Harlow CC First XI bounced straight back to winning ways on Saturday away to relegation threatened Stanford le Hope. The match was dominated by a fabulous spell of 12.3 consecutive overs from Harlow paceman Joe Riddell. The right armer recorded the best Harlow First XI bowling figures for 51 years and the third best on record at this level in the clubs history.

Riddell slots in just behind Harlow greats, Fred Silcock (1959) and Ray Day (1975) in the record books with his 8-58.

Earlier in the day Harlow were asked to bat first having lost the toss and would have been shocked when the opening delivery pitched on a good length and shot through at ankle height. It was an ominous omen of what was to come from a surface of hugely variable bounce making batting a testing exercise.

Harlow lost early wickets and despite a very promising 21 from 16 year old debutant Billy Clark found themselves in trouble at 52-3.

A stabilising partnership was required between skipper Ben Yeats and Gull Hassan and the pair produced exactly that. Playing well within themselves to reduce risks in the challenging conditions expansive shots were shelved in favour of run accumulation.

By the time Gull edged to keeper Page for 47 Harlow had achieved a dominant position after a 105 run partnership. Yeats progressed to another half century but lost his wicket for 76 attempting to push the pace towards a declaration.

It was two further Harlow youngsters in Alfie Jessey and Ronnie Fuller who boosted the innings to a point where the captain could declare early. Jessey played with class and judgement to make an outstanding 52 from just 36 balls. His quality of shot selection and execution belied his youth. Alfie was superbly supported by Ronnie who added an impressive 25 not out that included some hard hitting boundaries. Harlow declared on 246-5 after 46 overs allowing themselves extra time to dismiss the opposition in this time format fixture. The additional overs were not required!

The home side opened their innings with a clubbing boundary but Harlow seamer Joe Riddell struck back immediately in the opening over forcing Willats to mistime a drive straight into the hands of Hassan at mid off.

At the other end spinner Jake Messenger made an impressive start and he was rewarded by trapping opener Ellis caught bat pad for a duck. Riddell bowled Robertson, who played a shot he won’t want to watch back, before Jack Fuller found extra bounce to nick off danger man Carter for 30.

With the home side struggling at 66-4 the Stanford answer was to up the aggression level as balls flew to the boundary. Riddell bowled Knight for his third wicket and then proceeded to tear through the home batting. In an epic unbroken spell of 12.3 overs Riddell just kept producing wicket taking deliveries.

Only Lewis (28) showed any modicum of lengthy resistance but he was excellently caught on the legside boundary by Messenger and the flood gates opened. Riddell just wasn’t to be denied as he grabbed the final six wickets to end with a much deserved eight wicket haul.

A place in the club record books for Riddell but for Harlow a maximum 25 point win that coupled with other favourable results sees them close to within just 5 points of the promotion places as we head into the second half of the campaign.