COPDOCK & Old Ipswichians skipper Chris Swallow said his side are in “a good place” after their opening Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier League win of the season.

After being bowled out by Bury St Edmunds for 222, Copdock dismissed their visitors for 175 to record a 47-run success on Saturday.

Martyn Cull and Swallow both scored 65 as they shared a third-wicket stand of 132, after coming together with 27 runs on the board.

Swallow said: “It was a good wicket. Matt Hunn (12.3-1-57-5) bowled well and it was a good contest. If we had lost one or two more wickets then we could have struggled.

“We played well but also had some luck although, to be honest, I got out to a poor shot against Tom Huggins, when I tried to work the ball too square.

“If I had not done that we may have got 250 or 260, but that led to a fall of wickets which cost us 30 or 40 runs.”

Swallow said that despite failing to post a larger target, Copdock were confident that they could defend their total.

He said: “We thought our total was about par, but we were confident in our bowling although wary that they had three very good batsmen in Tom Huggins, Justin Bishop and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala.”

Huggins fell with Bury’s reply on 30 and Toby Adams departed without further addition to score, before Bishop (37) and Jhunjhunwala (78) added 101 for the third wicket.

“Once we got both Bishop and Jhunjhunwala we were confident we would win with Peter George bowling well and Tom Rash bowled brilliantly in his second spell up the hill,” continued Swallow, who praised George’s contribution so far.

“He has been brilliant from the moment he got off the plane after a 32-hour flight. He bowled 15 overs for us the following day!

“He wants the ball and he puts the ball in great areas most of the time and he could end up with a lot of wickets this season.

“He gives James East and Tom Rash great support. James has spearheaded our seam attack almost single-handedly for the last five years.”

Copdock finished sixth last season – their first in the EAPL – and Swallow said they have set their sights on improving on that this season.

“We have made a good start with two draws and a win and are in a good place. We talked about finishing higher than we did last year and being tougher to beat this season.

“I think last year we would have lost one of our opening two games, but we want to be more difficult to beat because that gives you confidence to then go on and win games.

“We are away to Saffron Walden on Saturday which will be a hard game as they have several good batsmen.”

The result leaves Copdock in sixth and Bury propping up the table, with Woolpit and Clacton, who both drew, immediately above them.

Set 200 to win, Woolpit closed on 157 for eight to earn a draw at home to Horsford.

Opener Ben Shepperson struck 44 off only 52 balls and Julian Crudeli weighed in with 52, before being out off the last ball of the innings.

Burwell’s batsmen made hay in the sunshine at home to Clacton, rattling up 273 for two off 54 overs.

Former Essex player Michael Comber cracked 82 off 61 balls (five sixes and eight fours) and Jason Hughes scored 70 as Clacton reached 264 for seven in reply.

Swardeston’s Michael Eccles ripped through Sudbury’s batting line-up with figures of 17.4-4-55-7 as the hosts were skittled for only 84.

The visitors then required only 16.5 overs to secure a seven-wicket win.

Gibbs Denley East Anglian Premier League

*Burwell 273 in 54 overs (D Jones 101, J Keyt 66, C Summerskill 47, P Summerskill 40no). Clacton 264 for 7 in 45 overs (M Comber 82, J Hughes 70, T Rajarate 23, W Perera 21no, C Warn 20, V Yadav 4 for 49). Burwell (16pts) drew with Clacton (9pts)

*Copdock & OI 222 in 56.3 overs (M Cull 65, C Swallow 65, James East 20, M Hunn 5 for 57). Bury St Edmunds 175 in 52.5 overs (A Jhunjjhunwala 78, J Bishop 37, C Lomas 20, P George 5 for 54, C Swallow 3 for 37). Copdock & OI (30pts) beat Bury St Edmunds (7pts) by 44 runs.

*Saffron Walden 321 for 7 in 64 overs (G Batticciotto 83, J Wells 67, S Parmenter 50, G Ecclestone 41, N Gladwin 30no, S Joubert 3 for 89). Great Witchingham 275 for 5 in 54 overs (T Collishaw 104no, J Spelman 46, S Joubert 46, C Rogers 34, W Dunger 21no, G Batticciotto 3 for 50). Saffron Walden (15pts) drew with Great Witchingham (11pts).

Sudbury 84 in 34.4 overs (N Poole 23, M Eccles 7 for 55). *Swardeston 85 for 3 in 16.5 overs (P Lambert 38, S Gray 27). Swardeston (25pts) beat Sudbury (1pt) by 7 wkts.

*Vauxhall Mallards 212 in 51.1 overs (M Platter 77, T Brice 43, A Shearer 37, C Futter 23, N Jordan 4 for 50, S Park 3 for 38). Cambridge Granta 213 for 7 in 65.4 overs (A Ansari 82, A Fullarton 27, R Singh 27no, N Jordan 24, M Addison 4 for 33). Cambridge Granta (25pts) beat Vauxhall Mallards (9pts) by 3 wkts.

Horsford 199 for 4 in 56 overs (N Perry-Warnes 81, M Love 61, L Caswell 20). Woolpit 157 for 8 in 49 overs (J Crudeli 52, B Shepperson 44, R Findlay 4 for 53, C Brown 4 for 59). Woolpit (9pts) drew with Horsford (14pts).