TC5 Match rpts

3rd May - Ipswich II Vs Boxted - Boxted 253-5, Ipswich II 169-9 - Boxted won 84 runs

On a vibrant day in a place next to the soothing A12, Boxted began the latest Two Counties season looking to hop back up to the 4th division at the first time of asking.

The skipper won the toss and elected to bat. Ian Evans and Chris Wilson strode in with determination to bat on what looked to be a reasonable pitch. Ipswich struck early with Evans chopping on to his own stumps. This brought Whybrow to the crease, whom together with Wilson was watchful as the pitch proved to be two paced. Both soon found their feet and Whybrow began to find the boundary on a regular basis (a Boycott like Wilson only finding it once). Ed had passed 50 when Wilson 48 found the short fine leg, who held on to a first-class catch. Whybrow kept going to reach his century and as partners came and went (Rohan Khaira the best with 42) with the score finishing on 253-5

Dell struck early in the Ipswich reply removing two batsmen in quick succession. A partnership built steadily but then the crucial blow came from Sylvester McKnight. Eventually the screw was tightened and wickets fell at regular intervals. McKnight (3-6) bowled tidily and kept nagging away on a pitch that was now difficult for the batsmen to play their shots. Despite a cameo from the lower order (including a memorable reverse sweep off the bowling of Booker) Ipswich ended up on 169-9 with Boxted winning by 84 runs.

A good start to the season!!

10th May Boxted vs Copdock & OI – Boxted 229-8, Copdock 204-6 – Boxted won by 25 runs

On the hottest day of the summer so far it was a toss of great consequence to win. The brilliantly shined £1 coin came down tails and Boxted had won and were batting!

Steve Philpott and Justin Rishworth were lost early as the opposition bowled tightly and got the ball to move. Skipper, Ed Whybrow (91) was joined at the crease by Rohan Khaira 53 and they set about constructing a right and proper score. Soon the runs started to gush as the bowlers and fielders fatigued in the heat. Before long both batsmen had passed 50 and a reputable total was in the offing. Conversely the heat started to provoke both batsmen to grant chances but none were taken. Ultimately both found the wrong fielder and were in the pavilion as Boxted’s middle order faulted. However, a respectable but below par, total of 229 for 8 was achieved through the good batting of M Wilson 35 and P Harris 15.

A balanced start from Michael Dell and Matthew Francis saw the opposition tick the score over leisurely. However, the shackles were soon off and the batsmen were scoring without restraint. Enter the skipper to the attack, to punch a blow to the opposition as he removed the freer scoring of the two opening batsmen. Paul Harris built anxiety with tight bowling, working well in tandem with Rohan Khaira. The bowlers kept picking up wickets and splendid, supple fielding from the likes of McKnight, Pearce and Rishworth kept the pressure on the batsmen. In due course, with the run rate well above 8 an over the game seemed safe and sound. Finally, with the dreamy Mcknight picking up a run out the resistance ran out of steam, finishing with 204-6 from their 45 overs.

The victory sustains a good start to the season and shows heartening signs of what is to come. A pleasing team effort by the team and shift F7!

24th May - Boxted Vs Woolpit – Boxted 188-6, Woolpit 189-3, Woolpit won by 7 wickets

Fielding a much changed side, acting skipper Ian Evans won the toss and elected to bat. He himself made a quick start scoring 36 in 34 balls in dominating a stand of 48 in 12 overs with Steve Philpott. On his departure the run- rate slowed down as both Philpott and Sunny Patel looked to play their first substantial innings of the season. A useful 38 run stand developed until Patel was for 20 in the 24th over. A mini collapse followed and we slid to 110-4 in the 29th over. Duncan Evans picking up a bat for the first time in 2 years joined Philpott and after an early let-off soon got back to his old fluent self. The pair had added 50 before Philpott departed for 54. John Hamblion 9* joined Evans as we looked to possibly reach 200, but as soon as Evans was dismissed for 40 off 35 balls that hope finished and we closed on 188-6 some 50-60 runs short of a good total.

Boxted needed a fast start in the field and both Michael Dell and Mike Booker had good early appeals that brought no reward. Woolpit then started to make use of the good bouncy surface and raced past 50 inside 12 overs despite the excellent ground fielding of Paul Dowde and Jon Wilson in particualr. The introduction of Patel brought the first breakthrough with an LBW. At this point catches started to go down, some 6 in total with 4 of the skipper, 3 of which brought 16 runs! In the breezy conditions Boxted plugged away and Evans was rewarded with 2 LBWs of his own. The bowling was rotated with Dowde and Duncan Evans bowling spells, with Evans in particular very threatening in only conceding 4 runs from 3 overs including a dropped catch. Despite our best efforts Woolpit cruised home comfortably with 7 overs to spare.

14th June – Boxted Vs Long Melford – Boxted 194-9, Long Melford 195-6, Long Melford won by 4 wickets

Winning the toss acting skipper Ian Evans won the toss and chose to bat, but soon found himself back in the hutch for a duck. Ed Whybrow joined Steve Philpott and proceeded to dominate a stand of 81 as he scored at better than a run a ball 61. In one over 5 successive sumptuous boundaries were spread across the field. However on Ed’s dismissal the game turned and from there on in the innings lost momentum. The last 24 overs only bringing 105 runs, as Philpott with 69 held the innings together, but found little support except for a brief Mike Pearce 14 and Paul Harris 18. The innings close on 195-9, a useful total, but some 30 or so short of what could have been expected.

Mike Booker and Rohan Khaira (1-37 off 13) bowled economical opening spells with Khaira also claiming a wicket in his first over. An important early chance went down (the first of 6!!!), but we still kept things close as Booker claimed a scalp caught by the juggling Evans and then McKnight with a well judged catch by Khaira in the deep, in an otherwise disappointing spell. At 77-3 off 24 the game was evenly poised. Melford however took the initiative and helped by a flurry of dropped chances including 2 in one Khaira over, they raced towards their total despite a number of bowling changes. However the introduction of Sean McGovern (3-9) broke the stand of 106 in 13 overs as he cleaned bowled the batsmen not playing a shot. His next over brought another wicket as Evans ran miles (it seemed liked miles) to hold a diving effort, and then claimed a third wicket in his next over as the Khaira held another good catch again in the deep. However it was all too late and we were left to regret that our third defeat in the league coincided with our third poor catching day.

21st June – Ipswich & ES Vs Boxted – Boxted 154-9, Ipswich & ES 155-1, Ipswich & ES won by 9 wickets.

Again winning the toss acting skipper Ian Evans was soon regretting his decision as Boxted slumped to 41-4 with only himself making double figures with 16. Chris Wilson and Mike Booker started to repair the damage and put together a good stand worth 46 before Wilson fell for 30. A couple more quick wickets left us at only 99-7 before Booker was joined by Steve Smith. They batted sensibly and took us to a couple of batting points before Smith was out for 10 with the score at 137. There was still time for the tail with Booker to push us past 150 as he ended unbeaten with a gritty 46. A useful score on a pitch giving the bowlers’ some help.

Any devils in the pitch were soon blown away as the hosts raced past 50 in the 7th over. Duncan Evans claimed his first wicket of the season, and with the skipper slowed the run rate, but as usual a couple of catches were not claimed, and despite 7 bowlers being used Ipswich cruised home with 9 wickets and more than 19 overs to spare.

5th July – Boxted Vs Ipswich II – Ipswich 229-6, Boxted 232-3, Boxted won by 7 wickets

Skipper Ed Whybrow having had the side warm up before the match sprung an early surprise when winning the toss as he invited the visitors to have a bat on a bright sunny day, hoping to make use of a bit of moisture left by an earlier shower which had caused the match to be played on an end strip. An immediate Mike Booker breakthrough well caught by Sylvester McKnight was the result, but after that Ipswich consolidated and prospered well to move pass 50 inside 10 overs. Booker towards the end of his excellent opening 11 over spell of 2-26 claimed the 2nd wicket at the score of 77 as Rohan Khaira held a routine catch at cow corner. Matt Wilson by now was into his bowling and after an initial nervous start sent down a miserly 10 over spell for only 31 runs, but the next breakthrough did not happen until the score had reached 154 in the 35th over when Ian Evans struck. Khaira made it a double breakthrough in the next over and Ipswich failed to accelerate quite as much as they should until the final few overs. The final over brought a double breakthrough as Evans claimed a second (2-48 off 9) as Steve Smith held a catch running round from behind the wicket and then Whybrow with a smart piece of fielding produced a run out. The total of 229-6 was a useful, but not match winning score.

Chris Wilson and Evans 16 opened the batting, but had both gone by the 6th over with the score on 25. Whybrow and Khaira then put together the match winning stand as they never allowed any bowler to settle, indeed there were no maidens in the entire innings. Khaira in particular early on was in impressive form, with his first 7 scoring shots all boundaries. The 100 was brough up in the 20th over and the pair gently accelerated as both passed 50 in the same over. The stand was worth 136 when eventually Khaira was dismissed for an excellent 64 of 73 balls. Steve Philpott joined the skipper and with this Whybrow picked up his pace including clearing the boundary for a maximum. Philpott not to be out done did the same, as the pair picked off the bowling at will. Just before the total was reached, Whybrow reached his third century of the season (his second unbeaten one against Ipswich) and finished on 107 off 107 balls, with Philpott on 15 as we won with 7 wickets and 23 balls to spare. A victory that moves us above Ipswich and out of the relegation positions.

July 12th – Copdock Vs Boxted – Boxted 101 all-out, Copdock 102-6, Copdock won by 4 wickets

Boxted were inserted on a slightly odd looking track, which had been partially weather affected. Steady progress was made until Ian Evans was dismissed in the 6th over with the score at 23. From there in a steady stream of batsmen got in and got out with some totally forgettable shots. Admittedly the wicket helped the opening bowlers, but most dismissals show a complete lack of application in the circumstances. At 67-6 in only the 17th over the innings was in tatters. Andrew Freshwater 16 top scored and showed a little desire to knuckle down until he too succumbed to the needless big shot dismissal. We just nudged past the 100 mark before the innings came to a conclusion in only the 29th over.

With tea not ready we went straight round and not for the first time this season, our bowlers seemed much less effective in the still helpful conditions. Copdock made good progress despite an encouraging opening spell from Jon Wilson (0-9 off 5). Just before tea Duncan Evans made the breakthrough as Michael Dell held a juggling effort. However at 49-1 they were well set. Skipper Ed Whybrow asked for more effort after tea and immediately DJ (2-12) claimed a second with a bit of flight, as Sylvester McKnight held an easy chance. The bowling and fielding improved, but Copdock had reached 84 before Michael Dell claimed a rare wicket as Freshwater held an easy catch. By now 6th bowler Ian Evans was into his spell, and finding the wicket much to his liking, as he had the Copdock “Village” batsmen well held by Chris Wilson in the deep. Immediately the returning Jon Wilson (1-13) snatched his first Two Counties wicket as Alex Carter pounced on an inside edge to leave the score at 94-5. Runs had slowed to a trickle as we looked for another wicket and another bonus point, which came with the scores level as Ian Evans clamed a bowled to finish with 2-12 off 7, as Copdock stumbled past the total. Another 50 runs earlier would have made the game very interesting.

July 28th – Woolpit Vs Boxted – Boxted 264-4, Woolpit 243-7, Boxted won by 21 runs

On a glorious day, Boxted decided to make first use of the batting surface. Initially runs were hard to come by, and when Rohan Khaira joined Ed Whybrow, both openers had been dismissed and we were only 33-2 in the 15th over. Runs soon flowed with Whybrow in particular soon quickly into top gear. The 100 was passed in the 26th over, and with Khaira also now in full flow, the run-rate continued to accelerate as the home side wilted in the extreme heat. Both batsmen had passed their half centuries and had taken the stand to 152 when Whybrow played a tired shot to be dismissed for run a ball 84. Mike Pearce continued his assault on the duck crown, which enabled Mike Booker to join Khaira. The total passed 200 in the 40th over, at which point both batsmen hit top speed. Khaira pass the ton make being congratulated by the home skipper in his usual manner and when onto the register his highest first team score of 127 from 111 balls. Booker finished unbeaten on 26 from 15 balls. A total of 62 runs had come from the final 5 overs as we totalled an imposing 264-4.

Woolpit started much quicker than we had done, with the wicket easing all the time, they passed 50 in the 11th over and had reached 63 before Booker claimed the first wicket. They still kept going at close to the rate required, and a further 50 had been added before Khaira made the break through as Pearce held a stunning one handed catch low to his left in the covers, to dismiss the home skipper. Kharia claimed another in a good 9 over spell of 2-41, but despite a useful cameo spell by Sylvester McKnight the game was still in the balance at 168-3 off 32. Whybrow recalled Ian Evans into the attack, who bowled without any luck, but kept things under control (0-58 off 12). At 40 overs with the score at 212-3, the home side were still 10 runs better off, but the returning Booker claimed 2 in 2 balls both caught by Whybrow and when Khaira claimed a wicket first ball in a new spell, the total had stumbled to 220-6 A run out soon followed and Woopit eventually fell short by 21 runs. Booker finished with 3-61 from 13 and man of the match Khaira 3-58 from 11.

2nd August - Boxted vs Earls Colne – Boxted 283-6, Earls Colne 163 all-out, Boxted won by 120 runs

Boxted were inserted, but made an excellent start as Chris Wilson in particular with 33 and Ian Evans 21 including a straight 6 put on 49 in 10 overs. Upon their dismissals the power house batting of the team of Ed Whybrow and Rohan Khaira were again in tandem. A further 49 had been added before Khaira 26 was dismissed with us on 108 in the 24th over. A further quick wicket brought Mike Pearce in to join the skipper, and the innings started to gain even more momentum. Ed passed his half century and dominated the attack. The pair had added 105 when Pearce was eventually out for 42 off only 33 balls. Duncan Evans making a rare appearance not only in the side, but also at number 7 now joined the skipper and after a nervous couple of balls, soon cleared the boundary for 3 huge sixes in his 23 ball 37. The innings finished on 283-6, with this week 58 runs coming from the last 5 overs. The only down side was that Ed, could not quite complete a richly deserved century and finished unbeaten on 98 from 96 balls faced.

After a rain shower during tea, Boxted made a breakthrough with the first ball of the reply as Duncan Evans claimed a good catch at 2nd slip off Mike Booker. Earls Colne then made a positive push to the runs, and were a little unlucky to lose a 2nd wicket with the score at 38 as a Paul Harris long-hop was steered into the hands of Ian Evans at point. The introduction of Khaira and Ian Evans (4-35 off 11) into the attack reduced the scoring rate, and soon Evans claimed 4 wickets in a 22 ball spell as catches were held by Steve Smith and then off successive balls in the deep by Paul Harris and Wilson. The introduction of young Sean McGovern ensured no let up for the visitors batsmen, as despite not quite at his best, he got the ball to turn and bounce and claimed 3-33 of 8 overs. His wicket s came as catches were taken by Mike Pearce and two more for Smith. The final wicket was taken by the returning Khaira’s first ball as for the first time this season maximum points were claimed.

9th August – Boxted Vs Achilles – Achilles 62-3 – Match Abandoned

Boxted won the toss and inserted the visitors in a match reduced to 40 overs aside due to weather issues. After a couple of good tight overs, the breakthrough was made in the 3rd over with the score still on zero as Mike Pearce held a good catch in the covers off Mike Booker. As the steady drizzle gradually became harder, a number of fielders switched off and a number of runs were quickly scored. The unlucky Pat Gilbert was replaced by Paul Harris, who after a number of freebies claimed the next wicket as Gilbert held a catch as mid-off. With the rain falling quite hard and after a brief discussion we stayed on and Booker immediately claimed an LBW to reduce the visitors to 49-3. A few minutes later we were off and despite coming back out a little later the innings soon finished at 62-3 from 17 overs. Mike Booker with 2-15 from 9 easily the pick of the bowlers.

16th August – Long Melfrod Vs Boxted – Long Melford 208-6, Boxted 182-8 – Long Melford won by 26 runs

Boxted fielding a more experienced side due to some poor 2nd XI travellers were stuck in the field, and bowled tight enough with only a Michael Booker wicket to show for their efforts. After a good spell from the experience Mathew Francis, Ian Evans took over and was soon rewarded with the 2nd wicket to fall. A few half chances went down and Melford were able to push along at a good rate despite a wicket from the possibly under used Rohan Khaira. The hosts continued to push, but were held in check as Evans (4-48 from 14) claimed 3 more wickets passing 600 for the club in the process. Good catches were held by Mike Pearce and Francis. The final total of 208-6 was probably 20 to 30 more than we should of had to chase.

Evans 14 and Steve Philpott 20 added a useful 30 for the first wicket and were well backed up with Ed Whybrow adding 29, but a collapse saw us struggling at 82-6 off 23 overs. Mike Booker with an excellent unbeaten 64 including 3 sixes, marshalled the lower order well adding 53 with Steve Smith 16 and 31 with Sylvester McKnight 11 before the experience of Franics with 8 not out saw us to a creditable 182-8.

With only 2 games to go, probably at least one victory is now required to keep us playing division 5 cricket next season.

23rd August – Boxted Vs Ipswich & East Suffolk – Boxted 155-9, Ipswich &ES 158-8, Ipswich & ES won by 2 wickets.

The 2nd placed visitors inserted us on a damp track, and immediately put us under pressure bowling a tight line and length. Boosted by their first team captain bowling 15 overs, runs were hard to come by, and despite Ed Whybrows 40 we slipped to 83-5 in the 29th over. Mike Booker 30 and Steve Philpott 32 added a useful 53 for the 6th wicket and the tail managed to get us past the 150 mark and to pick up 3 batting points, as we closed on 155-9.

On the slow wicket we needed quick wickets and Ian Evans supplied 2 in his first 3 overs for no runs, one well held by Chris Wilson. Booker also claimed an early wicket to have the innings 11-3. The introduction of Sunny Patel bought immediate success at 23-4, but then crucially a number of difficult chances were all put down and slowly despite Evans (2-32 from 14 overs) the runs mounted up. At 121-4 in the 37th over the game was all, but up, but then a couple of outstanding catches by first Mike Booker and then Matt Wilson, of each others bowling, gave us an outside chance. Crucially another chance went down, but Booker claimed a wicket caught by Philpott, to make it 145-7, with victory in sight he claimed another at 153-8, and nearly one more as the winning runs were scored to finish with 4-43 from 8.3 overs. With results going our way, the 7 points picked up here meant that we need 5 points next week in the final match to avoid dropping into the bottom 2 places.