Forum | Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival by noah4x4

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Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival 07:43 - Jun 15 with 398 views

Just a date for your diaries. 24th to 28th July, Lower Castle Park.

30+ Real Ales & Ciders.
Craft Ale in conjunction with Two Brews.
Comprehensive Pavilion Bar.
Quality cricket every day Thursday to Sunday.

Today (15/06) the First XI host Loughton CC (11:00 start) and we welcome the return of England U19, Charlie Allison and Scotland U19 Mackenzie Jones to the Colchester team, which also includes Joe MacGregor (Captain, Loughborough University) and Simon Fernandes (Essex CCC Second XI). The bar will be open , free admission, and the match will also be live streamed via the Colchester Play Cricket website and YouTube.

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 15:59 - Jun 16 with 345 views

noah4x4

What a treat spectators in Castle Park had yesterday in a rain affected fixture. Colchester moved clear at the top of the league after smashing 219 in merely 34 overs.

Sadly, 195 minutes and hence 56 overs were lost to the weather, but Joe MacGregor and Charlie Allison both hit 70+, Charlie in a spectacular six fest, with one clearing a Catchpool Road roof, without question, the biggest hit I have witnessed in a decade.

Then Loughton were soon reeling at 8-4, recovering to 78-6, with eight catchers around the bat. This was declaration/timed one day cricket at its tactical best. Bowling out any Premier Division side in 30 overs is nigh on impossible. The match was ultimately drawn with Colchester taking 14 bonus points. Next Saturday, it’s the top of the table shoot-out at Chelmer Park, Chelmsford, and the good news is long injured Scottish U19 International, Mackenzie Jones, is expected to be fit to bowl.

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 18:31 - Jun 16 with 326 views

SparkfilmsTV

I only arrived for the last twenty minutes ...Charlie Allison is capable of shots that may never have been replicated at Castle Park.

I noticed that Guy Haynes was missing from the line up yesterday.

Guy, Joe, Charlie and Simon are close to the best top four Colchester & East Essex have had in my lifetime...the only line up to rival them is Wright, Scofield, Nolan and Moye - two of whom played for Essex ( Wright and Nolan ) and Trevor Moye played for Essex 2's.

Trevor Moye was an outstanding all rounder!

This could be Colchester's best opportunity to win the Hambro Premier title with Wanstead and Hornchurch less formidable than in previous seasons.

Chelmsford away next Saturday is a big match for the club.

Is it too much to ask for an Essex Premier title and a promotion season for Colchester United?

STOP PRESS - it was Ben Allison who was striking 6's today with Brentwood flying the flag for Essex clubs in the National Cup - five in his innings of 73 not out in a victory against Swardeston from Norfolk.

😊😊🦮🦮

[Post edited 16 Jun 19:46]

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 20:52 - Jun 20 with 243 views

noah4x4

Colchester & East Essex CC batter, Charlie Allison is making his Essex T20 debut tonight, joining his brother, Ben. Sadly, this means Charlie is absent for the top of the table Essex Premier League clash at Chelmsford this weekend. However, prolific opener Guy Haines returns.

Next Friday (evening) 28/06 CEECC in Castle Park is hosting an evening with New Zealand Black Caps T20 star, Adi Ashok. Non-members are welcome (free admission). Daytime, I am scoring England Young Lions v Sri Lanka U19 at Chelmsford, which is likely to feature Essex’s Charlie Allison, Noah Thain and Luc Benkenstein. I am unsure if this fixture will be televised (possibly highlights on Sky), but I am sure a (free) live stream will be on YouTube.

Just a month to go before the Cricket & Beer Festival, and again, Colin Bocking of Crouch Vale Brewery has sourced an awesome selection of Real Ales and Ciders. Paul from Two Brews will enhance this with superb selection of Craft Ales. We are even promised forecast sunshine!

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 10:20 - Jun 21 with 208 views

bwildered

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 20:52 - Jun 20 by noah4x4

Congrats on your England U19 duties Noah.
Don’t get there too early has this is a Day/ Night fixture starting at 14-00 hrs.
Sky usually televise only U19 World Cup tournaments, but sure would be available onstream.

Poll:

No half measure either 1 or 2 ?

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 12:52 - Jun 21 with 189 views

SparkfilmsTV

Met up with former Club Chairman David Beales yesterday and mentioned the top four for Colchester & East Essex over the years - in his view the best ever One to Four was as follows -

Wright
Hands
Nolan
Green

That may just eclipse my former line up with Wright and Nolan figuring again.

Stuart Hands, an international cricketer from Zambia became our games master at Colchester Technical College around 1971 and was a superb organiser, mentor and sportsman.

Stuart ( R.I.P. ) was looking for a local club and l mentioned Colchester to him.

He was playing for the club about two weeks later.

We had a college cricket team back then that played in the twenty over cup and l recall a victory we achieved in near darkness over at Braintree one night. Stuart was a natural leader of our student team that included players from a range of different courses.

He placed a notice on the message board in reception and within 48 hours we had a net session on the college playing field - one of the batsman went on to play for Warwickshire Second X1.

Stuart also organised lunchtime 6 a side football league and cup tournaments that were very competitive and great fun to be involved in.

As a member of the Art School team we played in national competitions in London and Peterborough eventually losing to teams from Southampton and Liverpool.

After having too much fun at Art School l focused on concentrating on a career after leaving the Sheepen Road campus.

Just remembered an Art School v Staff cricket match at Spring Lane where l opened the batting with a sculpture student by the name of Dan Jones who l only met on the eve of the match at a practise session.

We put on 160 for the first wicket with Dan smashing about 130 with shots all over the ground!

All l had to do was push singles into the cover area and get Dan on strike.

I think we made about 250 for 7 dec and bowled out the staff for around 130.

[Post edited 21 Jun 13:07]

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 07:59 - Jun 22 with 167 views

noah4x4

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 10:20 - Jun 21 by bwildered
Congrats on your England U19 duties Noah. Don’t get there too early has this is a Day/ Night fixture starting at 14-00 hrs. Sky usually televise only U19 World Cup tournaments, but sure would be available onstream.

Not my first scoring duties for a touring side at Chelmsford. Alongside Tony Choat for Essex, I’ve scored for India, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Netherlands and Denmark. Tourists never bring a scorer, whether for senior or age-group cricket.

I also suspect that I might possibly hold the First Class record for scoring for the most different counties (e.g. rather than my own), as during Covid, social distancing meant there were no travelling scorers (or spectators). So, I scored an entire behind closed doors season for the visitors during the Bob Willis Trophy competition that was fortunately available on the live stream and some TV.

Counting back, I’ve actually scored for other First Class opposition more often than for Essex First XI. Frankly, it is the ultimate in “dead man’s shoes” career progression, and consequently opportunities are few, but I am privileged to have occasionally enjoyed the best view in the ground whilst getting paid for it.

But my passion remains Colchester & East Essex CC, where currently we enjoy the best top seven batting line up I can recall in twenty years, although the past Castle Park combination of Aussie, Julian Russell and current New Zealand WK, Tom Blundell would get my vote for all-time best partnership. We have perhaps yet to see the best of Charlie Allison, who is absent today with the Essex T20 Squad having played last night versus Kent. Today is a big test, a top of the league clash (away) versus Chelmsford CC at Chelmer Park. I plan to live stream the game on the Colchester Play Cricket website, subject to a decent local 4G signal. Start 11:00am.

Get the Castle Park cricket & beer festival in your diary (24th - 28th July). On Saturday 27th July, the visitors are Wanstead & Snaresbrook, always fireworks given they have Essex batters, Robin Das and Kishen Velani.

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 23:06 - Jun 22 with 137 views

noah4x4

A bad loss today for Colchester & East Essex CC on an awful wicket. We were 114-9 at lunch, then 116 all out merely an over later. Then, Chelmsford lost seven wickets knocking them off before tea. An injury to a Chelmsford player meant we only required nine wickets, so the margin was slim. Today highlighted just how good Castle Park pitches are.

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 15:56 - Jun 24 with 86 views

SparkfilmsTV

With Ben and Charlie Allison representing Essex last week l was looking back ( with the help of Wiki ) at brothers who had played together for Essex.

I was reminded that an Essex player holds a world record ( 163 ) for a batsmen coming in at No.11 - that being Peter Smith. Peter's brother Ray also played for the county but l'm not sure if they were both in the same side when this feat was achieved.

I recall the Pont brothers playing together for Essex in a Lords final.

I attended my first Essex match at Castle Park as an eight year old. My dad, who worked on a Saturday morning took me along for the afternoon and evening session.

It was a similar experience to watching my first football match at Layer Road at the same age - captivated by both visits and the beginning of a long journey.

Essex Cricket Week at Castle Park was always one of the highlights of the summer.

The first wages l ever earned were paid by The Pakistan Cricket Board for selling promotional brochures in 1967.

The greatest side l ever saw at Castle Park were South Africa in 1965.

A few of us did scoreboard duties for Colchester & East Essex for around five seasons and also Colchester Chamber of Commerce during the summer holidays on Thursday afternoons - some decent player's involved in those matches.

Crowds used to flock to these matches in the 1960's, benches were put out along the boundary on the Causton Road side and cars would flood in through both gates.

Very few benches are available these days and cars are no longer permitted to enter the ground for spectators.

The crowds were often boosted by patients and staff from Essex Hall and Turner Village - some of the patients had strange habits like taking sweets out to the umpires and assisting with the occasional fielding duty.

This was a golden era that will never be repeated.

STOP PRESS - Just checked out the line up for the South African match played at Castle Park, July 3rd, 5th and 6th, 1965 and can see that the Essex openers that day were Micky Bear and Graham Saville. I had thought that Gordon Barker opened that day - so here l am correcting my memory some 59 years later!

When Peter Pollock was bowling at that blistering pace, which included plenty of bouncers, the players were wearing just caps - seems inconceivable now.

I can still remember the entire South African squad signing autographs on the Saturday morning before play begun - we were also treated to an exhibition of fielding by Colin Bland throwing down a single stump on the run - l never saw the like of it again.

There was a very respectful atmosphere in the ground for our esteemed visitors.

😊😊🦮🦮

[Post edited 24 Jun 18:00]

Colchester Cricket & Beer Festival on 23:52 - Jun 24 with 58 views

noah4x4

Interesting comments Ray.

Speaking of young Charlie Allison, he hit another 50 today for England U19, but was overshadowed by a young man named Rocky Flintoff, who on debut hit 106. A familiar name and score? You bet, is Andrew’s son. Is it really that long since I saw dad Freddie destroy the Aussies?

Both should be in action at Chelmsford on Friday when England U19 host Sri Lanka. I am scoring the fixture, so look up and give me a wave when queuing for a beer or ice cream.

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