Match Reports – 16th June - Rayleigh Cricket Club

We’re seven weeks into the league season, and the weather still isn’t cooperating! Saturday was particularly frustrating for some of our teams, with the toss often playing a crucial role in the outcomes of fixtures. Despite the challenges, the 4th XI celebrated their first league victory of the season. The 6th team also secured a hard-fought win in a close match, while the 2nd XI managed to pull off a tie against Beaulieu Park after trailing for most of the game. The 3rd team fixture was called off without a ball being bowled due to a water logged pitch and in the Evening League we claimed a convincing victory against local rivals Rayleigh Fairview.

1st XI vs. Little Baddow

Lost by 6 wickets | 2 points | Scorecard

“Toss, rules and weather!” – Written by Rob Littler

Turning up when it’s raining for a 1 o’clock start is never a good sign. As the clock ticked closer to the start time, the weather cleared, and the covers were removed. The returning skipper lost a crucial toss, a significant moment given the changeable weather and the advantage of batting first under such conditions. Rain returned shortly after, causing the opposition to mill around on the decking, keen to keep their whites pristine. This delay meant that the start of the match was postponed, ultimately resulting in the loss of 6 overs for each side. Finally, the players were able to take to the field and commence the game.

Littler and Keene once again opened the batting with a 39-over match in mind. They were steady and controlled, moving the score along nicely in the first five overs despite the variable bounce from a three-week-old pitch and the added zip from being under the covers. Unfortunately for Littler, he succumbed to a catch at square leg. Attempting to flick a leg-side delivery through a gap that had been open just one ball prior, he was undone when his own skipper distracted the fielder, who moved out of position but ended up exactly where the ball traveled. Lynch was soon to follow when extra bounce surprised him, resulting in a sharp catch behind. Cook and Keene carried on nicely, moving the score past 50 at a good rate. With rain on the horizon, Baddow pushed to get the first 15 overs completed. However, a change of bowler in the 15th over resulted in the third wicket falling, with Keene nicking off after a well-made 27.

In response, the heavens opened. A heavy shower created puddles on the used wickets around the day’s pitch, which just wouldn’t dry to the satisfaction of the umpire and opposition. With play continuing on the other two pitches, frustration set in for the Rayleigh players as the opposition continued to drag their feet, knowing that 15 overs had been bowled and 61 runs on the board were not enough. Finally, the umpire and Rayleigh skipper were able to persuade them to continue, but Rayleigh had lost 14 more overs to get valuable runs.

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When Cook and Harmsworth finally made it to the wicket, they had only one option: to score quick runs in the remaining 10 overs. Baddow went on the defensive, with all but three players on the boundary and bringing on the slower bowlers. With no pace on the ball and the field spread out, Rayleigh struggled to build momentum. Cook was out shortly after the restart, swiping across the line, and Frost was caught in the deep after just six deliveries. Hood followed soon after, and while Turnbull ran well between the wickets, the need for boundaries saw him also caught in the deep. The skipper joined Harmsworth and got his second wicket of the day by running out the set man. A gloveless Patel then couldn’t connect with the ball and was bowled on the last ball of the innings. Rayleigh finished at 113-9 after 25 overs, with Pearson being the pick of the bowlers with 4-20. Unfortunately, trying to increase the run rate from 4 to 6 in the last 10 overs didn’t bear fruit, and a required rate of 4.5 with 10 wickets in hand in 25 overs was always in the chasers’ favor.

Rayleigh took to the field with positivity. The pitch was still playing tricks, and maybe with a few quick wickets, they could somehow manufacture a win. Abley and Frost opened the bowling and were lively and accurate from the start, but the wickets didn’t come as quickly as the previous week. Abley found success with the Baddow batsmen wanting to get the job done quickly. Tuttlebee finally found a fielder with a lofted shot to Hood at mid-on. F. Mahmood followed shortly after, chipping to Keene at midwicket, and then Frost joined in when a lofted drive landed in the safe hands of Littler at mid-off. At 40-3, Rayleigh felt they had a chance to get the next couple of wickets and test Baddow’s nerve. However, H. Mahmood and Harris dug in deep and were determined not to give their wickets away. They saw off Abley, who suddenly got injured, and Frost, then played Hood and Patel nicely to creep the score to the target needed. Mihir finally got Harris out after some teasing with a nice floaty delivery, but the Baddow skipper had seen enough and wanted to get to the bar, bringing on Littler to see the opposition home. Baddow reached the target with 4 overs remaining and 6 wickets in hand, with Mahmood securing an unbeaten 50 on the final ball. The pick of the bowlers for Rayleigh was Abley with 2-23.

Rayleigh would feel hard done by due to the weather and felt they played some nice cricket considering the conditions were totally in favor of the opposition. Good spirit was shown in the field throughout to try and get the result, but this one can easily be erased from the memory. Unfortunately, it means Rayleigh have dropped from 2nd to 6th in the league in what is becoming a very closely contested season, now being 23 points off the top 2 and 24 points clear of the bottom 2. They will play Terling away next week to try and right the wrongs from last year.

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2nd XI vs. Beaulieu Park

Match Tied | 14 points | Scorecard

Rayleigh traveled to Chelmsford to play Beaulieu Park in Division Three. In another rain-affected fixture, skipper Matt Walker won the toss and elected to field. Beaulieu started well, building a decent opening stand of 78 before losing their first wicket. Good bowling from Rayleigh helped peg back Beaulieu, and they finished on 185-7 from 35 overs. Sam Verrinder (9-3-33-2), Zach Skillett (7-0-56-2), and Xavier Garms (7-1-27-2) were the pick of the bowlers.

Rayleigh started their chase in typical RCC fashion, losing two quick wickets for not many runs on a pitch that got slower and lower thanks to the inclement weather. Thankfully, Bala Rajagopal (61) was able to help build the total to 115-6, but the wickets continued to fall. The task of chasing down the remaining total was left to Zach Skillett who managed to score a fantastic 54* from only 34 balls. With the scores tied, Nick Green faced the last ball of the match and tried to maneveor a good deliver to the leg side – but a good catch by the fielder at midwicket ended Rayleigh’s chance of coming away the victors.

Well done to Zach and Bala for helping to secure the 14 points.

4th XI vs. Upminster

Won by 7 wickets | 19 points | Scorecard

Captain Morgan won the toss and asked Upminster to bat on an uncovered and moist wicket.

Upminster started shakily, losing five wickets for only 52 runs before the rain really set in. After much persuasion, and a bucket load of sawdust, Upminster returned to the crease with the match reduced to 30 overs per side. Despite the wet surface, Michael Larke (25*) and Avanish Ajmani (29*) went on the attack and managed to propel Upminster to 102/5 from their 30 overs. Andy Long (8-2-13-2), Oliver Barker (5-0-19-2) and Sam Skillett (8-1-22-1) were the pick of the bowlers.

Rayleigh started slowly with Gosling (18) and Bailey (16) ensuring a steady platform for the middle order to make the most of. When both fell, Scogings (33*) and Wright (13*) were able to propel Rayleigh towards the total with only another wicket falling and 6 overs to play with.

A fantastic win for the 4s after a tough start to the season.

5th XI vs. Great Totham

Lost by 25 runs | 5 points | Scorecard

Rayleigh welcomed recently relegated Great Totham to the back pitch. Marc won the toss and asked Totham to bat.

Totham lost two quick wickets thanks to Sangeet Prasad and James Offer, but managed to push the score to 120-3 until another wicket fell. A few more quick wickets helped Rayleigh restrict the opposition to 162-6 from 37 overs.

Despite a positive start from Terry Martin (40), aided by a quick fire 48 from James Offer (from only 28 balls), Rayleigh slumped from 114-3 to 137 all out with the tail offering little resistance against good bowling on a tricky wicket.

6th XI vs. Eastwood

Won by 3 wickets | 22 points | Scorecard

Duncan Bond skippered the fixture while Simon Lennox watched on from the boundary due to a back injury. Bondy won the toss and asked Eastwood to bat first.

Eastwood lost quick wickets throughout their innings, with only ex-Rayleigh players Stuart McMeekin (22) offering some resistance to some excellent bowling from Rayleigh. Ryan Hart was the pick of the bowlers, returning fantastic figures of 7.4-3-11-4.

Rayleigh started their reply shakily losing Joe Peppiatt for a duck and Duncan Baldwin (12) early on. Ryan Hart (25) helped build a platform, while wickets continued to fall, supported by his father Ray Hart (26) and Mark Callaway (22*) to help Rayleigh chase down the target set on the last ball of the game.

7th XI vs. Westcliff-on-Sea

Lost by 14 runs | Scorecard

In a friendly fixture, Rayleigh welcomed Westcliff to Wickford Memorial. Westcliff won the toss and put themselves in.

Westcliff started well, but lost their skipper James Currell (30) with the score reading 81-1. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, thanks to some tight bowling – especially Prajin Periannan who returned figures of 6-1-6-4. Westcliff finished on 157-6 from 35 overs.

Rayleigh built a fantastic partnership in response to Westcliff’s innings with Elliot Davies (23) and Andy Lynch (50 retired not out) helping to propel Rayleigh towards the target. Alan Brown (46*) fought valiantly, recording his highest score of the season, but alas it wasn’t enough and Rayleigh finished 14 runs short of the total on 143-4 from their 35 overs.