| Match Report |
To the accompaniment of music from the nearby V Festival, Brentwood IIIs danced to a merry tune as they trounced league leaders Chelmsford.
From relegation certainties a few week ago, Brentwood are now revelling in mid-table obscurity thanks to four wins in five games.
The latest triumph came despite Brentwood fielding something of a makeshift team and being inserted on a surprisingly damp track.
Captain Mervyn Emmanuel's pre-match tactical masterplan had involved batting first in an attempt to bag eight points against a supposedly superior team. That idea went out of the window after the pitch inspection and it was no surprise when Chelmsford won the toss and opted to bowl.
Emmanuel opened with the in-form Mark Baldock, knowing that caution was essential to prevent Brentwood's even longer tail than usual being exposed. All went well until the 12th over when Emmanuel tried to drive a ball that stopped in the wicket and flew straight to mid-off with the score on 25.
The sun-tanned Jamie Coleman strode purposefully to the crease, batting for the first time since a school cricket trip to Grenada. A damp Chelmer Park cannot have played much like those Caribbean strips, but Coleman swiftly settled in, mixing watchful defence with punishing strokes over the top of the infield.
Baldock had played some crisp drives and was looking well set before pulling up after a quick single and crashing to the floor holding his hamstring. With Emmanuel the only option as a runner, Baldock made the wise move of limping off with his score on 24 out of 60 in the 20th over.
Richard Horswill joined Coleman and embarked on the decisive partnership of the match. Coleman was initially the dominant partner and raced to his 50 with only 88 on the board. Drinks were taken shortly after, Brentwood happy to have laid solid foundations and ready to accelerate. The batsmen rose to the challenge, smacking fours and sixes to all corners, Horswill being particularly pleased to strike his former coach, Keith Goodman, for three maximums.
The score sailed along merrily towards 200 before opening bowler Stephen Drain returned from the top end and immediately caused problems with the awkward bounce. Coleman was caught behind for a superb 104 and Horswill followed soon after for 59. By then, Brentwood were in a powerful position and even though the lower order struggled to make headway, the visitors were delighted to have reached 214-6 when they declared after 51.3 overs.
With bowlers queuing up to have a go from the top end, Emmanuel handed the cherry to Peter Bainbridge, who opened the bowling in tandem with birthday boy Mick Payne.
Chelmsford batted sensibly against the decrepid attack and, apart from one dropped catch, the openers looked largely untroubled. Bainbridge quickly gave way to Horswill, but it was Jon Hilliard from the bottom end who earned the breakthrough, Paul Keaney getting done by the slow bounce and bottom edging a catch to Baldock at slip with the score on 50 in the 16th over.
Horswill had struggled for rhythm early in his spell but gradually found his form and quickly sent back the No3 Phil Arnold, again caught at slip, this time by Coleman.
Horwsill gave way to Ollie Valentini and, with drinks approaching, he immediately started hitting the danger spot on a length outside off stump. He clean bowled opener Connor Cheverall and two balls later had the new batsman caught behind the stumps by Jack Payne. That meant that at 6pm, Chelmsford were suddenly rocking on 85 for four, needing 130 from the last 20.
It was a tall order on a difficult track and, as soon as the batsmen started to chase runs, wickets tumbled. There was a third for Valentini, two for Bainbridge, and two more for Horswill as the innings collapsed to 123 for nine with five overs of the 20 remaining.
Last-man Goodman seemingly did not fancy batting, judging by how long it took him to put on his pads, say goodbye to his dog and wander to the crease. Not surprising, maybe, as his protege, Horswill, was pawing the ground at the top of his run, desperate to lay into the veteran. Goodman survived the last ball of the Horswill over before being dismissed in the next when a straight drive clipped Bainbridge's fingertips and caught the non-striker out of his ground. With the umpire unable to confirm whether there had been any contact between Bainbridge and ball, Goodman nobly took the matter into his own hands and walked off. A fine gesture.
On a mediocre weekend generally for the club, at least the IIIs provided a little light.
Report by Peter Bainbridge |