The 1st XI started the season with a 6 run victory over Premier Division side Chingford on a damp drying pitch at M&B in a game reduced to 21 overs per side after both teams hung around for 4 hours before getting the game on.

A 50 run partnership between Shane Barwick (21) & Jordan Harris (22) formed the main contributions with the bat on a very difficult wicket, getting to what we felt at the time wasn't far from a par score in the face of some high quality bowling from the visitors' overseas quick Matthew Liberman (3-5) and former Victoria u23 all-rounder Jackson Koop (5-22).

After the break it was trial by spin as the returning Phil Thoufick, Shane Barwick and debutant Saad Bin Yousuf tied up the visiting batting line-up. Thoufick, who made his debut for Brook as a 9 year old but has spent the last 3 seasons as part of Wanstead's all conquering u19 set-up, took 2/13 and fellow home grown left-armer Barwick took 2/19, splitting the top 4 wickets and then Yousuf's 0-12 from 4 overs of leg-breaks showed more than enough quality to leave the M&B faithful excited at the prospect of him bowling later on in the summer with some pace & bounce in the pitch.

The seamers weren't to be outdone, as skipper Kane Messenger also took 2 wickets and stalwart Daryl Forward picked up the remaining scalp as Brook held their nerve and used the experience of last year's agonising 1 wicket defeat at eventual cup winners Hadleigh & Thundersley, to get over the line by 6 runs. 15 off the last over proving too much to ask for Chingford on such a slow surface.

We host fellow Division Two side Shenfield in the next round after they impressively dispatched Division One Billericay behind a big 4th wicket partnership featuring a quickfire 70* from former England u19 all-rounder Jack Plom, in another demonstration of the quality on show in the 3rd tier of Essex cricket. The winners will then receive a bye to the quarter-finals of the competition.