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Surrey Cricket Championship | ECC Week 2 Report
This report was written by Oliver Wright
Tough start to the season for Effingham’s Saturday XI’s continues
Effingham CC’s 1st and 2nd XI both came out second best in two more close encounters over the weekend.
First XI
The 1st XI played away against the Merton Mavericks, and after losing the toss, were put into bat on a tricky deck.
Despite this, Effingham started well, the opening partnership of captain Benji Thomas and Cameron Walters worth 68 before the first wicket fell.
Continuing where he left off last season, Thomas scored an enterprising 95, eventually falling 5 short of what would have been his third century for the Ships.
Following his dismissal and despite a gritty 30 from Harrison Green, Effingham were subsequently restricted to 200-9 from their 50 overs.
In response, fighting tough conditions and heavy rain, the Effingham attack bowled well as a unit, reducing Merton to 64-6, with wickets from Anthony Brown, Dom Brown and Ben Shaw taking them to the brink of a comprehensive victory.
Unfortunately though, for a second week in a row, the opposition’s tail wagged. The Mavericks’ lower order compiled 140 runs for the loss of just three wickets to pull off what looked to be the unlikely result.
Second XI
The Effingham 2nd XI had a similarly strong start to their game after being asked to bat by a recently relegated Shepperton side, with Ollie Tebbitts and Adam Burlison putting on a studious 49 before the latter was cleaned up by the opposition’s opening bowler.
This unfortunately precipitated a jarring collapse, with the Ships’ next three wickets falling for with just four runs added to the score in this time.
Following this, Tebbitts managed to steady the innings well with his 43, and was ably supported by Nick Bond (15) and Ishtiaq Muhammad (24), before Duncan Mitchell, playing his first game of the season, scored a counter attacking 34* to help the team to a defendable 163 all out.
On a two-paced pitch, Effingham immediately made inroads into the Shepperton batting order, with the pace of Bond and Tebbitts, and some canny bowling from Burlison restricting the opposition to 91-4.
When Muhammad removed their captain without troubling the scorers, the 2nd XI looked set to record their first win of the season.
Sadly it wasn’t to be, as an aggressive 88* from the Shepperton number four steered the away team to the finish line with just over four overs to go.
Effingham 1st XI 200-9 lost to Merton Mavericks 1st XI 204-9 by 1 wicket
Effingham 2nd XI 163 all out lost to Shepperton 2nd XI 166-5 by 5 wickets
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