Weekend Round Up Harlow CC 22nd June 2019

IT was a weekend of marvellously close top of the league action for Harlow CC’s first and second teams but both sides were to be left bitterly frustrated in losing from potentially winning positions only to suffer defeat in the final over their respective fixtures.

Elsewhere the undoubted performance of the day was that of Amir Farooq, representing Harlow’s 4th XI, who struck a majestic 121 with the bat and then returned six wickets with the ball to almost single-handedly defeat Frenford 4TH XI in their league encounter at Spicers.

Back to Marigolds though and Harlow’s first team quest for promotion back to Division 2 at the first attempt, facing second in the table Leigh-on-Sea, although without the services of their talismanic all-rounder Jason McNally. The home side lost the toss and were invited to bowl first but made a fabulous start reducing the visitors to 56-4 with Joe Riddell and Luke Monger taking two wickets apiece. Riddell in particular bowling with great menace and control. The dangerous Dean Waller remained at the crease though and along with Matthew Wilson he added 66 for the fifth wicket before being well caught by wicket-keeper Andre Riddell from the leg spin of Sarfraz Ahmed. Sarfraz was producing a delightful spell of tight yet threatening variations and despite the opposition seemingly content to try and see his overs off without further risk he claimed a further brace of wickets resulting in outstanding figures of 3-29 from 10 overs.

At this point the Leigh innings was floundering at 163-8 but as all too often over the past couple of seasons Harlow allowed their advantage to slip with fatal consequences as Leigh number 9 batsmen Adam Rendell punched 50 runs off only 40 deliveries before being bowled by Mitch Howarde with the score on 200-9. Disastrously the final pair at the crease batted out the remaining seven overs with little difficulty adding a crucial 29 runs as the visitors closed their innings on 229-9.

Sarfraz Ahmed 3-29 (10 overs), Joe Riddell 3-30 (10 overs), Luke Monger 2-60 (10 overs), Mitchell Howarde 1-56 (9 overs), Rehman Ahmed 0-43 (10 overs), Ryan Jessey 0-3 (1 over)

In reply Harlow made a good start seeing off the opening bowlers before Lee Jessey was bowled for 17 with the score on 41. Opener Ben Yeats and Rehman Ahmed continued to play in a calm and controlled fashion, keeping on top of the required rate without taking any unnecessary risks until with the score on 91-1 a mix up led to the latter being comfortably run out for 22. This brought the hugely talented Alan Jones to the wicket for the first time this season. Jones only returning back to cricket after a period of absence from the game to focus on his studies maybe lacking in match practice but no one in the sizeable crowd watching would have guessed as he fluently raced to 15 from only 11 deliveries before feathering a catch behind for a crucial third wicket.

The innings of 16-year-old opener Ben Yeats was looking increasing important to the home side as he played with a calm assurance that belied his youthful age reaching a score of 61, including three fours and three sixes, when he took aim over the top of cover from spinner TJ Bailey only to loft the ball agonisingly over the top of fielder Adam Rendall who took an excellent one-handed catch over his shoulder. With the game in the balance Luke Monger and skipper Ryan Jessey took the total to 174 before Monger misjudged Max Craddock’s first delivery of the day and fell LBW for 21. In a gripping and tense series of overs Jessey (31) and all-rounder Mitch Howarde (28) kept the score board ticking over with the fortunes of each side seemingly fluctuating every minute until with one over remaining Harlow needed nine to secure a victory that they knew would take them to the top of the table. Sadly, that over led to a flurry of wickets rather than runs as the baggy greens ended eight runs short of victory closing on 222-9.

A bitterly disappointing defeat then from a game that at various points Harlow seemed to have control over. Results elsewhere ensured we remain in third position but the scope for damaging defeats such as this diminishes as the season moves towards its second half and the return of McNally will hopefully be the catalyst for another run of victories in the coming weeks.

The second XI also had a crucial top of the league fixture away at Gidea Park & Romford CC. After being inserted in to bat Harlow lost early wickets but wicket keeper batsman John Perry steadied the ship with a fine 67 alongside Max Baulcomb (40), Syed Hassan (30), Syed Ali (25) and Callum Sykes (20 not out). A late cluster of wickets left our side on 216-9 in 45 overs leaving the game very much in the balance.

The home side got off to a flyer in reply racing to 60-0 early on but credit to the Harlow bowling unit who slowing clawed back the rate of runs taking wickets to stem the GPRCC charge to victory. The game probably hinged on a controversial incident when the home sides best batsmen appeared to be caught close to the boundary by Waheed Azam only for many of those watching (all supporting the home side) to claim he had crossed the rope. The home umpires consulted and awarded a six rather than the wicket. Nevertheless, come the final over Gidea Park required nine to win but sadly they found the task much more straight forward than our first XI and managed the task in the first three deliveries. A tight game but a disappointing first defeat of the season for Rob Coldwell’s side although they do remain top of the table albeit with a far smaller margin of comfort. Pick of the bowlers was Jake Messenger who is definitely benefitting from bowling long spells this season helping him achieve high levels of consistency.

Jake Messenger 2-19 (8 overs), Waheed Azam 2-32 (7 overs), Syed Ali 1-29 (9 overs), Callum Sykes 0-27 (6 overs), Lewis Aldred 1-55 (5.3 overs), Zabi Hakimi 0-35 (7 overs), Matt Hart 0-15 (2 overs).

The 3rd XI travelled to Shenfield and secured an excellent win courtesy of a superb team bowling performance. A mixed effort with the bat saw our side reach 186-9 in their 45 overs with Asad Baig top scoring with 40 backed up by Simon Baulcomb (34) and Thomas Smith-Hughes (32). Shenfield were favourites at the tea break but their over aggressive approach with the bat was to lead to wickets tumbling in the face of some excellent Harlow bowling. Every bowler contributed as the hosts were dismissed for only 97 inside 33 overs.

Tyler Dobson 3-17 (7 overs), Dan Stone 2-32 (9 overs), Reece Galvin 1-1 (1.1 overs), Dave Whellams 1-3 (2 overs), Abdullah Farooq 1-12 (6 overs) and Thomas Smith-Hughes 1-28 (7 overs).

On Spicers the 4th XI won the toss and elected to bat but were in complete disarray losing the first five wickets without posting anything significant on the scoreboard bringing the experienced Amir Farooq to the crease. Farooq was to single handed turn the game in Harlow’s favour hammering an incredible 121 with his usual ultra-aggressive style. He received support from Mustafa Shah (17) and Nathan McCarthy (18) as we posted 227 all out.

In many ways the Frenford reply bore remarkable similarities as opener Waqqas Naqvi dominated the bowling scoring a superb century whilst wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end as Farooq proved too accurate and canny for most of the batsmen. Rizwan Qayyum dismissed Naqvi for a crucial break through and it was left to Amir to polish off the tail as the visitors fell 42 runs short.

Amir Farooq 6-37 (9 overs), Rizwan Qayyum 2-14 (5 overs), Ali Zahid 1-34 (8 overs), Mustafa Zaman 1-40 (8 overs)

The 5th XI faced a difficult fixture at top of the division Epping Foresters. Unfortunately, seven dropped catches were to scupper our sides hopes as the Foresters posted 236-6 in their 40 overs. Significantly the opposition opening batsmen was to score 122 but only after being dropped in the field on 5, 15 and a further two occasions.

Paddy Matthews 2 wickets, James Forde (aged 13) 2 wickets, Oliver Allen (aged 13) 1 wicket and Harris Hamid 1 wicket.

Despite facing a huge task, the Harlow side acquitted themselves with credit virtually batting out their overs with the final wicket falling in the last over of the game with our total on 186. James Forde (aged 13) again impressed top scoring with 58 whilst Mufaddal Adamjee made 30, Paddy Matthews 15 and Steve Peachey 19.