The CTCC 1st XI trekked to Witham on a hot and sunny English afternoon. There were a few sorry looking faces from the team after enduring a brilliant Coggeshall cricket week and possibly having a few to many beverages on the Friday night. This particular weekend is always a tough one for all Coggeshall teams and it has been the downfall of many a team in years gone past. The 1st XI knew the history of the Saturday following cricket week with many of the boys having stumbled at this hurdle before and were determined not to let Witham end the golden run of 8 wins of the trot. The game started in disaster with Coggeshall Captain George Blackwell losing the toss and being put in to bat on a soft wicket. Witham struck in the first over and the team found themselves at 1 for 1 at the end of the first over. Luckily Robert Cross dug in for the team and along with Dane Cleaver they went about putting together a partnership of 120 before Cross was caught at cover and had to depart for 35. At the 28 over mark Coggeshall were well placed at 140 for 2 but as can happen in cricket things did not go smoothly from then on. Cleaver was dismissed for 89 followed by Ovenstone, Ollie Blackwell and Will Blackwell without the score being troubled much. It was left up to Jimmy Rees (35 not out) to steer Coggeshall to a respectable 201 for 8 at the end of the 50 overs. A very disappointing but still defendable total.
Tea seemed to fly by far too fast and in a flash the boys found themselves ready for George Blackwell to deliver the opening delivery. Witham started well and were going along quite comfortable on a pitch that had dried out and the ball seemed to be coming on slightly better. That was until George Blackwell struck with a well-timed wicket. The Coggeshall bowlers bowled well and although the wickets weren’t falling they made sure that the run rate was not going anywhere and the Witham batters had to really earn their runs. Carl Bragg (3 wickets) and Dale Bailey (1 wicket) bowled considerably economically and put the Witham batsman under real pressure. With 14 overs to go the game was precariously positioned with Witham needing a further 100 runs with 5 wickets in hand. The only danger lay in that of Leroy Facey, Witham’s number 3 batsman, who was batting exceptionally well but not getting much support from the other end. Courtesy of some exceptionally tight bowling from Bragg (who bowled his 16 overs through) and Will Blackwell, Witham struggled after the second drinks break and with 10 overs left they still required 90 runs. Will Blackwell especially really put the screws on the Witham batsman as they tried to accelerate the scoring. George Blackwell joined Will to bowl the remaining 5 overs with Witham needing in excess of 60 runs. Witham’s Facey tried exceptionally hard, hitting an unbeaten 79*, but at the end he left it too late to accelerate the scoring and Witham fell 20 runs short at 161 for 8 off their allotted overs. Whilst it wasn’t a commanding performance from the CTCC 1st XI it was a well-deserved 19 points in very, very trying circumstances and I commend the boys on toughing it out and getting the job done.
Maldon travel to the wonderful Coggeshall cricket ground next Saturday where Coggeshall will be looking to extend their unbeaten run to 9 games and further their lead at the top of the table.

Dane Cleaver