Exning Cricket Club

Exning’s first full weekend of league encounters saw undiluted glory come their way as they defeated Mistley by 7 wickets in a Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Cricket Championship Division 2 clash, while the 2nd XI travelled the short distance to Elveden to claim a hard fought 31 run victory in the Club Colours Suffolk Premier Cricket League, leaving the Sunday XI to round off the weekend with a convincing 55 run Hunts County Bats Suffolk Cricket League Division 1 victory over Battisford at the Park.

EXNING I v MISTLEY I

Having won the toss, the visitors chose to bat first at the Park and were soon in trouble as the opening attack of Daniel Baigent and Ian Starling grabbed a wicket apiece to reduce Mistley to 9 for 2 in 10 overs. Paul Garwood (39) and Mistley’s ‘overseas’ player for this term, Trent Burge, built a slow but steady recovery with the score not reaching 2 runs an over until the 25 over. Upon Garwood’s dismissal, Burge was joined by Simon Barlow (36) in a 4th wicket stand of 68 before the Australian was clean bowled by Baigent having just reached his half century.

With the score at 141 for 4 and only 6 overs left, there was a late flurry from the visitors’ lower order, but the wickets also tumbled leaving Mistley on a final score of 179 for 9. Baigent was the pick of the bowlers taking 4 for 26 from 13 overs while solid support came from Starling (2 for 45) and David Atkinson (2 for 51). Exning’s fielding was of the highest order where newcomer, Ed Waites, certainly adds to that area, with the display being topped off by a fine catch from Richard Ford running in from long on and diving full length forwards to claim Barlow’s wicket just inches from the ground. Catches win matches!

In Exning’s reply, Ollie Fowlston (27) was soon in his stride but a testing opening spell from Mistley’s skipper, Matt Bibby saw him claim 3 wickets in the first 14 overs as the Park side stood precariously at 40 for 3. Enter the ‘old heads’ of Matthew Catley and David Monk. At first picking up ones and twos with the odd boundary as they blunted the threat of Bibby (3 for 31), they picked up the pace in the second half of the innings to see Exning through to a confident 7 wicket victory as the score reached 180 for 3 with still 8 overs to spare. Matching each other run for run, the Exning 4th wicket pair ended an unbroken stand of 140 with Catley 68 not out and Monk 67 not out while Bibby, unfortunately for his team, received little support from his bowling colleagues.

There will certainly be bigger challenges to come along the way during the season but the Park side can take heart from this overall display against one of the teams just relegated from Division 1 and will travel with confidence to take on Elmstead Grasshoppers this Saturday at Elmstead Market.

ELVEDEN v EXNING II

The old adage of ‘using up the overs when batting’ proved sound and, ultimately, successful advice for the Exning second string as they battled to reach 127 for 8 from their 45 overs having been 66 for 6 at the halfway stage. Stands of 34 and 21 centred on Ben Readman (36 not out) and Ben Atkinson (22), while not huge, were central to giving their bowlers a chance of success as Steve Flack (3 for 33) and Peter Dickinson (4 for 38) bowled Elveden to a match winning position.

However, skipper Nigel Lomas produced a master stroke by opening with the spin of Simon Lawson whose accuracy tied down the scoring rate and ultimately, led to the fall of wickets as the home batsmen struggled to push the runs along. Having reached 34 for the loss of only one wicket, Elveden were then undone as Lawson received perfect support from Duncan McLaren (3 for 25) as the hosts slumped to 75 for 9 – Lawson 5 for 14 from 13 overs. Exning were held up for a while by a last wicket stand of 19 but they finally gained a deserved victory by 31 runs as Elveden closed at 96 all out.

As with the 1st XI, the Exning 2nd XI will gain from victories such as this and go into their match on Saturday at the Park against Stowupland with a degree of confidence.

EXNING SUNDAY XI v BATTISFORD I

Having had their first League match curtailed by rain the previous week, the Park Sunday XI entertained Battisford and achieved a welcome 55 run victory having run up a total of 236 for 8 against an array of bowling from the visitors. Simon Lawson (46), Andrew Longfield (33) and Ed Compton (37) saw the runs jogging along at a steady rate and although there was a mid-innings stutter as 3 wickets fell in 7 runs, David Monk (36 not out) saw to it that the early momentum was not lost against Johnny Doughty (2 for 39), young Josh Pearson (3 for 40) and Mike Penny (2 for 33).

Battisford’s reply received a setback almost immediately as their overseas player, Rana Ranatunga was dismissed by Daniel Baigent with the score on 5; Baigent then being instrumental in reducing the visitors to 62 for 4 in his opening spell of 3 for 9. Penny then showed his all-round ability as he held the batting together scoring 53 but after his dismissal to David Atkinson (2 for 50), the scoring slowed with Battisford’s innings closing in the 40th over for 181; 13 year old Oliver Lawson bowling the last man to claim 2 for 30.

The Sunday XI travel to Great Yeldham this Sunday.

GIBSON CUP

The Gibson Cup tournament gets under way next Thursday (15 May) when Exning meet Burrough Green at the Park starting at 6.15 pm.

Exning’s 2008 season finally got under way after the previous weekend being aborted due to the damp conditions. A double-header against local rivals, Mildenhall, with the 1st XI’s at the Park and the 2nd XI’s at Wamil Way, was played under a fine, sunny sky and although Mildenhall ran out winners in both matches, 44 players had a good workout in readiness for the more harsh realities of League cricket this coming weekend.

At the Park, Mildenhall batted first, scoring 175 for 6 in their 45 overs with Franswa Bester (40) to the fore, supported by Richard Cross (32) and the exciting young talents of Chris Baugh (31 not out). The wickets were shared around the bowlers with Ollie Fowlston taking 2 for 25.

Although losing a wicket in the 1st over, Exning charged after the runs and mainly due to Fowlston (43) and Matthew Catley (27), the score reached 92 for 4 in only 18 overs. However, the nagging accuracy of James Holmes bowling demolished the mid and late order as the home team collapsed to 138 all out, giving the visitors victory by 37 runs and Holmes with 5 for 48.

At Wamil Way, the home team ran up a total of 200 for 6 in their allotted overs due to the early input of Steve Lankester (67) and Hansie Muller (36), while Martin Taylor (50 not out) pushed the score along at the end, despite the solid efforts of Ben Readman (3 for 39).

Simon Lawson harboured hopes of winning the match for Exning while he was at the crease scoring a cultured 60, but although support came from Peter Woods (33) and Nigel Lomas (26), Taylor’s late flourish for the home side just left Exning with too much to do as they came up 11 runs short at 189 for 7. Readman and Lankester wound up with good all round performances as they finished with 25 not out and 3 for 34 respectively.

On Sunday, Exning travelled to Sudbury for the first competitive match of the season in Division 1 of the Hunts County Bats Suffolk Cricket League. With the forecast of rain from lunchtime onwards, the match started under sunny skies with Andrew Longfield (47) seeing the visitors off to a steady start. The scoring rate was bolstered by a 4th wicket partnership of 102 between David Monk (58) and Matthew Catley (55) as Exning reached a total of 216 for 8.

Sadly, the lunchtime rain came at teatime! An effort was made to get play under way, but with Sudbury on 15 without loss after 7 overs the wet weather had the final say with the match being abandoned.

The coming weekend sees Exning 1st XI playing host to Mistley at the Park on Saturday while the 2nd XI travel to Elveden. On Sunday, Battisford are the visitors to the Park.

The 100+ Club winners for March and April 2008 are:

March
1st prize £20 Brian Grundy number 15
2nd prize £10 Pauline Catley number 56
3rd prize £5 Maureen Kimberley number 147

April
1st prize £20 Charlotte Routley number 100
2nd prize £10 Julie Grainger number 10
3rd prize £5 Jon Readman number 43

The Annual Induction Evening will be held at the Pavilion, Exning Park on Tuesday 22 April from 6pm to 8pm.

Existing youth members and any new players are asked to attend the evening to collect the new 2008 Fixture Card and to pay the Youth Subscription which remains at £20 for the coming season.

The Club will be running teams at U.11, U.13 and U.15 levels this season and players, both old and new, will be welcome at the Park.

Kevin Woodhouse, who heads up the Club’s coaching team, will be at the Pavilion during the Induction Evening to answer any queries the youths/parents may have.

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Outdoor nets for the Youth section will commence at the Park on Tuesday 6 May from 6pm to 7pm.

All age groups are catered for from U.15 level downwards and as well as existing members, new players are more than welcome to attend.

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For any further information regarding the EXNING CRICKET CLUB YOUTH SECTION, please contact Tony Catley on 01353 665729/07799 891659.

The 2008 Fixtures for all Saturday, Sunday, Youth, Midweek and other ECC teams, and some diary dates can be downloaded by clicking on this link.

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I know it is many moons away, but the date and venue have already been booked for next year’s event. The Rosery Hotel on Friday 7 November 2008. Please put it in your diary now. Speaker, menu and costs will be arranged over the next 2/3 months. After the success of the most recent event, I would like to think we can emulate the numbers for next year and if you are worried it could be a ‘sell-out’, please register you interest as with the Pre Season dinner; first come, first served.