Enfield CC 1st XI
Matches
Sat 07 May 2022  ·  1st XI Division One
Enfield Cricket
Enfield CC 1st XI
205/8
240/8
Harrow St Marys CC - 1st XI
Not quite our day

Not quite our day

James Quinlan13 May 2022 - 18:04
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A frustrating opening day

The 1st XI began their league campaign by welcoming Harrow St Mary’s to Lincoln Road. HSM had missed out on promotion to the Premier Division by just two points and they look well-equipped to go one better this time around.

With Jack Plumb and Tom Bolt having left the club in the winter, Siran Seevaratnam out injured and both Robbie Gunn and Omar Ayaz unavailable, Enfield gave league debuts to our overseas player Connor Brown and to Brad Sayers, with Dan Naughton also returning after injury and James Ryan being called up during the week.

Batting first HSM made a solid start against that rarity of things - two left-arm opening seamers. Brown made the breakthrough by inducing Middlesex 2’s player Arthava Prasad (15) into a false drive which was snaffled in the gloves of Harry Wilkins, and when Brad Sayers trapped both the very dangerous Kazmi (6) and Rawal (56) in front the game was well poised.

Unfortunately HSM captain Tom Pettet has an incredible record at Lincoln Road, and after first trying unsuccessfully to run himself out, he settled down and anchored the innings, before accelerating towards the end, finishing with 111* as HSM closed on 240-7 in 45 overs. Both Brad Sayers (2-32) and Rhett Wallbridge (0-28) bowled beautifully, while Brown (2-39) had a more than satisfactory league debut with the ball.

Our reply got off a stuttering start, both openers falling cheaply as we fell well behind the required run-rate. Captain Tony Sayers tried to lead from the front with a quick-fire 40, before he was well caught by Pettet. His brother attempted to follow suit but holed out for 39 as the chase became ever more difficult. Wilkins (45) provided dogged resistance, while Brown (32*) played some attractive shots, as we ensured that, while the target was out of reach, we at least secured a bonus batting point, with the innings closing on 205-8 in 45.

Despite the disappointment of the result, this was a reasonable team performance, with plenty of positives. A slightly understrength side (with Sam Martin having to play while really struggling with flu) worked hard to compete with a good side. If we keep the same attitude, work hard to raise our levels by 10% and get a fair share of good luck in big moments then we can be optimistic.

Harrow St Mary’s 240-7 in 45 overs
Enfield 205-8 in 45 overs

Harrow St Mary’s (10pts) beat Enfield (1pt) by 35 runs.

Enfield CC
Joe Naughton, James Cormack, Harry Wilkins, Brad Sayers, Rhett Wallbridge, Tony Sayers, Dan Naughton, Connor Brown, Nick Jackson, James Ryan, Sam Martin

Match details

Match date

Sat 07 May 2022

Kickoff

12:30

Competition

1st XI Division One
Team overview
Further reading