It was a tough afternoon for many of the club’s senior sides, but the 1st XI returned to winning ways with a home success over Orsett and Thurrock. Orsett won the toss and decided to bat first on a flat looking Upminster Park track, but Max Carter-Miller picked up two early wickets as the visitors slumped to 30-2. Opener Lewis Lockyer found a willing partner in Manoj Sarathchandra and they steadied the ship with a third wicket stand of 89. Veteran Shafiq Rahman then stepped in for Upminster, removing Sarathchandra for 37 and then Lockyer for 76 to seemingly put his side back on top. However, contributions from Kevin Sargent, Harry Lockyer, Gaurav Bhandari and Callum Greene kept Orsett moving beyond the 200 mark, and although Rahman and Carter-Miller picked up a third wicket each the visitors were able to post a competitive 250-7.

Upminster’s openers Pulkit Gupta and Mo Ahmad made a solid but cautious start to their reply as the Orsett bowlers stuck to their task well. Gupta and Ahmad steadily began to get on top and the runs began to flow more freely. Gupta was first to reach his half century and Ahmad followed him to that landmark soon after. Sarathchandra eventually made the breakthrough, dismissing Gupta for 81 and Tom Redman then removed Ahmad for 67 to send a few nerves through the Upminster line up. Ian Russell and Adam Wheater put Upminster back in charge before Wheater was out for 30 and the run rate required was at seven an over as Aaron Beard came out to join Russell. Beard ensured there was no late drama as he struck an unbeaten 44 from just 22 deliveries, and with Russell ending on 27 not out Upminster won by seven wickets with more than two overs to spare.

The 2nd XI remain in eighth spot in the table after a heavy defeat at Chelmsford. Miles Clark, Nick Bailey and Liam Keaney gave Chelmsford a solid start before Upminster veterans John Curtis and Ollie Peck brought their side back into the game. Curtis claimed 2-27 and Peck 4-56 as the home side fell to 82-5 and then 141-7 to seemingly leave Upminster in control. However, Muhammad Sajid and Ben Lawrence added valuable later order runs for Chelmsford, before both were dismissed by Finley Tolan (2-34), and Chelmsford were eventually all out for 210. Upminster opener Adam Quested made 36, but none of the other top five made double figures as the home side took control. Terry Wyatt and John Curtis gave Upminster some hope in the middle order, but Jack Silvester then ran through the Upminster tail with remarkable figures of 4-0 meaning Curtis was left stranded on 23 not out as Upminster were bowled out for 116.

A thrilling game at Coopers ended in a draw for the 3rd XI against Shenfield. William Turner-Smith and William Dowlen both made half centuries to put Shenfield in a strong position, but Joshan Narbheram (3-70) and Mark D’Cruz (2-71) pulled Upminster back into the game. Josh Judd added a late 45 not out for Shenfield (from just 21 balls) and the visitors ended on 240-7. The Upminster innings followed a similar pattern with Dan Simpson and Zoran Suneel both making fifties before Max Proctor (6-66) led a fightback for Shenfield. At 175-8 it looked like Shenfield were the likely winners, before Jordan Tolan and Andrew Berry then gave Upminster late hope. The pair put on 56 for the ninth wicket and the runs required had been reduced to 10 from nine balls when Tolan was dismissed for 39 (from just 22 balls) meaning Upminster’s last pair had to see out the final eight balls to secure the draw at 231-9.

The 4th XI fell to a narrow defeat at Oakfield Parkonians 3s. Ayaan Usman (56) and Rian Parmar (39) made runs in the Parks top order, while Shrey Shah, Nathan Brown and Ewan Lowrie all picked up two wickets each for Upminster. Janeban Selvamohan then swung the game in Parks’ favour with 75 and the home side ended their innings on 253. Ethan Berry, back from international hockey duty, made a fast start to the Upminster reply with 35 from 19 balls, but when he fell Parks worked their way through the middle order. Captain Matt Ingleson dug in to hold things together with an excellent 67 but at 157-8 Upminster looked out of the game. Nathan French took up the fight for Upminster and with Michael Jones for company they brought their side back into the contest. Jones fell for 28 with 49 needed for victory but French continued to take up the chase. The last wicket pairing added a further 35 before the final wicket fell and French was left not out 63 with Upminster all out for 240.

There was a heavy defeat for the 5th XI as they lost out to Belhus at Campion. Stan Moore (29) and Adam Overton (25) made middle order contributions for Upminster while Alfie Taplin continued his excellent season with a well made 52. Afra Rose Mohamed picked up 3-28 for Belhus as Upminster were restricted to 183-9 from their 50 overs. Rose Mohamed and Alfie Ware got the Belhus reply off to an excellent start with a stand of 94 before captain Aalok Latey dismissed Rose Mohamed for 26. Ware looked in fine form though and continued to keep Belhus in control of the run chase. Kevin Roome (2-27) and Lewis Munn picked up wickets to give Upminster late hope, but Ware soon reached three figures and ended on 107 not out as Belhus won by six wickets with plenty of time to spare.

The 6th XI lost out to Bentley 3s in Mid Essex League Division 8. Chris Brabin (3-39) and Harry Bradford (2-21) were in the wickets for Upminster, but Harrison Pulford, Ethan Deluxson, Grant McDonald and Michael Tremain all made good contributions for Bentley to help them reach 226-6 from their 40 overs. Upminster were then in trouble at 11-2 before 21 from Liam Robertson helped them get back on track. Thomas Loveys and Will Court then put together an excellent fourth wicket stand of 116. Both players reached half centuries with Loveys making 55 and Court 68, but with the run rate required rising both batters were out in quick succession and Upminster ended on 184-7 to miss out by 42 runs.

There was also a loss for the 7th XI as they fell to defeat against landlords AGHAB in Mid Essex League Division 9. AGHAB raced to 53 without loss in just the eighth over before Woody Treadwell made the breakthrough. Anay Narbheram then continued his fine season with a brilliant spell of 3-34 as AGHAB fell to 70-4, but Anthony Downes and Harish Harish then countered for the “visitors”. Deven Verma then added a rapid 56 from just 42 balls to take AGHAB past the 200 mark, before George Sheridan (3-27) helped bowl out the promotion chasers for 214 in the last over of their allocation. Upminster’s chase got off to a disastrous start as they fell to 50-6 before the lower order showed plenty of fight. Anay Narbheram made an excellent 31 and looked very assured and then Eddie Waters and Woody Treadwell produced a brilliant last wicket stand of 45 to help their side pick up two extra valuable bonus points as Upminster were bowled out for 150.

The Friendly XI picked up an excellent win as they overcame Hornchurch Athletic at Coopers. Joe Hibbell made 25 and Max Malby made an excellent 42 as Upminster moved into a solid position, while George Scott picked up two wickets for the visitors. Max Bird then added 22 for Upminster and Ralph Moore played a superb innings. He made 51, including ten boundaries to help Upminster reach 247-9. Coates made a half century in the Athletic reply as they reached 70-1 but two wickets each from Bird and Henry Hanlon helped turn things Upminster’s way. Danielle Cox then picked up 3-18 as the visitors were bowled out for 157.