Halstead Cricket Club ready to take final step in quest to rejoin East Anglian Premier League as Haverhill look to avoid unwanted relegation twist

After becoming only the second club to win three consecutive Division One titles in the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship’s 52-year history, Halstead head into this weekend looking to avoid a third successive slip-up in the play-offs.

And captain Ed Clark believes his side are ready to ‘take the final step’ to reclaim their place in the region’s top tier, having now had a 12 year exile from the Thurlow Nunn East Anglian Premier League (EAPL).

They confirmed a third straight title with a game to go in style on their home pitch on Saturday, bowling basement side Witham II out for 115 (Josh Wells 4-28) before their openers knocked off the target inside 18.5 overs (Callum O'Connell 70, Harry Pritchard 43) for a 10-wicket victory.

With 17 wins and only one defeat to their name in 2024 it leaves them unable to be caught by Hadleigh ahead of a final day trip to sixth-placed Maldon on Saturday (12pm).

It will be followed on Sunday by a play-off semi-final one-off tie with Cambs & Hunts Premier League winners Ramsey, back in north Essex at Star Stile (11am).

Should they triumph in the semi-final, as they did last year, they would set up a straight shootout next Saturday with the victor of Norfolk Cricket Alliance champions Downham Stowe’s match with the side that finishes bottom of the EAPL, currently Saffron Walden but with Frinton-on-Sea also much at risk.

Whereas they had to travel away up into north Norfolk for the play-off final last year, where they lost to Ashmanhaugh & Barton Wanderers, Halstead would have home advantage this time around.

And while he would not go as far as saying he sees the stars aligning this time, Clark is confident they are in a great position to ensure they are not having to eye up a fourth Division One title to achieve their promotion aim.

“At the end of the day it’s all about just going out there and doing our job, which is something that we’ve done really well over the last few years, but unfortunately, we’ve fallen just short,” he said.

“But we’ve prepared again in the same way. We’ve had another excellent league campaign and we’ve got boys playing at the top of their game. So, hopefully, that can just translate into getting the job done and finally getting up.”

Only Colchester, from 1980-82, can lay claim to a hat-trick of Division One titles and Clark described it as ‘pretty special’ and added he is ‘immensely proud’ of a ‘great bunch of lads’.

Like in previous years, they will be without their overseas pro for the play-offs, with Joey Field returning to New Zealand having scored 1,035 runs at an average of 60.88.

Haverhill set for last-day nail-biter in survival bid

Haverhill captain Ben Wilkins is hoping his side can end a difficult season on a winning note at Manor Road on Saturday to give themselves the best chance of remaining in their division in what he has described as the end-of-season ‘lottery’.

From the outside it would appear that even despite a 60-run defeat at local rivals Bury St Edmunds II, having being bowled out for 158 chasing Bury’s 218-7 score, that they had already got their winning ticket going into the final weekend – with the four points guaranteeing they will finish outside of the bottom two.

But the end-of-season shake-up of the pyramid that the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship sits within means it is not as straightforward as the green up and red down triangles on the online tables make it out to be.

For Wilkins and his team-mates, their 12.30pm start against Copdock & Old Ipswichian II will be preceded by keeping a keen eye on how events are unfolding in the Thurlow Nunn East Anglian Premier League’s games (11am). Notably, those at Frinton-on-Sea and Bury St Edmunds.

Wilkins explained: “We don’t want to finish third bottom with the potential impact of EAPL relegation putting three teams down in each league.

“There’s potential whoever comes bottom of the EAPL to come back into the Two Counties which is the only issue we’ve got this weekend.

“If Saffron Walden (away to Bury) finish bottom we’ll be absolutely fine, if Frinton-on-Sea (at home to leaders Sawston & Babraham) finish bottom we’ve got to hope that they win the play-off, in essence, to stay up.”

With Woolpit II currently sitting nine points above them, and nine points available even in defeat, the final day gets even more complex from a Haverhill perspective.

Summing up what they need to essentially happen this weekend, with the play-off semi-finals only taking place on Sunday with the final the following Saturday having the potential to still leave things hanging in the balance, Wilkins said: “We need to win and hope Kesgrave (at Woolpit) don’t lose, as well as Saffron Walden losing.

“It’s basically one of those days where you just need the lottery numbers to all go your way!”

While you might not expect teams admitting to be expecting to shift their focus to events elsewhere while they have a job to do themselves, the Haverhill skipper was happy to reveal how it will be.

“The EAPL starts at 11 so we’ll always have an eye on what’s going on before we start,” he said.

“But the only thing we can really control is beating Copdok at home while hoping that Woolpit don’t win against Kesgrave which, potentially, if Halstead win the play-off then Kesgrave (currently third) might want to finish third, so obviously they’ve got a vested interest in winning Saturday as well. It’s going to be interesting all round.”

Haverhill have no injury or availability issues for the weekend’s encounter.