored over 600 runs this season. With the score on 14 Alan took his first wicket with Dave Nice taking a brilliant catch behind the stumps to get rid of I. Bull. The third wicket added 33 when Stowtings number 4 gave Robin another fairly easy catch in the gully and Luke had his second wicket. Sadly a couple of overs before Robin had dropped Cliff Ball after only getting his finger tips to a top edge from Ball (sorry again Alan). Stowting were now 46-3 the 4th wicket added 53 runs and Cliff Ball had passed his 50 and was looking very dangerous. Luke ended his spell with 2-37 and had bowled some very good balls. Milo replaced him and Ball looked to hit out against him, after a couple of 4's he skied one to deep mid on where, looking into the sun, Gregg took a very good catch. That was the important wicket and Stowting were now 99-4. Milo got another wicket with Dave Nice's quick reactions getting Alan Crush stumped for 13. We were on top now which was handy as we lost one of our best fielders with Sean trying to affect a spectacular diving catch landing badly on his knee and after that could barely run. He was dispatched to the boundary where he spent the rest of the innings nursing his wounds. Danny now replaced Alan and he picked up wickets quickly and Stowting went from 99-4 to 121-8. Alan Morris taking a catch and Dave Nice picking up another one too. Robin bowled a couple of gentle overs of spin and picked up the wicket of T.Harding who played all round a straight one. Danny wrapped up the innings and Stowting were all out for 129, Danny ending up with 4-18 showing that he can get in the game with bat or ball, well bowled Danny. So an 88 run win for the Saturday side, a winning run is now in place and i think Milo must be very pleased with just 1 defeat so far in 2010. Our batting which in previous years had almost always guaranteed that most people would get a bat most weeks is proving much stronger this season giving Milo a batting order dlilemma almost every week. Lastly another Ton for Trev, lets hope he can transfer this good form to the few remaining league games as the Sunday side push for promotion, well played Trev.
Robin Reporting

With last weeks win still fresh in our mind, the Saturday team were looking for a winning steak, but were playing against a strong Egerton team lead by R.Lawton.
Mike won the toss and did the normal thing- batted first!
Mike and Trev open the batting and after a couple of good shots Trev was caught behind from a lifter (unlike last week Trev carried on walking!- see last week match report for more information).
Pearson added two more wickets in his opening three wicket burst which put Bilsington in trouble at 31-3.
Saturday's star batman Danny S came to the crease and started slowly (took 4 balls to get of the mark! which is slow by his standard) but then hit 4's 4 and 2 sixes before falling to a great catch on the boundary by Lamport.
Sean needing to find this form from last season continued his poor luck as he was caught on square leg boundary (the runs will come Sean!!)
At 105-5, it was left to the old guards, Mike and Tim Cragg and they showed the young lads of Bilsington what to do in this situation by putting on a 50 pathrnership with Mike getting his 2nd 50 of the season. Mike struggled at the start but he stayed at the crease and continued to get his 50, well played Mike.
Gregg added a quick 17 which helped Bilsington to 191-8. Tim helped himself to 24 not out.
With another great tea from the Mile’s women, Bilsington took to the field looking to get their second win in a row.
The key batsman was P.Elworthy (who already got six 50’s this season) and R.Lawton who is a good batman on his day.
Trev gave Bilsington a good start to the innings by taking two great running ctaches to remove the opening batsman (one is which P.Elworthy).
But Lawton was dropped and had a let off after a missed run out, and was looking good and playing shots until Danny start bowling and remove him with a fuller ball.
Danny removed two more batsman, but Pearson who was Egerton’s star bowler was looking to increase the run rate and help Egerton stay on target, was looking dangerous.
Some poor fielding (although Mike made an easy catch look very hard but still took the catch) did not help Bilsington but the bowling did help them to a 15 runs win.
191 turned out to be to much for Egerton to get but they made a great attempt and it will not be any easier when Bilsington meet them on their home ground in a few weeks.
Trev Reporting

We have a new leader in the Fantasy Cricket. Graham Binghams team has overtaken Heather Samson, who held the lead for many weeks, mainly due to Trev's 100. Heather moves down to second and Alan Morris to 3rd.

Here is the latest Table.

The Craphouse Rats 5945
LBW's 5846
Morris Men Reviewed 5815
Erratics 5751
45 on 1 5723
The Bay End Boozers 5551
Two Wicked Maidens 5505
The Cherry Bashers 5479
Allsaints Stars 5360
Chairmans X1 5349
Crusaders 5342
Stumped for a Name 5317
Next Years Champions 5298
Cricket and Apple Cake=Heaven on a Saturday 5175
Spiders Webb 5152
Ramtastics 5148
Pans People 5103
Bilsington Bombers 5078
Megans Magnificent 7 + 4 5042
Captains Choice 5000
Miles Ahead 4973
Olivers Army 4883
Bilsington Mole Hills 4729
Run Forest Run 4705
The Chosen Ones 4592
Wye Did That Happen 4587
Monument Knight Riders 4465
Caught and Bowled 4436
Haven't Got a Clue 4350
Bilsingtons Premier Eleven 4328
No Binghams in My Team 4286
Webbo's Wonders 4231
Super 6's 4220
Ollie and Me 4195
Bilsington Boomers 4192
Margarets Marigolds 4094
True Blades 3976
Legs & Co 3943
Final Choice 3942
Rajasthan Cripples 3812
Parkinson 3802

Still buzzing from the previous game the league side had teston at home on a warm but windy sunday afternoon, ed doing his main role won the toss and decided to bat. With a slight delay whilst one of both teams got to know each other trev began the day the way he had finished saturday with some lovely shots (on behalf of the sunday team well done Trev on the hundred, now start converting the starts into scores in the league).

Wickets fell and from a strong start we were now 40-3 but up stepped Paul Webb to be the star of the innings. clearly struggling early on with his knee he hit the ball to all parts of the ground and with Phil pushed the score up to 154. Phil next out after a technically excellent 32 driving straight and hitting all loose deliveries to the boundary. webbo finally gone for a great 67 walking off after nicking the ball behind.

Ed believing we were playing an adults version of "kwik cricket hit and run" decided to run andy out as the fielder had the ball before andy had even moved, well done skipper. Feeling perhaps slightly guilty Ed took it upon himself and with some good running from Tom got the score up to 177, both teams believing that was a winnable score.

Great tea as usual (perhaps too good) as Teston tore the opening bowling apart and were soon 80-0 as the openers hit boundary after boundary until Sean finally made a contribution to the team and took a good and very important catch on the boundary. The cliche was true as one brought two wickets and at drinks we (well 9 of us, im sure you can guess which two brothers werent) were starting to believe in another memorable fightback from bilsington.

Following his impressive batting Phil bowled one of his fastest and best spells to take 5 quick wickets (as someone who has to face phil in the nets it was about bloody time, keep up the good work michelle). Ed did his usual to sweep up the tail taking another two wickets. Needing 17 off 18 balls both teams were expecting/hoping/praying they won and Ian wrapped it up the last two wickets from two balls.

Ian was attacked in his first couple of overs and then did the horrible job of protecting the boundary down the hill so to come back on and wrap it up so convincingly just shows how good a bowler he is. thank you ian!

Another great team performance well done guys...........................oh and Graham Bingham turned up.
Sean Reporting