Burnham collapse to hand Brook the points

Goresbrook made it five wins on the spin the Mid-Essex Premier Division with an ultimately comfortable victory over bottom side Burnham. However, the afternoon looked very different after a first 20 overs in which the visitors profited to the tune of 108-1 after winning the toss and electing to bat on a scorching afternoon.

Opening batsman Paul Green hit a fine 48 for Burnham and in tandem with Fuad Ahmed, the pair batted their side into a strong position only for their middle and lower order colleagues to fritter it away in the face of excellent spells from Kane Messenger (4-28) and left arm spinner Shane Barwick (3-35). The pair bowled tightly to dry the runs up and as pressure mounted, the Burnham batsmen were unable to put partnerships together. As ever the bowling was backed up by some energetic fielding and fine catching, with Jordan Harris, something of a stand-in behind the stumps, taking two excellent catches off the pacy Messenger to press his claim for a more permanent spell with the gloves.

Burnham were finally dismissed for 161, a total that was far from a formality on another disappointing M&B pitch that exhibited too much erratic bounce for a batsman to feel comfortable at the crease, however the Burnham bowlers couldn’t exert sufficient pressure to really threaten the Goresbrook batsmen, skipper Kurt Whisker anchoring the chase with 55, his fifth half-century of the campaign. The visitors remained in the game for as long as the other Goresbrook top order batsmen gave their wickets away looking to play aggressively, but at 4 down, Whisker finally found a partner prepared to graft it out and with Richard Williamson hitting a solid unbeaten 32 despite looking like Leo the Heathway tramp, the pair were in sight of the line before Whisker finally fell, Goresbrook eventually easing home by 5 wickets in the 27th over.

Whisker anticipated a better performance next week at Little Baddow on what by repute (and umpire's marks) is up there with High Roding as the best track in the league. Israel Ochwo is expected back from his christening/wedding/social gathering/test match freebie (delete as appropriate) before the fixture list presents the challenge of the top two sides Old Chelmsfordians and Springfield in successive weeks.

Springfield cut OC's lead to just 3 points after winning their hotly contested summit meeting at Coronation Park by 18 runs and the pair along with Bentley who lurk just 16 points back with a trip to OC's looming this Saturday, look likely to be fighting it out for the title to the bitter end.