Surrey Cricket Championship | ECC Week 8 Report

Winning the toss and choosing to bat on another scorcher, the Ships got off to another solid start, putting on 39 for the first wicket.

A quick flurry of three wickets saw Guildford get on top of the home side leaving them 62-3, however, Jordan Bond (70) and Max James (56) alleviated any concern with a match-defining 117 run stand for the fourth wicket.

The former continued his excellent start to the season, making his third 50 of the year, while the latter, a relative newcomer to the Effingham 1st XI, made his first half century for the Ships.

Once they were both dismissed, some more excellent late innings ball striking from Freddie Dougherty (26 off 18) saw Effingham reach a defendable 246.

Despite making a breakthrough in the first over courtesy of Anthony Brown, Effingham had to wait 25 overs until they next struck, as Guildford put together a steady chasing effort.

Once the floodgates opened however, the Effingham bowling attack were too strong for their opposition, seeing them fall from 135-2 to 194 all out as they looked to accelerate towards the target.

Dougherty was the pick of the bowlers, with his wily tweakers proving too good on the way to figures of 4 for 37.

Second XI

It was contrasting fortunes for the 2nd XI, who visited an Ottershaw 1st XI with the knowledge a win could drag them out of the relegation zone.

Winning the toss and choosing to bat on a cracked pitch, it looked like a good decision from Effingham as James Blair (38) and Adam Burlison (19) put on a rapid 46 for the first wicket.

Ably backed up by the in-form Dom Carpenter (41), with Effingham at 86-2 with overs in the bank, it looked like the visitors were well placed to set their rivals an imposing target.

Unfortunately, as has been the case too often this season, the batting crumbled, as Effingham lost their last eight wickets for just 33 runs due to some poor batting and canny bowling from the home side.

Defending 119 was never going to be an easy job, but on a difficult deck and thanks to an early flurry of wickets courtesy of Burlison (2 for 19), Ishtiaq Muhammad (2 for 17) and a sharp run out from Ollie Wright, all results were possible with the opposition at 34-4 just before drinks.

Frustratingly for the away side, they struggled to continue to make inroads as Ottershaw’s number four and six steadied the ship, putting on 48 before Effingham managed to take another wicket.

Despite a couple of quick wickets before the opposition reached the hundred mark, the total proved not enough to drag the 2nd XI to their first win of the season as Ottershaw claimed victory with eight overs and four wickets in the bank.

Effingham 1st XI 246-8 beat Guildford 2nd XI 194 all out by 52 runs

Effingham 2nd XI 119 all out lost to Ottershaw 1st XI 122-6 by 4 wickets