Boys flunk maths lesson

Loughton arrived at Cricketfield Lane having discovered that their - and our - qualification for the latter stages of the Peter Coe Cup was out of the question. Whether that was correct or not, we were looking forward to a belting game on a beautiful day, and we nearly got one. Nearly, but not quite...

Loughton won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to take first use of a dry, placid pitch. In ideal batting conditions, a cheap, horrible match ball that neither swung nor bounced (nor remained round past eight overs) didn't help Alec Chappell or Sam Gardner in their attempts to dismiss the Loughton openers. Alec started with three overs for nine, but runs soon flowed at both ends and the Loughton pair raced to 99 after 15 overs before Coby Miles produced a good ball to dismiss Chowdrey for 52.

Unfortunately, despite the boys' best efforts, the next 15 overs brought 123 further runs, with only Joe Burslem (2-18) escaping the flailing bats of Loughton's hard hitting middle order. Without pint-sized tweaker Ben Warman, we lacked a second spin option and this probably didn't help our cause.

However, despite the daunting total, Alec and Will Price started very well. Alec's elegant square drives regularly pierced the infield, while Will played his best innings for the club; exquisite shots all round the wicket seeing him race to a classy half-century. Alec chipped tamely to midwicket with the score on 46, and Bradley Moon followed shortly afterwards for 2, but with Will batting fluently we were in the game at the halfway stage with our score on 92.

Unfortunately the drinks break saw Will lose his concentration and his wicket, and from then on our run rate rocketed as some tight bowling led to Joes Hawkins and Burslem struggling to find the gaps. As at Saffron Walden last week, the boys needed to pay heed to a run rate that was quickly escalating beyond our reach. By the time 20 overs had elapsed, we required a further 110 runs and only managed a further 53 despite some good late hitting from Joe Stanborough. The game ended with something of a whimper which was a shame as our opponents had thought it was even stevens at the halfway stage of our innings.

Nevertheless, once again the boys will benefit from the experience and hopefully begin to manage their run chases better in the future.