Mildenhall 1XI travelled to Cambridge Granta on Saturday but unfortunately the game wasn't completed. Mildenhall batted first and the two legends Squire and Worthington opened the batting. Worthington looked good for his 28 but sadly he was unable to push on and get a big score. Squire made 21 before he was bowled by the Sergeant (Pepper). Matt Allen has been in good form of late and continued to demonstrate his talent on Saturday. Matt batted for 106 balls and hit four 4's in his innings of 50. Matt was eventually run out when Pepper sniffed a chance for the home side. King Koen came into bat at four and was another Mildenhall batsman that looked in good touch. Tyrion whoops excuse the typo I mean Tyron reached 43 from 58 balls before Pepper was able to catch him in his pot off Atkinson. Ryan Clark (8) and Ben Shpeerson (0) were both quickly dismissed. Tom Allen had a welcome return to form with his 35 not out from 54 balls. Murtaza had a rare lapse when he was Simonsen's third wicket for 0. Jack Loveday made a breezy 13. Jon Allen was left not out (of course) on 2. Mildenhall finished with 201 for 8 off their 60 overs. For Granta the wickets were shared between Pepper, Atkinson (2) and Simonsen (4).
Mildenhall bowled 1 over at Cambridge Granta and that was it...game over as someone famously said. Next week Mildenhall face Great Witchingham at home so please make an effort to come down and support the team if you can.
The 2XI took on East Coast opposition in the form of Clacton. Clacton batted first. I. Sheik (whose name I am very suspious of. I grew up watching Wrestling in the 1980's and I can't believe that the Iron Sheik is now playing cricket for an Essex team) was an early victim of Steve Graham's for 1. Kulsena offered up some stronger resistance before he was dismissed by Matty Heywood for 38. Erforth came and went in a hurry another victim of Graham's for 0. Chambelain was the main contributor for Clacton and his innings of 58 went a long way to providing Clacton with a reasonable total. Pitts and Fitzpatrick scored important late order runs (25) and (23). The final total of 176 whilst not huge provided some challenge to the Mildenhall batsmen. Steve Graham was magnificent with the ball once again. Steve bowled 15 overs and took 4-45. Matt Heywood took 2-33 from his 7 overs and Duncan Fraser too 2-42 from his 8.
Mildenhall started quite well. Tom Heywood (12) and Jim Allen (34) looked to have Mildenhall well set. I Sheik removed both Allen and Graham (32) with his 'Cobra Clutch' move. Taha had another disappointing day with the bat as he was bowled by Pitts for 0. Eddie Finnis made 11. The rest of the Mildenhall innings collapsed with no batsman able to reach double figures. Mildenhall were all out for 124 from 39.4 overs. Pitts took 4 wickets, The Iron Sheik 2 wickets and Chamberlain 3wickets for no runs, zero runs, nada runs, zilch runs...you read that right...NOTHING!!!
Ah Mildenhall 3XI. Sweet Mildenhall 3XI. I'm going to shock you here...get ready for it...it's a massive shock...it's a real game changing...hope your ready for it...THEY...lost. Batting first Elmstead Grasshoppers started in great form. A proper platform was developed by Butcher (65) and Gates (37). Mildenhall then took some quick wickets to get them back in the game. Khaira (17), Sarby (22) and Pushman (16) gave the innings some respectability. Elmstead finished on 193 for 8 off their 45 overs. Martin Kingdom took 1-40 and Andy Zajac took 1-41. Luke Ellis took 1-20. It was however, Kiefer 'Lionheart' Renouf that was the star with the ball for the home side. Struggling with crippling injuries Kiefer sent down 11 overs and took 4 wickets for 34 runs. Few people can move with the types of injuries that Kiefer battles with on a daily no...hourly basis. His strength of character and sheer will to overcome and battle against all the odds saw him through. What a man, what a person, what a legend!
We all know the 3XI can't bat. We know it, they know it and the opposition knows it. Skipper Mark Thurston found some form with his 25. Gary Du Plooy made 11. But it was 'Lionheart' Kiefer that once again rose up from his haunches to perform another act of unbelievable strength and vigor. Kiefer scored 29 before he could take the suffering no longer. The rest of the innings reads like this...6, 9, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 4. I always find that during times when you are struggling for form a new bat helps, my shop is available for you 3XI players and I can be reached on...
Pushman took 5 wickets for the away side. The rest of the wickets were shared out amongst the other bowlers. Mildenhall 3XI finished on 116 all out from 41 overs. Next week the 3XI take on St. Margaret's and one of the most charming men I've ever met. He knows who he is. He is grumpy, he is miserable and we are coming for your Sir!!!!
There was no 4XI match this week. Which is a blessing for me as my creative juices (if you haven't already been able to tell are well and truly spent).
As in victory.
JT