The 1s finished their successful Premier League season with defeat away to Colchester. After choosing to bat first, we could only reach 152 all out; with Muz top scoring with 35. With the ball, George Clark burgled his 1st (and most probably his last) PL wicket but he was unable to stop Colchester cruising to a 6 wicket win and the runners up spot ahead of Brentwood. Despite the, somewhat, disappointing end to the season, no one can deny us the title.

The 2s signed off their season with a 1 wicket win over Colchester as they chased down 213. The wickets were shared around by 5 bowlers, with skipper Frankie leading the way with 3-20, as Colchester were bowled out for 212. It was the Barney show with the bat as Tommy (78) and Freddie (54*) got us close to the target before a late collapse saw us 9 down but TC and Fred saw us over the line. It was another good team performance; which has been the main reason they won the league and bounced back to the Premier League.

The 3s continued their good end to the season with a 5 wicket win over Oakfield Parkonians as they secured a 4th place finish. All 7 bowlers used took wickets with skipper Palmer leading the way with 3-39. After a season-long struggle with the bat and gloves, maybe bowling is the way forward and will help him ‘feel good’. Abhi anchored our reply with a well-crated 86 and Palmer rounded off his best day in a HCC shirt with an unbeaten 443 as we won with time to spare.

The 4s went down to Westcliff knowing they had to win and hope results elsewhere went their way. We held up our end of the bargain with a 137-run win. Batting first, The top 9 all reached double figures as we posted 278 all out. Usama top scored with 44 but he was supported by Gary Barnacle (39), 14 year-old Joseph Ross (37) and Ed Warren. Ed took 2 wickets in the reply as did Omari. However, star of the show was 15 year-old Zain Moghul. His best ever HCC figures of 4-37 saw us roll the home side out for 141. One of the results did go our way but, ultimately, the points we lost to an admin error saw us relegated by just 4 points.

The 5s rounded off their season with a 73-run reverse at Billericay. Some big hitting from Aswin and Jayesh saw the home side finish up on 273/4 from their 40 overs as the youthful bowling attack took some tap. Highlight of the day was Dougie’s 5 over spell; which sadly didn’t bring the 87 year old a wicket. In reply, Vikram Kumar and Billy Whitlock both looked good before getting out. Skipper Farquhar continued his good end-of-season form with a blistering 64 off just 31 balls but it wasn’t;t enough as we were bowled out for 200. However, the aim for the team this seasons as to successfully integrate a number of youngsters into senior cricket and, from that point, the season has been a roaring success.

On Sunday, the 1s travelled to Brentwood in the League Cup semi final. Batting first we slipped to 80-5, which saw a few 1st teamers making a hasty retreat from the U13 cup final to the County Ground. However, an excellent stand of 132 between DIlly and Hanko saw us get up to a defendable total of 234. That total seemed okay at the half way point but things quickly changed when Brentwood raced to 135/0. Billy bowled well to go for us 28 off his 9 overs but the home side looked well set to cruise to victory. However, the entrance of Dilly and Gavin changed the game and we were soon on top. 154/1 soon became 194/8 and the home side began to feel the pressure. Dilly took 4-32 with Gav returning figures if 3-47. Thomas Moore then hit a brutal 24 off 11 balls as the game went down to the last over. Moore hit the 2nd ball of the over for a maximum meaning they needed 10 off 4 but the next ball, JP took a. Brilliant return catch to secure the win and put us into yet another final. The treble dream is still well and truly alive!