Upminster captain Adam Wheater praises win at Shenfield

Upminster captain Adam Wheater praised his side following their 33-run win at Hamro Foundation Essex League Division One rivals Shenfield.

New Australian signing Beau Webster shone with the bat after the visitors lost Pulkit Gupta cheaply to Matt Salisbury, and had good support from Kiran Kullar (33), Wheater (27), Muhammad Ahmad (33) and Harry Jenkins (35 not out).

Webster eventually fell for 145 from 130 balls to Alex Rickenbach (2-74) as Upminster piled up 294-5, then bowled Jack Potticary, ran out William Howard and also dismissed Evan Ackerman early in Shenfield’s reply.

Jack Kliber (79) and Salisbury (46) steadied the Shenfield ship with a fourth-wicket stand, but fell to Ahmad and Shafiq Rahman respectively.

Webster (4-26) and Callum Berry (3-58) then shared the remaining wickets, as Oliver Ekers (40) and Tom Arnold (22) made starts, to dismiss Shenfield for 261.

“I said to the boys I didn’t retire from first-class cricket to have to face first-class bowling in club cricket on a Saturday!” said former Essex staffer Wheater.

“They had a really good attack. He [Webster] showed his class and I don’t care what team you play for, it’s good to get that first hundred. It was much needed.

“The guys played well, we didn’t lose wickets in clusters which was better than the week before.

“Sometimes when a player gets a big score it can end up being two-thirds of the total so it was good to see a few others combine to double that.

“It was good experience for Callum, with Toddy [Ollie Todd] injured. He bowled some death overs and did really well, it’s good to see a youngster put his hand up and perform, it shows the club is getting somewhere.”

Upminster edged past Orsett & Thurrock in the Dukes Essex League Cup on Sunday, after the visitors posted 234-5 from their 45 overs.

James Evans hit a run-a-ball 37 in reply, but Upminster slipped to 77-3 before Gupta (23) put on 54 with Kullar, who added a further 75 with Akibur Rahman (29).

Kullar was unbeaten on 80 as Upminster sealed a three-wicket win with an over to spare, earning a trip to Wanstead.

“The cup games can be tricky but Kiran batted really well and we got over the line which is important,” added Wheater, whose side visit Belhus on Saturday.

“We’ve got all bases covered with Beardy [Aaron Beard] and Nehal [Butt] coming back. On paper it’s a stronger attack than we’ve had in previous weeks but it means nothing if we don’t perform.

“Someone could have a good day for Belhus, but it’s nice to go into the game with a bit of confidence.”