After nearly a week of rain, Andy did a phenomenal job to get a pitch ready for our big Matchplay SF yesterday. However everyone in the ground knew the toss was vital with both teams nailed on to bowl first in the spongy fresh conditions, which were akin to a Lords first day pitch at 11am.

Unfortunately the coin fell Shenfields way and we were stuck in. We weren’t helped losing Harry Pigram to a silly run out in just the second over. After another quick wicket, Henry Hawkins (9) and Ben Foster (15) tried to absorb the pressure and did so for a while. Unfortunately they fell in quick succession as we struggled to get a proper partnership together. Ed Stabb got to 10 however was done by some extra bounce whilst we continued to lose wickets at the other end. Only skipper Austin Osborne was able to really time the ball as he hit 23, which felt like it was worth about 60.
We were bowled out for 87 in the end, which we all felt was only 20-30 short of a genuinely competitive score.

That proved spot on as for the 6th game in a row, Austin Osborne and James Frans bowled outstandingly to leave Shenfield 36-4 off the first 14 overs. They bowled with so much swing a skill, and Shenfield’s excellent top order which has scored 340+ twice in this competition couldn’t handle it. Unfortunately their skipper came in at 6 and realised the danger and did very well to see Austin and James off. Our first change bowlers bowled well but couldn’t quite create the chances we needed, and their batters combined to add 45 together, which effectively won them the game. Fozzie took a late wicket but it was in vein as Shenfield won by 5 wickets.

It was a disappointing end to an excellent run in the competition, where we played truly excellently in every other game. It did feel like winning the toss was absolutely key and that didn’t go our way, and even another 20-30 runs would’ve been a decent score.

This team has been excellent as a group for years and it was great to see them flourish like they have this year. A special mention to Henry Hawkins who finished 4th top scorer in the comp, and Sam Shemwell and Austin Osborne who finished joint 3rd and 4th top wicket takers respectively.