The final weekend of the local cricket season brought success to Bury St Edmunds as well as some disppointment for the young players.
Before the Thurlow Nunn East Anglian Premier League match both teams stood for a period of reflection in memory of John Williams who sadly died on September 5th

Bury St Edmunds hosted bottom club Saffron Walden, home captain Josh Cantrell won the toss and elected to bat, as is often the case openers Nikethan Radhakrishan and Alex Maynard went hard from the start but both were out by the time 64 runs were scored Maynard caught and bowled Ben Harris and Radhakrishan caught Josh Down bowled Jack Sneath for 45. Max Whittaker (25) and Cantrell added 60 for the 3rd wicket. Cantrell batted very well to build what seemed an unassailable score along with Ben Whittaker adding a century of runs Cantrell was out with just 28 deliveries remaining for 76 an innings that included 7 x 4, Whittaker went on to remain not out on 68 with James McKinney chipping in 10 of a total of 267.6 after 50 overs.
Saffron Walden made a solid start, a win would provide league survival Brynn Mendel was first out on 63 in the 15th over to Oliver Riddick caught by Radhakrishan off his leg spin. Riddick then provided the bowling performance of his life bowling Josh Down for 5 having Harry Gallian caught by Max Whittaker for 5 and Alex Pierson caught by Ben Whittaker for 2 in the space of 19 deliveries, 7 balls later Mihir Chandraker who had batted gamely for 96 minutes was out bowled by Riddick for 25 taking the score to 88.5.
Sneath was out caught Ben Whittaker off Rufus Easdale on 97. Riddick took his 6th wicket that of Oliver Rae for 7 on 134 it was left to Ben Whittaker take two wickets including that of Ben Harris (38 off 26 balls) and finally Cantrell to end the innings on 161, sadly defeat and losing the play off ends Saffron Walden’s spell in the East Anglian Premier League, a great pity because the pitch and ground is arguably the best in the league.
Riddick finished with the excellent figures of 10.1.57.6 with top photographer Hedley Wright in attendance there will be a photo gallery of a lifetime.

Photos are now on Hedley's website, the link is https://shop.hedleywrightphotography.com/burystedmundscc1stxivsaffronwaldencc1stx1_140924/

Not a good day for the 2nd team away to Copford Bury were all out for 133 with James Sturgeon scoring 26 and Joe Corder 34, the home side reached the target with 3 wickets taken. For Sturgeon, Corder and Josh Owen their weekend would finish on a high at Woolpit on Sunday.
A very good game was played on the 2nd ground as Bury’s 3rd team entertained Worlingworth, the visitors were relieved to discover neither Vivek Rajagopal or Zyan Imam were playing as they had scored a remarkable opening stand of around 200 in the first encounter.
Bury this time scored 199.5 with Simon Aldous rolling back the years with 87 he was well supported by Benjamin Baldock with 31 and Arlo Bhavsar with 33 not out Harry Nestling taking 4.18 for the visitors.
Bury fielded a group of very promising young players all of whom had been coached by John Williams who would have been proud of their performances, Worlingworth made a good start with Gino Antonio scoring 53 but it was excellent bowling from Henry Baldock (3.17) John Nicol (2.32) also two junior players Dillon Bhavsar with 1.43 and two catches and Seamus Gallagher 1.21 and a superb catch at long on that sealed the win as the visitors were all out for 182.
So to Sunday and two teams competing in the finals of the Suffolk Cup at Woolpit The 1st team playing Sudbury and the 3rd team in the lower level against Woodbridge.
Bury’s 3rd team fielded a group of 8 young players against a team of senior players very much a case of men against boys, the Bury fielding was excellent as they restricted Woodbridge to 149 all out. The young team lost wickets at regular intervals with Zyan Imam the mainstay, in this competition players have to retire after scoring 50 runs and each of the previous games Zyan had retired not out, he was out this time for 35 with 27 from A.Saidur 17 scored by Joel Johnson and 20 by Finlay Bonas. Bury ended just 9 short of the target but the team acquitted themselves with great credit.
So to the final of the Suffolk Cup a competition Bury St Edmunds have won 17 times since 1982 but not since 2016.
Captain Josh Cantrell won the toss and elected to bat letting Alex Maynard and Sean Park lose to create havoc in the early overs, Maynard scoring 51 not out off 14 deliveries and Park 32 off just 13 Maynard was first to retire as Park was out on 69 in just 4.3 overs. Cantrell was out second ball leaving Max Whittaker (40 off 35) and James Sturgeon (18) to continue at a more sedate pace. Oliver Riddick scored 14 as others were keen to allow Maynard back in which duly happened taking his score to 56 not out and Joe Corder sending the final delivery for a strait 6. The final score 178 was formidable but you never know with T 20 cricket.
Sudbury lost Kenny Moulton-Day for 11 but Darren Batch and Ben Parker batted well taking the score to 89.2 in the 11th over when Parker was out for 43 the game was in the balance, Cantrell opted to take pace off the ball with 5 Sudbury wickets falling between 130 and 135 the game swung firmly in favour of Bury St Edmunds 3 wickets for Ben Whittaker for 17 runs with Cantrell 2.17 and James McKinney 2.18 Bury used 7 bowlers and although Batch was able to bat again the task was beyond him, Sudbury were all out for 145 in a very entertaining match.
Somewhat more sedate at the Victory Ground as great credit to the club in fielding 3 teams on a Sunday Bury hosted Castle Headingham who much appreciated the game and the team tea provided. Bury scored 172 with Lucas Finister scoring 91 on his return to playing after injury Jack Howland captained the team scoring 56 not out Sam Abrey taking 3.26.
The visitors secured the win scoring 176.3 with David Philp scoring 62 not out Hayden Smith taking 2.33 the important aspect was Bury fulfilled the fixture and an enjoyable game was played the last before the cricket squares are renovated for the autumn.
Greene King Player of the Week Oliver Riddick, Josh Cantrell, Ben Whittaker, Joe Corder, Simon Aldous, Alex Maynard, Zyan Imam and Lucas Finister.
Byron Burgers Young Player of the week Lucas Finister.