There was much excitement at the start of the season, with the club having entered a side into the T-Rippon Mid Essex League for the very first time. The side was placed in Division Nine by the League and there were several unknowns in store for the months ahead. In the end the season turned out to be great fun for all involved, although there were periods in the early weeks of the campaign where it took time for the side to adjust to the level they were playing at.

The Mid-Essex side actually started the season a week earlier than our other sides in the Hamro Foundation Essex League, and they welcomed Basildon and Pitsea 4s to their new “home” at Broxhill Road. A number of Upminster’s top order got starts, but nobody could go on to make a significant score as they were bowled out for 103 and Basildon went on to win by seven wickets. Upminster did pick up their first win of the season a week late at Rayleigh Fairview. Mike Larke’s left arm seamers claimed 4-25 after Fairview had reached 72-1 and Dylan Narbheram then picked up three wickets to help bowl out the home side for 104. Upminster looked in a spot of bother at 47-4 and 81-5 but Karim Govani and Ed Knight saw Upminster to a five wicket success.

Three tough encounters then followed and gave the Upminster side an insight into the standard of some of the sides in the league. At Danbury, home opener Simon Moore made 112 to put his side on top, before Ollie Dignam claimed 5-47 to help get Upminster back in the game. Danbury posted 227-9 which always looked a tall order for Upminster’s young batting line up, but old heads Larke and Rob Bannister batted well to ensure Upminster at least used up their overs, even though they fell to a heavy defeat. It was a similar story a week later as Upminster hosted Ilford Catholics. Dignam picked up two more wickets, but 65 not out from Imran Khan helped Catholics to reach 246-4. Paul Burley batted well for 31 in the Upminster reply, and there were runs for Larke and Knight, but the home side were bowled out for 140. The beginning of June brought no respite as Hatfield Peverel piled up 313-6 at their beautiful Church Road ground. Jeremy Watson smashed 116 for the home side while Larke was the pick of the Upminster attack with 2-47. That total was always going to be to much for Upminster, but captain Craig Grote showed great fight with 51 and there were also good contributions from John French, Dylan Narbheram and George Sheridan.

While the visit of Chignal the following week brought another defeat there were more positive signs from the performance and result. Sheridan showed his ability with the bat, opening the innings and scoring a brilliant 80, his maiden senior half-century for the club. Grote made 30 and there were late runs for youngsters Lewis Munn and Ralph Moore as Upminster made a competitive 204-8. Upminster then reduced Chignal to 17-2 in their reply, but despite two more scalps for Larke, Chignal won by six wickets. A number of games across the county were washed out a week later, but Upminster were able to play at Rayleigh in a game reduced to 30 overs per side. Larke and Avanish Ajmani helped Upminster to reach 102-5 in tricky conditions, and their young attack then performed well with the ball but could not stop Rayleigh winning by seven wickets.

Grote’s side did pick up their second win of the season when they welcomed Navestock to Broxhill Road in a local derby. Sanjay Narbheram produced his best spell of the season (3-24) as Navestock were restricted to 149-8. Any worries that a nervous chase would follow were then wiped away by Sheridan and Mit Shah. They put on 114 for the first wicket to put Upminster in control, and although Sheridan fell for 44 Shah remained until the end, finishing on 76 not out. June and the first half of the season unfortunately concluded with a heavy defeat against Hornchurch Athletic at Raphael Park. Athletic’s Ethan Parr made 116 from 79 balls to help his side reach an imposing 293-7, despite 3-27 from Karim Govani and 2-53 from Dylan Narbheram. Arron Applegate (59) and Paul Burley (45) put Upminster into a good position at 116-1 but a middle order collapse proved costly, although Lewis Munn batted well for 26 not out.

The second half of the season began with a rain-off against Basildon and Pitsea, before Upminster picked up an important victory against struggling Rayleigh Fairview. Sanjay Narbheram did the early damage with 2-34 before Larke and Dylan Narbheram ran through the middle and lower order to dismiss Fairview for 89. Upminster lost two early wickets before Paul Burley (32) and Joe Hibell (26*) took Upminster to the brink of victory and skipper Grote was able to strike the winning runs.

The rest of July proved another tough period, with games against what turned out to be two of the eventual top three. Sheridan and Grote both made solid contributions against Danbury at Broxhill Road, but Upminster’s total of 142 never looked like being enough as the visitors raced to a nine wicket success. Sanjay Narbheram (3-46) was the pick of the Upminster attack at Ilford Catholics at the end of July, with the whole team putting in an excellent bowling and fielding performance to restrict their high-flying opponents to 202-6. Sheridan and James Burchell took Upminster to 30-0 in reply, but after that the only batters to reach double figures were Ed Knight (37) and Shrey Shah as Upminster slumped to 98 all out.

New leagues bring new rules and new administration requirements, and these took some time for Upminster to get used to, meaning they were unfortunately deducted 35 points during the first 13 weeks of the season. Those deductions meant Upminster were firmly in the relegation zone at the start of August, but they were about to embark on a four week period which would take them to safety. Hatfield Peverel came to Broxhill Road sitting third in the table at the time, but Karim Govani (3-44) put Upminster on top. Sanjay Narbheram then picked up 3-27 before an unbroken ninth wicket stand of 59 led Peverel to 172-8. Captain Grote fell to the first ball of the Upminster reply before Paul Middlemiss (60) and Paul Burley (33) put on 99 for the second wicket. They both fell in quick succession to leave the game in the balance, but Joe Warren and Joe Hibell slowly rebuilt before cutting loose and making use of the short straight boundaries. Warren finished unbeaten on 27 and Hibell struck 45 not out from 29 balls as Upminster won by seven wickets with six overs to spare. Upminster travelled to second placed Chignal with renewed hope and they chose to bat first on a difficult wicket at a beautiful, picturesque ground. James Burchell made 33 as Upminster reached 56-0, before Hibell made 24 in the middle order. At 119-6 the visitors looked in trouble but a crucial partnership between Ralph Burchell and Karim Govani (30*) helped lift the total to a competitive 164. Govani then removed both Chignal openers to put Upminster on top, but Kushank Jain and Martin Clarke took the home side to 69-2 and they looked on course for victory. Ralph Burchell’s introduction into the attack then completely changed the game as the young seam bowler took 4-6 in five overs as the home side fell to 85-7. Chignal captain Jain remained though, and the home side were back in the game at 115-7 when Joshan Narbheram removed the skipper. It was left to Sanjay Narbheram to claim the winning wicket as Upminster won by 47 runs.

Upminster were now out of the bottom two and took a further step towards safety when they overcame Rayleigh. Joe Farrell (3-22) took out the Rayleigh middle-order before Max Bird (2-5) finished off the tail as the visitors were bowled out for 111. A nervous chase looked in store for Upminster until Scott Fisher made 28 from 12 balls to get things moving and Farrell and Lewis Munn then guided their side to a five wicket win. With Navestock conceding their game against Basildon on the same day, they fell into the bottom two, and Upminster knew a positive result in the fixture between the two clubs on Bank Holiday Weekend would see them safe. As it turned out, the monsoon like weather across Essex and East London meant the game was called off and Upminster had completed the great escape with a week of the season to spare. The last game of the season unfortunately ended in defeat to Hornchurch Athletic. Chasing 259 for victory, George Sheridan made 30 and Joe Hibell again showed his potential with a brilliant 78 from 56, but despite that and some late fireworks from Sanjay Narbheram (30* from 19) Upminster were bowled out for 189.

It all meant Upminster ended their debut season in the league in eighth place in the table, 33 points clear of the relegation zone. However, they won as many games as any side in the bottom half of the division, and but for the points deductions would have finished higher up the table. We must thank everyone at the Mid-Essex League for their help in admitting us into the league and to all the opposing sides we faced for making our first season in the league so enjoyable. And we must also thank Ardleigh Green and Havering-Atte-Bower CC for allowing us to use their beautiful Broxhill Road ground for our home games.

There were times during the season where the standard of opposition was higher than expected, and the results at times were a harsh reminder of this, but Craig Grote and his other senior players did a marvellous job ensuring team spirit was maintained and that everyone enjoyed the season. A number of young players were able to show their potential and put in some impressive performances which showed the depth of talent throughout the club, and many of these players will have learned a great deal from the season.

Mid-Essex XI Leading Run Scorers (League):
George Sheridan – 232
Joe Hibell – 194
Paul Burley – 159
Craig Grote – 140
Michael Larke – 121

Mid-Essex XI Leading Wicket Takers (League):
Sanjay Narbheram – 16
Dylan Narbheram – 15
Michael Larke – 10
Karim Govani – 10
Ollie Dignam - 9

Such was the demand for cricket during 2024, the club were also able to field a Saturday Friendly XI on five occasions during the season, and we must thank John French, John Morley, John Oakes and especially Ian Twine for helping to lead this side, as well as Fixture Secretary Kevin Roome for arranging five excellent games at short notice.

The Friendly XI’s first contest saw them lose a thrilling game against Ilford Catholics by just two runs, and the following week they entertained Hornchurch 6th XI. Freddie Williams (44) and Ralph Moore (22) helped Upminster to reach 122-9, before Hornchurch won by four wickets despite three wickets for John Oakes and two from Moore. Williams claimed two wickets a week later in the game against Ingatestone and Fryerning 3s, and he then made a brilliant 63 not out in the Upminster reply, but despite that and an excellent 61 not out from Alfie Taplin Upminster lost out by 24 runs.

The team picked up their first win of the season against Frenford 5s in mid-June. Captain Twine made an unbeaten 50 and Joe Hibell showed his potential with 38 as Upminster made 156-5 before a ten-man attack all performed well to restrict Frenford to 141-8. And the team finished the season on a high with a win over Gidea Park and Romford 5s. Twine made another half century before Matthew Castellette and Joe Farrell both made brilliant fifties as Upminster made 262-5. Castellette, George Sheridan and John Oakes then took two wickets each as Park were bowled out for 101.

The Sunday Friendly XI were in action on three occasions during the 2024 season. The now traditional start of season opener at Rettendon was washed out before the side entertained Old Fallopians at Upminster Park. Spinners Stan Moore and Joseph Brooks showed their potential with the ball as Fallopians made 174 and Brooks then combined with Jamie Green with the bat to see Upminster to a three wicket win. Moore was in the wickets a week later, along with Kevin Roome and Shrey Shah, as Hornchurch Athletic were dismissed for 119 and Max Carter-Miller then made 40 not out as Upminster picked up a four wicket victory. The side also took part in the Judy D’Cruz charity match in early June. A great day was had by everyone once again, with lots of money raised for a great cause and the game ending in a tie!!