Author: ECCC

In bright warm conditions, but with rain always in the visible distance, Earls Colne won the toss and elected to bat.  Chintesh Patel (29) and Archie Wilkinson (25) were the batsmen of note, but once again Colne failed to get going in the batting department and were dismissed fo just 130.

Excellent teas with home baked cakes and moist egg sandwiches were worth the trip alone.

Melton struggled against tight bowling and made agonisingly slow progress and were 50 for 3 after 22 overs and an unlikely win seeemd possible.  But no more breakthroughs came.  We changed the bowling to see if we could buy a wicket, but it didn’t work – Melton raced to the total scoring 30 runs in just 2 overs.  No names given to protect the innocent!

Earls Colne 130 all out.  Melton 131 for 3.

Earls Colne 3 points, Melton 20 points

Halstead visited and had a net, scoring 1,000 for no loss.  A nice day for their first teamers. (More accurate details to follow)

With a week of social networking misdemeanours on the international front, there were no such concerns as Colne travelled to the Real Oddies for a Sunday fixture on a Saturday.

With the hottest day of the year and a wicket that had a thick green top on the toss was won by the home side who thankfully chose to bat. 

With 3 debutants in James Flood, Dan Wade and Chris Jones all figuring, the side looker younger , fresher and thanks to Floody, taller!

With a tight start from Jordan Willey and Ben Mason only yielding 3 runs from the first 6 overs it seemed a good start from Colne. Ben got the breakthrough with a smart stumping from the stand-in skipper Harry and this was followed up by Jordan removing Reubin for 1.

At 14-2 off the first 10 overs Jordan was changed for the sprightly Nick Oakley. With a slip cordon reminiscent of the West Indies of the 1970’s Nick soon removed 3 batsmen with another smart stumping removing Sudra, leaving Nick finishing on 3-15 off 7 overs.

With Jon Brewer probing from one end and the captain still getting confused which was Chris and which was Dan, an inspired change bought the reliable Russell Dawes into action. With a pace and line like Ben’s they could almost be father and son. Russ removed Hepburn who top scored with 15 and then whilst still questioning the captain’s wisdom of placing him deep, Ben took a smart catch to remove Hewlett for 8. Russ then  finished with 2 in 2 when he bowled Singh with a straight one. 

A great team effort in the field saw Colne restrict the Oddies to 58 all out.  17 extras, Mason 2-8 off 7, Oakley 3-15 off 7, Dawes the pick with 3-1 off 1.2 

A decision to delay tea was taken and James Flood and Harry took to the crease in now subcontinental batting weather. With James dispatching balls to various parts the Oddies tried to keep their shape. At the other end Harry was watchful and kept the board ticking over. When James tried one launch too many and was stumped for an enterprising 20. Dave Brooker then came to the crease and batted well as he and Harry brought Colne to within 1 run of victory.

Hewlett then got one to turn which hit bat,pad before rolling onto middle bowling Dave for 9.

Jordan came to the crease and promptly dispatched his first ball for 4 to seal the win.

 It just goes to show you can have fun playing cricket for Colne on a Saturday!

Well done everyone!

Flood 20 Callaghan 19 not out Brooker 9 Earls Colne win by 8 wickets 20 points.

Sunday saw Kelvedon visiting and giving the casuals a game.

Earls Colne batted first and amassed 183 all out.  Mark Harris 41.

Kelvedon were 151 at the end of play, but with batsmen still at the crease, so the match was drawn. Mark Harris 2-21. Full report follows.

A beautiful sunny day agin, and visitors Ipswich lost the toss.  We elected to bat, having only nine players (late withdrawals).  New club member Chintesh Patel top scored with 31, but almost every player registered double figures, and Colne finished on a respectable 159 for 7.

After a great tea provided by Tony Hayns (water melon included, Tony you are excelling yourself), Ipswich were straight out of the traps with a volley of boundaries by opener Pryke, who passed the 50 mark inside 6 overs! Chintesh Patel and Oakers managed to stem the flow, with Pryke being clean bowled by Chin, with the score on 100. Mason came back on and bowled a superb second spell taking two wickets for just 9 runs, and Smith bought a wicket with his fluky off breaks and the game was back in the balance at 133 for 4.  Then followed a slow and patient accumulation with the last 38 runs taking 15 overs.  But Ipswich nudged past the line with no further loss.

Earls Colne 159-7.  Ipswich 160 – 4.

Ipswich win by 6 wickets

Ipswich 18 points, Earls Colne 5 points

Saturday’s game at Felixtsowe was played in sunny and breezy conditions, while several games further inland were rained off.  Colne lost the toss and were put into bat on a shocker of a pitch.  Uneven bounce, slow, plus an incredibly slow outfield meant that a score of 150 might win the game.  Wickets fell a regular intervals but a nice little partnership between Oliver Kearin and Mark Harris, plus some late runs from Oakley and James Flood brought the team home to 132 all out in the last over – a far more respectable scoreline than it looks.

After tea, Felixstowe got off to a painfully slow start with just 36 runs scored in the first 18 overs.  Two wickets fell in quick succession, but Coleman had other ideas, scoring freely.  A couple of bowling changes brought a wicket each for Flood and Oakley, but Coleman was scoring too quickly and the total was reached with just 4 wickets down.

Felixstowe win by 6 wickets.  Points  20 – 4

On Sunday, Daryl Sleeman was seeing the ball large, and got Colne off to a brisk start with the bat, but heavy rain interrupted the fun and the match was abandoned after just 6 overs.

This week we welcome four new players to the club.  One we have seen before, but not since he was 17, and now he’s 33!  Welcome back James Flood!

Jack Holdgate has joined us from Halstead and plays his first league game at Felixstowe Corinthians this Saturday, having already trailled in a casuals game two weeks ago.  He brings with him Tim Williamson, also from Halstead.  Last but not least Chintesh Patel, Indian, aged 29, lives in Halstead an saw our roadside banner and gave us a call.  Very good looking bowler and batter in the nets.  All four play this Saturday.  Is it a record to have four new players in one game??

Welcome to all of them.

A shocking weekend with two heavy defeats.  Saturday’s team limped to just 100 all out against a young and rampant Haverhill side.  Only club chairman Les Abbie managed a respectable performance with an unbeaten 32.  Haverhill romped home with the loss of just one wicket.

Sunday’s side fared no better with Stebbing scoring freely and closing their innings on 265-4.  In response Colne we all our for just 62.

Oh dear.  Next week we live to fight again, let’s raise the game!

The selection committeee will now be formally meeting on Tuesday evenings to select the teams for the coming weekend.  Please let team captains know, or respond to the general callout so we know your availability by Tuesday evening. Thanks!

We just need one more home match covered, our last game on Saturday September 1st.  Any volunteers please?

 Postcript – many thanks, teas are now covered until the end of the season

Charlotte Oakley- 28 July

Tony Hayns – 11 August

John Perfect – September 1st