Wanstead’s Joe Ellis-Grewal wants revenge on Bexley

The Herons host their Kent League rivals at Overton Drive in the quarter-finals on Sunday, having been knocked out by them last year.

And Ellis-Grewal is hoping to redress the balance this time around, having already led his side to the Dukes Essex T20 title this season.

“We played Bexley at the same stage last season at their place,” he said.

“It was a cracking game and we lost in the last over with Bexley then going on to win it.

“I’m hoping that with home advantage and another year under our belts – we’re a better side this year – we can get into the last four in the country. It’s a Lord’s final.”

Wanstead have a Hamro Foundation Essex League Premier Divison home meeting with Hutton to take care of first on Saturday, after rain washed out last weekend’s programme.

And Ellis-Grewal wants a strong performance from his men, adding: “These are the games you look forward to. If we can get a couple of wins, it could be one of the best weekends of the season.

“I’d be lying if I said Sunday was not our main focus, but the key thing is we put in a good shift on Saturday. 

“It’s good to have a winning habit. I want my batters in form, bowlers to get overs under their belts.

“It’s a massive weekend at the club.

“Hutton, we scraped past them earlier in the season at their place and they’re a good young side full of good cricketers.

“It’s always a challenge playing against them but we want some decent results to creep back up towards the top of the table, where we think we should always be.

“We want to get 20 or 25 points to then go into the National game on Sunday.”

Ellis-Grewal won the toss at Brentwood last weekend and put the hosts into bat, but saw them reach 186-3 by lunch after Haaris Raza nabbed 2-49.

Essex staffers Will Buttleman (57*) and Ben Allison (33*) were the not out batters at the time, but no further play was possible.

“We were prepped for rain on Saturday. Our only chance was to bowl, get them out and knock them off quickly,” said Ellis-Grewal.

“We started well but dropped a few, including Aaron [West] and Will [Buttleman]. They could’ve been 30-3, but they batted well to get into a decent position at lunch.

“As we were coming off it started to rain and it didn’t stop. There was no chance of getting back out there but it was the same across the league.”