Good afternoon all
Yesterday we hosted Little Chart at Dedham's Ground
Match reporter this week - Stewart Wells
A brilliant day of cricket unfolded as we headed over to Dedham to play our old friends Little Chart, who were down on tour. Despite a slight mix-up with the ground—with full credit for the detour going to Rob Sherriff—and a lovely pub lunch to steady the nerves, the skipper won the toss and elected to bat first.
Stuart Logan and Tristan Skinner opened the batting, but disaster struck early with Logan back in the hutch for a low score. This unfortunate turn of events resulted in a rather moody, angry Stuart Logan for the remaining 36 overs.
Out in the middle, however, Jonny Weavers and Tristan were busy making hay on what was a rather tricky, unpredictable pitch. Tristan batted beautifully, departing for a superb 51—a performance some on the boundary were already calling one of the greatest knocks you could ever witness.
The middle order then experienced a bit of a collapse. Nev departed for a solid duck, though Tom Jepson steadied the ship briefly with a handy 18. Tom’s dismissal sparked a dramatic hat-trick for the Little Chart bowler, with Tom, Dan, and Dave all falling victim in consecutive balls.
Wellsy was in and out in a flash, and Chown tried to hang around but found himself back in the pavilion rather sharpish.
Waugh, armed with his massive levers, came in and slapped it around for a quickfire 12 before departing. That brought Katie Logan to the crease to join Weavers, who was still anchoring the innings from the other end.
Deciding enough was enough, Weavers threw caution to the wind, but his first real shot of aggression saw him bowled for a magnificent, match-defining 83.
Leavenheath finished their 40 overs, setting Little Chart a competitive 195 to win.
Dan and Callum opened the bowling, offering a classic contrast of pace and spin. Callum ended his four-over spell wicketless but kept things tight. Logan then came on from the other end, finding an incredible amount of life in the Dedham pitch—balls were flying through at waist and head height, swinging past the bat. Dan finished his 8-over spell with a well-deserved 2 wickets.
Then came the turning point of the innings: the introduction of the 'SAS' partnership (Stuart and Stewart), who took total control of the game.
The moment of the match belonged to Wellsy in the field. Fielding at mid-wicket, he tracked a skyer that practically went around Mars. It finally descended into his big hands, sparking wild celebrations as Little Chart’s dangerous opener was sent packing.
Wellsy and Logan kept chipping away at the batting lineup. With Logan taking three wickets, it was time for a changing of the guard: Katie Logan came on to replace her dad and struck, cleaning up the batsman with a magnificent delivery that took middle stump right out of the ground!
Wellsy finished things off to claim 4 wickets, with Little Chart being bowled out for 112.
A massive shout-out goes to Jonny Weavers. Not only did he top-score with a brilliant 83, but he also put on a masterclass behind the stumps, pocketing 4 catches in a true Man of the Match performance.
The day was capped off in traditional fashion with a few well-earned beers in the pub afterwards, made all the sweeter by the historic event of Chown actually buying a round. What a day!