Weekly Round Up (w/e 3rd Sept)

Just like that, the league season came to an end on Saturday. 2023 has been a much improved year for the club, with limited relegation drama and mid-table finishes for nearly all teams. A big thank you to our club captains for their hard work throughout the season. The committee would also like to thank everyone who has helped make our league games possible this year, including our fabulous tea ladies (Sam, Sue and Becks), BBQ Masters (Paul and Sam) and our ground team (Brad, Matt and Paul).

This is our last weekly round up of the year and I personally want to thank everyone who has reached out with positive comments and areas for improvement throughout the season. The previous issues of the newsletter have been viewed over 3,000 times this year – so thanks to everyone for engaging, and hopefully enjoying, these summaries.

As noted above, all teams finished mid-table this year with the exception of the 3rd XI came third in division seven.

Team	Position	Wins	Points
1st XI	5th	7	244
2nd XI	6th	4	171
3rd XI	3rd	8	281
4th XI	5th	8	252
5th XI	4th	7	213
6th XI	5th	6	201

Also, well done to our 7th XI who had a much more fruitful season than previous years, winning three (arguably four) of their fixtures.

See below for a summary of all league results from last week.

In a dead rubber against the champions of division one, Old Chelmsfordians won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that was only recently prepared that morning. Rayleigh started well with the ball with Sam Verrinder and Danny Frost keeping the openers quiet. Both picked up a wicket, and when Turnbull came in to the attack he managed to take the third of the day. Rayleigh were in the driving seat. Unfortunately there is a reason OC’s won the division this year… they do not fluster in the face of adversity. Ajith (104) and Norman (64*) put on a 161 runs for the fourth wicket despite Rayleigh’s best efforts and some changes in bowling personnel from the skipper. Finally the old classic, bowl straight and full and set the field in the V was what paid off, with Ajith skying one off Mayfield. Following the wicket, Rayleigh found their voice again and wickets fell steadily to the end with Mayfield finishing 3-40 and Verrinder 2-35. Rayleigh did well to keep the total to 239-7 only conceding 43 runs and taking 4 wickets in the last 9 overs.

Rayleigh decided to mix the batting line up and give some players an opportunity to bat who hadn’t been out in the middle much all season. Impey and Mayfield opened up and got the team off to a solid start with Mayfield playing aggressively and Impey the anchor role. Unfortunately, Mayfield could only add 23 but did it quickly. His wicket was a catalyst for a collapse with only Sam Verrinder showing resistance scoring 19. A Wallis did all the damage with 3-21 in 4 overs. Frost (20) and Francis (44) at 8 and 9 respectively still gave the skipper hope that Rayleigh could get close to the target but with OC’s mixing the bowlers and setting a deep field it was tough to keep the run rate up.  Frost eventually perished and then Littler was very quickly in at 11.  Francis and Littler, more used to opening this season, went about building a platform to attack from. Francis did exactly that and took the attack to OC’s hitting 5 fours and 2 sixes in his onslaught. Unfortunately, he picked out a deep fielder in the end with Rayleigh finishing 80 runs short on 159, the skipper left stranded. Congrats to OC’s on their season and good luck next year.

After a tough season that has been plagued with availability issues (24 players used), Rayleigh finished 5th in the division, winning 7 out of 15 completed matches and probably would have won more then lost if it hadn’t been for the rain. Well done to all and looking forward to next year to build on this season.

The 2s hosted Eastwood at Rawreth Lane in a must win fixture to stay in division three…

Eastwood won the toss put Rayleigh into bat. Lynch and Keene opened up, putting on 50 runs for the first wicket. Keene, playing the anchor role was caught at mid on, quickly followed by Nolde, Jess Walker and Henry Murrell. Steve Lynch continued his dismissive attack against the opposition bowlers, and thanks to some partnerships with Matt Walker and Sam Skillett, scored his second league century of the season. Lynch (138) eventually fell with the score 188-8. Garms, Green and Skillett Jnr managed to get the total to 197 all out from 36.5 overs.

Eastwood started well in response, putting on 59 for the first wicket, but wickets continued to fall thanks mainly to a dazzling spell from Mihir Patel (9-2-37-5). With the score 157-6, Eastwood only needed 40 runs to send Rayleigh down into division four next year. Thanks to a quick three wickets from Sam Keene (4-1-10-3), Rayleigh were back in the driving seat. Xavier Garms sealed Eastwood’s fate, taking the final wicket of the innings.

Rayleigh lost the toss and the woodies decided to bat first. Rayleigh took quick wickets throughout the innings, but were thwarted by a strong fifth wicket partnership. Dave Hall was able to make the breakthrough, returning his best figures of the season (7-0-36-4), with Woodham Mortimer finishing on 197 all out.

In response, only two wickets were lost. James Balkwill and Brad Walker shared a 154 run partnership before Walker was caught on 64. James Balkwill pushed on, aided by Simon Harwood (17*), to finish on 87* from 99 balls.

The 4s made the long journey to Romford to play Hornchurch Athletic, following a close defeat earlier in the season. Captain Peps won the toss and fielded first on a wicket that could barely be differentiated from the outfield. Sam Levett took a wicket in his first over, bowling economically with the new ball and returning figures of 8-2-12-1, but Hornchurch managed to build a partnership for the second wicket.

The skipper made a brave call and decided to bowl two Peppiatt’s in tandem. Robin (OMP) made an early breakthrough with a stunning caught and bowled. The skipper struck in the next over and the run rate dropped. Robin Peppiatt finished with figures of 5-1-22-4 and Tom Peppiatt 8-3-16-2. Kuldeep Paik (2-0-9-1), Ryan Hart (8-1-31-1) and Tom Godfrey (8-1-24-1) all chipped in with a wicket each.

With only 144 on the board, Rayleigh started well in reply, despite the loss of Mark Callaway early on. Kuldeep Paik (34) played the anchor role, supported by good cameos with David Cox (19) and Ray Hart (12). With only 50 runs needed, Paik fell but the captain was able to finish off the chase with a swift 30* from 18 balls.

Rayleigh won the toss and elected to field first. Galleywood posted 203-4, with only Prasad (8-1-33-1), Offer (8-1-42-1) and Cam Mantle (8-1-21-1) taking wickets.

Rayleigh started in the worst possible way, losing a wicket without any runs on the board. Dave Turner (13) batted with James Offer (72) in a 91 second wicket partnership until the latter was bowled. Turner, McDonagh and Hammond followed soon after with only Smith (13), Prasad (22) and Mantle (17*) reaching double figures.

Rayleigh slumped to 160 all out, with 7 overs remaining.

The 6s welcomed Old Chelmsfordians to the third pitch. Bond and Lennox lost the toss and were asked to bat first.

Duncan Bond (33) was the only Rayleigh to keep the innings alive. Ben James (12*) was the only other batter to reach double figures. Rayleigh posted a disappointing 104-9 from their 40 overs.

OC’s were able to chase this down in 16 overs for the loss of 1 wicket. Sam Plank (4-0-30-1) was the only wicket tacker.