SATURDAY saw some incredible cricket from Harlow sides leading to crucial league victories. In a season of general struggles for most of the sides, the 1st, 3rd and 4th XI’s all won superbly thanks to some wonderful individual performances.

The First XI entertained bottom of the table Barking and to say things looked bleak towards the end of the Harlow innings was an understatement. In an almost hopeless position at 123-7 Gull Hassan struck a staggering 99 not out from just 63 balls, receiving excellent support from Paddy Matthews (23 not out). The pair rescued the side to recover to 233-8 at the half way mark.

The effect of that effort with the bat clearly had demoralised Barking who collapsed to the spin of Rhys Stewart (5-77) and Chris Whitworth (4-30). Harlow bagged a priceless 25 points for the bat first win and lifts them out the relegation zone into 7th.

The Third XI produced an equally stunning effort with George Jessey the star but with many members of the supporting caste including youngsters Jack Fuller, Bill Clark and Simon Baulcomb (young at heart at least!). Baulks match report follows.

Harlow 3rd XI won by 1 wkt

Woodford Wells 280-8 dec 46 Overs
R Peddy 62
G Peddy 62
M Creese 62

Jack Fuller 3-43
Tyler Dobson 2-32
George Jessey 2-51

Harlow CC 281-9 41.1 overs
George Jessey 103
S. Baulcomb 56
Jack Fuller 48 no

A sensational afternoon developed at Monkhams Lane last Saturday where on a small ground Woodford declared generously, on 280, leaving us 49 overs to get the runs. Bowling there is tough, anyone that goes for less than 5 an over is a God ! Jack and Tyler managed it, the rest struggled a bit. Mishits were going for 4 especially down the hill where the boundary was a mere 35 yards ! At one point 350 was not out of the question, so for the oppo to walk off at 280 was a bit of a result.

Our reply started brightly with Billy and Arshad making the most of the short boundaries. However, wickets began to fall and at 64-4 we were a long way from victory. Baulcs and George Jessey set about rebuilding and putting the pressure back on the fielders and bowlers. Both were stroking the ball around. George in particular, did not fancy running, so was finding the rope very regularly. Baulcs got to 50 closely followed by George, but with the partnership at 112, Baulcs nicked off, gutted. George was unperturbed and carried on serenely, taking the attack to Woodford. Faz went cheaply.

That brought in Jack Fuller.

From there on it was one way traffic, in 26 balls he had smashed 48 runs, not slowing down when George got to a fantastic century, remarkably with 20 fours and 2 sixes off only 61 balls and then getting out. Tyler and Jack had a huge mix up with Tyler getting run out. So a nervy few balls were in store as Bilal tried to not get out while Jack tried to find the boundary one more time. He duly did and the crowd went wild !

Not to understate George’s effort, it was nothing short of fantastic for one so young to bat with such maturity in a run chase soooo big. Lets hope we can do this a bit more often and haul ourselves to safety in the Premier Div. Harlow now off the foot of the table and in reach of safety.

The 4th XI also overturned recent form to record a terrific win. Batting first they made 220-7 in 50 overs with half centuries for Ronnie Fuller and Vishnu Panicker with skipper Jack Sykes adding 42.

A superb bowling performance led by Harris Hamid (2-29), Oliver Allen (3-19) and Dave Whellams (3-10) saw opposition Harold Wood dismissed for just 132 with Harlow claiming a handy 25 point win. Harlow remain bottom but are now only 7 points from leaping up to 7th place.

The 2nd XI have been our best performing side this season but they succumbed to defeat at Woodford Wells. Batting first Abdul Munim (78) and Muhammad Umar Raza (51) helped the side reach 213 with young keeper Alfie Jessey adding 25. Unfortunately, it proved not to be enough as Wells batted comfortably to the win. Harlow remain in 4th spot in the table.

The 5th XI were short on players but did well in the field to limit their opponents to 200 but fell well short with the bat in reply.