A day of glorious sunshine greeted the first full week of fixtures in 2016; a welcome start after dismal days in the last two seasons.

Title holders Hartley came racing out of the blocks opening with a resounding eight wicket victory over Bexley. Electing to bat first at Culvey Close, Hartley, Bexley found runs hard to come by against the usual well-disciplined Hartley attach. Only Matthew Stiddard with 52 found much form and with Dan Redwood returning the best figures for the home side with 3-28, Bexley were bowed out for 164 in the 48th over. James Hockley and Dan Stickels were both in good touch and began with an opening partnership of 134, Hockey contributing 92, by which time the game was almost won. Stickels finished unbeaten on 51 as Hartley romped home to win by 8 wickets with over 23 overs in hand.

 

Newly promoted Dartford looked well set at 119-3 at the half way mark at Foxgrove Road, Beckenham having elected to bat first. Gay Cooke 38 and Callum Jackson 45 both looked in good early season form. The loss of Jackson at 119-3 saw the start of a disastrous collapse as Raza Ali Dar (3-18) and Junaid Nadir (3-17) tore through the middle and lower order to see Dartford bowled out for 132 in the 36th over with the last six wickets producing only 8 runs. Despite the loss of their first wicket without a run on the board, Will MacVicar, 72 not out, and Alex Senn 55 not out looked in fine form as Beckenham raced home to win by 9 wickets in 24th over.

 

Fabian Cowdrey was the only Premier centurion on Saturday, his fine 153 helping Lordswood to a 43 run victory at The Nevill. Electing to bat first, Cowdrey and Oliver Lea (55) set a solid foundation for Lordswood adding 164 for the first wicket as the Tunbridge Wells bowlers toiled in the sun. Linden Lockhart chipped in with 30 as Lordswood posted a useful 280-7 for the home side to chase. Fred Florry was the pick if the Tunbridge Wells bowling with 3-62. At 172-2, Chris Williams 56 and Alex Williams 53, Tunbridge Wells looked well placed but the spin of Fabian Cowdrey, 3-29 and Jack Laraman 3-49, with Amjad Khan also grabbing a couple, thwarted their progress as wickets fell steadily with them ending on 237 all out in the 46 over.

 

Tenterden began their maiden Premier season with and emphatic win at Sevenoaks Vine. Electing to bat the Sevenoaks Vine top six all got decent starts but none developed their innings into big runs, John Bowen with 48 top scoring. 244-8 looked a little below par on a fast scoring Vine ground. New recruits Sam Weller with 3-36 and Adam Ball 3-54 did much of the damage. In reply a useful 75 by Chris Vernon, Bharat Popli 49 not out, Andrew Crawford 47 and Adam Ball 41 saw Tenterden close in and a quick-fire 27 by Ben Price off ten balls saw his side comfortably home for a seven wicket victory with almost five overs in hand.

 

Perhaps the tightest contest of the day was at the Rectory Field where Blackheath took on Bromley in a game seemingly dominated by bowlers. The home side chose to bat and George Wells (30) and Chris Willetts (28) set off with a steady opening stand of 55. Imran Qayyum intervened with figures of 4-25 and Dipyan Paul apart with 44 the Blackheath batting was a little disappointing and their score at the half way stage of 184-8 looked in range for Bromley with a good batting performance. However they too did not find batting easy, Matt Smith top scoring with 39 in the top five. At 98-7 Bromley looked in trouble when Yasir Arafat and Mahi Mahfuzul dug in. They brought Bromley right back into the match taking the score to 157-7 and Bromley within 28 of victory. Arafat then fell for a well-made 50. Jahid Ahmed and Tanweer Sikander knocked over the lower order leaving Bromley 15 runs short. Sikander ended with match figures of 4-18, Ahmed 3-27 and Tom Mees 3-28 bowling Blackheath to victory.

 

SHEPHERD NEAME KENT CRICKET LEAGUE

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

 

WEEK 1 – 7 May 2016

 

Beckenham 133-1 beat Dartford 132-10 by 9 wickets

Blackheath 184-8 beat Bromley 170-10 by 14 runs

Hartley 162-2 beat Bexley 164-10 by 8 wickets

Sevenoaks Vine 244-8 lost to Tenterden 248-3 by 7 wickets

Tunbridge Wells 237-10 lost to Lordswood 280-7 by 43 runs