Benji Arengo-Jones bowls for Blackheath against Chestfield
Surrey club Blackheath have broken a 50-year “curse” by beating a side from Kent for the first time in the Cawston Press Village Cup.
Blackheath entered the very first Village Cup in 1972 but have come unstuck against Kentish teams no fewer than eight times.
Their inaugural defeat at the hands of a Kent club came in 1976 against Crockham Hill in the tournament’s last 16.
Blackheath have since progressed to the Village Cup’s national rounds on 11 further occasions, including their 1997 run to the quarter-finals when they lost to Kent club Milstead.
Sunday’s clash against Chestfield featured two teams top of their respective league divisions.
Blackheath lead Division 1 of the l’Anson Cup, which features clubs from Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex, while their hosts lead the pack in Division 1 of the Kent Cricket League.
In a thrilling match, Blackheath prevailed by just two runs with nine of their XI having come through the club’s colts section.
In a report for the club’s website, fixtures secretary Paul Nash wrote: “Finally the Kent curse had been lifted.
“I can now cross safely over the Surrey/Kent border with a smile on my face rather than the usual stress induced twitch.
“It was a great performance by the whole team, with the match played the right way – hard but fair by both sides.
“Chestfield will come again, I am sure, but for now Blackheath, having laid to rest the ghosts of Kent, turn their attention to Reed CC, champions of Hertfordshire, who won the cup at Lord’s three times in the 2010s and will be a very experienced and powerful side. Bring it on.”
