Goresbrook’s first eleven made the journey east to take in the sea air at Westcliff on Saturday. Home captain Joe Robbins won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first on damp track at Chalkwell Park. The skipper and partner Muhammad Farooqi made full use of the new ball with conditions favouring the bowlers who ran amok through ‘Brook’s early order. Lee Jones and Ted Ivory recording their 300th and 200th senior appearances respectively, both departed for a single, following opener Imon Ahmed, who made 4, back to the hutch. In form skipper Jordan Calverley departed for a duck, a feat repeated by both Pawanpreet Singh and Kaushik Yelari as the efforts of Farooqi (4 for 43) and Robbins (3 for 9) had the Dagenham outfit reeling at 38 for 7.

Then followed one of the most astonishing turnarounds witnessed at a ground which once hosted county cricket. Shane Barwick, who recently passed 10,000 runs for the Club knuckled down with Muhammad Attuallah - both men adopting caution to bring some stability to Brook’s batting. Attuallah picked up the pace fashioning 9 boundaries from a run a ball half century, before departing for a superb 58. In posting 118, the pair broke the club record 8th wicket partnership. Barwick continued to anchor the innings and with Robert Clack School pupil, Maswer Mansoor, digging in at the other end, the 28 year old left hander farmed the strike going on to record 16 fours, before being trapped leg before by Peter Barnes, for a magnificent 117. Mansoor’s resilience saw he and Barwick add 57 for the ninth wicket and a late cameo from Daryl Forward allowed Goresbrook to accumulate a respectable 220 all out.

After tea, Brook’s bowlers produced a rousing display with the ball complemented by some excellent work in the field. Teenage paceman, Mansoor (2 for 12), struck early to remove Lees and Sheti. Seamer Daryl Forward’s nagging accuracy yielded 3 victims at a cost of 23 from 10 economical overs, to herald the Seasiders’ demise. Attuallah (2 for 14) entered the fray and cleaned up the obstinate opener Prin Patel who emerged with credit following a resilient 40 and Barwick (2 for 2) completed an incredible 125 run victory for the Dagenham side.

Goresbrook 1st 220 all out from 47.1 Overs (20 points) beat Westcliff-on-Sea 1st 95 all out from 29.3 Overs (4 points) by 125 Runs