The Cup holders survive but Elmstead and Shalford Reserves make it through

The holders of the BDICL and Reserve League Cups are through to the finals to defend their trophies on April 13th. Witham defeating Braintree Youth by four wickets, while Bocking Reserves were given a real test by Braintree Reserves before winning by just four runs. The other Semi-Finals provided the upsets, and Elmstead Grasshoppers, from Division Two, are through to their first BDICL Cup Final after overcoming Cressing by two wickets and Shalford Reserves, mid-table in Division Four, defeated Rayne Reserves of Division Two by 23 runs to reach the Reserve League Cup Final for only the second time, having previously been defeated in the 2000 Final by Braintree Youth Reserves.

Rayne Reserves against Shalford Reserves in the first Reserve League Cup Final, and it was their first contest in exactly five years, but I do not suppose that many anticipated the Division Four team overcoming their Division Two opponents, but this is what happened. Lee Godding and Nick Wright gave Shalford Reserves a very solid, if not over ambitious start, but it was to pay dividends ultimately. They both reached retirement, and when the other four players got themselves out, they were able to return to take Shalford Reserves to a decent 92-4. Godding ending on 36 not out, and Wright on 30 not out. Richard Dawson did take 3-20 for Rayne Reserves. Rayne Reserves did not make the best of starts as John Norgrove, for 3, and Dave Dawson, for 5, were both caught but the really body blow for them was losing Sam Cooper for 15, all of which left them on 42-3. Rob Kearney was caught for 7 at 53, and now the odds were against them pulling the match around, and they did not. Richard Dawson was caught for 7, and then with the score on 69, Peter Dawson completed the set of all six being caught when he departed for 16. Shalford Reserves had won by 23 runs with Nigel Hainsworth, Steve White, and Dave French all claiming two wickets, with French and Wright also taking two catches each.

Bocking Reserves were pushed all the way by Braintree Reserves, but prevailed by just four runs in the end. The match was not played in the best of spirits, which was disappointing to say the least. Too many players telling the Umpires how many runs had been scored and questioning the decisions, whether right or wrong, it was not good to see. Bocking Reserves batted first and made a decent start, but Braintree Reserves' bowling kept them restricted to a final score of 85-4, of which Dean Bass hit 27 not out. Braintree Reserves then lost the vital wickets of both openers, Warren Celiz and Barry Stephens, to consecutive deliveries. Celiz being run out for 6, and Stephens then caught for 7. However, John East and James Clark steadily brought Braintree Reserves back into the match, though it was a blow for Braintree to lose Clark on 22, cleaned up perfectly by Geoff Butler. Though again Butler's reaction was something we could have done without. Braintree Reserves then lost Hoenderkamp and Butler, both run out, to be left on 77-5 with one over to go. John East knew what he had to do and took the score to 81 before he planted the ball straight into Dean Bass's hands to end the match. So Bocking Reserves remain on course for retaining the Reserve League Cup, which for them, because they missed one season, would also be a hat-trick of Cup Final victories.

The big surprise in the BDICL Cup Semi-Finals came with the victory by Division Two promotion contenders, Elmstead Grasshoppers, over Division One Cressing. Elmstead are only participating in this competition for the third time, and were the only one of the four Semi-Finalists not to have won the Cup before. Now, I do not wish to question Cressing's tactics but for years Matthew Hart has given them stability at the top of the batting order, but he was down at number four in the order and unable to influence the early play which Elmstead dominated. After six overs Cressing had reached just 43, and although Hart, with 31 not out, and Bertie Jagger, with 23 not out, did increase the scoring rate in the later overs, their final score of 107-4 always looked vulnerable. Elmstead did not exactly hit the sweet spot early on either as Davies and Gates were early casualties, but Fraser Eadie battled on and reached retirement and this was to prove crucial in their victory. Nigel Dennis and Andy Garnham both scored 13, the latter being not out, but Eadie was able to return, take his score to 59 not out, and Elmstead through to 110-4 with three balls to spare, and an historic first BDICL Cup Final appearance.

Braintree Youth look a long way from the team that dominated this competition for seven long years, and they are not returning to the Final again this year. They did make a positive start against Witham, reaching 42-0 from four overs, but then the brakes were applied and the heart was ripped out of them. Only the openers, Simon Jones, with 32, and David Hale, with 18, reached double figures as they were dismissed for just 91. Frankly after that, it was a walk in the park for Witham as they bid to retain the Cup. Jake Wakelin and Richard Green both retired with 25. Steve Hale did claim the wickets of Cody McDonald and Kaan Hawes, but Leroy Facey with 17 not out, aided by Paul Bellehewe sw Witham through to 96-2 with an over to spare. So after waiting twenty-seven years for a second Cup Final victory, is another following just twelve months later?

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March 30th 2008

Witham and Braintree have to wait but there are some farcical matches and some records are broken and Kelvedon take Division Two title

Some weeks it is hard to know quite where to start with the weekly round-up, often because nothing too much exciting happened, but in this case probably because there is too much which could have taken the headlines.

Therefore I think it is best to start at the top of progress down through the divisions with tales of Championships won and not won, performances to leave you speechless, and about records rewritten. Witham were just a whisker away from as good as securing the Division One Championship against Braintree Youth. but the missed run out chance off the final ball gave Braintree Youth a two wicket win, and a first victory in five attempts against Witham in the last few years. Witham were without Leroy Facey and Cody McDonald and there absence was critical. Jake Wakelin and Richard Green were cheap early casualties and it took a determined 51 not out from Kaan Hawes to elevate Witham to a final score of 116-5. Braintree Youth were held in check by Witham's bowlers until Paul Bellehewe was plundered for 52 runs, and this got us down to the climactic finish. Andy Ledgerton and Andrew Sherry were the two not out batsmen and they needed a two off the final ball to win the match. They simply had to run, but the ball was planted square direct to Michael Headley but somehow his throw into the stumps was just of target and the batsmen got home to win the game and leave Witham needing to win again in their final match to regain the Championship. Bocking will be their opponents and they warmed up with a comfortable 116 run victory over relegated Rayne, who only had five men. Keith Merrell, 35 not out, and Lloyd Edwards, 37 not out, took Bocking to 152-3, and Edwards then claimed 2-12 as Rayne were dismissed for a disappointing 36. Chappel & Wakes Colne ended a nine match losing sequence in Division One by claiming their 50th victory as members of the league as they defeated Cressing by 4 runs. Brett Patmore, 32 not out, Bryan Patmore, 31, and 22 not from Nigel Swain took them to 123-3. Cressing look well placed for the win but the run out of Matt Blackwell for 37 and with Andy Goding failing to score off the final few balls, to end on 34 not out, left Cressing on 119-5.

Coggeshall Reserves versus Rayne Reserves stole all the headlines for the wrong reasons at Notley. Coggeshall Reserves only had four men, and this for a club hoping to field another team, is not a good omen, were left on 0-3 after just five balls from Dave Dawson, and the possibility existed of a team being dismissed for 0, but they did manage to reach 12 before that final wicket fell. This was a new record low score for Division Two at Notley. Rayne Reserves did reach 15-1 in ten deliveries and at an entire match length of 5.1 overs it wa the second shortest in history. Alan Stevens claimed three catches in this match to take Matthew Hart's record for catches by a wicketkeeper in a league season and Steve Isaac's record of 13 for the record for a season. Alan had reached 14. Kelvedon & Feering claimed the Division Two Championship with a four wicket victory over Helions Bumpstead and by Elmstead's defeat by Shalford. Helions Bumpstead were restricted to 71-4 with Andy Rose top scoring with 23. Ed Smith with 24 not out, and Stuart Warner's 23 helped Kelvedon to 72-2 in just nine overs, and to their first Championship trophy, as each time they had been promoted before it was as runners-up. Shalford threw the promotion race wide open with a 50 run victory over BDICL Cup Finalists, Elmstead Grasshoppers. Russell Dawes with 36, and Lee Parish with 27 helped Shalford to a decent score of 108-5. Elmstead simply never got a challenge off the ground, and they were then dismissed for 58 with Dawes and Grice both taking two wickets, a result which left the two teams level on 101 points each.

(more follows soon)

April 6th 2008

Witham, Braintree, and Little Bardfield Village take the titles

Job done for Witham, Braintree and Little Bardfield Village as they became League Champions, Division Three Champions, and Division Four Champions on Sunday afternoon.

Little Bardfield Village started the ball rolling with a 28 run victory over Earls Colne to end their first season as Champions of Division Four. They played in the opening match at the Leisure Centre with Earls Colne, in decent form of four straight league wins, sure to provide them with a tough task. Thus it proved early on as Little Bardfield Village slumped to 45-4. Surely after leading the division for so long they were not going to let it slip now. Thankfully for them, Peter Bray and Tom Graham came to their rescue, with both of them scoring 30, Bray run out, and Graham not out, they closed on a decent score of 112-5. However not a score to be complacent about, the job was still far from done. It helped immensely though as Matt Graham caught and bowled Nick Oakley in the opening over for 0, and Peter Shury followed soon after. With only five men, Earls Colne were as good as three wickets down, and it was not long before it was just Joe Smith left standing, but when he had taken Earls Colne to 74, and himself to 34, he was caught to give Bray his 21st league wicket of the season, two short of equalling the league record, and the Division Four Championship was on it's way to Little Bardfield Village at the first attempt. Bocking Reserves hopes of the title had gone, but they still faced a tough task as they met Shalford Reserves in a rehearsal of the Reserve League Cup Final. They had tied their match at Notley earlier in the season, and they had another good contest this time. Shalford Reserves scoring 125-5 with Nick Wright and Barry Gilbey both scoring 35, with Steve White adding 32 not out. Bocking Reserves rose to the task and won the match at the start of the final over as Danny McIntyre took his score to 33 not out. He had been assisted by Rob May, 27 not out, and Nick Trigg, with 26 not out. The other games in the division saw High Garrett record a sixth consecutive win over Witham Reserves, who have now not beaten High Garrett in twelve years. Michael Headley hit 35 not out for Witham Reserves including two sixes to give him the six hitting award for the season as Witham Reserves closed on 102-4. 29 not out from Christian O'Mahoney and 31 not out from Philip Porter took High Garrett to 103-4. Helions Bumpstead Reserves met Margaretting in the contest for last place. Actually Margaretting must have been surprised that Bumpstead Reserves turned up, as they had conceded the last two meetings between them. Helions did only have five men, but that proved good enough to record a 15 run victory. Russell Davis top scored with 40, with Adrian Cox adding 27 not out, as they closed on 125-4. Margaretting reaching 110-2 in reply with Michael Jones and Elliot Moore both retiring with 25.

The next Championship to be decided, Division Three, was decided without the leaders at the start of play, Braintree, even playing. Down at Notley, Kelvedon & Feering Reserves provided the shock result of the day as they defeated Boreham, a result which handed the Championship to Braintree. It was more of a shock as Kelvedon & Feering Reserves were fielding half of their third team, and it was an heroic 38 not out from Josh King that took their total to 84-4. Boreham lost the prolific Tim Pulham in the second over for just 4, and never got back on terms after that, and their title challenge faded away as they were bowled out for 63 in the final over. Josh King capping a fine match with 2-26. Great Totham then swept aside Dunmow by 90 runs. Danny Simpson hit 47 for Great Totham as they scored 122. Dunmow faltered immediately as Harris took 3-12 and Cheesman 2-4 and they were skittled out for just 32. So now it was time for Braintree to celebrate their Championship. The highest league run scorers this season with a record five batsmen scoring 200 league runs or more, but could they make it six. Barry Stephens could have joined that group with a score of 36. He only managed 5 though as Braintree closed on 107-5, Geoff Eveling scoring 45 not out. They also did not add to the six half-centuries their batsmen have hit this season. No other team got close to that. Braintree College, already assured of promotion in third place, were then dismissed for 72. Two wickets each for Chris Leech and Geoff Eveling, and four victims behind the sticks for Daniel Broyd. Coggeshall A defeated Sampfords by 18 runs in the remaining match. Gareth Fisher hitting 46 not out as Coggeshall A closed on 88-5. Sampfords ambled to 70-3 in reply. Paul Edwards top scoring with 27 not out.

It was then turn for the Division One matches at Notley to be played, and that began with Witham versus Bocking, with Witham knowing that they just needed to win with eleven points to be absolutely assured of regaining the Championship. Was there ever any doubt that they would achieve this once Bocking had been kept down to 56-5? No. Paul Bellehewe with 2-8 and more than made up for his awful figures seven days earlier. Kaan Hawes, restored behind the timbers, claimed three victims as Coggeshall saw their hopes subside. Richard Green and Cody McDonald were cheap victims but Jake Wakelin's 30 not out, really put the match beyond doubt before Leroy Facey and Kaan Hawes, who hit the Championship winning runs, formally brought the Championship race to an end. Braintree Youth finished outside the top two for the first time in the fourteen seasons since they returned to Division One, but they ended the season on an unbeaten run in the league of seven matches as they battered Rayne by 66 runs. Andrew Sherry saving Braintree Youth from possible embarrassment with 47 not out which took them to 100-5. David Hale kept wicket for the Youth, and Andy Ledgerton bowled, and he claimed 2-16 as Rayne slipped to 34 all out, extras being their top scorer with 14. Coggeshall against Cressing was then played with no trace of suspicion whatsoever. Sam Blackwell hit 34 not out, Matthew Hart took 3-19 as Coggeshall closed on 86-5. Three victims for Andy Goding. Cressing then reached 71-2 with a shade under four overs remaining. Victory was a possibility but then four wickets fell with only four runs being added and Coggeshall won by 11 runs.

The promotion battle in Division Two involved three teams, all trying to join Kelvedon & Feering in Division One. Two of them met in the opening match, but it was the BDICL Cup Finalists, Elmstead Grasshoppers who prevailed as they defeated Helions Bumpstead by two wickets to gain eleven points. Andy Rose had hit 45 not out as Helions Bumpstead closed on 125-2, with Neil Winter and Adrian Cox also retiring. Elmstead did not make the quickest of starts, and then the loss of John Butcher on 23 was a blow, but Darren Davies and Dilanka Amaratunga got control of the game, and closed the gap so that when the final over began they needed 19 to win. Three three, two fours, and a couple of extra balls saw them home to a two wicket won off the final ball. Davies ending on 33 not out, and Dilanka on 39 not out. Now Shalford knew that just need to match Elmstead's points total to finish above them, as the runs per wicket average would have to stay higher with their possible equal victories. A win certainly looked on the cards as Kelvedon slipped to 90-4 with two overs remaining, but Greg DeSilva then hit out and added 35 off the last eight deliveries with the following sequence, 6, 3, then in last over 6, 6, 1, 6, 1 ,6. Kelvedon had closed on 131-1 with DeSilva 64 not out, and Stuart Warner on 34 not out. Surely this was now too much for Shalford to chase down and not lose more than four wickets. Dan Grice retired as they made a decent start. Their fourth and effectively final wicket they could lose fell when Steve White was caught for 8 at 80. Lee Parish and Dan Grice had four and a half overs to score 52 and not to lose a wicket. Then along came Josh King again to make his second telling contribution of the night. His throw hit the stumps direct to run out Parish for 14 with the score on 95. Now Shalford could only gain ten points and Elmstead Grasshoppers were promoted. Dan Grice did go on to claim those ten points with a score of 69 not out which took Shalford vainlessly to 133-5. The other match in the division saw Terling defeated Rayne Reserves by five wickets. Rayne Reserves last innings in Division Two saw them bowled out for 51. Peter Tomkin taking 2-8 and then scoring 23 not out as Terling breezed to 57-1 in less than eight overs.