Broomfield Cricket Club at Brooklands

15/08/2026

And the match report:

Writtle 2s vs BCC 2s

Stand in Captain Robin overseeing the toss led to an ultra rare correct call. With an embarrassment of bowling riches at his disposal, and a bit of cloud cover, the obvious choice was to put the young Writtle side into bat. Vamshi and Lloyd took the new ball and made an immediate impact, Ben holding onto a sharp catch off Vamshi to get us started. Over to Dom and Issac who kept the pressure on with instant wickets, literally in Issac’s case, as he got a first ball victim. Phil Mac then picked up a drive at mid-on and threw down the stumps at the striker’s end for an impressive direct hit run out. Isaac continued to tear through the batting line up and soon found himself with a hat-trick chance. Everything was going exactly to plan until Writtle's remaining big hitter decided he hadn't read the script. He launched a counterattack, taking the game to Broomfield's third-change bowlers and briefly threatening to swing the momentum. Fortunately, Captain Robin had anticipated this. Holding a few overs back from his strike bowlers proved a masterstroke. The returning Vamshi claimed two more key wickets before Isaac completed a magnificent maiden five-for. Dom then wrapped things up, bowling Writtle out for 157 with overs to spare.

At the halfway stage, the game looked firmly under control, which is exactly what worried Robin. Years earlier, also as captain, also away at Writtle, Broomfield had been chasing a similarly modest target. It had all gone horribly wrong. The collapse that followed was so traumatic it ultimately led to Robin stepping down as skipper. As the players tucked into tea, the flashbacks were beginning; surely lightning couldn't strike twice...Lloyd and Vamshi opened, with Lloyd showing his intent with a first ball 4. He anchored the innings as others came and went around him. Vamshi as an opener is still work in progress, Phil and Henry made contributions but couldn’t kick on. By the time Nish went early Robin’s eye twitch was back, thankfully MotM Issac started to hit out with some much needed 4s. Much needed because once Lloyd went for 64 there was still work to do. Roo came in to support Isaac, then Ben, but it fell to Paolo and Dom to get us over the line. Paolo continuing his U13 batting hot streak, and Dom hitting the winning runs, much to the relief of Robin, who by then was jumping up and down on the sidelines in his pads. A two wicket win and a great team effort and multiple jugs to enjoy back at the club. Promotion might be out of reach but our team spirit is not in question as we look to finish the season as strong as we can 💪
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08/08/2026

And the match report:

Bcc 2s vs Chignal

Another unrelenting hot day where, thankfully, Jim’s powers returned as we won the toss and went into bat. Birthday boy JOR looked good for the first few balls, until he didn’t, swiftly followed by Jon, via a phantom edge that only the umpire and the rest of Chelmsford heard. Over to Lloyd and Nish, who showed up Chignal’s bowling for what it was, both either close or surpassing 50s. However, once that party finished it was ‘name on the list’ only as the rest of us didn’t get beyond the velvet rope, a 250+ score was left out there as we finished on 218.

Still, a score to defend and Lloyd and Vamshi met requirements as Lloyd took the openers from his first few overs, well backed up by Vamshi. After that the prime batting conditions exposed our 1st and 2nd change bowlers as the Chignal 3 & 4 made hay. They effortlessly passed 100, then 150, until the reintroduced Vamshi forced a catch. That was as good as it got, though, as Chignal passed the winning line with plenty of overs to spare. 1-1 between Broomfield and Chignal this season, with most of their team admitting they would rather play for us; Emma belting out karaoke songs, and the Nick/Henry bottle-off after the game, may have sealed the deal/put them off forever. Either way, we keep pushing on as a club, even if promotion aspirations have now gone; still points to play for as we push for a top half finish. 🏏

01/08/2026

And the match report:

South Loughton 2s vs BCC 2s

Thankfully our last mid-Essex away trip that’s nowhere near mid-Essex. We arrived to a very dry outfield, baked around their hybrid wicket; whoever won the toss and batted would have a clear advantage so, naturally, into bowl we went. Vamshi and Robin opened with both keeping things relatively tight, Vamshi off the back of his 6-fer last week couldn’t repeat the magic as he went wicketless, but Robin took one with him. After that the unrelenting sun and lighting fast outfield began to take their toll. Jon couldn’t hold a sharp chance, then Dave’s injured shoulder didn’t stretch to a couple above his head. 7ft 5 Jim found himself not tall enough as a half chance brushed his fingers. Nish, however, saved the best effort; normally one of our better fielders, he seemed to see one late as he hesitated to move in off the boundary, then when he got there he spiked the chance over the line for 4. Hilarious! That pretty much summed up our fielding efforts, the only high points being Paulo bowling out their captain, and Felix’s left arm providing genuine pace and bounce for 3 scalps, helped by some good catches from Ben, Matt and Robin. South Loughton finished on 297/5, with two centurions in their ranks.

A daunting score but we had the players to chase it down. Alas Robin wasn’t one of them as he did his usual two 4s then out. Jon did somewhat better as he neared his 50 but choked on 47. Matt was steady and got into the 40s, but we needed Nish and Vamshi to go berserk to have any chance. However, when it’s not your day, it’s not your day, as neither really got going. Nonetheless we got full batting points by passing 200, helped by a final flourish from Mike, with two 4s at the death, each time swinging his bat wildly over his head screaming “av that!”, right in the bowler’s face. It was hot, so that last detail may have been misremembered. We finished 213 all out, a respectable effort that, with other promotion hopefuls also losing today, may yet prove important. Back at home next week, thank goodness.
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27/07/2026

27/07/2026

19/07/2026

18/07/2026

And the match report:

BCC 2s vs B&P 4s

Promotion clash on what looked like a decent batting track so naturally we lost the toss and were asked to field. Lloyd and Vamshi opened, with Lloyd claiming two early scalps with his trusty off side trap, slip catches taken by Jim and Robin. Vamshi kept things tight the other end, after 10 overs, Basildon were 2 down with less than 40 on the board. First change brought wickets but also runs, Robin and Nish both struck but it came at cost. We needed to take a bit of pace off the ball so it was Paulo time, and he delivered; 2 wickets, with Felix supporting from the other end, and contributing a yoof combo, bowled Paulo caught Felix. We seemed to have reeled Basildon back in but their big hitters kept coming. They accelerated again through the last 10 overs despite the returning Vamshi picking up a well deserved couple, including one via a well taken catch by Robin in the deep. Basildon finished 257/8, a big score but one we felt could be chased down.

What we needed was a good start so Jon playing round one 3rd ball wasn’t ideal. Lloyd tried to take the game to B&P, and at one chatty fielder in particular, who’s schoolboy banter was winding up even his own team. Umpire Robin even offered some improved sledging material, suggesting to the fielder that “there’s a plane flying overhead, wicket coming” could be “there’s a plane flying overhead, will the bails be flying too?”; however such suggestions weren’t taken up and Lloyd ended up going cheaply. Over to Matt who dug in and kept his head as Jim, Reuben and Vamshi came and went in quick succession. We reached 10 overs with a similar score to Basildon, but with 5 down. Matt needed a partner and he found a very willing one in Nishad, or SuperNish as he will henceforth be known. 4s and 6s flowed as he raced to his half century, a total soon passed by Matt too. The pair took on everything the bowlers had to offer as our playcricket worm edged ever closer to Basildon’s. They passed 150, then 200 but Matt’s hamstring had gone, so with Jon needing to get some steps in, he joined him in the middle as a runner. The boundaries continued but there was a lot to do, perhaps too much as Jon found himself out for the second time as he desperately tried to keep SuperNish on strike. With 34 needed off the last over, Nish and Ben couldn’t make the miracle happen as we came up 26 runs short. A valiant effort but Nish’s magnificent maiden 100 wasn’t enough. We lost 6 wickets to their 8 but too many runs leaked in the first innings, followed by the loss of early wickets, made the comeback impossible. Still, a very exciting game and one that we’ll all remember for a long time, especially Nishad for his 100. On to the next game, still firmly in the promotion chase.
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11/07/2026

And the match report:

Billericay St John’s 2s vs BCC 2s

With Jim away Robin took the reins and tried Jim’s coin calling system of picking the opposite side, but the curse continues as we headed into the field on a hot day. However, with a strong team it didn’t really matter as Lloyd and Dan opened with Dan taking 2 early wickets, ably assisted by Dave with a catch at long off to remove their dangerman. Vamshi and Robin took over, Vamshi having arrived late, but that worked out well as it’s unusual in Div 8 to have an injection of pace first change, as shown by his 4 wickets. Robin held up the other end, dropping two off his own bowling and another in the slip. Lloyd’s calls of “bet Marta likes that length” having to be awkwardly explained to his 12 year old son later. Dylan himself bowled a solid 4 overs and took a confident catch off Dan, who proved his 1st team class with another 2, before Pete joined the party. SJB finished 150/9, a very chaseable score.

And so it proved as Dave and Jon opened. Jon raced to 50 off 20 balls, with Dave anchoring (cough) the other end. Jon had been worried that his lack of runs might keep him out the team, until Henry pointed out that Jim has been playing regularly for the last for 2 years. Matt replaced Jon and reached a half century himself which allowed Dylan to make his debut, but he couldn’t quite get us over the line; that was left to Henry who hit a 6 to seal the win off a mere 20 overs. A comfortable victory and shows what’s possible with a strong team. Back in the promotion chase now 💪🏏

04/07/2026

Wasn’t there for most of the batting (in every sense) but match report for the record:

Broomfield 2s vs Woodham Mortimer 2s

Athelred the Unready was an Anglo-Saxon king who reigned around the year 1000. Unready is taken from the old English ‘unraed’ which means ill advised, so called because the decisions he made led to his exile and the loss of the throne to the vikings. If Jim were an early medieval king, he may also have been known as ‘the unready’, as he listened to others and decided to bowl first in perfect batting conditions, with no bowlers. Sure enough things panned out as expected. Apart from a decent opening spell by Lloyd, and a hungover Ed’s efforts, there weren’t many positives to report back. Things got so bad that the captain took the ball himself and, in fairness, ended up with 3 wickets. But by then the damage had been done, with the bottom of the table team ending up on 235/7, a difficult score to chase with our depleted line up.

With Robin having to leave early he asked to open with Jon, however his battling was the opposite of his bowling as he went for nought, preceded by Jon, then soon followed by Jim. After that it’s all rumours and hearsay, but evidently JOR hit a few, to match his spritely fielding display from earlier. Lloyd got a decent score, and got to bat with Roo, as did the Calders; and Pete couldn’t pirouette in time resulting in a comedy run out. Alas we finished 50 runs behind, all out. Tough day in the office and a lesson to the captain not to listen to others. On to the next game, still lots to play for.
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29/06/2026