Almost inevitably, no two Evening Leagues are the same. Such an assertion would seem obvious when one considers the geographical differences and the differing numbers of the teams involved but a cursory review of the playing regulations for the various leagues highlights a range of rules for what is essentially one common goal: to maximise playing time before the light reduces to a point where play is no longer feasible. For instance, some leagues will use orange balls, some pink and some retain the traditional red whilst in other leagues, such as the Sussex and Surrey Slams, some teams will play in coloured kit as opposed to whites. Somewhat predictably, there are adaptations on bowling regulations such as in the Wimborne League in Dorset where eight ball overs are used whilst bowling ten overs from one end in a row before switching to the opposite end is common so as to maximise the amount of time available before twilight begins to take effect.
Utilising a hybrid version of said policy is the Bracknell Evening League, where five overs are bowled from each end prior to a switch to the opposite end. Featuring nine clubs in the current season, the league covers an area of South-East Berkshire (and one club from just across the border in north-eastern Hampshire) all but wedged in between the M3 and M4 motorways either side of the Greater London Urban Area town. Split into two divisions, the league’s two most northerly teams play each other in the latest round of matches with Reading Cricket Club undertaking a short journey from their Thameside home in Sonning across the M4 to play Binfield, located in the north-western hinterlands of Bracknell.
On a breezy evening possessing a hint of early May as opposed to midsummer, Reading bat first and begin in attacking fashion, reaching 53-2 at the end of the fielding restrictions courtesy of sharp running between the wickets and a beautifully struck six over long on by Jack Beaven that almost bounces over the ground’s boundary fence and onto the neighbouring Forest Road. Two wickets fall off of consecutive deliveries in the eighth over, bowled by Chris Jones, but the visitors reach 79-4 at the midpoint of their twenty overs as Bhagav Sutapalli steadily builds a partnership with Beaven including the deftest of deft late cuts that scuttles silently to the boundary. Standing tall at the crease and batting in a willowy, loose limbed manner, Sutapalli plays an audacious lofted reverse sweep in the next over that requires a search for the orange ball in the adjacent woods as Reading reach three figures in the fourteenth over. Beaven brings up the half century partnership a handful of deliveries later but Binfield’s bowlers begin to restrict the batters to singles as Sutapalli is trapped leg before wicket by Chris Bullett for 36. The respite proves somewhat fleeting though as Beaven increases the tempo and the running between the wickets, recording a half century as the visitors post 165-7 from their twenty overs.
Three beautifully struck shots into the midwicket boundary in the first over of Binfield’s response dictates that Reading may well not have a comfortable defence of their seemingly impressive total. The trio of boundaries proves a false dawn though as Binfield can only muster a further fifteen runs in the remaining thirty deliveries of the powerplay as the visiting bowlers give little away. With no other options, Mikey Allan-Canty and Chris Morgan target the change bowlers and begin to increase the run rate, Allan-Canty playing a perfectly timed flick off of his pads over midwicket for six. As the breeze subsides and some of the warmth of the evening returns, the two batters calmly record a fifty partnership with little fuss in reaching 76-1 after ten overs. Allan-Canty soon returns to his stand and deliver style of the opening exchanges, reaching fifty in the eleventh over with another lofted clip over midwicket that audibly raps into the fencing in front of the changing rooms. Sports’ most intangible, yet most important of influences, momentum, has shifted the way of the hosts as three figures are passed in the next over amid a flurry of boundaries.
Somewhat incredibly, the pair reduce the requirement to just thirty-two runs from the final thirty deliveries; Morgan reaching his half century three deliveries later. They studiously reduce the deficit to nineteen runs from the final three overs before Morgan launches a four and two sixes to the mid-wicket boundary in the eighteenth over; the second six disappearing into the neighbouring trees as the hosts cross the line at a canter and prompting a question from the fielder to his skipper as to whether he needs to bother himself with finding the orb. For posterity, Allan-Canty and Morgan finish unbeaten on 77 and 70 respectively.
No two evening leagues are indeed the same. Beside the obvious geographical differences there are the playing differences outlined earlier. But, in some respects, all evening leagues are the same. The rules and regulations may vary from league to league but all evening leagues possess that one commonality: maximising the available time before the chief arbiter of daylight wields its ultimate judgement.
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