Chelmsford Cricket Club Report for 29 & 30 July, 2006 After last weekend’s full house of Shepherd Neame league victories, Chelmsford failed to produce even a pair this time round. The heady heights of the previous week seemed to leave some players suffering a hangover. The fourth team was the only ace in the pack; their impressive defeat of Brentwood being Chelmsford’s only win on Saturday. The 1st team only managed a draw at home to relegation candidates Shenfield. Paul Jones and Duncan Paveling led the chase after the visitors had compiled 230-7, but the target was just too high. A single point deduction for an administrative error was enough to see Chelmsford slip to second place. The 2nd XI fared worse, losing to South Woodford by four wickets. Chelmsford were bowled out for just 98, and despite Keith Goodman taking an excellent 5-17, South Woodford sailed home. Perhaps the biggest shock of the day was the 3rd XI’s loss to Fives & Heronians. Simon Balmford and Barry Clayden batted superbly as Chelmsford hit an imposing 259 for six. Fives seemed to be sliding to defeat at 130-7 but staged a remarkable rally to against attacking fields and won by 2 wickets. Neal Abhyankar took six wickets for Chelmsford. The 4th XI kept the flag flying with an excellent performance to beat Brentwood. Adil Dewan hit his first century, and with support from Peter Stock (50) and Chris Karunaratna (40) Chelmsford were able to post 280, despite Webb contributing 7 wickets and a run out. Jones gave Brentwood a real chance of chasing the huge total, but two superb spells from Alistair Baldwin (8-69), supported by Huw Davies (2-61) meant that the visitors were skittled out for 226, as Chelmsford’s fourths notched up their third win in a row. The 5th team were involved in a close draw against Bairds in a friendly. Bairds declared on 192-8, and Chelmsford looked likely to successfully chase the total until a steady loss of wickets forced a draw. Rajan Patel (53) and Omar Riasat (23 not out) performed with the bat. The Sunday 1st team enjoyed a comfortable victory over Harold Wood, thanks to a masterful innings from Matthew Thurston. Harold Wood’s 188-9 (Bond 4-43) proved insufficient as Thurston hit an unbeaten 106, and Neil Goodman 62, to give Chelmsford an 8-wicket win. The 2nd and 3rd XIs were both involved in incredibly close run chases. In a 45-over game, the seconds lost by just 4 runs as 6 from the last ball proved too great a task for Craig Thompson, who had hitherto batted brilliantly with the tail in an unbeaten 31. Broxbourne had previously posted 176, with Baldwin taking 4-30 to add to his 8 wickets the previous day and Simon Evans chipping in with 3-6. The 3rd team tied with Little Waltham in an exciting tussle. Little Waltham were bowled out for 191, with Dan Evans-Green bowling well to take 3-27, before Chelmsford were also bowled out for 191, the last wicket falling in the final over. Lee Cranmer scored 32, but the real hero was captain Alistair Fergus. Despite being useless with the bat Fergus hit an unbeaten 45 to give Chelmsford a ray of hope – and a tie – in a game they seemed destined to lose. In colts cricket, Chelmsford’s under-13s beat Ilford with a strong performance. Captain Glen Swinney led the charge, scoring a very good 62. Reports Saturday 29th July 1st Team Shepherd Neame Essex League Division 1 Played at Chelmer Park SHENFIELD 230-7 CHELMSFORD I 214-7 (Match Drawn) Chelmsford only managed a draw on Saturday at home to Shenfield, which saw them overtaken at the top by Chingford. Chasing 231 to win the game, Chelmsford got off to the best possible start with skipper Paul Jones and Duncan Paveling continuing their good form and sharing a century opening stand. Jones was particularly severe on anything short and showed good timing. Paveling, despite nursing an injured hamstring (requiring a runner) provided an excellent foil and put away the bad ball to good effect. With the score on 137, Chelmsford looked in control and needed under 6 runs per over, but Jones was run out with a direct hit throw from 50 yards. That proved to be a crucial moment, with Jones gone for a well-made 75, the innings lost a bit of momentum. Matt Thurston was just beginning to show his usual good timing when he fell for 14 and a mix-up with the running also saw the back of Paveling for a good 69. The Prowting brothers looked in control until Chris was adjudged LBW. From there Chelmsford lost wickets at regular intervals, with Weaver striking three times. Nick Prowting continued to look good but he was running out of partners. It should be mentioned that Chelmsford only had 10 players with one of the batsmen leaving the ground through ill health in the early overs of the game. With only 2 wickets left, a frustrated Chelmsford batted out the last 2 overs for the draw only 17 runs short of a victory that was well within their grasp. Nick Prowting remained unbeaten on 28. Perhaps it was just a coincidence but the faltering started shortly after the defeated second team arrived to watch the game. Earlier in the day, Shenfield had amassed 230 in a strange innings where there was a low-key feel to proceedings from both sides. Chelmsford had felt wounded by some bad luck in the field, but stuck to the task, restricting Shenfield to just 57 from the last 15 overs after Hazle (90) had laid the foundations for a big score. Eddie Lawrence (4-59) was the chief wicket-taker, while Mark Drain bowled very well on his first-team debut to claim 2-37. Ian Hare bowled well with little luck to take 1 wicket from 17 overs. 2nd Team Shepherd Neame Essex League Premier Division Played at South Woodford CHELMSFORD II 98 all out SOUTH WOODFORD 99-6 (Chelmsford lost by 4 wickets) Batting first on a deteriorating wicket, playing against a disorganised opposition who started with eight and with a quality spin attack, the odds were heavily in Chelmsford’s favour at the outset. An inept batting performance swiftly overturned those odds. Querishi (3-48) and Neicho (3-24) bowled pretty well but virtually all the batsmen were the architects of their own dismissal. Gary Chidley (30) at the top of the order and Matthew Poole (20) at the bottom emerged with some credit. Browne (4-21) proved the beneficiary of the pressure as his flighted leg spin cleaned out the tail. With only 98 to defend early wickets were paramount but it was early boundaries that emerged. Bukhari (28) and Ahmed (29) played aggressively and seemed to take Chelmsford out of the game. Keith Goodman returned to Saturday cricket in some style and began to cause some jitters, eventually claiming five for 17. Shirt (17*) proved equal to the task and saw his side home. For Chelmsford it’s a simple case of must do better, although they surely cannot do worse. 3rd Team Shepherd Neame Essex League Division 1 Played at Fives CHELMSFORD III 259-6 FIVES & HERONIANS 261-8 (Chelmsford lost by 2 wickets) Our first defeat attributable to one man: the captain. His pursuit of 20 points for a win culminated in a loss by 2 wickets as Fives achieved their target in the final over. With a depleted side we won the toss and took the defensive option of batting first. We were in some disarray at 81 for 4 but a partnership of 160 between Barry Clayden and Simon Balmford changed the whole complexion of the game. Balmford, mixing resounding shots with streaky edges in almost equal measure, reached his maiden league century and finished 116 not out whilst Clayden timed the ball immaculately from the word go before holing out on 91. Kerr (39) and Harbord (21) gave Fives a flying start with 56 on the board after just 6 overs. Thereafter, Neal Abhyankar bowled us into a position of strength taking the first 6 wickets in an outstanding spell of off spin bowling. With 22 overs available to take the last 3 wickets we were strong favourites. Allum batting at No 7 decided that a draw was the most Fives could achieve but with the captain setting outrageously attacking fields and cajoling the batsmen to play shots he and Haider set their sights on a total of 200 to secure maximum batting points. Haider (67) struck some resounding boundaries and convinced his partner that victory was possible. When he was well caught by Craig Thompson with 4 overs remaining skipper Dhayla did not know whether to continue the run chase. More encouragement convinced him do so and Allum (65no) struck two boundaries to win the game. 4th Team Shepherd Neame Essex League Premier Division Played at Chelmer Park CHELMSFORD IV 280-9 BRENTWOOD 226 all out (Chelmsford won by 54 runs) 5th Team Friendly Played at Chelmer Park BAIRDS 192-8 CHELMSFORD V 169-8 (Match Drawn) Sunday 30th July 1st Team Spa Tec Essex Sunday League Played at Chelmer Park HAROLD WOOD 188-9 CHELMSFORD I 189-2 (Chelmsford won by 8 wickets) Harold Wood elected to bat first on a bouncy track at Chelmer Park and lost an early wicket thanks to an excellent gully catch from Matt Poole. Hollingsworth and Brabner consolidated the innings and, although they had moments of fortune, they played very sensibly and put the bad balls away for boundaries. The introduction of Keith Goodman saw Chelmsford begin to exert some control at one end and he soon accounted for Hollingsworth (37), going on to record excellent figures of 1-17 from 8 overs before having to leave the field through injury. Harold Wood began to try and up the tempo although Nigel Bond struck in his first over, as is his habit nowadays, to dismiss Brabner for 45. The remaining batsmen continued to bat sensibly and ran well between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Toby Hughes (2-28) returned for a 2-over spell at the end to pick up two wickets and check the run rate a little, and Bond showed the value of bowling straight to finish with 4-43. The final Harold Wood total of 188-9 in their 40 overs looked to be a competitive total and when Gary Chidley was dismissed in the second over of the reply, Harold Wood felt they were on top. Unfortunately for them, a couple of half-chances were missed and in general their bowlers bowled too short, allowing Matt Thurston and Neil Goodman to pick up a number of early boundaries. Both batsmen then punished the change bowlers with expansive shots to all parts of the ground to share a stand of 177 in just 17 overs to take Chelmsford to the brink of victory. Goodman finally perished for an aggressive 62, trying to finish the game with a six. The match ended with Thurston unbeaten on a well deserved century (106). This was another exceptional batting performance from a confident Chelmsford side, who remain unbeaten in the Sunday League so far this year. 2nd Team Friendly Played at Broxbourne Sports Centre BROXBOURNE 176 all out CHELMSFORD II 172-9 (Chelmsford lost by 4 runs) 3rd Team Friendly Played at Little Waltham LITTLE WALTHAM 191 all out CHELMSFORD II 191 all out (Match Tied) Under-13s Peter Coe Cup Played at Chelmer Park ILFORD 134 all out CHELMSFORD 135-6 (Chelmsford won by 4 wickets) A terrific innings from Glen Swinney guided Chelmsford to a notable win. Ilford’s powerful batting line up was constantly held back by the loss of a wicket. For Chelmsford Jack Stevens (2-21), Swinney (2-20) and Alex Shepherd (1-5) bowled particularly well. Top scorer Baxi (33) was one of two victims for Joe Matthams. Some good fielding also helped restrict the score to 134. Sam Bensusan held a good catch and manufactured two run outs. Sam Hollingsworth kept wicket tidily despite not having done the job before this year. One of the top order needed to bat very well to give Chelmsford an opportunity. It was Swinney who rose to the occasion as he played himself in before crashing some impressive boundaries. He was bowled for 62 with just 8 needed and victory was completed without (much) further alarm. Hollingsworth and Bensusan batted well with Swinney and Shepherd rounded things off nicely.