Match Reports

A FANTASTIC win for the Earls Colne Sunday XI today against second placed Gosfield…
 
After losing the toss and being put into the field…EC kept Gosfield to a very low scoring rate…with the new bowling salvo of Smith, Mason, Moon and Wilkinson keeping Gosfield down to 46 for 1 off 22 overs…with Smith removing ex Kent 2nd XI opener Bloomfield for 5. This pressure increased and the tight bowling of Moon (his first game for over a year) and Wilkinson with a rare oppurtunity to bowl a long spell producing wickets… Wilkinson removed Dicker for 16, Smith for 42 and J Subrahmani for 3 to end with figures of 10-1-13-3 (Including 90% of these deliveries being down the leg side). Dave ended with 10-0-39-0 a good effort!. Gosfield never really got going after this point, we fell asleep for a little while in the field to gift them 10-20 runs when we switched off. Dan Grice encouraged into sending a few seamers down returned with 2 wickets. Smith then came back on at the end to do his usual job of mopping up the tail finishing with 9.4-2-27-4. We dismissed Gosfield for 140. All bowlers played a part Ben Mason 8-4-19-1, Dan Grice 3-0-17-2 and Adam Page 3-0-19-0, a great effort and all the bowlers put in a good shift.
 
After an impressive gourmet-like tea we set about the task at hand…
 
Now as many know in the team I get very nervous when it comes to chasing any small total, Kirby 2011 being evidence in proof of this..However today, today was a change from the norm. Harry Callaghan and his new opening partner Dan Grice put on 98 for the first wicket and effectivley did 90% of the job for us. Dan was eventually caught on 30 off another full toss!. Henry Holme came and went for 1 (he was convinced it was a bumped ball). New man Dave Moon came into the crease at number 4 and proceeded to impress greatly by hitting some lusty blows through square, cover and straight in his 30 not out. Harry Callaghan once again with his 5th 50 of the season was integral to our victory (great effort behind the sticks as well!). In the end Harry was out for 58 and it was left to Paul ‘Del Boy’ Harrington and Dave to tick the runs off to lead us to a great Victory!…
 
EC 143 for 3…
 
EC 20 Points. Gosfield 3 points..

EC needed to build on last week’s victory but this was always going to be a difficult game against an excellent Frinton side that are well on their way to securing the league title.

Winning the toss, the hosts elected to bat and when EVERSON crashed a cover drive as hard as anything you are likely to see, things were looking fairly grim. However OAKLEY got one to cut in and bowled the dangerous opener for just 4. However, shortly after being hit for a 6 by the other opener STOCKDALE, OAKLEY pulled a hamstring and could not bowl any more than his 4.2 over’s. STOCKDALE batted brilliantly and put on 115 for the second wicket with WILLIAMS, SMITH suffering the most… WILLIAMS was caught well by BROOKER off MASON and the same bowler cleaned up BUTCHER for 4. STOCKDALE was dropped on 55, I shall afford the fielder anonymity (for now) as it was an uncharacteristic mistake but the young opener raced to 96 before MASON had him caught and bowled. An excellent stumping by LEE off SMITH was the only other highlight really although PARISH (2) and SMITH (1) did pick up a few late wickets. Batsman 5, 6 and 7 scored 34, 32 and 21 to maintain the early impetus and EC were set a daunting 268 for victory.                                                                                                                           OAKLEY 4.2-0-16-1, SMITH 15-0-99-2, PARISH 13.4-1-71-2, MASON 8-0-51-3, BROOKER 4-0-26-0 (Including an impressive 7)

After what was undoubtedly the best tea of the year, EC started their innings with the new pairing of SMITH and BROOKER. Chasing a big total, the FRINTON opening bowlers BAKER and STOCKDALE (the younger) bowled very tightly and getting the ball off the square looked virtually impossible. SMITH continued his consistent form and was bowled for just 3 runs. PRESTNEY came to the crease looking to expiate his earlier sin and batted very well putting on 80 with BROOKER for the second wicket. However, when he was caught for 28 it was left to BROOKER to crash the bowling all-round the park in another excellent innings. PARISH (9) and BRADSHAW (11) hung around for a decent period but neither could really push the score on against the pacey COLES and spin of STOCKDALE. However BROOKER hit boundary after boundary and raced passed 50 despite the visible disintegration of numerous body parts. BALLS came in at number 6 and hit a patchy 14 but by now it was all about BROOKER who had made it to the 90’s and looked odds on for his first century for EC. Frinton kept giving BROOKER a single and he cautiously edged his way to 96 but the thunderous torpedoes which had previously rained down like confetti had suddenly become drier than a Nuns ****. Disaster struck on 98 as he gloved one attempting a sweep and was caught behind on 98. This was very unfortunate for BROOKER and the EC team who shared the disappointment but a superb innings all the same. BONNET joined BALLS for the last couple of overs and EC reached an extremely respectable 197-5 in reply.

Sadly defeat by 70 runs but a good team performance against a very good side.

A great win today for the Saturday side.  After being put in to bat we had struggled to 78 for 7, but runs from Oakers (22) Durkin (37) and Balls (61 not out) lifted the total to an improbable 208-9.

Joey Oakley made her first tea which was enjoyed by all.  Great egg sandwiches Joey!

Economical bowling from Durkin and Oakley put Bury on the backfoot and after 20 over were already needing more than 7 an over.  Durkin (2 wickets) was replaced by Smith bowling with pace and accuracy.  Wickets tumbled, skipper Dave Brooker and Ben Mason all came to the party, bowling well and taking wickets.  Durkin came back on to polish off the tale, and a victory by 52 runs.

See the full scorecard here

20 points, and the chance to avoid relegation if the winning form continues

A sixth win of the season for Earls Colne Sunday XI as we defeated Abberton by five wickets…
 
After being put into the field on a baking hot day, EC made good early inroads into the Abberton lineup, a farcical run out between the two openers accounted for Badger Ball and the other opener Cowland cleaned up by Smith..after 14 overs Abberton were 36 for 2.  Chris Chambers and Ben Mason as the first change bowlers continued the good work started by Patrick and Joe and ensured that at the 25 over point Abberton were 66 for 4, after numbers 3 and 4 Rudlin and Lingard had looked to accelerate the scoring, we managed to dismiss Lingard, but number 3 Rudlin was proving difficult to dislodge (a close run-out oppurtunity did not go our way.  However Durkers as second change (that’s how much bowling we had today!) managed to take a very good caught and bowled to dismiss him, from then on we managed to keep Abberton in Check and only  their number 7 and 8 Fosker and Digby scored over double figures. They were eventually dismissed for 117. Good performances by all the bowlers today, Joe Smith 9.4-3-21-3, Patrick Mckenna 7-2-23-0, Ben Mason 4-1-11-1, Chris Chambers 10-3-23-2, James Durkin 5-0-22-1, Russ Dawes 4-1-16-1. Some superb fielding by the likes of Lee Parish, Himesh Patel and the rest of the team to boot contributed to the two run-out’s and saved a good deal of runs in the outfield, Harry also had a very good day behind the timbers with only one bye conceded and a very well taken catch off Joe’s bowling.
 
In Reply, Earls Colne made a bit of a flap of chasing down 117, Joe Smith continued a recent run of poor batting form with a quacker (I think someone might have to remind me which way to hold a bat at the moment!). Harry was dismissed for 22 to an uncharacteristic aerial shot to Mid On. George Unwin played some blistering drives before he was bowled by a delivery which didnt get up. Himesh was as plumb a LBW as you could ever wish to see (not according to him, but he’s been out so often sweeping that everyone on the boundary was 100% certain that he was out!) and in no time we found ourselves in some difficulty at 49 for 4, and then at 71 for 5 as Russ Dawes was dismissed by a good Woodrow delivery. Enter Lee Parish at Number 6 he had worked very hard with Russ ticking the scoring along with some very sharp running (with a poorly hamstring aswell!) with a few well placed four’s. Chris Chambers joined him and with his help Colne did not lose another wicket in getting the remaining 47 runs needed. Lee played a very intelligent and sensible knock that got us over the line with 42 not out and Chris at the other end with 14 not out.
 
A win by 5 wickets
 
Earls Colne 20 Points. Abberton 3 Points

We have been announcing the team selection by Email, but there have been instances where players may not have received the email and the team has been short a player.  It happpened again this weekend at Maldon.  So we’ll also be putting the team selection up on the website on WEDNESDAY of each week.  Please can we ask all players, if in any doubt, to look at the ‘this week’s teams’ tab of the website for all future games?  Thanks!

I will resist the temptation to start this report with ‘another game Earls Colne could have won’ but in all honesty… Well you know where I am going with this one……

Losing the toss and being asked to field, EC were already in trouble on a massive ground with just 9 players for the first 15 overs.  OAKLEY and MASON bowled well and were backed up by some excellent fielding, not for the first time this year.  The left / right hand opening partnership of SOUTHWALL and BARNES put on 46 before OAKLEY bowled the former for 32. It was OAKLEY again who picked up wicket number 2 when MORRIS edged a wide one which was well taken by WILLSHER. PARISH then bowled the other opener for 32 and at this stage Maldon were 72-3. GRICE replaced OAKLEY and took a couple of wickets, one held by PARISH at slip and another clean bowled (off a rank long-hop).  PARISH continued to bowl accurately and efficiently and was rewarded when GRICE took an excellent diving catch at mid-on.  OAKLEY returned and picked up a couple of wickets, first bowling the dangerous MACMILLAN for 20 then PATEL for 8. PARISH then mopped up the tail with FOSTER being caught behind and a sharp catch off his own bowling to dismiss the home team for a below par 119. Earls Colne’ fielding today can only be described as awesome. MASON, O’BRIEN, BONNET, HARRINGTON, TURNER and DUNN were exceptional and all contributed in keeping Maldon to a modest total on what was an excellent batting wicket. Bowling figures: OAKLEY 13-3-35-4, MASON 11-0-41-0, PARISH 13.1-2-21-4, GRICE 4-0-18-2.

With a few of our top order absent, this was never going to be an easy chase for EC. The opening bowlers PATEMAN and FOSTER were bang on the money and did not concede a run in the first 4 overs. GRICE edged a swinging delivery to slip without scoring and DUNN followed soon after for 7. Wickets then fell began to tumble. HARRINGTON was out LBW (3), BONNETT hit a couple of boundaries but was then bowled (12) and OAKLEY was well held by a diving second slip (3). O’BRIEN made 6 and WILLSHER was rapidly running out of partners. When PARISH came to the wicket the score was 60-6 and sadly for EC WILLSHER became FOSTER’ 5^th wicket when he was bowled for 26. TURNER became his 6^th victim a few balls later. MASON came to the crease and supported PARISH and between them they added 27 runs and saw off the two opening bowlers who both bowled out.  With the score on 94 with 8 overs left, an EC victory was becoming a possibility. However, SOUTHWALL spun one which MASON edged and he was caught behind for 2. KERSHAW was the EC number 11 and to be fair had only turned up to watch!!  He survived his first ball but was then clean bowled by another SOUTHWALL delivery to leave PARISH on 28 not out and EC 26 runs short on 94 all out.

We have often been on the other side of low score victories and today we have to accept it just wasn’t our day.  FOSTER and PATEMAN were very difficult to get away bowling very few bad deliveries in their combined 32 over spell (they gave us 3 overs). They took 8 wickets between them and Colne were probably just one or two batsman short on the day.

The team spirit was good today and we can take plenty of positives from our performance. The sun was shining, the ground was excellent, the opposition friendly and a thoroughly enjoyable game despite the result…

Full scorecard from the Sportstatz service can be found here

A return to winning ways for the Earls Colne Sunday XI against Kirby…
 
After winning the toss and deciding to take to the field Earls Colne got off to a very good start, the opening bowling partnership of Smith and Mckenna restricting Kirby to 15 for 0 off of 13 overs. After persistent pressure Patrick Mckenna took three wickets in quick succession with two LBWs and a sharp chance by Lee Parish at slip. James Durkin taking Joe’s place at the top end struck with his first ball, dismissing Kirby skipper Breame and left Kirby in a mess at 22 for 4. Apart from Kirby number 4 Lawes who batted with the middle order and the tail, not one of the remainder of the Kirby team managed to get over double figures with 9,10,11 all registering ducks. All 4 Colne bowlers put in very good shifts and registered very good bowling figures. We managed to bowl Kirby out for just 75 in 36 overs. Lawes finished top scorer with 42. Chris Chambers with 7.4-1-13-3, James Durkin 10-1-31-4 and Patrick Mckenna 10-4-19-3 rattled through Kirby. Poor old skipper Smith was left to be satisfied with his 8-4-7-0. A top fielding performance from the team and more importantly full concentration for the whole innings ensured we put in our best bowling performance of the season.
 
In Reply, Colne had little trouble in knocking off the 75, Joe Smith and Harry Callaghan put on 55 for the first wicket (We will include the fact that the skipper only scored 6 of these 55!)..Harry at the other end was simply superb latching on to anything remotley short and dispatching it to the boundary rope, this was all the more a great effort because he was batting on basically one leg as his knee had let him down. George Unwin came in and departed for 2…missing a straight one and it was left to Archie Wilkinson and Harry to see us over the line. Harry Callaghan finished with a marvellous 66 not out (talk about doing the lion’s share!)..We surpassed the total for the loss of only two wickets.
 
A win by 8 wickets!
 
WELL DONE EVERYONE!!….a great performance by all and thanks for all your help today, I apologise to anyone who did not bat/bowl etc, but rarely do we find ourselves in a period of dominance during a game and for every bowler to perform to such a fantastic level!…your opportunity will be just around the corner…
 
EARLS COLNE 20 POINTS. KIRBY 1 POINT

With many players away on holiday or otherwise unavailable, Colne struggled to put runs on the board and went down by 8 wickets. See the scoresheet here

Another game in which we got ourselves into a great position to win, ended up falling out of reach in our Home game against High Easter today…
 
We won the toss and inserted High Easter into bat on a damp looking EC track, this decision looked a good one as Joe and Durkers limited High Easter to 9 for 2 off of the first 10 overs, however High Easter have been racking up some great scores this season and showed the strength of their batting line up when number 4 W.Mahmood and number 5 Ben Golds both reached 50, along with number 6 T Moss who also passed 50 off the last ball of the High Easter innings…we limited High Easter to 190 for 5, but to be ohnest that was 40 runs too many and we were probably another bowler shy of really putting pressure on them, to keep them to a score of around only 150.
 
A good effort by all bowlers with James Durkin 10-3-26-0, Joe Smith 10-2-34-2, Russ Dawes 10-0-35-1, Ben Mason 8-0-57-1 and John ‘Wolfie’ Gibson (his first league bowl in two years) bowling very well to return figures of 6-0-30-1…
 
In Reply, we started strongly Joe Smith and Harry Callaghan nullifying the threat of High Easter’s opening attack, Harry looking more composed than Joe and tucking into anything remotley short, both continued untroubled and after 23 overs we were 87-0, with 22 overs to go and 100 runs to get, we should have been in a perfect position to accelerate, however Joe and Harry were out within three balls of each other. Henry Holme, Will Dunn, Joss Wilkinson and James Durkin all departed cheaply and we quickly collapsed to 112 for 7 (another Earls Colne battin collapse!), only George Unwin and Alex Watson scored over double figures amongst the other batsman as we ended up being bundled out for 136…
 
After such a great start it was very dissapointing to lose to a side that we were certainly equal to, a little bit more concentration, focus and attention in the field and when we are batting will help in turning round our form and start heading up the league once again…
 
Lets turn this around next week when we are playing away at Abberton, as usual a 1pm start….
 
thanks
 
Joe Smith

Weekend results will now be posted on this blog, so people can use the ‘post a comment’ facility to congratulate, analyse, lampoon and and criticise their fellow players (but not too harshly, gents)