Author: ECCC

Saturday’s side slipped from 101-3 to 132 all out, with 40 from Smith and 31 from Cranfield the main contributions.  Melton St Audry made easy work of the total and completed a 6 wicket victory, scoring 133 – 4.  Earls Colne lost by 6 wickets. Opponents 20 points, Earls Colne 4 points.

Sunday was a happier story. Earls Colne posted 222 for 7 with half centruies for Unwin (52) and Durkin (63 no).  Stebbing struggled in reply with just 162-9, 110 of which were scored by Meakin, not out.  Earls Colne won by 60 runs.

Despite our best efforts of fielding 22 players for this Jubilee celebration of cricket, the weather has had the last word, and today’s festivities are cancelled.

It is hoped to arrange a midweek T20 game in a couple of weeks’ time and this will be announced to one and all, as well as being posted on the website

First time against Nacton ( I think) for the club, on a dry and breezy day with total cloud cover for the better part of the day.  We arrived with 11 players (hooray), including recently returned George Cranfield from Uni.  We lost the toss and Nacton elected to bat (we would have bowled anyway).  Quick inroads were made by openers Mason and Oakley, with the home team stumbling to 44 for 3 after 10 overs. But an 89 run partnership from Glading and Brunt made a possible total of well over 200 look inevitable. At just the right moment Toby Philips struck with two important wickets, both identically out caught at cover by Oakley (first catches in 20 years apparently), and Nacton stumbled again with three tail end wickets falling to Mason.  We could not manage to take the last wicket and Nacton finished on 176 for 9, an eminently gettable target.

After tea the top order struggled and some highly accurate bowling by Nacton skipper Brunt ( 7 overs, 3 wickets, only a single wide), ably backed up by Fincham saw a top order collapse to 11 for 4.  A patient recovery, and a partnership of 50 from Brooker (17) and Cranfield (36) came to a quick end with two wickets falling in 3 balls leaving Colne strugling once again on 61-6.  Lee Parish made a brisk 16 before spanking the ball down the throat of mid-off, leaving Colne on 92 -9.  Ben Mason and Oakers connected to a few, bringing a batting point, but Ben Mason replicated Lee’s earlier shot and we were all out for 113 with 7 overs still to be bowled.

Batting practise needed (nets are on Thursdays ☺)

Nacton 20 points, Earls Colne 5 points

Next Saturday we take on Melton St Audrey’s, at home.  The Sunday side take on Stebbing, also at home.

It’s nice to see some good weather at long last which has meant we can play more cricket without the need for bouyancy aids!

The Wednesday night training sessions are going really well and its so nice to see so many new faces each week. Keep telling people you know who may be interested we will always gladly welcome new players!

With the Jubilee celebrations fast approaching some of you may know already about our planned Club event on the 3rd of June at the Recreation Ground. I would like to take the opportunity firstly to invite you all along for a barbecue( available from 15:00)  drink and a fun day out with some cricket thrown in for good measure.

What we would like to do is to get the whole of the Colts section involved with some Kwik cricket (11:30 – 12:30)  and an inter-colts game (16:00-17:30). There will also be a 20/20 senior friendly game against Twinstead between 13:00 – 15:00. 

We anticipate that the day will be a fun day out for the whole family to enjoy, with food and drink in plentiful supply and a chance to relax watching some cricket.

We wish to continue building a stronger club that is there for the whole community to benefit from and hope you will come along with friends and family to enjoy the day.

 I will be at training on Wednesday to answer any questions you may have or take food and drink orders for the day!!

Many thanks 

Harry Callaghan

A great win for the Sunday side today, as we defeated Kirby by 50 runs, largely thanks to a great 106 from Will Dunn.
 
Winning the toss and choosing to bat, Colne started well with Harry Callaghan and Joe Smith taking Colne to 43 for 0 off of 10. Both Harry and Joe were dismissed quickly, as were Russell and Daryl as we were reduced to 71 for 4. However Will after his fantastic knock of 74 on Saturday continued his great form, by scoring quickly and having great support from Toby Phillips (17),  and Simon Boulton (36). Will quickly passed 50 at around the 30th over as we reached 159 for 5. From this point Will cut loose and dispatched the bowling to all corners, reaching his 100 with a 4 and seeing us pass 200 with five overs to go. Will was eventually out LBW trying to reverse sweep Nell, after one succesfull attempt previously. Wolfie and Ben managed to see out the last five overs scoring 15 and 20 respectively, meaning we finished up on 258 for 9 off of our 45 overs.
 
After another gourmet tea, pints of Magners and a continued ‘wilt’ in the sun, we started our reply with Joe and Ben opening the bowling for colne. Kirby quickly showed that they werent going to hang around trying to chase down the target, opening batsman Adam Warnes, carved Smith and Mason’s deliveries without much regard for whatever line and length they were and before we knew it, Kirby were 83 for 1 off of 12. Game on!, as Smith and Mason went off to lick their much damaged pride, Russ Dawes and Jon Brewer were bought on to see if the flow of runs could be stemmed. Luckily Russel bowled a superb spell of 10-7-16-2 and was well assisted by Jon with 7-1-30-1 as we managed to get the run rate down to a manageable level. Russ and Jon were well supported by Simon Boulton 6-0-31-1 and Toby Phillips 4-0-15-0 in the middle period, as we managed to limit the run scoring and with 15 overs to go Kirby needed close to 10 an over to reach their target. In the end we comfortably managed to secure victory by 50 runs, and made it two league wins out of three competitive fixtures..
 
Next Week, we take on Copdock and O.I in the Piri Piri Plate competition

Finally a lovely day to play cricket, with a dry wicket a warm sun and an easterly breeze.

Ipswich’s pitch was hard and dry, so on winning the toss we elected to bat.  Cautious progress to 30 without loss in ten overs changed quickly with Willsher and Wigan back in the pavilion in quick succession.  John Lee and Dave Brooker continued the progress but both also fell leaving the score on a precarious 59 – 4 off 22 overs.  But Joe Smith and Will Dunn had other ideas and a very smart partnership of 98 runs ( Dunn 74, Smith 27) made the total respectable.  Quick runs from new recruit Tarak Dhimant and Will Bradshaw saw us home with a respectable total of 186-6.

After tea the wind dropped, the surface became easier (this is our excuse) and a single wicket each for Oakley and Dhimant (both bowled) were our only wickets. A couple of dropped chances in the 80s could have changed the game (no names!) but Ipswich batted well and saw the game home with an excellent parnership between Denny (58) and Wright (59) and a win by 8 wickets.

Ipswich 18 points, Earls Colne 5 points

Next week we play away at Nacton CC

Summer has finally arrived and we have had our first game for the new side.

I’m sure it was not just me and Harry who were nervous at the start but Dylan was all smiles as he won the toss and decided to let Kelvedon bat. Alex and Matthew opened the bowling and got us off to a great start with Alex only going for three runs in his four overs, and Matthew getting a wicket in his first over and bowling well.

The whole team encouraged each other all the way through and the fielders supported the bowlers with some good fielding, our second change bowlers of Taylor and Oliver continued to keep the scoring down and although we didn’t take any wickets Kelvedon didn’t find it easy.    

Charlie in his first game as wicket keeper should feel very pleased with himself as in the whole innings we only conceded 5 Byes which is a great effort.

Dylan bowled with Jack at the end of the innings, Dylan bowling a good line and was unlucky not to get a wicket while at the other end Jack was outstanding after settling into his bowling and getting three wickets including the big hitting opening batsman in his last two overs.

The Kelvedon innings ended 84 -5 in 20 overs

                          Overs        Maidens      Runs               Wickets 

A. Morrison             4                2             3                      0                      

M. Halls                   3               0             12                     1               

O. Callaghan            3               0             12                    0              

T Nicholson              3              0             16                    0               

D Peakall                 3               0              17                     0                

J Carder                  4                0             19                     3               

After a quick break we started our reply with Daniel and Jordon opening the batting, Daniel(0) was bowled by a very good ball from the impressive bowling of King in the first over, but Jordon and James steadied the ship and were making inroads into the target of 84 when James(1) was caught and bowled.

This brought Taylor to the crease who batting sensible and looking after his wicket moved the score along after Jordon hit a couple of 4’s he was out for unlucky 13.

Morgan(2) and Taylor added 44 for the 4th Wicket and with the finish line in sight the running between the wickets got a bit ragged with both Morgan and Matthew(5) being Run out.

Taylor (22) hit a 4 off the first ball of the last over to see Earls Colne to their first win in their first Game!

Just to underline how well the team performed, the Kelvedon coach made a point of saying how well we fielded and encouraged each other. Well done to all the team and a thank you for all the traveling support. 

Earls Colne Casuals took to the field on Sunday 20^th May away to West Mersea. Colne handed two new players their debuts in Stuart Trust and David Coleman. After losing the toss againColne bowled well with Ben Mason quickly grabbing 3 wickets and Adam Page supporting from the other end.

West Mersea were 34 for 4, however a partnership of 84 saw Mersea to 138-4 before Hayns had Lockhart stumped down the leg side by a quick thinking Harry Callaghan behind the stumps for 54. Colne then took three more quick wickets, Stuart Trust bowling impressively with figures of 2-26 in his first game for many years. A special mention to our Chairman Les Abbie who bowled very tidy off breaks and was extremely unlucky not to get more than one wicket.

At this stage Mersea were 151-7 before their first team captain came to the crease and hit a bludgening 33 (dressed in cargo shorts and an England top) Mason bowled him with a looping delivery and Adam Page deservedly picked up the last wicket with the total at 215.

Colne replied in style with Taylor Nicholson one of our Colt players opening the batting with Harry Callaghan. They shared a 20 over stand of 114 runs with Taylor making a good solid 14 runs with no chances given. He played with a beautiful straight bat and maturity beyond his years, well played Taylor!

But the day belonged to Harry Callaghan who made his first century in club cricket. Starting off with a pulled six and adding further shots around the ground totalling 14 fours and a further six.

A couple of nervous moments in the nineties resulted in a few skipped hearts, but a clip through mid wicket for four brought up the hundred. The captain then retired him on 100 and a cluster of wickets then fell, but Mason saw it through to the end for the draw with 14 not out. 

Ben Mason’s best ever bowling figures of 7-35 was not enough to secure victory against visitors Felixstowe Corinthians.  After winning the toss and electing to bowl things were looking good, with Felixstowe struggling to get going with just 6 on the board for the loss of three wickets.  But a middle order revival saw the score past 150, and only a late flurry of wickets (Ben Mason taking 5 in his last three overs) saw the visitors bowled out in the last over for 170. Newcomer Toby Philips, aged just 13 bowled extremly well without luck, 4 overs for just 14 runs.

Earls Colne’s response was disappointing with wickets tumbling at an alarming rate.  Earls Colne were 20 for 7 at one point but some lusty blows and an undefeated 28 from Dave Brooker brought respectability to the score.  Sadly we were all out for a very disappointing 63 runs.  The small consolation is that we scored maximum bowling points.

We took to the field for the first time in a month for our 2nd league game vs Abberton at Green Farm Meadow
 
Winning the toss and deciding to field first, and with a new opening bowling partnership of Smith & Chambers, we checked Abberton’s good early progress, with Chris dismissing both Badger Ball and Steve Cowland to leave Abberton at 33-2 off 11. Abberton scored pretty serenely on a pitch which was still a tad damp after the month’s duck-favouring weather, however Ben Mason and new recruit Jon Brewer dismissed Lingard and Sullivan respectivley. However Number 6 Tuck, anchored the innings and supported the tail, whilst we continued to pick up wickets. Simon Boulton on a return to the team took 2-15 as he bowled in those overs known as the ‘free for all’ which goes with bowling between the 30-45 over mark. In the end Abberton got to 164-9 off 45 overs. We and Abberton thought that was a decent score on a reasonable wicket. All the bowlers bowled with great effort, honourable mention to Simon Boulton with his `Warne`esque bowling. Toby Phillips making his debut bowled a nice tight line and deserved his wicket pegging back off stump. Another debutant amongst the wickets was Jon Brewer who began to move the ball nicely .Bowling Figures: Joe Smith 9-4-30-0, Chris Chambers 10-3-30-2, Ben Mason 10-4-30-2, Jon Brewer 4-1-19-1, Si Boulton 5-2-15-2, Toby Phillips 4-0-18-1 (Well done Toby, a great first game!) and Mark Woods 3-0-20-1.
 
In Reply, EC started well with Smith and Callaghan putting on an opening stand of 52 (Smith departs making his usual minimal contribution). Now the Colne of last year would have probably been expected to now be all out for 100, however we once bucked the trend and finished the game off in some style. Harry decided to play an innings of patience couploed with excellent shot placement all round the wicket, hitting the bad ball and blocking the good one. Mark Woods on the other hand was slightly more agricultural (dropped twice, almost knocking the skipper’s Magners out his hand by one six which crashed on top of the scorer’s table and into the rec club!). Mark and Harry put on 113 for the third wicket, and guided us home to victory with 4 overs to spare, Harry 83 Not Out (7×4, 1×6) Mark Woods 51 Not Out (6×4, 1×6).
 
A team record win!!!!!!…of 9 wickets!!!! (it almost makes up for the Harwich debacle!)
 
 
EC 20 Points, Abberton 3 Points