Match Report - Earls Colne & Bures vs. Great Bentley 17/07/05

Great Bentley  167 all out (42.3 overs)

(Peter Shury 10-2-19-4)

Earls Colne & Bures  169 for 8 (43 overs)

(Chris Chambers 36, Joe Smith 31 not out)

Earls Colne & Bures won by 2 wickets

Another win! E C & B squeezed a victory out of the jaws of defeat in a see-saw match at Green Farm Meadows, thanks largely to a splendidly obdurate batting performance from the E C & B late order.

The afternoon had started well, with Mr. Slow winning the toss and immediately electing to bowl on a green wicket, in warm and humid conditions. The new ball was just bound to swing! And swing it did, with Joe Smith and the captain himself restricting the opening batters to a paltry run rate. First blood was to Joe, with the Bentley opener caught at slip by his diving captain. A bowling change at both ends brought the miserly Peter Shury and the often-even-more-miserly Patrick McKenna together and as the run rate was stifled, wickets began to tumble. After 25 overs, Bentley had progressed to just 54 and for 6 wickets! Just a case of polishing off the tail then? Not a chance! The Bentley collapse came to an abrupt halt as the numbers 7 and 8 batters put us to the sword with some good clean hitting. From 54 for 6, the score marched on to 159, before McKenna (recalled by an increasingly desperate Mr. Slow) took the final 3 wickets in the space of five balls. Bentley closed at a respectable 167 all out, effectively making game on.

As the majority of E C & B rehydrated and stayed out of the sun, Wolfie made a beeline for the strawberry flan with copious shots of squirty cream. Not once but twice he returned to the spread, pausing only to separate Joe Smith from the ice cream tub with which Smithy was having an intimate and embarrassingly public love affair. Finally, and utterly larded out, the pair sunk together into a dark corner of the Rec. Club bar and contemplated their lowly places in the batting order with pride. Himesh Patel fussed around, bemoaning the lack of pork scratchings in an otherwise magnificent gourmet tea, courtesy once again of Kayleigh Webb, and giggled at the suggestion that the huge and long-lived split in his trousers might one day be darned by his long-suffering mother. The tea interval was too short for the opening bats however, with James Lee brandishing his newly repaired bat and threatening to "do some damage" and Heners dressing himself up as a mini Michelin man with more padding in odd places than the rest of the team put together!

The E C & B innings started at a pace, with both openers trading blows. James, looking very good, moved quickly on to 27 before being bowled. Sadly, Lewis Chambers and Himesh were both quickly back into the pavilion, Himesh benefiting from the endless ridicule from his team mates which only a golden duck can bring! Jamie Pringle and Wolfie restored some short lived order before the former was bowled and the latter, having played very sensibly, was caught off possibly his first shot in anger. At 84 for 6, things were not looking good for E C & B, and a watchful Chris Chambers joined Joe Smith at the crease. Playing very carefully, the two batters took the score on to 127 before Chambers was bowled for 36, including a spectacular six into the tennis courts! Enter Big Patrick, who continued the good work in conjunction with Joe (who batted with excellent composure) and the total was reached without further alarm, much to the relief of Mr. Slow, pacing the boundary line, who now did not have to bat. Joe Smith not out 31, Patrick McKenna not out 18 and victory for the home side.

Another good team performance with everyone contributing to the victory. We are still bottom of division 2 in the PDQ Cars North Essex Cricket League, but now within easy striking distance of the other lowly sides if our run of form continues. And why shouldn't it . . . . .?

PDQ Cars web site and League tables are here

Team - James Lee, Henry Pilgrim, Lewis Chambers, Himesh Patel, Jamie Pringle, John "Wolfie" Gibson, Christopher Chambers, Peter "Scrooge" Shury, Joe Smith, Patrick McKenna, Colin Bocking.

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