Mildenhall 1XI made the short journey into Cambridgeshire to face Burwell on Saturday. Mildenhall were looking to get back to winning ways and welcomed new signing Tyron Koen who has replaced the 'Titan of Tinder' Tino Best. Mildenhall batted first and were immediately under a great deal of pressure. Early wickets fell in abundance. Morrison on his return to opening the batting was an early victim of Rippington, when he was dismissed for 8. Matt Allen (2) came in at number 3 but was soon returning back to the pavilion when he became Seabrook's first wicket. Peter Worthington was unable to really trouble the scorers as he was dismissed by Rippington for 4. Joe Reed (18) managed to at least reach the later teens as he became Seabrook's second victim. Koen batting at number 5 was able to at least form a partnership of some note with skipper Ben Shepperson. Koen faced 88 balls and hit 7 4's and 4 6's in his innings of 92. At a strike rate of 104.55 Koen changed the course of the match and potentially the course of the 1XI's season. Shepperson was content to play second fiddle to the destruction caused by his South African batting partner. Shepperson was eventually Rippington's third wicket when he was dismissed for 30 from 36 balls. Shepperson's innings key in helping to build a total that Mildenhall could possibly defend. Tom Allen was dismissed quickly and it was left to those two barnacles of the 1XI batting Murtaza Hussein and the immovable Jon Allen to use up valuable balls in the pursuit of essential late order runs. Hussein became another victim of Seabrook's for 19 but the rock that is Jon Allen remained 19 not out of a Hanif Mohammed (please search Crininfo on that one) esque 61 balls. Ed Finnis and Jack Bowman were quickly dismissed for 4 and 2 respectively. Mildenhall finished with 212 all out from 57.2 overs.  For the home side Rippington finished with 3 wickets for 59 runs off his 18 overs, Seabrook took 3 for 37 but the main destroyer was Jay Ghelani who took 4 for 38 off his 7.2 overs. At the half way point the game was very much in the balance.

Some things are strangely destined or are just a twist of fate. Koen with his first ball for Mildenhall dismissed Simon Donald for 0. Jagot was able to provide more resistance at the top of the order until he was dismissed by Matt Allen for 32. Kyle Morrison ripped the heart out of the Burwell top order as he removed Tetley (18), Seabrook (12) and Summerskill (11). Koen came back to dismiss Potter for 9. Jamie Seabrook was the main contributor for Burwell with his 49 before Joe Reed had him stumped by Eddie Finnis. Matt Allen took the further wickets or Sam Rippington (12) and Luke Mulley (0). Koen took his third wicket and third LBW when he dismissed Josh Arksey. Burwell finished all out for 179 from their 58.3 overs. Kyle Morrison bowled 8 overs and took 3 wickets for 32 runs. Matt Allen bowled 13 overs and took 3 wickets for 35 runs. Joe reed bowled 5 overs for 13 runs and took 1 wicket. But it was Tyron Koen who bowled 12.3 overs taking 3 wickets for 41 runs in a man of the match performance. Arise King Koen and welcome to Mildenhall cricket club.

And the happiness keeps coming (or perhaps it's the painkillers kicking in again). Mildenhall 2XI entertained Easton at Wamil Way in division 2 of the Two Counties League. Mildenhall 2XI batted first and the openers started solidly. Andy Squire and Ryan Clark looked in good touch before Clark was bowled by Sayer for 11. Squire was able to tick things over before he became Sayer's second wicket of the day. Taha Ahmed came in at 4 and the bench pressing legend was unable to make a telling contribution. Taha needs to fully understand that left arm Unorthodox bowlers generally turn the ball back into the right handed batsman and left arm Orthodox bowlers generally turn the ball away from the right handed batsman. You can guess from that that Taha was bowled for 11 trying to cut the left arm unorthodox spinner. The partnership of the day was between skipper Steve Graham and the 'Mountain of Machismo' Alex Wilkins. Steve Graham was in superb touch during his vital 84. The Mildenhall skipper hitting a number of sixes during his innings. Alex Wilkins has looked a different player this season, he has got himself some new glasses, a new lady and a new suit of banter cards and the difference in his batting is easy to see. Alex played with great composure during his innings of 57. Mildenhall finished with 200 for 5 wickets down from their 45 overs. For the away side the wickets were shared between Sayer (2), Heldrich, Attmere and Sarrangan.

Despite a positive start from Kimmering (27) the Easton innings always seemed to be slightly below the asking rate. Martin Taylor dismissed Machon early for 1 and Wright was run out also for 1. Sayer was able to score effectively before he was dismissed by Gabe Jones. Auchterlonie (difficult to type with one hand) got a start with 21. Taylor (15) and Green (19) also made minor contributions. But it was the left arm Orthodox (taking the ball away from the right handed batsman Taha) spin of the angelic Gabe Jones that ripped up the Easton scorecard. Gabe bowling 14 overs for 51 runs and 6 wickets. There were also wickets for Steve Graham, Martin Taylor and Matt Heywood. Easton finished 158 all out in an interesting game. This was a strong performance from the 2XI and should give then good confidence going into the second half of the season.

We take a short interlude from the good/positive news to deliver some very bad news. Those of you with a nervous disposition should not read the next few paragraphs as they contain accounts of unbelievable horror and scenes of pain. Speaking of pain lets move onto the 3XI. Mildenhall 3XI entertained fellow strugglers Woodbridge and OW on Saturday and were properly thrashed. Woodbrigde batted first and lost some early wicket with Cameron Francis dismissing Scopes for 8 thanks to a good catch from Reuben Handy. Andy Zajacs bowled Harris for 0 and 'Gentleman' Jack Horn dismissed Foreman for 4. It was opener Nicholls that did the damage for the away side. He survived an excellent early LBW shout to go on and score a commanding 136. Grimes score 49 and Shaw was 48 not out. Woodbridge finished on 280 from their 45 overs. Andy Zajac bowled his heart out for Mildenhall. Andy took 2 wickets for 79 runs from his 15 overs. Cam Francis bowled 6 overs and took 2 wickets for 33 runs. Jack Horn was assaulted, Jack bowled 13 overs and took 1 for 112 (that's not a broken fingered typo by the way). Lee Ownsworth bowled reasonably well on his first appearance for the 3XI as he took 1 for 48 off his 10 overs. The day made worse for the home side when veteran batsman James Taylor had to leave the field during the Woodbridge innings. Taylor broke his index finger on his left hand attempting to catch Nicholls. The speed at which Taylor left the field led some to believe that he had 'soiled' himself, I would just like to state for the record that was not the case. Taylor left the field with such speed so he could have a little cry in the changing rooms as he knew he was about to spend some time away from the game and 'enjoying' the various country estates of East Anglia. On a positive note I would like to thank the Emergency Department of West Suffolk Hospital and for those of you that are injured in the future it would appear that Sunday mornings after breakfast seems to be a reasonable time to visit your local A&E for a relatively smooth assessment and treatment package.

Anyway back to the cricket. The 3XI were never going to get 180 let alone 280. Clark and Horn looked in reasonable touch before they were dismissed by Cranage for 18 and 15 each. Alex Lee's 'blast from the past' didn't last too long as he became Crange's third wicket still it lasted longer than Raeel Afaal's innings (1 ball). Reuben Handy batted well in a very positive manner. This was Reuben's best innings for the 3XI. Reuben was eventually out for 18. Andy Zajacs top scored with an aggressive 20. The rest of the innings looks like binary code. Mildenhall were all out for 84 from 24.2 overs. Cranage took 5 wickets for 34 runs and Farley took 3 for 3 (again...not a typo). A frankly hideous performance from the 3XI and it is very hard to remain positive as we move into the second half of the season...I hear Houghton Hall is nice on a summers day oh dear God the joy!

The 4XI journey to Essex to take on Halsted 3XI. Halsted batted first and scored 205 from their 45 overs. The main contributors for the home side were Bloomfield (34), Rippingdale (52) and Macklin (29). Lou Handy opened the bowling for the away side and bowled very economically during his 15 overs. Luke Ellis was the main bowler for Mildenhall as he took 4-58 from his 13 overs. There were also wickets for HallofFamer Lee Chipchase, Graeme Jones and George Howard.

Those two cagey veteran's Mick 'The Hammer' Saunders and 'Pistol' Paul Thurston opened the batting. Saunders was the first to go when he was caught by U. Sure off Parker for 16. U. Sure took six catches and a stumping in a phenomenal performance. Paul was bowled by S. Rippingdale for 34. Mildenhall 4XI had a new number 3 in the form of club Secretary Steve 'don't make me send you a letter' Bone. Never have I seen such a rigorous warm up routine and 'elbow' high regime. It obviously helped as Steve was able to score 25 before he was dismissed. Ben Brown finished 24 not out. Chippy contributed 21 before he was dismissed. Mildenhall finished with 180 for 8 wickets. The 4XI will be looking to put together a string of positive results over the coming weeks to ensure their league safety.

I seriously doubt that anybody likes Sunday's more (with the possible exception of the clergy folk) than Joe Reed. Mildenhall Sunday 1XI entertain Bardwell on Sunday at Wamil Way and gave them a good lesson in batting battery. Batting first Mildenhall amassed 330 for 6 off their 40 overs. Joe Reed opened the batting and feasted like a 'tramp on chips'. Joe racked up 113 before he was dismissed. Joe's main batting partner during the innings was Oakley Colby who hit an extremely impressive 80. Kyle Morrison provided more justifiable batting homicide with 77 before he was bowled. There were minor contributions from the rest of the Mildenhall batting.  I think I'll skip over the Bardwell bowling for the sake of common decency.

Bardwell finished 148 for 8 off their 40 overs. Wakeman hitting an impressive 79 and Douglas (29). For the home side Steve Graham picked up 4-15 from his 8 overs. Tom Allen took 2-20 from his 10 overs. Jack Bowman was the other wicket take as he took 2-22 off his 5 overs. Another impressive win for the dominating Sunday 1XI side. "Oh tell me why...Joe Reed likes Sunday's...Oh tell me why" to the theme of the Boomtown Rats "I don't like Monday's" in case you couldn't guess!!! Maybe I should pen a new club song while I'm on the sidelines...

The Sunday 2XI faced Risby again on Sunday. Risby batted first and fully enjoyed themselves against a weakened 2XI side. C. Thomas was the star with 126 not out. T. Nunn scored 63. Risby finished with 274 for 4 wickets down off their 40 overs. RVO took 2 wickets for 27 runs from his 10 overs and there was wicket for Steve Grinling also.

Jack Horn's weekend finally improved on Sunday. The mild mannered spinning allrounder scored 68 before he was caught by that man U. Sure. Kiefer Renouf scored 27 before he was dismissed by C. Thomas. It was however Mildenhall great Steve 'Gripper' Grinling that was the main man for the Sunday 2XI. Steve showed his considerable class, quality and power in his innings of 102 not out. Mildenhall Sunday 2XI finished on a creditable 236 for 8 wickets from 36.3 overs (Mildenhall only had 9 men). A spirited performance that does the club great credit.

Please excuse the typo's in this report.

As in victory...defeat...and injury :o(

JT