Sunday XI vs Bearsted

And so to the final game of the 2015 season. Bearsted made the short trip to The Mote on an overcast day in which, at the start of the day, it looked as though the only cricket to be played all day would be the fiercely contested game of one hand one bounce in the changing room as we waited for the rain to pass. Both skippers got together at 13:00 and, with Bearsted happy to hang around, decided on a 13:30 start with the game reduced to 35 overs a side.

Bearsted won the toss and decided to put The Mote in to bat. Both Bucklands opened up for The Mote, but the father/son partnership didn't last long as Steve was bowled for 6 runs. In came Martin Prudence at number 3 playing his first Sunday game of the season, despite saying he would play at numerous times throughout the season. He and Henry had a good partnership, a highlight of which Martin took 24 runs off one over, until Henry was caught for 24. James Waterson, who had been pleading for a bat all week, came in at number 4, looking to make an impression. He got off to a slow start, playing out 2 maidens which gave Bearsted a bit of momentum, but with Martin scoring freely at the other end, the pair didn't seem too bothered. Martin will be disappointed he didn't make 50 as he got a feather behind to the keeper whilst looking to hook a high ball for 4 whilst he was on 42 off just 38 balls. Nathan Periera joined James at the crease, with James picking up the scoring with Nathan ably supporting him. When James went for 21 off 38, The Mote were looking in a very good position, with the skipper targetting a minimum of 150 from this point. In came Rhys Williams, who didn't want to hang about. He made a quick 28* off 21 balls, with Nathan the other not out batsman on 22 off 31, getting The Mote to 164-4, a very defendable target.

As a Mote side took to the field for the last time in 2015, we were in a confident mood following some motivational music in the changing room, courtesy of Rhys. It appeared to work as Rhys struck in his second over will the scores still on 0 as the opener was removed by a catch at point from Nathan. Mo Tahir opened up at the other end, bowling his usual tight line and good lengths, eventually ending with great figures of 7-2-15-2. A change at Rhys' end saw Lewis Bone come on, who struck in his second over to bowl the other opener to which he let out a rapturous 'YES!'; a bit over the top in a friendly some may say, I don't know who he was trying to impress... The skipper, in his last game as Captain, came on in place of Mo, with the batsmen taking a liking to the slower pace. A slog sweep out to the deep square leg boundary looked to be covered by the usually reliable Chris Feltham, but somehow the ball made it's way through his dive for 4. A couple of balls later the same shot was played, but this time Chris made a fantastic diving effort to claim the catch. Maybe his Sunday season will be remembered by that catch and not his caught and bowled drop earlier in season, although that is hard to forget. Joel Easton and Chris bowled the final few overs until Rhys and Mo came back on to finish off. Joel bowled well, growing with confidence through his 4 overs, something that he can hopefully take into next season. Mo took 2 wickets in his last 2 overs, with Rhys bowling well at the other end. Bearsted finished on 154-7, giving The Mote a 10 run win.

This was probably the most enjoyable game of the year to take part in, with everyone wanting to be there and having a part to play, aided by the musical input from Rhys which is something I think should continue. We finished up winning 5 of our 8 games, which was a fantastic result considering the young teams we've fielded this year.

On a side note, this was my last game as captain of the Sunday XI after 3.5 years. I'm looking to Rhys to take over from me and he has provisionally agreed to do it. Thank you to everyone who played this season and over previous seasons, it does make the job a lot easier when people actually want to be there!