After battling back into Division 1 last year the Essex Ladies County Team were back on familiar turf at Devonshire Park in Eastbourne. This year the team in alphabetical order were Georgina Bastick, Sophie Cockell, Stef Cornish, Helen Crook, Aimee Gibson, Bryony Hunter, Jenni Rabot and Mandy Wainwright. Carla Bell and Abi Claydon were non travelling reserves.
On the first day we played old enemies Surrey boosted by their new team member Karen Paterson a former top 10 British player formerly from North of Scotland but now living in Wimbledon. During the first round our number 1 pair Mandy Wainwright and Jenni Rabot lost a 3 setter against the Surrey number 2’s consisting of the experienced Michelle Oldham and Karen Paterson. Our number 2 pair Helen Crook and Georgina Bastick lost in straight sets to the strong Surrey number 1’s Lorna Woodroffe and Hannah Collin and our winning rubber came from our number 3 pair Sophie Cockell and Stef Cornish who beat Victoria Brook and Alex Napier 7-6 6-4. Going into the second round 2 – 1 down we needed to win at least 2 matches to give ourselves a chance, frustratingly we lost all 3 rubbers in close matches, Helen and George losing against Brook and Napier 5-7 2-6, Mandy and Jenni going down against Collin and Woodroffe 6-7 2-6 and Sophie and Stef unlucky not to come out on top against Oldham and Paterson 6-4 3-6 4-6. In the final round only Helen and George managed a win which meant the overall match score was 7 – 2 to Surrey.
Day 2 our opponents were Buckinghamshire a tricky team with no stand out players but with good depth. We had a shuffle round with our pairings Stef and Helen now playing at 1 won their match against Claire Hamilton and Helen Lawson in straight sets. Sophie and Jenni played at 3 winning 6-4 6-4 against Celia Bristow and Lereesa Easterbrook but the strong pairing of Julia Bone and Jemima Hayward beat our number 2 pairing of Mandy and Aimee Gibson (making her Devonshire Park debut) in a very close 3 set match 6-3 3-6 2-6. In the second round Mandy and Aimee and Sophie and Jenni won their matches comfortably in straight sets but Helen and Stef succumbed to Bone and Hayward who were on course to win 15 out of 15 matches a feat that Helen Crook achieved many years earlier partnering Mandy Wainwright and Amanda Janes. With the match score 4-2 to Essex we only needed 1 more rubber to secure the win but managed to win the tie 6-3 with Mandy and Aimee and Helen and Stef both winning in 3 sets and Sophie and Jenni losing to the Bucks top pair Bone and Hayward.
Encouraged by our win against Bucks we prepared to face Warwickshire the 2008 champions who for the first time in many years had a new team and apart from some experienced players had lost their established pairs. The team line up was the same as the Bucks match apart from Bryony Hunter replacing Helen to play with Stef. Unfortunately at the end of the first round we were 2 – 1 down in rubbers with Stef and Bryony losing in straight sets to Jess Jackson and Hannah James. Mandy and Aimee lost an agonisingly close match to the experienced Warwickshire number 1 pair Leyla Ogan and Luisa Cowper that due to the bad weather had to be decided when they split sets by a 10 point match tiebreak that Ogan and Cowper won 10-4. Sophie and Jenni proved very solid again comfortably beating Warwks 3rd pair Celia Fraser and Aimee Jarratt 6-3 6-3. In the second round Aimee and Mandy beat the same players to make the match score 2-2. Bryony and Stef lost to Ogan and Cowper
4-6 3-6 and when Sophie and Jenni beat Jackson and James 6-3 6-2 to make the match score 3-3 the weather was not looking good. The rain unfortunately forced the rest of play to be abandoned and all matches had to be finished the following day before our scheduled match against Hertfordshire. The final round was quite tense, Bryony and Stef posted a convincing win against Fraser and Jarratt 6-0 6-3, but Mandy and Aimee after winning the first set 6-4 lost the second set 4-6 despite being up early on and then painfully lost the 10 point tie break 10-6. Sophie and Jenni were the stars of the match because after losing the first set to Ogan and Cowper 2-6 they managed to get the second set 6-3 and went on to win the new format final set in a 10 point tie break 10-6. That bought the match score to 5-4 Essex and secured a brilliant win against the holders.
We started our match against Hertfordshire already on a high from our victory against Warwickshire but well aware that Herts were one of the stronger teams having beaten Warwickshire and Leicestershire earlier in the week. With some different pairing combinations we found ourselves 2-1 down after the first round. Stef and Aimee playing at 1 beat the Herts number 2 pair Hope Johnson and Claire Ricketts in a tight match decided due to splitting sets on the dreaded 10 point tie break which we won 10-8. Mandy and George lost to the strong Herts number 1 pairing of Katherine Baker and Kate Elliott 6-7 2-6 and Sophie and Jen lost in straight sets to the Herts 3rds Alissa Ayling and Holly Bagshaw. By the end of the second round we were 4-2 down having lost 2 matches that so nearly could have gone our way. Stef and Aimee lost an excruciating match that they had been up a set in and had match points. They won the first set 6-2 then lost the second in a tiebreak which meant the final set was again decided on the 10 point tie break which painfully they lost 11-9, a similar story had happened on the adjoining court with Sophie and Jen. Winning the first set 7-5 they went on to lose the second in a tie break then lose the 10 pointer 13-11. Only the fact that George and Mandy had beaten the Herts 3rd pair meant that we were still in with a chance. After the disappointment of the previous round and knowing that we were so close to being 4-2 up instead of down we needed to re-group. After a quick team chat and ‘pump up’ we knew that the pressure was all on Herts and the fact that they appeared to already be celebrating made us really believe that we could win the next 3 matches. Sophie and Jen got us off to a great start beating Baker and Elliott
6-1 6-1 bringing the match score to 4-3. This put ripples of doubt amongst the Herts team and started to inspire Steph and Aimee who had won the first set 6-2 but lost the second 1-6. On the next court George and Mandy had won a tight tie break 9-7 and were battling in the second set to avoid a deciding match tie break. Steph and Aimee played really well under the enormous pressure and came through winning the match tie break 10-7. With the match tied at 4-4 George and Mandy needed to win the second set which they did 7-5 to the delight of the team and our fantastic army of supporters who had been with us all week. Final score 5-4 to Essex!!!!
The Hertfordshire win had put us in a very good position and bar some strange results from other teams we were heading for 2nd place. The weather on the final day was terrible and we started against Leicestershire on soggy astro turf courts away from Devonshire Park. With the team the same as the Herts match short sets (first to 4) were the order of the day and after the first round we were up 3-0. The weather cleared and we were able to play the next round at Devonshire Park again using the short set format. By the time we had finished the second round and were 6-0 up, Surrey had beaten Warwickshire which meant that Surrey were the champions and Essex were runners up!
It was a fantastic week despite the weather and on behalf of Pat and myself I would like to thank the entire team for the most amazing effort. We really do have a great group of players with a true fighting spirit. I don’t want to single any player out because it truly was a team effort with a combination of different pairings. With the mixture of youth and experience on this team I truly believe we can build for the future and win this County Cup for many years to come!
Sara Hancock
Essex Ladies Captain