Report by Peter Bainbridge
 

Brentwood's great escape from relegation came a little closer to reality as they tunnelled another few yards towards safety on Saturday.
A comfortable seven-wicket win was completed with nine overs of the last 20 remaining thanks to an unbeaten century stand by Mark Baldock and Neil Sethi.

It completed an efficient victory, the tone for which had been set by the wonderful new Green Tomato covers that kept Friday's heavy rain off the wicket. So good are they that the first team are expected to launch a transfer bid (they have already nicked the new boundary rope, so it will be the covers next, you can bank on it). While the covers on the main square proved wholly inadequate and resulted in a delayed start, the back-pitch strip was bone dry.
Ilford won the toss and boldly opted to bat first on the rock-hard pitch - a polar opposite to the slow mud patch of a fortnight earlier which had produced 140 runs for 20 wickets.
With the threat of relegation looming, an array of galacticos have featured in the third team in recent weeks, with, it must be said, mixed success. The latest batch included official club legends Dickie Whitehall and Ben Cocklin and it was Whitehall who made the first impact. His run-up is about five per cent of the length he used in his glorious 1970s heydays but he is still nearly as tall (7ft 2in) and extracted prodigious lift from the rock-hard pitch. His first spell of 13 overs was his longest for at least 25 years and brought him three wickets, two clean bowled and the other pouched by Mervyn Emmanuel at point from a miscued drive.
First-change Jon Hilliard produced a superb seven-over spell of miserliness to keep Ilford becalmed. He went for only nine runs and his solitary wicket came when he hit the one damp patch on the strip, a little area measuring 5cm square just short of a length. The ball reared, the batsman flinched, the ball struck glove and lobbed to slip where, who else but Whitehall, took the catch.
By this time, Richard Horswill was steaming in at the Whitehall End, starting a spell that was not his most accurate, yet that produced three wickets, one from an acrobatic return catch.
When Peter Bainbridge returned and took two wickets, Ilford were 150 for nine and tea was imminent. However, the final-wicket pair launched a fierce assault, mainly on Bainbridge, and managed to thrash another 30 runs before superman Whitehall wrapped up the innings with the last delivery of the 52 overs. His figures were 16-4-45-4. Take a bow.
Tea was a feast - certainly the best since the last home game when the players had again been responsible for bringing their own fare. Taramasalata and breadsticks had been this scribe's personal highlight two weeks earlier - this time it was the cup cakes, provided by....you guessed it, Whitehall. What a match he had. The only surprise was his admission that he had not baked them himself.
After waddling back to the theatre of war, Emmanuel and Baldock opened up. The skipper went early, something that would usually be met with general disappointment, yet this time it brought a frisson of excitement, perhaps even a small cheer, as it meant that Cocklin was striding to the crease. Crowds poured over from the main square. Birds stopped singing. This boy is box office. They were at least three deep on the boundary edge as Cocklin swished and missed his first delivery, an audible sigh of relief coming as the ball sailed safely through to the keeper.
It did not take long for Cocklin to hit his stride, smacking some lusty heavy-bottom-handed drives that brought the spectators to a near-frenzy.
Unfortunately, after sailing imperiously to 18, Cocklin got a snorter, the ball rising sharply from just short of a length (that damp patch again, surely), catching the edge and being pouched at first slip. What a blow. Spectators left. The birds sang again, but with a tinge of sadness.
At 35 for two, the game was finely balanced. Baldock was looking in sumptous form, hitting his drives crisply and punishing anything short. The bowling was tight. Horswill came to the crease and helped take the score to 80 before being rapped on the pads by a full straight one and departing lbw.
After Brentwood had been bowled out for 60 a fortnight earlier, some observers (Ok, me) were a little pessimistic at this stage. Sethi did not do much to boost confidence, scratching around for a dozen balls without getting off the mark. However, he suddenly came to life, smashing successive deliveries for four, one a fluent straight drive, the other a powerful pull. With Baldock untroubled and taking 13 off an over, Brentwood were suddenly looking in control and reached 6pm with the score at 120 for three - just 64 needed from the last 20 overs.
Ilford, bottom of the table, quickly became disheartened and the batsmen made hay. Sethi, in particular, went on the attack and reached a well-deserved 50 just before the end. The winning runs came with Baldock on 88 and surely earning another chance in the IIIs.
A fine team performance with Whitehall, Hilliard, Baldock and Sethi the heroes of the day.
Lovely covers replaced, knackered old rope rewound, chairs put away, the victorious team made their way back to the clubhouse to witness one of the great finishes in First XI history. All in all, not a bad day's entertainment.