Weekly Round Up: Records Broken, Leg-Side Wides and Shirts to Regret

It was a challenging week for the club, with ongoing issues around player availability affecting results — just two wins recorded across all teams.

However, there were still some standout moments. The 1st XI delivered a dominant performance in Division One, comfortably overcoming Broomfield. The highlight of the match was a phenomenal, once-in-a-decade innings from James Ellis, who smashed 192 off 142 balls. He was well-supported by Bobby Mills, whose 5-65 helped seal a convincing victory.

The other win came at the opposite end of the league table, where the 6th XI triumphed over Tillingham 3rd XI in the Division 11 ‘Brown Classico’. Duncan Bond (3-26) and Richard Mantell (3-32) led the bowling effort, before a composed partnership between Ray Hart (71) and Steve Rothon (58*) guided the team to a well-earned win.

On Wednesday we hosted the Essex U10’s mini match play, which saw over 50 young and talented players descend on Rawreth Lane for a day of cricket fun. Thank you to Essex CCC for choosing to host the event at Rawreth Lane.

With five games played, the 5th and 6th teams are flying high, both sitting 2nd in their respective divisions after strong starts. The 3rd XI and 1st XI are hovering in the lower-mid table, while the 2s and 4s currently occupy spots in the relegation zone. With 13 games still to play, there’s plenty of cricket left and everything still to play for – especially with availability getting better in the coming weeks!

Team	Division	Position	Won	Lost	Points
1st XI	One	8th	2	3	64
2nd XI	Third	9th	1	4	40
3rd XI	Sixth	7th	2	3	65
4th XI	Ninth	10th	0	5	30
5th XI	Tenth	2nd	4	1	101
6th XI	Eleventh	2nd	4	1	100

The competition is heating up in this season’s Fantasy Cricket League! With some standout performances and tight margins, the top of the table is fiercely contested. Andy Long’s team “Ding dong line n length long!!” is currently leading the pack, but there’s still plenty of time for others to mount a charge. Check out the current top 10 rankings below and see how your team stacks up. Will your tactics hold strong?

Rank	Team Name	Manager	Total Points
1	Ding dong line n length long!!	Andy long	2991
2	Some you win, sometimes you get hammered	Dave Turner	2937
3	Boundary Riders	Yousuf	2847
4	Jamesy’s Jaffas	Andy James	2824
5	It’s still red and still round……. hit it harder!	Danny Mantle	2689
6	Cow corner merchants	Matthew Walker	2673
7	Bailey’s Batters and Bowlers	Mark Bailey	2624
8	Quirky quackers	Richard Nolde	2578
9	Five Finger Discount	Phil Hammond	2557
10	1st Over Looseners	Tom Godfrey	2493

This week’s dream XI racked up a massive 1,144 points between them. Check out who made the cut and see how your selections compare!

Name	Value	Week Points
Sam Keene	£7m	99
James Ellis	£5.4m	252
Steve Rothon	£4.9m	123
Ray Hart	£5m	101
Robert Mills	£6.1m	90
Duncan Bond	£4.5m	67
Phil Hammond	£4.9m	54
Samuel Verrinder	£6.5m	96
Ryan Hart	£5.6m	69
Benny Mahoney	£5m	90
Sangeet Prasad	£4.7m	103
Total Points		1144

The 1st XI stormed to a dominant 73-run win over Broomfield CC, powered by a stunning innings from opener James Ellis, who smashed a phenomenal 192 from 142 balls, including 27 fours and 4 sixes.

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Rayleigh posted an imposing 320-4 in 45 overs. Ellis set the tone early, building a 197-run partnership with Sam Keene (54), before accelerating to his personal best (and second highest total in the club’s history). Useful late runs from Samuel Verrinder (38* off 22) maintained the momentum through to the close.

In reply, Broomfield started brightly, with Elliot Cowell making 86, but once Greg Hood (2-65) and Mihir Patel (2-45) broke the top order, Rayleigh seized control. The standout was Bobby Mills, who tore through the middle and lower order to claim superb figures of 5-65 from 8.3 overs, securing a full-points victory.

A dominant batting display backed by a ruthless bowling performance keeps Rayleigh’s season campaign firmly on track.

Welcoming Springfield to Rawreth Lane, Captain Nolde lost the toss and were asked to bat first.

Rayleigh’s innings got off to a shaky start, losing early wickets. Andrew Barker (9) and Andy Scogings (0) were dismissed by Chirag Thakkar and Stanley Spall, respectively, while Henry Murrell also fell without scoring. Oliver Barker added 9 runs before being caught by Spall as well. Captain Richard Nolde showed resilience with a well-crafted 30 runs, featuring four boundaries and a six. However, the standout performance came from Ryan Hart, who top-scored with 33 runs off 61 balls. Despite these efforts, Rayleigh was eventually bowled out for 122 runs in 33.2 overs. The steady fall of wickets reflected consistent pressure from Springfield’s bowlers throughout the innings (and lack of discipline from Rayleigh with the bat).

Springfield’s chase began confidently, led by James Gooday’s impressive innings of 65 runs off 93 balls, including 15 boundaries. Ian Vince supported well with 21 runs. Although Springfield lost two wickets (Vince at 65-1 and Ashley Heal at 78-2), their strong start, combined with an unbeaten 27 from Mayoorun Parasuraman, saw them comfortably reach the target. Springfield secured the win at 126 for 2 in 26.5 overs.

While Rayleigh CC came up short, the match featured moments of individual brilliance and a spirited effort against a strong Springfield side.

On a hot, sunny afternoon, Rayleigh 3s travelled to Springfield for what promised to be a tough encounter. Unfortunately, the skipper lost the toss once again, and were asked to field first.

The Springfield innings began with a steady but youthful opening partnership that showed promise. However, it was a timely change in bowling that shifted the momentum. Benny Mahoney led the charge with an impressive all-round performance, taking 4 crucial wickets and contributing 2 sharp catches to keep Springfield’s scoring under control. Support came from Dave Archer and Kat Mayfield, who each chipped in with two wickets, maintaining pressure on the opposition throughout the innings.

Thanks to this disciplined bowling effort, Springfield were restricted to a modest total of 189 runs, with the final wicket falling in the very last over – a satisfying moment that gave Rayleigh hope heading into their chase.

As the afternoon gave way to cooler conditions after tea, Rayleigh’s top order struggled to find their rhythm against Springfield’s disciplined attack. Despite some resistance from Steve Sully, who battled through to score a resilient 33, the rest of the batting line-up failed to build momentum. The innings eventually collapsed, with Rayleigh being bowled out for just 76 runs.

While the result was disappointing, the team showed fight in the field and glimpses of promise with the ball. The challenge remains to translate that energy into a stronger batting performance in the weeks ahead.

On a warm and sunny day at Rawreth Lane’s Old Ground, Rayleigh 4th XI won the toss and elected to bat first against Upminster. The innings started with Terry Martin and Duncan Baldwin opening. Despite early promise, Martin was run out for 13 from 25 balls, while Baldwin struggled to build momentum, departing for 11.

Mark Callaway and Geoff Morgan then steadied the innings. Callaway made 14 before falling to Max Bird, but Morgan played an impressive and patient innings, top-scoring with 33 runs off 43 balls, including six well-timed boundaries. His knock was a key anchor for a rather underwhelming innings from Rayleigh.

John Wright showed strong intent with a quick 27 from 24 balls, hitting five boundaries and maintaining a brisk strike rate of over 110, injecting some much-needed momentum in the middle order. However, wickets fell regularly around him.

The middle and lower order battled but couldn’t significantly accelerate the scoring. Yousuf Khan contributed a useful 26, showing resilience against some tight bowling, while Oliver Church added 8 and Thomas Barker chipped in with 5 before Rayleigh were eventually bowled out for 161 – not enough on a hot summers day on the old ground.

Rayleigh’s bowlers put in a disciplined effort to attempt to defend 161, with Thomas Barker, Chloe Martin, and John Wright each taking a wicket. Barker’s tight spell of 5 overs for 17 runs helped break the key wicket of Upminster’s opener Craig Grote, who scored 37. Despite good control from Geoff Morgan and others, extras—especially wides—added 23 runs, easing the chase for Upminster.

Upminster’s solid batting partnership, led by Paul Burley’s 51, guided them to a comfortable 3-wicket victory in 34.4 overs.

Rayleigh 5th XI embarked on the long and testing journey to South Loughton on Saturday, only to endure a game of two very contrasting halves — a match that ended in a 7-wicket loss but not without moments of determination from the travelling side.

Having been sent in to bat under overcast skies and a slightly tacky pitch, Rayleigh made a start that could only be described as calamitous. South Loughton’s opening bowlers tore through the top order with venom and discipline, leaving Rayleigh floundering at an eye-watering 9 after 10 overs.

But from the wreckage rose a gutsy middle-order revival, led by a defiant and fluent 46 from Hammond, Offer with 37 who counter-attacked with some big 6’s dispatching anything loose. He was well-supported by Prasad, who played with measured aggression for his 39, guiding Rayleigh into three figures and beyond.

With a few handy contributions from the lower order, Rayleigh managed to claw their way to a far more respectable total of 174 all out — a figure that had looked highly improbable just an hour earlier.

South Loughton remained composed, weathering the new ball with minimal risk. Despite a couple of tidy bowling spells and sharp fielding moments from Rayleigh, the home side’s batting proved too consistent. A few partnerships developed without much drama, and the hosts ultimately reached the target for the loss of just three wickets, securing a comfortable 7-wicket win with just 7 balls to spare.

It was a tough day out after a nightmare start, but the middle-order revival showed the kind of fight and spirit Rayleigh 5s can build on. With lessons learned and character displayed, they’ll look to bounce back stronger.

The atmosphere was building early for what was billed as the “Brown Classico” when Rayleigh 6s welcomed Alan Brown back to the club, but in the colours of his new Saturday team, Tillingham 3s. Obviously Tillingham don’t possess a salesman with Delboy Brown’s persuasiveness, as AB still played in his Rayleigh club shirt!

Tillingham won the toss and on a hot day, elected to bat. Some short bowling early on was punished on a quick outfield and by drinks, the visitors were going along nicely at 99 for the loss of two wickets, both falling to another returnee, Richard Mantell, making his first appearance of the season.

Mantell struck again soon after drinks, when he removed dangerous opener and Tillingham captain, Russell Dawes, for 70, before finishing with impressive figures of 8-1-32-3.

At the other end, Duncan Bond (8-1-26-3) was helping to squeeze the run rate, while chipping in with three wickets in four balls, just missing out on a hat trick. Two good catches from Joseph Collins at square leg and a sharp stumping by Mark Bailey accounted for the Tillingham middle order in one over.

Bailey then showed his Stretch Armstrong (one for the older readers) skills, when he extended his arm to grab a wayward throw from Bond (in the direction of mid-wicket, from point!) to run out Steve Foster.

A tidy spell of 6-1-12-0 by Josh Rockenbach and a wicket each near the end for Miller Poole and Joseph Collins, his first in league cricket, meant the visitors closed their innings on 175 for 9 from 40 overs.

To give Stretch Armstrong Bailey a rest after keeping, it was down to captain Ray Hart to open the batting, and he struck an aggressive 71 from 99 balls at the top of the order. With the score on 39 for 1, Steve Rothon joined Hart at the crease and they put on a 129 run partnership to take the game away from Tillingham and, with Chris Poole joining Rothon at the end, Rayleigh eased to a comfortable 8 wicket win with more than five overs to spare. Rothon batted himself back into form with a well crafted 58 not out from 69 balls.

Credit where it’s due to visiting keeper Alan Brown who held two decent catches in removing the Rayleigh openers, on his return to pitch 3 action at Rawreth Lane.

Having spent Saturday evening at the club hearing tales of a spiteful and spicy pitch from the 2s players, Skipper Archer won the toss and opted to bowl, striding back to the pavilion feeling confident enough to agree to play leg-side wides.

Horndon started in full T20 mode, attacking from the outset, but Benny Mahoney and Siva Ranjan kept chipping away with regular wickets and they were soon 5 down.

Opting to take pace off, Tom Barker and Josh Rockenbach entered the fray, with Tom picking up 2 useful scalps. Horndon continued to score freely despite regular wickets, before the spin of our guest Sri Lankan U19 test player Mahith (in full SL test kit) quickly dealt with their last man.

Positives from the innings included 3 wickets for Benny and 2 each for Siva and Tom Barker. Negatives – Skipper agreeing to leg-side wides and subsequently conceding 58 wides in a total of 191 all out.

The 2s hadn’t been wrong about the pitch, and it was now clear why they were showing early signs of PTSD the night before; 191 was a lot of runs on that surface.

After tea, Harmy and Siva opened, both stroking boundaries before falling in the teens. Mahith’s text book technique was no match for this malicious track as he was caught in the covers driving at a ball the stuck in the surface. Only Andrew Barker stuck around as wickets fell at regular intervals, scoring a gritty 33. Ultimately we were never in the chase and dismissed for 118 in 30 overs.

The duck award this week went to Tom Peppiatt, for his second golden duck in as many games. Unfortunately for Peps, there were only a few of the home team remaining after the game and it was decided that he would also receive the TFC award – both for his 1 ball innings, but also for claiming a catch at silly mid-wicket that was given not out (please do ask him about this next time you see him, he may not have agreed with the umpire). The other potential candidate was the skipper himself for agreeing to leg-side wides, but thanks to Peps for managing to top that shocking decision with his lack of contribution (ignoring the vitriol following the umpiring decision abovementioned).