DG Touring team from Leighton Buzzards travelled down for two games on a very hot day as part of their annual two day tour to Kent.

Professionally coached they always provide stiff opposition but our girls and boys, many playing only their first or second hard ball match, did the Club proud.

They initially played a pairs match followed by a two inning match with plenty of drink, lotion pizza and lollies throughout the day.

Everyone had fun and the games were played in the right spirit to the point the Touring team are now considering returning during the summer holidays.

Many thanks to Richard for organising and to all those who took part and making the day so enjoyable

ALSO

A special thanks to MJ Plastics for donating a Makita portable fan which was very generous and very well received on what turned to be the hottest day in May on record.

Bapchild Juniors receiving a donated fan from MJ Plastics

On winning an important toss out captain Tom Carey put the visitors into the field on the hottest day of the year so far.

Two early wickets put the team under pressure but Chris Knope (15) and Tom Carey (35) steadied the ship.  Nick Page (13) and  Ricky Dale (44) continued the good work with a 46 run partnership.  Amith Lokesh (10) and Ben Wiebe-Williams (19) both reached double figures and Tyler Wassell topped of a good batting performance with an excellent 35 not out including two big sixes …. well one as the other hit the tree three quarters of the way up for just a four.

Ben (1 for 24) and Tyler (3 for 15) whipped through the top order leaving opposition on the back foot at 25 for 4.    Ricky Dale (3 for 11 off 9 overs) and Harry Mantle (1 for 38) added the pressure as Street End struggled to 63 for 7.  Amith Lokesh (2 for 24) removed their overseas player who at the time had scored two thirds of their runs and Tom Carey (1 for 5) and Amith then finished off the game as the visitors were bowled out for 120 in the 37th over 100 runs short of the target.

The 2s travelled to Borstal and on losing the toss were put into the field. Alan Hampton (3 for 13 off 9 overs) picked up two early and Lee Cogger (2 for 35) added a third as Borstal found themselves 25 for 3.    The home teamknuckled down putting on 92 run partnership for the 4th wicket.  Jay Sharma (1 for 49) made the breakthrough.  Tom Gunner (2 for 42) and Alan returned for a second spell picking up three wickets as Borstal reached 167 for 8 in their 40 overs.

Two early wickets after tea place the team at 16 for 2.  Alan Hampton (53) and Paul Sturridge (14) kept the scoreboard moving.   Unfortunately once the partnership was broken the team never was able to repeat their efforts as wickets fell regularly and they found themselves all out in the 37th over just 24 runs shy of the total.  A valuable 11 points was still scored.

The 3s were home to New Ash Green and elected to field.  Phil Danbury (1 for 22 off 9 overs)  bowled superbly well picking up an early wickets.   But on an extremely hot day bowling and fielding flagged asa number of catches were put down and the opposition scored freely as the visitors reached 201 for 3 off their allotted 40 overs.  Ella Hadler (1 for 29) and Linc Bryden (1 for 36) picked up the other two wickets

This didn’t improve for the team after tea as they slumped to 38 for 5 after 15 overs and were eventually bowled out for 71 in the 25th over with Linc (18)  Chris Wood (16) and Emily Surridge (12) putting up some resistance in the middle order.

The Sunday XI KVL match was postponed to later in the season.

Unfortunately the 1s were the only team to lose as they travelled to Chestfield.  Trying to second guess the weather they elected to bat but wickets fell regularly with only Tom Carey (21),  Ricky Dale (18) and Extras (35) reaching double fiqures as the team was bowled out for 110 in the 32nd over.

The rain came and the ball softened but the team managed to pick up five wickets with Ethan Collier (3 for 38), Tyler Wassell (1 for 38) and Harry Mantle (1 for 12) before the home team crossed the line in the 27th over.

The 2s faced a strong Gravesend XI and decided to field.  The visitors did not disappoint as all but one of their top six reached double figures as they reached 190 for 6 in their allotted 40 overs.  Alan Hampton bowled well taking 2 for 28 off his 9 overs with Tom Gunner (2 for 42), Adam Rayner (1 for 36) and Jay Sharma (1 for 40) picking up the other wickets.

Openers Alan Hampton (53) and Yuvraj Rajgor (19) got the team off to an excellent start but one removed the team slumped losing 5 wickets cheaply.   However Captain Adam Rayner (47 no) and Tom Gunner (22 no) took charge and batted extremely well to see the team home with three wickets and 9 balls to spare.

The 3s travelled to Sheppey for a important early season derby and were put into bat.  Brian Carey (24) and Chris Wood got the team off to a steady start reaching 38 before Chris was bowled at the half way stage. Brian and Simon Rose (32) followed by captain Linc Bryden (48) scored more freely after the break and debutant Emily Surridge becoming the 5th female to represent the club at senior level merited her place scoring 11 no with some lovely cover drives.  The team reached 161 for 5 off their 40 overs.

After tea Phil Danbury (1 for 9 off 9 overs) picked up an early wicket as Chris Wood took a good catch behind the stumps.  Phil was well supported by Henry Louden but even with tight bowling the new batsman struck out and at 80 for 1 at the half way stage the game was in the balance.   Henry Louden (2 for 15 off 8 overs) returning for his second spell made the all important breakthrough and change of bowing saw Simon Rose (4 for 9 off 7 overs) remove the rest of the top and middle order.  Linc Bryden (2 for 3) sensed victory and picked up a brace to win the match as the home team were bowled out for 121 in the 37th over.

The Sunday XI travelled a few miles down the road to play Bobbing Court and Lower Halstow at the home ground of our 3rd XI.   Electing to bat The team found themselves 45 for 3 however Tom Carey’s superb 119 and Robert Kennett (24) 128 run partnership took the game away from the home team and captain Ben Wiebe-Williams’ quick fire 41 at the end of the innings saw the team reach 225 for 5.

Lower Halstow raced to 108 for 1 after tea before Adam Rayner (1 for 12 off 9 overs) removed the first of the two openers.  Ben took advantage of the wicket picking up 3 for 33 including the other opener. Only two other batsman made double figures as the home team struggled to 162 for 8 of their allotted overs.  Aaryan Rajgor (2 for 12), Glen Kennett (1 for 8) and Ella Hadler (1 for 17) also picking up wickets

The U12 Bees match and the U12 interclub match was cancelled due to the weather .

The U14 team played a strong Sheldwich team and lost by just three wickets.

The U16 team had to concede their game as they are in the middle of exam season

The 1s were at home to Minster CC and elected to bat.    Matt Lewis (27) and James Weller got the side off to a strong start.   James nearly carried his bat through the inning falling and scoring his first century of the season but was caught while on 94.  During his superb knock he was support by Newly appointed 1st team captain Tom Carey (40).   The team ended their 45 overs on a respectable 215 for 6.

An excellent  opening spell from Ben Wiebe-Williams (3 for 20) supported equally by Tyler Wassell (0 for 5 off 5 overs) put the visitors under pressure from the start.  Harry Mantle (1 for 25) and Ricky Dale (1 for 24) kept the pressure on but it was Tom taking 5 for 25 that ripped out any chance of Minster recovering as the opposition were bowled out for 103 in the 29th over giving the home team a 112 run victory

The 2s traveled to the island to play Sheppey and was put into bat. Yuvraj Rajgor (22) and Paul Surridge (6) until Paul was run out.  On a slow pitch and some tight bowling from the opposition it was difficult to get going.   Alan Hampton (17) and Aaryan Rajgor (9) pushed the score along but wickets fell regularly and only a 30 odd run partnership between Tom Gunner (15) and Amith Lokesh (14) towards the tail end of innings saw the team reach only 107 before being bowled out in the 38th over.

Sheppey looked confident after tea but an excellent opening spell from Ethan Collier taking 2 early wickets put the pressure at 10 for 2.  Ethan was well supported by Tom Gunner (0 for 11) on supported.   Adam Rayner (3 for 17) removed the other opener with the score on 31 which started a collapse of 5 wickets for just 12 runs as Adam and Ethan run riot.  Ethan finished with 6 wickets for just 20 runs in his 9 over spell with all of his victims getting a duck.  Alan Hampton (1 for 8) completed a superb bowling performance for the team as Sheppey found themselves bowled out for 66 in the 25th over 41 runs short of the target.

The 3s were back to their normal home ground this week and entertained GNG CC GRFC and elected to field.  The opposition started out of the gates quickly as reaching 32 for 0 off the first 5 overs.  Captain Linc Bryden took on the responsibility of bringing himself on to quieten the aggressive batting.  This proved to be the right thing as he got one to move back and remove the danger man who had scored 37 out of the 45 runs scored.   Linc (2 for 9) removed the other opener and the game changed.  Changing to bowling Jay Sharma (2 for 13) and Joshua Rose (2 for 8) both picked up a brace and Isaac  Gregory-Bourne (1 for 8) on debut picked up his first senior wicket.  Henry Louden (2 for 27) returned to also pick up a brace and Phil Danbury ended with a respectable 18 for 0 off his 7 overs.  Ella Hadler (1 for 0) came on and finished the home team’s innings with a wicket maiden. GNG CC GRFC lost their 10 wickets for just 42 runs finishing on 87 at the end of the 31st over.

Kev Miles (10) and Chris Wood (11) started steadily until Kev received a seed and was bowled with Chris following shortly afterwards being caught.  This brought the batting duo of Simon Rose (17 no) and Linc (40 no) together for the second week in a row and they did not disappoint as they crossed the line with 18 overs to spare.

The Sunday team were at home to a weakened Bearsted CC on a very cold Sunday afternoon.   Bapchild elected to bat with a superb innings from James Weller, who had just missed out on a century the day before, scoring 136 no.  he was well supported by Yuvraj Rajgor (36), Amith Lokesh (37) and Tom Carey (45 not) as the team reached an impressive 289 for 2 from their 40 overs.

An excellent opening spell from Ethan Collier  (1 for 9) and captain Ben Wiebe-Williams (0 for 16) set the tone and Ella Hadler (2 for 25 off 9 overs) and Amith (1 for 15 of 7 overs) as well as some great fielding and catches continued the good work as the visitors found themselves 94 for 5.  Celebrating his birthday, Ben Gregory-Bourne (2 for 18) picked up his first wickets for the club with some very tidy bowling  only to be matched by his son Isaac (2 for 18) from the other end.  It took the master of spin Brian Carey (1 for 4) just two balls to finish the match as Bearsted found themselves all out for 117 in the 34th over.

An excellent weekend of cricket from all four teams and may to continue

On the junior side

The newly reformed U12 Bees lost their opening match to Sheppey

The U12 Broncos game was conceded by the Upchurch

The U14s lost by 9 wickets against a strong Faversham team

A more experienced Sheppey side batted well and passed the Bapchild score with 3 overs to go and held on for the win.
Pick of the Bees bowlers were Sidney Nicholls 2 wickets for 5 off his 3 overs and Champagne Moment was a brilliant caught and bowled by Henry Meade.

Well done to all who played and made it such an enjoyable evening

Due to the way league fixtures fell this year the 3rd XI played only their second ever home game at Radfield Hill in the 16 years since forming.

The game was well attended with many 1st and 2nd team members coming down to watch on a glorious warm day.

Captain Lincoln Bryden won the toss and elected to field against a new team to the Kent Cricket League Town Malling.   Town Malling started steadily reaching 54 before Phil Danbury (1 for 26) picked up the season’s first league wicket helped by an excellent catch from Simon Rose.  Josh Rose (1 for 26) picked up his first ever league wicket as the opposition lost their second wicket just two runs later.  Jay Sharma (1 for 39) bowled well removing the opener who was then on 55 as he teamed up with Aaryan Rajgor behind the stumps for the catch.  Glenn Kennett (1 for 33) and Ella Hadler (2 for 39)  picked up more wickets and Henry Louden (0 for 37) bowled well in his second spell as the opposition reached 212 for 6 off their allotted 40 overs.

After an excellent tea provided kindly by Phil that fed both teams and all the supporters Bapchild started similarly reaching 54 before loss of the first wicket with Kev Miles  (15) and Aaryan (28) putting on the runs.  A couple of further wickets fell but a superb innings from Simon Rose (60 no) supported by the  Captain carried on the good work putting on a 56 run partnership for the 4th wicket.  Despite a strong opposition the team reached 165 for 5 by the close picking up a valuable 8pts at the start of the season.

The reign of newly appointed Sunday Captain Ben Wiebe-Williams started well at New Ifield.   Put into the field Ethan Collier (2 for 9) picked up early wickets supported by Haris Khan (0 for 29).  A run out by Aaryan Rajgor and good bowling from Amith Lokesh (2 for 30) and Ben (0 for 14) kept the pressure on.   Adam Rayner (0 for 19), Ella Hadler (0 for 28) and Aaryan (2 for 26) meant the opposition only reached 170 for 7 in their 40 overs.

Three early wickets didn’t look good for the new captain but great knocks from Tom Carey (92 no) and Rob Kennett (53 no) meant the team crossed the line comfortably with 7.3 overs to spare for Ben’s first win.

The 1st XI and 2nd XI start their League campaigns next week

A mix of 1s and 2s players played Sherwood CC while the 3rd XI played Kings Hill 5th XI

The game against Sherwood saw Bapchild bat first scoring 190 for 7 off the allotted 40 overs.  Tom Carey scoring 60 with everyone else chipping in with 10s and 20s.

After tea Sherwood started steadily but two early wickets from Ethan Collier and was supported well by Haris Khan.   Each bowler was allocated 5 overs and the team used 8 bowlers in total.  Tyler Wassell picked up a double wicket maiden and Ben Wiebe-Williams took a great catch running in from the boundary as Borstal was bowled out for 140 in the 32nd over.

The 3rd XI batted first and scored 177 for 4. Rob Kennett opened with 34, debutant Simon Rose 19, Chris Wood 22no and Toby Heather 16no all added to the score however top score was extras with 66. Henry Louden (1 for 7) and debutant Toby Cleaver (2 for 14)  both bowled well as did Jay Sharma (3 for 7).  Joshua Rose playing also on debut took 2 for 12  as Kingshill was bowled out for 48.

Both games were played in great spirit by all four teams making the first weekend of cricket for the 2026 season very enjoyable

The League season starts next week for the 3rd XI and Sunday XI

The window for all ECB All Stars and Dynamos Cricket for the 2026 is now Open

Both Programmes will start at the ground on the Saturday 2nd May and run for 8 weeks

The Club is running All Stars for the fourth year and Dynamos for the third year and both have proven extremely successful as an introduction for young people to the wonderful sport of Cricket

If you are older than 11 or do not want to come through the ECB programmes please contact the Club directly by email at bapchildcricketclub@hotmail.com

ALL STARS

All Stars Cricket provides a fantastic first experience for all children aged 5-8 years old where they’re guaranteed 8 weeks of jam-packed fun, activity and skills development. The programme is designed to introduce children to the sport, teaching them new skills, helping them make new friends and have a great time doing so.

Every child that registers will receive a backpack full of goodies. Your child’s pack will include:

• Backpack
• Cricket bat
• Cricket ball
• Personalised t-shirt with your child’s name

All children returning to All Stars will receive a kit bag, a set of stumps, a new ball and a personalised t-shirt.

For more information or to REGISTER your interest please follow the following  link https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/all-stars

DYNAMOS

Dynamos Cricket provides a fantastic next step for all those graduating from All Stars Cricket and the perfect introduction for all 8-11 year-olds new to the sport!

Dynamos is all about fun and provides children with a more social offer, focusing on developing the fundamental skills required to play cricket.

We know how important it is to look like the heroes of the game, so every child who registers will receive their very own Dynamos Cricket New Balance t-shirt, personalised with their name and number as well complementary digital app experience and exclusive access to The Hundred Topps Wild Cards

.

For more information or to REGISTER your interest please follow the following  link https://www.ecb.co.uk/play/dynamoscricket

Attended by over 60 people the Club had a three course meal followed by the Senior Presentations and a disco afterwards.

The Senior Winners for the 2025 Season were as follows:

Best Bowling Performance 2025 – Steve Roberts – 7 for 7 against Dartford CC.

Best Batting Performance 2025 – Tom Carey – 158 against Tyler Hill CC

Fielding Award 2025 – Amith Lokesh

Young Player Performance of the Year 2025 – Will Surridge – 59 not out against The Mote

Bowling Award 2025 –  Ethan Collier – 44 Wickets

Batting Award 2025 – Tom Carey – 952 runs

3rd XI Captain’s Award 2025 – Will Roe

2nd XI Captain’s Award 2025 – Alan Hampton

Sunday XI Captain’s Award 2025 – Daniel Covey

1st XI Captains’s Award 2025 – Joe Mills

Champagne Moment 2025 – Lincoln Bryden  – Hat trick against Orpington Ocelots CC

Young Player of the Year 2025 – Yuvraj Rajgor & Daniel Covey

All-Rounder of the Year 2025 – Adam Rayner –

The Chairman’s Award 2025 – Matt Lewis

Cricketer of the Year 2025 – Adam Rayner

Other presentations

2nd XI Squad – League Champions Divison 9 Knott

Tom Carey – Re-presentation of the KVL Chairman’s Award

Steve Roberts – Winner of the Bowling Performance of the Year 2025 – 7 for 7 (Presented b Warwick Stevens)

Tom Carey – Winner of the Batting Performance of the Year 2025 – 158 runs (Presented by Simon Cosstick)

Will Surridge – Young Player’s Performance of the Year 2025 (collected on his behalf by his father Paul from Lee Cogger)

Amith Lokesh – Winner of the Fielding Award 2025 (Presented by Rodney Bottle)

Ethan Collier – Winner of the Bowling Award 2025 (Presented by Barry Wood)

Tom Carey – Winner of the Batting Award 2025 – 952 runs (Presented by Adam Larking)

Alan Hampton – Winner of the 2nd XI Captain’s Award 2025 (presented by Adam Rayner)

Will Roe – Winner of the 3rd XI Captains’s Award 2025 (Presented by Lincoln Bryden)

Daniel Covey – Winner of the Sunday XI Captain’s Award 2025 (Presented by Tom Carey)

Lincoln Bryden -Winner of the Champagne Moment 2025 (Presented by Matt Lewis)

Yuvraj Rajgor and Dan Covey – Winners of the Young Player of the Year 2025 (Presented by Lincoln Bryden)

Adam Rayner – Winner of the All Rounders Award 2025 (Presented by Steve Botting)

Matt Lewis – Winner of the Chairman’s Award 2025 (Presented by The Chairman)

Adam Rayner – Winner of the Cricketer of the Year 2025 (Presented by Steve Harrison)

2nd XI Squad – League Champions 2025

Adam collected on behalf of the team the League Winners Trophy for Division 9 Knott and also the Divisional Bowling Award for himself (39 Wickets)

The Club is very proud of the Adam and the teams achievement this season and pleased to see them recognised at the Event