The Dukes Essex T20, Finals Day will take place at Billericay Cricket Club on Sunday 15th.  The two Semi-Finals will take place from 11.00am, with the Final taking place at 3.00pm.

So far Upminster, Westcliff and Buckhurst Hill have confirmed their places at Finals Day, while Wanstead will play South Woodford for the final place in the showpiece event.

The draw for the two Semi-Finals will take place at 10.30am on Finals Day.  

All support for this event will be much appreciated.  Billericay's ground is on Blunts Wall Road, next to Billericay Town FC.

The Upminster u13 Girls had their first match against Harold Wood on Thursday evening.

Harold Wood elected to bat first and in a terriers style match, made 73 in their 15 overs. Hayley Critchell being the pick of the Upminster bowlers (2-21) Eleni Tsappis bowled very tightly (3-1-4-0) and Ellie Davis and Lucy Critchell also picking up wickets.

Upminster's reply got off to a quick start and finished on 95, winning by 21 runs, with major contributions from Eleni (13) Hayley (13) Lucy (11) Ellie (8). A very good first victory for the girls.

The weekend was one of the Club's most successful of the season.  The 1st XI secured a battling draw with title chasing Wanstead at Overton Drive. A sparkling 142 from Arfan Akram helped Wanstead to reach 346 all out in their innings, Naeem Iqbal and Ollie Peck starring for Upminster with the ball. In reply 51 from Shafiq Rahman wasn't enough to stop the visitors slipping into trouble, but brave knocks from Elliot Bussey, Ollie Peck, Naeem Iqbal and John Curtis meant Upminster secured three valuable points for the draw.

James "Spangles" Evans was the main man for the 2nd XI as they comfortably beat Wanstead at Upminster Park.  Wanstead made 266-7 from their 52 overs, with Jonathan Das making 86.  Andrew Berry took 4-52 for the home side.  However, it never looked like being enough and 100 from Evans, along with runs from Terry Wyatt and Bobby Mack saw Upminster to a six wicket victory with plenty of time to spare.

The 3rd XI were well beaten by Wanstead at Coopers School.  Adam Quested made 56 but Upminster were bowled out for 157.  It was never enough though, and Velani made 67 as Wanstead reached their target in just 20 overs, for the loss of 5 wickets.  It was better news for the 4th XI as they overcame Chingford 3s.  Lloyd Sutton picked up 4 wickets, and Goopal Saggoo 3 as Chingford were all out for 174.  In reply Joe Wyatt made 48 before 24 not out from Saggoo saw Upminster home by 3 wickets.

Karim Govani's 5th XI won for the second week in a row as they beat Chingford 4th XI in a high scoring encounter.  Chingford declared early on 234-4, but it was not enough as Upminster won by four wickets.  The 6th XI put up a brave fight against Chelmsford 5s. Phil Tuffee (44), Mike Jones (20) and Dave Staples (45) were in the runs as Upminster made it to 168.  Staples and Ross Milroy then picked up some early wickets to put the high flying hosts under some pressure, but they eventually got over the line by four wickets.

On Sunday the 2nd XI kept up their slim chances of promotion in the Sunday League with a comfortable six wicket win over Thurrock at Upminster Park. Chasing 201 to win the home side reached their target with plenty of overs to spare.  

There was also another win for the U13s in the Peter Coe Cup.  They recorded their sixth win from six games in a high-scoring encounter at Bentley. It means that a victory over Gidea Park on the 15th August will see Upminster reach the semi finals of the competition for the first time in their history. 

Many thanks to all those people who helped to make sure last week's Cricket Week was a huge success.

Whether you helped behind the bar, helped with the BBQs or helped to get the ground ready for games, your efforts were much appreciated.

Also, a big thank you to all those players who turned out for the opposition sides during the week, and ensured that there was some excellent cricket played.