Despite some positive individual performances the 1st XI were knocked out of the Dukes Essex League Cup by Buckhurst Hill at Upminster Park. Ollie Burley showed his undoubted potential with an excellent all-round performance while JJ Smuts and Adam Wheater both looked in fine form with the bat which bodes well for the weeks ahead.

HIll won the toss and decided to bat first on a flat looking wicket, and they made an explosive start as they reached 50-0 after just six overs. Burley's introduction into the attack gave Upminster the breakthrough they needed as he bowled Prithviraj Sarvaiya for 12 with an excellent yorker. However, Saihaj Jaspal continued to look in fine form, hitting the ball hard down the ground, and he found good support from Naivedyam Dwivedi as the pair took the score beyond 100 without further alarm. The spin of Smuts and Shafiq Rahman pegged back Hill either side of drinks, and Smuts appeared to have a very good shout turned down when Jaspal looked to be caught behind by Wheater, but both batters then accelerated once more as they reached their half centuries. Jaspal finally went for 78 when he was caught by Burley off the bowling of Gus Philpot for 78 and Burley then dismissed Dwivedi for 80 thanks to a catch by Callum Berry to leave HIll 221-3 with just over five overs remaining. At that stage Upminster may have been hoping to restrict the visitors to a score of around 260 but with wickets in hand Hill were able to step on the accelerator in the closing overs. Areeb Rashid peppered the boundary to make 62 from just 33 balls, and although Burley picked up a third wicket and Upminster claimed two run outs, one from the last ball of the innings, Hill finished on 291-6.

Pulkit Gupta and Kiran Kullar got the Upminster chase off to an excellent start as they reached 42 in the sixth over before former Upminster man Nehal Butt, who had been expensive to that point, sent back both openers to leave Upminster 47-2. Smuts and Wheater then combined to quickly get Upminster back on top as they found the boundary regularly, Wheater hitting one maximum onto the roof of the nets as Upminster moved into a good position. Smuts had just reached his half century and the total was on 134 when the South African was well caught at long-on to give HIll the breakthrough but Wheater and Philpot took the score past the 150 mark without further alarm. Wheater brought up his 50 from 45 balls but was then superbly caught at deep mid-wicket, with the fielder initially looking like he had misjudged the catch, and Philpot fell in the following over to leave Upminster 158-5.  The run rate required began to climb as Upminster were forced to rebuild but Callum Berry then relieved the pressure with two maximums in two balls, and a third shortly after, as he and Tom Daniels looked like they may be able to take Upminster to a famous victory. Berry fell for 34 (from just 19 balls) and Daniels went in the next over as Hill took control again, leaving Burley and skipper Max Carter-Miller a near impossible task to keep their side in the game. Both men continued the fight, as did Jamie Green coming in at ten, but despite 33 not out from Burley and 15 not out from Green it was just too much for the home side who finished on 265-8 to lose an excellent game by 26 runs. Upminster will now face Shenfield in a friendly next weekend while Hill move into the second round where they will take on Wanstead & Snaresbrook, and we wish them all the best for the season ahead.

The 2nd XI fell at the first hurdle of the inaugural Dukes Essex League plate as they lost a low scoring thriller at Buckhust HIll. A fine opening burst from Fin Tolan (2-44) helped put Upminster on top, and although the home side's middle order recovered to some extent the spin duo of Vansh Mehra and captain Ollie Peck then combined to put Upminster back on top. Peck claimed remarkable figures of 4-12 from his eight overs with Mehra picking up 2-21 as the home side struggled towards three figures. Hill were eventually bowled out for 103, but on a difficult track the Upminster chase was never likely to be an easy one, and that proved to be the case as they fell to 42-4.  Ian Russell remained at the crease however and kept his head, and he and Ollie Hinton took the score to 65 before Hinton fell to leave the game in the balance. Russell began to move things along as wickets fell at the other end and Tolan provided solid and sensible support to put Upminster in control as they reached 90-6, but three wickets then fell without a run being added to leave the visitors precariously placed at 90-9 and with Russell stranded at the other end Upminster lost their final wicket to lose by 12 runs.  Russell was left unbeaten on 51.

An excellent half century from Lewis Munn laid the foundation for the 4th XI to win their friendly contest at Fives and Heronians. Munn made exactly 50, from just 36 balls, and with good support from Michael Pedrick, Thomas Cargill, Liam Robertson and Aedan Daly the visitors put themselves into a very strong position. That position was the perfect foundation for Aadit Latey to come in and show his potential as he struck a brilliant 49 to take Upminster beyond 200, and with the experienced Andrew Berry also chipping in the visitors posted a more than competitive 234.  Harry Bradford picked up two early wickets as the Fives chase began and when the home side fell to 66-4 Upminster were clear favourites. Shahrukh Irfan and the experienced Gary Edwards got Fives back in the game but Upminster's young attack bowled with excellent discipline to make things difficult for the home side, and when Irfan retired for 54 and Bradford picked up his third wicket to dismiss Edwards for 47 Upminster were back in control.  Fives eventually ended on 208-6 to give Upminster a 26 run victory.

A Mid Essex XI enjoyed an excellent game and three wicket win at good friends Hutton.  With a number of young players making their senior debuts it was an excellent start to the season and there were a number of milestones during the afternoon with Jack Butler claiming two wickets on his senior debut and Harrison Simpson also claiming a first senior wicket as Hutton made 226-5. George Sheridan (45) and Thomas Brabin (34) helped to put Upminster in a good position before Chris Brabin (36*) and Woody Treadwell (49*) put together an excellent unbroken partnership to see Upminster to a three wicket win.