3rd XI Vs Hutton

A second consecutive rain-affected match ended in comprehensive defeat for Brentwood as a flaky batting performance left Hutton 80-run winners.

If we focus on the major highs of the day, there was a four-wicket haul for the ageless Mick Payne and a defiant 60 not out from Nigel Bacon. However, top honours by a long way go to Mrs Bacon for a simply superb tea which would have beaten hungrier and fatter teams than the svelte Brentwood brigade. A second table was needed to hold the vast acres of sandwiches and home-baked treats from the Mary Berry of Ingatestone. The benchmark has been set so high now that it will be too daunting for anyone else to follow, so Mrs Bacon might as well write off her Friday nights and Saturday mornings for the rest of the season.

Back to the mundanities. Captain Payne had earlier won the toss and inserted the visitors who looked anxious to push the pace from the start. Peter Bainbridge induced outside edges for the first two wickets and then Cameron Maxwell took a superb running catch on the long-off boundary to give Luke Wells a deserved success.

At 53 for three after 16 overs, the innings could have gone either way. Unfortunately for Brentwood, it tilted in Hutton's favour, partly thanks to a couple of comical drops in  the field. No4 Shiya chanced his arm and got away with many aerial shots, while visiting skipper Graham Spooner nudged and nurdled in typical style. The pair had added 98 and put their side in command with 13 still overs to go before Brentwood eventually remembered how to catch the ball and started to make inroads. Shiya holed out to George Wingrove off Payne for 73 and Spooner skied one to Wells at mid on off Cameron Maxwell.

The Hutton lower order struggled to push on in the last 10 overs against the bowling of Maxwell and Payne. There was a sharp catch from Roger Mahadeo to make up for a far easier one he dropped earlier, and the innings subsided to 200 for nine after 45 overs. Maxwell bowled with good pace to finish with two for 26 from eight overs, while Payne ended with 9-0-42-4.

Brentwood's reply started badly with Neel Sethi playing a loose shot in the second over and being well caught at square leg.

The scoring rate remained funereal and after 24 overs Brentwood were treading water at 56 for two.

A huge thunderstorm then struck, sending opposition players running for shelter while those home players still in attendance pulled on the covers (Note to self: remind batsmen who have been dismissed not to stroll back to the pavilion to shower and change while the match is still in progress; as well as being needed to score, umpire, look for lost balls and fetch drinks, who knows, they might be needed to pull on the covers in the event of a storm).

The storm subsided, the sun emerged and the mopping up started. There was a tussle with the second team over a tub of sawdust. The game resumed with Brentwood needing seven an over for the last 20 and much resting on the shoulders of Bacon, who had been emboldened by the purchase of a new bat. He looked up for the challenge, demanding the strike, calling assertively and, yes, were his fours being struck with an added flourish, as if he was King Arthur slaying Saxon invaders with his mighty Excalibur?

Sadly, King Bacon's troops were unable to match his flashing blade and he started to run out of partners. Roger Mahadeo had fallen in the first over after the restart for a patient 19 and no other batsman bar Bacon managed to reach double figures. Shiya's yorker proved a devastating weapon and accounted for four Brentwood batsmen.

The writing was on the wall from a long way out and Bacon was left high and dry on 60 not out when the final wicket fell in the 42nd over. The result leaves Brentwood third from bottom and facing a crunch clash at home on Saturday against South Woodford, who are one place below them.

Peter Bainbridge  

Scorecard http://essexcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/2694199