Status quo maintained

No change at the top of Division One as Witham and Coggeshall both picked thirteen points from their respective victories over Bocking and Cressing. Braintree Youth moved closer the Cressing in the table after inflicting a six wicket win over a five man Rayne team.

No show University

Having bent over backwards to accommodate the wishes of University of Essex last weekend I was amazed to discover that they failed to turn up for the re-scheduled Division Two fixture against Kelvedon & Feering. Not that you will hear to many complaints from Kelvedon as they went twenty-one points ahead at the top. Now I have serious doubts about whether the University will arrive for their double header next weekend and they are also officiating the first two matches at Notley. I shall endeavour to contact their director of cricket to discover what is going on there.

Three teams separated by one point

All very tight at the top of Division Three following the round of matches played at Notley. Dunmow went back to the top as they overtook Braintree's good total of 137-3, with three wickets to spare to move to 65 points, while Braintree moved to 64. Boreham then had the chance to move ahead of both of them, but instead they went left clinging on to victory as they defeated Sampfords by just one run. They too now have 64 points. In the other matches, Braintree College comfortable defeated a four man Great Totham team, and Coggeshall A defeated Kelvedon & Feering Reserves in the bottom of the table contest, by 34 runs.

Little Bardfield cling to their record

High Garrett came so very close to ending the unbeaten start made to the season by Little Bardfield Village, but the run out of Phil Porter for 37 in the final over meant that by a margin of just eight runs they remained on top of Division Four. Witham Reserves are now just four points behind them after defeating Earls Colne by four wickets. Bocking Reserves moved into third place after defeating Margaretting by 54 runs. Margaretting are now bottom of the table as Helions Bumpstead Reserves claimed their first win of the season when they defeated Shalford Reserves by two wickets.

Boreham Reserves concede and lose points

The main talking point in Division Five was the concession made by Boreham Reserves which gave Halstead their first "win" of the season. Despite some telephone calls, it also transpired that they also failed to fulfil their officiating obligations, and in accordance with our rules, they have been deducted fifteen points. These leaves them bottom of the entire league with just one point. Three Fields defeated Braintree Reserves by four wickets to go fifteen points clear. Kelvedon & Feering III had only five men but still defeated Coggeshall A Reserves by two wickets to get closer to them in fourth place. Sampfords Reserves defeated Rayne III by two wickets in the other match in this division at the Leisure Centre.

(enhanced reports will appear later)

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December 16th 2007

Black Sunday, four games are not played

It was probably the worst day in the 28 year history of the League, when on Sunday no fewer than four of the scheduled sixteen match programme did not take place. As expected their was no representation by the University of Essex, either for officiating or for playing their two Division Two matches. Consequently they have been penalised fifteen points as well as seeing two rivals garnish fifteen points through concessions. In Division Three, Great Totham were uable to field a team to meet the leaders, Dunmow, and almost the most bizarre of all, was that twenty minutes after the starting time for their match against Margaretting, Helions Bumpstead Reserves only had one player at Notley for the Division Four match. The remaining players did eventually turn up at the Centre but way too late for any match to start and it had to go into the record books as a concession, and if that was not enough for one day, there was also a tied match.

(more details of the games that did take place will appear later)

December 23rd 2007

Depleted Witham defeated by Coggeshall, and Rayne gain first win

Witham without the services of Jake Wakelin, Richard Green, and Cody McDonald, suffered their first defeat in Division One this season when they went down by 30 runs to a full strength Coggeshall team. However, Witham still lead the table but that lead was cut to just three points. Joy for Rayne, who recorded their first victory of the season in holding off Chappel & Wakes Colne's response to their 142-4 by just three runs. Cressing and Bocking were two teams neither of whom had won a match at the Leisure Centre this season, but it was Bocking who ended that run as Martin Cutmore got them home to a last ball, one wicket victory.

Terling excused any blame as the top three all lose

I have to admit that the reason Terling failed to arrive for their Umpiring duties at the Leisure Centre is, probably my fault, as Peter Dawson showed me a printed out copy of the web site page which did not show them as being listed to officiate. I know this day's rota did get change for the Division One matches, so I must have inadvertently deleted their line from the page. So I do not think we can deduct points because of my oversight. In the games that were played it was turned out to be a very strange evening with the top three, at the start of the day, all losing. Kelvedon & Feering do stay top even though they went down by two wickets to Rayne Reserves. James Baker's 60 not out, and Stuart Warner's 38 not out, taking them to 137-4, but Sam Cooper lead Rayne Reserves' reply of 138-4. Helions Bumpstead leap back into second place following their 16 run victory over Coggeshall Reserves. Shalford stay in third place after gaining five points from their seven run defeat to Terling. Elmstead Grasshoppers were gifted fifteen points by the University's unfortunate concession. Next season we shall endeavour not to give them fixtures out of term time, something we could not do this year because they simply took over West Bergholt's fixtures.

Boreham on top

At Notley, Boreham went to the top of Division Three with an eight run win over Braintree, while Dunmow lost by two wickets against Sampfords, but with all the top three getting between four and ten points the position is still very tight. Braintree College gained all the points after defeating Kelvedon & Feering Reserves by 56 runs. There was also another tight finish in the final Division Three match as Coggeshall A defeated Great Totham by one wicket. Braintree took the honour of being the first team to surpass 1,000 runs this season during that defeat to Boreham.

Little Bardfield Village 8/8

Little Bardfield Village recovered from being 40-5 to defeat Shalford Reserves by 29 runs. Matt Graham hitting 47 not out to take LBV to a final score of 87-5. Peter Bray then took 3-11 as Shalford Reserves stumbled to 58 all out. Bocking Reserves snatched second place after winning a match with just four players. They dismissed Earls Colne for just 52 before reaching 53-1 and twelve points in reply. This meant they went one point ahead of Witham Reserves who were surprisingly defeated by Margaretting. Though Witham Reserves did lose two of their regulars to the first team, it was a shock to see them go down by 28 runs. It also ended a fourteen match losing sequence for Margaretting. Helions Bumpstead Reserves remain in bottom position after a 35 run defeat against High Garrett.