John Chambers

Shenfield 224 all out

lost to Wanstead &

Snaresbrook 225-4

by six wickets

»John Chambers hit an unbeaten 86 as Wanstead easily reached the target set by Shenfield at Courage Playing Fields in the Premier Division on Saturday.

Shenfield had made 224 before they were dismissed in the 47th over, but Wanstead openers John Chambers and skipper Arfan Akram both scored in excess of 80 runs apiece to set Wanstead on their way.

The victory propels Wanstead to the top of the table, but despite the good start, Akram is insisting that his men take nothing for granted.

“The significance of the points isn’t now, but later on,” Akram said. “Let’s see where we are with four games to go. For now, these wins are like money in the bank.

“We have more players to come in, the squad is reasonably strong and let’s hope that it continues.

“We started well on Saturday and took early wickets. They battled back from 100-5 when a young kid named Matthew Salisbury – who is part of the Essex Academy –came in.

“He batted well and stuck in there and with six overs to go they were looking at 250 or 260.

“But Zian Shahzad and Maurice Chambers came on and restricted them to 224 which we were pretty happy with. It was a good bowling performance.

“We made a good start with the bat and reached 120 for the first wicket which gave us a good platform.

“Mr Consistent, John Chambers, finished unbeaten and I was very happy with the way we played.”

Shenfield won the toss and elected to bat and made a good start as John Walter (53) immediately set about building a decent platform.

The opener produced a superb individual performance as he worked his way to a half century, yet his team failed to benefit as they should as no one could stay with him.

Arshad Ali (1) and Daniel Jacob (3) departed cheaply when they were both caught by Akram off Maurice Chambers (4-42).

The middle-order continued to struggle as Walter was stumped by Christian Burgess off Mohammed Fayyaz Khan (2-50).

Thomas Fulk (15) and Jamie Walton (12) were the only others of the top six in the order to reach double figures, before they fell to Fayyaz Khan and Joe Ellis-Grewel (2-34) respectively.

The arrival of Salisbury (85) changed all that and he soon formed a profitable partnership with Jack Kliber (36) to reach 200.

However, the Wanstead attack found their way through and Salisbury was caught off Zain Shahzad (1-32) and Maurice Chambers removed Kliber to restrict them to 224.

Wanstead’s reply was brutal as the opening pair of Chambers (86 not out) and Akram (82) crafted an excellent 120 for the loss of the first wicket.

Christian Burgess (26) and Maurice Chambers (14) continued to make the attack, led by Arshad Ali (2-44) and Daniel Jacob (2-19), work hard for any scraps as Wanstead eased to their target.