On a slightly overcast Saturday morning on the Green, Bearsted under 11's were looking to build on their opening League win against Mote. However they came up against a well drilled Linton team in this friendly match.

Opting to bowl first Bearsted, captained by Joe Salisbury, tried their best to contain the Linton batsmen. Tom Wentzell bowled full and fast with his best bowling performance to date, Luca Callander caused all the Linton batsmen problems with his pace and was unlucky to come away wicketless, while Joe Salisbury caused the Linton batsmen some uncomfortable moments with his Warnesque spin bowling performance. The highlight however was a fantastic lightening reaction catch from wicket keeper Alex G to remove one of the Linton batters.

Set a daunting target of 93, Bearsted set about their reply with a solid start by their opening pair of Robert Maughan and Tom W. However in the face of a rising over rate and tight Linton bowling, the middle order pairs steadily lost wickets through a mixture of sharp Linton catching and run outs from poor running between the wickets. Bearsted did manage some big hits, with Ashley Nix hitting two exquisite leg side boundaries while George Rhodes, on his debut, batted with a stoic defence which reminded many of Geoff Boycott in his prime. Coming to the crease with just 9 runs on the board the last batting pair of Joe S and Alex G decided to go for broke and go for the big shots which paid off with them adding 22 runs from their 4 overs.

Although a heavy defeat on paper, the Bearsted players didn't let their heads drop and played with a strong team ethic until the last ball. Having now experienced the high and lows of competitive cricket the team is looking forward to bouncing back in their next match away at Sissinghurst this Sunday.