2nd Team Summary – 2017 Season
With both 1st and 2nd XI teams in the Kent Cricket League the hope was to build on the previous year and look for them to challenge for promotion in 2017.
The 2nd XI lost to High Halstow on the first day of the season by 3 wickets but bounced back the following week against Tonbridge bowling the opposition out for 145 (Lee Cogger 5 for 39) and reaching the target with 6 wickets and 19 overs to spare (Joe Cooper 65). The following week they got caught out on a very damp pitch at Hartley and were bowled out for 80. Ashford away saw a winning draw as the team reached 242 for 5 dec (Dylan Lee 103, James Weller 68) but failed to remove the last couple of wickets. A comfortable win against Bromley Town saw the team play top of the league and eventual Champions Cobham. In a well fought battle Bapchild reached 154 for 9 (Lee Cogger 33) and the game went down to the last ball with the Cobham scoring 1 run to tie the match. Harvel was bowled out for 90 the following week (Lee Cogger 4 for 17, Ashley Bax 4 for 23) and the target was reached with 9 wickets to spare in the 12 overs.
At the start of the second half of the season the tables were turned as the team beat High Halstow by 7 wickets. The opposition was bowled out for 178 (Lee Cogger 4 for 40) and 63 from Michael Willis in reply led to a comfortable win. The team unfortunately lost the toss on a damp pitch away to Tonbridge and incomplete matches against Hartley the following week (John Heatley 63) and Shooters Hill meant the chances of promotion started to slip away. Wins against Offham (Nick Page 59no) by 46 runs and a winning draw against Bromley Town meant they had to beat Cobham the following week to remain in the chase. Batting first the team were all out for 143 (John Heatley 56) and while Cobham started their innings strong a 4 for 29 from Tyler Wassell and an excellent 3 for 4 in four overs from Harry Mantle led to a comfortable 30 run win. However, it meant promotion was out of their hands as they travelled to Harvel on the last day of the season. They did their job with a comfortable 96 run win (Lincoln Bryden 74, Glenn Kennett 5 for 33) but with both Cobham and High Halstow also winning meant they missed promotion by just 8 points but like the 1st team still a great season.