With four senior and three junior games this weekend, we were looking for positive vibes for the rest of the season and we certainly got the feeling 'Park' have a lot to look forward to.
Saturday saw all our teams take to the pitch, with the 1st and 3rd teams playing away.
Our premier side looked comfortable in beating Ardleigh Green & Havering-Atte-Bower by 8 wickets, easing to 164 for 2 after 36.4 overs, whilst the 2nd XI cheered the home crowd taking just over 32 overs to reach the target of 158.
Unfortunately our 4ths lost by 10 wickets to what looked like a rampant Upminster but our 'Team of the Week' surely has to be our 3rd XI.
Facing the 2019 3rd XI Premiership champions at their place, Park had a bad start to the day, turning up at the wrong ground and losing the toss.
The home side decided to bat first and would have been very hot favourites under all those circumstances but a brilliant bowling display caught Upminster on the hop and, under huge pressure, they could only muster 167 for 8 in their 40 overs.
With all fielders contributing, Jack Roberts managed 2 clean bowls on his way to figures of 4 wickets for 19 runs off 8 overs, whilst Greg Hammond, bowling in tandem, recorded 1 wicket for just 13 runs off 6 overs. Ben Makepeace, Marlon Jayasekara and Jack's younger brother Billy split 3 further wickets to restrict just two batsmen to anything over 9 runs. Credit to Peter Thompson (61) and Oliver White (55 not out) who stood their ground well otherwise this could have been a massacre.
Kudos to Billy Roberts who notched up his first wicket in senior cricket, and to Mark Hope, who caught Mark Schofield (3) with a stunning low diving catch to his right, putting the elder Roberts on an unsuccessful hat-trick, having dismissed both openers for ducks.
In return Jayasekara faced a corker of a ball to be dismissed for a single run but fellow opener Hope and James Tinson (42) put on a 100-run partnership to ease any pressure. Hope, just three short of his century, batted throughout and stood his ground through a short wobble at the start of the middle order and eventually Paolo Hossain's sensible knock of 9 was enough to help Park win with plenty to spare.
A huge result with great figures including restricting the home side to just one maiden in 35 overs.
On Sunday, our under-11, 13 and 15 squads had a run-out with intra-club matches and managers got to know many of the newer players and parents. More importantly, the reports are that everyone attending was glad to be back and happy with their first, or umpteenth, visit to a game. there is plenty of talent there and all managers are excited for the future.
Covid rules or not, we look forward to a promising few weeks ahead.