Mildenhall travelled to Norfolk on Saturday to face Great
Witchingham. The home side won the toss and sent the Mildenhall 1XI into bat.
Mildenhall started extremely well. Kyle Morrison got the innings going with his
high octane brand of opening batting. Morrison was eventually LBW to Hale for
36 off 40 balls. Joe Reed continued his good form and reached a well-deserved
half century before he was another victim of Hale’s. Peter Worthington found
some form during the innings and entertained the local Norfolk folk with a
well-crafted 56 off 63 balls. Mildenhall then lost some momentum in the innings
and it took some lusty late innings strikes from the Caribbean titan that is
Tino Best to raise Mildenhall’s total to 244 all out. Mildenhall would have
felt that this was a decent total to defend if things went their way early on in
the Great Witchingham reply. Things did begin well for Mildenhall when Tino
Best struck early with two wickets. However, L. Schlemmer was not in the mood
to allow Mildenhall a sniff of a win on foreign soil. Schlemmer batting at
number four saw the home side to a win off 47.2 overs with a personal total of
106 not out. Schlemmer was ably supported by M. Jones 58. The pick of the
bowlers for Mildenhall were Best with 2 for 43 and Pete Worthington continued
with his personal good day with 2-31. It’s important that the 1XI get back to
winning ways as soon as possible and with this in mind let’s hope for some
great support next week when the 1XI take on local rivals Bury St. Edmunds.
Let’s great the home ground rocking a week before the Heathen event!
The 2XI face a tough challenge at home to Coggeshall. The
away side batted first and their batsmen looked in very good form. At one stage
it looked as if Mildenhall would be facing a very large total to chase. Key
wickets at important times helped the home side to keep a check on the visitors
and a total of 225-6 could have been perceived as ‘about par’ only. Captain
Steve Graham bowled well (14 overs 1 for 64) but the pick of the bowlers was
Jack Loveday with 3-21 off his 8 overs. Mildenhall had their chances to win the
game with the bat. Jon Allen (55) was rock solid at the beginning on the
innings and Taha Ahmed (58) showed the glimpses of quality that many of us have
known he was well capable of. Unfortunately only Allen, Ahmed and veteran Andy
Squires hit double figures for the home side. Sadly, despite looking in control
at one stage of their innings Mildenhal fell short of the target reaching 194
all out. The 2XI will be disappointed as it was game that was well within their
grasp to win.
The 3XI face St. Margaret’s and this was a game the home
skipper Mark Thurston had targeted as an early season ‘must win’. St.
Margaret’s batted first and their score was kept in check by some tight bowling
from a very unlucky Martin Kingdom (10 overs for 23 runs) and the 3XI MVP Andy
Zajac (14 overs 2 wickets for 72 runs). It was however young rising star Gabe
Jones that did the damage with the ball. Gabe took five wickets (for 68 runs)
in the St. Margaret’s innings. St. Margaret’s batsmen all made contributions
throughout their innings. Despite nobody reaching an individual 50 the team’s
overall total of 223-7 was going to be a tough ask for a 3XI batting line up
short of confidence and form. The 3XI started brightly enough with both Mark
Thurston (22) and Neil Clark (23) looking like recapturing their own personal
form. However, once Clark was dismissed the 3XI innings took a serious nose
dive. Taylor and Giffin came and went without looking as if they should have
even bothered doing up the straps of their batting pads. Zajac (25) stayed
around for a few of his customary bludgeons through the leg side. Mildenhall
were in serious trouble of not looking as if they would even make 100.
Thankfully the calm old head of Martin Kingdom (16 not out) aligned with Harry
Butcher (25) rallied the innings somewhat and helped the 3XI to the total of
142 all out. It’s not quite panic stations yet but the 3XI need to turn their
fortunes around very quickly and an imposing away trip to Walsham next week is
a challenge they will need to meet head on.
On a brighter note the 4XI travelled to Woolpit and came
away as the victors. Woolpit batted first and scored 180. Cam Francis was the
pick of the bowlers with 4-13 off his 6 overs. Ellis picked up 2 wickets. There
was a wicket a piece for Lou Handy, Steve Bone and Kayleigh Francis. At the
half way point it was anyone’s match. The 4XI innings got off to a great start
under the stewardship of Mike Saunders and the in-form Andy Francis. Mike made
31 and Andy fell just 1 short of his half century. Paul Thurston made 17 but it
was that man Cam Francis whose 31 pushed Mildenhall towards the target. Lou
Handy made 14 while young Connor Gobbold and Steve Bone both reach double
figures to see Mildenhall home by four wickets. This was a confidence boosting
win for the 4XI who have become the form team at the club.
The Sunday 1XI jumped
on a steaming run train during their match against Bury St. Edmunds. Joe Reed
and Matt Allen started the innings in magnificent touch. Joe hitting 91 runs
(retired not out) off only 67 balls. Matt batted through the innings for a
colossal 121 not out. Jack Bowman contributed 33 runs off 34 balls. Mildenhall
1XI captain Ben Shepperson hit an ultra-quick fire 74 off of 29 balls.
Mildenhall’s innings finishing on 330 off 40 overs. Bury couldn’t keep up with
the run rate required. Jack Loveday with 2 wickets and Jon Allen, Keifer Renouf
and Matt Allen with 1 wicket a piece. It was Gabe Jones who was again the star
with the ball with 10 overs 3 wickets for 41 runs. It was a morale improving
win for the club with some excellent performances from the younger
players.
As in victory...