Students on course for title hat-trick

Indoor cricket

Whatever the future may hold for indoor cricket at Canterbury, it will always be synonymous with the deeds of students whose stay in the city is all too brief, writes ALAN BENSTED.

Non-sports lovers may disagree. But with village cricket in decline and fewer local clubs available to enter, the Pharon League would be the poorer without the five teams from the universities, plus four from Gravesend.

Apart from Canterbury – whose monopoly of honours is over – Christ Church University 1 are the only side to win consecutive First Division championships this century.

Within the next eight weeks, CCCU could complete a clean sweep of all three divisions.

With five matches to play, their seconds are undefeated, have the league’s highest run rate and look like running away with Division 2.

Their five-wicket thrashing of UKC 2 put CCCU 10 points clear. Openers Jack Wheeler and Sam Brady shared an unbroken half-century stand for CCCU.

Gravesend 2 beat the fog and Sturry 1 and Street End 2 to claim their first points.

Gravesend also showed that, despite talk of red cards and sendings off in cricket, there is still some sportsmanship left in the game.

Halfway down the pitch having set off for a run, one of Street End’s least experienced members – called upon at the last minute – stumbled and fell.

Gravesend refrained from removing the bails and allowed him to make his ground. Facing a total of 54, Gravesend won by four wickets.

Gravesend 6ers 2 are CCCU 3’s only real challengers for the Division 3 title. CCCU went top, going past Sturry 2’s 90-4 without losing a wicket.

Dave Mathrill, Michael Griffin and Alec Brunetti-leach all reached the 20s.