The 1st XI travelled away to Harlow this weekend in difficult conditions and came up against a strong side who made us work hard throughout the day. After losing the toss and being asked to field first, the bowlers showed great discipline and character to keep Harlow to 212 all out from 48.5 overs.

Hussey (Syed Hasnain Shah) was outstanding with the ball, producing a brilliant spell to finish with 5 wickets, consistently breaking partnerships and giving us momentum throughout the innings. Pratik also bowled really well, picking up 3 important wickets, while Fazal and Yazaan chipped in with one each.

In reply, we started positively with Hasnain Akram and Danial Mahmood putting pressure back on the opposition early. Sibet Hussain also looked in good touch, but regular wickets meant we were never able to build the partnerships needed to stay in control of the chase.

Despite the result not going our way, there were still positives to take from the performance, particularly with the ball and the attitude shown in the field throughout the day. Credit to Harlow who applied pressure well during the chase, but we’ll regroup quickly and look to respond strongly next weekend.

2ND XI – Hamza Mahmud (Captain)

Frenford 2nd XI were at home and lost the toss (again). Harlow elected to bat first but were bowled out for 154 off 31 overs.

Uwais took an early wicket and Bash got a hat-trick, taking out their middle order. Umer got a run out with some sharp fielding. Spin duo Adnan and Mo took the remaining 5 wickets to finish the innings.

Frenford chased the total in 16.3 overs with Haroon scoring 92 off 52 balls. Umair batted well supporting Haroon and then finished the game off well alongside Qasim.

3RD XI – Waqqas Naqvi (Captain)

The 3s struggled with the heat and against a spirited Billericay 3s side. The bowlers struggled with their lengths and Billericay amassed 274 for 6. Batting, we were never really in it, with the middle order struggling again.

4TH XI – Robert Rollins (Captain)

Frenford 4th XI produced a superb all-round performance away at Stanford Le Hope, posting an imposing 347/7 before bowling the hosts out for 156 to secure a dominant 191-run victory.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, the innings was built around an outstanding 124 from Faiz Naqvi and an excellent 80 from 14-year-old Ayaan Azam, with the pair taking the game away from the opposition through positive strokeplay and intelligent running between the wickets. Valuable contributions from Shoaib Khwaja (42), Maf Faheem (29) and an explosive unbeaten 37 from Adam Choudhary ensured Frenford finished strongly and set a huge target.

In reply, Stanford Le Hope started aggressively, but Frenford’s young attack responded brilliantly. The standout performance came from 13-year-old Isa Chaudhary, who produced a superb spell to claim his first ever five wicket haul in senior cricket, finishing with outstanding figures of 5-38 from 7 overs. Isa showed control, confidence and maturity beyond his years, repeatedly breaking partnerships and putting the opposition under pressure throughout the innings.

Behind the stumps, Stefi Tasi delivered another fine wicketkeeping display and continues to impress week after week. Her sharp glovework and safe hands resulted in four catches, rewarding the bowlers for maintaining pressure and helping Frenford stay in control throughout the innings.

One of the moments of the day came in the field, with Adam Choudhary taking an absolute world-class catch off the bowling of Maf Faheem. The catch removed a dangerous batter at an important stage of the innings and lifted the entire side with its quality and athleticism. Adam also contributed with the ball, taking 2 wickets to cap an excellent all-round performance.

There were further contributions from Ayaan Azam, Aadam Imtiaz and Maf Faheem with the ball, while the energy and intensity in the field remained high throughout the innings as Frenford completed a deserved team victory.

5TH XI – Razi Siddiqui (Captain)

We won the toss and elected to bat first on a very dry wicket with uneven bounce, which proved challenging for the batters throughout the innings. We had a difficult start, losing wickets regularly and finding ourselves struggling at 80 for 6 and it looked like we were well below a competitive total, but the lower order batters rebuild the innings.

The standout contribution came from Bhavyameet, who played a superb maiden 50. He was well supported by valuable lower-order contributions, helping us recover and post a respectable total of 229.

In response, Harold Wood also lost a couple of early wickets, giving us a positive start with the ball. However, they then put together a strong partnerships and at one stage appeared to be cruising towards victory. The game turned dramatically as Harold Wood’s middle order suffered a collapse. Our bowlers bowled brilliantly in the closing stages, defending 14 runs in the final three overs while taking three crucial wickets. The match went right down to the last over before Harold Wood were eventually bowled out, a thrilling victory for 5s.

Special mention to Bhavyameet for an outstanding all-round performance, following up his crucial fifty with an excellent spell with the ball. Hamdan bowled brilliant 2 overs at the end gave only 5 runs and took last wicket, Ibrahim also bowled well in middle overs.

A fantastic team effort and a great win for our youngsters.

KESTRELS 1ST XI – Fatima Imtiaz (Captain)

After winning the toss, we decided to bowl first and I thought the girls did a really good job throughout the innings of staying disciplined and building pressure consistently. Upminster battled well and had some good partnerships, but we managed to stay patient in the field and take wickets at important times to restrict them to 125/7 from their overs.

Our bowlers worked really hard as a unit and the energy in the field stayed high throughout. We also held our catches well and backed each other up in difficult conditions, which helped us maintain control during the middle overs.

A special mention has to go to Uswa Syed, who made her debut for the Kestrels today. Uswa settled into the side brilliantly, contributing with the ball and then playing an important role with the bat in helping build a strong opening partnership during the chase. She is clearly a very talented cricketer, but just as importantly, an excellent teammate who fitted straight into the group. We’re all really excited to see her continue developing with the Kestrels.

Chasing 126, the plan was to start positively but remain composed, and I thought the batting performance was outstanding from start to finish. The opening partnership set the tone brilliantly and never allowed the pressure to build at any stage of the innings. The communication between the wickets and intent to rotate strike consistently kept the scoreboard moving.

To win by 10 wickets was a fantastic result for the group and another really positive performance from the Kestrels. What pleased me most was the way everyone contributed and how well we worked together as a team throughout the game.

There’s a really good atmosphere around the side at the moment, but we know there’s still a lot of hard work ahead and we’ll keep focusing on improving week by week.