The Grove opened the new season with a tame loss away at Southfleet. Having pulled back the flying Southfleet start thanks to Harish's 3-39 The Grove were happy with their first innings work in restricting the hosts to 171-7. Sadly the reply never got going and only Ty Meaney with 38 put up any resistance as The Grove were dismissed for a paltry 73  

The Grove's season kicked into life at Bexley Park with a 28 run victory against Gateway. In only their second win against their rivals The Grove were put into bat. Gateway's decision paid early dividend as The Grove lost Liam Hammond & Chris Beard without scoring. Then stepping up to the plate were Tony Pope and Ty Meaney. Together they put on a mammoth 150+ run partnership which was not to be broken. Magnificent shots by both players became a regular occurrence and Ty Meaney also produced the reverse sweep with great effect. Meaney 86* & Pope 79* lead The Grove into the break high in confidence. 

Gateways reply started positively enough but they soon fell behind the required run rate.  Consistently tight bowling brought wickets with Kiln 2-33, Fiore 2-20 and Pope 2-28 breaking the back (and hearts) of the Gateway reply as they were all out for 151

Hostilities were resumed with an old enemy at Bexleyheath cricket club on a glorious sunny bank holiday Sunday. The Grove won the toss and had no hesitation in batting, hoping to destroy the spirits of Irvine's men in the hot sun. Chris Beard after back to back ducks was to be dropped down the order but the captain kept faith and my, how his faith was justified. Chris took up the opening mantle and after 3 consecutive fours from his first three balls the omens looked good, what we didn't know at the time was how good. Runs once again flowed freely for The Grove and Beard went on to make a truly masterful 99. 38 From Ty Meaney and 55* in very short time from John Steel saw The Grove amass 254 for 5 in their 40 overs.

The Irvine reply was over practically before it had started. The run rate grew over by over and The Grove bowlers spearheaded by Mark Payne 3-41, Ty Meaney 3-18 and Paul Hartley 2-8 eventually had the opposition all out for 192 and a 62 run win was secured.

The question is, where will The Grove's incredible run of form end? On This day Bexley Park were the latest side to try and halt The Grove juggernaut but halt it they did not as The Grove struck up 3 wins on the bounce. Bexley Park put on 146 all out as their top order batsman could not cope with the pace and accuracy of Paul Hartley. He returned figures of 3-21. Ty Meaney bowled well again and took 3-29 which included a slips catch by Mark Fiore that has already won catch of the season. Fiore dived high and wide and plucked the ball from the air without being in contact with the ground. Had this really happened? With The Grove form of late, yes it had. Sticky effected the final wicket with a Jonty Rhodes esc run out.

Fiore broke down while bowling but with true Grove guts & determination he dragged himself off the ground to open the reply and promptly put on 84 runs, setting up a victory in just 31 overs. Ty Meaney continued his great run of form with the bat making 28 before being controversially run out. Gary Ash 10* & Mark Payne 11* completed the formalities.

Special thanks to Daniel Gray who fielded for both teams stoically on a hot May afternoon and to Liam Meaney for his tireless running in the outfield.

10 man Grove's winning sequence ended away at Blue Star on Sunday but the teams fighting qualities still shone through. In a match shortened to 35 overs because of overnight rain The Grove were soon ruing their decision to bat as openers Peter Mayhew 1 and Gary Ash 0 failed to trouble the bowlers. Some solidity soon followed however as Ty Meaney 21 and Chris Beard 34 got the scoreboard ticking. Star with the bat however was The Grove superstar fast bowler Kiln who plundered 53 in the closing overs including 4 sixes, one of which was HUGE!!!!. The innings closed on 165-8.

The Grove second innings started well with tight spells from Mark Fiore 1-31 and Paul Hartley 0-27 which had Blue Star under some considerable pressure. Kiln produced a great spell earning figures of 0-17 which for probably the first time had no wides or no-balls.

Ultimately the lack of wickets allowed Blue Star the luxury of upping the run rate and they ran out winners by 8 wickets in the 30th over. A good effort all round by The Grove given some difficult situations throughout the match.

The Grove v Nuxley - June 14 2009

The Grove were back on the winning trail away to Nuxley on Sunday. On another hot sunny day The Grove won the toss and the skipper decided to bat, to the surprise of a few. After losing three quick wickets and struggling to 52-3 after 20 overs perhaps the doubters were right. But this is the new improved 2009 Grove, no obstacle is immovable and no set back can't be put right.

The time had come for the brotherly partnership that had threatened but not yet materialised. Australia had the Waugh brothers but The Grove have the Meaney's. Lee & Ty put on 150 in a little over 20 overs with a chanceless display of impeccable shot making and improvisation. Lee eventually went for an outstanding 83 with Ty not out on 52. The innings ended on 187-4 leaving Nuxley a little over 4.5 an over to win.

The opening bowling attack of Mark Fiore and Kiln brought about an early wicket but even with the change bowlers picking up wickets, Nuxley slowly edged towards victory. Tony Pope with 2-23, Paul Hartley 1-21 & Fiore with 3-40 had kept The Grove in touch. With 5 overs left & 3 wickets in hand Nuxley needed just 26 runs to win, but up stepped skipper Shane Carroll with death bowling at its best. He picked up 3 wickets in an over to wrap up a 23 run victory for The Grove and ended with figures of 4-27

The Grove v Southfleet - June 21 2009

The Grove were thoroughly beaten away to Southfleet for the second time this season, losing by exactly the same margin, 98 runs.

There were however a couple of bright spots for The Grove as it saw the first appearance this season of former skipper Mark Hammond and top order batsmen Norm Winterman.

Mark wasted no time in getting back into the swing of things and put in a man of the match all round performance  with top bowling figures of 3-16 and unbeaten with the bat on 15 not out. Norm also made his mark picking up 2-22 from 8 overs.

Top scorer with the bat was club chairman and long time Grove opener Peter Mayhew with 22. Sticky played a flurry of shots all around the ground making light of 125 years of age.

The Grove v Bexleyheath - June 28 2009

The Grove went down to Bexleyheath on Sunday by four wickets but showed a good fighting spirit in doing so.

After losing the toss and being put in on a green seaming wicket The Grove were quickly in trouble at 8-4. They managed to get through to 121 all out thanks to 28 from Paul Hartley, 26 from Shane Carroll & 25 from Mark Payne. Daniel Gray hit a Grove career best at no 11 with 9 not out.

With not many runs to play with The Grove bowled and fielded admirably and picked up 6 opposition wickets. Pick of the bowlers was Norm Winterman with 3-19 from 6 overs.

The Grove v Swanscombe & Greenhithe - July 05 2009

The Grove returned to winning ways with a hard fought victory at Swanscombe & Greenhithe. Winning the toss and deciding to bat, The Grove were slow starters on what looked to be a friendly batting pitch. After 20 overs only 58 runs had been scored and two wickets had fallen.

But then up stepped the Meaney brothers for their 2nd match winning partnership in four matches. Lee Meaney 72 not out and Ty Meaney 57 not out put on a massive 148 in just 20 overs with a chanceless display of batting with shots all around the ground. The Grove finished on 206 - 2.

A blistering start by the home team openers threatened to win the game in quick time but Paul Hartley broke the partnership and the innings lost momentum. Ty Meaney completed a man of the match performance picking up 3 - 26 and The Grove ran out winners by 8 runs

The Grove v Betsham - July 12 2009

The Grove were well beaten by Betsham in their last outing but as they say cricket is a funny old game. Here's why.

Man of the match was Grove superstar Kiln. Outstanding bowling brought only one wicket but deserved more. He top scored with the bat making 62 with an outstanding array of shots and another of those big sixes and was involved in a 100+ run partnership with Paul Hartley. Also Kiln was immaculate in the field including an amazing one handed mid air catch right on the boundary.

Then there was wicket keeper Chris Beard with 2 catches and a stumping in the first three wickets. Then Paul Hartley with a return to bowling form picking up 4 - 27 from 8 overs, and Gary Ash with his first bowl of the season looking like he been bowling every week with 2 - 32. Skipper Shane Carroll even picked up two wickets and a catch.

Finally a diving covers catch from Daniel Gray which made a difficult catch look easy.

Despite all these great performances 10 man Grove were defeated but cricket was most definitely the winner.

The Grove v Wilmington - July 19 2009 

The Grove returned to winning ways away at Wilmington on Sunday with a complete annihilation of the hosts. Wilmington batted first and were dismissed for a paltry 98 due to a superb bowling and fielding effort from The Grove. Tony Pope who took 3-11 and Ty Meaney 2-8 were the pick of the bowlers.

The Grove batsmen were never troubled and comfortably ran out winners by eight wickets. Chris Beard 43 not out and Mark Fiore 25 lead the way.

The Grove v Roan Lambetians - July 26 2009 

The Grove traveled to Kidbrooke in the knowledge that in more than 10 years of trying they had never beaten Roan Lambethians, but the 2009 Grove are made of stern stuff and a superb team performance saw The Grove through to a two wicket victory.

In the only time fixture of the season opener Kiln reveled in the freedom of no bowling restrictions and his extended spell of quality pace bowling yielded 3-43. One opposition batsmen even had the audacity to come down the wicket to Kiln and was immediately comprehensively bowled and shown the way to the dressing room by our strike bowler. 

Mark Fiore struggled with wides & no balls but generally bowled well. Ty Meaney picked up a fantastic caught and bowled, while Liam Hammond & Paul Hartley both bowled extremely well but were both  harshly unrewarded. Shane Carroll was the benefactor of Hartley & Hammond's toil and picked up 5-24 off just seven overs. Carroll had to leave straight away but will buy a jug at the next opportunity.

Roan finished their innings on 185-9 and after a quick tea The Grove openers started their ultimately victorious innings. Wickets fell at regular intervals with most batsmen getting starts. Chris Beard (hiding in the middle order) was again the mainstay of the innings and chalked up marvelous 63 in worsening conditions before succumbing to  a short ball in the gloom. It was left to Hartley, Ash & Fiore who with a glorious cover drive for four brought up a famous victory with 8 balls remaining.

An excellent all round fielding performance was probably one of the most pleasing aspects of this great win, well done lads.

The Grove v Lamorbey Park - August 9 2009 

The Grove returned to their regular schedule after last weeks mid season break with a crushing win over Lamorbey Park.

The Grove Skipper once again won the toss and once again batted first, which given the consistency of the top order this season was an easy decision.

Mark Fiore was the rock at the top of the order with a hard earned 31 from 30 overs on a track that proved difficult to score on. Batting star of the day was Lee Meaney with an unbeaten 60 which with the long grass in the outfield included 22 singles. After 40 overs The Grove posted a credible 160 - 5.

Lamorbey Park started their reply full of chat and increased their chances by umpiring from the sidelines, calling no balls and wides for the two umpires in the middle.

The chat soon dried up as The Grove bowling machine got into gear. Kiln started proceedings with a fiery spell, knocking over the openers middle stump. Kiln ended with figures of 2-9 from 5.2 overs.

Liam Hammond put in a star performance effecting a sharp run out from his own bowling and bouncing out the next man with the fastest ball of the day.

Then up stepped Grove stalwart Paul Hartley and he ran through the middle order with a superb display of seam bowling. His figures were 4-24 from 8 overs. Paul's first ball next week will be for a hat trick.

Ty Meaney bowled some impeccable spin and picked up 2-2 from 2 overs.

A great team performance saw us through to a very comfortable 79 run win.