Mildenhall hosted a strong Cambridge Granta XI in the latest installment of the EAPL. Cambridge Granta won the toss and elected to bowl in the early season conditions. Unfortunately for the home side they lost Morrison early on in the innings bowled by Singh for just 2. Peter Worthington was unable to make a significant contribution to the scorecard as he was caught Pepper bowled Claydon for 6. Mildenhall 1XI captain Ben Shepperson joined Joe Reed and together they were able to form a good partnership. Reed was much more circumspect than his normal hard hitting aggressive self. Unfortunately for Mildenhall they lost their skipper for 40 as he popped one in the air on the leg side. Adam Trett and Reed were able to hold the innings together for a while until disaster struck. Reed was run out for 65 by Pepper. There were contributions in the middle to late order for Mildenhall by Trett (19), Hussein (16) and Best (18). However, Mildenhall were disappointed to reach 208 all out. Both Claydon and Hill picked up three wickets each for the visitors.
It was always going to be difficult for Mildenhall to defend 208 and so it proved as the openers got off to a good start for Granta. Claydon and Rice were able to always keep Granta ahead. Claydon was the first to be dismissed when he was bowled by Hussein for 31. His opening partner Rice was able to keep going eventually being dismissed for 70 by Shepperson. Pepper came into bat at 3 and was able to guide Granta towards the victory target ending up on 59*. There was a wicket a piece for Best, Hussein, Shepperson and Jon Allen but Granta were able to win with a couple of overs left in the innings. Disappointment for the 1XI but the side is growing and learning from each and every game and there were some positive signs in the performance.
Mildenhall 2XI made the long and arduous journey to Clacton. Thankfully the journey proved to be a fruitful one as they came away with a morale boosting win. Mildenhall batted first and managed a total of 178. Veteran Hall of Famer Andrew Squires scored 45, Tom Heywood supported well with a score in excess of 30 and Jack Loveday contributed with 29. Despite only having a relatively modest total on a good pitch the 2XI were able to restrict the home side to 168. Jack Loveday and captain Steve Graham took three wickets each. This was an important win for the side and will hopefully prove to be a springboard after a difficult start to the season.
Mildenhall 3XI had a long journey of their own as they travelled to Elmstead. Unfortunately their journey was not as successful as the 2XI. Mildenhall bowled first and had the Essex side in deep trouble at 36-6. Andy Zajac and Martin Kingdom impressing in the early stages. Sadly Elmstead rallied with a stand of over 100 and eventually being bowled out for 202. Last year’s 3XI player of the year Zajac the pick of the bowlers with 5 wickets. Kingdom picked up 2 wickets of his own and debutant Gary Du Plooy also picked up 2 wickets. The 3XI never really looked like chasing down the target despite early contributions from Raeel and Ahmed. Andy Zajac came to the crease and struck some mighty blows with his long levers/tentacles. Harry Butcher was the only other batsmen to reach double figures. Mildenhall finished on 133-9 some way short of their target. The 3XI will be desperate to achieve their first win of the season next week as they take on St. Margaret’s at home.
Mildenhall 4XI entertained Melton St. Auydreys at Wamil Way. Melton won the toss and asked the home side to bat first. Openers Taylor and Francis were able to get the home side off to a solid start. Francis in particular looked in fine form and hit some subline ‘cleaver’ strokes over the offside along with some excellent sweeps. Francis was the first to go for a well-made 47. Wickets then fell regularly with few batsmen able to deal with the slow and low home batting surface. Warren was one of only 3 batsmen to reach double figures for the home side (12). Taylor was out late on, falling 4 short of a century, he would like to point out that he wasn’t counting his runs otherwise he would have push four singles! Mildenhall racked up a reasonable 198 from their 45 overs.
Mildenhall 4XI made some early inroads into the Melton batting line up. Chipchase opened the bowling with Cam Francis and both enjoyed early success. Chipchase finished with 2 wickets. Duncan Fraser’s introduction into the bowling proved successful as he was able to take 3 wickets. Maddox Colby bowled well picking up 2 wickets. Cagey veteran Kevin Boardman kept things tight with his slow non-spinning spinners. The run out of King (71) proved to be the turning point in the match and Mildenhall were able to win the match by 15 runs. Special mention goes out to Connor Cobbold who fielded excellently and kept encouraging the home side throughout the innings and fantastic example for all the younger playing members of the club.
Mildenhall ladies set down an early season title marker when they faced Easton at Wamil Way on Sunday. Regular updates on ladies matches are available via Lou Handy’s excellent Twitter feed. Easton batted first and scored 175. Helen Atkinson took 2 wickets with the other victims shared amongst the other bowlers. 175 can be a very challenging total on the slower, lower second pitch.
Mildenhall ladies absolutely destroyed the target set by Easton. Despite the early loss of Kim Hancock Mildenhall looked in total control. S. Ford-Keeble and Helen dominated the bowling. S. Ford-Keeble finishing on 58 not out while Helen was run out for a fabulous 85. This was a total performance by the ladies and they were well supported as always by a good group of spectators. If you need a cricket fix on a Sunday you could do far worse than follow the ladies, either via Twitter or in person.
Mildenhall Sunday 2XI entertained local rivals Bury St. Edmunds on Sunday. Mildenhall batted first and managed to score 194 off 39.3 overs. The main run scorers were Ewan Kingdom (51), Matt Allen (46) and Charles Wilkens (42).
In reply Bury fell 11 runs short. Tom Heywood bowled 9 overs 4 wickets for 35 runs. Kiefer Renouf picked on 3 wickets on his bowling return and Renoux Van Overmeire picked up a wicket to ensure that the home side was victorious.
As in victory…