Welcome the final End of Season Review for the 2022 season, as we recount the First XI campaign in the Hamro Foundation Essex Senior League Division 3.

On the penultimate day of the season Steve Peachey asked me what I’d made of the First XI this year and actually at that moment it was quite difficult to provide a clear opinion. Possibly it was partly because we’d just watched Walthamstow recover from 180-8 to post almost 300 batting first but at that moment I think many supporters of the team were genuinely conflicted.

On no account could one argue they had performed poorly, the positives far outweighed any negatives, it was just that lingering feeling that this could have been their year to get promoted. Not to be in the mix for promotion from late July was a huge blow, especially given the wonderful start to the season. The side played some fantastic cricket, it was the manner of the slide out the promotion chasing group that grated so much. A fourth placed finish (in a twenty-team division) was a significant improvement on anything since 2019.

Without wishing to upset Ryan in anyway, arguably this was a better effort than that produced by his star-studded side who had finished third, missing out on Division Two on the last day of that season. The 2022 cohort were a much younger and less experienced group and did not have the single-handed match winning brilliance of a Jason McNally to fall back on in difficult times, nor the nouse of older heads such as Rehman Ahmed, Luke Monger, Mitch Howarde and the Jessey brothers. Bearing in mind 2017 and 2018 had both been relegation seasons it’s not a flight of fancy to argue this was our premier sides best season since at least 2016 when they competed in Division One.

Jake’s side started the season in superb form winning seven of their opening eight matches. They were one of three sides that began to pull away at the top of the table along with Springfield and Barking. The onset of the ‘Time Format’ matches changed everything. A pretty spineless batting effort at Rainham lost us a game that we should have already won after the bowlers did their bit was followed by an even worse performance and defeat at home to lowly West Essex. Those two results in the space of a fortnight did for Harlow. They impacted on the following time games as in desperately seeking to recover ground they attempted to bat first and claim 25 points against weak opposition and then failed to bowl them out. In the space of three weeks over 50 points went begging. We missed out on promotion pretty much by that amount.

The return of the Overs games heralded an immediate return to some outstanding form. In fact, in the ten Overs matches Harlow won nine, the best record in the entire division. Whatever it was, we just couldn’t convert that form and freedom of thinking into our Time Game cricket and the opportunity slipped away.

It is important however, to reflect on what were the realistic goals at the start of the campaign. With the bottom ten sides being effectively relegated to form a new Division Four in 2023 objective number one had to be a top ten placed finish. Secondly, could we improve and challenge for promotion. On both counts the answer has to be a resounding affirmative.

In 2021 the First XI finished tenth in a sixteen-team division so this season was a significant improvement. The batting, that had been fragile and prone to collapse especially under pressure when chasing around 200, was overwhelming more stable with multiple successful run chases including two that were around the 300 mark. A consistency of performance enabled a consistency of selection and probably that worked in reverse as well. The new look middle order was at times a joy to behold and the young seam bowling attack performed consistently well in a season not conducive for their skills.

One of the most challenging elements in writing reports in which one is so heavily emotionally invested by family ties is the need not to come across like a over proud Dad. No doubt on occasions I failed but I tried my hardest to report as I would on any player. Hopefully you’ll forgive this statement. We quite simply had the best opening partnership in the league in Ben and Chris Whitworth. Their return was outstanding and frequently set a huge base on which the attacking middle order could flourish. Our defeats always came on the rare occasions they didn’t get the usual big scores at the top of the innings. Frankly, Ben was the best batsman in the division and Chris was not far behind him. Between them they scored almost 2,000 league runs and records tumbled to the bat of young Yeats as he amassed a staggering 1,225 runs.

Harlow also possessed a multi-faceted spin attack the envy of many other sides. Sarfaraz Ahmed took 45 wickets as he came close to repeating his effort in being the divisions leading wicket taker, whilst Chris Whitworth added over 30 victims and skipper Jake Messenger a very useful 21 whilst Ben chipped in with 11.

Not everything was perfect and it seems a bit harsh to pick at old wounds but one has to say this. For a team good enough to challenge for promotion, our fielding and often demeanour in the field, was simply not of the required standard. One only had to compare on the final day of the season at Springfield, when even with Harlow approaching 200 without loss at drinks, they performed better than us at any time in the fielding department. Although possibly it only cost us in one game the volume of dropped catches was at times embarrassing at this level. It will be incredibly difficult to maintain a future promotion bid without a major improvement in the levels of commitment and energy in the field to back up the bowlers.

Glad we got that off our chest – now for the action.

Pre-season saw us dust off the cobwebs with a defeat to Herts Senior League side St Albans despite a fine all-round performance from Abi Farooq who made 76 not out with the bat and 3 wickets with the ball along with a half century on debut from Tom Garner. Tom was to be an excellent addition to the side, a superbly positive character and aggressive middle order player, he settled in immediately and I suspect improved the bar takings most weekends.

The final pre-season fixture saw Harlow meet Matching Green at Marigolds. Matching had been desperate for a re-match after the 2021 fixture had slipped out their grasp after Paddy Matthews and Abi had won the game with a last wicket partnership of 40. The 2022 return game was far less of a contest as Harlow dominated. Syed Hassan (79) and Chris Whitworth (77) on debut were the mainstay of our 293-9 in 40 overs, with all the middle order scoring well in excess of a run a ball. Matching were never in the contest, once Steve Ward perished after a flurry of boundaries, with Sarfaraz taking 5-33.

The league action began at home to Stanford le Hope who won the toss and elected to bat. The new season was a mere three balls old when Sarfaraz trapped opener Ellis LBW for nought and Harlow were off and running. Abi Farooq was in outstanding form and dominating the batsmen and at 90-7 thoughts were drifting towards an early finish. Wicketkeeper Matt Page had other ideas and took the game by the scruff of the neck, making a rapid 70 as the visitors recovered to 194 all out.

In recent seasons this was just the sort of game Harlow would lose. Could 2022 be different? The answer was an unequivocal yes. Yeats made 44 and Chris Whitworth an unbeaten 62 as Harlow romped home with 18 overs to spare and only 3 wickets down.

The second game of the season saw us host league new comers Aztecs. Of all the additions to the league Aztecs had been identified as being a real threat having an eye-watering budget that had been used to recruit guys straight from the First XI Premier Division.

True to form Aztecs set off like an express train batting first. Opener Soni made a century and Ramachandran 64 with some of the best aggressive hitting seen at Marigolds since Ahmed Khawaja was in full flight. At 290-3 a score of around 370 to 380 looked inevitable but huge credit to the Harlow bowlers as they fought back incredibly strongly and having dismissed the set batsmen they knocked over the tail in no time to limit the damage to 317-9.

Despite opener Yeats making 54 wickets fell all to quickly at the other end and at 106-6 a moral sapping heavy defeat looked on the cards. Enter Gul Hassan who found excellent support from Andre Riddell. Gul attacked ,as only he can, scoring 76 from 57 balls whilst Andre applied himself to his batting showing a big step forward in his approach as he successfully rotated the strike. As the Harlow total approached 200 one could sense the nerves kicking in for the previously buoyant visitors but alas Gul perished caught in the deep and Andre followed soon after as we ended 250 all out. Defeated but many positives. This was to be the only defeat in Overs matches during the entire season.

A long trip to Southend saw us meet up with former Harlow player Mohammed Al-Amin now plying his trade on the coast. The home side elected to bat first and Amin was straight into his boundary hitting from the off. Things weren’t going quite as well at the other end though. Abi Farooq could only look on in disbelief as his first ball was edged to gully only for the catch to be shelled. His mood improved sharply as next ball he had the other opener edging to keeper Riddell who made no mistake.

Sarfaraz won a tight decision to remove the dangerous Amin for 42 and for some inexplicable reason on a good pitch Southend went totally into their shell. As Harlow rotated all four of their spin options barely a shot in anger was played. Both sides seemed delighted after the home side walked off 205-7 in 50 overs.

It was Jake and his Harlow team who had read conditions correctly though as Harlow made comfortable progress towards the win. When Chris Whitworth fell first ball after drinks for 48 a minor wobble occurred as two further wickets fell quickly but teenagers Yeats and Farooq saw the team home with Ben making an undefeated 115, the first of six centuries during the season.

As score books were being topped and tailed, boundary marks removed the booming lyrics of John Denver echoed from eleven happy voices in the away dressing room. A passing Southend player remarked that he wished they had team spirit like Harlow and it actually brought home what a good bunch they were and how they all enjoyed each other’s company. A credit to Jake, who despite being relatively young himself, certainly had everyone pulling in the same direction trying to do their best for the club.

Frenford were next up at Marigolds. A superb bowling effort won the game as Harlow took wickets at regular intervals to stem the scoring. Abi and Joe Riddell got us off to a fine start with early wickets and tight bowling before the four spinners tied down the run making even further. Skipper Jake led the way with 3-24 but Sarfaraz and Chris both produced miserly spells themselves. A total of 180-9 was way below par on Marigolds.

Harlow were getting used to the principle of a comfortable run chase and this one was even more straight forward than the week before. After the early loss of Syed, Chris Whitworth (72) and Ben Yeats (81 not out) took us virtually to the finish before Chris was caught attempting to hit the winning boundary. A terrific win, especially when Frenford included former Bangladesh Test international Enamul Haque Junior in their ranks. Haque Jnr has Michael Clark, Mike Hussey and Kumar Sangakkara amongst his list of victims so it was extremely gratifying to watch 19-year-old Ben come down the wicket to his second ball and put him on the pavilion roof.

Confidence was really flowing now as it was clear this Harlow team had something about them. Another early season home fixture saw them meet Bentley in a game without panel umpires. The previous season had witnessed one of the worst batting displays in club history as we failed to chase down 79 at Bentley. This fixture could not have been more different.

Bentley won the toss and put us into bat. Openers Yeats and Syed Hassan put on a century partnership for the first wicket before Syed fell for 42 quickly followed by Chris Whitworth. Max Baulcomb added a rapid 24, but Gul joined Ben at the crease and added runs at an incredible rate. Gul was flaying the ball to all parts with Ben approaching another century himself happy to rotate the strike and admire the carnage. Gul fell for 78 from just 52 balls and Ben for 111 as we made a very impressive 295-7.

Harlow knew the dangermen were opening bat Henry Burns and number 3 Phil Coleman and so it proved. Burns should have gone before getting off the mark as a pre-set plan worked perfectly until the catch went begging. He went on to make 53 before Sarfaraz bamboozled him with his ‘wrong un’. As temperatures rose (on the field and in the skies) Phil Coleman was batting at his aggressive best. At 220-3 and with plenty of overs in hand a Bentley win was a real concern.

Jake turned to Paddy Matthews who followed the instructions to bowl outside Coleman’s off stump to the letter. The Bentley player tried to drag the ball towards the bowls club boundary only to pick out Abi Farooq who took a critical catch. Coleman departed for a superb 87 and with him went Bentley’s hopes. Paddy proceeded to run through their lower order as the visitors lost their last 7 wickets for just 13 runs as Harlow triumphed.

Paddy had taken his First XI best figures of 4-29 whilst Sarfaraz and Chris grabbed two wickets each.

A trip to Hornchurch Athletic followed and another fantastic game and Harlow performance took the points.

Batting first Hornchurch made hay on a sweltering afternoon, as despite 3-51 from Paddy Matthews the home side made 270-9 in their 50 overs.

Despite the early loss of two wickets Harlow did well to keep the run rate in check at around 6 to 7 an over. Once again, Ben Yeats was anchoring the innings with support from Max Baulcomb who made an excellent 48 (from 46 balls). The match winning partnership occurred when Tom Garner joined Ben and together they batted superbly.

Every time the run rate looked like rising one of them would hammer a boundary. The closer to the finish they got the less the run rate seemed to be an issue. With three overs to go Hornchurch brought on their talented young opening bowler but Garner and Yeats gorged on the extra pace and took 18 runs to virtually clinch the game. Tom managed to run himself out for 78 (from 62 balls) whilst Ben decided his ridiculous way to get out was a reverse sweep for a second consecutive score of 111.

Gul and Abi despatched the winning runs with six balls to spare. A superb run chase and victory.

Six games into the season and Harlow were right up their challenging for the title. Now began nine consecutive Time Games that would define our season.

It started so well.

Ardleigh Green were the next visitors to enjoy the gorgeous Marigolds backdrop and they decided to bat having won the toss. Abi Farooq made an early breakthrough but it was Sarfaraz who, not for the first time, proved to be Green’s nemesis. The little left armer captured 4-44 in 16 overs, more than backed up by fellow spinners Jake Messenger (3-29) and Chris Whitworth (2-47). Paddy Matthews kept the pressure up from the other end with his 6 overs costing just 13 runs as the visitors stumbled to just 167 all out.

Yeats and Whitworth added 91 for the first wicket before both fell with the score on 90 (Chris making 54 and Ben 31). Max Baulcomb with 40 * and Tom Garner 35 ensured a comfortable 6 wicket win.

The following week Harlow won in even more convincing style as they hosted South Woodford. The visitors batted first and collectively struggled, with the exception of Bikram Singh who made 76, as they could only make 172 all out with 8 unused overs. All the bowlers were on the money again but it was Sarfaraz who was the stand out with 4-35 in 13 overs.

Run chases had become second nature to Harlow by this stage of the season with all ghosts of previous campaigns apparently banished. Chris Whitworth made his maiden century for the club reaching his century in style with the six to win the match whilst Ben Yeats made a more circumspect 69 not out.

At this point Harlow were in third and well clear of the rest of the table as they chased the unbeaten Springfield and Barking.

Next up a very difficult fixture away to Barking on a pitch notoriously challenging to bat on. Bowlers who fired it into the deck and let the pitch do the rest were the order of the day as Chris Whitworth (3-52), Paddy Matthews (2-27) and Abi Farooq (2-27) showed. The slower spinners took some tap from the Barking batsmen, most notably their Indian overseas star Chadha who made a half century. Harlow were content to have dismissed their hosts for 212 but it wasn’t going to be easy and arguably avoiding defeat was a decent outcome in the conditions.

In fairness, Barking bowled superbly making use of the variable bounce and sideways movement and tied down Harlow’s batsmen from the off. Yeats made 37 and Syed Hassan 47* but no batsman was able to score at a strike rate of more than 50 (per hundred balls) as we settled for a draw.

Fellow promotion chasing Newham were the next to appear at Marigolds in a terrific match. Harlow were put into bat and they certainly made use of a glorious wicket. Ben Yeats carried his bat throughout the innings making a career best 140 not out. Steadily accelerating through the 50 overs Ben launched having reached three figures taking 22 of the final over alone. He was superbly supported by Syed Hassan (59) and Gul Hassan (59 from 44 balls) along with a late cameo from Max Baulcomb who added 19 (from 15 balls). The Harlow total of 294-3 looked mighty impressive but could they bowl Newham out for the important win?

The early signs were very good as Abi Farooq and Joe Riddell bowled extremely well to reduce the visitors to 51-3. Unfortunately, Newham skipper Mirza batted brilliantly to make 107 and although wickets fell at the other end he found a strong ally in Wasim Majeed who saw Newham to the draw as they blocked out the final overs reaching 261-7. Farooq was the pick of the bowlers with 3-59 with Riddell 2-62 but the key element was the fact the spinners could only collectively claim a single wicket on the day.

The two consecutive draws had left Harlow slightly adrift of the top two but in truth they were superbly placed to make a serious promotion bid as with 9 games to go they had already played all of the top 10 in the table bar leaders Springfield. A succession of games against sides at the lower end of the table offered a glorious chance to overcome those ahead of us.

A trip to winless Rainham was next and all looked to be going accordingly to plan as the spinners destroyed the home sides batting heavy line up. Sarfaraz took 4-33, Whitworth 3-9 and Messenger 2-22 as we bowled Rainham out for just 104 in 31 overs.

The first hint of a problem was, despite their domination in the field, many of the Harlow batsmen walked off at the interval complaining about how bad the pitch was playing. Surely, we could make 104 and claim the win?

Fifteen overs later we had our answer and disastrously it was a fairly abject no they couldn’t. The pitch was horrible and the bowling from one end quick and hostile but our effort to repel the home side was pretty spineless in the circumstances. Fifty-one all out can’t be dressed up as anything else.

The was a pivotal moment in the season. It wasn’t just the defeat or even the manner of it but the feeling that we had blown a golden opportunity and now were 40 odd points adrift of the top two sides.

There is no doubt that the Rainham game carried over the following week and arguably much longer. The West Essex game at Marigolds was arguably a worse performance and equally as damaging. With all respect to the visitors but they brought a very average side and one that should have been despatched with ease, even without the bedridden Chris Whitworth.

Having won the toss Harlow decided to bat to seek a 25-point win to try and catch up the leading sides. It was just a mess. Ben top scored with 24 and Tom made 22 but that was about it as we crashed to 112 all out. After the batting we had produced so far that season, the batting in this game and the week before was perplexing.

Jake tried manfully to muster a response in the field and West Essex certainly were wobbling but important catches went down and we lost by 5 wickets in a depressing defeat.

Any thoughts of promotion looked like fantasy and everybody felt that it would take a miracle to recover the damage of the previous fortnight. Harlow had slipped down the table and one of the sides moving above them were their next opponents, Woodford Green.

Having been put into bat Harlow faced a team who placed eight men on the boundary from a very early stage. Run scoring became a grind but Yeats anchored the innings to make another century (106) whilst Syed Hassan made an attacking 68 and Munim 39 as we posted 240-6. It looked a decent score but home supporters scoffed, claiming nothing less than 300 was defendable on their small ground.

At 136 without loss the Harlow contingent were probably agreeing with the local sages. When Jake broke the partnership it looked nothing more than a consolation but suddenly things began to happen. Chris Whitworth struck three times in two overs including taking a superb return catch off former Harlow player Hafiz Yawar Afzal and two balls later snaring another thanks to a blindingly good slip catch.

The home side still looked massive favourites and several heads were scratched when the onlooking Head Coach, Luke Heskett, encouraged the use of Max Baulcomb for his first bowl of the season. The Harlow giant trundled in, found some extra bounce and a smidge of sideways movements and would you know it he’d nicked off Green’s star batsman, Husnan Kazmi.

The Woodford ranks had gone from feet up, enjoyable chit chat to barely able to look as Harlow’s spinners continued to take wickets. The only result that looked impossible was a draw with Harlow needing 2 wickets and Green 21 runs with 8 overs left. Dave Roberts dug in for the home side and looked to be taking his side to the win but he was bowled by Whitworth with 10 needed to win and now anything was possible.

Somehow the Green last pair lost the will to play an attacking shot despite encouragement from their teammates. Staggeringly, it went to the final over with six needed to win. Chris Whitworth (pick of the bowling with 5-71) was given the task of clinching the win. Every ball he bowled was met with a mighty heave of a Green bat that struck nothing but fresh air as the ball somehow, almost as if under some wicked Epping Forest spell, managed to just miss the stumps. Five times in a row the same type of delivery with the same result. Harlow fielders were crowded around the bat for the final ball – just one wicket please!!!!

Another ridiculous swing, a clothed misconnection that landed safely and somehow a draw. For Harlow it was a remarkable fight back, inspired in no small part by the presence of Luke and the Fourth XI who stopped off offering vocal support to their club mates having finished their game early at Loughton. Woodford Green just could not fathom how they had failed to win but in the cold light of day the result did neither side any favours.

A trip to Goresbrook followed and a side who were in amazing form going from the lower half of the league to fourth with a string of wins. The home side batted first and Harlow got on top reducing them to 87-4 on what looked a fine batting strip. Any advantage slipped away from us with a fairly poor effort in the field and some disappointing bowling. Sarfaraz took 4-86 but most of the attack were expensive as our hosts reached 263-7.

For once, Yeats was frustrated into giving his wicket away by some clever field settings as we made a sluggish start to the chase. Chris Whitworth got through a difficult start to top score with 71 as Munim (29), Gul (29), Tom (37) and Abi (34*) all tried to force things along. Credit to Harlow and Jake as we knew a draw was of no value and ignored what would have been the easy option of batting for the draw. Everything was thrown at reaching the target but we fell short bowled out for 237.

After such a poor run of results the only objective now was to get back on track and improve our position of eighth to move away from any danger of dropping into the bottom half of the table and all that would mean.

Roding Valley were next to visit and given their lowly status in the table Harlow elected to force a 25-point win by batting first. Ben made 47 and Max 53 but Tom Garner was the star of the show with a superb 76 not out from 59 balls as we posted 238-5.

Roding Valley started their innings cautiously but at 108-2 were really well placed to achieve an upset. With the loss of their third wicket the visitors lost any remaining conviction they could win and bizarrely decided to hold out for a draw that did them no good whatsoever. It was a day for spin but with Chris Whitworth still unable to bowl with a hand injury and Jake unavailable our four strong spin options were reduced to Sarfaraz and Ben.

The pair bowled 28 overs between them and almost forced the win with Sarfaraz taking 4-43 and Ben 3-24. With the game heading for a draw stand in skipper Ben turned to Abi who produced a notable spell of hostility that claimed a wicket and definitely rattled the lower order batsmen – literally with balls crashing into helmets and ribs. So defensive were the Valley players it just proved impossible to shift them as they closed on 161-8 despite Harlow rushing through their overs in the final hour.

Thankfully, with Harlow now in serious jeopardy of being engaged in a fight for a top half place, the last four matches returned to their favoured Overs games. They won the lot!

A visit to Redbridge was next and with the greatest respect the wicket was about the same standard as the Marigolds outfield. A delighted and relieved Jake won the toss and inserted our hosts (a nicer bunch you couldn’t wish to meet but a First XI standard cricket team they definitely were not).

Jake opened the bowling with Sarfaraz delayed and claimed two immediate wickets whilst Abi did superbly for a direct hit run out. Joe Riddell claimed a quick brace and the home side were 9-5 and in desperate straits. Sarfaraz arrived as the sixth wicket fell – he may as well have turned around and gone home although he did snare a victim for himself before the end of the innings which totalled a mere 49 all out. Jake had 3-20, Joe 2-7, Abi 2-8, Sarfaraz 1-7 and Paddy 1-4 as all the bowlers got a piece of the wicket action.

Yeats and Whitworth faired rather better on the surface despite the extreme variable bounce as they calmly struck eleven boundaries between them to reach the target in 5.4 overs with Ben 28* and Chris 20*. The entire game done and dusted in 28 overs.

Next up a trip to the Leyton County Ground and league newcomers Neo.

Jake inserted the home side and then repeated his trick of the previous week by dismissing two top order batsmen. Joe Riddell was outstanding and bowled both of the home sides best batters for next to nothing and Harlow were dominant with Neo 57-5. I’m afraid more poor fielding and catching allowed Neo to escape to a respectable 220 all out. It should have been half that total. Jake, Joe and Chris all grabbed two wickets each.

A tricky run chase was made to look very comfortable as openers Yeats and Whitworth dominated the opposition. They targeted the leading wicket taker of Neo and smashed him out the attack and then tormented the other bowlers using 360-degree batting. Chris made 68 before he perished and Ben 49 before he engaged in some jug avoidance (although from the language as he stormed into the dressing room I doubt that was forefront in his mind).

Any potential for a slip up were put to bed by Syed Hassan who batted fluently and aggressively to make an undefeated 51 from 46 supported by Abi who held up the other end in fine style for an 8-wicket win.

The First XI made their final Marigolds appearance on the penultimate day of the season as they faced Walthamstow in front of a packed crowd that included many former greats of the club attending the Vice Presidents Club dinner.

The early stages were firmly with Harlow as they reduced the visitors to 148-7 after a fine opening spell from Joe Riddell and then six wickets shared between spinners Sarfaraz and Messenger. When Sarfaraz took his fifth wicket with the scoreboard reading 164-8 the job looked to be complete but Walthamstow skipper Asif Bala had other ideas. Batting with number 10 Chris Smart they put the Harlow bowling to the sword and as things became increasing ragged in the field the runs piled up. A total of 297-9 was at least a hundred more than it should have been, not helped in the least by an incredible 40 wides!!!

Once again, one has to give credit to this Harlow side. In the circumstances it would have been easy to capitulate after the shambles at the end of the Walthamstow innings. A good start was required and that’s exactly what Harlow got from the reliable combination of Whitworth & Yeats who scored freely until Chris was bowled by a ball that kept low for 31 from just 18 balls. Ben was in sublime form and another century looked to be on the cards until their overseas Sri Lankan star got one to swing and nip and trap him leg before for 61.

Syed Hassan maintained the run rate at around 7 an over as he also batted beautifully in making 55. A couple of ducks in the middle order put us on the back foot but Gul Hassan and Abi Farooq fired back. Gul was his destructive best adding 63 from just 47 balls but when he departed with the score on 253-6 the game was very much in the balance.

The picture darkened once more for Harlow as a double strike left us 258-8 and in trouble. Abi Farooq then played an innings of outstanding maturity as he defended stoutly but plundered anything loose. In Joe Riddell he had an ideal partner. Abi farmed the strike but Joe became increasingly confident and with the field up was able to release pressure with several boundaries of his own. Abi made 53 not out and Joe 13 not out as we surpassed the first innings score with over 2 overs to spare. A magnificent 2 wicket win.

A final day trip to league champions Springfield concluded the calendar for 2022. The home side were coming off only their second defeat of the season and despite missing three key players were determined to bring skipper, Lee Brooks, long reign as captain to a fitting end.

Harlow provided a deserved guard of honour to greet the Springfield team onto the outfield at the start of proceedings and then immediately tore into them with the bat.

Ben Yeats and Chris Whitworth were staggeringly dominant against a bowling attack that had the best economy rate by far in the league. It became like a constant reel of highlight clips with some superb shots. Chris Whitworth in particular was literally destroying anything bowled at him. Having reached his half century Chris went into overdrive and some 27 balls later was celebrating his second century of the season. All achieved before mid-innings drinks with the score rapidly approaching 200.

The Whitworth barrage was ended on 118 from 93 balls and some semblance of order was restored. On his final appearance in Harlow colours, Ben Yeats brought up his record breaking sixth league century of the season during which he had gone well beyond Ahmed Khawaja’s achievement of most league runs in a season from 2010 for Harlow. A final kiss of the club badge on his helmet was a fitting end before he departed for 101.

There was still time for Max to make 22 and Abi to play some stunning shots as he made 31 not out from 22 balls as we totalled a huge 328-7.

Whilst a little shell shocked, Springfield looked determined to have a proper go at chasing down the total. Joe Riddell did most to restrict their hitting bowling 10 superb overs on the bounce, taking 2-26 including both key batsmen.

Springfield rattled along, helped by more less that average fielding at times, but wickets continued to fall and as the game drew to a close it was clear Harlow would be victorious. Some late blows merely reduced the size of the win rather than threatening the Harlow total. Sarfaraz, Paddy and Chris took two wickets each to compliment Joe’s efforts at the start of the innings. A very good win to close the season and results on the final day elsewhere enabled Harlow to take 4th place in the table.

The 2022 First XI season is very hard to sum up because any answer to how they performed has to be nuanced with several factors considered. They were superb at times, overachieved to get themselves into a great position to seriously challenge for promotion, but having got into that position they have to be disappointed in the way it slipped away. In Overs cricket they had no peer but in Time cricket a combination of their own limitations and some pretty bad luck did for them.

The one thing that has to be said about this group is that to a man they are great people and an absolute privilege to share Saturdays with. Whilst several of the group produced outstanding returns, every single player contributed to the various victories. They were one of the youngest sides in the division and with some fine talent coming through the lower XI’s and the EPP there is no reason they can’t achieve a promotion challenging campaign next year.

Ben was by far the leading run scorer in the division and Chris Whitworth also made the Top 10 in that department. Only Grant Roelofsen (Billericay and Essex) scored more runs than Ben in the entire league. Sarfaraz Ahmed was in the top 3 wicket takers in the division and fifth highest in all the league.

Yet stats don’t tell the whole story. The Harlow middle order, with only a couple of exceptions at Rainham & the West Essex game, were superb. Gul Hassan, Tom Garner and Max Baulcomb all scored at better than a run a ball across the summer. Syed Hassan also played some excellent attacking cricket, in particular during the latter part of the season.

The volume of run scoring from this group was unprecedented and far beyond anything in recent years at the club. Several scores of around 300 or more batting first and some huge successful run chases including a couple in excess of 275. In the overs format the bowlers kept the opposition runs down in difficult batting friendly conditions and the batters knocked whatever we needed to chase. There were many memorable and exciting matches to enjoy.

In the bowling department it was a season for the spinners but Abi Farooq, Paddy Matthews and Joe Riddell all had tremendous match winning performances with the ball and Abi’s batting improved markedly. The spinners took over one hundred wickets between them and bowled the majority of the overs. The value of Chris Whitworth with bat, ball and in the field was felt throughout the season. Sarfaraz remained the class act with the ball.

Andre Riddell retained his place as one of the leading glove men in the division along with Manny Singh at Springfield. Most pleasing was the improvement in his batting. Although not given that many opportunities due to the top order runs, when called upon Dre properly applied himself to the task and he added important runs.

A final word for skipper Jake, Director of Cricket Simon Baulcomb and Head Coach Luke Heskett. Under their stewardship the First XI has shown remarkable improvement and the next generation of First XI players can be seen making their way already through the lower XI’s and EPP. It takes a long time to turn an oil tanker but it’s clear that the Harlow ship is turning and isn’t far away at all from pointing in the direction of Division Two. Huge thanks also to Cliff Clark for producing the best wicket in the league and a constant supply of tea and biscuits to the score box and to Paul Fisk for some excellent training drills, support to Cliff and being ever willing to be on hand for all things first aid related.

This is likely to be my last lengthy article as I pack my coloured pens and head with Ben to Fives next season. It has been an absolute privilege to be given the opportunity to spend my summers with the First XI for the past four seasons. I’ve loved virtually every moment (okay not Bentley away last year and Rainham this season!!).

In 2023 I truly hope everyone at Harlow CC follows the advice of the legendary England captain Eoin Morgan’s video message to the club “Lick a stamp and send it guys!!!”

Final League Position – 4th (out of 20)

Top Run Scorers

1225 Ben Yeats
699 Chris Whitworth
423 Syed Hassan
333 Gul Hassan
304 Tom Garner
252 Max Baulcomb

Best Average

87.50 Ben Yeats
46.60 Chris Whitworth
46.00 Abdullah Farooq
37.00 Gul Hassan
30.21 Syed Hassan

Top Individual Innings – 140* Ben Yeats

Top Wicket Takers

45 Sarfaraz Ahmed
31 Chris Whitworth
23 Abdullah Farooq
21 Jake Messenger
15 Paddy Matthews
13 Joe Riddell

Best Economy

3.87 Sarfaraz Ahmed
4.36 Ben Yeats
4.63 Chris Whitworth
4.71 Jake Messenger
4.73 Abdullah Farooq
4.74 Joe Riddell

Best Individual Bowling – 5-44 Abdullah Farooq

Most Outfield Dismissals – 16 Andre Riddell

Playing Record P19 W11 D4 L4

Overall Assessment – Superb Start and Finish to the Season. Time Games Cost Us Promotion