Weekly Round Up (w/e 30th July)

After all league games were abandoned the previous week, the Rayleigh league sides were keen to make headway in their respective divisions. Unfortunately, due to a mixture of poor availability (exacerbated by school holiday season) and player injury, only the 1st XI and 6th XI could secure much needed wins.

Despite a loss for the 3rd XI, they still remain in 2nd spot and their campaign for promotion still burns strong. In less positive news, the 4th XI, who were in joint second place in the league before the weekend, fall to 5th – 19 points short of a promotion spot. Thanks to a much needed win, the 1st XI have been lifted out of the bottom part of the table, but still need wins to ensure they remain above the relegation zone at the end of the season. The 3rd XI remain anxiously close to the bottom of the table, but a win this weekend against Rankins would ensure they also avoid slipping into the relegation zone.

In better news, the U13 Hawks managed to pull off an excellent win against Westcliff – which sees them go second in the league with a game in hand. In addition, the 7th XI also brought back a win against West Mersea in a rain affected, low-scoring, game. Well done to both teams!

Well done to the following players for some excellent performances last week.

Batting:

• James Offer – 74 (27 balls)
• Bobby Mills – 68 (60 balls)
• Duncan Baldwin – 63 (102 balls)
• Andy Scogings – 50* (71 balls)
• Jess Walker – 56 (47 balls)
• James Isherwood – 54 (86 balls)
• Jake Ashworth – 50* (60 balls)
• Josh Mantle – 51* (40 balls)

Bowling:

• Steve Adams – 6/22
• Sam Verrinder – 3/31
• Calum Mayfield – 3/26
• Bobby Mills – 3/56
• Freddie Ashworth – 3/44
• Umer Khan – 3/43
• Kat Mayfield – 3/51
• Aaron Akers – 3/8
• Oliver Milchard – 3/17

A very special well done to Josh Mantle, who recorded his first ever half century!

We’re now half way through presidents week, and despite the weather and batting collapses, it’s been a great week. Our two headline events are still to come, including:

Robert Baird Memorial 100 Ball Match

Now in it’s third year, we invite all members, friends and family to join us on Friday 4th August to celebrate the life of Robert Baird. The match is due to start after 6pm, with the bar open early and food available throughout the evening. The food available is as follows:

• Chicken shawarma served on Lebanese flat bread with salad
• Steak house burger with monetary jack cheese salad and dill pickle
• Lamb kofta served on Lebanese flat bread salad yoghurt and mint sauce
• Dirty fries
• Vegetarian option

Presidents Day

On Sunday, we hold our annual presidents day. A Presidents XI (captained by President Walker) and a Rayleigh U19s XI (captained by Sam Harmsworth) do battle in a 40 over fixture on the new ground. Will the Presidents XI make it three years on the bounce as victors?

We encourage all members to come down and support the club; however, the match will also be live streamed for those who cannot make it (thank you to Danny Mantle for helping with this again).

Food is available throughout the day, so come down, have a pint (or six) and celebrate our club and president in usual fashion.

The 1st team voyaged to the outskirts of London to take on second-placed South Loughton, with Jason Ox steering the ship in the absence of the regular skipper. The home side won the toss and elected to bowl first on a pitch that was drying after having been exposed to the morning’s showers.

Some tight early bowling and a sticky pitch led to a flurry of wickets which left Rayleigh in a spot of bother on 29-4 after 12 overs, with the opening spin of Vasanthan (3-12) doing a lot of the damage. The in-form Sam Harmsworth strode in at 6 and proceeded to overtake not out opener Impey within his first 10 deliveries, managing to find some timing on a tricky wicket. However, with drinks looming, Harmsworth fell for 26, ending a 37-run partnership and bringing 1st team rookie Jake Ashworth to the crease. There was no evidence of any nerves from the youngster as he adeptly supported Impey, who, after boring the home side senseless for 5 off 56 balls, decided it was time to enter his rarely seen swashbuckling mode. He struck 33 off his next 24 balls faced, before falling for 38, departing shortly after Ashworth had been caught trying to take the partnership past 50.

This left Rayleigh floundering on 118-7 in the 36th over, but a combination of powerful hitting and measured batting from Sam Verrinder and Ian Turnbull took the total creeping up towards 150. Two quick wickets threatened to stifle the progress, but an excellent last wicket partnership of 35 between Turnbull and Calum Mayfield brought Rayleigh to a more than respectable 182 all out off of their 45 overs. Controversy threatened to overshadow the end of the innings as Turnbull was initially given not out as he tried to scamper back for two off the final ball, but after confirming that the wicket keeper had removed the bails cleanly the Rayleigh number 8 sportingly declared that he had been short of his ground and the not out decision was overturned. Though his feelings of goodwill evaporated somewhat when he realised he had taken a sabre to his own average by doing so.

Rayleigh felt confident of defending their total on a pitch that was still misbehaving, and this proved well-founded after Turnbull (2-18) struck twice early to leave the hosts 23-2. Not to be outdone, Verrinder (3-31) drew the edge of the number 3 bat to send the ball flying towards the cordon. Ellis at first slip readied his hands to take a comfortable catch, only to see a flying Turnbull leap across and take a phenomenal Joe Root-esque one handed catch from second slip, sparking wild celebrations amongst the Rayleigh players. Turnbull was at it again shortly after, diving to his left to take a slightly more comfortable two-handed catch after Verrinder had lured another victim to edge into the slips.

The hosts tried to regroup after being reduced to 66-5, but just as the runs required reached 100 Mayfield made a crucial breakthrough as the big-hitting Kathuria holed out to deep mid wicket for 38. Mayfield (3-26) struck again by bowling Hill for a duck, after tensions had threatened to boil over when a huge shout for LBW was turned down the ball before. This left South Loughton struggling on 83-7, with victory seeming a long way off for the home side. Their job was made harder by some economical bowling from Patel, who, after an expensive first over, returned figures of 0-33 including 4 maidens from his 9 overs.
However, defiant batting from Asad Chughtai, supported by the lower order, allowed South Loughton to creep closer to the target, with Ox and Mayfield taking a scalp apiece in the meantime to move Rayleigh to within one wicket of victory.

It came down to 8 runs required off the final over, which was to be bowled by Nanayakkara. The first ball was a dot. The tension was mounting and even the engines of the Loughton Cross Country Motorbike club temporarily fell-silent. As the second ball was delivered, Chughtai sounded the charge and tried to go big, but failed to connect leaving Francis to calmly but swiftly remove the bails and claim a dramatic victory, cueing scenes of jubilation amongst the away side.

The Rayleigh players left the field with a combination of elation and relief, knowing this crucial win would lift them away from the bottom two and towards the comfort of mid-table. Thank you to Andy Impey for writing this report in Rob’s absence.

The 2nd team welcomed South Woodham Ferrers to the new ground. Having been severely impacted by poor availability, a number of players made their 2nd XI debut, including Sam Skillett, Zach Skillett and Bobby Mills.

Matt Walker won the toss and elected to bat first. Despite the morning rain, the Rayleigh skipper backed his batting attack and the condition of the covered track. Steve Lynch (24) and Sam Law (25) put on 46 for the first wicket, but Steve was quickly removed by the South Woodham spinner by a ball that moved in and clipped the top of the wickets. Law pushed on, but after losing Neil Noble caught behind, Sam holed-out to the boundary and was caught. Jess Walker (56) and Bobby Mills steadied the ship, putting on 61 for the fourth wicket. Once Jess departed, Bobby pushed on with support from the skipper and scored a fantastic 68 from 60 balls. Thanks to some late innings runs from Walker (27), Rayleigh finished on 227/7.

Despite being reduced to 25-1 early on, South Woodham pilled the runs on. Rayleigh bowled well, but the visitors kept the scoreboard ticking along. Bobby Mills (3/56) bowled well, supported by Trevor Nunn (1/30), but South Woodham managed to chase the total down with two overs remaining and only four wickets down.

The 3s made the journey to Chelmsford to play Great Baddow. Brad Walker took the helm as skipper, due to Trevor playing in the 2s.

Brad won the toss and asked the opposition to bat first on a wet wicket. Thanks to some tight bowling from Josh Mantle (9-2-24-2), Freddie Ashworth (9-0-44-3) and John Wright (9-0-21-2, Rayleigh were able to restrict Great Baddow to 194 all out.

Brad Walker and James Balkwill opened the batting for Rayleigh and faced an onslaught of accurate bowling from Great Baddow, with the pitch still doing a lot for the bowlers. After seeing off the opening bowlers, Brad and James departed for 7 and 8 runs respectively which brought James Isherwood to the crease. James, stroke a lovely half century (54), but started to run out of partner. Mike Mayfield managed to steady the ship with an aggressive 22 runs before both batter fell. Ollie Bennett, on debut for the 3rd XI, took to the crease and attempted to steer Rayleigh home alongside Josh Mantle. Unfortunately, the total set by Great Baddow, coupled with their tight bowling, proved too much for Rayleigh who came up 24 runs short. Ollie Bennett finished on 41, losing his wicket on the last ball of the game.

Hopeful for an easy game against bottom of the table Great Waltham, Rayleigh won the toss and bowled first on a green looking wicket.

Great Waltham, fresh from a tour of Nottingham and strengthened by their 2nd team not having a game, took to the Rayleigh bowling and scored quickly. Simon Harwood took the first wicket through a run out, but Great Waltham continued to take quick singles and pushed the field. Sam Parrott (1/25) managed to make the breakthrough before Umer Khan (3/43) rattled through the batting lineup thanks to a fabulous spell of bowling. The opposition finished on 215-6 from their 40 overs.

Josh Francis and Steve Gosling started well, putting on 31 for the first wicket and runs appeared to be flowing nicely. The Great Waltham bowlers soon found their length and both batters fell to some good bowling. This then qued up a 4th team batting collapse, with Rayleigh 32-2, 48-3 and then 64-4. Kuldeep Paik (16) steadied the ship with the in-form skipper, before the former fell to a catch behind. Captain Peps pushed on a for a well struck 34 from 25 balls, but this wasn’t enough and the skipper added another LBW to his running tally for the year. Morgan (23) and Levett (16*) built a good partnership for the last wicket, but it wasn’t enough and Rayleigh were bowled out for 147.

The 4s now go into this weeks fixture needing a win to ensure promotion hopes stay alive in the skippers final year as captain.

The 5s visited Hatfield Peverel for their third clash of the year. The opposition won the toss and batted first, posting 242/9 from their 40 overs. Kat Mayfield and Cam Mantle were the pick of the bowlers, picking up three wickets each.

With such an imposing total to chase down, James Offer came in early at number three and smashed an astonishing 74 runs from only 27 balls – which included five 4s and seven 6s. Despite James swash-buckling innings, a batting collapse started and Rayleigh slumped to 157 all out.

Hatfield won by 85 runs.

Tillingham won the toss and ask Rayleigh to bat on a damp wicket. Rayleigh started poorly, losing Steve Adams early on but Duncan Baldwin and Duncan Bond rebuilt and developed a strong partnership of 64 runs. As Bond (30) departed, Baldwin continued to score runs, supported by Steve Rothon (19). Joe Peppiatt couldn’t add much to the total before being clean bowled, and then Duncan followed for a steady innings of 63 runs from 102 balls (7 fours). Phil Wolff added a quick 15 to the scoreboard before Rayleigh finished on 167-6 from 40 overs.

In reply, Tillingham never really got going thanks to some accurate bowling from the Rayleigh opening bowlers. All bowlers contributed to the oppositions demise; however, Steve Adams got the ball turning and took six wickets for only 22 runs (7-1-22-6). Steve’s bowling figures were the 11th best in the county on Saturday – well done mate!

Rayleigh were able to bowl Tillingham out for 123 runs and secured a much needed win and 24 points.

West Mersea won the toss and batted first, posting 97 all out in a reduced overs game.

Oliver Milchard was the pick of the attack, managing to grab three wickets in only four overs (4-0-17-3). Aaron Akers also managed to bag three wickets, with even more economical figures of 5-1-8-3.

Rayleigh started well with Andy Scoldings posting 50* (retired), supported by Elliot Davies (29). Despite a mini batting collapse, Rayleigh managed to steer the ship home and won by three wickets.