Monday 13 July
Under-13s
David Bradford (Essex Cup) Final
Played at Loughton CC
Chelmsford
Woodford Wells
(Chelmsford won by 7 runs)
122-3
115-7
Chelmsford’s under-13s broke new ground as they won the David Bradford trophy for the first time. A
brilliant fighting performance in the field gave Chelmsford victory in a thrilling match.
Both sides started in nervous fashion with Chelmsford’s openers Angus Turner and Harris Mahmood
struggling to get going. Some extras eventually got the scoreboard moving and Mahmood began to
play in his usual fluent manner.
At the halfway stage Chelmsford had 42 but at least had all their wickets intact. A couple of fine
boundaries from Mahmood took him to 30 and retirement after 12 overs. Reid-Evans made life
difficult, giving nothing away and picking up the first wicket of the night in a tidy spell of one for 12
from his four overs.
Miles Clark (9) raised the tempo but then ran himself out and Turner found his confidence but on
reaching 30 had to retire. Ben Clifford (12*) hammered two fours and a two from the last three balls to
get the final total up to 122. This represented a useful score although Chelmsford would have hoped
for more, particularly given a contribution of 36 extras.
The chase got off to the most horrendous start for Chelmsford, Reid-Evans and McDermott taking 15
from the first four balls. Good bowling from James Seager and Aaron Beard at least slowed things
down and Beard removed Reid-Evans (16).
This brought Styles to the crease and he hit two of his first three balls for four. His pace barely
slackened and another acceleration carried the score to 71 for one from 9 overs. The game changed
when McDermott (18) holed out to Mahmood off Seager. With Styles near retirement, there would
soon be two new batsmen at the crease.
Styles went for a huge hit on 29 knowing that he would have to go anyway, only to have his stumps
shattered by Ben Clifford. Clifford’s (2-25) second spell of three overs two for nine was a superb
comeback after his first over, the 11-year old showing impressive character.
Turner brought himself into the attack at the other end and kept up the pressure on the batsmen.
Chelmsford’s fielding intensity at this point was outstanding, characterised most of all by Hugo
Skepelhorn and Tanner Bailey, who swept the square boundaries superbly.
Ben Clifford was also fielding brilliantly and took an excellent low catch off Turner when the ball
could easily have gone for four. That left Wells needing 26 from four overs with five wickets left.
Skepelhorn bowled a tidy over, conceding five and Turner conceded just four from the first five balls
of the 18th over. Caplan (13) went for a boundary and launched the ball to long on; with all eyes on
him and the boundary close behind, Mahmood held a brilliant steepling catch. That meant Turner
finished with two for 13 from his spell.
Beard’s final over conceded another five and contained a cool run out, leaving Wells needing 12 from
the last over with seven wickets down. Seager (1-8)) kept his nerve for most of the over and they could
only garner four.
Overall, this was a great match for Chelmsford. They did not hit the heights achieved in the semi-final
but showed real courage to come back from a difficult situation. The fielding held together brilliantly
in the circumstances and the team should be really proud of their display.
Chelmsford Team
Harris Mahmood, Angus Turner (*), James Seager, Miles Clark (+), Dan Benson, Ben Clifford, Tanner
Bailey, Matthew Davis, Hugo Skepelhorn, Aaron Beard, Harry Green, James Cllifford