Title success makes all the toing and froing worthwhile

Indoor cricket

Come April 2, at least two of the teams from Gravesend and Thanet that have clocked hundreds of miles since September fulfilling indoor cricket fixtures at Canterbury will have considered their journeys worthwhile, writes ALAN BENSTED. Making their Pharon League debut this season, Gravesend 6ers 2 have not only scored a stack of runs but they have got them quickly. As a result, they became Third Division champions at the Kent Cricket Academy on Sunday, when they beat Margate 2 by 25 runs. Promoted with 6ers 2 are Margate 1, even though they lost to Grasmere Park by 11 runs. Two points behind the 6ers, they cannot be caught. So Christ Church University, who won Divisions 1 and 2, are denied a third title. Their third team are third. An exciting basement battle between Sheldwich and Sturry 2 was won by Sheldwich. They successfully chased a total of 119 – with two balls and four wickets to spare. The ups and downs of Division 2 will not be decided until the last round of games, when there will be something at stake (promotion and relegation) in all four. Going up with CCCU will be one of Gravesend 2, Littlebourne 2 and Sturry 1. Two of Street End 2, Whitstable 2 and UKC 2 will go down. On the penultimate day, there were two decisive victories for Gravesend 2 in successive matches with UKC and Whitstable 2. But nothing could better the memorable meeting of Sturry 1 and Littlebourne 2. Dave Gentry (47), Kieron Jessup (33 not) and Tom Jessup (28) took Sturry to 144-5 – the biggest total of the day. Littlebourne lost a wicket in the first over of their reply and at the halfway stage needed 84 to win from six overs. With four wickets standing, they fell 12 short despite the heroic efforts of Andrew Coleman (33 not), Steve Martin (27 not), Geoff Plommer (27 ret) and Brett Arthurs (26 ret). In an extraordinary final over, bowled by Paul Moon, Littlebourne added 26 runs. At the other end of the table, Street End 2 thrashed Harbledown by 71 runs. The junior section have their final day on Saturday, (start 10am) when Whitstable, the under-15s’ champions, will be looking to their under-13s to complete a double. The final is at 1.45pm.

Picture: David Griffiths Douglas Noel takes on the pole vault at the national under-17 pentathlon championships in Sheffield