Effingham 1st XI take 20 points from Sheen Park

Effingham 1^st XI .v. Sheen Park 1^st XI

Fuller’s Brewery Surrey County League – 2^nd Division

Having raised their game in the last few matches to claim second place in the table, maximum effort was needed from Effingham’s 1^st XI, bearing in mind that at least six regular first team players were unavailable.

Batting first on a pacey dry wicket and losing both their openers with just seven runs on the board was certainly not the start they had anticipated and at 20-3, it was obvious that one or two major contributions with the bat were essential if their league position was to be maintained. Mark Collin, at No.4, was the first to lift the spirits with an impressive 31 off 45 balls, and with Josh Farrell (28), their partnership of 55 certainly gave the scoreboard a healthier look. Mark Collin’s departure brought Chris Fewson to the wicket and he and Josh Farrell added another 36. With six wickets down for 113, the home team’s innings could have gone either way and it was Chris Fewson, looking in top form, who took control with a thoroughly competent 81 from 79 balls, including five 6’s and seven 4’s. He shared a seventh wicket stand of 48 with 16 year old Cameron Walters, whose 23 made a huge difference to Effingham’s final total of 212 all out.

As a competitive sport, cricket can be very unpredictable and when Sheen Park lost their first wicket, having raced to 63 off the opening 10 overs, they would have been very confident about reaching their target of 213. However, less than 30 runs later, at 92-5, after Nick Procter had grabbed all five wickets, the additional 121 runs required must have looked a totally different prospect. The sixth wicket partnership of 57 helped to steady the nerves, until Matt Dixon, with the first of his two wickets, clean bowled the visitor’s captain, Nazir. Sheen Park continued to bat with confidence right down the order, finding the middle of the bat with some excellent shots, which kept the scoreboard moving. A few fielding lapses didn’t help, but some excellent catches, three taken very well by Chris Fewson at gully, made sure that Effingham kept the pressure on. At 172-7, a close finish was anticipated, but Nick Procter’s unchanged spell of 15.2 overs saw him pounce on the last three victims, to finish with exceptional figures of 8-55. This left the visitors all out for 199, Effingham collecting the valuable 20 points with a 13 run victory.