MALDON IV.......................................146 all out

GREAT BENTLEY....................................147-9

(Great Bentley won by one wicket)

Maldon's fourth team made the journey to Great Bentley whose main claim to fame is having the largest village green in Essex, if not England, and included in the green is their cricket square!

Maldon lost the toss and were inserted, and Sims was out early on.

Smith was then joined at the crease by J. Raymond and with the wicket playing slow and the jungle type grass on the outfield holding the ball up, it wasn't until the 12th over that Maldon hit their first boundary of the day.

After a fine partnership of 47, Smith was caught and this brought Hawkridge in to join Raymond, and at one point the pair looked like putting on a huge total, but it was not to be.

After making his 50, Raymond was bowled for 52 and Hawkridge soon joined him after scoring 21.

Maldon's next seven batsmen could only managed 27 runs between them and gifted Bentley with 10 extra overs.

Great Bentley's innings started slowly and the 'spin twins' of Raymond and Hawkridge pegged back the batsmen.

All of Maldon's bowlers bowled well with young Eddie Padget taking four wickets in a five over spell.

The extra 10 overs helped win it for Bentley although all Maldon required was one wicket to wrap up what would have been a sensational victory.

However the spoils went to Bentley in a close encounter and it is hoped that another thrilling and enjoyable game will be played at Drapers next month when Bentley visit.

Maldon: Sims 4, Smith 21, Raymond 52, Hawkridge 21, Richardson 10, Padgett 6, Hammond 5, Harvey 6no, Denham 0, Eve 1, Gozzett 3. Extras 17.

Black 8.3-1-32-1, McDonald 5-1-13-1, Hunt 6-1-33-0, Silcock 5-0-25-1, Haxell 6-0-22-5, Walsh 4-0-14-2.

Great Bentley: Burbridge 27, Giles 19, Drew 0, Silcock 7, Hunt 1, Haxell 37, Strachen 3, Morton 0, Walsh 6, Black 8no, McDonald 1no. Extras 38.

Eve 9-2-11-0, Denham 9-1-18-0, Raymond 10-1-25-2, Hawkridge 10-2-30-2, Richardson 10-4-19-1, Padget 5-0-24-4.

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