Chelmsford Cricket Club
Report for 12 & 13 September
Chelmsford won all four of their fixtures on the first weekend after league action ended. Nick Bailey was the star turn, as he guided the Saturday and Sunday firsts to victories, scoring an unbeaten 80 on both days.
The Saturday first team had a hard time in the field, with High Roding running up 224 for eight. Bailey’s knock helped secure a three wicket win in the final over.
Anthony Holland struck the ball superbly in the game against Roding Valley. The visitors were all out for 101, Alistair Fergus taking four wickets. Chelmsford were faltering slightly at 36 for three but Holland’s 46 not out brought proceedings to a swift conclusion.
A total of 169 for nine by Havering-atte-Bower on a small ground looked unlikely to be enough until Chelmsford started batting. At 46 for six, a humiliation looked on the cards but Nigel Bond (53*) and Nick Bailey played sensibly and no further wickets fell.
The experienced duo of Paul Keaney (96) and Steve Clifford (70) plundered the bowling of South Loughton, helping Chelmsford reach 243 for six. South Loughton made a whirlwind start through Z Phillips (56) but his dismissal to Darren Thompson brought the game back Chelmsford’s way. A youthful bowling attack finished South Loughton off for 174. Three under-12s - Matt Davis, Shona Keaney and Ben Clifford got two wickets apiece.
Reports & Scores
Saturday 12 September
1st Team
Friendly
Played at Chelmer Park
High Roding224-7
Chelmsford227-7
(Chelmsford won by 3 wickets)
Nick Bailey guided Chelmsford to victory in a tense encounter at Chelmer Park.
High Roding made a solid start with Hussain (52) leading the way. Some dreadful fielding helped the visitors along with Holdgate (74) anchoring the innings and Jack Buttleman (35) also contributing well. Craig Thompson (3-43) was the most successful bowler. On a fast outfield the target of 225 looked inviting.
Chris Prowting (32) played well early on but run-scoring proved hard going. From a fairly indifferent position, the sixth wicket partnership between Bailey and Martin Daniels made Chelmsford firm favourites but then Daniels was caught for 30.
Bailey was unflustered and hit some terrific shots to carry Chelmsford across the line with five balls in hand.
2nd Team
Friendly
Played at Chelmer Park
Roding Valley101 all out
Chelmsford104-3
(Chelmsford won by 7 wickets)
In a match delayed by the opposition’s poor organisational skills, the game still ended very early.
Roding Valley went after the bowling and raced up to 30 without loss but Alistair Fergus enjoyed a bit of luck as he claimed four wickets without conceding a run in a spell of four for 24.
Alex Bailey took two wickets to further undermine the innings and it took some good striking from last man, Chiten (20*) to get the score into three figures.
There was a positive start to the reply but Chelmsford lost two wickets in two balls and then James Clifford (18) in the following over. Suddenly the innings was wobbling at 36 for three. Fortunately, Adi Vohra dug in and Anthony Holland played really well.
Holland timed some of his shots quite superbly and was hard done by not to be rewarded with a half century. The victory target was passed too quickly and he had to settle for 46 not out.
Sunday 13 September
1st Team
Friendly
Played at Havering-atte-Bower
Havering-atte-Bower169-9
Chelmsford173-6
(Chelmsford won by 4 wickets)
Sensible batting from Nigel Bond and Nick Bailey turned what looked like being an awful defeat into a fairly comfortable win.
Havering-atte-Bower had made a decent start largely through the efforts of Beechey. After playing nicely he holed out off David Goddard for 60 setting off a collapse from 90 for one to 110 for seven.
Tom Halsey bamboozled the middle order in a spell of three for 2 and a good second spell from Sam Harman (2-35) accounted for the other wickets. Some reasonable striking from Houghton (41) rescued the innings which closed at 169 for nine from 40 overs.
Obviously buoyed by their success, Houghton (3-28) and Beechey (3-30) proceeded to destroy the Chelmsford top order. Some decent bowling and catching allied to some loose batting had the visitors reeling at 46 for six.
The situation could have been even worse if two chances to run out Bond had not been spurned. Bond and Bailey gave a good demonstration of how to play, silencing the fielders and dealing with the rest of the bowlers. Bond reached his half century first but Bailey then hogged the strike and smashed his way to a second unbeaten 80 of the weekend.
2nd Team
Friendly
Played at Chelmer Park
Chelmsford243-6
South Loughton174 all out
(Chelmsford won by 69 runs)