After what seemed like months of waiting, the day of the final of the Harry Bright Cup final arrived with Beckenham U12 hosting Dartford on a glorious sunny morning at Foxgrove Road. Beckenham’s run to the final had already seen them beat Dulwich and bitter rivals Bromley, whilst Dartford had reasonably yet to be challenged seriously.

Beckenham pulled out all the stops to get the game played before the season end, managing by just a whisker, and with the main ground scoreboard being used and the match streamed on YouTube it felt to all like a very special occasion. Allegedly the live stream had more viewers than any other game hosted this season!

Matt’s carefully manicured wicket had only been rolled and cut a couple of hours before the game and early movement was expected, so losing the toss and having to bat was not the best start to the game.

The first over saw Reyansh middling every single ball but not beating Dartford’s excellent close fielding. The second was better for Beckenham with 10 runs coming from it, including a wonderful cut for 4 from Ady, latching on to a shorter ball immediately. The third followed a similar pattern to the first, Reyansh punching the ball, but directly to the well set Dartford field. 9 runs came from the fourth, but only one from the fifth, and when Ady (8 from 10) fell to an excellent catch early in the sixth over Beckenham were a little behind the curve at 22/1.

Reyansh (6 from 21 balls) followed quickly in the seventh over and when Henry Edwards (1 from 9) was caught off a ball the reared up horribly Beckenham were struggling at 31/3 in the ninth over. Bertie dispatched the first spinner of the day for 10 runs, and at drinks, Beckenham had reached only 43/3.

Wickets continued to fall around Bertie, with Henry Lodder (2 from 5) bowled by a ball that just didn’t bounce, and Tim (2 from 5) caught trying to force some runs shortly after. The scoring rate had increased however, and when Bertie was retired on 25 from 23 balls the score was 67/5. Impetus was still desperately needed and it arrived in the form of Luke and Jack. More pressure was belatedly put on the Dartford field, and suddenly the runs started to flow.

Jack (7 from 8) was run out in the seventeenth over, but Harrison took up the scoring mantle with a quick 10 from 7 before falling late in the eighteenth. The innings closed at 112/7, with Ellie not out 3 from 4 balls and Luke an impressive 22 from 20. It could have been a lot worse, and represented a real momentum shift in the last ten overs towards Beckenham.

The Dartford innings started with wides, and Beckenham’s line bowling to what seemed like an infinite number of left handers in the Dartford line up was poor throughout. Despite some good fielding, and an excellent wicket from Tim, the run chase always seemed comfortable, and after ten overs, the batters were cruising at 67/1 with just 46 needed from the last ten.

Henry Lodder finally took some control for Beckenham, conceding only 6 runs from his two excellent overs, well supported by Harrison and his variations, who got another wicket with a great slower ball and Jamie, going for only three from his first over. Less good overs in between cost Beckenham however, and some clean hitting with the field up saw Dartford canter to a very controlled win in the eighteenth.

A disappointing end to the season then, with the final proving a step too far for a talented side filled exclusively of representative young cricketers. As well as losing an important toss, two things cost us today – slow scoring in the first ten overs of the match, and real issues with line and length against left handers. Things to work on in the close season for sure.

This result should in no way take anything away from what has been an excellent cup run characterised by gutsy and skilful performances throughout against the very best sides the area has to offer. All bodes well for a crack at the U13 Division 1 title next season where we’ll get two more opportunities to play Dartford!

Special thanks need to be given to Matt Grice, for getting up ridiculously early to prepare the wicket this morning, Andrew Bibby for managing the side to such amazing results, Amanda for sorting out soooo many fixture options all season, and Neil and Amanda for arranging a club scorer and the amazing livestream as well as everyone who helped the festivities today. Akhil, the Dartford manager thought the stream was particularly awesome and said to me that the “whole of India would be watching online”!

Well done to everyone – see you on a dark, wet night in October to start the pre-Christmas nets!