B.B. 309-7d (46 overs)
F.F. 252 all out (40.4 overs)
Result – B.B. win by 57 runs
I don’t think anybody would be able to predict the events that life would bring between the Band of Brothers’ final game of 2019 against the Martlets in September and their first game of 2020 in August. And if they could, one would have thought they were mad. After quite some time without cricket, 10 months in fact, a strong B.B. team finally met once again to start what would be a shortened season against the Free Foresters. By now, everyone was familiar enough with the Covid-cricket policy, (such as sanitisation breaks and no use of the pavilion), or actually quite fed up of it. Nonetheless, Torry Hill was looking picturesque as ever, and the wicket similar to the M20. Alex Norwood-Hill was on the team sheet but at only 10:30 am that morning was discovered to be on holiday in Aix-en-Provence. Fortunately, a ringer was found at late notice thanks to Ben Regan and all was good to go. Pollington lost the toss, but the BB were put into bat.
Polly and Boucher, a familiar duo, opened up. The latter was subject to an interesting LBW decision in only the third over which was very much an ‘umpire’s call’ in terms of both line and height. New member Andy Pask came in at three and was clearly there for a good time, not a long time; the boundaries flowed, with some classy drives and a couple of opportune aerial shots. After just ten overs, thanks to Pask, B.B. were 98-1 (probably a record). He was eventually dismissed for 52 after having struck eleven fours and a six. Impressive stuff. The F.F. bowling, mainly consisting of gentle medium pace, did not seem to trouble any B.B. batsmen with Alastair Bird and Polly taking the side into lunch after some controlled and measured batting with the scoreboard reading 140-2, Pollington on 52.
The bad news of the day was that players would not venture over to the Kingsdown Estate stables for a decent lunch typically consisting of cold cut meats and a fine salad. Instead, picnics were the new thing and they certainly varied in calibre, ranging from bowls of coronation chicken to a Tesco meal deal.
The afternoon session began with the comic run out of Ali Bird after sending Polly back to his mark but forgetting that he had to get himself back to his crease too. He went for 20 but certainly demonstrated the ability of batting for long periods of time and scoring many runs – a strong new recruit to the club. Hugo Loxton-Barnard arrived in his unique style at no.5 and, like Pask but with a lot less flair, attempted to score quickly. Luck was on his side though, and with Pollington he contributed towards a partnership of 91, taking the score well over 200 after just 29 overs. Hugo fell on 47 after missing a straight one, but it’s fair to say some of the shots he did manage to execute were very fine. In the latter overs of the innings, runs continued to flow punctuated with the occasional wicket, including a cameo 33 from guest M. Collier. Pollington, meanwhile, bottled a hundred once again and was caught at long on for 90 runs.
Declaration came after 46 overs with the score reading a meaty 309-7. All to play for, with plenty of time left in the afternoon.
Finn Hulbert and Reuben Collingwood took the new rock, and the latter completely castled the F.F. opener for just one run in his first over. Some further tight bowling from both lads took the game into tea at 4:15 pm with the equation nicely poised at about 35-1. Perhaps a plus side to the covid-19 measures was that tea needed to last only 15 minutes and in no time at all, the players were back out with a good 2 hours ahead of them. Polly had opted to turn at this point towards spin bowling with the idea of giving the Foresters a sniff of victory and luring them into attacking shots. Regan settled nicely into a long spell and was constantly pushing and nurdling his offbreaks with returned success in wickets. At the other end, continued stints from Collingwood and Alastair Bird picked up a couple more wickets; each one of them catches. The game however was certainly not won by at this point. The Foresters’ number 7 bat was getting very comfortable on a deck which was still looking pristine and was happily spanking the slow bowlers around the park. He passed 50 very easily and once the F.F. skipper joined him at the crease batting at no.10, a draw was becoming increasingly likely.
After a mix-up between umpire and scorer, there were in fact two less overs left in the day than everyone thought. The two very comfortable looking batsmen had to only block out four overs. Regan’s persistence finally paid off, dismissing their no.7 for a commanding 99 runs, caught by Boucher in front of the pavilion. With two overs left, Polly took a risk and brought himself onto bowl. Very quickly it looked like a dreadful decision. Wide, four, no-ball, dot, followed by an LBW given to remove the Foresters skipper and bring the B.B. over the line with 10 balls to spare in the day. 252 all out from nearly 41 overs and it was job done at 6:15 pm.
A socially distanced team photo was followed by the routine visit to the Chequers. Business as usual once again on a glorious afternoon in Sittingbourne, and what I must say was a cracking game of cricket and a fine team victory.