A strong, experienced Upminster side visited the May and Baker club on Wednesday evening for Goresbrook under 9s season opener.
Brook included 2 debutants among an otherwise seasoned side and fielded 4 girls in total.
Upminster won the toss and chose to bat first. Albert Sleight struck early, then skipper Liam Elsom took a wicket himself before holding a sharp catch off Charlie Trowell. However with strong batsmen at the crease Upminster scored a plethora of boundaries against the younger bowlers although good field placing kept the charge in check. Overall there were a few too many wides and no balls given up but the overall effort in the field was superb, with Ben Atkins and Lily Nunes the stand out performers.
Upmister closed their innings with a net Terriers score of 336-3.
Early wickets marred Brooks reply but thereafter there were solid contributions from Grace Wood 5*, Ollie Fredericks 4, Liam Elsom 21, Albert Sleight 16*, Charlie Trowell 10* and Ben Atkins who smashed 4 fours in his stand out 22*. A special mention must also go to 7 year old Maggie Sleight, the seventh Sleight to don a Goresbrook shirt, who kept her wicket intact in her debut innings.
Brook closed on 281-5, some 55 runs adrift but able to hold their heads up high in a most encouraging performance.