Dan won the toss and made the wise choice to bowl first. Early season rustiness was evident with SCC racking up 39 extras (13b  3lb  20w  3nb ) which proved to be the second highest score of the Herne Bay innings by some distance. With only one batsmen breaking into double figures the 39 extras were not popular with the skipper. A fine bowling performance from Joe Pritchard (17-4 from 4 overs) and Tom Leaver (11-3 from 9 overs) backed up by Rosie, Macca and debutant James Brigton.

With 103 runs on the board the win seemed likely for Saltwood, but we did manage to do it the hard way ending up at 25-4 before Dan and James took control. Dan took a back seat, leaving James to bash a couple of sixes to finish off the match and get 20 points on the board.

Full Scorecard (click here)

There are still a few bits of painting to be finished off by Tristan on Saturday and everyone is welcome to join him. We were also lucky to hear that we have been awarded some money from the Shepway Community Chest Fund which will help with the pavilion refurbishment costs. Over the next month or so we’ll be adding a wheelchair ramp where the scorers box used to be, installing a disabled access toilet, adding a ladies changing room, replacing the ceilings, replacing the carpet and much to Joey’s delight we will also be having a new shower in the home dressing room to replace the 1980′s cabin shower. Joey has volunteered his own time to do most of the work, so please support him if you have any building talents or can do some of the grunt work.

The hosepipe ban is just hours away and Veolia Water have refused our request for 1 hour of watering a week. To get round the problem we have installed 1200l of water storage which can be pumped to the sprinkler hose, saving Shaun an hour of watering by hand. Assuming that it rains every couple of weeks, the water butts will be re-filled and used during the dry spells. We’re looking into a 2500l tank for use this summer and applying for funding for a 15,000l underground rainwater system that should see us in much better shape for next year.

We’ve got lots to do for the T20 season opener on the 22nd April so the more people that turn up the easier it will be. We’ll have all the materials ready to go so all you need to bring are some clothes that you don’t mind getting mucky and a pair of gardening gloves.

The BBQ will be fired up and the tea, coffee and beer will be flowing. Here’s a small selection of the jobs we need to complete…..

• Clean the BBQ!
• Clean and paint the outside of the pavilion
• Clear out the gutters
• Replace damaged sections of the steps
• Build the new scorers box
• Smarten up to the driveway

A few phone calls later and Wootton & Denton decided that it would be a good time to cancel the match. Thanks for that lads, we had nothing better to do than go for a drive in the countryside. With 20 points in the bag we were now Champions of the ‘Kent Regional Cricket League - 1C – East’ !!!

With nothing left to do that afternoon the decision was made to head back to the Wood for a BBQ and a few refreshments. What followed was a fine display of catching practice involving the catch cradle, a very fast bowling machine, Dan and a cricket helmet. Click here to see Dan Rose taking on the bowling machine.This should not be repeated by anyone !

Once the bowling machine well and truely tamed at short range we decided to try out some training scenarios by cranking up the pace to 99mph and seeing who could take a catch off the slip cradle. Needless to say we all failed but had a laugh trying. After that we retired to the Saltwood Club for a few beers and Jaeger Bombs.

A huge thank-you to Dan Cowell for leading the team so well this season. Looking forward to the 2012 Regional League campaign.

Not to be outdone, Rose came up with a wicket maiden – 31 for 5 off 11. Then 4 overs later had a double wicket maiden (a Shaun catch and a bowled)- 42 for 7 off 15. And when Joey (taking over from Tom) had his own wicket maiden – 49 for 8 off 18 – things looked really good for an early finish. But alas the 9th wicket partnership for Ashford proved to be rather stubborn, as well as riding their luck as several possible catches went begging. It was Tim who managed the breakthrough thanks to another Shaun catch – 119 for 9 off 37. And Tom, back for his second spell, who took the last wicket, bowling their No. 10. Ashford finally out for 125 in 39.3 overs – the only upside was the fines bank making a bit of a killing!!

Bowling figures:- Rose 12-4-33-4 Tom 9.3-2-32-4 Joey 6-1-16-1

Shaun and Tim W opened the Wood innings, scoring in 2′s and 4′s to start. They had notched up a very useful 81 when Shaun was caught for 29. This was payback as the catcher was the same batsman that Shaun had caught to break the 9th wicket partnership. Tim (46) joined by Kearnsy and they added 21 with Tim reaching his 50, Kearnsy being caught for 6 – 102 for 2 off 16. Ben M in next adding 7 of the 10 scored before being bowled – 112 for 3 off 18.

Cowello next up, seeing us home with Tim hitting the winning run and finishing not out on 72 – a fine all round performance from him. Another healthy 7 wicket win for the Wood in the RL – but some serious catching practise now due!

We opened with G and Jezza but G went first ball, caught behind, not the best of starts. Macca joined Jezza and managed to find the boundary, the partnership adding 18 before Jez was bowled for a single in the 8th over. Shaun in next and this was our most successful partnership putting on 49, Macca being bowled for 46 in the 17th over – 67 for 3. Baz in at 5 hitting a rapid 23 off 19 balls, given out LBW -102 for 4 off 22. Tom joined Shaun, playing his back up role, with Shaun reaching his 50 in the 26th over. Tom was bowled for 15 in the 28th over – 140 for 5 – but Shaun hung on to give us our batting point, getting himself stumped for 66 with the score on 160 in the final over. Moxo and Reedy played out the final balls and we finished in the rain on 165 for 6.

The weather had improved a little when Leybourne went out to bat, Reedy and Macca our opening bowlers. The first wicket fell to Reedy in the 3rd over, Shaun taking a superb catch diving forward in the slips – 17 for 1 – a promising start. Macca’s wickets came in the middle of his spell, in consecutive overs. They came courtesy of a Lewso catch, an LBW decision and a good take by Moxo behind the stumps leaving Leybourne on 49 for 4 off 12 – we seemed to have things under control. Unfortunately Leybourne’s 5th wicket partnership added 101 in 13 overs Baz making the breakthrough bowling their No. 4 for 43 – 150 for 5 off 25. Tom bowled his replacement for 1 next over but the damage had been done and Leybourne passed our total in the 27th over for the loss of 6 wickets. Reedy 9-0-42-1 Macca 9-0-32-3

Lewso in at 3, hitting 9 off 13 and then being bowled – 81 for 2 off 19 – Biff on 48. Shaun joined Biff who notched his 50 2 overs later, but having got to 60 he succumbed to a father/son combination, being caught in the 24th over – 99 for 3. Sadly this was the start of a Wood collapse, not helped by some very erratic calling which surprisingly only brought about one run out (Amanda for 2). The only other batsman to reach double figures was Moxo who got to 19 and the Wood were all out for 151 (9 short of a batting point) – El Presidente being the 10th wicket to fall in the 38th over.

The Joey/Tom tea was a great success so huge thanks to them, also to Moxo’s mum and dad who kindly washed up afterwards. Biff and Tom opened the bowling for us but could not break the opening partnership. The introduction of El P finally made the breakthrough, getting an LBW decision from Brookland’s umpire – 104 for 1 off 18.

This second wicket partnership almost made it to the finish but El P struck again in the 24th over, bowling the No. 3 for 26 with only 4 needed to win. These were duly hit by Stanley the other opener who finished not out on 69. A rather comprehensive 8 wicket win in 24.1 overs. A mention for Big T who made some very useful stops in the field without which we would have finished even sooner and Biff who almost pulled off a diving one-handed catch but couldn’t quite hold onto it.

Kearnsy and Trev 2 were our next pair but Kearnsy was bowled next over for 2 – 23 for 3 – bringing Tom to the crease, could he manage to steady the ship? Nine was added for the next wicket, Trev caught for 6 – 32 for 4 off 10. Cowello lasted for 12 balls, hitting a 4 and a 6 before being caught – 51 for 5 off 14. Matt W joined Tom and this pair produced the highest partnership (20), Matt being bowled for 14 (highest score) – 71 for 7 off 21 – Reedy went for a golden next ball, 71 for 8. Joey in at 9 and after a near run out, it’s Tom out next for 13, having held firm for 16 overs – 82 for 8 off 23.

Rose joins Joey but they don’t add to the score as Joey is bowled next over for 7 – 82 for 9. Amanda faces 6 balls but is bowled without scoring leaving Rose not out on 4. The Wood are all out for 87 off 25.5 overs with several sporting bruises caused by the erratic bounce.

As it was only 3.20, HG went straight into bat, Reedy and Rose opening the bowling for us. Hythe started smartly and had reached 22 when Rose struck, bowling their No. 2 for 4 in the 6th over. Reedy claimed the wicket of the more prolific Allen for 18, caught behind (Shaun) – 26 for 2 off 9. Reedy struck again in his next over, bowling the No. 4 for a single – 29 for 3 off 11. And with the run rate having slowed dramatically, he took his 3rd wicket, an LBW decision, in the 15th over – 35 for 4.

Tea was taken at this point and Reedy and Rose returned to finish their overs. They were replaced by Tom and Joey but no further wickets were taken and HG hit the winning runs at the end of the 28th over, finishing on 91 for 4. Special mention for Rose who finished with top figures of 10-4-8-1, Reedy 10-2-36-3, Tom 4-0-22-0, Joey 3-0-12-0 and G 1-0-1-0

Baz in next but things didn’t improve as he also holed out off his 4th ball – 1 for 2 off 2 – oh dear!! Hall (Pilchard) joined Tom and things began to look up for us (well they couldn’t get much worse) as the scoring rate rose from 2 to 3 and then 4. Pilchard reached his 50 in the 21st over, the century partnership coming 2 overs later. Having put on a superb 119, Pilch was caught behind for 71 in the 25 over – 120 for 3.

Davis joined Tom who was now on 40 and they had added a further 26, which included several Wood members cheering Tom’s maiden 50 when he was only on 48!, when Davis was bowled for 5 – 146 for 4 off 29. Fortunately Tom hit 4 to notch up his 50 in the following over, accompanied by a bigger cheer from the Pavilion, and this seemed to spur him on as he and Joey added a further 50 in just 7 overs, Tom finally being bowled for a brilliant 81 in the 36th over – 196 for 5.

Macca in next hitting a rapid 20 off 17 and was then run out, Joey deciding not to risk the run! – 223 for 6 in the final over. Moxo ran a single off a no ball bringing Joey on strike and he was bowled for 14 next ball, marking our second milestone as Amanda went into bat, hitting a single off her first ball. Moxo finished the innings with a big 6 into the trees and the Wood ended on 235 for 7, a very respectable total.

Following his heroics with the bat, Tom opened the bowling with Joey taking the first wicket in his 4th over – 27 for 1 off 7. A double bowling change after the 11th over brought on Baz and Macca, Macca bowling the other opener for 35 – 49 for 2 off 13. He took his second wicket, also bowled in the 17th over – 81 for 3. B

az got in on the act next over also a bowled – 90 for 4. Macca taking his 3rd wicket – a C&B, having to fend off 2 other fielders with a loud call to take the catch – 90 for 5 off 19. A Davis catch off Baz’s bowling in the next over saw BB on 95 for 6 off 20. Macca again with a bowled in the 21st over 95 for 7 and Baz also a bowled next over 100 for 8 off 22. After this steady fall of wickets, the final partnership proved to be more stubborn so with Baz and Macca having bowled out, Amanda and El Presidente (Jo Rice) came on. And it was Amanda with the first ball of her second over who took the final wicket with a catch off her own bowling – BB all out for 123 off 29.1 overs – well done the Wood – a double winning weekend.

Bowling figures – Tom 6-2-13-1 Joey 5-0-23-0 Baz 8-1-35-3 Macca 8-1-34-4 Amanda 1.1-0-3-1 and El P 1-0-6-0