After winning a most exciting Kent Cup Final where the pendulum swung more than a Bob Massie Lords spell the Blackheath Under 13 bandwagon finally hit the road for their first away game.

We had drawn Kidmore End CC in the South of England ¼ final and Sat Navs were set for a Berkshire Champion club that appeared to be in Oxfordshire!

It was a beautiful summer’s day when we all finally arrived at Kidmore End. A wonderful rural setting and a far cry from the back streets of SE London. This was going to be no pushover though; the club immediately gave the impression of being a serious entity. A mere minute or two in the pavilion showed any doubter that this was a club with a proud history, wonderful photographs of bygone matches and the feel that only an old wooden pavilion can provide.

Our opposition were fit and ready to go. Well turned out and warming up as professionally as any other club, we knew from the off that Kidmore had reached this stage of the competition by no other means than playing good cricket.

No other match scheduled that day allowed a flexible start time and as two of our players were late; Kidmore and the umpires were most generous in allowing the game to start ½ an hour later than advertised.

Blackheath won the toss and decided to bat. Under 13s can be deceptive and your correspondent was immediately drawn into the trap of thinking that the opposition looked a little on the small side. The opening bowlers however were excellent. Blackheath have relied on their early batting in this competition but Spears and Glass gave nothing for Curreen and Ali to capitalize on. The pressure built and inevitably at this age, run outs ensued. Mahi Mahfazul gave the only real resistance with a classy 29* and a total of 88 after 20 overs led to Kidmore enjoying their lunch rather more than Blackheath.

And what a lunch! The hospitality provided by the parents and supporters was exceptional. Plenty of sandwiches and savouries plus an array of cakes and fresh fruit led to the Manager of Blackheath, Chris Willets having to eject certain players away from chocolate cakes etc in order to prepare properly for the 20 overs ahead in the field!

With such a small total to defend Blackheath had to make a good start with the ball. Mahfazul’s efforts with the bat left him a bit drained in the heat and his 1st over was disappointing when it yielded 8 runs for Kidmore. The management team of Willets and Bohndiek however had an ace up their sleeve:  
Jahed Miah, a classical Slow Left Armer, had been bowling as tightly as Scrooge in this competition and he was trusted to open the bowling at the other end. Mike Bohndiek had said at tea that Jahed had to bowl 4 overs for nothing for us to have a chance. Whether he meant this literally as events actually transpired is unclear. Jahed Miah bowled 4 overs and 4 maidens. A quite exceptional performance, especially as this was against Spears and Grant, Kidmores premier batsmen.

Miah’s bowling inspired the rest of the team with good contributions from Walsh, Khan and Beaumont before Ali and Ahmed completely tied up both ends  for the last 6 overs. Between them they conceded less than 30 runs and also picked up 4 important wickets at the death.

Once again Blackheath’s all round talent had allowed them to win a game which in-between innings almost looked a lost cause. Not just the players mentioned but an all round effort. Great fielding and running between wickets late on and some excellent catches made it feel again like a real team effort.

So we left Kidmore in good spirits and with the thought of at least 2 ½ hours in a hot car diluted by the happy memories of a lovely summer’s day. A day that was enhanced by the welcome given to us by Kidmore End CC and moreover the excellent encouragement and appreciation the parents and supporters of KECC gave to both sides. Good cricket, and there was plenty of it, was equally applauded by the crowd for both teams.