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Stanford le Hope – Cricket Reports 29.4.06
Pre-season summary
Stanford are looking forward to improving on their 5th place of last year in Shepherd Neame Division 3. All the players from last season are available again, with the notable exception of Marc Gridley, who has moved to Norfolk. Dion Bryant will be the overseas player for the 3rd successive season and he will be a key component for the team with both bat and ball. Another central figure will be young Ross Poulton, who was outstanding in all areas last term. Peter Gray, Stanford’s rock-solid opener should be available for most of the season and there may be another one or two more experienced players available again. Stanford 1sts skipper, Michael Gray, is looking to build on the strengths of the younger players. “ I think we can improve on last year’s results. Our younger players have a year’s more experience under their belts and I will be disappointed if we aren’t challenging for promotion come September” he said.
Neelay Patel, who is looking forward to the challenge, will captain the 2nd team. “This is a time of transition for us” he said. “I expect to lead a team of young and enthusiastic players, with a smattering of experienced heads to help us through. We will look to be competitive, but I’m looking a couple of years down the line for us to be challenging again”. Geoff Lake will once again lead the 3rds and should benefit from one or two more experienced players being available. The 4ths will be led by a captain selected on a weekly basis, but with colt strength looking good and some older hands available, they will hope to improve considerably.
Match Reports
Shepherd Neame League
Cup
Stanford 202 – 7 (45
overs)
Shenfield 205 – 3 (35.3 overs)
Robert Page 72, Duncan Page 39 John Walter 90no, Rob Tappin 54
Stanford have never progressed past the 1st round of the League Cup, mainly because they always seem to draw opposition from the top two divisions. This year was no exception , as they entertained Shenfield from Division 1. They were by no means disgraced however, battling hard all the way. Duncan Page led the side and elected to bat having won the toss. He opened with his son Robert (72) and gave Stanford a solid start on a slow pitch and outfield, against good quality bowling. The pair added 96 for the first wicket, with the skipper’s contribution a steady 39. There was pressure on the remaining batsmen to up the tempo and wickets fell at regular intervals, before the innings closed with the score just over the 200 mark. Despite not making much of an impact, Stanford were pleased to welcome back Bill Poskitt Jnr from the wilds of Thailand, for his first match in several seasons.
Shenfield’s reply began with a shock early wicket from Kevin Smith and when Gary Sanderson also struck in his 5th over, there were hopes for a shock. However, a 3rd wicket partnership of 90 between John Walter (90no) and Rob Tappin (54), effectively sealed the win for the visitors, with Walter leading his team home with nearly 10 overs to spare. Shenfield won by 7 wickets
45 over Friendly
(Saturday)
Shenfield II
268 – 5 (45 overs)
Stanford II 58ao (19 overs)
Cunnew 94, Roachy 68 Hayes 3-11, Vowles 3-6,
Okridge 3-2, Neelay Patel 24
This was something of a mis-match, as a combination of 2nd,3rd and 4th players took on a pretty decent Shenfield side. What was encouraging from the Stanford viewpoint was the number of new faces on show. Whilst Stanford openers James Drain and John Harris both made early breakthroughs, the match was effectively sealed by a big century stand between Cunnew (94) and Roachy (68) for the 3rd wicket.
268 was always beyond the
grasp of the visitors, but new skipper Neelay Patel, must have been disappointed
with his side’s application. They collapsed to 15-5 against the bowling of
Hayes (3-11) and Vowles (3-6) and only Patel (24) himself offered much
resistance. The game was finished off when Okridge (3-2), gathered all his
victims in a single over. Shenfield
won by 210 runs.
Sunday Friendly (40
overs)
Stanford
259 – 6 (39.5 overs)
Tennyson 147ao (36.5 overs)
Ross Poulton 117, Lee Knight 37 P.Lewis 72, Lee Knight 4-30
This 40 over friendly was played in good spirit, despite Stanford’s resounding win. Star with the bat was Ross Poulton (117) who showed good early season form. He was supported in half – century stands for the 4th and 6th wickets by skipper Lee Knight (37) and Kevin Smith (25no), respectively.
Needing 260 to win, Tennyson
had to have a solid start. Whilst opener Lewis (72) batted staunchly, he could
only watch as wickets tumbled at regular intervals at the other end. It was
Knight (4-30), completing a splendid all round game, who did most of the damage.
Stanford won by 112 runs.
Monday – Essex U16 Matchplay
Dunmow U16 155ao (37.1
overs)
Stanford U16 156 – 8 (33.5 overs)
Oliver Rooney 54, Ian Sanderson 3-8 Royce Gummer 50no, Josh Rix 4-10
James Drain 2-15, Alex Karkoski 2-26 Nick Rooney 3-26
There was a gripping finale to this pulsating U16 game, as Stanford no9, Royce Gummer (50no), snatched victory for the home side from the gaping jaws of defeat. He came to the crease after Stanford had slumped to 82-7 but added 59 for the 8th wicket with Karl Musson (19). After Musson left and with little left to support him, he took the matter into his own hands by thumping two enormous sixes to make the game safe.
The innings began inauspiciously, as Stanford skipper and Essex U16 regular Robert Page went early, as the first of Joshua Rix’s (4-10) victims. This took the wind from the home team’s sails and they lost 3 more quick wickets as Nick Rooney (3-26) also joined in the fun. The two Dunmow openers were rested and James Drain (18) and Matt Higgins (20) took advantage with a 38 run partnerdhip to steady the ship. However, Rix and Rooney returned to swing matters back in the visitor’s favour with 3 quick wickets, before Gummer took centre stage.
The Dunmow innings had also
been a hit and miss affair earlier. A stodgy pitch and slow outfield meant runs
were at a premium. Opener Oliver Rooney (54) held things together and at 137-5
they were looking to post a big total. However, Stanford brought openers Ian
Sanderson (3-8) and James Drain (2-15), back into the attack and Dunmow slipped
from 152-6 to 155 all out, which crucially kept the total in reach. Stanford
won by 2 wickets