This weekend saw the club emerge victorious in all 5 matches that were played and completed. There were some fantastic individual performances from many players but also many team performances which should not go unnoticed.

It all started on Friday night when the T20 side faced a must-win clash against Springfield in which they had to win in order to be at Finals Day, which Coggeshall are hosting this year. (Bank Holiday Monday, 25th August, save the date!) The match was reduced to 15 overs a side and Coggeshall batted first and posted a huge total of 149 off 15 overs, Dane Cleaver hitting 65 and all of the rest of the batsman contributed to the score, with both Rob Jagger and Ollie Blackwell both hitting 20s. Springfield never looked like chasing the target down thanks to some tight bowling at the start from Carl Bragg and Robert Cross. Springfield barely attempted to compete in the run chase, and this allowed George Blackwell to give everyone a game, including giving the opportunity to some of the players to bowl, who would never be seen bowling, not even in the nets! All in all, it was a good night, and now Coggeshall can thankfully look forward to being at Finals Day, and hopefully go on to win the T20 trophy.

The 1st team continued their fantastic home form, and push for the title, which has seen them lose only one game at Harefield all season as they beat Sudbury, and consequently, effectively knocked Sudbury out of the title race. The day started with skipper George Blackwell losing the toss and being inserted into bat, but that didn't affect the performance as Coggeshall accumulated a score of 228-8, largely down to a fantastic partnership between Dane Cleaver who ended up on 119, and Ollie Blackwell, who fell in the last over of the innings for 48. Sudbury, who had a couple of big names in their line up, struggled with the enthusiasm and guile of the Coggeshall bowlers, as they fell 60 runs short in the end, after Dale Bailey had picked up his second six-wicket haul of the season, as he took 6-53 and the 1st team can now look forward to the run-in, in which they can keep the pressure on Frinton, with pretty much the whole of the league backing them in their title push.

The 2nd team were also victorious against 2nd in the league Long Melford, and what looked like was going to be a comfortbale victory for Coggy turned out to be a tense victory but they got over the line and it was a fantastic performance. Barry Edwards Jr took his team to Long Melford expecting a tough test, but couldn't have dreamed of bowling the opposition out for 125 in their innings, with all the bowlers excelling, especially Craig Lesiak, Tom Pickles and Paul Brown. The run chase got off to a good start, reaching 49 without loss, and the 2s were hoping to get back early with 20 points under their belt, but a batting collapse ensued and it was down to Tom Pickles with his 22* to see Coggy over the line with 2 wickets to spare, and they can now look up the table, rather than over their shoulders as they build momentum going into the last few matches, looking to finish as high as possible.

The 3rd team clinched an even tighter victory over bottom of the table West Mersea, in which many finger nails were lost, but eventually the returning John Blackwell saw them over the line, and the promotion dream is still alive! West Mersea 2nds batted first and compiled a competitive 223 all out, in which all the bowlers contributed, but Rory Miller's figures of 10 overs, 3 for 26 stood out in the score book. It looked relatively easy for Coggeshall in their batting reply, as the opening partnership of Alex Wickens and Roger Fairs both passed 50 and Coggeshall were 150-0. However, another batting collapse left Coggy reeling at 170-7, with Wickens and Fairs falling for 83 and 52 respectively, but John Blackwell was still there, despite wickets falling all around him, and he eventually made his way to 37*, launching the ball over cover to hit the winning runs and spark celebrations on the boundary from the 3rd team, which included some very young youngsters, but also the experienced pros. With 2 games left, Coggy still have to win both their games and rely on other results to go their way, but they are by no means out of the Promotion race, and it will go down to the final day!

On Sunday, the Piri Piri 1st team rounded off a fantastic weekend for Coggeshall as they made it 5 victories out of 5 when Mistley visited Harefield. With rain in the air, and skipper Robert Cross nursing a side strain, Dale Bailey took the reigns to make his captaincy debut, and the game was reduced to 20 overs a side. Coggeshall batted first and Dane Cleaver smashed 171* off 20 overs as Coggy posted a huge 274-1 off 20 overs, and Dane was ably supported by Darren Green in the opening partnership who hit 44. A young and inexperienced bowling attack then kept Mistley below the required run rate, and mentions go to Rory Miller for his 2-38, and Andy Fairhurst bowled a miserly spell of 2-10 off 2 overs. There must also be a mention for Barry Edwards Jr who bowled for the second time this season and picked up another wicket, as he collected figures of 1-9 off 2 overs. Another great day for Coggeshall to round off a great weekend and the excitement builds for another big weekend next week, with the 1sts entertaining Hadleigh at Harefield, and the seconds make the trip to bottom of the table Abberton, as they look to cash in and continue to climb the table! The 3rds make their way to Copford, looking to keep up the pressure on Frinton, and the Sunday 1sts travel to Castle Park on the Sunday to play Colchester.

Chris Girling.