The Nevill Ground, in quaint Royal Tunbridge Wells, is said to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in England. Not having been to all the others, I would agree that it is a lovely little ground. Kent play here for a week every season, usually (if they can) against a rival team like Sussex or Surrey, which often makes it a really good week of cricket.
On the final day of this 4-day match, Kent needed around 400 to win, with all their second innings wickets still intact. I went along with a bag of beers, expecting that there would be a mini run chase at some point in the day. But, going for the title, Kent were being cautious. Unfortunately, they dug in, tried not to lose all their wickets, and didn't care if they weren't scoring runs. A shame really, because the total was gettable. By tea, there had been only about 200 runs in the day, and only 1 wicket or so. Very boring.
The game livened up a bit in the final session, with a few more runs and a handful of wickets, but it was all too late by then as the match petered out into a stalemate. So, there was nothing for it but to go to the pub. It had been cloudy all day, with no rain but no sun either - amazingly, by 10pm in the pub, my face was feeling very burnt, and the day after it turned red. So, the match ended with sunburn and a hangover after all.
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