Century for the Marvel

Billy Parnell was among the runs in Saturday's Trippon division 7 encounter with Rayleigh 4's. Unfortunately it was not with the bat, rather the young skipper was laid low throughout the first innings with a tummy bug, however Andy Livett batted superbly to end up undefeated on 118 in Brook's knock of 202-4 from their allotted 45 overs.

Livett, making his 37th seasonal debut for the Goats, was well supported by Ted Ivory (whose father Livett used to keep in check in his early teenage years with the club) who opened soundly with 23. Keith Maund and Andrew Pauling helped the score along, but the pick of the remaining batsmen was Lee Granger who scored 13. Self-styled all-rounder Lee Wilkinson also made a welcome return to Brook colours with a late undefeated cameo, restoring some of the confidence that repeated beatings on the dart board as favourite at the Goresbrook Open have clearly taken away.

Livett is well used to being the rock around which Goresbrook innings are built, however on this occasion a weakened 3s batting line-up needed the dogged right-hander to also push the run-rate, which he did with style, smashing 18 fours on his way to yet another ton of an outstanding one club (tours excepted) career, single handedly dragging Billy Parnell's side to a competitive total.

The home reply got off to a slow start as Owen Elsom and Bobby Granger bowled their ten overs apiece, Elsom beating the bat on numerous occasions and Granger bowling a nagging line that, after a few close lbw calls, got just reward when the batsman played on.

Direct hits from Keith Maund and Andrew Pauling got the home team 3 down but a few too many loose balls and a field restricted by injuries (and old age?) gave Rayleigh momentum such that wickets for Parnell and Leonard Thoufick were too little too late.

Although the game reached the final over, the 20 extra deliveries gifted by virtue of wides and a no ball were to prove costly as Rayleigh won by 5 wickets.

Brook gave a battling performance but need to heed the lessons of this game and give thanks that noted wide hater Martin Rooke was not in attendance to deal out a trademark blast or three.