🧢 Captain's Log

Sat 25 Jul 1925 🧢 1st XIv Bearsted CC · HomeformLLDLT

Saturday 25th July, and Bearsted CC rolled up to Linton Park looking altogether too pleased with themselves. We had first use of the ball, and while Frank Harnett settled in for a fine, unhurried 78 — sailing well past his fifty and doing the bulk of the damage — the rest of the Bearsted order rather melted away around him, D Dawes trudging back without troubling the scorers at all. E Godden was pick of the attack by some distance, four wickets and not a run conceded, ably supported by E Walter (three) and N Merritt (one), both every bit as miserly. A fine morning's work, whatever followed.

Sadly, the bat did not follow where the ball had led. W Turner, N Merritt and J Barker each offered up a golden duck to the cause, and the innings never really got off the ground. My own small effort of 15 was scant consolation, and behind the stumps we had an afternoon to forget, shipping eight byes for good measure.

As things stand this season, C Hartridge continues to head the run charts with 38, and E Godden tops the wicket-takers with 7 — thoroughly deserved after Saturday's spell.

We went down by 102 runs in the end. A chastening one, but we'll be better for it next week.

Sat 13 Jun 1925 🧢 1st XIv Bearsted CC · AwayformDLLDL

1925 was a good year for a dead-level classic. Here's the report.

Captain's Log, Bearsted, Saturday 13th June: a match that promised much, delivered everything, and in the end couldn't decide who deserved it more.

Sent to the middle first, we made a fist of things without ever quite grabbing the day by the scruff of the neck. J Barker was the rock, 38 not out and utterly unmoved by the chaos unfolding at the other end, with C Hartridge (23) and W Boorman (22) chipping in handsomely. Less handsomely, C Crundwell, W Merritt and J Fife all trooped back for ducks — three abreast on the pavilion balcony, presumably discussing whose fault it wasn't.

In the field, Bearsted found the going no easier. Frank Harnett's 28 and W R Gosling's 23 threatened to see them home, but J Fife, having contributed precisely nothing with the bat, made emphatic amends with the ball — five wickets, not a run conceded, bowling like a man with something to prove. E Godden (3) and C Walter (2) tidied up the rest, and E Cranham departed for a duck of his own, for balance.

As for the skipper: a golden duck. Say what you like about leading from the front — I led from the pavilion steps, rather more quickly than intended.

And so, after a full day's honest toil, honours even. A tie. You'd struggle to write a fairer script, and for once at Bearsted, nobody went home hard done by.