Frinton’s top four batsmen all made half-centuries as the in-form Essex hosts secured an impressive victory over Cambridge Granta by 44 runs in an East Anglian Premier League clash at Ashlyns Road on Saturday.

Openers Michael Griggs (53) and Tom Sinclair (54) built a solid platform with an opening partnership of 86, after Frinton had lost the toss and been inserted into bat.

Griggs struck 10 fours in his well-paced half-century, while Sinclair faced 97 balls and bagged nine fours in his stay.

Their good work was continued by skipper Kyran Young, who played the anchor role with a watchful 66 off 113 deliveries at No. 3, putting on 91 for the third wicket with fellow all-rounder Merv Westfield (52 off 49 balls).

This helped Frinton to a challenging total of 289 for six, but they had to stay patient before making inroads into Granta’s reply, which was bolstered by a rapid 93 from opener Michael Pepper.

The hard-hitting Pepper added 97 for the second wicket with wicketkeeper Chris Benjamin (41), before both fell in quick succession.

Granta then lost regular wickets and, despite trying to hold out for a draw with Jonathan Atkinson making 31 not out at No. 7, Frinton eventually took the final wicket of No. 11, Henry Campbell, to leave the visitors of 245 all out off 48.4 overs.

The wickets were shared by former Essex all-rounder Westfield (four for 80), Young (three for 49) and Dan Carter (three for 72).

“It was a tough day, having lost the toss, and we had to bat with patience,” explained skipper Young.

“But both Michael (Griggs) and Tom (Sinclair) batted well up top on what was not an easy wicket. It was a good achievement for our top four batsmen to all score fifties.

“I played the anchor role, because it’s always important to have someone in the top four staying there, to avoid losing a cluster of wickets, especially as I have explosive batsmen all around me.

“At the start of the day, I would have said that 250 would be a winning score, but by the end of the innings it looked more like 300 would be more competitive. We were on the back foot early on in their reply, but our seam attack got the wickets,” added Young.