By Charles Randall

21 September 2015


Congratulations go to Blackheath for winning the Royal London Club Championship after a disappointing Kent Cricket League season.

Blackheath finish fourth in the league a long way behind the champions Hartley Country Club, but they steamrollered Northern in the national final to win by  nine wickets at the Beckenham county ground.

Northern's long journey down to Kent from Liverpool must have seemed even more tiresome when Warren Lee sliced through their top order with three early wickets and left-arm spinner James Hands returned figures of 9-1-13-2. Ryan Maddock repaired some of the damaged with 58, but a 45-over total of 161-9 proved nothing like enough.

Blackheath's sprint reply featured Jahid Ahmed, with a run-a-ball 32, and Tanweer Sikandar, with a quicker undefeated 52, while the captain Chris Willetts secured an end with 58 not out. Lee, a former Kent and Unicorns seamer, was made man of the match for his 3-25. [ the match scorecard from the ECB play-cricket site for the competition is, here ]

This was the club's third national final after they won a long time ago in 1971, and suffered defeat in 1981. Blackheath were twice losing finalists in other important competitions; the Evening Standard Trophy in 2007, and its replacement, The Conference Cup, in 2013.

During the Kent Cricket League summer Blackheath failed to find enough consistency to challenge for the title, even though Sikandar finished as the competition's leading run-scorer with 714 at an average of 47.60. The title was retained comfortably by Hartley for their fifth success win eight years.

Hartley's early season featured the extraordinary Charlie Hemphrey, who had been rejected by Kent and two other counties and emigrated to Brisbane. This year hit 118 for Queensland against South Australia, the first Englishman to score a Sheffield Shield century since John Hampshire in 1978.

Hemphrey hit four fifties in his five innings for Hartley, including 94 in a defeat by Blackheath. The champions were rarely short of runs as Dan Stickels, Nick Hendrie, James Hockley and all-rounder James Thompson all scored heavily. Dan Redwood, a seam-bowler emerging from the club's youth system, took 38 wickets at an average of only 14.37. Behind him wickets were shared around to ensure Hartley remained a formidable force.

Hemphrey helped Hartley trim eventual runners-up Sevenoaks Vine by eight wickets, and his 53 set up humiliation for his former club Folkestone, who suffered a 257-run defeat and finished bottom. Folkestone and Sandwich Town were relegated, to be replaced by Dartford and Tenterden.

Hartley is a well established country club relatively new to top level cricket. Located in Hartley village about seven miles from Dartford and wholly owned by members, it is set in picturesque grounds of 10 acres, open seven days a week all the year round.

The club offers two cricket grounds, one of the best bowls greens in Kent, six high-quality hard tennis courts, a petanque terrain, three squash courts, a snooker room with two full-size tables and a sprung floored hall where badminton and table tennis are played.

Hartley won their first Kent Cricket League title in 2008, and the following year the Kent batsman Hockley took them into the record books with the highest individual innings to date, 283, against Gore Court, the Sittingbourne club. Not surprisingly Hartley's total of 540-1 off 55 overs in that match has yet to be surpassed.

Hartley are worthy 2015 champions, and Blackheath have added glory to Kent's summer.