Shepherd Neame Essex Cricket League (1st XI's) - Saturday May 7th 2016

(Pic: Action from Southend-on-Sea & EMT Vs Harold Wood in Division One, photo taken by Johnathan Wagstaff)

The Shepherd Neame Essex Cricket League got underway at the weekend for the 2016 summer and here is what happened in the four divisions on Saturday afternoon:-

Premier Division
Highlights of the opening weekend in the Premier Divsion saw Chelmsford's James Clifford take 3-31 with the ball before hitting an unbeaten 68 to guide his side to victory over Colchester & East Essex.  Sam Cook also took 4-38 for the hosts and Clifford was helped by Jack Sterland who remained unbeaten on 77 in their win. Another terrific all round performance also came at Wanstead & Snaresbook as home player Kishen Velani hit 86 and then took five wickets as his side defeated Shenfield by 108 runs.  Khusi also scored a decent 63 for the hosts and then saw Zyni pick up three wickets and Joe Ellis - Grewal chipped in with two to help their side to a very convincing win.  Finally a player known as 'Pomi' made his debut for Ilford, and it turned out to be a great signing, as he took 5-48 to help bowl out Chingford for 177 before also staring with the bat, hitting 94 not out as Ilford breezed to a seven wicket win.

Here are the Premier Division results from the weekend:-

Brentwood 321/4wkts dec
South Woodford 182/8wkts
Match Drawn

Chelmsford 180/3wkts
Colchester and East Essex 177 all out
Chelmsford won by 7 wickets

Hornchurch 172/2wkts
Buckhurst Hill 168 all out
Hornchurch won by 8 wickets

Ilford 177/3wkts
Chingford 176 all out
Ilford won by 7 wickets

Wanstead & Snaresbrook 293/7wkts
Shenfield 185 all out
Wanstead & Snaresbrook won by 108 runs

# Team P W D L BP Pen %W Pts
1. Wanstead & Snares' 1 1 0 0 0 0 100 25
2. Chelmsford 1 1 0 0 0 0 100 20
3. Hornchurch 1 1 0 0 0 0 100 20
4. Ilford 1 1 0 0 0 1 100 19
5. Brentwood 1 0 1 0 11 0 0 14
6. Chingford         1 0 0 1 5 0 0 5
7. Colchester and East 1 0 0 1 5 0 0 5
8. Shenfield         1 0 0 1 5 0 0 5
9. South Woodford      1 0 1 0 3 1 0      5                    
10. Buckhurst Hill 1 0 0 1 2 1 0 1

Next Weekend's Fixtures (play starts at 11:30)
Buckhurst Hill vs Brentwood  
Chingford vs Wanstead & Snaresbrook  
Colchester and East Essex vs Hornchurch  
Shenfield vs Chelmsford
South Woodford vs Ilford


Division One
Sixteen year old leg spinner Zohran Afzal bowled like a dream for Harold Wood but a magnificent unbeaten 107 from Southend-on-Sea & EMT batsman Joe Robbins made sure the hosts got out of this one with a draw.  Elsewhere a thrilling finish between Billericay and Woodford Wells saw hosts skipper Dave Houghton bring up his 50 to secure victory for this side with just one over to go by four wickets and finally 'Sunny' took six wickets for Fives and Heronians as they steam rolled Hadleigh & Thundersley for 118 to win by 91 runs.

Here are the weekend results from Division One:-

Billericay 222/6wkts
Woodford Wells 220/9wkts
Billericay won by 4 wickets

Hadleigh & Thundersley 118 all out
Fives and Heronians 209/9wkts
Fives and Heronians won by 91 runs

Harlow 218/8wkts
Loughton 226/6wkts
Match Drawn

Orsett & Thurrock 204/9wkts
Upminster 194 all out
Orsett & Thurrock won by 10 runs

Southend-on-Sea & EMT 213/9wkts
Harold Wood 238 all out
Match Drawn

# Team P W D L BP Pen Ave Pts
1. Orsett & Thurrock 1 1 0 0 0 0 25 25
2. Fives and Heronians 1 1 0 0 0 1 24 24
3. Billericay         1 1 0 0 0 0 20 20
4. Harold Wood 1 0 1 0 12 1 11 11
5. Loughton         1 0 1 0 11 0 11 11
6. Woodford Wells 1 0 0 1 10 0 10 10
7. Southend-on-Sea     1 0 1 0 8 0 8 8
8. Upminster 1 0 0 1 7 1 6 6
9. Harlow 1 0 1 0 6 1 5 5
10. Hadleigh & Thund' 1 0 0 1 4 0 4 4

Next Weekend's Fixtures (play starts at 13:00)
Fives and Heronians vs Southend-on-Sea & EMT  
Harold Wood vs Billericay
Loughton vs Orsett & Thurrock  
Upminster vs Hadleigh & Thundersley  
Woodford Wells vs Harlow


Division Two
Biggest margin of victory award went to Belhus as after setting Leigh On Sea 260 to win, they demolished the hosts batting line up to bowl them out for 92 and win by a huge 167 run margin, although Old Southendian & Southchurch also had a large margin of victory, chasing down Hutton's 97 all out to win by nine wickets.

Here are the weekend results for Division Two:-

Gidea Park & Romford 192/3wkts
Harlow Town 190/8wkts
Gidea Park & Romford won by 7 wickets

Hainault & Clayhall 171 all out
Horndon On The Hill 227 all out
Horndon On The Hill won by 56 runs

Hutton 97 all out
Old Southendian & Southchurch 101/1wkt
Old Southendian & Southchurch won by 9 wickets

Leigh On Sea 92 all out
Belhus 259/5wkts dec
Belhus won by 167 runs

Oakfield Parkonians 153/3wkts
Wickford 149 all out
Oakfield Parkonians won by 7 wickets

# Team P W D L BP Pen Ave Pts
1. Belhus 1 1 0 0 0 0 25 25
2. Gidea Park & Rom' 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 20
3. Oakfield Parkonians 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 20
4. Old Southendian 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 20
5. Horndon On The Hill 1 1 0 0 0 1 19 19
6. Hainault & Clayhall 1 0 0 1 6 1 5 5
7. Harlow Town 1 0 0 1 7 2 5 5
8. Wickford         1 0 0 1 3 0 3 3
9. Leigh On Sea 1 0 0 1 2 0 2 2
10. Hutton 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  

Next Weekend's Fixtures (play starts at 13:00)
Belhus vs Hutton
Harlow Town vs Leigh On Sea  
Horndon On The Hill vs Oakfield Parkonians  
Old Southendian & Southchurch vs Hainault & Clayhall  
Wickford vs Gidea Park & Romford


Division Three
The most amazing fightback of the weekend surely came at Woodford Green as visitors Walthamstow were bowled out for 212 and then saw the hosts get to 173-3, only to then take the final seven wickets for just 32 runs and remarkably win by seven runs.  Epping managed to defend 184 to defeat Benfleet by 29 runs whilst Westcliff-On-Sea impressively chased down 246 to defeat West Essex by six wickets.

Here are the weekend results for Division Three:-

Ardleigh Green 206/5wkts
Stanford Le Hope 205 all out
Ardleigh Green won by 5 wickets

Benfleet 155 all out
Epping 184 all out
Epping won by 29 runs

Old Brentwoods 189/6wkts
Basildon & Pitsea 188 all out
Old Brentwoods won by 4 wickets

Westcliff-On-Sea 248/4wkts
West Essex 245 all out
Westcliff-On-Sea won by 6 wickets

Woodford Green 205 all out
Walthamstow 212 all out
Walthamstow won by 7 runs

# Team P W D L BP Pen Ave Pts
1. Epping 1 1 0 0 0 0 25 25
2. Walthamstow 1 1 0 0 0 0 25 25
3. Ardleigh Green 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 20
4. Old Brentwoods 1 1 0 0 0 0 20 20
5. Westcliff-On-Sea 1 1 0 0 0 1 19 19
6. Stanford Le Hope 1 0 0 1 10 0 10 10
7. Basildon & Pitsea 1 0 0 1 8 0 8 8
8. West Essex 1 0 0 1 9 1 8 8
9. Woodford Green 1 0 0 1 8 1 7 7
10. Benfleet         1 0 0 1 6 0 6 6

Next Weekend's Fixtures (play starts at 13:00)
Basildon & Pitsea vs Westcliff-On-Sea
Epping vs Old Brentwoods
Stanford Le Hope vs Benfleet  
Walthamstow vs Ardleigh Green
West Essex vs Woodford Green


That concludes the round up for the opening weekend,i'll be back next week with a round up of May 14th's action.