Weekly Round Up (w/e 20th Aug)

As the season edges ever closer to it’s eventual conclusion, the sun (finally) decided to emerge and all games took place.

Unfortunately, the good weather didn’t inspire all teams to push for victory; however, the 2nd XI were able to edge out victory against High Easter, winning by three wickets with a ball to spare (watch highlights here). The 3rd XI returned to winning ways, beating Rayleigh Fairview by three wickets thanks to an uncharacteristic batting performance from skipper Trevor Nunn. Finally, the 5th XI managed to secure the win against South Woodham Ferrers in a tight, high-scoring, fixture.

On Sunday, the club hosted a family fun day for younger members, friends, family and the wider community. It was a fabulous day that included bouncy castles, mini-golf, kids cricket, good food and a range of other activities. It’s even rumoured that Mark Bailey managed to win on the coconut shy, with his infamous over arm throw…. Following the fun day, a kids vs. parents match took place which was well attended and good fun for all involved.

The day couldn’t have been organised without the help of volunteers and parents. Firstly, huge thanks go to Ian and Rachel Turnbull – both of whom were instrumental in getting the event off the ground, preparing a range of cakes and treats for the kids and helping the event run smoothly. Alongside Ian and Rachel, the Barker family rolled their sleeves up and built a coconut shy, ran a nerf gun shoot, and guess how many sweets in the jar (173 – good guess Joseph Collins). Andrew Barker also helped Ian organise and run the cricket for the kids. In addition, a number of other members and volunteers need thanking, including… Sam, Kat & Aaron Mayfield, Ben & Josh Francis, Trevor & Debs, Chris Frost and Rob Littler. We’ve likely missed a number of helpers, but please be rest assured that the club is very grateful for the support of everyone who helped out on the day.

As many members will be aware, the club uses EasyFundraising as a simple and effective way to raise funds for the club. In the latest donation payment, £72.77 was raised for the club. This might sound like a small amount, but every little helps and money can then be reinvested to help the club continue to improve facilities for members.

EasyFundraising work with thousands of brands who pay them a commission when you start your shop from the website or app. If you make a purchase, a commission is generated, and they turn that into a donation. You can even use the google chrome (other browsers are available) add-on, which automatically detects if a donation is available, which can then be applied at checkout.

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Rayleigh won the toss and elected to bowl on a damp/drying wicket. With some tight bowling from Frost and Verrinder, the opposition made slow progress. J Adams came to the crease and scored a swashbuckling 50 to put the pressure back on Rayleigh and put Writtle in a good position at drinks. Some experimentation with the bowling changes from the skipper didn’t quite work in the first half of the innings, but after drinks the reintroduction of Frost got the wicket of Adams and when Patient (59), who was exactly that, was removed Rayleigh felt they could get through the rest. Unfortunately, dropped catches let Writtle off and Boasman (22) and Thorpe-Apps (23) steadied the innings and with some good running between the wickets brought up the 200. When they fell to Patel (3-29), the innings unravelled and Verrinder (3-31) got the last couple of wickets to round out the innings with Writtle posting 216 all out.

Rayleigh in response started positively with Littler (23) pushing himself back up the order and scoring freely. Unfortunately, he and opening partner Francis fell shortly after and when Harmy and Nolde succumbed without troubling the score, the chase was derailed. Farooq (3-25) in particular bowled tightly and did the damage early on.  Ox (55) and a reserved Frost (32), under skipper direction, looked to rebuild and were looking comfortable until a massive stroke of luck for the home side saw the end of Frost. Once again a run out backing up swung the innings, this time against us. Ox smashing the ball at the bowler who took evasive action and the ball deflecting onto the stumps. The celebration from the bowler saw him run almost the full length of the ground in recognition of how key a wicket this was going to be.  When Ox was out caught behind the score was 130-7 and looking like it would be over quickly. Ashworth (28*) and Turnbull (23) made a good 50 stand but due to some tight bowling and deep fields the run rate slowly crept up. 2 run out’s in an effort to get the run rate down and the final wicket caught in the deep saw the end of the chase. Rayleigh falling 28 runs short, 188 all out. A disappointing day but could have been so different if chances had been taken in the first innings.

Rayleigh remain 6th in the league and 29 points clear of the relegation zone. Unfortunately, a gap of 42 points to promotion has seen that slim opportunity fade. Terling visit Rawreth Lane next week.

Lingering in the relegation zone, the 2nd XI welcomed High Easter to Rawreth Lane – with a win needed to provide some safety in the coming weeks. Captain Matt Walker won the toss and asked High Easter to bat first.

Despite one of the High Easter openers trying to emulate baz-ball, he fell thanks to Richard Abley (9-1-34-1) with the score 35-1. Unfortunately, wickets were hard to come by despite some accurate bowling from Rayleigh. Just shy of a hundred run partnership, another wicket fell that sparked a bit of momentum for Rayleigh thanks to an electric spell from Phil Everitt (9-1-30-3). Zach Skillett (9-2-48-1) and Sam Keene (6-0-39-1) managed to collect the last two wickets, leaving High Easter on 233-6 from 45 overs.

Rayleigh started positively, but lost Sam Keene in the fourth over. Neil Noble stabilised the innings, before attempting a sweep on middle stump in an attempt to get the scoreboard moving. Steve Lynch (73) and Jess Walker (53) took the attack to the bowlers, before Lynch was caught. He was quickly followed by Steve Sully who holed out down the ground for a duck. Rayleigh kept up the run rate, thanks mainly to Jess, but supported by a spirited knock from Phil Everitt (22). Skipper Walker (41*) stuck around in the middle and batted with the tail to leave only one run to get with an over in hand. In a match that came down to the penultimate ball, Zach Skillett finally connected with a full toss, hitting it for four (much to the relief of the skipper at the other end).

Rayleigh won by three wickets, with a ball to spare – leaving them in 7th (3 points clear of relegation with two games remaining).

Rayleigh welcomed Rayleigh Fairview 2nd XI, who only could muster 9 players. Fairview won the toss and elected to bat first.

Although short of players, Fairview put up a good fight but lost wickets regularly throughout the innings. Freddy Noble and Josh Mantle picked up two quick wickets, followed by an excellent caught and bowled from Freddie Ashworth. Freddie (9-0-43-2) and Freddy Noble (9-2-22-4) picked up the remaining wickets, but it took skipper Trevor Nunn (3-0-5-1) to turn his arm over to take the final wicket of Spencer Collings who made 80 runs and shored up the Fairview innings (161 all out)

In reply, Rayleigh lost wickets throughout their innings for not many runs. Brad Walker (21) was the only batter to show some resolve against the Fairview bowling, until Trevor showed the batters the way with a well constructed 55* to chase down the total set by Fairview with 12 overs remaining.

After a week of awful availability, the 4s travelled to Writtle Agricultural Cricket Arena (WACA) to play Chelmsford Super Kings (CSK). The outcome of the fixture would determine if the 4s could continue their promotion chase for the remaining games.

The skipper lost the toss and CSK put Rayleigh into bat on a green wicket. A rather strong CSK bowling attack (strengthened due to their 1st XI not having a game this week) ripped through the order leaving Rayleigh on 64-5. Simon Harwood (48) however took a like to the bowling and managed to carve away his trademark shovel over cover with poise and panache. After Harwood fell to a good catch, Rayleigh wickets continued to fall. Steve Gosling (24*) and Tom Peppiatt (20) put on 30 quick runs for the 7th wicket, until the skipper holed out on the boundary. Rayleigh slumped to a rather unimpressive 135-7 from their 40 overs.

After a lovely curry for tea, Rayleigh took the field and started their (attempted) defence. In typical CSK fashion, they took the attack to the Rayleigh bowling line up. The openers put on 117 for the first wicket, before Tom Peppiatt made the only breakthrough of the innings (3-0-16-1).

CSK won by nine wickets with 15 overs still in the bank. The emphatic loss means hope of promotion is now a lot less likely.

The 5s visited Burnham to play South Woodham Ferrers. Winning the toss, the opposition put Rayleigh into bat first.

Rayleigh made a good start and were 105-3 just after drinks, thanks to Terry Martin (55), James Offer (31) and Mark Callaway (54). After Terry and Mark fell, Phil Hammond (20), Kuldeep Paik (61) and Shane McDonagh (21*) helped Rayleigh to a good total of 244-9 from 40 overs.

South Woodham started steadily and were initially 55 for only one wicket. However, once the openers fell to some good bowling, thanks to Elliot Davies (5-0-26-2), wickets continued to fall. South Woodham regrouped and put on 66 for the 4th wicket, leaving them on 165-5. Despite not losing any further wickets, South Woodham couldn’t quite chase down the total set by Rayleigh, thanks to some tight bowling from Mark Callaway and Cam Mantle – falling 9 runs short.

Rayleigh won by 9 runs in another game that came down to the final over.

Rayleigh hosted South Loughton on the third pitch. Captain Lennox/Bond won the toss and elected to bat first.

Rayleigh struggled to get going thanks to some tight bowling from the opposition, but did put up a good defence. Steve Rothon (28) and Simon Lennox (42*) were the top scorers for the innings. Rayleigh slumped to 126-5 from their 40 overs.

In reply, South Woodham took the attack to the Rayleigh bowling and only lost one wicket in their pursuit of the target, thanks to AB who took a good stumping off Ben James (4-0-35-1). South Woodham glided to victory with 21 overs and 9 wickets remaining.

A massive thank you to Alan Brown for capturing these excellent snaps of the Presidents Day fixture earlier in August.