St Clements v Goresbrook III - Friendly

Goresbrook’s 3rd string went down to a 91 run defeat at Valentines Park on Saturday. ‘Brook captain, Bradley Winsley won the toss and invited the hosts to to take first innings but a strong home batting line up soon held sway. A top four of Ishan (53), Nadeem (24), Arslan (18) and Javed (16) produced a plethora of boundaries as Saints racked up a challenging total. 15 year old Billy Smith (3 for 29) and Skipper Winsley (3 for 31) led ‘Brook’s revival whilst Chris Wilding chipped in with 2 for 43. Joe Barwick and Ryan Paul claimed a victim apiece but Asad (27) and Jawad (24 not) lifted the hosts tally to an imposing 224 – a daunting target for Goresbrook’s young side to chase.

After the tea interval openers Craig Irving, who struck an entertaining 44, and 15 year old Jack Stead, who battled for 13, raced to an opening stand of 70 before Asad (3 for 9) made inroads into the visiting defences. The hosts demonstrated their overall strength with the ball as no other ‘Brook batsmen recorded double figures with the Dagenham outfit eventually all out for 133.