August started with the Apple Finance Firebirds claiming their first victory in the Windmill Whack against the Costcutter Cobras. Runs and wickets from Nicky Ison and Ollie Heazel led to a convincing 48 run victory.
Heazel followed this up by scoring 50 runs the next day as the Under 19s defeated Wickford by 80 runs in the Natwest Under 19 T20

The first league weekend of the month was a disappointment for all sides except for the 1st XI who continued their fine form by beating Fives by 5 wickets. John Curtis took 4/23 to dismiss Fives for 194 and Shabhaz hit 114 in reply to continue his fine form. The 2nd XI lost to Buckhurst Hill by 44 runs despite Heazel continuing his form with 80 runs and 2 wickets. Hutton 3s hit 255/6 at Coopers in reply the chase was always behind the rate despite 50 for Nikhil Mayor and a unbeaten 60 for Janhoi Bean-Wilson. with Hutton winning by 57 runs. The 4s ended up chasing 314 against Buckhurst Hill 3s and were reduced to 34/6 in reply, Steve Limn (47) and Tom Larke (54*) helped boost the total to 176. The 5th XI gained a draw against West Essex in a match with nearly 600 runs. Alex Halliwell took 3 wickets as West Essex racked up 303/3. In reply Alex Ward (65) and Haliwell (61) set about chasing the target down before quick wickets fell with the draw with Upminster 13 runs and West Essex 2 wickets short. Casey Adams and Kevin Roome top scored for the 6th XI in a disappointing 9 wicket defeat against Walthamstow 4s. The 1st XI won the Sunday league game against Harold Wood by 5 wickets, captain Billy Wright taking 4/11 and Connor Whetstone hit 56 not out.

August 13th saw disappointment for the 1st XI losing a thriller against Billericay. Shabhaz (54) and Julian Whetstone (43) got the total to 183 but Billericays top order were crusing at 120/0 & 174/3 before a late collapse with Connor Whetstone and Matthew Tigg taking three wickets each. It wasn’t quite close enough for Upminster despite the great fightback as Billericay sealed the victory in the final over. Robert White was the star of the show for the 2nd XI on Saturday as he recorded his first ever ton. Robert found great support in Junaid Sarwar (47) and Nicky Ison (44) as the two partnerships put on a combined 180 runs. Chingford were set 282 and were 230/3 but Mark Schofield and James Gerritse got Upminster back into the game with Gerritse bowling out the tail in the final over. The 3rd XI earned 25 points against Shenfield with centuries from Nikhil Mayor and Alfie James scoring 281. Shenfield were bowled out for jsut 38 in reply. The 4th XI held on for a hard fought draw against Wanstead. Rob Bannister picked up 4-40 in his 12 overs. The rock of the Upminster innings was Paul Stratton who hit 62* off 115 balls as Upminster finished on 181/8. Joe Simpson took his first ever five wicket haul against Ilford. Batting first, Upminster knocked up 246 in their 45 overs with contributions from Mark Hortop (49), Matt McCarthy (57) and Ansar Khan (55). After Joe Simpson tore apart the top order, Ross Milroy and Ryan Brown finished the job as Ilford were dismissed for 161. George Sadek scored his first ever half-century for the 6th XI. Sohail Iqbal picked up three wickets but it wasn’t enough as GPR chased the score down with 20 overs to go. The Sunday League side lost to Belhus despite Kiran Kullar hitting 65 in a total of 245. Joyce hit 122* to lead Belhus to victory.

August 20th was one of the highlights of the season as the 1st XI sealed promotion to the premier division after defeating Loughton by 151 runs. Shahbaz Butt hit a breath-taking 189 off 146 balls. The Upminster bowlers also starred as leg-spinner Connor Whetstone picked up 5-37 in a fantastic 14 over spell. John Curtis also took three wickets including the final wicket. The 2nd XI played out a draw against relegation threatened Woodford Wells. Upminster got off to a poor start with the first three batsman being dismissed with only 19 on the scoreboard. Matthew Jahanfar (54*) and Rob White (46) batted well to force a draw with Upminster finishing on 188/6. The 3rd XI scored 236 with Mark Schofield (76) Janhoi Bean-Wilson (40) and Peter Thompson (32) contributing. South Woodford were dismissed cheaply with Mark D'Cruz and Andrew Berry picking up wickets. The 4th XI relegation fears deepened with a 67 run defeat at Colchester. Rob Bannister took a 7 wicket haul to dismiss Colchester for 165, the batting failed to produce the goods as they were bowled out for 98 Steve Limn with 36*. Mark Hortop (75) hit his highest score of the season as he helped the 5th XI rack up 205. Upminster were unable to bowl out Chingford as they managed to bat out the 37 overs. Nathan Bright with 3 wickets with Daniels and Larke also grabbing a brace. The 6th XI resulted in them picking up 25 points on Saturday. Matt McCarthy hit his first ton with a blistering 142* and he found support from Ellis Pickering (32), Sohail Iqbal (57) and Dave Cowley (32). Ellis Pickering also starred with the ball as he ripped apart the top order with 4 wickets in 4 overs as Upminster bowled out Harold Wood for 76. Sunday saw the final Sunday league match against Great and Little Warley. Nathan Woods shone with the bat hitting 105 off just 66 balls helping to post 201. In reply Warley looked to be coasting to the total but Rob Waghorn (2/31) helped take it to a final over where Warley won dispatching the penultimate ball for 6 to win by 3 wickets.

In the last wekk in August the 4th XI gained a crucial victory in their battle to stay up. Nick O'Dell hit 104 not out in a 35 run victory over Billericay. O'Dell, Tom Larke and Karim govani all took 3 wickets as Billericay were bowled out for 176. The 1s were defeated by Woodford Wells by 1 wicket. The 2nd XI defeated Brentwood by 3 wickets with Mark Schofield hitting 51. The 3rd XI drew with Harlow just 7 runs short of the target but 8 wickets down. Alex Mitchells 55 helped ensure the draw. The 5s defeated Brentwood 4s thanks to 62 from Will Bottoms and 52* from Jamie Squance. The 6th XI lost to league winners Belhus by 6 wickets despite runs and wickets for Ben Calder.

The Under 19s lost their T20 quarterfinal in a low scoring match at Goresbrook. Goresbrook scored 91/7 off their 20 overs with Max Carter-Miller taking 3/10. In reply Upminster fell 8 runs short despite 27 not out from Connor Whetstone.

*The Windmill Whack finals day did take place in August but will be included in Septembers review