Cricket Week and the sun's here.
Well would you Adam and Eve it? After one miserable, cold, wet weekend after another, Cricket Week starts and the sun comes out. I can't even see a cloud anywhere at the moment. Someone obviously did something right.

Four games on Sunday
If you want to see the difference the new ground can make, you needed to be here on Sunday, when four games were played in the girl's SeaFrance League. Our U13's won both their fixtures and are now second in the league, beating Thanet and Swale. They might even get a shot at the finals in Gloucester, if they are close enough to champions Nonington to earn a best runners up spot.
  Thanks are due to everyone who turned up in the morning, Hancke, George and Macca, to help get the very large amount of water that arrived on Saturday night off the square.
   More than worthwhile - the atmosphere on a sunny Sunday with four teams playing at once, in front of four sets of parents, is absolutely excellent. We want more days like these.

Up and Down
The 1s were unlucky not to bag another maximum away to Dartford on Saturday, but a winning draw has moved them up the table, above Whitstable.
  At home, the gamble of batting first came unstuck as Stan departed of the second ball. The 2s then battled, on a rain affected pitch, towards 200 without quite getting there. They then had the misfortune to watch Hayes stroll to the total and 16 points as the pitch refused to misbehave in the late afternoon sunshine.

Not too much to smile about

Simon Wren has produced a GREAT album of photographs from the Ground Opening last week. Click here to see them.
Bexley will remember Sibton Park this season. They collected all 80 points for one thing and The Park 1s and 2s had manufactured a winning position in each of the games before surrendering it. If they don't get promoted, it won't be our fault.
  Evington on Sunday, a match saved by a lot of Geoff's hard work to roll out the dampness, was no better, and the 1s went all the way over to Rodmersham who said they must have called the wrong cub to cancel, ruining two lots of Sundays instead of just one.
  Let's hope for better things this weekend.

Après le deluge - a bit of tap
Nowhere near the sort of free scoring we saw in sunny April, but George (42), Hancke (34) and MoM Rowey (69) (again!) played themselves in and drove, swept and cut Folkestone's spinners on the way to a total of 193 that looked, finally, like an above par score.

More excellent pictures from Ken Matcham
The parched conditions of April and the soaking wet mess that was May were a memory on Saturday with The Park looking its greenest this year for Folkestone's first ever KCL League visit. Folkestone's World Cup superstar, Niall O'Brian (25) also appeared to be enjoying himself until well caught by George. There were a few Sibton juniors whose day was made by a bit of hitting with the genial Irishman when not on duty (other superstars please note).
 However, once the openers had departed, the Folkestone innings fell away as the 1s collected their first maximum.
  The 2s were out of luck in a very close match against top of the table Tunbridge Wells, the last wicket falling off the third ball of the last over with just 6 runs required. Your thoughts may run to identity theft when you look at the scorecard, but no, I can confirm that Hickers REALLY did get a fifer.
  
Another first
There have been many notable father and son partnerships at The Park, with Andy Keeler and Jamie featuring yesterday against Kennington. However the match feature the first ever father and daughter pairing (and it was a right pain trying to get both in one shot, thank you skipper).
  Father, Jonathan Woodgate, kept and Georgina batted and had an active day in the field with the Sunday 2s in a match that now has a historic place in the Sibton archive.

Too much water
Last weekend, I couldn't bear to waste words on another washout, even if George did get 50 against Canterbury and help set up a potential winning position against the promotion contenders. Not, of course, that Jenko would agree as rain interrupted his sledging masterclass 27 overs in.   This weekend, it looks better.
   With their usual admirable sense of timing, the U11s grabbed the opportunity offered by a passing hole in the clouds to wallop Folkestone A on Wednesday evening.

Georgina White, the first graduate of the Girls' section to play in the Sunday 2's, with captain Gary Towse.

In The Godden Cup Final
The weather forecast for the weekend has seldom looked worse, with severe weather warnings out for Kent and ponds around the square as I type. But the sun shone on the Park last night as Hythe were comfortably dismissed in the semi final of the Godden Cup.
  Leon Morgan and Charley Hemphrey led a spirited charge to but both departed to shots that were a little too adventurous leaving Hythe stuttering up to
109-7 off their twelve 8-ball overs.
   Needing 9 an over, Hickers an Shahid allowed themselves the luxury of playing themselves in before a series of crunching drives took The Park past the finish line in the eighth over without loss.

One game complete, but Ouch!!
All games bar the 1s visit to Sandwich were abandoned on a very wet weekend with few matches anywhere in the country unaffected by rain. It's a risk making a determined effort in conditions like these. Win and you leap up the table, lose and you move closer to teams below you collecting 8 points for an incomplete game.
 There were two great performances in the match which was in the balance with all results possible, until the last few balls. Sadly, rather than Hancke (66), who adapted best of all to the batting conditions, it was young Robbie Goatham of Sandwich who triumphed with the ball,finishing with two wickets in the last over and earning them all 20 points.

18th June Tide turning at last??

Howzat? Another great image from Ken Matcham

Well, certainly it looked like it this weekend. Although Harvel, it has to be said, did not bat all that well, Smudger and Rowey gave nothing away at all this Saturday and anyway, we've seen 60-6 up at the Park before and been unable to convert. Hell, we had Bexley, runaway Div 1 leaders 1-3, remember that?

No doubt about this one
   So, after some quality strokeplay from Harvel's overseas, 117 to get.
   No collapse chasing a low total this time though, with sterling anchorwork from George (35*) and 10 boundaries through the tightest of infields from Hobo (57). Sixteen well deserved points and whilst, thanks to the abandoned game between Orpington and Whitstable, there's no change in our table position, there's a nice gap below us and a tight group to aim at just a few points above.
  The 2s also forgot last week and turned in an excellent performance against Tenterden (hello Tevis, your dad seems to have got his eye in again!). Also, his eye never having got out, none other than the Silver Fox turned in the highest score on our card. A last wicket partnership of 29 from James Squire and Tidy set Tenterden 217 which looked safe from about halfway through the Tenterden reply when Toby Withers Green went at 118-6. A winning draw and a very acceptable points haul has put the 2s back where they can see the promotion places again.
  Gore Court began with missing player incident and continued with a navigation error incident and got off to a late start. Tom Payne (47) and George (93) opened and played the ball to all parts, particularly enjoying the Gore Court captain's injunction to his fastest bowler to put it in short. Hancke (109*), arriving when George was on 60, enjoyed their bowling most though.

11th June More League misery

Trevor Squire finds the boundary against Hartley. Picture Ken Matcham

Hartley inflicted another double over the Saturday League sides, this weekend. Excellent bowling and the continued absence of any sort of innings from the Sibton top order made life difficult for the 1s, though highly creditable rearguard action from Martyn (19), Rowey (40) and Bear (9) turned 88-7 into a defendable 159. Although Bear then performed the difficult task of removing James Hockley, sadly they needed just another 19 runs for 16 points.
  The 2s fared no better, setting an almost identical total. 152 and featuring a similarly gritty performance from the tail with Tidy (19) Sam Newman (12*) frustrating Hartley's attempts to collect the last wicket cheaply. The points all went to Hartley, though.
  Bossingham arrived with an overseas player who spoke Afrikaans, a welcome surprise for Hancke. Hancke's 126* and the continuation of Trevor's excellent weekend with 118* must have been a bit of an unwelcome surprise for Bossingham. 326 off 40 overs, with an almost incredible 130 from in the last seven.
   Oh, if you're the bloke in the green van who Hancke hit with a massive six, this happens outside cricket grounds. There's no point in getting all aggressive about it. Get one of those Satnavs that knows when South Africans are batting and diverts you round them.

4th June: 2s advance, crushing The Mote, 1s retreat
Cricket as it should be on Saturday at the Park. Beautiful weather, decent crowd of onlookers, bar open, Harveys on tap and a 9 wicket home victory after Tidy took The Mote, batting first, to pieces.
  141 is not a good score to be defending at The Park this season and Stan and Hickers got almost all the way there.
  Events at Orpington were not so attractive. Batting first, Orpington struggled up to 98. Very few of them were expecting any points from the match so it was a bit of a surprise that they managed to collect all 20.
  Best news of the weekend however, was David Payne's performance against a strong Bishopsbourne side on Sunday. Bishopsbourne managed to set 261, with an unmentionable 136 not out in the middle somewhere from someone whose name no one seems to know. David, after keeping, and getting a stumping, scored his first ton for The Park with some very impressive cutting and pulling. Perhaps the 1s need to look in on Sundays, occasionally, if they're short of batting.

29 May Dartford savaged by a Bear
And you watched it happen and did nothing! Results around the county confirm that Sibton were right to be glum about losing the toss. Put into bat in damp conditions, the early batsman struggled until Hank (76) set about the Dartford attack, racing to 50 in less than 50 balls. Partnerships with Trevor Squire (23) and Steve Rowe (18), with some bravura hitting at the end of the innings from James Squire and Bear posted a respectable 193.
  Dartford, it has to be said, looked confident and were still playing aggressively when Bear came on to bowl with the score at 48-3.
   After 5 wickets tumbled off the big man's crafty spin for just eleven runs, there was little for Dartford to do other than try to hang on. Rowey's return saw them all out in the 44th over and secured the first 20 pointer of the season. Onward and upward!
  The 2s were looking good at Hayes when the match was abandoned, ending incomplete.
  Sunday's vists to The Mote and the visit of Dover Cosmos fell foul of the rain.

23 May The mower arrives at last!

I don't think more work ever went into a grant application than we saw this winter with the application to the ECB Single Investment System Groundsman's Fund.
  But the fruit of all that labour, by Dave Rawlings, Nigel Arnold and yours truly will be a huge improvement in the life of Sibton's groundstaff. The Toro 5400 we've acquired from the London Golf Club will reduce the time it takes to cut the outfield, even with the new ground extension, to a fraction of the time spent on the Dennis.
  The Dear old Dennis, (or DOD) will still get the odd outing, but the comforting picture of Geoff or the Doc circling the ground for hours is a thing of the past. Though of course instead of saving the time, Geoff has now come up with a scheme for cutting three times a week.

22nd May
Another weekend where you wanted to win the toss. The 2s did, the 1s didn't. The 2s won comfortably in the end against Whitstable, claiming 16 hugely important points and their first league victory of the season.
  The 1s batting struggled again, though Bear roared back into life. Hopefully, he'll infect the rest and we'll start to see what we were hoping for from the 1s next weekend.

13th May Defeat from the jaws of victory

Rowey's 2 wickets in the first over deserved a better result.
Picture Ken Matcham

Outmatched and outfoxed by Bexley
Sad but true. Although the 1s looked on course for a batting second win after 10 balls with Bexley's over confident openers out and the score on 1-3. Jack Bell anchored the Bexley innings and Vince Wells built a total but 167 looked well below par even in the conditions.
  However, after a bright start from Hancke, followed by resistance from determined-looking Andy and a confident-looking George, wickets fell with depressing regularity, though it has to be said there was some disbelief among onlookers from both clubs at one or two of the decisions. Still, the fall from 75-3 to 94 all out is enough to explain where the hoped for victory disappeared to.
  The 2s, sadly, were never on top as Bexley cruised to 278. The pick of the performances amongst the bowlers were Muzza's 32-2 and Mat Davey's 29-3. Wickets fell as each partnership tried to get up to the run rate, however, and the innings ended in the 46th over giving Bexley a 40 point double that they seemed very, very pleased with.
  All Sunday's games were cancelled as we enjoyed a return to proper cricket weather. I don't think anyone will be rushing to grab the local papers this Thursday.

6th May
Runs aplenty despite grey skies
Well it had to happen. After the semi tropical weather in April, with its semi-tropical thunderstorms and earthquakes, the skies clouded over for the first league weekend of the season.
  The 1s went down to Folkestone and were never really comfortable as they plodded up to 173 with Ben Allon top scoring with a tremendously hard fought 58, his debut league 50. Top work Ben. First of many we hope. Hancke von Rauenstein also made his debut 50. Bizarrely, though it was a low total for the track, Folkestone didn't chase hard and gave up, after losing early wickets to Rowey, and handed a surprised but grateful Sibton a winning draw. Happy to take that on the first day.
  Confidence was high after the 2s set Tunbridge Wells 259 in a strong first innings. However wickets were just too hard to come by and only three Tunbridge batsmen got out to the middle on a belter of a pitch, more like August than May. 500+ runs on the first day of the league season. When did that last happen? Plenty of encouragement, nonetheless and a full Deess match report here.
  However the flashing blades of Saturday were eclipsed on Sunday at Old Stacians where Hancke simply obliterated the Stacians attack with an incredible 162 with the Park smashing 336 off just 40 overs in their first EKL match. The scorecard makes interesting reading.
  After narrowly losing to Hawkinge last Sunday the U13s turned in a much slicker performance on Sunday morning, defeating old rivals Nonington by 39 runs.
  All in all, while a few more points for the 2s wouldn't have hurt, an excellent first weekend.

30th April
Well no one can say that this season didn't get off to an earth shattering start. Earthquake in Folkestone, complete shambles at the World Cup Final and Andy Allon and George trying to knock each other out in yet another accidental collision in the middle with Hythe setting about running them out.
  Saturdays' games were not that great with Hank on a training course the 1s missing half the league side and the rest determined on running each other out, while at Elham the 2's, also depleted, managed a winning draw against Elham.
  And Sunday's games weren't the greatest of spectacles either. Brookland set only 113 in their innings against Sibton's EKL league side. Hank (71*), returned from his conversion course, helped knock them off in short order, supported by George (37*) while the rest of the team enjoyed the sunshine. Meanwhile an unbalanced Sunday 2s side had a less happy afternoon, all out for 96 at Etchinghill at its tricky early season finest.

23rd April - First weekend
One long internal fielding competition on Saturday, which resulted in controversy, as they always do and home and away games against Yalding. All very satisfactory.
  The Saturday format resembled a Test Match for bowlers and fielders, with over 6 hours in the field, with 2 batsmen against 14 fielders. Tom Payne and Deess won comfortably in the end, with 55 off their eight overs but only one wicket down.
  The 1s away at Yalding saw Hank bat carefully at first, then build an innings of 75* on a tricky early season track which caught most of the other batsman, including the oppo's, out with unpredictable behaviour. Chasing 129 looked easy in the end but it would have been very different without the contribution from the newbie at Number Two. Hank said later that he was pleased with the start the team had made but "we haven't won anything yet and there's a lot of work to do". If we get on and do it, I think we might be in for a good season.
  Meanwhile, back at the Park, Jamie Keeler opened for the 2s and made his maiden adult 50 as we set Yalding's' 2nd XI 200. Sam Newman, slightly wayward at first, took his example from the ever reliable Terry Hardie on his return as the two cleaned up with Yalding well short of the total.

2007 season coming round
And we have our first trophy in the bag already. Sibton Park won the indoor for the first time since it moved to the Harvey Grammar School. And it wasn't close. A 100% record included huge victories over Harvey Grammar School, Barham and perennial favourites Elham. Exemplary running between the wickets has been the mainspring of success and in particular, the opening partnership of DS and George has frequently devastated bowling and induced ragged fielding in their opposition.
   The boys go on to the County round of the tournament and have drawn either Dartford or Canterbury in the next round.

Presentation Evening 2006

Presentation Evening this year took place at the County Ground, hosted by none other than David Fulton, in his benefit year, and on League Dinner night too! This event gets bigger and bigger and even The Harris Room looked none too big last night with few empty chairs by the time Paul Woodward got proceedings underway. Click on the picture for more pictures and if you have any of your own, email them in to Mike and he'll add them to the gallery. A full table of this year's winners will follow soon.

The new ground
There will be more than one workday required on the new ground. First we need a working party to get up any remaining stones. And we will have the usual, Cricketforce style workday for general ground preparation, which may extend over more than one weekend. As always, volunteer what time you can. Even if it's only half a morning, it's useful to the club and keeps the morale of the usual suspects high.

Ground Alterations win local funding
New photoalbum showing ground alterations and new artificial wicket
Our application for funds for the new ground extension were successful. At Shepway's Local Board meeting, Sibton were voted £5,000 as a contribution to finishing the new ground. This will finish off the new artificial pitch, cover the regrading and seeding of the wicket area, with maybe just a smidgen left over from all the fundraising activities for some planting and seating. This local fund is available to all properly constituted organisations and our local County Councillor, Susan Carey, who represents Elham Valley, is quite anxious for its existence to be better known.