| Match Report |
In the gathering gloom of a dank, rain specked evening on the back pitch, Brentwood completed one of their more unlikely 25-point victories to bolster their survival chances going into the final weekend of the season.
Brentwood had been under the cosh for most of the afternoon, looking set for a heavy defeat at various points until a remarkable late rally turned the match on its head. The key figures in the victory were Stephan Heywood, whose 68 had enabled Brentwood to post a reasonable target, and James Berry, whose spell of four for 19 sent Wanstead into a freefall from which they were unable to recover.
There had been the usual pre-match confusions due to higher-team pull-outs. We had the unusual scenario of second-team captain telling third-team captain one hour before the start that he would wait until the toss before deciding which player would be taken. The losers in all this as always, of course, were the fourth team, who were left with nine players for their own crucial game at Chingford.
The air of confusion was heightened by Wanstead arriving late in drips and drabs and, after surprisingly electing to field, managing to take their positions at only 1.20pm - now, this was a team still in with a shout of the title, playing a late-season game when the last-hour light would be questionable.
However, even if their timekeeping and tactics were questionable, there was no doubt about the talent in their ranks. Opening bowler Corrie Brand had taken 39 wickets this season and quickly added another two in the shape of Sonny Willis and James Berry care of nasty, snarling deliveries. At the other end, Billy Hull went first ball to a one-handed, running catch at point from an admittedly loose shot.
So, Brentwood were 11 for three and struggling to cope with the surprisingly dry, bouncy pitch. Heywood had a let-off when he edged behind and the wicketkeeper parried the catch out of first slip's reach but started to look more comfortable as the ball softened. Sam Dawes, too, was showing signs of coming back to form and had hung around for a while before, to his bemusement, being judged caught behind for an unlucky 13. There was definitely contact with something, but as the cherry-coloured mark on Dawes' right shoulder suggested, it was not with bat.
With the score at 45 for four and Wanstead well on top, spin was surprisingly introduced at both ends. Even more surprisingly, it was spin all the way for the rest of the innings and there was the feeling that Brentwood were being let off the hook. Batsmen found the going much easier and, with Heywood playing some classy shots, started to edge the score towards respectability. Andy Maxwell hit a couple of big blows in his 11, but it was son Cameron who had the bigger impact, for once arriving at the crease with plenty of overs to come. Cameron had helped put on a valuable 50 before Heywood was out for an excellent 68, caught and bowled. Cameron made 30 before departing and Brentwood were able to limp past 150 in the 51st over.
Rain was starting to fall as the teams made their way back for tea (very nice, Mrs President) and had become heavier on the return walk 20 minutes later. No matter, this was a match both needed to win and although 151 seemed an insufficient total, who knew what might happen.
Now, on paper, the Brentwood team was ram-jam full of quality pace bowlers - sadly, most of them were claiming injuries meant they could not perform. Thus, Willis was banking on his few fit men to win the game against a powerful batting line-up.
Catches, it is claimed, usually win matches but Brentwood, and James Berry in particular, set about trying to disprove the adage as the Wanstead openers attempted to reach their target in double-quick time. Brand was dropped by Berry off Cameron Maxwell at mid-on, and Karan Singh was then dropped twice by the same fielder at point off Peter Bainbridge. None of the three chances were simple but it would have been understandable if the young man had crawled into his shell for the rest of the day. Thankfully, he didn't.
Although Bainbridge did manage to get rid of Brand (clean bowled, obviously), Wanstead were cruising along at 80 for one after 15 overs when Willis made his first bowling change, bringing on James Berry in place of a rather expensive Cameron Maxwell. Berry immediately started to pose problems with his high, pacy action and hit the stumps of both settled batsmen. Three down - at least Brentwood had a bowling point. Bainbridge then took two quick wickets, both caught behind, to make the score 110 for five. Starting to look a bit more interesting now, runs suddenly drying up and the steady rain spicing the wicket.
When Berry added an lbw and then induced a catch to first slip, well held low down by Willis, Brentwood were actually on top with the score at 125 for seven and Wanstead in disarray, players sprinting back to the pavilion to get batting gear they had not expected to need. One incoming batsman, under pressure from baying fielders, had to jog over the boundary with his pads barely strapped to avoid being timed out.
At this point, the 'injured' Billy Hull stuck up his hand to bowl, taking over from the bowled-out Berry, and immediately had the No8 caught behind by Dave Berry - 130 for 8.
An obdurate ninth-wicket stand threatened to claw Wanstead over the line but, after having a catch behind spilled, Hull splattered the No9's stumps with the score on 142. An inside-edged four to fine leg caused anxiety but Heywood, another late arrival in the attack, then produced a peach to clean ball the No11 and prompt delirious scenes in the middle.
James Berry finished with the splendid figures of 7-4-19-4, Hull with 4-2-7-2 and Bainbridge 15-3-47-3.
The result lifted Brentwood to fifth from bottom but, with fellow relegation candidates also pulling off surprise wins, they are by no means out of the woods yet. Any two of six clubs could go down. The final day takes Brentwood to bottom-placed Hainault, who are only 12 points behind. A win will guarantee safety - anything else will leave survival out of Brentwood hands.
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