Author: Rob Pritchard

Ingatestone & Fryerning 2^nd XI will begin their bid to win promotion from the Mid-Essex Cricket League Seventh Division with a trip to Great Baddow 2^nd XI on Saturday 4 May 2024.

The new season starts on Saturday 4 May and ends on Saturday 31 August, with the 2^nd XI set to contest 18 matches, weather permitting!

The team will be seeking to bounce back after suffering relegation from the Sixth Division on the final day of the 2023 season.

Ingatestone & Fryerning will be joined in the Seventh Division by Great Baddow, Woodham Mortimer, Tillingham, Eastwood, Broomfield, Beaulieu Park 2^nd XIs, St Andrews 1^st XI, Rayleigh and South Woodham & Burnham 3^rd XIs.

South Woodham & Burnham Sports Cricket Clubs merged in late 2023 and their 3^rd XI will take the place of South Woodham 2^nd XI, who played in the Seventh Division last summer.

Eastwood and Tillingham were both relegated alongside IFCC, while St Andrews and Beaulieu Park were both promoted from the Eighth Division, while Rayleigh, Great Baddow, Woodham Mortimer and Broomfield competed in the Seventh Division last season and will do so again in 2024.

The season will begin at Baddow Rec on Saturday 4 May at 1pm, and the 2^nd XI have fond memories of their most recent visit in July 2022, when Jason Bates hit 113 not out and Hayden Bonnington 72 in a 37-run victory.

Following the short trip to Great Baddow, IFCC will welcome Woodham Mortimer, travel to Tillingham and welcome Hornchurch-based St Andrews to Fairfield to close out the month of May.

June will begin with a journey down the A127 to Eastwood, followed by another away game at Broomfield, a home fixture with Beaulieu Park, a trip to Rayleigh and first-ever meeting with South Woodham & Burnham in Ingatestone on Saturday 29 June.

The second half of the season will see the return fixtures played in the same order, culminating with a visit to Burnham Sports Club on Saturday 31 August.

Start times will be confirmed in due course.

Should you wish to join Ingatestone & Fryerning Cricket Club for the 2024 season, IFCC will be hosting pre-season indoor and outdoor nets. For further information, email secretary@ifcc.co.uk or follow the club on social media!

Ingatestone & Fryerning CC’s Voneus Village Cup round one trip to South Weald was postponed due to rain on Sunday 28 April.

Bruce Grobler’s side were due to make the seven-mile trip to Sandpit Lane to take on their fellow Mid-Essex League side, as both sought to begin their quest to reach Lord’s.

The tie will now be rearranged. Details will be published as soon as a new date and start time are confirmed by both clubs.

Fourteen clubs have entered in the South Essex Group in 2024, including Mid-Essex League teams Stock, Little Baddow, Bentley and Herts and Essex Border League club Matching Green, who beat IFCC by eight wickets in the Village Cup in 2023.

IFCC first entered the Village Cup in 2021, when another Smith half-century and five wickets from Grobler secured a four-wicket win over Hatfield Heath in the Essex and Suffolk Group preliminary round. However, Two Counties Championship club East Bergholt proved too strong in round one, despite rapid fifties from Sam Blackman and Richard Eaton.

Launched in 1972 by the National Cricket Association and The Cricketer magazine, the Village Cup offers clubs from settlements of less than 10,000 inhabitants the opportunity to play new opponents at unfamiliar grounds and, for the finalists, the chance to play at the Home of Cricket.

IFCC previously met South Weald in the Essex and Suffolk Group preliminary round in 2022, but 50 from Glen Smith and three wickets from Grobler could not prevent Ingatestone & Fryerning suffering an 86-run defeat at Sandpit Lane.

Matches are played on Sundays and are 40-overs-per-side, with no bowler permitted to bowl more than eight overs.

Should IFCC defeat South Weald when the rearranged tie is completed, round two will be played on Sunday 12 May. The final will take place at Lord’s on Sunday 15 September.

Ingatestone & Fryerning Cricket Club is delighted to announce Home Chic Home as the club’s new Main Sponsor.

As Main Sponsor, Home Chic Home’s logo will appear on the front of IFCC’s playing shirts for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons.

Home Chic Home offers a comprehensive range of super-stylish, luxury interior design services in and around Brentwood and London from its base at 25a Ingatestone High Street.

Home Chic Home’s creative team of interior designers are here to help you style your home, from providing free window treatment consultations (complete with fabric samples) to interior design boards for all or one of your rooms.

So, if your home needs a revamp, your interiors need refreshing, or you have had a wardrobe clearout and simply need a new storage solution, please feel free to contact Home Chic Home to discuss your needs.

Services offered by Home Chic Home include bathroom, living room and bedroom ideas and design, curtains, pelmets and blinds, designer wallpaper and bespoke wall coverings, bespoke furniture design and fitting, handmade soft furnishings and upholstery, lighting design and installations and bespoke furniture, cabinetry and headboards.

The Home Chic Home team are here to help and would love to discuss your interior design and home furnishing needs.

To set up your personal appointment, please give us a call on 01277 352103, email info@homechichomeltd.co.uk or use the contact form on homechichomeltd.co.uk/contact.

Ingatestone & Fryerning CC will begin their quest to reach Lord’s in the Voneus Village Cup with a trip to South Weald on Sunday 28 April.

Bruce Grobler’s side will make the seven-mile trip to Sandpit Lane to take on their fellow Mid-Essex League side in round one.

Fourteen clubs have entered in the South Essex Group in 2024, including Mid-Essex League teams Stock, Little Baddow, Bentley and Herts and Essex Border League club Matching Green, who beat IFCC by eight wickets in the Village Cup in 2023.

IFCC first entered the Village Cup in 2021, when another Smith half-century and five wickets from Grobler secured a four-wicket win over Hatfield Heath in the Essex and Suffolk Group preliminary round. However, Two Counties Championship club East Bergholt proved too strong in round one, despite rapid fifties from Sam Blackman and Richard Eaton.

Launched in 1972 by the National Cricket Association and The Cricketer magazine, the Village Cup offers clubs from settlements of less than 10,000 inhabitants the opportunity to play new opponents at unfamiliar grounds and, for the finalists, the chance to play at the Home of Cricket.

IFCC previously met South Weald in the Essex and Suffolk Group preliminary round in 2022, but 50 from Glen Smith and three wickets from Grobler could not prevent Ingatestone & Fryerning suffering an 86-run defeat at Sandpit Lane.

Matches are played on Sundays and are 40-overs-per-side, with no bowler permitted to bowl more than eight overs.

Should IFCC defeat South Weald on 28 April, round two will be played on Sunday 12 May. The final will take place at Lord’s on Sunday 15 September.