Rayleigh: 274 for 1, net 269
Wickford: 252 for 7, net 217 (Harry Donoghue 2-1-1-3; Craig Smith 2-0-7-2)
Rayleigh won by 52 runs
Team: Callum Bishop, Craig S, James B, Cameron Mac, Adam F, Jordan J, Harry M, Harry D, Alex D, David W.
Callum lost the toss once again and so Rayleigh were asked to bat. Although the runs didn’t flow quite as readily as last week, the boys kept the scoreboard ticking over with singles and, more importantly, just lost one wicket all innings.
There was much discussion during the drinks interval as to whether 269 would be enough. Wickford had posted some good scores to date and we had to make sure we kept our concentration both when bowling and fielding.
That we did…….and some!
This win was down to all ten bowlers bowling good line and length, and conceding the fewest extras (20) we have conceded to date. To be honest, the bowlers who didn’t get wickets could, on any other day, have seen the bails come off or the dropped catches (3) held. Having said that, Harry M and Adam did hold a catch each and we also ran two of the Wickford batsmen out.
No bowler went for more than nine runs in his two overs, the pick being Harry D who returned 3 wickets for 1 run, and Craig S who got 2 for 7.
Once again the boys were a credit to the club and went about their cricket in an enthusiastic and very positive way. I cannot tell you how proud I was of them today.
After the game I had a text from the Wickford manager. He didn’t have to send it to me, but I thought I’d like to share it with you. It read: “Thanks for the game. I thought your boys played excellently and thoroughly deserved to win, and thanks for playing a fair game. Look forward to seeing you later in the season.”