Eastern Counties Six Counties Championship 2009

On Sunday 19th April, Cambridgeshire hosted the Six Counties Championship, at Littleport Leisure Centre.

Unfortunately, due to illness, Bedfordshire turned up with one rink short. The other five counties would therefore only play five rinks against that team.

The first round saw Essex take 10 points from Hertfordshire, while Cambridgeshire dropped a point against Bedfordshire, Suffolk could only manage 6 points from Norfolk.

Next round, Essex kept up their good start by taking the full 10 from Bedfordshire, while Cambridgeshire managed another 9 from Norfolk. Suffolk needed to improve and took 10 from Hertfordshire. After a full two rounds, Essex had a 2 point lead over Cambridgeshire.

Round three and Essex slipped up, splitting the games with Norfolk, 6-6, while Cambridgeshire took a satisfying 8 points from Suffolk, which put them into the lead. Meanwhile Hertfordshire were able to take 6 from Bedfordshire.

Fourth round. Essex faced a lack-lustre Suffolk who were trailing them in third place, the result was a 6-6 draw. Cambridgeshire having their worst result of the day, but still took seven points from Hertfordshire.

The crunch match, between Essex and hosts Cambridgeshire, was the one to decide the days winner. Cambridgeshire showed their experience of playing under that sort of pressure and came away with a 10-2 win. This enabled Suffolk to overhaul Essex by 2 points, by taking a maximum from Bedfordshire, while Norfolk had beaten Hertfordshire 9-3, to finish a close 4th.

A very good days bowling, that saw no team sure of a result, played in the best of spirit.