Brenchley Cricket Club

Ground: Adjacent, Brenchley Memorial Hall
Brenchley Road (opposite Blind Lane)
Brenchley, Kent TN12 7NX

2008 found a great improvement in the wickets, the heavy roller proving its worth. We repeated the scarifying and loam work on the wicket at the end of the 2008 season and now can go forward, knowing that the wicket has never had so much work done on it in living memory!!

The 2008 season was very successful for Brenchley CC. We only lost one game - the situation being, we had made a good score and I declared 15 minutes early, to allow us more time to get the opposition out. The opposition got the runs required in the final over! Many people said that “Cricket won,” as jugs were bought in the bar and it was a good tight match; albeit the Brenchley players (in good humour) just said that ‘I made the wrong decision, shouldn’t have declared!’

You may or may not be aware that Siegried Sassoon (First World War poet) used to play cricket on the Brenchley Wicket and wrote a story called ‘The Flower Show Match’. I am led to believe that this match actually happened with the names of players and places slightly changed. Some of the phrases from the story are as follows: "The train slowed up at Baldock Wood Stn. (Paddock Wood Stn.).....Butley Church with its square Church tower (Brenchley Church)......Sitting under the shade of the Chestnut tree......Pausing to inspect the wicket, which had a nasty habit of causing fast bowling to ‘bump’". Nothing had changed there then! Until all the work that has now been done to the wickets, of course.

I am always looking for players, as you can never turn out the same team each week due to the busy lives we all seem to lead these days. Fortunately there are enough that can enjoy the view from Brenchley, leather on willow, the sun and blue sky (if we are very lucky!) and, of course, a drink afterwards.

The TBA dates we can fill or not depending on the availability of players.

If you require further information please contact me.

Allan Jones, Club Captain, 01892 832037
ajones3805@talktalk.net

Fixtures Secretary: Chas Marchant. Telephone: 01892 724057