Weekly Round Up: Runs, Records & a Touch of Pop Culture

Welcome back to the Rayleigh Cricket Club Weekly Round-Up! After a short break, we’re back with all the latest cricket match reports and results from another action-packed week—featuring 12 games across junior, ladies’, and men’s teams.

A huge congratulations to John Wright and Jon Cook, who both hit impressive personal milestones this week:

• John Wright passed 13,000 career runs and 300 wickets since 1995 for Rayleigh Cricket Club – a testament to years of dedication and quality performances at the crease.
• Jon Cook recorded 12,000 career runs for the club since 1995, an incredible achievement that highlights his commitment and contribution to the club over the years.

The Rayleigh U13 Hawks delivered a nail-biting victory in the SECPG U13 T20 Cup, narrowly defeating Westcliff-on-Sea Lions by just one run. It was a superb all-round performance and a standout highlight from the junior fixtures this week. Well done to skipper Thomas Barker (17) for leading with the bat and Shri Balamurugan, Jamie Murray and Rian Shah for picking up two wickets each.

The Rayleigh & Maldon Ladies XI continued their strong form with a comprehensive win over local rivals Benfleet Cricket Club. Key contributions came from Wilson (25 not out) and Louise Jowers (25 not out). Jowers now boasts a remarkable league batting average of 121 for the 2025 season.

In the Mid Essex Cricket League, results were varied across our sides:

• The 1st XI secured a tense and valuable win against Great Baddow, moving them to mid-table in Division One.
• The 4th XI made it back-to-back victories, this time beating Chelmsford Super Kings (CSK) to strengthen their position in Division Nine.
• The 6th XI also celebrated success with a win over Hutton—they remain unbeaten since 10 May, showing great consistency.

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A huge thank you to all the Rayleigh CC members, families, and friends who joined us for the Monthly Club BBQ. It was fantastic to see so much support and camaraderie back at the club after matchday – long may that continue! A special thank you to Paul Harmsworth for running the BBQ and Sam Mayfield for getting everything ready for the evening.

As we move into the middle part of the 2025 Mid Essex League cricket season, several Rayleigh CC teams are making strong pushes up their respective divisions.

• The 6th XI are currently leading the way in Division 11, sitting just five points behind top-of-the-table rivals Willow Herbs. With seven games played and momentum building, they’re firmly in the promotion mix.
• Despite a couple of recent setbacks, the 5th XI remain in a solid position in Division 10—comfortably top/mid-table with everything still to play for as the season progresses.
• The 1st XI and 4th XI have both responded well to early-season challenges. Recent positive results have seen them climb out of the lower parts of their divisions:
  • The 1st XI are now in sixth place in Division One, just one win away from the top three or four.
  • The 4th XI currently sit seventh in Division Nine, also just one win away from breaking into the top four.
• It’s been a tougher period for the 2nd XI and 3rd XI, who find themselves in the relegation zones of Division Three and Division Six, respectively. With plenty of cricket still to come, both sides will be aiming for a strong turnaround in form.

Team	Division	Position	Won	Lost	Abandoned
1st XI	One	6th ▲	3	3	1
2nd XI	Third	10th ▼	1	6	0
3rd XI	Sixth	9th ▼	2	4	1
4th XI	Ninth	7th ▲	2	5	0
5th XI	Tenth	2nd ▼	4	1	0
6th XI	Eleventh	2nd ▲	5	1	1

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.

Rank	Team Name	Manager	Total Points
1	Ding dong line n length long!!	Andy Long	3569
2	Some you win, sometimes you get hammered	Dave Turner	3538
3	Boundary Riders	Yousuf	3489
4	Five Finger Discount	Phil Hammond	3371
5	It’s still red and still round……. hit it harder!	Danny Mantle	3351
6	Cow corner merchants	Matthew Walker	3306
7	Jamesy’s Jaffas	Andy James	3284
8	Quirky quackers	Richard Nolde	3256
9	Bailey’s Batters and Bowlers	Mark Bailey	3201
10	Corridor of Uncertainty	James Balkwill	3184

This week’s Fantasy Cricket Team of the Week racked up a huge 1013 points, led by Steven Lynch with a standout 204-point performance. Strong contributions also came from Terry Martin (117), Jon Cook (97), and James Offer (89).

Name	Value	Week Points
Sam Keene	£7.1m	64
Steven Lynch	£6.6m	204
Jon Cook	£5.9m	97
Mark Bailey	£5.1m	71
Danny Frost	£7m	77
James Offer	£5.9m	89
Terry Martin	£4.5m	117
Sean Miller	£5.5m	85
Tom Godfrey	£5.1m	79
Oliver Milchard	£3m	60
Shriram Balamurugan	£3m	70
Total		1013

After losing the toss and being asked to bat, Rayleigh built steadily before accelerating through the middle overs, finishing on an imposing 227-4 from their 45 overs. The batting highlight came from Steven Lynch, whose fluent 73 off 97 balls included 11 boundaries and 2 sixes. He was well supported by Jonathan Cook, who notched a composed 67 off 86 balls, with 8 fours and a six of his own. The pair combined for a match-defining third-wicket partnership of 128 runs.

Earlier, Sam Keene and Ian Turnbull both contributed 19 runs at the top of the order, helping lay a solid foundation. A late cameo from Danny Frost, who bludgeoned 27* off just 13 balls, ensured Rayleigh finished strongly.

In reply, Great Baddow made a promising start, reaching 50 in just over 8 overs. But the Rayleigh bowlers tightened their grip as the innings progressed. Mihir Patel starred with the ball, taking a superb 4-18 from his 9 overs, breaking the spine of the Baddow middle order. He was ably supported by Greg Hood (2-41) and Danny Frost (2-44), as regular wickets halted any real momentum for the visitors.

Despite a late partnership between Jacob Haley (46)* and Owen Garland (33), Great Baddow fell short, closing on 209-8 from their 45 overs, handing Rayleigh a comfortable 18-run victory.

Rayleigh’s clinical all-round display earned them maximum 25 points, boosting their league position and showcasing their depth with both bat and ball.

Rayleigh 3rd XI fell to a heavy defeat at the hands of South Weald 2nd XI in their Mid Essex League clash at Rawreth Lane.

Asked to bat first in challenging conditions, Rayleigh struggled to build momentum against a disciplined bowling attack. Only Ollie Barker (27), Neil Noble (22), and Brad Walker (16) reached double figures as the hosts were dismissed for just 90 in 33 overs. South Weald’s Zachary Gent was the pick of the bowlers, claiming an impressive 5 for 9.

In reply, South Weald made light work of the chase, reaching the target in 15 overs for the loss of one wicket. Matt Long led the way with an unbeaten 47.

Rayleigh will look to regroup ahead of next week’s trip to Ardleigh Green.

With fairer skies in the lands of the Eastern Saxons for Week 7 of the season, a resurgent 4^th XI  made the journey Northwards to face CSK at the WACA.  The legendary Chelmsford Super King curry tea may have been consigned to the annals of history, however the hosts had been gracious enough to lay on a RAF flypast (nothing to do with the Kings official Birthday!) for the visitors prior to the first ball being bowled.

Captain Morgan (happily) lost the toss for the first time this season and Rayleigh were asked to field on a wicket that offered a bit to the bowlers if you hit the right areas. Opening the bowling, Morgs was miserly (8-4-4-0) and yet somehow came away without a wicket. The first wicket of the day fell to Cam Mantle (8-1-34-4)  with Riley Hughes taking the catch comfortably at mid-wicket. Riley (5-0-39-1) coming on to replace Cam would then take his first 4th XI wicket, with Steve Gosling this time having the honour of making another mid-wicket the grab.

CSK finally started to trouble the scorer and it would take a further bowling change before the remaining opener (who had stubbornly held on), was invited to a Martin family party. Terry taking a good catch from Chloe Martin (5-0-29-1) off the very first bowl of her spell. Again CSK accelerated the scoring with the number four Sanjaykanth Dayanadan totalling 51 in 38 balls and Ranjit Pillai finishing with 47 off  52. The partnership was broken by Josh Mantle (6-2-34-1) with a beautifully flighted, slower, swooping delivery disrupting the woodwork (you can pay me for that description later Josh). John Wright (3-0-22-2) picked up a couple of quick wickets, including a sharp catch by Chloe Martin at slip; after which wickets fell at regular intervals. Captain and Vice-Captain Tom Neale-Peppiatt (4-0-23-1) combined with Morgs taking a running catch in the deep (Pep’s had every faith!) and then Cam secured maximum bowling points, mopping up the tail with catching assistance from Steve Gosling (a second grab, to the astonishment of the opposition and his own team), Ollie Guinn and finally brother Josh.

With only 187 to reach for the win, the team could afford a slow and steady approach. Terry Martin (62) finally shrugged off some of the bad luck that has beset him this year and took on the lion’s share of the scoring. Although the initial wicket of Steve Gosling fell with just 20 runs on the board, a 50 partnership between Terry and Duncan Baldwin (15) and further contributions from all of the middle order saw RCC home in the (slight anxiety kicking in for the Captain) final over. Tom Neale-Peppiatt (14*) had the honour of scoring the winning 2 runs with a nicely placed shot backwards of point.

With the brace of wins the 4^th XI now sit 7^th in Division 9 with only 17 points now separating teams 4 to 10.

In a one-sided affair that will be remembered more for who didn’t show up than who did, Rayleigh 5th XI suffered a crushing 9-wicket defeat at the hands of Basildon & Pitsea 5s, after posting a meagre total of 116 all out in just 23 overs.

From the outset, Rayleigh’s day was destined to be a disaster. With only two players effectively contributing, the team limped to a below-par score. James Offer led the resistance with a spirited 59, and Phil Hammond chipped in with a determined 33. Unfortunately, the rest of the batting line-up collapsed like a house of cards, offering no support whatsoever — four batters recorded ducks, and several failed to trouble the scorers at all.

Basildon & Pitsea made short work of the chase. Calm and composed, they knocked off the 117-run target in just 22 overs, losing only one wicket in the process. Rayleigh’s bowling attack lacked intensity.

This was a humbling outing for Rayleigh 5s, who will need to regroup and play stronger if we want to have a shot at the title. Player of the Match: James Offer – for his lone stand in a match otherwise devoid of Rayleigh highlights.

On a warm day, captain Ray Hart won the toss and elected to bat. Simon Lennox and Arvin Ghataura opened the innings and found scoring difficult as the Hutton bowlers started well, with nagging line and length.

Sharing the new ball for the visitors was Suzanne Shaw. For those who may recall the Pop Stars/Pop Idol TV series (pre-cursor to The X Factor), a Suzanne Shaw appeared in the winning band Hear ‘Say. Now, almost certainly, she doesn’t play cricket somewhere between Billericay and Brentwood these days, but the first early entry in the scorebook read: 

S. Lennox, Bowled Suzanne Shaw, 5.

Pure and Simple! 

(So sorry!)

Whilst half expecting to see the name Mylene Klass opening from the other end, it was in fact Mark Wilson, and after eight overs, the Hutton bowlers had restricted Rayleigh to 8 for 1. Arvin soon followed in the 11th over to leave the home side on 20 for 2.

Steve Rothon and Chris Poole began the rebuilding process and had put together a partnership of 55, before Rothon was run out for 28, following a fine piece of fielding and direct hit by Sam Gilliland. Ray Hart fell cheaply for 9, before Mark Bailey joined Poole in the middle. These two bats put on 93, before Poole holed out to mid on for an impressive 90, to give Shaw her second wicket of the match. A quick 20 not out cameo from the returning Ollie Milchard and an unbeaten 36 from Baz Bailey took Rayleigh to a decent score of 229 for 5 from their 40 overs.

Hutton got off to a promising reply and had 61 on the board before losing their first wicket, when Mark Bailey made amends from an earlier drop to catch opposition captain Alex Burton off the bowling of Arvin Ghataura for 34.

By drinks, Hutton had added another 16 runs, but after the break Rayleigh began to squeeze the run rate and chip away at the visitors batting order. This was achieved by some good fielding. 

Thankfully there were no cut faces this week and on that note, Captain Hart has offered to share the services of his plastic surgeon who managed to remove the T-Rippon insignia that was engraved into his forehead from the previous week’s mishap at Southchurch Park. Impressive surgery, indeed.

All the bowler’s picked up a deserved wicket-a-piece but the star of the show this week, was undoubtedly, young Shri Balamurugan who finished with fine figures of 8-0-23-4, and backed that up with a direct hit run out and a catch to rap up the Hutton tail and see the 6th XI to a comfortable 70 run win to take them joint top of Division 11 alongside Willow Herbs 2s.

Even Simon Cowell would be impressed!