Weekly Round Up: End of League Season Edition

Welcome to a special edition of the Rayleigh Cricket Club Weekly Round Up newsletter. This is our final weekly edition until 2026, and we now revert to monthly updates. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, comment on, and contribute to the newsletters this year. Collectively, readers have spent over 560 hours engaging with our content, and we’ve reached more than 8,000 unique views. We truly appreciate all of you who have followed, enjoyed, and supported the newsletter throughout 2025.

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Sean Miller took ‘using all parts of the bat’ to a whole new level on Saturday! After posting his ‘unique’ shot selection on TikTok, getting 300,000 views in just over ten hours. Even the bat manufacturer, Gunn & Moore, gave him their seal of approval!

As the nights draw in and the rain becomes a more regular fixture in the forecast, the league season came to a close on Saturday. It hasn’t been our finest year on the field, with player availability proving a challenge at times and making life difficult for some of our sides as they fought to remain in their divisions.

That said, there have been some real positives to take forward. The 1st XI put together a strong campaign, improving on last season’s finish and securing 4th place after an excellent run of results. The side showed clear progress in consistency and execution, setting a solid benchmark to build on heading into 2026. The 5th XI once again showed their quality, narrowly missing out on promotion for another year but underlining the strength and depth of the club. Well done to Marc who has decided to end his tenure as a captain at Rayleigh.

For the 2nd XI and 4th XI, results mean that (pending confirmation of league structures for 2026) they will effectively be relegated from their current divisions. While disappointing, both sides had encouraging moments throughout the season. In particular, both teams played an important role in bringing through and backing our younger players. Although not reflected in the league positions below, these efforts have, and will continue to, strengthen the club’s future.

Overall, while the tables may not reflect all of the effort and commitment shown across our sides, there are plenty of positives to build on as we look ahead to next season and our next year of our long-term development plan.

The club would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of our captains, for league and friendly teams. As many of you know, being a captain is about far more than simply arriving first on a Saturday. With the availability challenges mentioned above, our captains have gone above and beyond to ensure the season ran smoothly, putting in significant effort to organise squads, manage fixtures, and make sure games could go ahead.

Rayleigh 1st XI won the toss and elected to field on a challenging pitch. The decision paid off as they bowled with excellent discipline, skittling Ilford Catholic for just 93 in 35.2 overs. Greg Hood led the attack with 4-37, supported by Danny Frost (3-25) and Samuel Verrinder (1-14), while Calum Mayfield grabbed a late wicket to finish the innings. Extras contributed 22 runs, but overall Rayleigh’s bowlers maintained control throughout.

Chasing a modest target, Rayleigh’s batters reached 94-4 in just 22.2 overs. Bala Rajagopal was the star with a composed (and biffed) 33*, supported by Henry Murrell (30) and Ian Turnbull (12). The team wrapped up the win comfortably, securing 25 points and ending the season on a high.

With the 2nd XI already down, Rayleigh sought a morale-boosting win against Great Waltham, having beaten them in the away fixture.

Skipper Nolde lost the toss and Rayleigh were told to bat, with a sticky wicket potentially offering a bit of variable bounce for the bowlers. However, the Waltham bowlers bowled waywardly, and openers Balkwill and Nolde pounced on the loose stuff, bringing up a 40 opening stand in 4 overs. Nolde (17) was caught behind off the far tighter bowling of Tucker (9-3-23-1), and Walker (12) fell chipping the ball to cover. Miller batted how he normally does, scoring a quickfire 37, which included potentially the shot of the day off the back of the bat over the keeper, and can be seen in stunning HD on the Youtube stream @ 2:31:23.

Barker (14) and Cox (8) both contributed as well, but the star of the top six was Balkwill, who scored 114 off of 104 deliveries, which included 18 fours, though that first ever six remained elusive. While he received his fair amount of luck, surviving dropped catches and a close LBW shout, he batted with flair and confidence as well, especially off the back foot. Contributions from Skillett (18) and Mayfield (18) meant Rayleigh reached 255 all out, with Warren (8.1-0-54-4) and Elles (9-0-56-4) the pick of the Waltham bowlers. Watch the best bits of Balkwill’s innings below:

As the darker clouds rolled in, the Rayleigh bowlers knew that early wickets were needed, and in this endeavour they were successful. Following his maiden century last week, young opener Elles was brought immediately back down to Earth with a golden duck, that Nolde juggled but held. Gibson (12) fell shortly after, to a well-directed yorker from Mayfield, and Balkwill also juggled his catch to dismiss H Parr-ozols for 17. Green, having seen the juggling attempts and not trusting his fielders, snuffled his own caught and bowled to dismiss Warren (0), and D Parr-ozols (9) fell to a direct hit from Mayfield.

The game was not over yet, however, as McMillan and Tucker put on 126 for the 6th wicket, with the former hitting his third fifty in three games and the latter hitting his first for this season. The partnership was broken by Green, taking his second caught and bowled in the game, dismissing McMillan for 87, with Mills dismissing Tucker (71) shortly after. With those two wickets, Rayleigh were in a far more comfortable position, despite some late resistance from Webb (22), who sent a six into the bushes to give Rayleigh one final panic. Nonetheless, Green remained his calm self, and closed out the game, with Rayleigh winning by 7 runs. A close game finally went Rayleigh’s way: Prasad (9-0-25-2) was the pick of the Rayleigh bowlers, bowling the tight lines and lengths that he’s become known for in the 5s and 3s. All the bowlers, however, contributed in different ways: they ended Mayfield 9-0-51-1, Green 9-1-56-2, Skillett 9-1-43-0 and Mills 9-0-64-1.

A good win should ensure confidence going into next season, where the 2nd XI will be looking to immediately bounce back up from division 4.

Rayleigh 3rd XI won the toss and chose to field first at Willowbrook. St Johns made 190 all out in 43.1 overs, with wicketkeeper Russell Paget anchoring the innings with a well-made 65. Useful lower-order runs from Darren Hickson (29*) and Adam Bubb (24) ensured the hosts set a competitive total. Rayleigh’s bowlers shared the wickets, Andy Long (3-34), Richard Barker (2-25), Mihir Patel (2-35) and Kalpesh Patel (2-19) all among the scalps.

In reply, Rayleigh struggled to build partnerships despite solid contributions from opener Andy Scogings (38) and middle-order batter Xavier Garms (35). Mike Mayfield (18) added some impetus, but St Johns kept chipping away with regular wickets. Jeremy Mills (2-24), Adam Bubb (2-3) and Jamie Hickson (2-18) were the pick of the bowlers as Rayleigh were bowled out for 160 in the final over, falling 30 runs short.

Rayleigh 4th XI went into their clash with Galleywood short-handed, starting with only ten players after one withdrawal on the day. Worse still, the season seemed to finally take it’s toll on a number of the Rayleigh players – with stand-in skipper Tom Peppiatt dislocating his shoulder, while Tom Osbourn pulled his hamstring and John Wright his quad.

Winning the toss and electing to field, Rayleigh bowled with good discipline against a weak Galleywood line-up. Early wickets from Riley Hughes and Chloe Martin kept things competitive, but the visitors were carried by an unbeaten century from captain David Wicks (104), guiding them to 174-3 from their 40 overs.

In reply, Rayleigh started brightly with Terry Martin (49) and Duncan Baldwin (35) putting on a solid opening partnership. With support from Oliver Guinn (22) and a battling knock from the injured Tom Osbourn (19), Rayleigh looked capable of chasing down the target. However, once the partnership broke, wickets fell steadily, and the hosts were eventually dismissed for 159 in 37.2 overs – just 16 runs short.

Despite the defeat, Rayleigh showed real spirit under difficult circumstances. Playing a man down, with several carrying knocks, they pushed Galleywood hard but couldn’t quite close the gap.

Rayleigh 5s closed out their season in style with a convincing 8-wicket victory over second-placed Navestock 2s, a result that secured a well-deserved third place finish in the league. The day also marked skipper Smith’s final game in charge, and the team gave him the perfect send-off.

Smith won the toss and chose to bowl first, opening with Offer and McDonagh. Both set the tone early, keeping things extremely tight in the opening exchanges. After 16 overs Navestock had crawled to 50-1, and Rayleigh looked well in control.

The drinks break sparked a revival for Navestock, however, as their batters pushed on in the latter overs. Despite some clean hitting, Rayleigh stuck to their task, with skipper Smith leading from the front and picking up two key wickets. After 40 overs, Navestock finished on 202-4, a competitive but very chaseable total.

The Rayleigh reply began slowly — more snail race than sprint — as Navestock’s bowlers made runs hard to come by early on. But the innings was transformed by a superb knock from Hammond, who played one of the innings of the season. His 118 from 107 balls was a masterclass in timing and power, pushing Rayleigh firmly into the driving seat.

A mix-up in the middle with Offer saw Hammond controversially run out while eyeing even more runs, though he departed to warm applause for his match-winning contribution. DT kept the momentum going with a valuable 45, before Offer atoned for his earlier mishap by blasting 23 off 11 balls, sealing the chase with 4 overs to spare.

The win capped off not only a strong season for Rayleigh 5s but also an era, as skipper Smith bowed out. With bat, ball, and in the field, every player contributed to a team performance worthy of the occasion.

For the last game of the season Rayleigh 6s made the trek to Rankins Cricket Club for their final home game. Optimistic with a strong bowling attack, captain Hart put the opposition in, trying to engineer a result before the forecast rain at 5pm.

Despite batting in the sunshine, the plan appeared to be working with Oaklands only 57-5 at drinks with a score of over 100 looking a long way off. Andy James (3-32) picking up 3 well deserved wickets after a few weeks of luckless bowling. Enter Robert Williams for Oaklands, who along with a good partnership with Rocco Lawson (21) started the fightback. Good bowlers were being smashed to all parts with catches also being dropped. 

It was time for Duncan Bond to enter the bowling attack the next over when disaster struck. Going for a difficult catch, Duncan stretching for a full-length dive dislocated his shoulder and knocked himself out on the hard cricket pitch. He was unconscious for a minute and then very groggy for about 30 minutes whilst ambulances were called (one for him and one for his cricket bag I think). Citing anything to protect his bowling figures, Duncan was transported to the local Southend hospital for a brain scan and the remaining players had to field with 10 and sometimes 9 players as conversations were needed with the Paramedics.

Luckily in stepped Shri Balamurugan with an impressive spell of 4-30 to slow the run rate and take some late vital wickets. Even so, Williams completed his innings with the last over going for 18 and a not out score of 95. Oaklands finished on a competitive 163-8.

The total looked more formidable as the wind and rain picked up during the Rayleigh reply. With the ‘hosts’ being reduced to 21-2 at one point the decision to field first was starting to look stupid. Luckily, Steve Rothon kept the run rate going with a quick 31 to steady the ship whilst Ray Hart dug in at the other end scoring at a ridiculous slow strike rate. When Steve eventually departed, in stepped Benny Mahoney who then proceeded to take the game away. Scoring an impressive 54 off of 41 balls the innings including some lovely clean striking including the ‘shot of the day’ down the ground.

This was Benny’s maiden 50 for Rayleigh CC and showed the ability he has with both the bat and ball going forwards. It was a truly impressive innings in difficult conditions against good bowling. Rayleigh appeared to be cruising when they then proceeded to lose 3 quick wickets to make the game interesting. In steps Shri (15no) to partner Ray (36 no) to settle the nerves and get Rayleigh home for a final match win.

The good news continued with word filtering through to the players that Duncan Bond was given the all clear for any head injuries and was transported by Steve Rothon from the hospital back to the club. With bowling figures protected he was a happy man. Safe in the knowledge that the head injury meant he couldn’t remember much of what happened and therefore didn’t have to complete the final match report.