Weekends Cricket 21st - 22nd July

It seems we are on a bit of a winning streak right now! Once again both the 1sts and 2nds won their matches on Saturday. The 1sts were away to Belhus 2nds who were victorious earlier on in the year and skipper James Mansfield helped start proceedings off by winning the toss and deciding to field first. Some tight bowling by Sean Ellie and James Fuller helped Rainham get off to a flier followed up by an amazing debut for new player Clem Nicholas who took two wickets and a great spell by Ian Havard who took three. Belhus clung on to get a below par score of 144 all out. With a small target to get and a great batting wicket Rainham eased to victory. Most notable of the batting was a great 53 not out for Steve Groom, helped by a quick 33 not out by Sean Ellie.

The 2nds were also playing Belhus, but their 3rd XI. After being put into bat first, the top order had a miserable start and it all looked like it was going to go horribly wrong, but some great middle order batting from Owais, Aviss, Skipper and Simms helped Rainham achieve a useful total of 163 all out. With some great bowling from the home side, it was all too much for Belhus and they toppled for a mear 119. Dan Sawyer and Owais done most of the damage taking three wickets each.

Weekends Cricket 14th - 15th July

Another great weekend for Rainham with both the 1st's and 2nd's managing to win their games. The 1st's played Fords C.C at Springy in what looked a fairly comfortable match after taking an easy victory earlier in the year but it wasn't to be! Fords hit 275 for six wickets off their allotted 45 overs in what is possibly the largest league total in many years. After an inspiring talk from Skipper James Mansfield we started positively and were always up with the run rate but wickets were falling at regular intervals. After a VERY tense finish somehow the 1st's pulled off the unexpected and managed to get the target with 2 overs to spare! Some superb batting by Steve Page 62NO, with good contributions by Paul Margiotta 45, Pete Reynolds 34 and James Fuller 31 saw the game home.

The 2nd's also managed to win in a tight fashion over at Goresbrook. The opponents batted first and clocked up a fair total of 158 all out, with Keith Blake and Dan Sawyer taking four wickets a piece. Rainham started off poorly but managed to pull it back with a superb 68 from Blakey and contributions from Paul Read 20 and Owais 23. It was down to the last partnership, skipper Alan Aviss and Dan Sawyer who saw the game home with 5 overs to spare.

One game was played this Sunday against Bentley at Springy. Rainham batted first and scored a decent total of 172 for six off of their allotted 35 overs, the most notable score the 58 for Dan Skipper. Bentley then really took the game to Rainham with some expansive batting which in the end paid off when they managed to get the total in a mere 28 overs. Though losing, Scott Dordoy walked away with two wickets, Biren Patel and Jamie Kelly each took one.

Minutes of the meetings for June and July 2007

Minutes can be found here.

Weekends Cricket 7th-8th July 2007

A great weekend for Rainham this week, with both the 1st's and the 2nd's taking maximum points. The 1st's played Hornchurch Athletic at Hylands park and after losing the toss were asked to field. After some very tight bowling by all concerned, Hornchurch finished on 160 for 9 after their allotted 45 overs. Though a modest total, Rainham didn't have the best of starts after losing the top three relatively cheaply. But an aggressive 41 from Sean Elie helped get the run rate going, and after losing a few more wickets, Graham Burr and Steve Page dug deep to see it home for the 1st's.

The 2nd's had an amazing day. Playing Bairds who were top of the league always looked like being a tough challenge but after taking four very quick wickets they managed to skittle out Baird's for a measly 48, Alan Aviss and Dan Sawyer both took three wickets a piece. The 2nd's managed to lose only one wicket chasing the total with Steve Groom hitting 28 Not Out.

Two games were played on Sunday. The 1st's were at home to Craven and the 2nd's away to Old Chelmsfordians. The 1st's game was set up for a thrilling finish after hitting 213 for 8. Top scorer was Micky Callaghan with 64 and a quick fire 53 from Sean Elie helped us get to the formidable target. But due to bad light play was stopped with Craven on 92 for three.

The 2nd's had a better time of it in Chelmsford after the Old C.C's decided to bat first. Four wickets a piece from Dan Sawyer and Keith Blake did most of the damage, and they only managed to set a total of 154 on a wicket that was always going to be a great batting track. It took less than 28 overs to get the total with a good opening stand between Owais and Dan Skipper, top scorer Keith Blake getting 44 and Andy Harrington seeing it through with an unbeaten 21.

Successful Tour

Recently Rainham C.C embarked on our annual tour and once again headed to Les Ormes in Brittany. Suffice to say as well as cricket, lots of drinking and other sociable activities occurred. Two games of cricket were played, one on the Saturday and one on the Sunday and for the first time since the tour started, in 2004, we won both games! Some slightly dodgy photos of our exploits will be posted in the photos section as soon as I can get my hands on them. I would like to say thanks to the Les Ormes cricket club for hosting the two matches and to Graham Thwaites for once again organizing a very successful tour.