Burnham burnt at baking Bakers

Skipper Kurt Whisker hit a classy 94, his fifth score in excess of 50 in six T Rippon Division One games, as Goresbrook brushed aside leaders Burnham Sports to close the gap at the top of the table to 12 points.

On a baking hot afternoon at the M&B club, the toss proved important and Whisker had no hesitation in electing to bat on a dry pitch with a lighting fast outfield. He was given a thorough examination from Burnham’s impressive opening duo Robin Whittaker and Fuad Ahmed, brother of former Essex quick bowler Jahid, but emerged unscathed, with the exception of a few blows to the hands and body, and he then proceeded to plunder against Burnham’s support bowlers as the score advanced quickly after the early dismissal of Richard Williamson.

Michael Rooke hit a stylish 46 as Brook’s 2nd wicket added 112, before has was caught behind off the persevering Stephens and although Whisker and Jordan Calverley added a further 46, Calverley’s dismissal provoked a mini-collapse as Shane Barwick went for 8, failing to cash in after being sportingly reprieved by the visitors’ skipper when he was adjudged caught behind first ball when the ball appeared to strike his upper arm. Whisker’s two hour plus stay was ended in the same over as he hit a ball straight up into the air to give quick bowler Whittaker a 2nd wicket and at that stage Goresbrook were 191-5 with two new batsmen at the crease.

However as the Burnham bowlers and fielders tired, Toby Maund and Jordan Harris added 78 in the last 9 overs with some powerful striking down the ground and some cheeky improvisation from the hitherto out of form Harris and Goresbrook’s innings closed on an imposing 269-7, which gave the Dagenham side maximum bonus points and the visitors a stiff task if they were to continue their unbeaten run.

The loss of Sayeid Ahmed to the first ball of the Burnham innings didn’t help the visitors cause, Israel Ochwo surprising Burnham’s top run-scorer this year with about 15 mph more than the typical Division One opening bowler, however Ahmed’s brother Fuad played Ochwo as well as any batsman has done for a few seasons and in partnership with Neil Saunders, the visitors weathered the new ball storm. With runs on the board, Whisker quickly called on his spinners to bear the brunt of the work and with a defensive field set, Brook never really looked in danger of conceding enough runs to make the chase interesting. The spinners wheeled away unchanged for 24 overs, with Shane Barwick picking up 3-36 as Burnham were unable to cut loose.

The introduction of Kane Messenger saw another two wickets fall, both to attempted cut shots that went straight up in the air, as by this time the pitch was breaking up giving some tennis ball type bounce and when Richard Williamson picked up a caught and bowled in the final over, Goresbrook had their 4th bowling point, Burnham eventually finishing on 168-8.

Whisker was delighted with his team’s performance, whilst acknowledging that Burnham were the best side his men have faced this campaign,

“It was a good toss to win and their opening bowlers gave us a good working over without perhaps getting the reward they deserved, but once we’d weathered the new ball, we felt that we could put their support bowlers under pressure. It helps that we’ve got players coming in at 6,7,8 who could bat a lot higher and who can take the game away from the opposition quickly, as not many sides in this league have that kind of depth, but having said all that, you can see how Burnham have gone through a few sides this season, both openers were sharp and bowled aggressively and from what I’ve seen of the batting in this division, the majority of sides will struggle against that.”

“I think where we have a big advantage on days like today is that we’ve got two good spinners who can tie sides down on dry pitches and we’ve got a young, fit side who were chasing balls down in the 45th over, whereas I thought they fell off noticeably in last 10 overs.”

“We’re playing catch-up a bit in the league because we’ve fallen foul of the weather to a greater degree than other sides, but I’m confident that if we approach games with the attitude that we displayed today, then we have more than enough quality to gain promotion.”