WEST Essex Cricket Club's junior season got off to a great start over the bank holiday weekend with two excellent cup victories .

On Sunday the Under 13s played host to Walthamstow CC in the first round of the MCC Spirit of Cricket Competition. Batting first, the home side were given a good start by their captain, Saeed Piperdi, who hit six boundaries before being bowled for 28.

The good work was carried on by Arslaan Sadiq (27) and Hassan Saleemi (15) as the Highams Park side totalled 106 in their 0 overs.

In reply, Walthamstow were always in the hunt with Gymer (35 not out) leading the way.

West Essex held their nerve in the final over as the game ended with scores level, the home side going through to the next round having lost fewer wickets.

Best bowlers for West Essex were Haider Mahmood and Shahaan Hussain.

l On Monday the U16s team made their debut in this year's Essex Matchplay Competition when they travelled to play Stanford Le Hope.

Put in to bat first on a wicket showing variable bounce West Essex lost two quick wickets for 29 runs but a stand of 156 between Patel and Shahzad quickly put them in command.

When Patel fell eight runs short of his century the runs continued to flow from the bats of Shahzad (78) and Sajjad (48) and despite losing some late wickets a total of 276 in 40 overs looked beyond the reach of Stanford.

Any hope the home side might have had of challenging the West Essex score disappeared in the first 10 overs with opening bowlers Riaz (3 for 6) and Mohammed (2 for 21) capturing the first five wickets with just 23 runs on the board.

Despite resistance from Davis (42) and Higgins (13) , the Stanford innings closed on just 96, leaving West Essex the winners by 180 runs.

The later wickets were shared by Usman Saleemi (2 for 13), Saeed Piperdi (2 for 5) and Junaid Qadir (1 for 18).