🦆 The Duck Pond

A quiet week for the exclusive zero club, but not an idle one. Of the two fixtures played, one innings against the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on the 22nd proved a positively fertile hunting ground, yielding all three ducks of the period — each to the same bowler. A triple strike of that sort does not come along often, and the Duck Club salutes R- Brierley as an honorary patron of the art of not scoring. 1st XI — v Royal Army Ordnance Corps, 22nd June (home) - Richard Harris, opening the innings, was bowled by R- Brierley without troubling the scorers — his first duck's egg of the season and the second of a modest career now standing at two in five innings, a plucky if fruitless knock that leaves him 71st of 502 in the club's dubious all-time reckoning. Curiously, this very day in 1935 saw Percy Brattle likewise stroll back for nought, albeit in different colours against Bearsted CC — history, it seems, keeps a calendar. - J Wenham, sent in at six, fell lbw to the same tireless Brierley — his second duck of the summer, and his second for the career too, from nineteen innings, lodging him 60th of 502 on the honours ledger. Like his captain in misfortune, he shares the curious distinction of a duck falling on this same date back in 1935, when Percy Brattle made his own contribution to the club's archives. - Don Hartridge, at number eight, completed Brierley's morning's work, also bowled for nought — his second duck of the season and the fourth of a career that has now brought him level with several distinguished names, and a lofty 16th of 502 on the all-time list, a place of dubious distinction indeed. The Brattle parallel holds for him too, the 22nd of June evidently being an auspicious date for the art of the duck. The second fixture of the period passed without a single addition to the ledger — a rare instance of the ducks evading capture entirely, though the eleven will no doubt make amends before long. Three ducks, one bowler, one thoroughly sticky wicket for the home side's middle and lower order — a week that will be remembered less for what was scored than for what conspicuously was not. Duck Hunting Season leaderboard - B- Vince — 2 innings, 2 ducks, 100% - Arthur Ash — 5 innings, 2 ducks, 40% - Don Hartridge — 9 innings, 2 ducks, 22.22% - Frank Sutton — 12 innings, 2 ducks, 16.67% - J Wenham — 12 innings, 2 ducks, 16.67% The season's leading exponents of the straight bat that met a straighter ball. Members are warmly invited to the next fixture, where the eleven will doubtless offer fresh candidates for the honours board — the ducks, as ever, are only ever one delivery away.

🦆 Rise, quackers, and take your caps off — the eleven has had a proper go at surrendering wickets for nothing this week, and eight ducks are safely lodged in the pavilion book. A splendid haul for the connoisseur of failure. 1st XI The Charles Arkcoll match on the 14th opened wretchedly, with G Wood claiming a hat-trick of noughts almost in a single breath. J Wenham went first ball of the collapse, bowled by Wood — his 1st of the season and career, joining a select company on this very day back in 1882 when a whole card of Boxley batsmen also trudged home scoreless. Arthur Ash followed straight after, also bowled Wood, his 2nd season and career duck, keeping company with a long procession of fellow "twos" down the years. Then Dennis Smith, at number ten, completed the misery with his 2nd career duck in 19 innings — Mr Smith carries the solemn distinction of the club's Retirement Duck board, a badge earned in some past farewell rather than this week's dismissal, but a fitting reminder that the art of not scoring runs in some men's blood. Against the Royal Army Service Corps on the 18th, Frank Sutton fell for his 6th career duck in 27 innings, a performance that keeps him at a lofty 5th on the all-time table and a proud holder of the Duck of the Year 1940 honour. Splendidly, on this same date in 1904, one Tom Peach Jnr also perished for nought against Leeds Castle — a coincidence separated by 37 years but united in method. Then came Maidstone Borough Police on the 20th, who bowled the eleven into a positive epidemic. Joe Fenner opened and fell lbw for a duck, his 3rd career effort, level with a healthy crowd of fellow "threes" stretching back to 1893. Percy Brattle went next, bowled, also his 3rd career duck, keeping identical company. Then Frank Sutton returned to complete a grim double for the week — bowled again, his 7th career duck, drawing level with the mighty A Startup of 1868-82 fame, a four-time Duck of the Year and holder of Ducks in a Row. Two ducks in six days is no mean feat, Frank, and the honours board notes it plainly as a pair, without further embellishment needed. Finally R- Lee, on debut, marked his very first innings for the club with a golden nought — bowled — joining the exclusive zero club before he had so much as taken guard for a second ball. A baptism of the purest kind, and a name now etched at the very foot of a long and distinguished list. The week in summary Three matches, eight ducks, and G Wood and G- Baglee sharing the wickets with evident relish. Maidstone Borough Police alone accounted for four of the eight — a fixture the eleven will not remember fondly. Frank Sutton's pair was the standout feat of application, if application is quite the word for it. Duck Hunting Season Leaderboard - B- Vince — 2 innings, 2 ducks, 100% - Arthur Ash — 5 innings, 2 ducks, 40% - Frank Sutton — 10 innings, 2 ducks, 20% - Percy Brattle — 1 innings, 1 duck, 100% - R- Lee — 1 innings, 1 duck, 100% 🍩 A fine week's work for the zero club, gentlemen. The next fixture awaits, and no doubt the bowlers will be sharpening their line for fresh additions to this dubious roll of honour. Bat straight, or don't bat at all — either way, the Duck Club welcomes you.

A quiet fortnight's beginning for the Duck Club, and, it must be recorded with a certain wistfulness, an entirely uneventful one. Two fixtures were played across these two days, the willow was wielded with evident care by all who came to the crease, and not a single batsman was required to make that lonely walk back to the pavilion for a duck's egg. The exclusive zero club, so accustomed to welcoming new members, finds its visitors' book unsigned this week. Whether this speaks of a plucky eleven playing the straighter bat, or merely of fortune smiling where it usually frowns, the committee cannot say. Such things have a habit of correcting themselves, and correct themselves sharply, before the season is much older. A Week Without Incident Two matches, two results, and not one duck's egg laid between them. A curious sort of triumph, this — for once the art of not scoring found no practitioners, and the honours board rests undisturbed for another week. The old campaigners atop the season's tally may reflect, with quiet relief, that their standing goes unchallenged a little longer. Duck Hunting Season leaderboard - B- Vince — 2 innings, 2 ducks, 100 per cent, a season of really quite total dedication to the cause - R Dann — 3 innings, 1 duck, 33.33 per cent - Arthur Ash — 4 innings, 1 duck, 25 per cent - Don Hartridge — 5 innings, 1 duck, 20 per cent - Herbert Rayner — 6 innings, 1 duck, 16.67 per cent The committee trusts this dry spell will not persist. Members are warmly invited to the next fixture, where surely some plucky soul will oblige the ledger with a fresh entry, and the noble tradition of the duck's egg will resume its accustomed place in proceedings.

A brief entry this week, but the honours board never rests, and one gentleman kept faith with tradition against the Home Guard. 1st XI — v Home Guard (Bungs Mob), home Arthur Ash, at number four, essayed an lbw to Gordon Fenner and trudged back with his wicket unscored — the first duck's egg of the season for him, his career total now standing at a single egg from thirteen innings, tucked in at 85th of 497 in the club's long and honourable roll of failure. He is not alone at that particular table — a whole company of gentlemen down the years, from A Barker of 1885 to C Crundwell of 1934, have sat on precisely one career duck apiece, and Mr Ash now takes his modest place among them. And by a pleasant coincidence of the calendar, on this very day in 1903 the Reverend W A Carr also strolled back for nought, against 1st Innings Maidstone CC no less — proof, if proof were needed, that the art of not scoring respects no era. The Week in Brief Two matches played, and but a single duck laid between them — the eleven, on the whole, kept the bowlers rather more honest than usual. A quiet week for the club's less celebrated members, though quiet weeks have a way of not lasting, as any student of the honours board will tell you. Duck Hunting Season Leaderboard - B- Vince — 2 innings, 2 ducks — 100.0% - R Dann — 3 innings, 1 duck — 33.33% - Arthur Ash — 4 innings, 1 duck — 25.0% - Don Hartridge — 5 innings, 1 duck — 20.0% - Herbert Rayner — 5 innings, 1 duck — 20.0% B- Vince continues to lead the season with a perfect record of failure, unmolested this week but surely not for long. The next fixture awaits, and with it the ever-present chance for a fresh name to join the roll. The eleven go out to bat in hope; the Duck Club, as ever, in quiet expectation.

🦆 A quiet week at Linton Park, friends, and no mistake about it. Three fixtures were played in the period under review, and for once the eleven kept their heads down and their bats straight — not a single duck's egg to report from any innings, on any ground, by any hand. The zero club's ledger stands untroubled this week, its doors closed for want of a candidate. Whether this speaks to a sudden outbreak of application at the crease, or simply that the bowlers had an off week of their own, this correspondent cannot say. Suffice it that the exclusive fellowship of the nought gained no new members, and the old hands were spared the long walk back to the pavilion. Long may such abstinence prove the exception rather than the rule — the Gazette rather depends on it being the latter. Duck Hunting Season Leaderboard - B- Vince — 2 innings, 2 ducks, a chastening 100% - R Dann — 3 innings, 1 duck, 33.33% - Don Hartridge — 4 innings, 1 duck, 25.0% - Herbert Rayner — 4 innings, 1 duck, 25.0% Do mark that B- Vince sits atop the table on a perfect record of imperfection — two innings, two ducks, a feat of consistency few would care to claim, yet claim it he does. Until the willow next fails a member at the vital moment, the Gazette bids you good health and steady batting. The season is young yet, and the bowlers of Kent will surely not let this drought persist. Same time next week, and may someone give us something to write about.

Two fixtures, two afternoons, and the eleven found the art of not scoring practised with rare devotion. Five ducks were laid down for the exclusive zero club this week — a place of dubious distinction, but never short of new members. 1st XI - Herbert Rayner — in at four against the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on the 17th, and undone by Brierley for his first duck's egg of the season. His second of a career now nineteen innings deep, and it lodges him at 51st of 493 in the club's long roll of the dismissed. He draws level on two career ducks with B W Haynes, a name from the club's Edwardian heyday who compiled his own identical pair somewhere between 1891 and 1910 — proof, if any were needed, that this particular failing spans the generations undiminished. - B- Vince — arrived at the crease for the very first time in claret and gold, at nine against the RAOC, and departed for nought before he had properly arrived at all, bowled Brierley. A debut duck, and with the season young he stands, for now, the leading claimant to the club's own Duck of the Year 1941. He joins A Barker, of the 1885 vintage, on a single career duck apiece. But the story did not end there — the very next day, at ten against the Home Guard's Bungs Mob, he was caught off A Stevens for nought once more, completing a grim pair inside forty-eight hours of his arrival. Two innings, two ducks, a full house already — a baptism as chastening as any this correspondent can recall. - R Dann — run out for nought at five against the Home Guard, his tale a touch confused (the striker's end remains, charitably, "unsure"). His first career duck in two innings, placing him 156th of 493. Curiously, on this very day in 1940, Joe Fenner also strolled back for a duck's egg, against Staplehurst CC — the calendar, it seems, has its own sense of humour. - Don Hartridge — stumped by P Richmond off the bowling of George Winter, also against the Home Guard, for his third career nought in fifteen innings, and 28th of 493 on the all-time list. He shares his duck's anniversary with the same Joe Fenner of 1940, who was evidently no stranger to a Saturday spent walking back early. The week in brief Two matches, five ducks, and the Home Guard's Bungs Mob proved especially fond of the eleven's lower order, claiming three of the five between run-out, stumping and catch. The standout performance, if that is the word, belongs to B- Vince, who turned up, introduced himself to the crease twice, and left it twice without troubling the scorer — a pair to mark a debut that will not soon be forgotten. Duck Hunting Season leaderboard - B- Vince — 2 innings, 2 ducks, 100% - Herbert Rayner — 1 innings, 1 duck, 100% - Don Hartridge — 2 innings, 1 duck, 50% - R Dann — 2 innings, 1 duck, 50% The season is young and the wickets, by all accounts, still a touch sticky. Members are warmly invited to the next fixture, where no doubt further candidates for the honours board await — the eleven's tail has shown it can wag, but rarely for long.