Mildenhall 1XI travelled to Norwich on Saturday to take on Horsford. Mildenhall batted first and their batting woes continued. Ben Shepperson will be pleased to have scored a run but his innings was ended early by Binney. Adam Trett managed 18 before he was taken out by Binney. Matt Allen was an unfortunate victim of an LBW first ball. South African professional Tyron Koen looked to be heading towards a big score before he was dismissed for 36. Tyron had hit 5 fours in 51 balls. Tom Allen reached double figures before he was out. That dependable barnacle Murtaza Hussein once again showed all his staying power with his innings of 38 not out from 81 balls. Jack Loveday, Ryan Clark, Alex Lack, Jack Bowman and Jim Allen were all dismissed without making significant contributions. Mildenhall ended on a below par 125 all out. Oscar Binney took 3-18, Ryan Findley 3-22 and Kieron Peters took 3-29.

That total was never going to create a serious challenge to Horsford. Koen removed Crowe early in the innings for 2. Oscar Binney was a victim of Husein for 0. It was L. Findlay with 33, J. Ratledge with 56 not out and Ryan Findlay with 18 not out that made the difference to Horsford. Horsford reached their target after 28.2 overs for the loss of 4 wickets. Koen took 2-57, Hussein took 2-27. Unfortunately there were no significant contributions from Mildenhall’s home grown players and I’m sure that this is an area that is being discussed by the cricket committee. Mildenhall’s batting throughout the various sides has been poor all throughout the season and batsman need to question themselves on what they can do to improve as they move towards the 2018 season.

Bad news follows once again and this time it’s the 2XI. They hosted Copford at Wamil Way. Tom Heywood and Job Allen started well with 32 and 23 each. Much was hoped for, expected and needed from Steve Graham. Steve would be the difference maker in this match and so it proved when he was dismissed by Helmer for 41. There were double figure scores from Renouf, Youngs, Handy and Cruickshank but the rest of the 2XI batting offered very little. Mildenhall finished all out for 156 from 43 overs.

It was a tricky chase for the away side but they limped home for the loss of 6 wickets from 40 overs. Steve Graham once again doing his bit this time with the ball with 3-32. Jon Allen took 1-48 and Matt Heywood took 2-30. Mildenhall need wins from the last three matches to ensure their survival in division 2.

A rare and truly wonderful win for the 3XI as they did the double over Hadleigh. Hadleigh batted first and were kept in check by Martin Kingdom and Lou Handy. The oldest opening bowling partnership in world cricket screwed the living daylights out of the Hadleigh batsmen. Martin Kingdon who is looking likely to be this year’s POTY finished with 3-33. Lou Hand 1-43. It was then left to Gary Du Plooy with 3-13 and Jack Horn with 3-15 to mop up the rest of the Hadleigh batting. Hadleigh were all out for 113 from 43.5 overs.

Jack Horn started aggressively and scored a quick fire 42 before he was dismissed by Ambrose. Ahmed Afaal scored 19 before he was cruelly run out by his skipper. Mark Thurston ended up 29 not out and James Taylor 18 not out to see the home side to a fabulous victory. Mildenhall reached their target from 26 overs for the loss of 2 wickets.

No 4XI fixture this week.

Only 1 Sunday fixture this week as a Mildenhall XI took on Black Sheep in a friendly (charity) match. As is traditional Black Sheep batted first and scored 184 from 47 overs. The stand out performer was B. McGerridge with 75. For the home side Lou Handy took 1-39, Tom Heywood 2-35, Jack Horn 2-22, Reuben Handy took 2-14 and ‘Lucky’ Luke Ellis took 1-16.

Mildenhall easily chased down the target. Oakley Colby looked sensational for his 37 before he ran down the wicket. Reuben Handy made a fine 50. Rick Horn scored 26. Tom Heywood finished 25 not out. Mildenhall reached their target from 36 overs.

As in victory…