A depleted Prospect Park turned out at Cudham with only ten men, with first time skipper Paul Thompson having to shuffle his pack several times with last minute withdrawals, and the far more serious prospect of no tea !!!. Cudham fielded a strong eleven with a few first teamers lurking, whilst Park had to start with 8 men, a couple of stalwarts being held up in traffic.
Park opened the bowling with Father and son combination Craig and Bill Partridge, with Bill taking a very handy early wicket to have one of the openers caught behind by Gannon for a blob (7 for1). It was to be Parks only success for some time, as Bill and Craig consistently beat the bat without getting an edge. However, the Cudham batsmen were scarcely able to score runs against the miserly bowling and Parks openers finished with figures of 1 for 20 off 11 (Bill) and 0 for 15 off 9 (Craig). A double change saw Terry Shannon and John Ling brought into the attack to try and get the Cudham batsmen to play some shots. In his first over Lingo induced Cudhams no.3 to sky one to gully where Terry Shannon held a smart catch that no-one wanted (58 for 2). This breakthrough beckoned a passage of play that saw Park take control of the match, with 3 wickets falling with the score at 66. Starting with John Ling clean bowling Cudhams no. 1, Dave Robotham superbly running out no.5 with a direct hit, and Terry Shannon inducing a skier that Bill Partridge held brilliantly to dismiss no.4. (66 for 5). Cudham then re-grouped well scoring another 46 runs and really starting to threaten until Skip Thompson held a very powerfully hit drive off Lingo to dismiss no.7 (112 for 6). By this time Cudham were running the singles superbly and rotating the strike like a side well used to the rigours of league cricket. John Ling stepped up and clean bowled no.8 in short order (127 for 7) and Park looked like they might well bowl Cudham out for a low total. Very soon after, another double Lingo burst saw no.6 (141 for 8) and no.9 (148 for 9) both caught behind by Gannon, Lingo finishing with fantastic figures of 6 for 52 off 11. Cudham managed to last out their 2.5 hours despite the last man being obviously run out after a brilliant throw from an overworked Bill Partridge in the outfield, finally finishing on 160 for 9.
After a meagre tea of, well tea, Park opened with the amazing arguing brother double act of Dave and Kenny Robotham, who withstood a fine spell of bowling from the Cudham openers. The pitch was not to be trusted and run scoring opportunitys were few and far between, with Kenny hitting a powerful six to get off the mark. The Robo-Openers were parted after 12 overs of fine resistance when Dave was caught behind for 12 (21 for 1), to be followed in the next over, in similar fashion by Kenny (21 for 2). With a new partnership of Jim Flood and Alan Whaley at the crease, Park needed to consolidate, which they did for 3 overs, before Alan was run out looking for a second run for 2 (28 for 3). Tim Gannon joined the fray and almost immediately precipitated a mix up resulting in Jim being run out for 4 with the score at 28 for 4. By this time Cudhams openers were off, and whilst the second string were of no great threat Park faced a run chase of another 130 runs off 18 overs with 5 wickets remaining. Although shutting up shot might have been the better option, Gannon was then next out LBW tring to force a ball to leg (30 for 5). This left Skip Thompson and Craig Partridge in an uncomfortable hinterland between going for a win and ensuring Park didn't lose. In fact this partnership proved Parks best of the day, with Thommo following KR's lead by getting off the mark with a six, and some fine boundaries by both players pushed the score along by 52 in 11 overs. Finally Thommo was bowled by a shooter for a captains knock of 20 (82 for 6). Terry Shannon strode out next, and hit his first ball for a single to get off the mark for the season in fine style. Unfortunately Terry, was out soon after, trapped LBW to Cudhams spinner for 1 (87 for 7). With 5 overs left, the opening bowlers were re-united to finish the job they started several hours ago, as Bill Partridge joined Craig to hopefully see out the remaining overs with only one bastmen left to come in (John Ling). Admirably ignoring the skippers orders to get 0 not out, Bill set about the Cudham bowling in true cavalier style (in fact the style that Craig had been batting throughout his innings !). The fantatstic bating and bowling Partridges saw Park through to a draw with a partnership of 28, Bill hitting a fine 20 (including a last ball 6) and Craig yet another superb 42 (with two 6's that had Parks veteran batsmen green with envy), Park finishing on 115 for 7. Thommo's Ten, earned a good draw against strong opposition, who exploited their numerical advantage well.
Despite a great knock of 42 from the young shave Craig Partridge (How long before this guy takes 5 wickets and scores a 50 ?) you cannot deny current bowling phenom John Ling who carried straight on from last weeks Millennium Match with 6 wickets. Boom Boom Boom let me hear you say Lingo - LINGO !!!