Saturday's Match Reports

First Team

Maldon travelled to Worlington looking to continue maintain their strong start to the season.

After another lost toss Maldon were asked to field. Liam Saxton called in for the injured Matt Wild showed Maldon’s current strength in depth as in partnership with Bannister they produced tight opening spells, with little luck, that kept early pressure on the Worlington batsman. Pressure that Worlington never seemed to escape throughout their innings. Ian Elliott with great control again delivered the goods with 2 for 24 and was supported ably by Pugh’s use of variations with 2 for 44. A fine run out by Mark Foster and Ainscough’s two sharp stumpings along with some fine death bowling by Harris 4 for 29 meant that Worlington scored a respectable but below par 195 all out.

Maldon’s reply started with the uncharacteristic early loss of captain Harris. Baldwin provided the early impetuous, he came in and showed good intent with a confident 31 only to fall when looking set. The backbone of the reply came from man of the match Elliott 63 and Ainscough 30 who falling back on years of experience produced a fine 72 run partnership that meant that Maldon were always favourites to get over the line. Again Maldon’s strength in depth came to the fore as Martyn Coker guided Maldon home with a disciplined 19 not out as wickets fell at the other end. Mark Foster kept his nerve to stand alongside Coker at the end to ensure a 2 wicket victory that maintains Maldon’s second place position.

Next Saturday Maldon host Hadleigh at Drapers Farm looking to extend their recent run of victories.

Second Team

Hadleigh II 95-10

Maldon II 96-2

Maldon swept aside Hadleigh in a comprehensive win on Saturday. Bowling first at Drapers Farm, left-arm youngster Jack Plumb struck thrice to provide Maldon with the perfect start. With change bowlers Reece Bawden and Richard Howes working well together, Hadleigh struggled to score at over two runs per over and slipped further to 60-5. Further damage was inflicted by Connor Pateman's two wickets. Pateman helped finish the innings with a well-judged catch off the bowling of the impressive Plumb, who finished with four wickets. In reply, Maldon's openers started steadily, until Andy Barnes departed for 7. Skipper Ross Walpole continued his good form with a composed 37. Once he was bowled, it was left to Ieuan Thomas (26) and Matt Shinn (15) to see Maldon home with fourteen overs to spare. Maldon maintain fifth position in the table and have a tricky fixture away at Coggeshall on Saturday.

Third Team

Maldon 3’s travelled to Copford on Saturday looking to get back to winning ways, and after the downpour the previous day, Copfords groundsman had done a good job to get a wicket ready for the game. Maldon won the toss and skipper Mike Smith elected to bowl first. Copford got off to a good start with a bit of wayward bowling from Sam Collins giving them 13 off the first over, but with Archie Wright at the other end bowling a nice tight line and length it was hard for the batsmen to score too quickly. Sam finally found his accuracy and picked up the early wicket of Steve Urwin for 11 runs. This brought Will Merry to the crease and along with Andy Gill the other opener they started to build a bit of a partnership. Maldon 3’s though, never let any batsmen get any easy runs and the fielders were backing up some good bowling form the Maldon bowling attack, with Dave Richardson claiming 6 wickets with some excellent catches from Stuart Coker, Archie Wright and Joe Bird. Maldon couldn't quite get the final wicket they needed to bowl Copford out but they had managed to restrict them to 155 off of their 45 overs and, bearing in mind, Copford had scored well over 200 runs in previous games we felt we were in with a good shout.

Maldon’s reply got off to a slow and steady start with Simon Reeve punishing any loose bowling while Stuart Coker stood solid at the other end. Stuart was the first batsmen from Maldon to depart which brought Joe Bird to the crease. He played some good shots but straight to the fielders and then also fell cheaply. Captain Mike Smith came out at 4 and joined Simon Reeve at the crease. Simon was the next batsmen to depart having got a good start but he was then bowled by the opposition captain with a slightly over exaggerated celebration as if he had just won't the champions league, World Cup and £50 million on the lottery all within the same day. Mike was joined by Steve Harris and the two of them set about meeting the target they needed to win the game. With Copford needing to take wickets, they kept changing the bowling, and both Smith and Harris were able to wait for the bad ball and punish the bowling. With Maldon well on the way Steve was bowled by the best ball of the day with Maldon still needing about 40 runs to win. Copford sensed that they were still not out of the game but Dan Allen strode to the crease confidently and, along with his skipper, helped knock off the final runs. The game finished with Smith playing a captains innings of 66 not out and Dan Allen with 20 not out, but the game was won by the whole team who throughout showed real determination to restrict Copford when they were batting and then all of the batsmen chipped in to score the runs required and secure their 3rd win of the season against the team that are top of their division.

Fourth Team

Maldon IV 149-9

Boxted 151-3

Maldon fought bravely despite defeat at Promenade Park on Saturday. Batting first, Maldon's top order all fell cheaply. However, youngsters Jason Morgan and Joe Figg batted with a maturity beyond their years, as they gave Maldon a chance. Both fell short of their half-centuries, but Morgan (46) and Figg (44) showed good application in giving Maldon's bowlers something to defend. In reply, Chloe Dack bowled Boxted's opening batsman to give Maldon hope. However, none of Maldon's attack could contain Boxted's other opening batsman, who scored an unbeaten century in the chase. Boxted eventually ran out winners with nine overs remaining. Maldon fall to seventh in the league, and have a tough fixture against league leaders Coggeshall on Saturday.