🧢 Captain's Log

Mon 16 Jul 1900 🧢 1st XIv ? · HomeformDLLLL

F E Wallis's fifty, my four-for and the news that fell 2 wickets short of the visitors' total, all built from the supplied facts. Here's the report.

Skipper's Log — Monday 16 July 1900. We hosted the visitors on a day that promised much and, in the end, delivered a beating of the honest, character-building variety.

Winning the toss, I sent them in, a decision I stood by right up until the moment it became clear that George Champion had decided to bowl like a man possessed, 4-0 to his name, ably backed by the Reverend Thomas Burra (3-0, and one suspects a word or two said over the stumps) and F Reeves (2-0). A Smythe held firm for 21 to top-score for the visitors, while G Kennard and T H Oyler both trudged off for ducks. Bowled out for their all-out total, it felt, briefly, like our day.

Then came our reply, and here the tale takes its familiar turn. F E Wallis played the innings of the afternoon, 61 well-made runs that, we're reliably informed, carries him past the Reverend J R Leigh and into 16th on the club's all-time run-scorers list — a statistic I shall mention at the bar more than is strictly necessary. F G Maxted supported handsomely with 54, and F Reeves chipped in with 33. I even found some rhythm with the ball myself, four wickets to show for it.

And yet. Two wickets short at the death, cricket's cruellest arithmetic. Heads up, chins high, and back to the nets — George Champion, at least, continues to lead our season's charts with bat and ball alike, so all is not lost.

Sat 14 Jul 1900 🧢 1st XIv YC Yalding CC · HomeformLDLLL

Saturday 14th July found us hosting Yalding CC, and for once the coin actually did as I asked, so in we went to bat. It would be gilding the lily to call our innings a triumph, but there was real substance to it: H G Smith led from the front with 42, F S W Cornwallis batted with great composure for an unbeaten 37, and Jack Fryer chipped in with 30. Poor H F Morris will not thank me for mentioning his golden duck in the club gazette, but honesty is the reporter's burden. A generous 30 extras rounded us out nicely, proof that Yalding's bowlers were as wayward as our own top order was fluent.

Yalding's reply was every bit as stubborn as ours had been, F B Leney compiling a handsome 52, with G a T Salmon (44) and H Leney (38) refusing to let us in. R G Henham fell for a duck to our credit, and George Champion bowled quite beautifully to run riot with five wickets, backed up admirably by Arthur Cornwallis's two and J A Chamberlain's one. I managed 37 myself with the ball, which I shall mention only in passing, as captains ought.

There was real cause for club pride amid the defeat: Arthur Cornwallis brought up 1,000 career runs, his two wickets nudged him to 18th on our all-time wicket list, and F S W Cornwallis's 37 lifted him to 3rd among our all-time run-scorers. Small consolation, then, as we went down by two wickets. Not our day — heads up, and back to the nets.

Sat 07 Jul 1900 🧢 1st XIv Town Malling CC · AwayformLLDLL

Saturday 7th July, 1900, and we made the trip down to Town Malling in fine spirits and finer weather. Winning the toss, I had no hesitation in putting us in — a decision that looked shrewd indeed once George Champion got going. He batted with real class for a superb 114, well supported by P T Oyler's tidy 29, and with 28 extras thrown in for good measure we set a total to be proud of. Not every man enjoyed the sunshine, mind — poor L C Brown endured the walk of shame for a golden duck, and if he's reading this: chin up, we've all been there.

With the ball, the tables rather turned. W H Cooper played the innings of the day, an imperious 196 not out, and with P Phillips (44) and L H Hardy (22) chipping in, the opposition chased us down by five wickets. Small consolations were there to be had — George Champion backed up his century with 4-0, H G Smith weighed in with 1-0, and we did at least see off X Hodge and J Durst without them troubling the scorers.

A word for H G Smith, whose solitary wicket nudges him past Ernest Cruttenden into 15th on the club's all-time list — the sort of statistical footnote that keeps a captain cheerful on a losing afternoon. And Champion continues to lead our 1900 run charts handsomely.

Not our day, in truth. Cooper simply batted us out of it. Heads up, lads — back to the nets.

Wed 27 Jun 1900 🧢 1st XIv BC Brenchley CC · HomeformLLLDL

Wednesday last, Brenchley CC came calling, and having won the toss I fancied our chances with the bat first — no hesitation, straight in. That confidence was, shall we say, only partially rewarded. We were bowled out, propped up almost single-handedly by George Champion, whose 37 was the innings' one shaft of sunlight. Less gloriously, Arthur Cornwallis and F E Wallis both trudged back for ducks, joining the sorriest of club fraternities — the walk of shame is a well-worn path at Linton Park.

Defending what we had, the lads rallied in the field. Brenchley were duly dismissed themselves, J G Philpott's 23 the mainstay of their reply, though we did have the satisfaction of sending J A Perkins back without so much as a single to his name. I contributed 37 with the bat myself, for what it was worth on the day.

There was a small consolation buried in the wreckage: F E Wallis's 25 runs this season have nudged him past L Friend and up to 23rd on the club's all-time run-scoring list — proof that even a quiet spell adds up eventually. George Champion, meanwhile, continues to lead our 1900 charts handsomely, with 222 runs already banked.

In the end, though, Brenchley finished the stronger side, taking it by 5 wickets. Not our day. Heads up, and back to the nets we go.

Sat 16 Jun 1900 🧢 1st XIv YC Yalding CC · AwayformLLLLD

Saturday last took us down to Yalding, and for once I can report that winning the toss and electing to bat was not merely bravado — it was, dare I say, the right call. Whether our innings did the decision full justice is a matter I shall gloss over lightly: H G Smith top-scored with a fine 32, George Champion chipping in handsomely with 27, while Jack Fryer, J F Coles and C S Smith each contributed nothing but a golden duck to the family silver.

In the field, though, we were a different animal entirely. Yalding's G T Tomkin gave us a proper working-over with 49, well supported by the Reverend J R Leigh (38) and C Reid (36), but we hemmed them in at the other end — H Reeves, W L Hubble and R G Henham all sent back without troubling the scorers. The Reverend Thomas Burra was quite magnificent, running through the order for 7-56, with Jack Fryer (2-0) and George Champion (1-0) mopping up what little was left. I managed 27 myself, which I shall allow to pass without comment.

Two landmarks to toast in the clubhouse: the Reverend reached 50 career wickets and climbed to third on our all-time list, while H G Smith edged past F Marchant into tenth on the run-scorers' roll. Beaten by an innings in the end — but with form like that stirring, we'll be better for it next week.

Wed 13 Jun 1900 🧢 1st XIv RC Royal Engineers CC · HomeformLLLLL

Wednesday last, we welcomed Royal Engineers CC to Linton Park, and having called correctly at the toss — a rare enough event to note in itself — I had no hesitation in taking first knock. George Champion set about proving me right, motoring past his fifty to finish on 52, with F S W Cornwallis (38) and J R Head (23) lending sturdy support while I pottered along to 38 of my own, mostly by refusing anything that looked dangerous.

The Engineers replied in kind, built almost entirely around A J Woodroffe's fine 84, well backed by M G Pollock's 20. Poor A H Du Boulay and A W Reid, however, will not thank us for the pair of ducks 🦆 we inflicted between us. The day belonged to X Fielder, whose 5-0 was a spell of proper quality and thoroughly deserved, with X Pike and S Christopherson chipping in two apiece to keep the pressure on throughout.

A tidy afternoon for the record books, too: Cornwallis's 64 runs on the season eases him past Jack Fryer into 3rd on our all-time run charts, while Christopherson's five wickets lift him past J N Tonge into 7th among our leading wicket-takers — Champion still tops the 1900 run charts, Fielder sitting second among the bowlers.

In the end neither side could force the issue, and honours were shared. A draw, then — which, given the quality on show from both sides, felt rather like the fair result.

Sat 02 Jun 1900 🧢 1st XIv SS Sutton Valence School · HomeformWLLLL

Saturday last saw Sutton Valence School pitch up at Linton Park, and I confess my first act of leadership was to lose the toss — a habit I am cultivating with worrying consistency. They chose to bat, we had first use of the Kookaburra, and for a good while it looked the sounder decision, with H W Hunting compiling a fluent 39 and J B Shaw chipping in 33. But then Jack Fryer got his fingers working, spinning through the innings for a scarcely believable 6-0 — and if you think that reads like a misprint, I assure you it does not.

Sadly, cricket has a cruel sense of symmetry, and our reply never quite got airborne. Fryer, not content with bowling us into contention, then top-scored with 28, ably supported by H G Smith's 24 — but beyond that the innings rather crumbled, F S W Cornwallis contributing a golden duck to proceedings. As for the captain, I can only offer my sincerest apologies: a golden blob, out first ball, which is not quite the example one hopes to set from the top of the order, or indeed anywhere in it.

There was, at least, one shaft of sunlight amid the gloom — Fryer brought up his hundredth career wicket, a landmark thoroughly deserved and warmly toasted in the pavilion afterwards. He leads our run and wicket charts for the season alike, carrying the rest of us rather more than we'd like to admit.

In the end we fell 24 runs short. Not our day, but heads up — it's back to the nets, and perhaps a quiet word with myself about first-ball golden blobs.