Mildenhall 1XI made the relatively short journey to Sudbury on Saturday. The last few weeks had seen an upturn in Mildenhall's form. Mildenhall won the toss and in good conditions the away side decided to bat first. Unfortunately the move to bat first backfired against Mildenhall and they were three down relatively quickly. Reed (3), Morrison (4) and Worthington (7) were all dismissed by D. Melton early on. Adam Trett was run out for 10 just as Mildenhall were looking to rebuild their innings. Skipper Shepperson was able to hang around for a while making 17. Matt Allen showed his typical resilience in his innings of 22 before he was LBW to Huggins. Jack Loveday was unable to push on as he was dismissed for 16. Overseas star Tino Best became another Melton victim as he was dismissed for 7. It was left to Hussain and keeper Ryan Clark to show some late order resistance. Hussain dropped anchor for his 14 not out of 64 balls. Clark was a bit more fluent making 22 off 37 balls before he was LBW to Huggins. Mildenhall finished on a well below par 127 all out from 46.3 overs. For the home side Melton took 4-34 from his 15 overs. Tom Huggins bowled 12 overs 2-30 and there were wickets also for Gallagher, Batch and Reece.
Mildenhall were able to break through early in the Sudbury innings. Huggins was dismissed by Best for 4 and Mansfield by Morrison for 4 also. Batch dug in for 32 runs from his 77 balls in just over an hour and half. Parker was caught and bowled by Best for 4. Reece managed 27 runs before he was LBW to Hussain. It was O'Brien that provided the innings of the day. He finished 52 not out from 32 balls with 3 4's and 5 6's at a strike rate of 162.50. Sudbury reached their target off 30 overs in just under 2 hours of batting. Tino Best bowled his 7 overs for 19 runs taking 2 wickets. Morrison bowled 6 overs for 26 runs taking 1 wicket. Hussain bowled 7 overs for 23 runs, taking 1 wicket. Joe Reed bowled 6 overs for 46 runs and he also took one wicket. A disappointing day for the Wamil Way outfit.
Better news for the 2XI as they took on Kelvedon & Feering at home. Kelvedon batted first and were soon in trouble. Captain Steve Graham was the early destroyer with two early wickets and a run out. Only T. Smith (17), E King (14) and C. Watts (21) were able to break into double figures for the away side. The Mildenhall skipper lead from the front with a magnificent spell of bowling. Steve bowled 7 overs and took 4 wickets for only 7 runs. Veteran Martin Taylor chipped in with one wicket. Youngster Gabe Jones showed his potential with 2-29 off his 5 overs of slow left arm bowling. Tom Allen bowled 3.5 overs and took 2 wickets for 9 runs. Kelvedon finished 89 all out from 23.5 overs.
You would assume it would be a very easy win for the 2XI but they made life somewhat difficult for themselves. Andrew Squire was out second ball for 4 and Taha Ahmed was bowled first ball. It was left to Alex Wilkins and skipper Steve Graham to steady the ship and take any nerves out of the equation. Wilkens played with great composure in his 31 before he was run out. Steve pushed on with a quick fire 34 from 35 balls which included 6 4's. Tom Allen (8) and Luke Turner (0) ended as the not out batsmen and Mildenhall chased their target down from only 16.5 overs for the loss of 4 wickets. An excellent early win in the heat for the 2XI.
Unfortunately that is where the good news ends for Saturday. Mildehall 3XI too on Coggeshall 2XI at Wamil Way. Mildenhall batted first and were soon in desperate trouble. Openers Clark (1) and Francis (0) were soon back in the pavilion courtesy of some fine bowling from L. McCabe. Tom Heywood was able to show some real glimpses of class as he made it his mission to rebuild the innings. Heywood found some support batting in partnership with James Taylor. Tom took on the dominate role as he hit some sumptuous 4's and a towering 6 in his innings of (67). Taylor got himself in a pickle (see the scorecard for what I did there) when he was bowled by a very slow full toss for (37). Renouf played some attractive shots in his (16) but it was Andy Zajac, that towering beast of the deep sea who provided some late order power hitting in his 30. Mildenhall finished all out for 173 from 44.4 overs but would have been disappointed as they should have scored well in excess of 200.
Coggeshall 2XI never really looked in danger of missing out on the target set. Cameron was magnificent in the game. Not content with bowling 8 overs and taking 4 wickets for 12 runs Cameron was the mainstay of the Coggeshall innings. Cameron opened the batting and finished on 85 not out. A true man of the match performance. Golding (26) provided Cameron with some support. For the home side it was Martin Kingdon that provided the heroics with the ball. Kindgon showed his true battling qualities. Despite suffering from a brutal and potentially career threatening finger injury Kingdon bowled 11.2 overs for 31 runs for 3 wickets. Kingdon was unable to bowl his normal medium pace and had to resort to slow medium off-cutters. A true triumph of overcoming the odds for the veteran bowler. Renouf also bowling slow took 1 wicket from his 7 overs. Coggeshall reached their target from 42.3 overs. Special mention goes to Cam Francis who bowled well (6.4 overs for 21 runs) without much luck.
Mildenhall 4XI made the journey to the Suffolk coastline to play Felixstowe Corinthians 2XI. Mildenhall batted first and were unable to make a substantial score. Mick Saunders opened the batting and showed his normal flair and quick scoring. 'The Hammer' scored 29 before he fell victim to the Burrows combination. Mick's opening partner Reuben Handy made 13. Former Mildenhall Club Chairman Paul Thurston was able to contribute with 21 before he was out. Josh Jones was bowled by P. Donnelly for 18. Experience pair Lou Hand (7) and Lee Chipchase (12) were both bowled by J. Burrows. Luke Ellis showed some composure in his 6 not out. Mildenhall ended with 128 from their 45 overs. J. Burrows 16 overs, 3 wickets for 45 runs and P. Donnelly 12 overs 2 wickets for 18 runs were the main bowlers for the home side.
The run chase didn't prove to be too taxing for the home side. Like Ellis bowled very well according to all accounts. Ben Brown, Lee Chipcahse and Graeme Jones were all economical with the ball. It was D. Bennett with 39 not out and M. Smith with 45 that took the game away for Felixstowe. Felixstowe chased down the total with 10.3 overs to spare. Mildenhall should take great heart from the performance of their young players such as Ellis, Cobbold and Jones. The youngster will have learnt much from this difficult away fixture.
As in victory...
JT