Match Report - Earls Colne & Bures vs. Great Totham 07/08/05

PDQ North Essex Cricket League - Division 2

Earls Colne & Bures  241 for 8 (45 overs)

(James Lee 44, Christopher Chambers 43, James Bocking 56 not out)

Great Totham  244 for 1 (31 overs)

Great Totham won by 9 wickets

An ultimately humiliating defeat for E C & B after posting a respectable total which promised much.

Mr. Slow was disappointed to lose the toss and not surprised to be asked to bat on a green and spongy Earls Colne wicket. He need not have worried as the openers feasted on some of the shortest bowling seen at Green Farm Meadows for some weeks. James Lee and Christopher Chambers took the score on to just 100 before both were out in quick succession, the former clearly unlucky to be run out just short of his 50. A brilliant start nevertheless! Himesh Patel and Tom Cropper fell quickly and despite a brief flurry from new recruit Martin Stonley, it required the young head of James Bocking and the seasoned approach of Tom Konopka (the former Warsaw Express, now All Stops to Gdansk) to wrest control back to the home side. The score raced along once more, until TK was dismissed quite extraordinarily as he handled the ball, clearly picking it up from the ground as it rolled towards his stumps, for 29! Back in the pavilion, TK suffered the ridicule of his team mates, none of whom had ever seen such a dismissal before. Meanwhile, Oliver Sills continued the good work with his 15-year-old counterpart as the two youngsters pushed the score along before he too was dismissed for a fine 31. Finally, in the last over it was left to Wolfie, announcing his defensive intentions with a smack over mid wicket, to guide James to his maiden senior 50 and ending 56 not out. Well done James! Tea was taken at 241 for 8 with game most definitely on.

At tea, Wolfie walked past the tasty sandwiches and delicious vol-au-vents and ploughed into the sweets with some considerable gusto for a man of his age, consuming three times his body mass in squirty cream in the process. Faith Webb provided the fodder in the absence of her daughter Kayleigh, yet another great tea and the scene is set for some healthy rivalry between mother and daughter in the competition for Tea of the Year!

The Totham batsmen had clearly not over-eaten as we hoped they might and the openers set about the opening TK and Mr. Slow attack. A withering assault on the latter caused his early withdrawal with Chris Chambers joining TK in an attempt to stem the flow of runs. But the game quickly ebbed away from the home side. Mr. Slow rotated his bowlers and adjusted his field more in hope of success than anything, but little could be done to get the run rate below 8 per over. A single, solitary scalp was enjoyed as James Bocking held onto a catch at full stretch at long-on, completing a very satisfactory game for the youngster, but in the absence of several regular bowlers, nothing could be done to prevent the overwhelming Totham victory.

This defeat leaves E C & B still bottom of Division 2 and with relegation now a very real prospect. PDQ Cars web site and League tables are here

Team - James Lee, Martin Stonley, Tom (TK) Konopka, Himesh Patel, James Bocking, John "Wolfie" Gibson, Christopher Chambers, Lloyd Newman, Tom Cropper, Oliver Sills, Colin Bocking.

Contact us - here