Upminster disappointed with defeat

Division One strugglers suffered heavy loss to Shenfield

Upminster captain John Curtis struggled to pick many positives from last weekend’s 166-run defeat to Shenfield in the Essex League Division One.

The home team scuppered to 130 all out when chasing 297 against the promotion chasing side. It was an extremely disappointing day for the club who remain in the bottom two of the table.

James Evans top scored for Upminster with 28 while both Shafiq Rahman and Nicholas O’Dell hit 25, but they were well below part with the bat.

“It was an extremely poor effort,” said Curtis when asked about their batting display.

“We are struggling batting wise as a team. No-one has got a big score, Alan Ison has got a couple, but I think even he would be disappointed with what he has contributed with the bat this season.

“We have had people hit a good score here and there, but we are really lacking any consistency from our batsman.”

Upminster’s cause wasn’t helped with Ison missing alongside talented young duo Will Chuter and Frank Hazel.

James Aggio-Brewe was included on Saturday, but was unable to bat or bowl after sustaining an injury in the field early on.

A small positive was the performance of Louis Pickering after he claimed two wickets for the loss of 59 runs in his 10-over spell.

Curtis added: “I had a 16-year-old in Louis open the bowling and he did really well throughout actually, that was a positive.

“While we haven’t played well all season, we have been so unlucky at times. We lost a few players at the start of the year and we have really struggled to get a consistent team.

“For a few weeks we had a consistent side and we were picking up results, but we have struggled since then.”

Upminster’s captain was, however, proud of the way his team fought back in the field on Saturday after Shenfield had made a strong start.

The visitors looked on course for a big score before Rahman (1-34), Matt Tigg (1-68), Curtis (1-59) and O’Dell (1-64) combined alongside Pickering to restrict the opposition.

Shenfield’s final total of 296-7 was well below what they seemed like posting midway through their innings and that was a small consolation for the hosts.

“The first 17 overs it was really poor. Our fielding was poor, our bowling was poor and they got off to a flyer,” explained Curtis.

“I think they must have been on about 120 off 17 overs with just one wicket down so I was expecting them to get well over 300 at this point.

“But we pulled it back and did well to keep them below 300 in the end and it wasn’t too far above par really.”

Unfortunately for Upminster, they couldn’t chase it down and remain in the bottom two.