The sun shone brightly at Upminster Park as the Windmill Whack season concluded on Sunday with a brilliant Finals Day which saw three fantastic games of cricket in front of a packed Pavilion. In the end it was the BrewDog Braves who took the WW XI title, while in the Women’s Edition (the seventh to take place) Howden Heat took the honours.

The day began with a few sore heads at the Men’s Qualifier between Mullis & Peake Monarchs and Govani Maestros. Monarchs won the toss and decided to bat, and their first two pairings of Will Frost and Ollie Clarke and Joseph and Dylan Brooks didn’t lose a wicket as Ian Munn’s side took charge. The Maestros hit back in pairs three and four as they claimed a flurry of wickets, two of them going to veteran Kevin McNeela, before some late hitting from Gus Philpot and Ian Munn took the Monarchs to a net total of 127 (terriers score 175-6). The Maestros reply got off to a solid start before McNeela shone with the bat in the second pair alongside son Aiden as the Maestros got into a good position. The Monarchs kept things tight during pair three before some fireworks from Fenton Everingham and Paul Burley really put the Maestros in with a chance of victory. Crucially the Monarchs picked up a wicket with the last ball to that fourth pairing and that left Jordan Tolan and Max Bird needing 31 to win from the final four overs and then nine from the last two. Nathan Brown and captain Munn then claimed wickets in those last two overs to ensure the Monarchs won a thrilling game by 11 runs and progressed to the Grand Final.

The Women’s Grand Final was also a thrilling contest that went right to the wire. Root 66’ers won the toss and asked the Heat to bat, and the Heat made a strong start through skipper Alex Semon and Caitlin Smith. The 66’ers hit back with Avani Shah taking two wickets in an over, and although the Heat did lose ten wickets in total a barrage of boundaries from Catherine Jonson, Amelia Davies and Zoe Quested took the total to a net score of 330 (terriers score 180-10). Sarah Lowrie helped the 66’ers make a flying start to their reply but the Heat bowled very well in the middle overs to restrict the run rate. 66’ers captain Jami Armes batted well to keep her side in the game and with wickets not being lost the last pair came in with 42 needed for victory. Keya Shah and Elizabeth Charity batted superbly to reduce that to 14 from the last but a wicket from Quested helped the Heat close out an 11 run win and take the title.

That just left the Men’s Grand Final where the BrewDog Braves, who had topped the qualifying group, would take on the Monarchs. The Braves were asked to bat first, and they were given a flying start by Ben Hamberger who made 44 from just 16 balls without being dismissed. Pairs two and three continued the good work with Callum Berry finding the boundary on six occasions, and although Berry was dismissed once, youngsters Ralph Moore, George Ashlin and Ethan Berry all batted without dismissal as the Braves moved towards a big score. Rob Mack and Thomas Cargill only lost one wicket between them, with Cargill also making 31 runs, before the Monarchs fought back bravely in the last five overs with a flurry of wickets just about keeping them in the game. However, a net total of 191 (terriers score 255-8) was still a daunting one for the Monarchs to chase. Will Frost found the boundary regularly at the start of the chase but was unfortunately dismissed three times before the Braves bowlers put the squeeze on the second Monarchs pair as the required run rate began to climb. The third Monarchs pairing tried to catch up with the rate but lost wickets to Stewart Hammond (3-8), Ashlin (3-44) and Moore (3-32), and although the fourth pair or Ross Taylor and Max Malby battled hard, the game was essentially over before Ian Munn and Nathan Brown came to the crease. In the end the Monarchs finished on a net score of 94 (terriers total of 190-12) to give the Braves a comfortable win as they claimed the title for the first time. It was fitting for the Braves to be crowned as champions as they had topped the group earlier in the competition without losing a game.

Both the men’s and women’s events were a huge success in 2026 with some great cricket played and great fun had by everyone who played. We must thank our two Tournament Directors, Harry Jenkins and Angela Green, for all of their work throughout the summer, as well all those who umpired and scored and all of those who played or supported the events, especially our captains and vice-captains.

And of course, a huge thank you to our hugely generous team sponsors who have worked with Sponsorship Secretary Sanjay Narbheram to support the competitions again this summer:

Griffin Grandmasters – Griffin Group, the Property People;
BrewDog Braves – BrewDog Upminster;
Govani Maestros – Govani Family Chemist;
Kushoom Bugh Tigers – Kushoom Bugh Tandoori Restaurant;
Mullis & Peake Monarchs – Mullis & Peake LLP Solicitors;
Burley Bandits – Burley Transport;
Howden Heat – Howden Insurance;
Mullis & Peake Magic - Mullis & Peake LLP Solicitors;
Root 66’ers – Roots Upminster;