Refreshers v Falconhurst

17 May 2025

Sometimes…

Sometimes a cricket match, while played in a beautiful place, and by doughty, enthusiastic players, and featuring a superb tea, can meander. The dramatic tension can evaporate. The chances of an unexpected result dwindle. Everyone pretends otherwise: “come on lads, we’re still in this… long way to go” but they know, really, that it’s over. Only one result is possible. The tension is gone. Thoughts turn to other matters: the trial next week, how best to get home, the crisp tang of a cold lager at the pub…

Sometimes. But not always. Sometimes that feeling can descend, and everyone knows how it will end, and everyone, on at least one level, knows its over, but they are all wrong.

At the toss, the Falconhurst skipper intimated that he was a bit short of bowling, and it might be better that they bat first. It wasn’t really a suggestion, more a statement of fact. So the Refreshers gamely warmed up to field. We bowled reasonably well, took regular wickets, but Falconhurst batted well and scored fast. Local laird Talbot stroked the ball to all parts of the glorious ground, on his way to 84. Fatty Platty smashed a few later on. Debutant George Nixon bowled a remarkable mix of deliveries, including two wickets in two balls followed by possibly the worst hat-trick ball the Refreshers have ever seen. Falconhurst made 211 off their 35 overs.

Refreshers made a decent start, but wickets fell: Bryant and Godschalk both out early. Cannon and Cuthbert traded boundaries, vying for ‘best JC of the day’. The score ticked on, but 211 was a long way off. Cannon holed out, Jory joined the best JC. Fours were hit, but still, the game meandered. For all the best efforts, that hazy time had come, thoughts of the Kentish Horse, the beer, excuses. It was really only going one way. A little needle in the field. Falconhurst’s ‘no real bowling’ was well-hidden behind four really quite good bowlers, each of whom bowled their full eight. We needed 76 from the last 5 overs, Talbot bowling well. The Best JC was out, c&b on 79. It felt, well, unlikely.

But Jonathan Prince didn’t get the memo. He watched ball, hit ball. HARD. He hit six after six, not just clearing the ropes but doing so by a distance. Incredible power. 23 runs from the five balls he faced, and a final six, to take us past 211, with a ball to spare, giving the cows in the field beyond mid-off a wake-up. Refreshers had done it. Prince had ripped up the script. A magnificent, and deeply satisfying, victory.

The tea, by the way, was magnificent. Long may the cricket tea survive.