Match Report
Sunday 9 September -v- Edenbridqe at Blossoms Park
As has been the norm in recent years, our final fixture of the season at Edenbridge was blighted by poor weather. Torrential rain soon made prospects of play on the prepared strip impossible and we settled for a rain sodden fiasco on the artificial track. Rare fortune with the coin enabled Spud to keep himself relatively dry, as he elected to take first knock. Darkie completed the revival of his ailing season, by becoming only the third Crusader to pass 500 runs in a summer, with an innings of patient aggression. The low bounce of the wicket and watery outfield made fluent stroke play a virtual impossibility, though Rhino and Mark kept the scoring rate constant with intelligent running between the wickets. Quick handling of the ball was also hampered by the wet and Edenbridge struggled to restrict the running of quick singles. Steve fell foul to his own wish to pressure the fielding side, as he found himself standing next to Mark after an apparent mix-up in the call. Darkie’s dominance of our batting display was highlighted by two thirty plus stands with D.T. and Chuckles, with neither of the latter players reaching double figures. Darkie was eventually out near to the close of our allotted overs, for 84 and we ended on 150-7 shortly after.
For the second week in a row, our attack was made to look both ordinary and inadequate, as Edenbridge made light work of the target. Steve, Chris and Rhino again took the brunt of the punishment, as their openers took advantage of the slippery conditions in the outfield, seemingly scoring at will. A stand of 105 was finally broken by the skip, who added another wicket shortly after, but any hopes of a dramatic turn around in fortune proved unfounded, as Edenbridge knocked off the required runs with nearly seven overs to spare. It was a disappointing end both to the season and to Spud’s tenure at the helm of the Club.
CRUSADERS CRICKET CLUB 1993 SEASON BRIEF HIGHLIGHTS
Our traditional opener at Brasted, went ahead largely due to the mopping up efforts of our hosts. A robust 89 from Barry Gale on his debut enabled us to set a daunting target, but our bowlers were unable to press home the advantage of some early wickets and the game meandered into a draw. It was a similar story for our first visit to Matfield, where Darkie reached a long awaited century and even some generous bowling failed to ignite a spark in the Northdowns batting and again we were forced to settle for the draw. We slumped to a miserable defeat at the hands of Grenfell, with the fragility of our batting cruelly exposed and for a third week failed to take wickets. A club record 10th wicket stand between Softy and Nobby provided us with too much of a target for New Eltham, who despite losing few wickets, never really maintained the required run-rate. A second triumph followed against Westcombe Parkers, where we did our best to make a dog’s dinner of what looked a mere formality. Darkie and D.T. both hit forty plus scores, before leaving the rest of us to capitulate; we scraped home by virtue of Gordy’s gloved four. Our opener in the Ray Willis proved to be a hard fought victory at the expense of Belmarsh, with Rhino starring with both bat and ball. Our return visit to Brasted put the record straight, as we totally outplayed our hosts. Another fifty from Darkie and some ebullient hitting from Simply, followed by fine spells from Silver Fox, LSC, and Nobby, against the backdrop of some oppressive field placings were too much for Brasted’s brave response. Half centuries from Darkie, Softy and Nobby took us through the 200 mark in our second RW fixture, giving us a comfortable victory against Highlands Dairy Farm. Softy ‘Nobbed for a day’ in our first meeting with Gravesend Rugby Club, but our visitors had slightly the better of a drawn game. Victory was achieved at St. John & Seal in the very last over, with Silver Fox brought back into the attack to dislodge the last wicket stand that was threatening to earn the home side a draw. Earlier an unbeaten 48 from Rhino had been the highlight of an entertaining batting display. Winning form continued in the Ray Willlis, with the comfortable despatching of Heavy Rollers, where Duckie showed a rarely seen side of his game- the ability to bat. We were brought back down to earth with a heavy defeat at Bethlem,with poor fielding and missed catches putting us under pressure. Our suffering was compounded; as the surviving batsmen went on to make big scores Our batting was again exposed as being too brittle, with too many people worrying about the reputation of the track. A typically violent assault from Simply laid the foundation for another RW win, this time at the expense of the Very Young Boys from Gallions. Jim produced a memorable all round display, against Grenfell, where we gained some revenge, with the bigger share of a draw. Unfortunately the 44 and three wickets were to be upstaged by the appearance of a large red cherry on LSC’s ankle that was to cut short his season. Billy took the reins for our return fixture with the Parkers and considering the ease of the victory, did well to maintain interest in the game. Steve Lewis collected a second club ton and accompanied by Chucks came close to breaking the Club opening partnership record. Rain prevented the completion of our first visit to New Ash Green, but Softy and Darkie had done enough to make our intentions clear, as we made a positive response to NAG’s 200 target. Spud had earlier captured his 100th victim, to put an end to some cruel comments about his shrewd field placings. A splendid team display at Oxted was probably the highlight of the season, where we batted resolutely and with great patience against an accurate attack and then taught our youthful opponents a lesson in bowling and ground fielding. Slack and Nobby shared an unbroken stand of 60 and followed it up with four wickets apiece. A last gasp victory followed at Gateway, where we defended a paltry 84,with the last wicket snapped up with 8 balls to spare and our hosts just 3 shy of the target. We progressed at the expense of Woolwich Ferry in the RW to a remeet with Blue Star, thanks to a patient 65 from Darkie and a three wicket haul from Lardy. Having bowled and fielded with rare polish, we succumbed to some pie throwing bowling, to slip to our third defeat of the season at the hands of Belvedere II. Hopes of another razzamatazz Ray Willis Final were well and truly buried as our shortcomings were made painfully evident by a strong Blue Star team. With the night’s drawing in the loss of the toss did little to help our cause, as Blue Star went after our bowling with unrestrained abandon, bludgeoning their way to 163-3.Softy and Darkie gave brief hope of the unlikely being achieved, but the breaking of their partnership proved to be the end of our challenge. Rhino batted throughout a solid display at Gravesend, and then combined with Softy to give us the better of a drawn game with 3 wickets. Another draw followed as we continued the saga of exciting fixtures with Blue Bell Hill. After posting 181, which included a measured 92 from Softy, BBH fell only five short with eight wickets down. A delightful fixture at Cooling was won with some comfort. Nobby made 74 as makeshift opener and then had great pleasure in watching a succession of bit-part bowlers help themselves to wickets. A cock-up of gross proportions prevented our meeting with The Grove, instead we embarked in a farcical triangular contest, which only underlined what most people already knew -How easy it is to hit Lardy, Silver Fox, LSC and Rhino all over the shop. Our final fixture, as usual had the threat of a total washout, but we foolishly decided to brave the downpour, completing a thirty over game on the synthetic pitch. Darkie passed 500 runs for the season and Nobby took his wicket tally to 200, but these were the only bright spots on grey day. Edenbridge made extremely light work of what appeared a reasonable total and Spud was left to reflect on eight years at the helm, finishing as he started, on a losing note.
