And so…it begins. Mildenhall returning after a long absence entertained legendary EAPL side Vauxhall Mallards at Wamil Way. An emotional Chairman Lou Handy was on hand to make sure the return to the top flight went smoothly for Mildenhall. There was a real buzz around the ground as West Indian Tino Best made his debut for Mildenhall. After several thousand of photographs were taken (and instantly Snapchatted by Mr. Best) the game began with Mildenhall having first use of the ball. There are many occasions when hype is simply just that and the reality fails to live up to the hype. This was not the case with Tino Best. Tino demolished the first 3 wickets of the Vauxhall innings in a devastating spell of pure pace. After Tino was finished with his opening blast it was up to Aussie Peter Worthington to add great control to the Mildenhall bowling. Worthington impressed finishing with 2 wickets for 23 off his 7 overs. Self-clapping off spinner Jack Bowman had an impressive EAPL debut with 10 overs, 1 wicket for 28 runs. Mildenhall skipper Ben Shepperson picked up a couple of wickets in his 3 overs. There was also a wicket a piece for Tom and Matt Allen. Contributions were made to the Vauxhall innings by Ben France (30) and veteran Paul Bradshaw (41). Mallards ended their innings 230 all out.

Mildenhall’s opening batsmen started aggressively. Joe Reed opened the batting with Kyle Morrison. Morrison striking 19 runs in only 14 balls, including 1 six and 2 fours. Peter Worthington looked the class batsman that he is easing his way to 23 (with five fours) before he was dismissed.  Next into bat at number four was Mildenhall’s skipper Ben Shepperson. On such an important day for the club a hero was needed to make everyone believe that the club belonged in the top echelons of East Anglian cricket. Ben didn’t disappoint. Ben finished the innings 97 not out off 104 balls with 11 fours and 3 sixes. It was the ultimate captain’s innings and shows what a top player that Ben undoubtedly is.  Adam Trett provided much needed support for Ben scoring 36.

It was a fantastic day for the 1XI and the club and we can only hope that there are many more similar days to follow over the course of the season. 

 Mildenhall 2XI began their two counties division two campaign with the very short trip to local rivals Lakenheath. Lakenheath batted first and managed to amass 231 from their 45 overs. Dom Palmer scoring 55 and Shane Leech with 78. Wickets were picked up by Jack Loveday (1-33 off 9 overs) and ‘Magic’ Matt Heyward (4-62 off 12 overs). Martin Taylor on his return to 2XI action bowled with his normal economic style and kept runs tight during the middle overs.

231 was always going to be a difficult chase for the Wamil Way side and so it proved. Mildenhall never really got going. Skipper for the day Steve Graham scored 26 and Tom Heyward was LBW for 27. Taha ‘Boom Boom’ Ahmed slashed 20 and Martin Taylor contributed with 17. Mildenhall finished well short of their target and were all out for 186. Wickets were shared amongst all the Lakenheath bowlers with Milner, Rodic and Leech picking up 2 each.  

Mildenhall 3XI began their two counties division four campaign with a trip to the Essex coast to face Brightlingsea. Mildenhall skipper Mark Thurston won the toss and invited the home side to bat. Mildenhalll started well thanks to the bowling of Martin and Alistair Kingdom. Martin Kingdom making a welcome return from injury bowled with great control and was unlucky to only pick up 1 wicket in his 15 overs. Martin finished with figures of 1-33 off his 15 overs. Martin’s son Alistair bowled 10 overs 1-41. Last year’s 3XI player of the year Andy Zajac was perhaps not at his best with the ball in this first match of the year but was able to pick up a couple of wickets with his final analysis 2-71 off 12 overs. Debutant Phil Mingay was arguably the pick of the Wamil Way bowling with figures of 3-59 off his 8 overs. Mingay started nervously but soon settled into a consistent line and length. Mark Thurston kept wicket well in difficult conditions and was able to impress with a stumping.  A couple of dropped catches meant that Brightlingsea probably finished 25 runs or so ahead of where they should have done. Brighlingsea finished their innings scoring 209.

Mildenhall’s response started brightly with Kiefer Renouf promoted to open the batting with Reuben Handy. Kiefer who has worked extremely hard on his batting during the winter impressed with his array of shots. Kiefer dominated the opening partnership with an innings of 27. Reuben was able to stick around for a while during the Mildenhall innings, finally falling for 10. Unfortunately Mildenhall’s powerful middle of Clark, Giffin and Zajac were unable to show their undoubted class and all 3 fell quicker than the team would have liked. Youngster R. Afaal who was exceptional in the field also showed great promise with the bat. Afaal showed glimpses of class with his leg side shots which found the boundaries with ease. Mildenhall never really looked like threatening to overhaul their opponent’s total. Mildenhall rather limped their way to 161.