🗓️ 10 Aug – 16 Aug 1867 · 1867 — 1 match
🧢 1st XIv ? · HomeformLLLLMonday brought the visitors to our ground, and we had first use of the ball — for once, I felt sure we held the upper hand. That confidence was well founded: F F Crawford and A Milner were sent back without troubling the scorers, victims of a probing opening spell, and the rot never really stopped. X Carroll bowled beautifully for his five wickets without conceding a run, a five-for richly deserved, while W H Fryer chipped in handsomely with four of his own for nothing. A fine morning's work all round.
Our own innings, sadly, told a rather different story. X Carroll, still glowing from his exploits with the ball, did the bulk of the scoring with a battling 24, but found precious little company — G a K Simpson departed for a golden duck, first ball, and the rest of us shuffled off in similarly meek fashion. By the close we had been beaten by an innings and 25 runs, a margin that rather flatters the word "contest".
Still, one or two silver linings glinted through the gloom. W Goad's 12 runs eased him past F Garrett into 3rd on the club's all-time run-scorers list, and X Carroll's season haul of a dozen wickets lifted him past R Morris into 3rd among our all-time wicket-takers. The 1867 charts read kindly too — Goad sits 2nd among the 1st XI's run-scorers with 30, and Carroll leads the wicket column outright with 12.
A chastening defeat, then. Heads up, and back to the nets.
🗓️ 20 Jul – 26 Jul 1867 · 1867 — 1 match
🧢 1st XIv SC Staplehurst CC · AwayformLLLTuesday last took us on the road to Staplehurst, and the coin, as is so often its custom with us, sided against me. They chose to bat, and we trooped out to bowl on what already felt like their afternoon.
Credit where it's due — R Thomson batted beautifully for his 62, the innings that shaped the match, with H Oakley (29) and W Bright (20) lending sturdy support. We did have our moments, mind: H Simmons walked back for a duck at our hands, and W Crittenden bowled with real venom to take 3-0, backed up nicely by T Gandy (3-0) and W H Fryer (2-0). But it wasn't enough to keep the total within reach.
Our reply never quite got going. T Gandy again led the way with 23, battling gamely almost alone, while poor R J Bennett's contribution was a golden nothing. In the end we succumbed by an innings and 54 runs — the kind of margin that has you studying your bootlaces on the way home.
Not all gloom, though: T Gandy's 39 runs in the match nudged him past J Down to the very top of the club's all-time run-scorers, and Crittenden's three wickets lifted him past C French Jnr into 7th on the all-time list — both lads flying the flag atop this season's charts too. A chastening day in the field and at the crease, but with form like that in our ranks, back to the nets we go, heads up and ready for the next one.
🗓️ 13 Jul – 19 Jul 1867 · 1867 — 1 match
🧢 1st XIv ? · AwayformLLWednesday last saw us pack the kit bag and set off to face the opposition, ducks already circling before a ball was bowled, or so it felt by close of play. Put into the field first, we chipped away steadily. T Porter top-scored gamely with 21, but the rest of the order found scoring rather harder going than they'd have liked, with F F Crawford and J R Coles both back in the pavilion without troubling the scorers. The day belonged entirely to J Woollett, whose 5-0 was a spell of real quality and thoroughly deserved — five wickets without conceding a run is the sort of figures one dines out on for months. Sterling support came from T Gandy (3-0) and E Tootell (1-0), the pair mopping up admirably.
Our reply, alas, was a scratchier affair, with T Gandy, J Amies and T Tomson all departing for ducks — a trio of blobs on the card that rather undid the good work in the field. We fell 37 runs short in the end.
Not all gloom, though: Woollett's 8 runs nudged him past C Le Feaver into 5th on the club's all-time run charts, while Gandy's 6 wickets on the day lifted him past R Morris into 2nd among our leading wicket-takers — both fine markers on an otherwise chastening afternoon. E Tootell continues to lead our 1867 charts for both bat and ball. A defeat, then, but one with silver linings. Heads up, and back to the nets.