Newham I v Goresbrook I - Essex County Cricket League - Prem Div

Goresbrook opened their defence of the Readers Essex County Cricket League with a stuttering performance against Newham. The hosts were keen to celebrate their first Saturday league game at their impressive Flanders Road ground with a victory, and although that looked unlikely with Goresbrook in control at 125 for 1 with 8 overs remaining, a startling collapse allowed Newham to record their second win of a rain hit season, to open up an imposing gap on the rest of the field, five of which have yet to play a single game.

Goresbrook's bowling and fielding performance showed little sign of rust, despite the entire season to date having been rained-off, as eighteen year old Matthew Friend lead the attack with a superb return of 4 for 14. He was well supported by the reliable Michael Rooke and with Afzal Hussain chipping in with two fine pieces of fielding to record run-outs, Goresbrook reduced Newham to 50 for 5 on a sluggish wicket. However Amir Shaukat lead a revival for the East Ham side, his aggressive 47 being the highlight of the home innings. Shaukat looked capable of taking the game away from Goresbrook before he tried one big shot too many and was bowled by Kane Messenger and after his dismissal the bowlers regained control and Newham were eventally dismissed in the final over for 166.

In reply, some tight bowling and the rain-soaked pitch saw the Brook innings get off to a slow start, however after skipper Kurt Whisker was run out looking to pinch a quick single, Jordan Calverley and Toby Maund got to grips with the wicket and looked set to see their side over the finishing line. Nineteen year old Calverley hit a composed 51 and Maund played some fine shots down the ground to add 38, but crucially both were dismissed in Newham skipper Shahzad Hussain's final over.

On a pitch where some time at the crease was required before you could play attacking strokes, none of the remaining batsmen had that luxury as nearly a run a ball was required and as a succession of batsman came and went Newham scented an unlikely victory. Spinner Fazal Rehman and seamer Waqas Khan turned the screw with some excellent bowling, the pair picking up 5 wickets between them, and as the Goresbrook batting became more desperate, the game slipped away from the Dagenham side, Newham eventually wrapping up the win in the final over by 11 runs.

Whisker was a disappointed man after the match, but he stressed the need to bounce back next week against Leyton County. "Given that we hadn't played any cricket so far this year, I thought we were pretty good for three quarters of the match, but the last half hour was a horror show! If either Jordan or Toby had batted through, the game was ours, but sadly they didn't and through a combination of bad batting, good bowling and pressure, nobody else could get going. It's not ideal to be giving Newham a 30 point head start, but the main thing now is that we beat Leyton next week when the boot will be on the other foot, as they haven't played a game yet and at least we've now had some time in the middle."