1st XI Report
Hot Day, Hard Lessons: Harlow Fall to Neo at Marigolds
On what felt like the hottest day of the season, Harlow’s unbeaten run came to an end at Marigolds with a humbling defeat at the hands of a strong Neo CC side, led by a stunning century from Ajinkya Patil, a Ranji Trophy, First Class player. The visitors racked up 331-5 in their allocated overs, before bowling Harlow out for 157, handing the home side a 174-run defeat.

Remarkably, despite the loss, Harlow only slipped one place to second in Division Three, with all other results going their way. But with just 31 points separating the entire table after 7 games, the team will know that another defeat could see them fall as low as seventh.

Having won the toss, skipper Tom Garner chose to field a decision that might have raised some eyebrows, not least due to the sweltering conditions and a deck that promised runs. It had shades of England putting India in at Headingley but Harlow backed themselves to chase.

The pitch initially offered some variable bounce, but it soon flattened into a batting paradise, and Harlow were made to toil. Neo’s top order was cautious early, but once Ajinkya Patil got going, there was no looking back.

The Indian first-class cricketer put on a batting masterclass 166 off 125 balls, including 11 fours and 10 sixes hitting all around the ground and never allowing the bowlers to settle. Alongside him, Hasan Mahmud played an excellent supporting role, finishing unbeaten on 91 as Neo completed their innings with an imposing 331-5.

The bowling figures told the story. Chris Whitworth (2-96), Joe Riddell, and Rhys Stewart each picked up a wicket, but Neo’s batters dominated from 10 overs onwards which was a combination of the heat, dropped catches, and sheer class from Patil.

In truth, the fielding effort wasn’t good enough. Singles flowed too easily, a couple of chances went begging, and the body language faded as the temperature soared.

Faced with a mountain to climb, Harlow needed a fast start but instead, they got a setback. Chris Whitworth nicked off for 0 after a 15-ball stay. David Waters (23) looked fluent before falling, and although Matt Hurley (28) played some trademark strokes, he couldn’t push on.

The middle order collapsed in the face of some tight bowling and Harlow were 78-8 and in danger of folding completely.

But there were two shining lights. George Jessey played with composure and patience for his 35, building the only substantial partnership of the innings with Joe Riddell, who very nearly brought up his first 1st XI fifty before falling for a very well-made 45 caught at slip just as hopes of a milestone grew. The pair added some pride to the scorecard, and nearly prevented a Neo victory but unfortunately, the efforts were in vain as Harlow finished on 157 all out.

There’s no dressing this up, this was a tough loss. Harlow were outplayed in all departments and looked jaded in the heat. But the squad will take the lesson and move forward. Importantly, they’re still very much in the hunt at the top end of the table, and this league is wide open.

The response must come quickly though as a difficult away trip to West Essex awaits this Saturday, where Harlow will look to bounce back and keep themselves in the title picture.

Match Summary:
Neo CC – 331-5 dec (Patil 166, Mahmud 91*, Whitworth 2-96)
Harlow CC – 157 all out (Joe Riddell 45, George Jessey 35, Azhar Rabby 4-34, Zeeshan Khan 4-36)
Result – Neo CC won by 174 runs
Points – Neo 25, Harlow 4

2nd XI Report
Harlow CC 2nd XI Claim Victory in Sweltering Conditions:

The scorcher of a day saw temperatures soaring well above 25°C by late morning, turning the Old County Ground into a test of endurance. Harlow’s bowlers—more accustomed to temperate English weather—found the hot, sticky air slow down their pace and sharpness. Precise yorkers lacked bite, and run rates climbed as fatigue set in. The relentless sun contributed to a total of 279/8 in the first innings. Nevertheless, the bowlers dug in, rotating the attack and showing spirit despite visibly tiring limbs.

When Harlow came out to chase, the side started slow and run rate climbing. Zabi struggled to put the ball away scoring 19 of 44 balls. Munim scored 41 surviving multiple lbw appeals. Ronnie was promoted to bat number 3 and scored 36 of 35 balls. Harlow relied heavily on resilience and a composed partnership. Soulat Ali and Waheed Azam stepped onto the pitch with focus and grit. Their stand of 120+ runs steadied the chase (after losing Alfie and Rizwan in quick succession) , lapping up boundaries and punishing loose balls. Sunni anchored the innings with careful strokeplay, while Waheed with brisk running between the wickets and finding the boundary regularly —building momentum without risking rash shots.

Their effort turned the tide. Just as opponents sensed a collapse, this duo etched their names onto what became the winning stand, crossing off the target with an over to spare and sealing a memorable win.

The match proved that adaptability is as important as skill: Harlow’s bowlers battled through the tough conditions, and the batting heroes navigated the chase with calm and composure.

A real team effort with two stand-out performances—one battling the heat with the ball, and the other turning the chase into a display of resolve and teamwork.

3rd XI Report

Harlow faced a tough trip away to top of the league Brentwood who haven’t lost a game all season. We lost the toss and batted first and we lost a couple of early wickets with not a lot of runs on the board. Dip was still batting trying to score some runs even tho he was running out of partners. Dip batted superbly batting all the 50 overs and scoring 94 not out, also making sure they field for the full 50 in the hot temperatures. We ended up on 176 thanks to Dip!!

Dip 94*, Simon 22, Faz 20

Our bowling got off to a very good start with both Harris and Jahaur bowling superbly by keeping it nice and tight, after 14 overs they were 28/1 with the pressure increasing on Brentwood. Throughout the innings our bowlers continued to keep it tight and pick up wickets with us taking some very good catches one being Harris on the boundary off the bowling of Tyler. Brentwood ended up chasing the score but with only 5 overs left of the game meaning that we put in a good effort to make the game so close.

T Dobson 3/52, J Afaq 1/37, A Moiz 0/27, F Javed 0/30, H Hamid 0/32

4th XI Report

Harlow won the toss and without hesitation batted first. Hot day, fast outfield, flat pitch big score expected, however, we never really got going and despite a hard hitting quickfire blast from Oliver Allen (55) off of 32 balls, Ryan Williams (35) and Jon Allen (36) and a fine knock by Freno Fahad (47) we managed to slip to 236 all out in 42 overs when 280 looked more a realistic score to defend.

In reply our visitors looked positive from the outset with boundaries galore going on every over.
Harlow battled well and Ryan Williams (2-47) and Oliver Allen (4-51 off 12.1 overs) shared 23 overs. The latter bowling a hostile spell taking 3 quick wickets to get us back in the game. Couple of very contentious LBW's one from Jon Allen's bowling could have easily gone our way and the other off of Oliver's. Jon, Freno and Sam Robinson all picked up a wicket too in our quest for what would have been our 2nd win of the season
It was not to be, Loughton sneaked home by 1 wicket which turned out to be a great game but for losing so closely.

5th XI Report

On what seems to be a regular occurrence now, another blisteringly hot Saturday on the pitch that looked ideal for bowling on, Harlow won the toss and decided to have a field first.

Potter Street got off to a flyer and quickly started putting some runs on the board. After his 3rd over, Jamie Gordon got his first wicket for Harlow with a excellent caught and bowled giving Harlow some hope even with the high heat on the day.

A change of bowling and taking the pace off the ball Harlow managed to slow down the run rate and get a sense of control and confidence back.

Wickets started to fall at regular intervals again but some big hitting from the tail got them up to 311 all out. Wickets were shared around between the bowlers

A Dack 2-51
F Crook 2-36
B. Dack 2- 40

When we stepped out to bat, Harlow started well with a quick flurry of boundaries but then the wickets started to fall, but runs were coming and a superb performance anchoring the innings from Waleed Ahmed (79). Waleed struck the ball well and found the gaps with ease. Not only was his own performance a class act, you could see him constantly giving advice to his batting partners, to try and get the most out of the situation!

The main highlight from the Harlow innings was the partnership between Oscar Syrett and Waleed. When Oscar stepped out the crease Harlow were in a spot of trouble, but together they put on an amazing partnership. Their hard work and graft gave us some respect to the score passing 200 for the first time this year. Another really pleasing achievement. You can really see the improvement in the team and if we can get all elements together we can’t be far away from the first win

But the day belonged to Oscar and Waleed. A super innings from both and with that being Oscar's first 50 for Harlow to add the the three catches in the match. Waleed hitting 79 in only his second game for club.
A very special thing to be able to be there to see that on the day

On to the next one ……… ?

Oscar Syrett - 54*
Waleed Ahmed - 79