By Charles Randall

25 August 2015


Ealing have again reached finals day of the NatWest Club T20, and will compete against reigning champions Chester Boughton Hall, Exmouth, and Pudsey Congs, at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff next week on Tuesday, 1 September.

The first semi-final, Exmouth versus Pudsey Congs, is due to start at 11.15am, followed by Chester Boughton Hall and Ealing at 2.45pm. The evening final will be played under floodlights.

Ealing won this competition in 2011 in a golden era of Middlesex league titles and 50-over national finals, though their progress this year came at a price. A home match in regional finals day was scarred by loutish behaviour, resulting in three Sawbridgeworth players receiving lengthy suspensions.

Ealing went on to defeat Colchester & East Essex and followed that with a quarter-final six-wicket victory in Suffolk against East Anglian League club Bury St Edmunds, with Huw Jones playing an important part on his return from suspension.

Jones, the Ealing captain, had been banned for three matches by his club – with one suspended for a year - after a spat with the Sawbridgeworth seam-bowler Michael Burrell. It was reported that Jones accused Burrell of cheating for pausing or nearly pausing during his run-up, a grey area in the Laws.The umpire signalled dead ball when Jones was 'bowled' after stepping away from strike, and the subsequent batsman-bowler altercation led to the Hertfordshire league disciplinary panel suspending Burrell and Danny Wilson, the Sawbridgeworth captain, for six weeks. Gary Brown was similarly banned for an incident off the field. The club's three-year exclusion from the county T20 cricket was withdrawn. Sawbridgeworth scored 169-5 before losing by six wickets with 1.3 overs remaining.

Exmouth, from the Devon League, reached their first T20 final by defeating Wimbledon, the formidable 2012 and 2013 champions. Facing 157-6, Exmouth lost two wickets in the first over and needed 35 from the last four overs with seven wickets gone. Thanks to Trevor Anning, the target was reached off the final ball without further loss.

Pudsey Congs, from the Bradford League, were bolstered by Callum Geldart's 111 off 62 balls as they demolished Chester Le Street, finals day competitors on three successive years between 2011 and 2013. The Congs total of 250-5 proved way out of reach.

Chester Boughton Hall, from the Cheshire League, eased their way through their regional final with a nine-wicket win at the Liverpool & District Premier League side Ormskirk.