Sunday's Nick Browne Testimonial Match with Essex was another great occasion at Upminster Park. This was the 25th such game against the County since 1997, and despite the gloomy forecast we were once again blessed with sunshine and blue skies.

These games are always great events, but they wouldn't take place without the contribution of a huge number of people, and as we reflect on Sunday's occasion it is right that we thank all of those involved.

Firstly, thank you to all of the club members who put in so much effort before, during and after the match to ensure things run smoothly. This team of members is expertly led by Elaine Brown, who masterminds the whole day, and includes too many people to name individually including those in the beer tent, those setting up the ground, those clearing up in the cold and dark, those looking after guests and sponsors, those on the microphone, members helping with the junior coaching and matches and the pavilion team (led by Andrea Graves) who ensure nobody goes hungry or thirsty!!

Secondly, to our match officials who volunteer their time to make sure the match itself passes without incident. Our umpires yesterday were Angela Tuff and Drew Osborn, while our scorers were Jayakanthan Loganathan, Paul Connelly and Bradley Donavan, and we thank them all for doing an excellent job as always.

The matches with Essex, and a lot of other great projects the club is involved with, would not be possible without the support of our very generous sponsors. Our Sponsorship Secretary Sanjay Narbheram has done a brilliant job this year to help the club partner with so many great local businesses and the details of all these sponsors are available on this website, but we would like to thank each and every one of them for the support they give to the club.

The ground and square were looking in absolutely tremendous condition yesterday thanks to the work of our Grounds Executive Mark Severn. Mark has done a brilliant job at Upminster Park for nearly 10 years now, and his wickets are consistently amongst the very best in the county, and we thank him for having the ground in such great condition for yesterday's game.

Thank you to the Friends of Upminster Park who worked tirelessly alongside club members to ensure all litter was removed during and after the event and that our wonderful park was in fine condition again on Monday morning, and thank you to Win D’Cruz, from the Judy D’Cruz Fund, a huge friend of the club, who joined us for the day to raise awareness of the amazing work the Fund has done.

Thank you to all of our partners who helped with catering arrangements for both our guests and members of the public. This includes Whole Slice Pizza (at Roots), Kushoom Bugh Indian Restaurant, Faze Caterers, Vibe Your Taste Buds, Promotional Ice Cream Vans, Greene King Brewery and of course 1st Upminster Scout Group.

Thank you as well to all of other partners and suppliers who worked with us to help the day run smoothly. We would be happy to recommend all of these organisations, who were Alfresco Furniture Hire, His & Hers Luxury Toilets, Eternity Events, KingPin Sports Design, 1st Link First Aid and CTM Self Drive who once again generously donated the use of one of their vans.

An absolutely huge thank you to Nick Browne and his Essex teammates for once again enabling us to host such an occasion. Without the Essex players coming to Upminster Park every year these games would simply not be possible. All of the Essex players once again fully threw themselves into the event, signing autographs, posing for photographs and chatting with spectators. They are great role models for the many aspiring young cricketers who were present yesterday, and we wish the squad the very best of luck for their final game of the season this week. Nick has been a tremendous servant to Essex cricket during his career and has been a big factor in the county's most successful era since the 80s and early 90s. He has played in more of the matches at Upminster Park than any other Essex player and we hope he has enjoyed his Testimonial Year and would like to thank him for the continued support he gives everyone at Upminster in hosting these matches.

Thank you also to the Upminster squad for the part they played in providing such great entertainment for the crowd, and finally, a huge thank you to all of the Upminster members and the entire Upminster community who came along and supported the game yesterday in such numbers, as they do every September. Everyone at the club appreciates how privileged we are to be able to host these games, but one of the reasons everyone loves putting these events on is to see so many people come along to Upminster Park to watch the matches. We hope to see everyone back in 2026 for more of the same!!