A depleted Mildenhall 1XI took on Copdock and Old Ipswichian CC on Saturday at Wamil Way. Mildenhall had a number of major players absent for different reasons. Copdock and OI batted first and initially struggled against the bowling of Koen and Tom Allen. The dangerous Mickleburgh was dismissed by King Koen for 6. Mildenhall 'old boy' Beaumont hit 3 boundaries in his innings of 36 before he was bowled by Jack Bowman. Tom Rash was an irritant to Mildenhall during his innings of 50, scratching around for 103 balls. Web-Snowing made 33 from 44 balls before he became Koen's third wicket. Andy Northcote finished on 17 not out. Koen was the pick of the bowlers for the home side taking 4-38 from his 10 overs. Tom Allen picked up 1-31. The willy Hussain bowled his 10 overs for 19 runs taking 1 wicket. Matt Allen took 2-46 and Bowman took 1-47. Copdock and OI's finished on 203-9.
The veteran duo of skipper Worthingto and Squire started off reasonably for Mildenhall. Squire was dismissed by Beaumont for 11 and Worthington was caught and bowled by Leggett for 19. Matt Allen was dismissed by Rash for 2. Koen gave the home side some hope with his innings of 20. Tom Allen made 18 and Hussain made 15. Mildenhall were all out for 107. Douglas took 2-19, Rash 1-16, Beaumont 3-17, Leggett 2-14, Croft 1-34 and Northcote 1-6. A very bad day at the office for the 1XI.
Mildenhall 2XI travelled to the delightful Ipwich and East Suffolk ground. Mildenhall batted first and were indebted to the batting of Tom Heywood. Tom opened the batting and scored 72. Skipper Steve Graham made 17. Taha 'First Class' Ahmed made 21 and Gabe Jones 17. The 2XI found some late order runs through the experienced veteran Martin J. Taylor. Martin batting at number 9 scored 38 not out while the top order struggled. Mildenhall finished on 195 for 8 from their 45 overs. Lander was the destroyer for I&ES with 6-49.
Ipswich & East chased down the total in 41.3 overs for the loss of 4 wickets. Khalid with 93, Jay with 34 and Lander with 35. Steve graham took 2-65 and there was a wicket each for Fraser and Gabe Jones.
Mildenhall 3XI made the stupidly long journey to Maldon. Mildenhall batted first on a playing surface with a boundary bigger than a Kardashian bottom (although saying this the Kardashian lawn would no doubt be much better groomed than the Maldon outfield...). Clark (13) and skipper Thurston (15) gave some early control for Mildenhall. Taylor (26) and Lack (25) looked to be pushing Mildenhall over the 150 mark before they were both dismissed. There were no other significant contributions from Mildenhall and the innings limped to a disappointing 125 from 45 overs. M. Foster taking 5-44.
Mildenhall fought hard in the field but it was in vain. Maldon reached their target in 29.1 overs (and I still didn't get home till gone 9pm!). Freddie tucker showed promise with a high class spell of pace bowling. Kayleigh Francis was the pick of the bowlers with 1-18 off her 7 overs. Kayleigh could have taken more wickets but her ruthless fiancée Mark whipped her (ha) out of the attack. Kayleigh was not impressed with this decision and a full on Martin Kingdon strop took place. Mark learned a valuable lesson on Saturday. Harry Parker was the other wicket taker with 1-21 from his 5 overs. A good spirit was shown by the struggling 3XI and there was a positive attitude on the field.
Would it surprise you to hear that Mildenhall 4XI...also lost? Mildenhall batted first and Francis (20) and "The Hammer' Mick Saunders made 23. Both were victims of D. Dyer (lets just call him Danny). Parker removed Lou Handy for 1. Kiefer made 38. Josh Jones was dismissed by Danny for 11. Chippy made 21 and Jeremy Bayes was 6 not out. It was however young Wicket Keeper batsman Connor Cobbold who played the innings of the day for the 4XI. Connor showed great composure against a good Worlingwoth attack. Connor who is a hard working young player showed the kind of fight and spirit that is a trademark of a Mildenhall youth team player. Mildenhall ended on a competitive 187 from their 45 overs.
Worlingworth had the trump card in Parker. He was the difference between the two sides scoring 83 not out. Parker is too good a player for that standard and he showed this during his innings. There were contributions from Aldis (37) and Payne 18 not out. There were wickets for Bayes (1), Kiefer 2 and Kevin Boardman who took 2-44. It was good to see the young and the older version of the Boardman clan performing well for the 4XI.
Mildenhall Sunday 1XI travelled to local rivals Bury St. Edmunds on Sunday. Mildenhall batted first. Steve Graham notched up 30 before he was dismissed by Riddick. Tom Heywood continued his good form with 48 before he became another Riddick victim. Ash Clark made 26 and Andy Youngs made 19. Mildenhall played the game with only 10 men and were bowled out for 166 from 36.3 overs. Wickets were shared amongst the Bury bowlers but O. Riddick took 3.
Bury had absolutely no problem in chasing the runs down. Current finished with 78 not out and in perfect symmetry Cantrill finished 78 not out. Bury chased the score down in 21 overs. If you haven't already worked it out let me elaborate Mildenhall lost by 10 wickets. Every bowler suffered in particular the engagement ring wearing Disco Dan Turner who went for 13 runs an over. A disappointing result.
So that's all the bad, sad, mad and crap news out of the way. It's time to lift everyone's spirits with a win!!! The Sunday 2XI took on Long Melford and had a lovely day. Kiefer Renouf who scored his maiden century last week decided he enjoyed it so much...he would do it again! Kiefer went on to surpass last weeks effort with 152. Scoring 152 in any standard of cricket is an exceptional achievement and Kiefer is one who has to be considered for the most improved player of the year. Kiefer dominated the Long Melford attack blistering the ball to all parts of Wamil Way. Imagine what he could achieve if he gave up the fags, got fit and really applied himself. Please consider that as a challenge Kiefer. 'Gentleman' Jack Horn made 53. Connor Cobbold (sorry I almost wrote Gobbold there and I have no earthly reason why I did that - actually I think I dated a Gobbold 20 years ago must be that) continued his great form with 34. Cam Cam Cam Cameron Franis hit 22 not out and RVO ended 5 not out. Mildenhall finished on 278 from their 40 overs.
Long Melford never got close to their target and ended on 141 for 8 from their 40 overs. D. Bigg was not out 61. Vincenzo Colby (you can tell I'm getting near the end of the report here) took 3-8. Harrold Parker took 1-4. Lukey Ellis took 2-40. Maximiliion Brais too 1-37 and that man Kiefer Renouf (bit greedy Kiefer?) took 1-18. A great win for the Sunday 2XI.
Mildenhall ladies and girls took part in an exceptional game of cricket on Sunday. Mildenhall took on a strong Woolpit XI. Woolpit batted first and scored 200 from their 35 overs. Opening pair N. Samuels and B. Absolon were the main run scorings. Samuels was eventually dismissed for 44 by Mildenhall skipper Kayleigh Francis. Absolon continued to score runs despite losing her partner. Absolon finished the innings on 100 not out. The middle order of Woolpit collapsed thanks to wickets from Kim Hancok , Helen Atkinson and Pippa Palmer. For S. Walker (also known as Scotty) the 'Sun aint gonna sun anymore' but she also had 'No Regrets' when she was caught and bowled by Pippa. Kayleigh took 2-38 and Kim took 2-23.
It was always going to be a very difficult chase and so it proved. Kim was bowled for 0 by Lottie Kent and Pippa was also bowled, this time by Firman for 6. Lucy Fraser played an important supporting role for the ladies in her innings of 27. It was however last years POTY Helen Atkinson that provided the fireworks for MCC. In the absence of the Bradmanesque SFK Helen took up that role and played one of the best innings ever by a Mildenhall lady. Helen was finally dismissed for 110 a monumental innings that almost won a titanic match for Mildenhall. Helen didn't deserve to be on the losing side but the Mildenhall ladies deserve great credit for the performance they gave on Sunday. Mildenhall finished on 193 for 7 from their 35 overs. I'm sure the ladies coach would have been both emotional (sensitive soul that he is) and extremely proud. Well done ladies and congratulations Helen.
Next week's report will be delayed I'm afraid. Hopefully match reports will be completed sometime on Thursday.
As in victory
JT