The 2014 season starts on 26th April, the fixtures are now on the website and so is the tea rota.
If you are wanting to access our PLAY CRICKET site to check your stats through the season, you can do so through the “Play Cricket” tab on the top menu.
Not long now until 2014 season starts but before that we need to get in shape…sort of. Dates and times for indoor net sessions (St Lawrence ground, Canterbury):
April 8th – 7pm-8:30pm
April 15th – 7pm-8:30pm
April 22nd – 7pm-8:30pm
Well, another season is in the books, and the square is all put to bed ready for the winter, but what a successful year Eastry CC has had! The season started with freezing playing conditions in cricketing standards, where players, spectators and scorers alike were dressed more appropriately to undertake a trek to the North Pole, rather than play cricket. However, Eastry braved the cold and the rain and came away with some key victories against strong league opposition such as Canterbury CC and Deal Victorians. As the weather warmed up so did the team’s form, as the ECC Saturday XI found a hot streak and by third quarter of the season they found themselves still undefeated on the back of some spectacular team play combined with one or two tense draws. This unbeaten run ended however in a very soggy game against London side STAR, who snatched a limited overs victory with help from a luminous orange cricket ball that they provided. This lead the Saturday skipper Graham Phebey claiming that his side were undefeated with the red ball all season!
Statistically many players stood out this year; notably this summer saw Harry Kenton reach 1000 runs for the first time in his career as he reached the sum of 1085 runs from 24 innings, with a whopping 34 sixes to boot, whilst Matt Deveson took 36 Wickets at an average of 17 over the course of the season. Veteran Eastry players such as Andy Betts (22 wickets), Roger Hill (21 Wickets) and Dave Waring (16 wickets) provided reliability with economic bowling, and also provided experienced lower order batting throughout the year. The rest of the stats were hogged by the family Friend, as two brothers Aaron and Gareth Friend carried the teams on their back to victory numerous times. Gareth put in an all round effort this season scoring 801 runs at an average of 57 whilst also contributing 37 wickets in the bowling attack. Aaron Friend, eclipsed the whole team however with an astonishing 1428 runs at an average of 59.5, scoring six 50s and six centuries along the way, while also contributing 19 catches and 11 stumpings as wicket keeper. Many other players contributed this year, as the club used 55 different players over the course of the season, many of whom consisted of the clubs younger players such as the Eastman brothers and Rahul Patel , who we hope will go on to match the milestones of those that have gone before them over the years to come.
A lot must be said for Eastry’s triumvirate of 1000 run scorer;,Aaron Friend, Gareth Friend and Harry Kenton, even though the chances are they may well have already let you know before you read this article. It is the first time that the club has seen so many batsmen reach the significant milestone in recent memory, and all three batsmen’s contributions allowed Eastry to maintain its rich vein of form throughout the season. It is a milestone few in the club will forget, nor will the untold number of girls in Canterbury who have been asked “Did you know I scored 1000 runs?”.
Fifties for M Deveson and N Gleave helped Eastry to victory over Tilmanstone in a tightly fought contest, witnessed by a great crowd; two rows deep in places. After being asked to bat by an unsure Eastry Captain at the toss, Tilmanstone soon showed the gamble from G Friend could pay off. The opening batsmen found it hard to get the ball away from the wily R Hill, and at the other end they could only laugh off the short balls off M Deveson as they rocked back, only to see the ball shoot and not get any higher than hip height. Just as they thought they were getting into stride with several bludgeoning fours, M Deveson found life in the pitch wrapping D Brown in the gloves for an easy catch behind for A Friend. Before the new partnership could get comfortable, a change of pace was introduced in the form of the M Sumner, but the Tilmanstone batsmen proved up to jostling line and length and were able to push their innings on with little worry. This prompted another change resulting in the Woods brothers bowling in tandem and they were able to provide the vital wickets. Eastry were then able to take a grip on the game and once again the captain knew exactly when to bring himself onto bowl producing figures of 1-0. Just when he felt the batsmen were ready to open up after 4 overs of what was described by the umpire as ‘boring’ bowling, the captain brought on the bowling partnership of N Gleave and E Borlase. Whilst the pair bowled tight lines, A Bettes and D Waring; batting on a familiar ground, were able to push on but Borlase was able eventually to take the scalp of Waring with a nonchalant caught and bowled. Tilmanstone ended the innings with some lusting blows from A Bettes finishing on a competitive 185 putting some doubt the Eastry batsmen. Tea reassured the Eastry captain he had made a wise decision to bat second only for the reason that it allowed him to tuck into a fantastic tea, so much so that some were still munching on some eaten mess in the out field while the bowlers were ready to start the second innings. With A Friend not nursing a hangover and M Deveson slightly worried by the pace of the young Nick Thompson, the Eastry camp were nervous, but they starting positively resting the nerves of many Eastry players but as usual it did not last long and A Friend was soon back in the Pavilion. This meant M Sumner Strode to the wicket looking to be positive but as soon as he took guard he was greeted with an over excited N Thompson bowling a beamer which Sumner was unable to avoid hitting on the forearm. Sumner was a little shaken but was fighting back with some big swings whilst M Deveson ticked along at the other end. The big swing did not last long and Sumner was eventually bowled bringing Joe Woods to the fore, and as usual he knows nothing but to attack attack attack, and attack he did building a partnership with M Deveson. But before the nerves of Eastry could settle, Joe Woods who had already witnessed the “best ball in village cricket” a few weeks ago was now on the end of one of the best catches seen by many at the ground, by none other than D Waring, leaving the crowd to rise to the their feet in disbelief. The wicket brought N Gleave to the crease for the last time this year and he was determined to make it count at a time when M Deveson was looking for steady partner. The pair were able to resist the Tilmanstone attack with some beautiful stroke play coming from the wrists of N Gleave building towards his fifty, capping off nicely an indifferent season with both bat and ball. But Gleave was only a side show as the technical correctness of M Deveson excited the Eastry crowd reaching his first fifty in an Eastry shirt and was able to guide Eastry to victory.
Gareth Friend – 02/09/2013
Eastry lost the toss, which seemed to be a good one to lose, and were put into bat on a wicket that was sodden from a short but torrential rain shower half an hour before the game. Due to the heavy rain forecast for later in the day the two teams decided to play a limited overs game of 35 overs per team, with 7 overs per bowler. Toby Marriott and new comer Charlie Michaels opened the batting, and attempted to see off the new ball, which seemed to have a mind of its own, as it seamed, swung and the bounce varied erratically.
Toby Marriott was bowled for 4 after looking solid, however he received a peach of a delivery that hit the seam and swung in quickly. Ned Gleave joined Michaels at the crease put on a decent partnership, with runs flowing quickly, if not slightly unconventionally. On 30 Michaels was caught off of the bowling of Eden, Nelson’s Lillee/Jack Sparrow look a like, bringing the partnership of 64 to an end. Gleave was playing positively, looking to put the bowlers out of rhythm, however on 37 he chased the ball too much, and looped up a simple catch to the man at point. Eastry had declined from a respectable 77-1 to 83-3 with only 13 overs left, so the stand in captain Deveson tried to push on the run rate with big shots, hitting a quick fire 17 with the support of Dartnell at the other end, before Deveson drilled a straight drive over the bowlers head, which was well caught by deep mid off running round to his right. Dartnell was dismissed soon after for 14, and Tim Marriott and Pete Eastman picked up the run rate with boundary hitting, with Marriott picking up a quick 15 and Eastman accumulating a swift 19 with some nice looking shots. After a brief cameo of 10 from Jack woods in the final over Eastry eventually finished on 165-7 off of their 35 overs, which seemed to be a low, but defendable total on a wicket that had dried out rapidly in the sun and wind. Credit must be given to Duncan Cotton, who off his six overs had only 12 runs scored, and picked up 4 wickets, and had two opportunities for a hat trick.
Deveson struck early on, having Langridge caught for 2 runs by Gleave on a ball that was hit low to his right. The new batsmen Tom Christian decided offense was the best defence and surprised everyone as his second ball faced was a huge slog sweep that raced to the boundary, and then played the same shot a few balls later and sent the ball sailing over the pavilion, much to the annoyance of Deveson who went chuntering back to his marker. His reply was good however, as he trapped the batsmen in front of the stumps with a yorker, and Christian was dismissed LBW for a rapid 25.
Hill was able to get big in swing in the humid conditions and caused trouble for the batsmen, and as a result had Nelson’s dangerous opener Martin Christian caught at square leg for just 9 runs, before trapping Marc Eden in front of the stumps. Nelson were reeling at 51-6, but the game was by no means opener. Masoud Rangin and Duncan Cotton rallied the team, taking quick singles while dispatching the ball to the boundary frequently, which had the Eastry side desperate for a wicket. Ned Gleave was up to the challenge and was able to take the wicket of Rangin with an off cutter that jagged back into the batsman a long way, clattering into middle stump. The capacity Eastry crowd applauded the innings of Rangin, who had played superbly for his 37 and had put Nelson in a winning position of 103-7 with just under 10 overs remaining.
Eastry felt much more comfortable as Gleave took two more wickets in two balls, to leave him on hat trick ball against the number 11, the game’s third hat trick opportunity with Nelson’s Duncan Cotton having the opportunity twice earlier in the game. The ball was good however Shoobridge was up the the challenge and just managed to keep the ball out, much to the anguish of the Eastry players. Shoobridge and Cotton continued to score runs, and with 4 overs to go Nelson were at 146-9, needing a very getable five an over to win the match. However, in an attempt to get a run off of every ball, they chanced their luck on a ball that was hit straight to Gleave at cover, who zeroed in on the stumps and got a direct hit, running Shoobridge out by a yard. The pick of the bowlers was Gleave who after a turbulent season with the ball, picked up 4-23 off of his 7 overs, and also provided the game winning run out.
Matt Deveson – 12/08/2013
Touring side Chalfont St Peter from Buckinghamshire made the journey down to the garden of England to play Eastry on Saturday. The touring side, who claimed before the game that they were more experienced in the pub than on the cricket field, batted first on a cool and overcast day. Aaron Friend decided to take a break from getting all of Eastry’s runs and instead opened the bowling with David Waring. Both bowled economically on a pacey wicket, with Waring sending the second and third batsmen back to the pavilion for a duck. Chalfont sputtered to 45-4, not to the disappointment of the dismissed batsmen who decided that being back in the hutch was far more agreeable, as they could continue their mammoth drinking session! Arriving late, the touring side’s secret weapon, Neave, was unleashed on the spin bowling of Sumner and Eastman, thrashing huge shots to all corners of the ground. While Neave continued to play his shots, the opener Cottam resolutely stuck to his guns and provided the anchor of the innings, building up to a credible 48. In the 22nd over Neave played one shot too many on 36, and top edged a loopy, spinning catch to Betts, who snuffled it with ease. This started a swift collapse of the Chalfont St Peter innings as the remaining batsmen added just 12 runs for the remaining 5 wickets, resulting in the tourists finishing on 133 all out.
After tea there was a rare sighting of a double Deveson opening partnership as Kevin and Matt were sent out to chase down the low total. Much to the dismay of captain Phebey the two openers seemed content to just nurdle the ball around for singles, rather than crash the ball to the boundary, and indeed the skipper found himself hoping that Chalfont’s unused overs would be awarded to Eastry if we needed them. However, after the dismissal of Matt Deveson, who was clean bowled for 23, the run rate sped up as Waring and the remaining Deveson decided to deal in boundaries to finish the game. Deveson quickly sped to 79, hitting 14 4s in the process whilst Waring reached 22 in a dismissive show of dominance, as Eastry chased down the target with 18 overs to spare.
Matt Deveson – 22/07/2013