Elmstead move out of relegtion zone (From Gazette)

Elmstead move out of relegtion zone

9:50am Wednesday 1st July 2009

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Elmstead Grasshoppers moved out of the division one relegation zone courtesy of a stunning eight-wicket success against title-hopefuls Sudbury.

Adrian Garnham’s men have been in the bottom two all season but put their drop fears to one side as they breezed to victory at Vicarage Meadow.

Opening bowler Austin Richards – a distant relative of West Indian legend Sir Viv Richards – was the undisputed star, claiming six wickets as shell-shocked Sudbury were skittled for just 90.

Grasshoppers then eased to victory, with former Colchester player Jon Butcher smashing 20 in one over to put them on the road to victory – a real tonic ahead of this weekend’s crunch match against Ipswich and East Suffolk.

Jubilant skipper Adrian Garnham told the Gazette: “I was away being best man at a wedding but was getting regular text messages throughout the game.

“I was absolutely amazed when I read we’d skittled Sudbury for 90.

“Then when I found out we’d knocked off the runs in 15 overs - and that the game was over by 4pm – I was delighted. It helped me feel a lot more relaxed about my speech!”

Garnham believes his side have been threatening such an eye-catching result, having been in strong positions during recent matches against Copdock and Mildenhall.

“Sudbury are one of the four teams most people expect to be in the title mix,” he said.

“But we had a fairly strong side out and, when that’s the case, we know we can compete because we’ve got a nice balance in the side.

“Our home form has been reasonably good and I think it helps when we play one of the top sides, because the pressure’s off.

“We’ve definitely got the players to compete at this level. It’s just a question of the players’ mental attitude.

“We’ve gone close in other big games and now we’ve won this one who knows what’ll happen?”

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