A Wonderful Day’s Cricket 

Hartfield CC vs. The Greys CC, 18^th May 2025 

Weather: Fine, mostly sunny, 19 degrees c 

Format: 35 overs win/lose 

Toss won by The Greys CC, who elected to bat. 

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The backdrop to this wonderful afternoon of cricket was the old village of Hartfield on the Sussex/Kent border and the prominent local pub, the Bear Inn, which had been instructed by the opposition captain to remain open until 9pm that evening as the Mighty Greys were in town. A burgeoning reputation for gentle, early evening drinking had reached as far as county lines. 

Having won the toss, our opening pair, Biff and Tim strode out to bat, upright, with intent. Both started well and 25 runs were garnered in the first five overs, most of them boundaries. Biff then edged one to slip and a promising partnership was cut short.  

Out came Jerry at no.3, sporting a new haircut and a determined look. He and Tim batted splendidly for the next 14 overs putting on a healthy score and hitting plenty of boundaries to take the Greys to 109, before Jerry was caught trying the claim the four that would have seen him reach his half century. 46 it was, but a fine innings which received the applause it deserved.   

The game was nicely set with 15 overs remaining and the dynamic Ian Anderson joining Tim in the middle, following a lengthy warm-up in the Hartfield nets. Unfortunately for him, and the supporters who had travelled to watch, the South African mis-read the flight of his third ball faced and was bowled down the hill for one. Duncan was next in, and he, too, had been preparing in the nets. A fine four augured well, but he received a deceptive, flighted ball and was bowled for five.  

A mini mid-order collapse followed, but Tim kept the scoreboard ticking over before finally being bowled for a hugely valuable 79. The tail end plundered a few more runs, ensuring we used up our allotted overs, with Terry particularly defiant, not out, facing 12 balls for one run. The Greys reached 189 for 9 from 35, about 30 runs short of what Ben had hoped for but a decent total, nonetheless.  

Over a fine tea, the chat was about whether we had amassed enough runs to win the game. It was a fairly even split between those who thought we had (new, unencumbered Greys) and those who feared we had not (Greys of a certain vintage).   

Hartfield’s opening pair batted sensibly and put on about 50 for the first ten overs, despite being asked some searching questions by an excellent spell of bowling from Stu. Trundling down the hill, his line and length deceived the batsmen again and again, and he was unlucky not to get the two or three wickets he deserved.  

With WinViz starting to favour the home side, the skipper brought on Dom and Tim to bowl. Once they found their rhythm, the pair caused Hartfield all sorts of problems and wickets began to fall. Dom picked up three valuable wickets (7-1-15-3), including the openers, one of whom fell to a ball which arched, drifted and then straightened to hit off stump. 

In true Sunday spirit, Hartfield then sent in a couple of their less experienced batsmen and the runs dried up. The odds of victory swung back in favour of The Greys.  

A stumping from the excellent Joe off Terry’s bowling brought Hartfield’s no.6 to the crease. The young lad proceeded to hit the ball all over the park, and his excellent 41 turned the tables again to set up a tremendous finish. With the experienced Saunders and the big hitting TJ in, Hartfield had a productive spell with the bat to reach a position where they needed 28 runs off the last 4 overs to claim victory.  

Ben cannily used his remaining bowling options, and, under pressure, the death bowling delivered. Stu took overs 32 and 34 and produced a masterclass, limiting the opposition to just 4 runs off 12 deliveries. I bowled over 33, conceding three runs and claiming the wicket of TJ with the help of a fine catch from Duncan on the square leg boundary.  

This left 21 required off the last, with seven down, two good batsmen in and The Greys’ man of the moment, Tim, taking the final over. First ball, Saunders launched one high into the blue sky and was caught by Chris (PSM); second ball, their no. 10 was clean bowled; hat-trick ball, the field moved in close, Tim bowled, no wicket; fourth ball, Hartfield’s no.11 was snared, and the match was won.  

What an over! What a game! What a win!  

High fives and handshakes all round, congratulations from the opposition, the skipper called us together, thanked us for our efforts and announced that Tim was deservedly the game’s MVP – 79 runs, a catch and bowling figures of 7-2-16-4.  

All that remained was a visit to the Bear Inn before the 9pm curfew to celebrate the win with a few beers in the early evening sunshine. Roll on next Sunday. 

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Statto’s Report
It sometimes becomes a tad trite to make these vignettes all about one player, but what the hell here I go again…Step up Tim Laing: Top scorer with a Greys career best (79); best bowling figures for the day 7-2-16-4; and a catch – great effort. Elsewhere Jerry had also had his best knock of the year (46) excellent jug avoidance.
In the lifetimes Tim’s 79 takes him to 28th place, and over 500 runs with a very healthy average of 40.92. His 4 wickets also take him to 28th in the bowling (ooh sexy symmetry) with 28 wickets at an average of 15.1. Proper allrounder’s figures.
Next week were at home to the Caners, let’s see if the Mighty Greys can string a couple of wins together…