Report of week ending 6 July

Four wins and one loss for the Saturday League sides and another win for the Women & Girls XI.

The promised sunny spells did not materialize and all the games were interrupted by rain and bad light. Fortunately only one game was abandoned.

T Rippon Mid Essex League Division 1. The 1st XI entertained high flying Goresbrook 1st XI, who batted first and scored 262-4 in their 45 overs. After a heavy downpour and continued bad light the umpires abandoned the game after five overs with Rayleigh on 35-0.

T Rippon Mid Essex League Division 3. The 2nd XI visited Great Baddow 2nd XI who batted first were bowled out for 138, Sree taking 4-23. Rayleigh passed this total for the loss of three wickets, James Ellis (77*) top scoring.

T Rippon Mid Essex League Division 5. The 3rd XI visited Rayne 1st XI and batting first were all out for 161, Alex Jones (43) and Matt Lennox (30) leading the scoring. Josh Jones took 4-28 and James Wratten 2-29 in the host’s reply but their efforts were in vain as they finished on 165-8.

T Rippon Mid Essex League Division 8. The 4th XI entertained top of the table Terling 2nd XI, who batting first were reduced to 32-7 but recovered to an all out total of 132, Luke Sullivan taking 7-21. Rayleigh started brightly with Conor Slough hitting 52 but after his departure the home side collapsed to 92-7. Phil Wolff (43*) and Luke Sullivan (9*) saw Rayleigh home by three wickets.

T Rippon Mid Essex League Division 11. Bentley 4th were the visitors to the 5th XI, who batted first and scored 254-5, Tony Catling (88*) and Rob Wilson (52) leading the scoring. The visitors were bowled out for 85, Sam Martin taking 6-17.

T Rippon Mid Essex League Division 12. The 6th XI visited top of the table Rainham 3rd XI. Batting first on a poor wicket they scored 137-9 in a reduced overs match, Chris Grob (34) and Simon Lennox (28) top scoring. Tight bowling by Jai Patel (4-19), Liam Harrold (3-39) and John Attfield (2-8) saw the home side all out for 98 to give the 6th XI an excellent win.

Due to an unfortunate misunderstanding the 7th XI opposition were unable to raise a side and the message did not get through leaving 11 disappointed players without a game.

Beaumont Seymour League South Division. The Women & Girls XI played at Maldon who batted first and were all out for 76, Louise Harmsworth taking 4 wickets. Rayleigh passed this total for the loss of 2 wickets, Sophie Lennox (22*) and Louise Harmsworth (19*). This victory means they top the South Division table and go forward to the semi-final and finals day at Colchester on Sunday 20th July.

Colts

South Essex District Cricket Board Under 15 League West Group. Rayleigh Under 15A batted first and scored 107-5 in their 20 overs, Craig Smith (38) and Conor Slough (35) both retiring. In a nail biting finish Benfleet Under 15 needed two to win off the last ball but their batsman was run out without scoring to give Rayleigh a win by 1 run. Josh Jones took 3-12 in his 4 overs.

South Essex District Cricket Board Under 15 B League. Old Southendians & Southchurch Under 15 B visited Rawreth Lane in a game where bowlers bowled straight and almost all batsmen played poor shots. The visitors were bowled out for 48, Tom Lopez taking 5 wickets for 2 runs in 3.2 overs and Elliot Ward 4-18 in 4 overs. The Rayleigh innings started with a quickfire 25 from Jess Walker and an early finish looked likely but after he was out the side collapsed to 44-8 and eventually just squeezed home by 2 wickets.

South Essex District Cricket Board Under 11 East Group. Rayleigh Under 11A scored 356-9 net score 311, Westcliff Under 11s 315-9 net score 270. Rayleigh win by 41 runs.