The final eight matches of the 1999-2000 Braintree District Indoor Cricket League season were played at the Leisure Centre on Sunday and therefore the final two relegation and one remaining Championship crown places were decided.

The first game of the afternoon decided which club would drop from Division Two to Three.

To prolong the moment of decision Helions Bumpstead had to defeat Kelvedon & Feering, instead they got pummelled by 73 runs as Malcolm Wilde (69 n.o.) took Kelvedon to 143-3.

Now having to score at a good rate, Helions had to risk all, and instead of runs flowing it was wickets falling and Joe Walker claimed three and Alex Parsons two, as Helions Bumpstead were dismissed for 70 in less than eight overs.

Thus Terling were safe but they faced Rayne, who knew that 13 points would give them the Division Two Championship.

Terling scored 83 batting first, so Rayne had to win and lose no more than two wickets, and they did just that, reaching 84 for one to take the Championship.

The other two results in the division saw the clubs in second and third places, Gosfield Reserves and Great Bardfield both win with maximum points after defeating Earls Colne and Shalford respectively.

On to Division One, where Witham still clung to hopes of saving themselves, but the first match ended their hopes even though they did defeat Cressing they did not gain the maximum points that would have put the pressure on Coggeshall.

Bizarrely, though they drop into Division Two, Witham actually ended the season with better playing records than the four clubs that finished ahead of them, their trouble was that they did not pick up the bonus points that the other teams did.

Thus the remaining three matches to be played mattered little in terms of the overall picture.

Braintree reversed everything but still beat Coggeshall by 21 runs.

Dunmow, despite being short-handed, ended their League career with a victory, defeating Gosfield by seven runs and Braintree Youth made it 34 matches without defeat by beating Bocking by five wickets and this despite losing Dave Denny caught behind off the first ball of their reply.

So this Sunday the entire season will come to an end with the two Cup Finals being staged at the Leisure Centre.

Shalford Reserves will meet Braintree Youth Reserves in the Reserve League Cup Final at 7.30pm and this will be followed by the BDICL Cup Final between Braintree and Braintree Youth at 8.30pm.

After that the Presentation of the League's many trophies, both club and individual will take place.

The Individual Award winners for the season were as follows: Steve Blyth (Six Hits); Ian Kerr (Bowling), both played for Great Bardfield; David Hale (Catching), and Rob Stephens (Wicket keeping), both of them representatives of Braintree Youth's two teams.

Sunday's scores were: Witham 119-5, Cressing 102-5; Braintree 132-4, Coggeshall 111-4; Dunmow 91-4, Gosfield 84; Bocking 72-4, Braintree Youth 73-1. Division Two: Kelvedon & Feering 143-3, Helions Bumpstead 70; Terling 83, Rayne 84-1; Great Bardfield 137-5, Shalford 54; Earls Colne 91, Gosfield Reserves 93-0.

With the departure from the league at the end of the season of Dunmow, the League is looking for applications from clubs to join the League for the 2000-2001 season.

Applications for membership, along with brief details of your club, should be sent to the League Secretary, Mr N. Wright, 12 Kidder Road, Rayne, Braintree CM7 8TN, to arrive before April 8.

The Annual General Meeting of the League is on April 14.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.