Throwback to September 2005 and a legendary "thriller" game against Kenley CC…

It was the final Surrey Championship 2nd XI Div 4 league match of 2005 and a win would see Sanderstead promoted to Div 3.  Kenley CC (or was it Southern Railway & Kenley CC?), our opposition, had other ideas as they were staring down the barrel of relegation to Div 5! 

Sanderstead 2nd XI were skippered at the time by the slowest batsman in the club’s history, and the legend that is Tommy Sherlock, who wasn’t convinced that life in Div 3 would be as much fun as Div 4. Minds were made up, though, when Kenley arrived with a near full 1st XI, ensuring that the motivation of the Sanderstead lads was switched on - not by promotion, but by foiling the Kenley plot. A match with more twists and turns than a snake’s stomach then ensued - sadly it was not recorded on film, but we have scorecards and witness testimony which has tended to become more embellished as the years go by. 

Another club legend, 6ft 5in leg-spinner and late middle order slogger, Chris Aeschlimann (Switzerland’s best cricketing export), was playing in the match and, during a 2020 5th XI fixture vs a Kenley XI, he was asked to recount the match and his part in it - and what a huge part! He goes on a bit, for reasons that become obvious as matches like this are once in a lifetime, but here’s an edited version for connoisseurs of club cricket and those who subscribe to the codgers mantra “the older we get, the better we were”. Enjoy…