Bury St Edmunds CC v Copdock + OI 25.7.20

Bury St Edmunds began their East Anglian Premier League South 2020 cricket season with a 43 run victory (DLS) over Copdock at the Victory Ground. 

Copdock won the toss but elected to field, as Bury took advantage of the decision as both openers Alfie Marston and Justin Broad got off the mark early in the opening over, which Bury ended 5 runs without loss. 

The two batsman rotated the strike on a regular basis to ensure Bury's score continued to tick over, with the first boundary arriving from the final ball of the 3rd over, Marston hitting the ball through the centre to pick up four runs. 

The wicketkeeper-batsman then added two more boundaries during the following over, the first was fairly similar to the boundary prior whilst the second was guided cleverly down the ground for four more, as Bury ended the over 21-0.

Having held his nerve and battled to stay at the crease, Justin Broad was rewarded with his first boundary during the seventh over, after surviving a few appeals for LBW from the Copdock bowlers. 

That boundary was followed by a regular flow of boundaries, with Marston starting the 8th over by smashing the 1at ball over the fielder before a couple of bounces took it to the boundary. 

Marston then backed that up with another four runs later in the over, moving Bury within 7 runs of the team's 50 in the process. 

Fittingly, Broad brought up the opening partnership's 50 with a boundary in the ninth over as Bury continued to keep the runs flowing nicely. 

That continued into the tenth over, with the Bury batsman adding a mammoth 17 runs from the other - 16 of which from boundaries, three of which off the bat of Marston, whilst Broad ended the last at the end of the over, giving Bury a very healthy score of 67-0 at the end of the first ten overs. 

It wasn't long until Alfie Marston picked up his half century, doing so just 12 overs in from 34 deliveries having added 10 runs in the over to reach his milestone. 

Copdock however, did bowl well, often restricting the Bury batsman to the odd single or two throughout, requiring the hosts to find various other ways to keep the runs flowing, which was the case until the 14th over. Marston brought up the 100-run partnership with a single, before marking the milestone by cracking two great shots away to the fence, taking the score onto 109-0 with Marston unbeaten on 69, with Broad 32 not out. 

Marston then picked up his 13th boundary of the innings in the 17th over, but fell midway through the 20th over. 

Ben Claydon with the breakthrough for Copdock, catching the opener out to send his bails flying to end the partnership of 122 runs, with Marston out for an impressive knock of 78.

Captain Ben Seabrook joined Justin Broad at the crease, and got off the mark with a single to end the over. 

The Bury skipper didn't take long to pick up his first boundary, doing just that in the 22nd over, moving Bury onto 136-1 in the process, whilst a boundary from Broad in the following over saw the hosts up to 144-1 at drinks. 

The latter soon brought up his fifty during the 27th over, picking up a single in the process whilst Seabrook followed that up with two boundaries as Bury passed 150. 

Bury began to find the fence on a regular basis after that, with Broad picking up two boundaries in the 29th over, before adding another four during the 30th over. 

Seabrook then crashed another ball away for four in the 32nd, before Broad went within 16 of his century by ending the following over with 3 more boundaries. 

The latter deservedly reached his hundred just a few overs later, marking it with another boundary to take Bury onto 230-1.

However in the following over, Copdock picked up their second wicket - breaking the 116 run partnership. After Broad moved onto 117 unbeaten with four more runs, Seabrook was dismissed just 9 runs shy of his half century from 56 balls after hitting Chris Shallow's delivery straight to Alex Oxley to take the catch, bringing former Bury captain Sean Park to the wicket. 

Another boundary for Broad in the 40th over, followed by Park adding 3 in the next over as Bury brought up their 250.

Following that, Park (7 off 12 deliveries) looked to turn on the accelerator and help Bury close in on 300 but could only smash Freddie Heidreich's delivery up into the air for an easy catch for Nico Boje as Bury lost their third wicket for 251. 

In response, Broad thumped a ball away for four more runs during the 42nd over, whilst Bury number 5 Josh Cantrell got off the mark with a single to start the 43rd over, followed by another boundary for the Bury opener. 

Nine runs from the 44th over, including another boundary for Broad, took Bury within 28 runs of picking up a total of 300, before adding nine more runs in the 45th over. 

Having batted out the majority of the innings, Broad (136 off 140 deliveries) added another boundary to start the 46th but it was soon the end of the Bury opener with Bury 285-4. 

Heidreich (2-56 from 10 overs) picking up his second wicket with Beaumont taking the catch as Broad looked for another boundary. 

Five runs later, new batsman Alastair Allchin (2 runs off 6 deliveries) soon departed as Matt Hunn sent his bails flying. 

Bury though soon lost their sixth wicket, as miscommunication between new batsman Hugh Stanton and Cantrell (16 off 12 balls) saw the latter ran out by Heidreich with the bowler having all the time in the world to remove the bails. 

James Sturgeon and Hugh Stanton however ensured Bury would see their allocated 50 overs through without further loss of wickets, with the former getting off the mark with a boundary. 

Stanton (7 off 7 balls) meanwhile did likewise, thumping a fantastic shot down the ground for four to take Bury over the 300 mark. 

There was time however for Stanton (13 off 11 balls) to add four more in similar fashion before Bury finished on 316-6. 

Copdock meanwhile opened their run chase with Sean Cooper opening the bowling for Bury, which saw 2 lbw appeals go invain as a wide and four byes got the Copdock innings underway. 

Alastair Allchin started from the pavilion end meanwhile, and got his bowling innings underway with a maiden, whilst both openers Atkins and Oxley got off the mark with a single each during the 3rd over, at the end of which the run chase had reached 11-0.

An impressive start from Bury bowler Allchin (1-18 off 7 overs) continued as just a single came from his 2nd over. 

Into the fourth over of the run chase, Oxley (18 off 44 balls unbeaten) picked up two runs before Cooper was able to find the edge of his bat but went through for a boundary for the opener, before taking advantage to hit the ball down down the ground for four more runs, with Bury looking for an early breakthrough as Copdock had 22 runs on the board. 

Bury meanwhile kept the runs tight in the next few overs, with the next boundary arriving in the eighth over. Atkins picking up the first and only six of the match as Copdock ended the over 33 without loss. 

The next boundary arrived in the 10th over, as Atkins found the fence to move Copdock onto 40-0.

Allchin however made the first breakthrough for Bury early in the 12th over, Sturgeon in the slips taking the catch behind the wicket as Atkin departed for 16 runs from 23 deliveries as Copdock lost their first wicket with 43 runs on the board. 

That brought wicketkeeper-batsman Jacob Marston (10 off 24 deliveries) to the crease, but his stay out in the middle didn't last long. 

New signing Rufus Easdale picking up his first wicket in his first competitive over for Bury, as Marston looked to smash the spinner out towards the boundary down the centre but could only pick out Allchin who took a simple catch to reduce Copdock to 58-2 with the rain beginning to fall. 

Due to the weather conditions, George Loyd also only got just the single over in before play was stopped as Suffolk white ball captain Jack Beaumont (unbeaten on 0 off 1 ball) arrived at the crease, whilst a boundary and a single for Oxley saw Copdock's run chase halted at 64-2 after 17 overs. 

Due to the weather, no further play was possible as Bury won by 43 runs by the Duckworth/Lewis system. 

Justin Broad's knock of 136 proved to be the biggest individual batsman score in the league's opening round of fixtures, which alongside important knocks from captain Ben Seabrook (41) and Alfie Marston (78) helped Bury to victory aided by important wickets from Allchin and Easdale (1-4 from one over) in Copdock's run chase. 

Bury now look ahead to an important double header with Sudbury CC next week, with the first coming in the Suffolk T20 Cup at Bury's Victory Ground on Friday 31st July whilst the second will see the two sides go head to head at Sudbury next Saturday (1st August) in the EAPL South.

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Bury St Edmunds CC v Burwell Exning CC 18.7.20

Saturday 18 July, 11am, Victory Ground, Friendly, Bury St Edmunds CC v Burwell & Exning CC.

Bury St Edmunds Cricket Club began their 2020 cricket season with a 200 run friendly victory over Burwell at the Victory Ground, thanks to strong performances both in the bat and in the field. 

The Wolfpack won the toss and elected to bat, a decision that was backed up on the 2nd ball of the innings, wicketkeeper-batsman Alfie Marston smashing the ball away for six. 

In the very same over, meanwhile Justin Broad got off the mark after he inside edged the ball through for four. 

However, bowler Maddox Colby (1-74) found Broad's inside edge with the final ball of the over, this time though wicketkeeper Joseph Tetley took the catch as Bury ended the first over 13-1, bringing Ben Seabrook to the crease. 

Five runs came from the 2nd over, including a boundary for the Bury number 3, hitting the ball around where second slip would usually be for four as Bury ended that over 17/1. 

Marston then moved to 13 not out in the third over, driving through cover for four on the first ball, whilst picking up a single from the penultimate ball, taking Bury's score to 22/1.

Bury's good batting start continued, although just a single came from the 4th over, Marston thrashed a cracking shot into the car park for a maximum before notching another single to move onto 21 unbeaten, taking Bury's score to 30/1 after 5 overs. 

The next boundary then arrived in the seventh over, Marston punishing a no-ball for four, whilst the free hit was given as a wide, the wicketkeeper followed that up with another boundary, similar to the one previous. 

The Bury opener was hitting boundaries for fun, smacking the very next ball for a maximum- fittingly bringing up Bury's 50, with only a wide ball technically separating back to back maximums, taking Alfie Marston just four away from a half century. Bury ended that over 58/1. 

Into the eighth over the boundaries continued, Ben Seabrook starting the over with another four runs, whilst his fellow batsman picked up the first half century of the match in the following over. 

Fittingly, Marston thrashed the ball away for six through the centre to bring up his milestone, taking the Wolf pack onto 71-1.

Two more boundaries, either side of a two courtesy of an inside edge towards the rope, from Seabrook saw the Bury no.3 double his tally to 20*, whilst Bury moved onto 82-1 after 10 overs. 

Six runs then followed from the 11th over, as the early run rate continued to tick over nicely for Bury, Marston adding another boundary, this time straight down the ground to keep the runs following for the hosts. 

Both Bury batsman found the boundary during the 12th over, moving Bury just two runs shy of 100 runs, still having lost 1 wicket at that stage. 

That milestone soon came and was soon a distant memory as Marston brought up the team's century with another maximum during the 13th.

The wicketkeeper-batsman got a bit of good fortuneater in the same over however, again looking to add six more runs to the tally with the fielder just unable to hold on as the opener got his wish, as Bury finished that entertaining over on 112-1.

Burwell however, broke the partnership soon after, the bowling of Tom Newman saw the end of Marston as wicketkeeper Josh Bowers removed the bails, as Marston's impressive innings came to an end having added 71 runs to take Bury to 114-2 in the fourteenth over, ending a partnership of 102 runs. 

New batsman Stanton joined Seabrook at the crease, as a few singles from the next few overs took Bury's score to 118-2 after 17 overs, at which point Seabrook was now 34 unbeaten, whilst Stanton had got off the mark and was 1 not out. 

A few singles across the next two overs ensured Bury would continue to rotate the strike quite regularly, whilst Stanton - in the 21st over - picked up his first boundary of the innings having cut the ball through the centre. There was a bit of a scare for the Bury no.4 with the following delivery meanwhile, although Stanton has able to make it home for two more runs.

Stanton almost handed Burwell with what would've been a fairly cheap wicket during the 24th over, hitting the ball up into the air which, luckily for the Bury batsman, landed safely as he ran through for a single as Bury's innings stood at 143-2 at drinks.

The next boundary meanwhile arrived in the 26th over, Stanton picking up four, whilst another couple of runs for Seabrook took him close to his fifty with Bury having passed 150 courtesy of that earlier boundary.

Seabrook's half century arrived early in the 27th over in fitting style, finding a boundary to move him onto 52 not out. 

A few singles and a boundary for Seabrook helped the home side maintain their strong batting performance, with the run rate never dropping below 5, in the 28th over moving Bury onto a fairly healthy score of 164-2.

Whilst Stanton added another boundary during the 30th over, the Bury no.4 picked up a single in the following over which ended in the end of Seabrook from the very next delivery, with Bury's number 3 ending up being caught behind by wicketkeeper Bowers off the bowling off Jay Ghelani (2-35), having made 62 runs from 90 balls - including 8 fours - ending a third wicket partnership which added 60 runs with Bury 174-3.

A boundary for Stanton in the 34th over however couldn't prevent Bury from losing wickets in a short space of time.

New batsman Josh Cantrell got off the mark with a single in the 34th over, but was soon dismissed for 1, having been bowled by Sam Rippington - Bury at that point standing at 189/4.

James Sturgeon was next to join Stanton at the crease and quickly got off the mark with a boundary prior to picking up a single with Stanton seeing off the final ball of the same over, with the latter at which point 32 not out.

The two batsman then rotated the strike well during the following over, regularly taking turns to add singles to the scoreboard.

Bury though lost two wickets whilst adding just one run during the 36th over, Sturgeon was first to go after being caught behind by Bowers off the bowling of Rippington (3-56) as the batsman fell for 7 at a run a ball.

Ben Whittaker however went for a four ball duck before soon departing in the same fashion, though Alastair Allchin got off the mark with a first ball single to complete the over - as Bury ended it 198-6.

Allchin, who made 3 runs off ten deliveries, however departed after the penultimate ball of the 38th over, having brought up Bury's 200 he too was caught behind, this time off the bowling of Luke Du-Plooy bringing George Loyd to the crease in the process.

Stanton on the other hand looked determined to halt the loss of wickets, starting the 39th over wby thumping an absolute cracking shot away for four, whilst taking a single from the following ball to move Bury onto 206-7.

Loyd then got off the mark with a single in the next over, followed by another fantastic shot from Stanton - this time smacking the ball away for a maximum before taking a single to move onto 47 not out. 

However, the batsman fell three runs short of his half century as the batsman's attempt to try and sweep the ball away only resulted in him being caught behind from the first ball of the 41st over, off the bowling of Ghelani - with Bury moving onto 217-8 at the end of the over, after Bury number 10 Sean Cooper had got off the mark with a single.

Eleven runs however came from a very good 42nd over for Bury, after Loyd picked up 2 leg byes before smacking the ball away for six, whilst a single for him and two more for Cooper ended an expensive over from Burwell.

Bury continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over, picking up the odd single before Cooper began the 44th over with a boundary followed by successive twos midway through the over, taking Bury to 24-/8.

A very expensive 47th over saw Bury add a mammoth 24 runs from what ended up being a 10 ball over, with Loyd adding another maximum to his collection whilst a single apiece for himself and Cooper saw successive wides and four runs add ten more runs, whilst a single, two more successive wides and a three completed a big over for Bury - helping them on their way to 300.

Thirteen more runs from the 48th over meanwhile took Bury just 17 runs away from reaching their target of 300, courtesy of a boundary each for both batsman before Loyd added for more leg byes. 

The penultimate over then brought 13 more runs for Bury, taking them to 296-8 with one over remaining, after Loyd dispatched 3 consecutive fours to put Bury in a strong position to end their batting innings. 

Cooper however got a bit of luck with the first ball of the final over, as the fielder dropped the Bury number 10 just shy of the boundary as the batsman ran through for a single.

Loyd on the other hand was dismissed from the very next delivery, Tom Newman (2-40) removing the batsman having trapped him in front as the former went for a very good 36 runs from 35 deliveries.

Easdale however was almost dismissed for a caught and bowled soon after, having top edging the ball up into the air although Newman was unable to keep hold off the ball.

A few singles meanwhile drew the first innings to a close as Bury finished on 300-9, leaving Burwell having to chase 301 from their 50 overs. 

The impressive bowling duo of Cooper and Allchin started off Burwell's batting innings in fine form, with Cooper getting things started with just a wide coming off the opening over.

Successive boundaries for opener Tom Griffiths however got Burwell off the mark from the 2nd over, whilst fellow opener Tim Catley got off the mark with a single.

The latter though was soon removed for just the solitary run by Allchin in the fourth over of Burwell's run chase, after the bowler bowler found the opener's stumps, sending the bails flying as Burwell ended that over 12-1.

New batsman Joseph Tetley almost fell soon after, attempting to hit Cooper up in the air but Josh cantrell was just unable to get there to take the catch not far from the boundary.

Midway through the sixth over meanwhile it was Allchin who picked his and Bury's second wicket, removing Griffiths for 10 runs having been caught behind by wicketkeeper Alfie Marston, bringing wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Bower to the crease.

Allchin's fantastic start to the innings continued, picking up his and Bury's third wicket in the eighth over, this time bowling Tetley with a superb delivery, removing the former for just 3 runs from 9 balls, as the visitors stood at 25-3 chasing Bury's target of 300.

Cooper was soon in on the wicket taking act in the following over, as James Sturgeon took the catch to see the end of Josh Bowers' innings who went for 7 runs at an average of a run every two balls, as Luke Du-Plooy was now joined at the crease by fellow new batsman Jamie Seabrook.

The latter though did add four leg byes from his first delivery, preventing what otherwise would have been a maiden over for Cooper, as it ended with Burwell being 29-4.

Singles for both batsman however got the duo off the mark in the 10th and 11th over respectively, as a strong bowling performance from Bury restricted Burwell to 33-4.

A boundary for Du-Plooy during the 12th over proved to be his final contribution to the scoreboard, as four balls later the batsman was removed by Allchin for just six runs, having handed a simple catch to Bury's recent recruit Rufus Easdale, as Burwell's fifth wicket fell with 40 runs on the board.

New batsman Tom Newman though ended the over with a boundary, but was removed by a first ball wicket for Easdale at the start of the fourteenth over without adding any more runs, with Alfie Martston taking a simple catch behind the stumps as the change of bowling paid off for Bury, who continued to dominate with the ball. The Bury bowler meanwhile picked up a wicket maiden to start off his Bury career, delivering five dot balls to new batsman Rippington.

Seabrook meanwhile added two boundaries off the bowling of Loyd in the resulting over, before adding another four runs off Easdale's next over - with six runs total from that over moving the visitors to 61-6.

Rippington collected seven more runs from the 18th over, picking up a boundary and a three before doing the same in the following ober, before his teammate Seabrook followed that up with two boundaries of his own during the 20th over, taking him to 25 not out.

Seabrook though got a bit of good fortune soon after, as the fielder dived across but just couldn't keep hold of what would've been an impressive one handed catch.

Another boundary for the latter in the following over gave Burwell a bit of momentum, but was almost dismissed in each of spinner Ben Whittaker's first two balls of the innings, the first of which wasn't too far off finding the edge of the bat, though Seabrook moved onto 32 not out whilst Burwell ended the over 91-6.

Bury backed Whittaker up with spin at both ends, as Josh Cantrell joined the attack - restricting Burwell to just one run to Rippington in the over.

A maiden from Whittaker ensured Bury would maintain their dominate performance with the ball, whilst Jamie Seabrook hadded just two from Cantrell's next over before the bowler removed the batsman in the penultimate ball of the 24th over.

Jamie Seabrook hitting Cantrell straight to his brother Ben Seabrook who stood close to the wicket to take a straightforward catch to dismiss the batsman for 34 as play stopped for drinks.

Runs became few and far between for Burwell from that point on with Cantrell picking up with second wicket to remove Rippinton for 15 runs in the 26th over with Alfie Marston taking another catch to put Bury within two wickets of victory.

A first ball boundary for new batsman James Turner however ended that over with Burwell 99-8.

Bury continued to apply the pressure with another maiden for Ben Whittaker leading to Cantrell dismissing Turner for four runs from two deliveries, as the number 10 was dismissed for LBW.

New batsman Jay Ghelani meanwhile saw off the following five balls to hand Cantrell a wicket maiden, whilst Colby could only add a single off Whittaker's final over, bringing up Burwell's 100 in the process.

That proved to be the final run off the innings as Cantrell sealed Bury's victory with the fourth ball of the 29th over, removing Colby for LBW, handing the spinner impressive figures of 4-7 from 4.4 overs.

Upon the fall of that wicket, Bury won the friendly by 200 runs, as the Wolfpack's preparation ahead of next weekend's home EAPL South opener with Copdock, with standouts for Bury being Alfie Marston's 40 ball score of 71, Ben Seabrook's score of 62 (off 90 deliveries), whilst bowlers Josh Cantrell (4-7) was the pick of the bowlers, whilst Allchin took 4-27 from his six over opening spell.