🦆 The Duck Pond

Ten matches, ten noughts. The exclusive zero club welcomes its latest inductees — step forward and take a bow (you won't have earned the walk out any other way). 1st XI (a Walmer CC away day nobody will forget) - Anthony Karassellos c Birkett b Douglas, 2 balls — duck #5 of the season, 27th of a storied career (rank 56/1647). A Debutante Duck, Duck of the Year 2024 and Full House member draws level with Will Thirkell (2008–2020, 225 innings) on 27 — word in the clubhouse is he "still has a packed lunch at every game." - Mark Christmas lbw b Bailey, 6 balls — season #3, career 47 (rank 20). Joins Bob Arnold (1949–1964), a man who once queued four ducks in a row. - Thomas Beeney c Marsh b Bailey — first ball, a proper golden duck — season #6, career 55 (rank 10), reigning Duck of the Year 2026, level with Luke Welsman (2012–2026) on 55: "no one quacks up better than fishy." A perfect launchpad for a king pair bid… 3rd XI (Rainham away, and it showed) - Mark Smith b Flegg — season #2, career 2 (rank 424). On this day in 2020, defending Duck of the Year John Karassellos (54 career, rank 12) also fell, to Eynsford — "losing pace from the runaway leader," they mutter in the bar. - Gene Smith c Stepney b Rathi — season #3, career 3 (rank 303). On this day in 1883(!), W Wilson went the same way against Maidstone Junior Liberal Association's 1st Innings — some traditions never die. 4th XI (Dartford at home) - Luke P b Pathmarajah — season #2, career 2 (rank 423). On this day in 2009, Lee Tidey (2008–09) also fell to Mersham Sports — "tidey by name, tidy by nature, only 3 ducks to his name." Midweek XI (Castle Hill, Kent) - Brandon Eloff c Van Oorschot b Bromley — season #3, career 11 (rank 131). Level with Ross Brice (1978–2000, Duck of the Year 1979). Sunday 1st XI (Carlton Sports, Kent) - Thomas Beeney returns to complete a grim weekend — b Mcdonald, second ball, one king-pair-shy of immortality after Saturday's golden opener. Season duck #7, career 56 (rank 10). On this day in 2009, Tom Murphy (2006–2010) also departed, vs Blue Star — "the only man to have 13 players on the field and not realise." Sunday 2nd XI (Marden, Kent) - David Holdstock b Hutchins — already career duck #3 from just 3 innings, and holder of the 2026 Runaway Duck (a whole season without a run so far). On this day in 1953, Gordon Fenner (1941–1973, 35 ducks) also went quietly. Women's Softball (Platt Junior CC, home) - Alison Brown c Mitchell b Woolf — first senior duck, 1 from 2 innings. Level with J Dunn, whose entire 1982 career consisted of one innings, one duck — One and Done, Retirement Duck, no notes. 📋 Week in summary: 10 ducks, 10 matches, and Thomas Beeney doing his level best to invent a new category — golden on Saturday, second-ball on Sunday, king pair denied by the width of one delivery. 🏆 Duck Hunting Season Leaderboard 1. Thomas Beeney — 7 ducks / 25 inns (28%) 2. Spencer Gray — 5 ducks / 20 inns (25%) 3. Anthony Karassellos — 5 ducks / 22 inns (22.7%) 4. John Karassellos — 4 ducks / 11 inns (36.4%) 5. Zach Wilde — 4 ducks / 13 inns (30.8%) See you all next weekend — the crease awaits, and so, inevitably, does the duck. 🦆🍩0️⃣

And then things got busy. Very busy. 🏏 Saturday 11th July 1st XI v Lordswood 🦆 Will Thew – 1st of the season | 39th overall 🚨 THE COUNTDOWN IS ABOUT TO BEGIN. 🚨 Will moves onto 39 career ducks. One more and he reaches 40, meaning he’ll be added to the Duck Club WhatsApp group for the final ten countdown towards full membership. 11 ducks from immortality. One duck from having his phone relentlessly buzz with updates about other people getting out for zero. The pressure is building. 2nd XI v Holborough Anchorians ✅ No ducks. 3rd XI v Orpington Ocelots 🦆 Fergus Herron – 3rd of the season | 3rd overall Three career ducks. All three this season. Fergus has clearly discovered Duck Club and decided there was absolutely no point wasting time. 🦆 Gene Smith – 2nd of the season | 2nd overall Two this season. Two overall. Another player enjoying a 100% 2026 Duck Club conversion rate. 🦆 Paul Baker – 2nd of the season | 2nd overall And another! Paul matches Gene perfectly with his second of the season and second overall. The 3rd XI clearly running some kind of Duck Club recruitment programme. 4th XI v Orpington Ocelots 🦆 David Day – 1st of the season | 3rd overall David opens his account for the season and moves onto three career ducks. 🦆 Zach Wilde – 4th of the season | 15th overall Zach moves onto four for the season and 15 overall. A strong 2026 campaign continues, and he’s now firmly among this season’s leading Duck Club contributors. 🦆 Luke P – 1st of the season | 1st overall 🎉 WELCOME TO DUCK CLUB! 🎉 The first is always special. Luke P records his maiden career duck and officially enters the record books. One down. Only 49 more required for membership. 🏏 Sunday 12th July 1st XI v Mersham-le-Hatch 🦆 Mardey Castle – 2nd of the season | 11th overall Mardey moves onto two for the season and 11 career ducks. Steady progress and another contribution to what was becoming a very productive weekend. 🦆 Anthony Karassellos – 4th of the season | 25th overall 🚨 HALFWAY THERE! 🚨 Anthony reaches 25 career ducks and is now officially halfway to full Duck Club membership. Following in his father’s footsteps, Anthony joins Razor Ray Dixon and Nat Presneill on the 25-duck milestone. Twenty-five down. Twenty-five to go. A proud day for the Karassellos family. 2nd XI v Gills Green 🦆 William Gray – 2nd of the season | 7th overall William moves onto seven career ducks and keeps pace in one of Duck Club’s most intriguing family rivalries. The Gray brothers remain neck and neck in the all-time statistics. Forget the Ashes. Forget India v Pakistan. This is the rivalry cricket fans want to see. 🦆 Nolan Wilde – 3rd of the season | 24th overall Nolan moves onto 24 career ducks. One more and he reaches the halfway mark. With Zach also adding another this weekend, the Wilde family continues to make an important contribution to Duck Club history. 🦆 Ben Wheeler – 3rd of the season | 3rd overall Three this season. Three overall. Ben joins Fergus in demonstrating the sort of commitment to rapid Duck Club progression that deserves recognition. 🦆 David Holdstock – 2nd of the season | 2nd overall David rounds off an enormous weekend for Duck Club with his second of the season and second overall. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🏆🦆 THE 2026 DUCK CLUB TOP 10 🦆🏆 The latest standings are in. With an unfortunate number of players tied on three ducks, the Duck Club algorithm has been consulted to determine who receives the honour of appearing in the Top 10. Nobody understands the algorithm. Nobody is allowed to question the algorithm. The algorithm is final. 🥇 1. Thomas Beeney – 5 ducks The Duck Club Secretary leads from the front. Five ducks from 20 innings means the man responsible for recording, analysing and publicly documenting everyone else’s batting failures is currently providing more material than anyone. Some might suggest this represents a serious conflict of interest. Others might question the integrity of an algorithm that places the Duck Club Secretary at the top of the standings. Fortunately, all such complaints must be submitted directly to the Duck Club Secretary. We call it good governance. 🥈 2. Spencer Gray – 5 ducks Level at the top with five ducks, Spencer is denied first place only by the mysterious inner workings of the Duck Club algorithm. Five ducks from 18 innings and an average of 8.92. An outstanding campaign. 🥉 3. Euan Beardwell – 4 ducks Four ducks from 17 innings sees Euan occupy the final podium position. With three career ducks before the season began and seven now, 2026 has been something of a breakthrough year. 4. Theo Clements – 4 ducks Four ducks despite scoring 370 runs at an average of 19.47. Proof that Duck Club welcomes everyone. Form, runs and half-centuries offer no protection here. 5. Anthony Karassellos – 4 ducks Four ducks. 443 runs. A century. A strike rate of 120.36. The highest batting average in the Top 10. Anthony is proving that you can be simultaneously very good at batting and very good at getting out for absolutely nothing. A remarkably versatile cricketer. 6. John Karassellos – 4 ducks The reigning 2025 Duck of the Year is back in familiar territory. After last season’s championship-winning campaign, John clearly has no intention of surrendering his crown without a fight. Four ducks from just nine innings puts him firmly amongst the 2026 title contenders and represents an extraordinary strike rate of one duck every 2.25 innings. The rest of the field may have played more cricket, but the defending champion understands that Duck Club is about quality, not quantity. Form is temporary. Class is permanent. And John Karassellos remains very much a class act. 7. Zach Wilde – 4 ducks Twelve innings. Nineteen runs. Four ducks. An average of 1.90. A high score of 8 not out. This isn’t just a place in the Top 10. This is a statistical masterpiece. 8. Daniel Baker – 3 ducks A bittersweet entry into the Top 10 as Daniel’s 2026 Duck Club campaign comes to an end, with his impending move to Yorkshire bringing the curtain down on his season. Three ducks from 21 innings proved enough for the mysterious Duck Club algorithm to grant him a farewell appearance in the standings. He may have spoiled things slightly by scoring 540 runs alongside them, but we won’t hold that against him. So, for the final time this season, Duck Club bids farewell to Daniel and wishes him all the best for his move north. Thank you for your service, your runs and, most importantly, your ducks. Once Duck Club, always Duck Club. 🦆 9. Henry Campbell – 3 ducks Five innings. One run. Three ducks. An average of 0.25. A strike rate of 7.69. Ladies and gentlemen, we may have found the most efficient Duck Club cricketer in Linton Park. Henry has faced the fewest innings of anyone in the Top 10 and still forced his way into ninth place. Exceptional work. 10. Johan Eloff – 3 ducks Johan claims the final position. Three ducks from 19 innings sees him emerge victorious from the enormous group of unfortunate souls sitting on three for the season. Why Johan? The algorithm has spoken. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📊 THE TABLE 🥇 Thomas Beeney — 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆 🥈 Spencer Gray — 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆 🥉 Euan Beardwell — 🦆🦆🦆🦆 4️⃣ Theo Clements — 🦆🦆🦆🦆 5️⃣ Anthony Karassellos — 🦆🦆🦆🦆 6️⃣ John Karassellos — 🦆🦆🦆🦆 7️⃣ Zach Wilde — 🦆🦆🦆🦆 8️⃣ Daniel Baker — 🦆🦆🦆 9️⃣ Henry Campbell — 🦆🦆🦆 🔟 Johan Eloff — 🦆🦆🦆 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🏆 THE THREE-WEEK ROUND-UP 🏆 The headline act remains Trevor Back, who moves onto a staggering 94 career ducks and sits just six away from the century. Jordan Austin continues life beyond the 50 mark, reaching 52. Will Thew moves onto 39 and is now 11 ducks from immortality, but just one away from entering the WhatsApp group for the final ten countdown. Anthony Karassellos reaches the halfway milestone of 25, following in his father’s footsteps and joining Razor Ray Dixon and Nat Presneill. Nolan Wilde sits just one behind him on 24. Meanwhile, the battle for the 2026 Duck Club Championship is intensifying, with Thomas Beeney and Spencer Gray leading the way on five, pursued by a four-strong chasing pack of Euan Beardwell, Theo Clements, Anthony Karassellos, John Karassellos and Zach Wilde. At the other end of the journey, Luke P records his first ever Duck Club contribution, while Fergus Herron and Ben Wheeler have wasted absolutely no time in collecting three career ducks apiece during 2026. Three weeks. Twenty ducks. One man approaching 100. One man approaching the WhatsApp group. One man reaching halfway to immortality. And the Duck Club secretary currently sitting top of his own competition. 🦆 The Duck Club season rolls on… 🦆 ⭐🦆⭐ A MAN WHO NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION… ⭐🦆⭐ 524 games. 432 innings. 7,131 runs. 37 fifties. 2 centuries. And, most importantly… 55 DUCKS. A man who achieved the seemingly impossible dream of 50 before 30. A man whose commitment to getting out for absolutely nothing earned him the highest office in the land. A man who no longer merely participates in Duck Club. He presides over it. A man for whom Duck Club is not just a club. Duck Club is life. ⭐ LUKE WELSMAN ⭐ 🦆 DUCK CLUB PRESIDENT 🦆 👑 50 BEFORE 30 👑

🏏 Saturday 4th July 1st XI v Offham 🦆 Ben Austin – 2nd of the season | 31st overall Another Austin enters the report as Ben moves onto 31 career ducks. The family contribution to Duck Club continues to grow. 🦆 Henry Campbell – 3rd of the season | 12th overall Henry moves onto three for the season and 12 overall. More importantly, those three ducks have come from just five innings. Efficiency. 2nd XI v Offham ✅ No ducks. 3rd XI v Borstal 🦆 Euan Beardwell – 4th of the season | 7th overall Euan moves onto four for the season and is rapidly establishing himself as one of 2026’s most consistent contributors. Seven career ducks now, with more than half arriving this season alone. Outstanding acceleration. 4th XI v Bapchild 🦆 Trevor Back – 1st of the season | 94th overall 🚨 NINETY-FOUR. 🚨 Never too old to get a zero. Trevor returns to the Duck Club report for the first time this season and moves onto a quite magnificent 94 career ducks. Just six more. Six. The century is now close enough to taste. History awaits. 🦆 Ian Lowe – 2nd of the season | 7th overall Six days after opening his account for the season, Ian decides one simply wasn’t enough and immediately comes back for another. That’s two for the season and seven overall. Form is temporary. Duck Club is permanent. 🏏 Sunday 5th July 1st XI v Sandwich Town ✅ No ducks. 2nd XI v Addington ✅ No ducks. 🏏 Wednesday 8th July Midweek 100 Ball v Marden ✅ No ducks. Week 12 belongs to Trevor Back. Ninety-four career ducks and counting. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🦆

🏏 Saturday 27th June 1st XI v Ashford Town 🦆 Jordan Austin – 2nd of the season | 52nd overall Jordan moves onto 52 career ducks and continues to quietly build the sort of total that guarantees lifelong membership of this prestigious institution. Already safely through the doors of Duck Club, Jordan clearly sees no reason to stop contributing. 2nd XI v Staplehurst 🌧️ Match abandoned, but those who did make it to the crease successfully avoided troubling the Duck Club statisticians. 3rd XI v Faversham 🦆 Jono Sisely – 3rd of the season | 12th overall Jono moves onto three for the season and 12 overall. A strong campaign is developing, and with plenty of cricket still to play, there’s every chance he can add a few more before the summer is out. 4th XI v The Mote 🌧️ Match abandoned before LPCC had the opportunity to bat. Duck Club denied. 🏏 Sunday 28th June 1st XI v Rolvenden 🦆 Ian Lowe – 1st of the season | 6th overall Ian opens his account for 2026 and moves onto six overall. Little did he know he’d be back remarkably soon… 🦆 Ian Hollingworth – 2nd of the season | 36th overall Holly moves onto 36 career ducks and continues his steady march towards the magical 50. Fourteen more required for full Duck Club membership. Keep going, Ian. We believe in you. 2nd XI v Southfleet ✅ No ducks. 🏏 Wednesday 1st July Midweek XI v Warlingham ✅ No ducks. A relatively restrained Week 11 by Duck Club standards. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🦆

This may well go down as one of the strongest weeks in recent Duck Club history. 1st XI v Sibton Park Five ducks. Yes... five. Laurie Probert opened his 2026 account with career duck number fifteen. Luke Welsman reached the astonishing milestone of career duck number fifty-four, adding his second of the season. Luke remains firmly among Duck Club royalty. Mark Christmas wasn't far behind, recording career duck number forty-six. Henry Campbell picked up the first duck of his season, taking his career tally to eleven. Then came perhaps the headline act... Thomas Beeney collected his fifth duck of the season, bringing his career total to fifty-four and earning entry onto the prestigious Most Ducks In A Match Honours Board after becoming one of five victims in the innings. When history books are written, this match will receive its own chapter. 2nd XI v Snodland Community Brandon Eloff reached double figures with career duck number ten, and his second this season. 3rd XI v Kings Hill Spencer Gray simply refuses to stop. Career duck number four. Season duck number four. The man is on a mission. Gene Smith also joined proceedings with the first duck of his season, taking his career tally to five. 4th XI v Town Malling Jono Sisley found himself added to the register. Zach Wilde continued climbing with career duck number fourteen, his third of the campaign. Sunday 1st XI v Rainham Anthony Karassellos completed an excellent fortnight by recording career duck number twenty-four, moving onto three ducks this season. Nav Singh also celebrated his inaugural Duck Club induction with the first duck of his career. Sunday 2nd XI v Grafty Green Spencer Gray completed the set. Career duck number five. Season duck number five. Joint leader. Midweek XI v Cudham Wyse Jordan Austin made his Duck Club debut, collecting the first duck of both his career and the season. --- 🏆 2026 Duck Hunting Leaderboard Three weeks have completely reshaped the race for this year's Golden Duck. At the summit, Thomas Beeney and Spencer Gray now sit level on five ducks apiece, but they could hardly have arrived there more differently. Thomas has once again demonstrated the consistency that has made him a Duck Club legend, while Spencer has exploded through the field after a remarkable three-week spell, climbing from the chasing pack to joint top almost overnight. Just behind them sits Theo Clements on four ducks. Considering Theo also has over 370 runs this season, he's attempting the difficult double of being both one of the club's better batsmen and one of its leading duck hunters. The chasing group is beginning to form nicely: * Anthony Karassellos moves onto three seasonal ducks and continues adding to his extraordinary career total of twenty-four. * Daniel Baker remains in contention with three. * Euan Beardwell has quietly surged to three official leaderboard ducks despite seemingly getting out for nothing every other weekend. * Johan Eloff, Jamie Wheeler and Zach Wilde all remain within striking distance. With half the season still to play, absolutely nobody in the top ten can consider themselves safe. --- 🦆 New Duck Club Members The committee would like to officially welcome several new recruits who recorded the first duck of their careers over the past three weeks. * Ashley Cairns * David Holdstock * Nav Singh * Jordan Austin Membership may be involuntary, but it is permanent. Congratulations... we suppose. --- Career Milestones Several significant landmarks were reached during the catch-up period: 🥇 Luke Welsman joins the exclusive 54 Duck Club, drawing level with Thomas Beeney. 🥈 Thomas Beeney records career duck 54 and enters the Most Ducks In A Match Honours Board. 🥉 Mark Christmas edges ever closer to the half-century milestone with career duck 46. 🎖 Anthony Karassellos continues building one of the greatest Duck Club careers ever seen, reaching 24 career ducks. --- Until next week... Remember: runs are temporary. Ducks are forever.

1st XI v Mersham Sports Theo Clements continued climbing the seasonal standings with career duck number fourteen, his fourth of the season. Theo appears determined to challenge the established elite despite actually being capable of batting. Anthony Karassellos was back again. Another duck takes him to 23 career ducks and keeps him firmly among the all-time greats. 2nd XI v Tonbridge Alex Wade brought up career duck number sixteen, his second this year. Euan Beardwell continued an increasingly concerning campaign with career duck number five, his third duck of 2026. Praveen Tunga also featured, recording career duck number eight and his second of the year. 4th XI v New Ash Green Brandon Lindenberg entered the register. Career statistics remain under review, but the Duck Club committee can confirm he did indeed hear the dreaded quack. Sunday 2nd XI v Harvel Euan Beardwell clearly enjoyed his Saturday effort and returned immediately for career duck number six, already four ducks this season. David Holdstock finally opened his Duck Club account with the first duck of his career. Ben Wheeler wasn't to be left out, collecting career duck number two. Nolan Wilde quietly accumulated career duck number twenty-three, proving longevity is key when hunting waterfowl. ---

Saturday Unfortunately the weather intervened and all Saturday cricket was washed out. The ducks escaped... temporarily. Sunday 1st XI v Town Malling Dan Baker recorded his 7th career duck and 3rd of the season, proving that even one of the club's more reliable batsmen likes to keep in touch with his waterfowl roots. Anthony Karassellos meanwhile registered career duck number 23, his second of the campaign, quietly continuing one of the most impressive long-term Duck Club careers in club history. Sunday 2nd XI v Kings Hill Finlay Morford doubled his career tally with duck number two, making it two ducks from two this season. Spencer Gray collected career duck number three, already his third of 2026, continuing what would become an exceptional run of form. Zach Wilde also got involved, bringing up career duck number thirteen and his second duck of the season. Wednesday T20 v Castle Hill Every Duck Club needs fresh blood. Ashley Cairns wasted absolutely no time introducing himself by recording the first duck of both his career and the 2026 season. Congratulations Ashley - nobody ever forgets their first. ---

Saturday 30th May 1st XI v Addington Theo Clements returns to the report immediately, recording his third duck of the season and 13th overall. With Grandad watching from the boundary sporting his now-famous duck socks, Theo continues his march up both the seasonal and all-time standings. Current career record: * 13 ducks * 92 innings * Duck Ratio: 14.1% Should his current rate continue, further honours may await. 2nd XI v Headcorn Johan Eloff records his 14th career duck, strengthening his lead in the Eloff Family Duck Championship. Current standings: * Johan Eloff – 14 * Brandon Eloff – 9 * Christian Eloff – 3 Family Total: 26 ducks. Nick Pennefather records his ninth career duck and second successive duck. Nick appears to have discovered some form. Alex Wade records his 15th duck in 128 innings, drawing level with fellow Alex, Alex Keeler, in the all-time standings. 3rd XI v Gore Court You simply cannot keep this man out of the report. JK records another duck and moves to 53 career ducks, drawing level with Tom Beeney in both the all-time standings and the race for Duck of the Year. After claiming the 2025 title, JK appears determined to defend his crown. Fergus Herron records his second duck in four innings. Current record: * 2 ducks * 4 innings * Duck Ratio: 50% The statisticians remain divided as to whether this represents a concerning trend or simply the effects of a very small sample size. 4th XI v GNG GRFC Jamie Wheeler records his third duck of the season and third overall, moving firmly into contention for Duck of the Year honours. Andrew Joseph records his fourth duck in just 15 innings, joining FSW Cornwallis in the all-time records. The Cornwallis family, of course, were instrumental in bringing LPCC to its current home at Linton Park in 1861. It is therefore only fitting that their name continues to appear in club history through Duck Club statistics. --- Sunday 31st May 1st XI v Harbledown Ben Austin celebrates his 300th innings for the club in style by recording his 30th career duck. Career Statistics: * 300 innings * 30 ducks * Duck Ratio: 10% Ben now joins Paul Gibson on the prestigious 30-duck milestone. Paul now tends the square at Chestfield following his move to Whitstable. --- Duck of the Year Standings | Player | Ducks | | ------------- | ----: | | Thomas Beeney | 4 | | JK | 4 | | Theo Clements | 3 | | Johan Eloff | 3 | | Jamie Wheeler | 3 | The race remains finely balanced. Tom Beeney and defending champion JK remain tied at the summit, but Theo Clements, Johan Eloff and Jamie Wheeler are all within striking distance. With over half the season still to play, Duck of the Year remains very much anyone's game.

Saturday 23rd May 1st XI v Whitstable Theo Clements records his second duck of the season and 12th overall. Theo appears to have conducted a drive-by on fellow Duck Club member Sam Boyns, who would be in action the following day in the NVKC fixture. Theo's early-season form suggests he may yet become a serious contender in the Duck of the Year standings. Nick Pennefather records his first duck of the season and eighth overall. Nick must have been travelling in the same vehicle as Theo as he conducts a drive-by on Carl Davis, who enjoyed two tours of Duck Club duty between 1994-1998 before returning for a successful comeback tour from 2007-2009. 2nd XI, 3rd XI & 4th XI No ducks recorded. --- Sunday 24th May NVKC XI v Chestfield The Duck Club headed to the Kent coast and returned with a little fishy. Luke Welsman records his first duck of the season and 53rd overall. Luke has been relatively quiet in recent seasons but remains one of Duck Club's most reliable contributors. He has now recorded at least one duck in each of the last 14 seasons. This week's entry has prompted the introduction of two new Duck Club historical categories: Longest Duck Streak Consecutive seasons with at least one duck. Current historical leaders: 🥇 John Thirkell – 28 consecutive seasons 🥈 Richard Piper – 26 consecutive seasons Career Duck A player who has recorded at least one duck in every season of their LPCC career. Luke's record currently stands at: * Seasons Played: 14 * Seasons With Ducks: 14 A perfect Career Duck record. The question now is not whether Luke is a Career Duck. The question is how long he can keep the streak alive. Sunday 2nd XI v Faversham No ducks recorded. Friendly XI v Bredgar Two new names join the all-time Duck Club register. Ben Wheeler records his maiden LPCC duck after previously avoiding the debutante category. Ben now sits on 1 duck from 4 innings. Finlay Morford also records his first LPCC duck and joins the club with 1 duck from 3 innings. Both have successfully completed their initiation into the Duck Club. Women's Softball v Cobham Claire Rootes records her second duck from four innings. Ashley records her first duck from three innings. Strong early-season representation from the women's section. --- Monday 25th May Kent Ramblers No ducks recorded. ---

Another bumper week in the 2026 Duck Hunting Season, with ducks recorded across both Saturday and Sunday fixtures. Let’s dive into the carnage. --- 🏏 Saturday 1st XI A duckless affair. For once, the 1s managed to negotiate an entire innings without anyone troubling the scorers with a zero. A rare and commendable achievement. --- 🏏 Saturday 2nd XI 🐥 Duck & Duckling Alert! Our special sub-category returns as Brandon and Johan combine to produce another Duck and Duckling moment, following in the webbed footsteps of Nolan and Zach from last weekend. --- 🏏 Saturday 3rd XI 🦆 Daniel Baker Dan secures his 2nd duck of the season and 6th overall for the club. Dan has shown remarkable consistency, recording exactly two ducks in each of his previous two seasons of adult cricket. However, with plenty of cricket left to play, there is ample opportunity to surpass that total. 🦆 Mark Smith Mark joins the LPCC Duck Hunt with his first duck for the club. This was only his third appearance for LPCC, and his maiden duck. Impressively, in his debut match he scored 50 not out, which automatically removed him from contention for several prestigious categories, including: * 🏆 Debutante Duck * 🏆 50 Before a 50 A strong start, but now officially inducted into the Duck Club. --- 🏏 Saturday 4th XI 🦆 Jamie Wheeler Jamie adds to his season tally, moving to 2 ducks in 3 innings in 2026. This is his second adult duck in just seven innings overall, drawing him level with club legend Andy Bell. Andy played only eight matches across three seasons between 2008 and 2011, but his contribution to the Duck Club remains unforgettable. --- 🌞 Sunday Cricket 🏏 Sunday 1st XI vs Holborough Anchorians 💥 Complete Batting Massacre Holborough tore through the LPCC batting line-up, producing: * 🥇 2 Golden Ducks * 🦆 1 Regular Duck * 4 players scoring exactly one run to narrowly avoid disaster Late draft pick Nick Tromp single-handedly saved LPCC from complete humiliation, scoring more than half the total. Extras were the second-highest scorer, while the remaining ten batsmen all failed to reach double figures. --- 🦆 Praveen Praveen records his first duck of the 2026 season and 7th overall. Having joined LPCC from Alveston CC near Bristol in 2024, Praveen has settled well into life at the Park. We also learned that Praveen does not drive, and Martin made him take the bus from Penenden Heath to Holborough. A rather harsh welcome to the squad. Shame on Martin. --- 🦆 Mardey Castle Fresh from a recent century (with the ball), Mardey records his first duck of the season and 10th overall for LPCC. His batting fortunes have improved significantly since his junior days, during which he amassed an impressive 17 junior ducks. --- 🦆 Thomas Beeney Despite my best efforts to escape these reports, I once again find myself featured. This was my 4th duck of the season, extending my lead in the Duck of the Year race. Overall tally: 53 ducks. The hunt continues. --- 🏏 Sunday 2nd XI 🦆 John Karassellos (JK) You can never keep a great duck hunter down. JK records his 3rd duck of the season, keeping the Duck of the Year race very much alive. Career tally: 52 ducks. The pressure is mounting. --- 🦆 Fergus Herron In only his third match for LPCC, Fergus records his first duck for the club. He successfully avoided the Debutante Duck, but now joins the ranks of the Linton elite. --- 🦆 Spencer Gray Spencer records his 2nd duck of the season and 2nd overall across his three-season LPCC career. --- 🏆 Duck of the Year Standings – Week 5 | Rank | Player | Ducks | | ---- | ---------------- | ----: | | 🥇 1 | Thomas Beeney | 4 | | 🥈 2 | John Karassellos | 3 | | 🥉 3 | Daniel Baker | 2 | | 4 | Johan Eloff | 2 | | 5 | Spencer Gray | 2 | --- 🦆 Hall of Fame Watch * Thomas Beeney – 53 ducks * John Karassellos – 52 ducks * Mark Smith – Begins his journey * Fergus Herron – Officially inducted * Spencer Gray – Quietly building momentum --- Until next week, keep your heads still, watch the ball closely… and remember: Every innings is just one good delivery away from immortality. 🦆🏏

Six matches this week — four league fixtures on Saturday and two games on Sunday — provided ample opportunity for ducks to flourish. But did the weekend live up to expectations? We dive into the scorecards to see who now leads the charge for Duck of the Year 2026 and whether any of Duck Club’s more obscure subcategories gained new members. --- Double Duck Weekend Propels a New Leader We begin with the crushing 1st XI defeat away to Lordswood Cricket Club. Runs were plentiful, unfortunately only for Lordswood. Three Linton batsmen managed to scramble a single run to avoid adding to their duck tallies. I was not among them. Saturday’s dismissal without scoring brought my career total to 51 ducks, drawing level with John Karassellos and Ian Brattle. However, I did not remain there for long. What better way to honour Ian Brattle — the holder of the legendary six consecutive ducks in the 1975 season — than with a double duck weekend? Another duck on Sunday saw me bunny-hop over both JK and Brattle to reach 52 career ducks. This milestone also places me alongside Luke Welsman who holds the exclusive and highly prestigious “50 Ducks Before Age 30” category. More importantly, I now emerge as the outright leader in the 2026 Duck of the Year standings with three ducks for the season. JK will have his work cut out if he is to retain the Duck of the Year trophy he won in 2025. --- Second XI – A Rare Duckless Affair The 2nd XI produced a disappointingly duck-free scorecard, so we move swiftly on. --- Third XI – Four Ducks and Two New Members The 3rd XI more than compensated for the Second Team’s restraint, recording four ducks: * Euan Beardwell * Spencer Gray * Paul Baker * Tim Thirkell Tim Thirkell – King of the Ducks Tim continues to soar above the flock with an astonishing 104 career ducks. It is lonely at the summit. Euan Beardwell Euan records his fourth senior duck for Linton across four seasons, drawing level with Matt Ward, who remarkably accumulated all four of his ducks in his final season before quietly departing the game. Spencer Gray Spencer was joined by both sons, Will Gray and James Gray. Sadly, only the father succumbed, meaning the coveted Father and Son Duck and Family of Ducks categories remain unchanged. Paul Baker A second father-and-son combination featured, with Dan Baker playing alongside his father Paul. Again, only the elder Baker was tempted by the duck. Both Spencer Gray and Paul Baker record their first ducks for the club and are formally inducktrinated into the LPCC Duck Family. --- Fourth XI – Dr Safeer Strikes Again Dr Safeer recorded his second duck of the season against the Orpington Ocelots, lasting seven balls before departing. This brings him level with Louis Turney on two career ducks. --- Sunday Cricket – A Hen Appears On Sunday, Claire Rootes departed without troubling the scorers. As Duck Club is an inclusive institution, Claire becomes the latest member and earns recognition as a Hen — the female equivalent of a duck. --- NVKO Update The NVKO fixture against Addington Cricket Club was conceded, granting Linton a bye into the next round where we will face Chestfield Cricket Club. Following last week’s encounter in the KVCL, we are hoping for a more favourable outcome. --- Sunday 1st XI – Another for the Author, and Ian Hollingworth Joins the Party The Sunday 1st XI fixture, moved to Rumwood, delivered two late-order ducks: * Myself (completing the double duck weekend) * Ian Hollingworth For a player with over two decades at the Park and a famously gung-ho approach to batting, it is remarkable Ian has not featured more prominently in Duck Club lore. This was Ian’s 35th career duck, drawing him level with Stan Wratton, whose extraordinary Linton career spanned more than 40 years. --- Sunday 2nd XI Collapse – Four More Ducks The Sunday 2nd XI were bowled out for 66, producing another rich harvest. Noah Stevens Noah Stevens recorded his second adult duck for the club. Nolan and Zach Wilde Nolan Wilde and Zach Wilde both fell for ducks while playing together. This earns them a place in Duck Club Hall of Fame under the prestigious Father and Son Duck category. Jamie Wheeler Jamie Wheeler recorded his first adult duck and is warmly welcomed into the LPCC Duck Club. --- Duck of the Year 2026 Standings (After Week 4) 1. Tom Beeney – 3 ducks 2. John Karassellos – 2 ducks 3. Dr Safeer – 2 ducks 4. Noah Stevens – 2 ducks 5. Nolan Wilde – 1 duck 6. Zach Wilde – 1 duck 7. Jamie Wheeler – 1 duck 8. Will Gray – 1 duck 9. Spencer Gray – 1 duck 10. Paul Baker – 1 duck 11. Claire Rootes – 1 hen --- The season is still young, but the field is beginning to take shape. With a commanding lead and momentum firmly on my side, the question on everyone’s lips is simple: Can anyone stop me from claiming Duck of the Year 2026?

A new leader has emerged in the race for LPCC Duck of the Year 2026. With last week’s duck still fresh in the memory, John Karassellos rose to the occasion on Sunday in the 2nd XI fixture against Marden… by adding another. Marden piled on 307, which proved far too much, with the 2s bowled out for 124 in reply. Included in that total was JK’s second duck of the season — and his 51st all-time. That milestone sees him pull clear of the pack and draw level with Ian Brattle, who holds a special place in Duck Club folklore for one of the most remarkable records: six consecutive ducks during the 1975 season at the Park. Brattle also features in the exclusive “50 ducks before a 50” subcategory — a club so niche it still only has two members. JK, of course, was Duck of the Year 2025. While he’s made an early statement, the season is young — plenty of time for a recovery… or for others to reel him in. In a match that promised much for Duck Club subcategories, Russel Wilde returned to the LPCC side, representing the wider Wilde family alongside Nolan and Zach. Russel, already etched into history with a Debutante Duck back in 2022, didn’t disappoint — now sitting on 2 ducks from just 3 appearances. However, with no ducks for Nolan or Zach, the coveted “Family of Ducks” category remains unchanged… for now. Russel is certainly one to watch. Elsewhere, on Saturday, Will Gray recorded his first duck of the season in his third game, earning a place on this year’s leaderboard. Will now has 6 adult ducks for Linton (a reminder: junior ducks don’t count towards official totals), drawing level with Mick Filmer. Filmer’s career is notable not just for its longevity, but for its curious duck-free comebacks — returning after breaks in 1988 and again in 1993 without adding to his tally. A man who knew when to avoid the spotlight. No other ducks were recorded on a rain-affected Saturday.

A little late with this week’s duck report… I suspect Mark and JK may have thought they’d gotten away with it. Sadly not. I was waiting on the Sunday 2s scorecard… and then promptly forgot. Saturday 1s Two ducks recorded on the card, with Theo falling without troubling the scorers. It’s his first duck of the season and 11th overall, drawing him level with Linton legend Tom Murphy — 11 ducks from 83 innings. Tom, of course, is better known for his work with the Israelis and his sponsorship of the Kabaddi World Championships… Meanwhile, Mark edges ever closer to full Duck Club membership, now sitting on 45 ducks. The Hall of Fame beckons at 50 — just 5 more to go. This latest effort pulls him level with Stewart Morrison, who played between 1987–2011, before a brief 2014 comeback which yielded a tidy 2 ducks in 3 innings. New Entries Dr Safeer opens his Linton duck account — welcome to the board. Jude Brooks also joins the leaderboard via the 3rd XI. The Five Duck Club Dan Baker records his 1st duck in 4 innings this season and 5th overall, joining a well-populated bracket: Ian Lowe – 5 ducks in 34 innings David Lowen – 5 ducks in 75 innings Bob Lines – 5 ducks in 122 innings Special mention to Bob, who also boasts one of the most economical bowling records in club history: 1 over, 0 runs conceded. A true all-round enigma. Milestone Moment 🚨 Fan favourite and reigning Duck of the Year 2025, John Karasellos, refuses to be left behind. He now reaches a confirmed 50 ducks for Linton, putting last year’s “colts game controversy” firmly to bed. John joins the prestigious ranks alongside myself and Jordan in the Duck Club Hall of Fame. He also gets off the mark for the season — in the only way he knows how. Sunday A rare quiet day for the Duck Club — no ducks recorded.

Welcome back to another glorious Duck Hunting season at Linton Park Cricket Club! The 2026 campaign got underway in style this weekend and, crucially, did not disappoint. With five matches across Saturday and Sunday, there was no shortage of opportunity for those dreaded—but celebrated—ducks. As always, best to get those naughty noughts out of the system before the league season fires up in May. And I’m pleased to report… the Duck Club is already thriving. 🏏 Saturday – Bearsted Battles & Early Casualties Linton Park kicked things off with a full club double-header against local rivals Bearsted, with fixtures home and away. At Bearsted Green, the 1st XI got underway. Duck Club regular Jordan Austin opened proceedings and narrowly avoided early honours, grafting his way to 2 before being trapped in front by Alex Lush. Unfortunately, Johan Eloff wasn’t as fortunate—registering the first duck of the 2026 season. A strong start to the campaign for Johan, who now moves to 12 career ducks in just 52 innings, boasting an impressive 23% duck rate. He draws level with LPCC great Burt Buckoke, whose four-decade career (1928–1954) yielded the same tally in 55 innings. All eyes will be on Johan this season to see how far he can push that number. Not to be outdone, Sam Boyns also added to his collection, bringing up his 12th duck for the club. With 148 innings under his belt, Sam maintains a respectable 8% duck rate, now level with Martin Larkin, a familiar name from the 80s and 90s, who reached the same milestone in just 70 innings (albeit better known for his exploits with the ball). 🔥 2nd XI – A Hall of Fame Moment Meanwhile, back at home against Bearsted 2nd XI, things truly heated up. In the closing stages of the innings, chasing quick bonus runs and glory, I strode to the crease with intent… and departed just as quickly. A thick edge, a simple catch, and history was made. Duck number 50. A milestone moment. Bat raised. Crowd (mostly) silent. This achievement secures formal entry into the Duck Club Hall of Fame—an elite gathering of individuals whose ability to accumulate the dreaded duck is unmatched. This landmark innings moves me to 15th in the all-time standings, surpassing David Castle and drawing level with fellow Duck Club member Jordan Austin. Together, we now stand alongside John Ames (1952–1978), who recorded 50 ducks across 418 innings. For context: My 50 ducks: 327 innings (15%) Ames’ 50 ducks: 418 innings Efficiency matters. 🏏 3rd XI – Into Double Figures The 3rd XI clash with Brasted Chart & Toys Hill added another name to the honours board. Jonno Sisely brought up his 10th LPCC duck in just 27 innings, joining the ranks of Theo Clements (present), Brian Fuller (1968–1976), and Don Hartridge (1940–1952). A fine achievement—and a reminder that no one is ever truly alone in the Duck Club. And for perspective, things could always be worse. Special mention must go to Magnus Boxer and E Hayes, who maintain a flawless 100% duck rate. Truly remarkable consistency. 🌱 Sunday – A Mixed Bag Sunday’s fixtures provided a quieter, more selective harvest. The 1st XI emergency fixture against Mallu was, disappointingly, a vegan affair—completely free from fowl. However, the 2nd XI trip to Rumwood to face New Ifield delivered one addition: Alex Nunn – now on 10 career ducks (45 innings), joining Jonno in double figures. Near misses came from Zach Wilde and Nolan Wilde, both falling for 1. A single run away from Duck Club folklore—particularly in what would have been a rare and celebrated Father & Son Duck double. Plenty of time for that yet… 📅 Looking Ahead A strong opening weekend for the Duck Club, with milestones, new members, and early-season form all on display. With the league season fast approaching, the question remains: Who will rise (or fall) to the occasion next weekend? We watch. We wait. We celebrate. 🦆

Saturday 1s No Ducks Saturday 2s Altus Diener collects his first duck of the season and 4th overall in 3 seasons at the club. Will Hughes adds another to his tally but his efforts are in vain after JKs duck dominance. This is Wills 5th for the season and 5th overall. A great debut season which showed great promise for getting ducks. Ian Bruce records his 3rd in his debut season for Linton. Saturday 3s Richard Piper records his 5th duck for the season and 96th Overall, will we see 100 ducks next season?! Josh Gurney records his 4th for the season and 7th overall surpassing last years 3 ducks. Will Gray scores his second duck of the season and 4th overall matching last years 2 ducks. Sam King moves to 3 ducks for the season and 9 overall. John Karassellos moves to 6 for the season to draw level with Tobey Castle, who was too scared to bat on Sunday. Saturday 4s Christian Eloff failed to score in the game against new ash green and increasing his duck count to 3 for the season and 3rd overall. Jacob Landman achieves Debutante duck status in his first Adult Game. Sunday 1s Mardey Castle falls first ball of the innings for a duck, failing to use up the overs and securing his second duck of the season. Mardey moves to 9 ducks overall Sunday 2s John Karassellos accelerates past Tobey Castle with 7 for the season and pulls up alongside me on 49 senior ducks, HOWEVER, the website records john actually having 50 ducks with one coming in a 'junior' game (https://lintonpark.play-cricket.com/website/results/4077885), I have consulted with Duck Club President (Luke Welsman) and Duck Club Elder 100+ Ducks (Tim Thirkell) on whether this should be included/excluded. The verdict is that it should be included as there were several adults on both sides. With this in mind we welcome the lastest FULL member of the Duck Club, Second Inducktee of the 2025 Season - JK! With only three fixtures left to play there is still scope for further ducks, and it could still change at the top again as its a tightly fought contest for duck of the year.

Toby Hughes makes a late surge in an effort to catch the other two Tob(e)ys. He now has 2 ducks this year going inot the final month of the season. Still a long way to go to best the 1st XI Skipper who currently leads on 6 ducks. Saturday 2s v Cobham Three ducks in this match - Anthony Karaselloss, Martin Harris and Christian Eloff. I have added Christian to The Debutante Duck List as his first game this season was against Rolvenden where he attained the accolade. This was Christians Second duck of the year and second in the all time stats also. Anthony records his 4th Duck of the season and 21st overall. Now trailing his dad by 1 in the season. Time will tell who will win this father-son battle. One of our own - Martin Harris records his first duck of the season, he's been hiding down at 10 & 11 refusing to bat and for good reason! Martin moves to 44 overall level pegging with Mark Christmas. Saturday 3s v Old Williamsonians A duck of Theo Clements his 4th of the season, proving that Theo and Ant have to do everything together. This is only his 10th Duck in the overall stats. Sunday 4s v Sherwood Euan Beardwell records his first duck of the year (its never to late in the season to get in on the action). This is Euan's Second Duck for Linton Senior Sides. No Ducks recorded in the Sunday 1s or 2s - but (un)interestingly 5 players scored 7 in this game.

Saturday 23rd August 1s - A new leader emerged in the current duck hunting season, Tobey Castle ascends to the top spot with 6 ducks while Toby Joseph is enjoying his holiday in Thailand. Tobey's back to back quacks elevates him in the current duck hunting season as we head into the final month of the season, time will tell whether anyone is able to surpass him. Tobey is now in prestigious Linton company on 35 ducks alongside Gordon Fenner. Toby Hughes also succumbed to the dreaded duck, moving to 12 ducks overall and claiming his first of the season. A presidential duck was also recorded in this game as Lukey failed to score. this is the long awaited 52nd duck from Lukey, his first of the season. Luke now eyes Paul Bowles who achieved 54 ducks in his playing career at Linton. Time will tell when this milestone is reached. 2s - In this modest run chase two ducks were recorded by promoted opener Anthony Karassellos and Josh Gurney. Anthony achieved fame last season topping the Duck of the year category with 7 ducks recorded for the season, and moves to 20 ducks overall and a poultry 3 for the season. (pun intended) Also moving to 3 for the season is Josh Gurney, Josh equals his PB from last season of three ducks and moves to 6 senior ducks overall. 3s - A nervy small total chase resulted in a win for threes but at the expense of Reuben Mundell who failed to contribute to his teams total. The 3rd XI lost 5 wickets chasing 86, Reubens duck is his second of the season and 4th overall. Sunday 24th August 1s - A friendly game on Bearsted green saw all 11 players bat and succeed in getting off the mark despite some dubious umpiring. 2s - The second XI stepped up to make up the shortfall however recording 4 ducks in the game against Egerton Development XI. Ducks for Johan Eloff, Alexander Daniels, JK and Alex Nunn. Johan now has 4 ducks this season and 11 overall joining Sam Boyns. Alexander Daniels newest Hot Pick records his 3rd of the season from 4 innings, Alex Nunn also has a high percentage of ducks in adult cricket this year, with 3 from 7 innings. 7 from 22 innings in the all time stats. JK edges closer to full Duck Club Membership with 47 Ducks his 5th of the season. John hasn't been Duck of the Year since 2020, but with 5 ducks this season there's still time for a late surge! Monday 26th August 22 Linton Players in a single match lots of scope for Linton Ducks and it didn't disappoint. We welcome Duck Clubs newest Full Member with 50 ducks - Jordan Austin Jordan beats me to the milestone, becoming the 14th Member of Linton Duck Club (5th in Active Players). The current Standings are as follows: Tim Thirkell 103 Richard Piper 95 Trevor Back 92 Luke Welsman 52 Jordan Austin 50 Thomas Beeney 49 John Karassellos 47 Mark Christmas 44 Martin Harris 43 Active Players on the brink of associate membership to this group: Will Thew 38 Matt Carter 38 Josh Knowler 37 (breaking any part of his body to avoid membership) DHJ 36 (avoiding any form of cricket to ensure he doesn't join) Tobey Castle 35 Ian Hollingworth 34 Alongside Jordy from the English side, Theo Clements secures his 9th Duck for Linton, his third of the season. On the SA team Ian Bruce records his second duck of the season and second in his Linton playing career from 13 innings. Near misses for both Hughes brothers who scored 1 a piece!

Saturday 16th August No Game for the 1s. 2s - you already had the live update on this game with Jordan being the only duck. Jordan moved to 49 Ducks in the all time stats joining me 1 away from the 50! 3s - Ducks for Nolan Wilde and Nikesh, Nolan moves to 21 ducks in the all time stats joining club stalwart Dave Todd. Dave's 21 ducks came in 236 innings, while Nolan needed only 149 innings to match this. Nikesh moves to 4 ducks, 2 of which have come this season out of his 50 innings across 5 seasons at Linton. 4s - this match was conceded by Hunton so all ducks avoided! Sunday 17th August 1s - Tobey Castle collects his 5th duck of the season and 34th duck overall. 2s - Two narrow escapes in the 2s with Will Gray and Nick Pennefather both falling for 1. Wednesday 20th August Midweek XI - No Ducks.

Saturday 1s v Sibton Park Ben Austin - Overall: 29 Ducks, 2025: 3 Ducks Alex Keeler - Overall: 15 Ducks, 2025: 2 Ducks Saturday 2s v Holcombe and Blue Bell Hill. No Ducks. Saturday 3s - No Game Saturday 4s v Orpington Ocelots. Andrew Joseph - Overall: 3 Ducks, 2025: 1 Duck Sunday 1s v knockers. Praveen Tunga - Overall: 6 Ducks, 2025: 5 Ducks Ian Hollingworth - Overall: 34 Ducks, 2025: 3 Ducks Sunday 2s v Marden. Theo Clemets - Overall: 8 Ducks, 2025: 2 Ducks Zach Wilde - Overall:12 Ducks, 2025: 2 Ducks Lots of Cricket being played this week for more duck additions. Games on Tuesday and Friday, and the weekend games. Some movement in the race for duck of the season, Praveen Tunga now joint leads with Toby Joseph (misses next couple of weeks due to holiday) with 5 ducks.

7 Games were played across Saturday and Sunday this week, and with a number of key players missing this enabled old and new faces to re-join the duck hunt. in the 1st XI game against Bapchild, Dan Thirkell made a guest appearance but did not succumb to the duck on this occasion, of the 9 1st XI players who batted none recorded the dreaded duck. The 2nd XI took on Dartford 4's, and a return to Saturday cricket for Ian Hollingworth saw him record a second duck for the season. Ian now moves closer to duck club on 33 ducks in his 126 innings for Linton. Ian is in prestigious company alongside current and previous club captains Tobey Castle and Dan Thirkell. The 3rd XI game against Bredgar recorded a duck for a man who recently achieved 1000th Game for the club (Junior and Senior), just proving no matter how many you play you can always fall foul of the duck! This is Richards 4th for the season moving him into tied second place for Duck of the year. Richard equals Jon Harris on 95 ducks taking him into joint second place in the all time stats behind Tim Thirkell. Jon narrowly missed out on 100 ducks before a hundred which could have been a new category for us. Of the active players who could still reach this feat (albeit a long way off - Myself 49 Ducks and a high of 77 for the club. JK 46 ducks and a high of 50 for the club. Martin 43 Ducks and a high of 43 for the club) Only time will tell if this record can be achieved. Richard your next game will be your 1000th Senior Game for Linton. No Ducks in the 4th XI fixture against Egerton. Moving onto Sunday 1st XI - as previously mentioned Toby Joseph racked up his 5th Ducks of the season and moved top of the Duck of the Year category. Toby now has 17 ducks for Linton across 5 playing seasons, his 5th duck in this game against Harbledown matches his previous high of 5 ducks in a season in 2022. Toby moves to 17 Ducks in the all-time standings alongside Some prestigious names. Darren Styles, Roly Edwards and Clive Newman to name a few. In the Sunday 2nd XI fixture away at Pembury, Richard avoided a double duck scenario scoring 4. However, Frank Harbord recorded his first duck of the current season to join in the duck race. This was Franks 9th adult Duck for the club in his 4th Season of playing. He joins fan favourite Jon Sisley on 9 Ducks. Other players include Keith Miller who played 4 seasons in the 1970's, John Crellin who played 4 seasons in the 1960's and Gerald Wright who played 4 seasons in the 1950's. Finally in the Sunday 3rd XI fixture at Faversham there were two ducks, Alex Wade and Sam King both failed to trouble the scorers. Alex notches up a second for the season, his 14th Overall. Alex joins the Taylor brothers, the Chairman and Alex Keeler, fine company to keep on 14 Ducks. Sam king moves to 8 ducks overall joining rising star Thomas Mundell - whose fate has been changing and now has 8 ducks from 14 innings - 4 in a row without a duck. This was Sam's second duck of the season.

From the Top: Saturday 1s - Tom Campbell records his third adult duck, taking his tally for the season to two. Tom joins esteemed Linton alumni Ken Webb who scored 1210 runs for the club at an average of 20.51 across the 79 games he played throughout the 1970's, and current players, Altus Diener and Blair Mundell. Saturday 2s recorded two ducks both Brandon Eloff and Praveen Tunga added to their season tallies. Taking them to 3 and 4 respectively. Brandon now has 8 ducks in his Linton Career pulling alongside Mardey Castle and Martin Rivers. Ron McCormick records the lowest percentage ducks having batted 152 times for his 8. Ron escaped the dreaded duck for 10 seasons before finally falling for a nought against Headcorn in 2001. Praveen is now tied first on 4 ducks for the 'Duck of the Year' award alongside fellow candidates, Tobey Castle, Toby Joseph, Will Hughes and John Karassellos. 3 of the 4 Saturday captains are in contention for this prestigious award! This is Praveen's 5th Adult duck and brings him in line with Bob Lines, who played from 1983 to 1991, and batted 122 times for his 5 ducks. No Ducks recorded in the Saturday 3s, but the Saturday 4s saw Reuben Mundell open his account this season, which brings him level with his dad on 3 ducks. Sunday 1s chased down a low total with several casualties including Ben Austin who records his 28th Duck for Linton, Ben joins Chris Thirkell on 28 only his second duck of the season, the other being a first ball of the game duck in the national village game against Leeds and Broomfield. In the Sunday 2s - Alex Daniels recorded his second duck of the season for Linton, (6th of the season across all games he has played; junior cricket and games for other clubs don't count) this is his second adult duck in 3 innings so watch this space! Sunday 3s no ducks were recorded.

Starting at the top with the most important ducks of the weekend, I secured my 49th Duck against Mersham Sports on Saturday, now dangerously close to the 50 Ducks milestone, moving to the most likely candidate to reach this milestone this season! Tobey Castle also records a duck in this game, his 4th for the season and 33rd duck for Linton. He joins previous 1st XI captain Dan Thirkell on 33, now only 7 ducks away from joining this chat! Returning fan favourite Jonathan Sisely picked up a duck on Saturday in the 4s, moving to 9 ducks out of 26 innings. He joins John Bloomfield who played his games during the late 70's and early 80's racking up 9 ducks in 46 innings. No ducks in the T20 on Friday, the Saturday 2s, 3s or on Sunday! We have a lot more cricket happening this week, with matches tomorrow, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So plenty of scope for those ducks to rack up.

In the Saturday 1st XI Alex keeler recorded his first duck of the season in 11 innings, and brings his Linton record up to 14 ducks across 148 innings operating at a 10% duck ratio. Alex joins the chairman Laurie Probert and Brothers Fred and George Taylor on 14 Ducks in the all time Stats. Saturday 2s opened with Johan Eloff who recorded another duck to his linton Career making 10 Ducks in the all time stats, Johans 10 have come off 36 innings operating at 27% duck ratio. Johan joins jack jenner and Jamie Ratcliffe on 10 ducks and has the highest duck ratio of the players on 10. Saturday 3's cant escape the ducks with another 3 being recorded. Will Hughes adds another duck to his season joining Toby Joseph and our very own JK as leaders in duck accumulation for 2025 on 4 ducks. This is Wills first season playing senior cricket so his total is also on 4 out of 14 innings making a ratio of 28% ducks per innings. Henry Campbell adds another duck to his season, second in a row, 4 innings in a row without scoring a single run. (0, 0, 0, 0). this duck moves him to 8 in the all time stats off 31 innings at a ratio of 25%. Henry joins JOnathan Sisley (32%) and Thomas Mundell (61%) (our hot pick for next president of duck club). Furthermore Praveen Tunga secured his 3rd duck of the season, 4th duck in the all time stats, with a ratio of 40%. Many players to choose from on 4 ducks such as active players - Alex Holt (20%), Harvey Lowe (21%). Only one team batted on sunday with the 2s match at linton being abandoned before the innings could start. At Borstal the sunday 1s managed a slow start falling to 58-5 before the rain came, within that period however Jordan Austin managed to survive 8 balls before nicking off and faling for his 3rd Duck of the season. Jordan (13%) is forging ahead towards 50 ducks and has become our favourite to reach the milestone next, having drawn level with me (15%). This is jordans second duck in a row but with penshurst unable to find a team for wednesday we will need to wait until the weekend to find out if Jordan will make it three in a row!

Leading by example Saturday 1s Skipper - Tobey Castle notched up his 3rd Duck of the season to edge closer to Toby Joseph who topped the duck Tallies after last weekend. Tobey moves to #41 in the all time rankings, approaching former skipper Dan Thirkell who has 33 ducks. Tobey on 32 ducks Sits alongside Ian Hollingworth. The Saturday 2's was disappointing for this group and had no ducks. The Saturday 3's however made up for this recording 4 ducks out of the 11 players who batted. C Liebenburg - possibly Kenny? as I couldn't find a C. Followed by Will Hughes, JK and Henry Campbell. Will secures his 3rd duck from 12 innings all accomplished this season, in the all time stats, Will Joins Des High on 3 ducks, Des by contrast played 5 games and had 5 innings. Henry Campbell celebrated his 7th Duck for Linton on Saturday, opening his account for the season. Others in his age group happily surround him on 7 ducks including Theo Clements, and Sam King. JK Adorned both the Saturday and Sunday Duck Honours rolls this weekend notching up the coveted King Pair for the weekend achiving first ballers in both Saturday and Sunday Games, JK was so pleased with his achievement he messaged me personally to come clean! JK Looms dangerously close to the 50 Ducks Club now pulling up beside Jordan on 46 Ducks. Jordan however was in fine form again this weekend adding valuable runs on both Saturday and Sunday. JK seems to be the duck omen at the minute with 4 in his Saturday Side and 3 in the Sunday Side - alongside JK on sunday Alex Nunn and Ian Lowe both failed to trouble the scorers, Alex joins Ryan Silk on 6 ducks in the all time stats which is his second for the season. Ian Lowe had another poor weekend with the bat moving to 3 for the season, and rapidly advancing in the all time stats, Ian joins teenage delinquent Harry Bee, and Gentleman cricketer David Lowen on 5 ducks. With a midweek friendly scheduled for Wednesday this week can JK make it three in a row? <This message was edited> ——— 🦆🦆Midweek duck update! 🦆🦆 Jk avoided three in a row and REBOUNDED in style making 45 off 43 against Warlingham yesterday. Unfortunately for Jordan it was his turn for a first baller, his second duck of the season and 47th for linton. Jordan equals Bob Arnold's duck tally and is closing in on me!

An important weekend of Cricket has just been played with two of our members adding to their Tally and edging closer to their respective milestones, On Saturday Jordan recorded his first duck of the season, moving to 46 in the all time duck stats. Jordan pulls up alongside Mike Elworthy better known for adding some spice to the beginning of Linton innings with his fiery stroke making. Jordan is now just 4 ducks away from joining Lukey, Tim and Rich P as the active players in the 50 ducks Club. Sunday saw Rich P inch closer to an impressive milestone, now just one behind Jon Harris Rich sits alone on 94 Ducks - 6 away from joining Tim in the 100-club. Other ducks across the matches saw both Kenny Liebenberg and Ian Bruce open their duck accounts at Linton, people are clearly desperate to join the ranks of the duck club and get their name etched in history on the Duck Club Honours board. Sundays game alongside Rich, Zach Wilde notched up his 11th Senior Duck - first for the season. Zach joins Harrison Fermor and Sam Boyns from current players and Linton's Kabaddi World Cup representative Tom Murphy, who claims Joe Denly is in. A further duck in this game was collected by Ian Lowe - Ian moves to 4 in the all time stats joining the infamous Fraggle (Will Bramley-Harker) who almost took a hat-trick in 2011 at knockholt, this would have been an extraordinary feat in itself - but was overshadowed on the day by Dom Dixon's cradle antics, who took a ball to the dome then came back to play again with his dads lid on.

There was an abundance of category ducks in action across the weekend with potentials for brother ducks, Jordan Austin & Ben Austin (Sat and Sun), George & Fred Taylor (Sat), Toby Joseph & Andrew Joseph (Sun), , Christian Eloff & Johan Eloff (Sun). And father and son duck combinations; Brandon Elof & Johan Elof (Sat), Blair Mundell & Reuben Mundell (Sat), Ian Lowe & Harvey Lowe (Sun), Nick Tromp & Divan Tromp (Sun), Nolan Wilde & Zach Wilde. Finally, Family of ducks contenders in Brandon Eloff and his two boys (Sun), Johan and Christian, Spencer Gray and his two boys, William & James Gray (Sun). This shows a testament to a family club where everyone is getting involved. Saturday saw 4 teams venture out: 1st XI Tonbridge – No Ducks recorded, all 11 players batted, #11 coming in with 12 to win off 2 balls, high percentage chance of a duck but avoided. 2nd XI Snodland Community – Martin Rivers didn’t like Brandon equalling his Duck Tally on Thursday and moves one duck ahead again. James Gray Recorded his First Duck of the season and 6th overall – a position he will not hold for long… 3rd XI Orpington Ocelots – No Ducks Recorded. 4th XI Hunton Wanderers – Will Hughes increases his Tally moving to 2 for the season 2 overall. Sunday 15 June 1st XI Beckenham Wizards - A narrow escape for Duck Brothers Toby and Andrew Joseph who would have made their inaugural appearance on the Duck Honours Board – Two of a Quack. Andrew was called back by Beckenham after he was given out LBW on a duck – Andrew eventually managed to get off the mark, despite a few more LBW shouts and near misses! Toby however, succumbed to another duck for the season taking his duck Tally to 4 and is now the front runner in the Duck of the year awards category. Toby moves to 15 ducks overall, challenging ex-chairman Richard Knowler for his spot at #94 in the all-time records. Harvey Lowe recorded his 1st Duck of the season in his second game of the year, Harvey pulls level with Ian both on 1 ducks for the year, and moves to 4 ducks in the overall stats. Harvey joins Linton Alumni Alastair Allsworth, and Will Roxburgh on 4 ducks Will averages 88 for Linton in the all-time stats, but all those runs are meaningless here! 2nd XI Fixture v’s Southborough – One run stopped Spencer Gray joining his son James on the honours board as Father and Son Ducks, James fell victim and recorded a 2nd duck for the season (the eagle eyed will spot that James recorded his second duck in a row and a pair for the weekend). He moves to 7 ducks joining Ollie Howarth Tennis Coach and owner of a vulgar Orange Fiat Punto. Tim Thirkell Extended his lead in the all time stats notching up another Duck at Southborough, moving to 103 overall, Tim is the only player to breach the 100 Ducks Mark for the club a feat which is celebrated here. Alex Nunn records a duck in this game also, bringing the duck tally to three in the game, this opens Alex’s account for the season and takes him to 5 alongside active players Josh Gurney, and David Lowen. Looking back Alex joins Matt Gladwell who last played in 2020, and Bob Lines whose last game was in 1991. 3rd XI fixture at Rumwood v’s Rolvenden, Farhan Malik (Mo) and Alexander Daniels both fell for a duck, Mo moves to 2 for the season and overall joining Ex-Rumwood Refugee David Day, and Phillip Morrison brother of Stewart, who as brothers escaped the Two of a Quack Honours reel. Alexander Daniels notched up his first duck of the season and all-time in senior cricket in his 3rd outing. Finally Christian Eloff, fell victim to the Duck, the only Elof not to trouble the scorer. A weekend full of potential for high profile – Honour worthy ducks fell short. A total of 11 ducks were seen moving the Linton Duck Tally for the season to 65.

Breaking this down per game: 1st XI – Away @ Sibton Park – 2 ducks Fred Taylor fell for his 3rd consecutive duck of the season, he moves onto 14 ducks joining his brother (George). Tom Campbell records his second adult duck after opening his account last season at harbledown – both his ducks have been part of a 5-for for the bowlers, B.Allon @ Sibton & Jan Maroofkhail @ Harbledown. 4th XI – Away @ Orpington Ocelots – 3 ducks Toby Joseph receives another bagel, his second for the season, and 13th for Linton (we aren’t finished with Toby!) Johan Eloff secured himself another duck to add to his season tally, moving to 2 ducks for the season – Johan moves to 9 senior ducks for Linton, the previously reported 14 ducks included junior games which will now be excluded from the stats. Johan joins historical figures such as Keith Miller who appears on our Father and Son ‘Duck and Duckling’ Honours board, and more recent player, Jack Gwynn who played between 2009 and 2017. Srikrishna Challa (Nikhil) succumbed to a duck, his first of the season, moving to 3 overall, a relatively recent addition to Linton joining during Covid in 2021. Nikhil shares his glory with Pete ‘Peanut’ Davies the Sky man, and Marks Second Best Friend after Miles Walker – Dan McCarthy who played for 2 seasons (06 and 07) and never got asked to play again (there’s more to this story, I just can’t remember it!). Another player on 3 ducks around this time was ‘legally blind’ Paul Webber, who also came on tour to Cleethorpes with us in 2007. This has led me to think of a new category for the duck club ‘ducks on tour’ for those who rack them up while travelling. Sunday 1st XI @ home to Willesborough Toby Joseph doubled up for his second duck of the weekend, which moved him swiftly on from 13 to 14 for Linton. His 3rd for the season, moving him joint top of the current duck hunting season with Fred Taylor. Toby joins C- HAYLOR, who in 1963 played 3 matches for Linton and recorded 3 successive ducks. Possible new category of ‘A season of Ducks’ Ethan Joubert became inducted into the duck club receiving his first adult duck for Linton Ethan held out 8 innings before reaching the milestone. Picking out some historical figures also sharing the accolade: Jack Knowler, Mark Austin, Father and Son John and Nick Coles, and Ivan Diprose who played between 1982 to 1985 and later umpired for Linton, Ivan has a commemorative bench at the ground. Sunday Second XI, away to Holcombe and Blue Bell Hill. Alex Holt and Josh Gurney Quacked up for their 4th and 5th ducks respectively. Alex opened his account for the season with his first duck, having escaped with a 0* against Cowdrey earlier in April. Alex joins Salix Bat maker Andrew Kember on 4 ducks. Andy played 1 season for Linton in 1985 scoring 51 runs at an average of 5.10. Josh Gurney joins David Lowen on 5 ducks, David can still be seen turning out for Linton and may yet add to his tally. Other 5 duck careers at Linton include the notorious Harry Bee, whose first Adult game for Linton snagged him his premier duck. After leaving Linton Harry has played for a number of other clubs around the Kent league circuit most recently Sandwich Town. Given we are only in June and have already smashed the highest Duck tally for any historical season, I may need to do some more analysis. We are fielding more teams this year than ever before and that is obviously resulting in more ducks. May need to work out the Ducks v’s Players in a season to give a ratio figure in which to compare it against to previous seasons. ——— Cheeky update after last night's t20. Brandon skied his first ball to deep mid on and recorded his second duck of the season, moving to 7 for.linton, joining local weather enthusiast Martin Rivers and absentee teen Theo 'peanut' Clements. There are lots more players on 7 ducks, including 90s and noughties, legendary figures, Mike Caddick, and John Taylor. Recent tree abuser and now permanently excluded from the green party; Tom Roxburgh.

Nick Tromp fell for his second duck this season on saturday against Bredgar. This is Nicks 13th Duck for Linton. He's in good company as he joins other active players such as Alex Wade and Alex Keeler. Brandon bagged himself his 6th Duck on Saturday, joining some well known and some infamous players from past and present, other players accruing 6 ducks in their Linton career; the notorious Adam Wright, and Abishek Pushpavinothan who is yet to play again this season. Other notable's include the only man i know to wear a box while in the outfield Iain Cardew, and a couple of current players, Ryan Silk and Henry Campbell. This could also be a hall of fame moment in duck history! as Both father and son, Brandon and Johan failed to score in the same game. (I will fact check this, as other likely candidates include myself and Martin) Wildcard duck may be 3 in a game @Jordan Austin can you confirm from the Rumwood records whether you ben and Mark all recorded a duck in the same game? Johan secured his first duck of the season and moves to 14 Ducks in total, a grand achievement drawing level with our current chairman Laurie Probert. The fourth Duck of this game was awarded to Praveen Tunga, second duck for the season for Praveen and 3 overall out of 14 innings -lots of ducks in the pond to choose from on 3 ducks, a recent ducklings to arrive includes Altus Diener, more seasoned duck hunters will also know Joel Atwood though, and father and son combo Iain and Harvey Lowe all on 3 ducks. 5th Duck of the Game went to Sam King, his first duck of the year adding to his previous 9 bringing him to a total of ten ducks for the mathematically challenged. Sam joins a regiment of ducks who failed to keep their tally in single digits. Highlights in this category include Abisheks' dad, Thuraiappah Pushpavinothan, who was mentioned earlier, Jamie Ratcliffe and Jack Jenner and Zach Wilde (another possible candidate for the duck and duckling hall of fame moment discussed earlier). seemingly unlikely but this may be one of the highest concentration of ducks in a game. Can anyone remember a 6 or more duck game? From the 1st XI game against Bapchild a lesser spotted double duck was seen in Freddie Taylor who recorded his second consecutive duck in as many weeks. Fred hurries onto 13 ducks, joining Nick Tromp. rolling back the years we see Joe Martin and Ryan Boyns on 13 Ducks rolling back further Rob Jackson who played the bulk of his games between 2001 and 2006 then to one which even Tim possibly doesn't know.. Frank Sutton who played between 1925 and 1950. Although Freddie was the only Linton Duck to fall against Bapchild it would be remiss of me not to mention another duck on the day, Christopher Knope, affectionally known during his playing career at Linton as Matt Knope for reasons which escape me. Chris Knope played 25 games for Linton between 2005 and 2010, but never opened his account. Since then Chris has accrued 20 ducks across his playing career which has included outings for Detling Snodland and Bapchild. that's a wrap for Saturday Ducks. Sundays ducks were fewer (thankfully) - No ducks were hunted in the 2nd XI game against New Ifield, but an old duck emerged at Stone, Ian Hollingworth recorded his first duck of the season and now stands alone in the Linton park duck archives on 32 ducks.

Fred taylor earned his first duck of the season in the 1st XI game against Addington. Fred moves to 12 ducks alongside Toby Joseph and Nick Tromp. Richard Piper and.Aaron Hughes both secured their second ducks for the season yesterday in the second XI game against bapchild. Moving to 93 and 20 respectively in the all.time stats. Richard moves past Trevor Back (92) and is alone on 93. Aaron keeps good company with James Piper and Nolan, who scored 70, opening the batting in the 4s yesterday. El presidente will be back in action today, after narrowly escaping another duck yesterday falling on 2, fingers crossed for #52 lukey! ——— As you may have inferred from JKs message yesterday, there was 1 duck from this group against the dissidents. @Jannie Karasellos moves to 44 ducks, bringing him level with @Mark Christmas. John had survived a couple of attempts of Dan Baker trying to run him out but resolutely stood his ground before nudging one back to Dave Charlton in a caught and bowled. Extra bit of duck trivia, Dave used to play for linton and accrued 25 ducks in 224 innings during his playing career. One other duck yesterday for Dr Farhan Malik (Mo) his first duck for Linton from 6 innings. Other frugal notables on 1 duck throughout their playing career include Maurice Fenner who played from 1940 to 1963 for the club. Maurice's duck came in 1958 in a friendly against Folkestone.

Toby Joseph recorded his 12th duck moving level with nick tromp in active players. Blast from the past on 12 ducks include: Gareth Davies Adrian caddick Lewis Burnham ——— Theo Clements recorded his first duck of the season yesterday at Frindsbury. 10th duck overall in 83 innings. Blast from the past on 10 ducks include: Jamie Ratcliffe and Jack Jenner More duck news to follow! Nolan Wilde recorded his second duck of the season. 55th duck in 435 innings on play cricket. Only linton ducks are counted here, though. Nolan moves past Aaron Hughes to 20 ducks for linton in 132 innings. Only one other player has 20 ducks... James Piper. For the sub category of 50 ducks before a 50, we have 2 inducktees into the hall of fame: Simon Thirkell 60 ducks with a high score of.48 Ian Brattle 51 ducks with a high score of 33

LUKEY THE PRESIDENT 51 DUCKS Tom B - 48 linton ducks Jordan- 45 ducks Mark - 44 ducks Martin and JK - tied on 43 ducks