TWCC travelled to Loring Hall, needing to keep winning to maintain the challenge of Championship and promotion. Losing the toss, they bowled first, and gave a grand display while reducing the home innings to 128 all out with four overs unused.

Five bowlers were used, and each achieved success, led by the evergreen Mark Thompson, who snapped up 3-10 in nine overs to rip out the middle order. Liam Flint, supported by Graeme Corbishley, made an early breakthrough, but Paul James and Daniel Haley (36) saw the innings to a high point of 61-1, whereupon the visiting attack carried all before them. The remainder of the batting was removed while 67 runs were added, Stefan Grosvenor (2-23) and Jan Ball finishing matters off after some late resistance had threatened to extend the effort.

Set 129 to win, the result was placed beyond any question as Ball and Jamie Baldwin put up 87 for the opening stand. Scoring rapidly all around the wicket, Baldwin was first to his half-century, striking 52 with four fours and a six, after which Ball, with an unbeaten 55 (8 fours) carried out his bat once again to bring up the win in company with BJ Allatt (21*). The 20 points gained kept the side slipstreaming Bickley Park but with a game in hand over the leaders, and one more game to be won to ensure the title and elevation to the SN KCL.

The win was the twelfth of the campaign, with the final match of 2008 to be played out on 6 September at home to RASRA Eagles.

TW won the toss and chose to bat, and a tremendous boost to morale was achieved as the openers put up 164 in 32 overs before a wicket fell. Jamie Baldwin (90, 15 fours and 1 six) and Jan Ball (66, 5 fours and 2 sixes) wore down the visiting attack and gradually raised the tempo to more than a run-per-ball as the partnership flourished, Baldwin in particular being severe on anything wayward. At length, the stand was broken, and, as so often, another wicket fell almost at once, as Dartford strove to regain some control. However, this was not to be, for, although Baldwin missed out on three figures, James Madgwick and Liam Flint came together to post 106 for the fourth stand, recalling memories of their effort earlier against Bexley in June. The runs came at a bewildering rate from just over eleven overs, and the innings closed with Madgwick's dismissal, selflessly looking to keep the momentum going to the very end. Madgwick notched 58 with 6 fours and three sixes in a remarkable tour de force played in the classical manner.

The reply was in tatters at 26-4 as Flint (3-20) demonstrated his versatility in a splendid opening salvo. Support came from Matt Green before the innings began to attempt a fightback, but Mark Thompson and Graeme Corbishley proved to be an effective second string, and the innings further subsided to 77-8 before Gary Birring (24) and Paul Hirschfield (22) brought up the hundred. Stefan Grosvenor and Ball then removed the tail, and Dartford slid to a comprehensive 167-run defeat with fifteen overs unused. The win kept Wells in the Championship race, with two games yet to play and the prospect of elevation to the Kent League a tantalising couple of results away. Three individual half-centuries were made for the side during the course of the innings.

Stung by defeat in the last full match, and still jousting for promotion, Wells produced an extraordinary recovery to win a game that had looked beyond them.

Shooters Hill batted first at the Upper Ground, and made healthy progress without ever quite being able to pull away as the home attack strove to control matters. Graeme Corbishley (3-39) chiefly contained the early effort, but the visitors had a solid and effective middle order, and only Stefan Grosvenor (3-48) made headway as the total was moved from 70-2 to 175-6. Paul Gayle (38) and Michael Lear (32) were the main contributors in a strong recovery which featured a taut struggle for dominion between bat and ball. A final total of 193-8 reflected the tussle, and posed a daunting target for the home batsmen to challenge.

The reply saw the early loss of two wickets, followed by a collapse after the fifty was reached which saw five further wickets fall in rapid succession to bring the score down to 56-6 and then 78-7. Dave Counsell (6-49) had been instrumental in the destruction of the home batting, but his magnificent spell was largely unsupported as a majestic counter-effort from skipper David Wells saw to the required late revival. Finding a doughty companion in Nick Sharp, Wells played a remarkable innings which was crowned with a great fight-back win as an unbroken 118 runs were added for the eighth partnership. Wells emerged with an unbeaten 62 (8 fours) while Sharp came away with 46 not out (7 fours), the stand having lasted through 24 overs of inspired defiance, finally setting up the win with just 14 balls to spare.

TW III thus retained their close second place a mere ten points behind Bickley Park, but with a game in hand to be played out, and still all to play for as the run-in moves to its climax.

Rain delayed the start of the game, and an 84-over format was adopted, with the visitors winning the toss and batting. At 74-3, the game was in the balance, but a century from Arkesh Shah took the game away from Wells as a partnership of 155 for the fourth wicket set up a daunting total for Bromley. Shah (100) and Rowen Dayal (78) hit away at an alarming rate, and the home attack suffered accordingly. An exception was spinner Percy Watts, who came away with 3-43 from his eight overs, including the scalp of Shah. The innings coasted to the end of the 42 overs with a total of 252-6 being posted at an overall rate of exactly a run-per-ball.

Wells had the line-up to take on such a chase, but the visiting attack struck early blows which upset the formula. Slipping to 34-3, only Ben Fair (38) made headway, while opening bowler Graham Rogers (3-11) made the breakthroughs. Liam Flint and James Sharp each played fine cricket, but they were unable to keep to the hectic pace required, while Jan Ball (49*) anchored the lower order effort, which slowly but inexorably slipped to an all-out 199 with a few balls unused. Graham Roake (3-38) ensured that the tail did not survive, and Bromley moved to a fine win, achieved by 53 runs, which ended the long unbeaten run of the home team. Wells now rest at second spot in the table, nine points off the lead with a game in hand.

A game at RASRA on the unfriendly and curious surface at Crofton Albion lasted barely 33 overs, the home XI being dismissed for an unchallenging 70, while Wells knocked off the runs in quick time led by a pedigree knock of 34* from James Madgwick.

The uneven track was extremely difficult to bat on, with the consequence that the bowlers held the upper hand throughout, despite some brisk blows from Jay Thomas (27). Each member of the attack was successful in some degree, Mark Thompson (3-11) and Graeme Corbishley (4-25) taking the main plaudits, with assistance coming from Liam Flint and Matt Green (2-7), and several fine catches were taken, Theo Burley with three behind the wicket and Madgwick two in the outfield, giving a safe impression as the innings fell away in just under 20 overs.

The reply also suffered as RASRA snapped up four wickets, but Madgwick (6 fours) was a class above, and, with Barney Shaw also in good form, the target was passed in 12.3 overs as these two young batsmen took the game to the home bowlers. The XI thus notched up their seventh win in a row, pocketing another 20 points, which was enough to take them to the top spot in the table for the first time in 2008, with a game in hand over Bickley Park, and nine points ahead of Dartfordians. 

Betsham visited The Upper Nevill, won the toss and elected to bat, taking a firm grip on the early exchanges despite the loss of a quick wicket. Skipper Simon Rasho (37) and Richard Pilgrim put up 63 for the second wicket, followed by Pilgrim and Hilton Bayayi (37) adding 67 for the third stand, the former compiling an excellent 67 to guide the score to 149-2. James Madgwick removed Pilgrim and went on to grab 5-49 as the innings subsided to 191 all out, the next six wickets putting up just 42 runs in all as the overs ran out. Matt Green (2-28) assisted as Madgwick took control, and a smart trademark run-out from Scott Linden accounted for the other dismissal, with the result that Wells required 192 for victory in the afternoon sunshine.

The chase also suffered from an early loss, but, following a typically rapid 25 from Ben Fair, BJ Allatt (46) and Madgwick (40) hit up a secure 79 for the third partnership, which laid the foundation of the victory march. Madgwick played many cultured drives, aided by some forthright blows from Allatt, but Pilgrim returned to remove the former and then throw out James Sharp, and it was left to Barney Shaw, after an indifferent start, to crash an unbeaten 46 to see Wells home with Elliott Hughes as his partner. The win was achieved with eight overs and five wickets to spare, and kept the side at second spot in the League, but with a game in hand over the leaders. The win was the sixth in a row for the team, emulating neatly the feat of the 'sister' fourth eleven.

Following a Mystery Tour of the suburbs of South London in order to discover the whereabouts of the appointed fixture, TWCC lost vital time, and arrived late enough to forfeit the toss and have thirteen overs deducted from their allocation. By a splendid irony, the UCH Ground at Chislehurst had been the scene of their game the previous week.

The home XI batted first, and gave immediate signs of an impending vast total as an elegant half-century from Aussie Ben Wilkinson (60), together with a swashbuckling 71 from Kiwi David Norrie, produced an avalanche of early runs. The brakes were applied largely through a controlled spell of slow bowling from Stefan Grosvenor, and a remarkable late burst from pacer Mark Thompson, who grabbed 5-6 in his final five overs. The Blackheath innings came to a close unexpectedly short at 190 with a few balls to spare, the hardworking Thompson emerging with the exceptional figures of 6-19 overall.

The reply had only 33 overs in which to get the runs, which translated to a rate of one-per-ball throughout the innings. Blackheath soon pegged the rate back and began to gather in the required wickets. From 84-6, Liam Flint, initially in partnership with Grosvenor, then added 57 for the 7th wicket, and thus began to set up the chase as the score mounted. The turning point came when Flint was partnered by Caspian Paget in a hard-hit match-winning partnership of 40 that raised the momentum dramatically. With just two wickets in hand, Flint came through with an outstanding unbeaten 71 as the target was overhauled with just thirteen balls to spare. The final hundred had been obtained in the last nine overs in an astonishing crescendo of hitting. Wells therefore took twenty points from the game to move up into second spot in the table, also recording their fifth consecutive win.

Bickley Park won the toss and chose to bat, but their effort was continually thwarted by some varied and incisive bowling, and a total of 134 was arrived at with some eight overs unused. Mark Macionis (34) and Paul Bunn (31) alone offered prolonged resistance as Wells rang the changes, seemingly each one having the effect of another breakthrough. Liam Flint and Chris Williams (2-12) did the early damage, assisted by Matt Green (2-20), as the home innings slumped to 80-6, whereupon pace gave way to spin as Percy Watts and Stefan Grosvenor took spells at the lower order. A minor recovery took the score past three figures, but the introduction of Mark Thompson (2-3) put paid to any further success, and the innngs finished on 134 to give Wells maximum bowling points.

The reply worked around a pathfinding knock from Theo Burley (43, with 6 fours), who saw the total safely up to 105-4, and defied the home attack for the mostpart of the duration of the pursuit. Flint (29*) saw to the continuity required following Burley's dismissal, and Wells passed the target with five wickets down and as many as twenty overs in hand. This was an important victory in that Bickley Park are presently the division leaders, and, with a game in hand, Wells can still challenge for a promotion place as the season progresses.

A beautiful day and a perfect batting wicket at the Upper Ground saw 579 runs scored while just 12 wickets fell, a splendidly fought-out game going Wells' way by just 13 runs as Bexley chased valiantly to overtake a mammoth total.

The home side elected to bat first, and moved uneasily to 61-3 before a new record fourth stand transformed the innings. James Madgwick and Liam Flint added 178 at a tremendous rate as the boundary blitz carried Wells towards a daunting total and relative safety. Madgwick moved easily to a maiden League century, with 15 fours and nine sixes, while Flint notched 76, which included 11 fours and two sixes, each deciding that running singles on a sweltering afternoon was beyond consideration. At length Flint was removed at 239, but Madgwick went on, and was last out at 289, a late flurry bringing the total to 296-6 as the overs ran out. No praise could be too high for the manner in which these two young batsmen took on the task of vouchsafing their side a healthy total.

To their credit, Bexley III went for the target, and had similar structure in the innings as an early-order centurion was abetted by a half-century from the number three. Chris Castleton (110) and Nathan Moore (63*) took the chase to 176-1 before Castleton was removed, and the match became utterly absorbing as Wells fought to contain the runflow while the visitors tried desperately to attain the victory. The struggle narrowly turned to the home side as wickets fell just frequently enough to slow the long pursuit, and, at the conclusion of a fascinating encounter, Bexley fell short by the merest of margins. The result pushed TWCC up to third spot in the lists.

It should be noted in addition that the game was played throughout in the finest of spirit and enthusiasm, leaving an enduring impression of an excellent contest.

Wells won the toss and batted, the innings being launched by a Chris Williams blitz (48, with seven fours and two sixes) as 60 runs were added for the second wicket with Andrew Townsend. Just eleven overs were needed to send the score to 72-1, but the home attack then enjoyed some respite as the runrate slowed and five wickets tumbled. The middle order showed pluck but was unable to produce a dominating innings, and it was left to number eight Sam Watts (36), aided by Liam Flint, to push the total up to 187-8 before skipper David Wells and Mark Thompson put up a hard-hit unbeaten 34 as the overs ran out. A final total of 221-8 was reached, yet, at the time, this seemed a trifle short of par on the Dartford track.

The reply set off in formidable style as a virtuoso performance from Rajeev Mahajan (68) drove the total to 66-1. Scott Linden (2-35) and Mark Thompson took wickets at the other end, but Mahajan rampaged on. The introduction of Percy Watts changed the game, however, and, with Mahajan well taken by Liam Flint, the final six wickets were captured while the score advanced by just 26 runs. Spinner Watts netted 5-28 in a spell of admirable control and guile, and the collapse from 140-4 was as surprising as it was complete. Wells took 20 points from the encounter, and, with a game in hand, they are comfortably placed at fourth in the table. 

Shooters Hill I won the toss and batted at the Woolwich Barracks Ground, but the decision backfired somewhat as the score slipped to 62-5. Mark Thompson (5-23), ably supported by Matt Green and Scott Linden, did the damage, although the later order were able to double the total while using up all but one of the allocated overs. Michael Lear (27*) received just enough assistance from the tail to drag the score up to 126, but Thompson was not to be denied, as Percy Watts (2-30) with James Madgwick helped to wrap up the batting, assisted by some smart catching.

The target was deemed approachable, but Wells lost two early wickets although Ben Fair (41) and Elliott Hughes came to the rescue as the score edged up to 74-2. Shooters Hill then broke back into the match with a further brace of wickets, when Hughes was partnered with Linden. These two added a comfortable unbroken 41 to bring up the win with five wickets in hand, Hughes coming away with an unbeaten 29, Linden with a cameo 26 not out. The result placed Wells at fifth spot in the table, just below the leaders, with every opportunity to capitalise upon the position attained.

Put in by Bromley, Wells set off apace as Ben Fair quickly moved to 49 before being adjudged out one short of a maiden half-century. The batsmen contributed down the list, but important supporting knocks came from BJ Allatt (36) and from Liam Flint (30*), allowing the visitors' innings to last out the 46 overs while putting together a competitive 194-9. Emmerson Wood assisted Flint as the later order added vital runs.

The reply found conditions even less easy, and the home chase had fatally floundered at 40-7, Flint (4-13) being distinctly impressive, but defiance from the eighth pair held up a seemingly inexorable victory march. Skipper David Wells rang the changes with his bowlers, and eventually the tail was wrapped up with two overs in hand, the score having reached 109-9, as Bromley batted one man short. By the rules of the League, this provided TWCC with the full 20 points, which was enough to lift them to fifth in the table, with a game in hand, and provided a more than useful position as they can slipstream the leaders before going full-out for promotion.

As though comforted by their narrow survival at the close of 2007, the XI put in a telling performance after the visitors made a strong start, Blackheath winning the toss and batting. The score mounted to the relative calm of 68-2, with opener Tim Richardson (41) anchoring the effort, whereupon BJ Allatt entered the attack and proceeded to decimate the middle order as he picked up 6-9 in seven overs. Blackheath's innings drifted to 76-6 before some late resistance briefly promised recovery, but the rampant Wells bowlers held sway and the total soon closed on 120 with almost two overs unused. Ben Fair took a rather fine catch to remove Richardson, and the Wells groundwork was safe if latterly scarcely extended, and the target was approached with reasonable confidence.

Blackheath were determined not to be completely overcome however, and, despite the solid opening from Fair and Stefan Grosvenor, each on League debut, the chase slipped ignominiously to 55-4. At this point, the game was wide open, but excellent fighting knocks from Elliott Hughes and young Barny Shaw, the latter showing remarkable freedom and certainty, saw off the threat and pressed on to a six-wicket victory with sixteen overs in hand and no further mishaps. The unbroken winning partnership was worth 78 as the target was overtaken, Hughes coming away with a not out 30, and Shaw a hard-hit and melodious unbeaten 39 (five fours and two sixes).

The victory brought a maximum 20 points from the encounter, and a welcome start to the campaign after the washout of the previous week. Bright sunshine bathed the Upper Nevill throughout.