Scorecard

Rayleigh v Burnham Sports CC 1st XI on Sat 30 Aug 2014 at 1.00
Burnham Sports CC Won by 110 runs

Match report The new tagline for Burnham Sports:
"So good, they won promotion twice in the same season"
.
Agony turned to ecstasy for Burnham Sports as a controversial 30-point penalty could not prevent the club gaining promotion to the T.Rippon League Premier Division.
Sports thought they had been promoted a fortnight earlier but, in a dramatic twist, learnt the night before their final game - against Rayleigh on Saturday - that they had fallen foul of rules relating to the award of sportsmanship marks to opponents.
The League alleged that Sports broke the rules on three occasions, one of the offences dating back more than a month. Their belated 30-point punishment opened the door for Rettendon and Rayleigh to overhaul them.
Despite feeling a mix of anger and confusion, Burnham responded by overcoming a terrible start to thrash Rayleigh by 110 runs. Rettendon also won, but ended the campaign two points adrift of them.
“It was an uncomfortable 24 hours and, had it come to it, we would have appealed the disciplinary action taken against us,” Andy Stephens, the long-time Burnham bowler said. “It seems we may have taken our eye off the ball but, equally, the League gave us no indication we had transgressed once - let alone three times - until it was almost too late.
“Thankfully, we were able to celebrate winning promotion for a second time but it was only in the evening that we learnt we had done enough. There was a scenario where we could have won and still not gone up because of the number of bonus points available.”
Burnham’s muddled state of mind was evident early on at Rayleigh, as they lost three wickets in the first three overs after winning the toss and opting to bat.
Sayeid Ahmed and Joel Whittaker (49) steadied things before Robin Whittaker (38), Jack Silvester (16), Paul Green (42 not out) and Tom Silvester (16) made valuable contributions.
Stand-in-skipper Green, in particular, batted with great freedom, playing an array of attacking shots all over a ground slowed by rain in the days beforehand.
Despite losing three wickets in their final over, Burnham closed on 208 - a tally that seemed most unlikely after their awful start. Unusually, four of their players were run out.
Rayleigh were soon in bother in pursuit of that target, Stephens dismissing their first four batsmen at a personal cost of only 12 runs.
When Fuad Ahmed joined in by taking a couple of wickets, the home side were 44 for six and resigned to a heavy defeat.
There was still time for the exceptional Robin Whittaker to claim another couple of wickets - taking his tally to the season to a club record 51.
His victims cost him just 12 runs apiece and he also finished the campaign with more than 400 runs, averaging almost 40.
Joel Whittaker and Tom Silvester shared the other wickets, with the bowlers being indebted to a tremendous fielding display. Green held two superb catches at mid-on, with Dominic Whittaker, Fuad Ahmed, Robin Whittaker and Grant Smith also holding on to difficult chances.
Meanwhile, Burnham’s 2nd XI were signing off in Division Nine with a 65-run victory over Springfield 4th.
Rob Layzell provided the fireworks, smashing 123 as Burnham made 227 for nine from their alloted 45 overs.
Layzell clubbed 24 fours and a six after opening batsmen Neil Saunders (28) and Steve Sims (15) had survived a tricky early spell.
Greg Campion, the Sports captain, then used seven bowlers as Springfield were dismissed for 162. Campion himself finished with four for 28.

Burnham Sports CC 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 11w 6b 9lb 
for 10 wickets
28
208		        
Nick Gosling Run out  3 1
Sayeid Ahmed ct Abley 15 1
Fuad Ahmed ct Gilmore 0 1
Grant Smith lbw Turnbull 0 1
Joel Whittaker b Abley 49 6 2
Robin Whittaker Run out  38 4 2
Jack Silvester ct Abley 16 3
Paul Green Not Out  42 3 1 2
Tom Silvester Run out  16 2
Dominic Whittaker Run out  0 1 0 1
Andy Stephens b Frost 1

Rayleigh Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Turnbull7.0130130.004.29
Gilmore12.0051151.004.25
Sharpe12.013300.002.75
Abley10.0051317.005.10
Frost4.0028128.007.00

Rayleigh Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 7w 6lb 
for 10 wickets
15
98 (34.3 overs)		     
Impey ct D.Whittaker b Stephens 7
Sharpe ct Green b Stephens 3
Jahanita ct Smith b Stephens 6
Cook ct Green b Stephens 9
Howard ct Gosling R.Whittaker 30
C.Frost lbw Ahmed 0
D.Frost ct R.Whittaker b Ahmed 2
Gilmore ct Ahmed b J.Whittaker 8
Smith b R.Whittaker 2
Turnbull Not Out  13
Abley ct R.Whittaker b Silvester 2

Burnham Sports CC 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Robin Whittaker12.0230215.002.50
Andy Stephens10.042245.502.20
Fuad Ahmed7.0024212.003.43
Joel Whittaker5.0015115.003.00
Tom Silvester0.30010.000.00

  • Umpire :
    Strike Back
  • Scorer :
    sue