Witham Cricket Club are heading with confidence into another game that could be key in the Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship division one title race.

Having dispatched leaders Wivenhoe with a 57-run victory last weekend, Witham, who moved up to second in the table, now face a trip to the side who replaced the former pacesetters at the top – Mildenhall – on Saturday.

While Witham skipper Jake Wakelin insists it’s still too early in the season to call these games “make or break” ones for his team, he does appreciate the significance of strong performances against rival sides who are also pushing for the title.

So he was delighted to see his team put in another strong display to beat Wivenhoe.

“It was a really good win – the boys did themselves proud as it was a big game,” said Wakelin.

“It was a big one for the club and us winning it has really opened up the league.

“We’re only eight games into the season, but we knew we had lost one and they were unbeaten so it would have opened up a gap had we lost it.

“So to turn them over, and quite emphatically, was a big one for the boys.

“There are still 14 games to be played so it was in no way a make or break game, but we knew we’d have been playing catch up had we lost.

“So it was brilliant to win like we did and was another all-round team performance to bowl them out with about five overs to spare.

“We had the blow of losing a couple of weeks ago, but that’s sport; you’re allowed to lose games, but it’s all about bouncing back and to have done that with two really emphatic wins is pretty special.

“Beating a team who were unbeaten and top of the league was a big boost ahead of another important one this weekend.

“It’s another big one (against Mildenhall) and while it’s not make or break again, it could be a big one in the league standings.

“We know they are a good side, but we’ve shown that we can beat anyone in this league on our day.

“I may have a few headaches when it comes to selection, though, as I’ll have Kaan Hawes, Jack Sambrook and Simon Jones all back available.

“There’ll be some decisions to make, but it’s a nice position to be in.”

Wakelin was pleased to see his team defend a total in the field against Wivenhoe, despite feeling their own score of 194 was below what they really needed to win the match.

He added: “We batted first after losing the toss, which was a bit unusual for Wivenhoe as we know they usually like to post a total and use their bowling to put pressure on.

“So we saw that as them being a bit negative and thought they were maybe a bit worried about our batting.

“We made 194 for seven, which we felt was a bit under par, especially knowing what we can do with the bat.

“Adrian Chad made 79, which was a great score, Leroy (Facey) made 31, I hit 20-odd and Carl Bragg came in at the end and made 21, so that gave us a defendable total even though we felt 220 was a par score.

“We thought we were on course for 200, but lost wickets in the last ten to 12 overs and that kept the score down.

“However, they were under pressure straight away as Matt McKendry bowled a superb opening spell in which he took three early wickets.

“Paul Bellehewe also stepped up into the first team again and he took an early wicket as they were 30 for four.

“Our fielding was brilliant, the bowling was superb and the pitch wasn’t as easy was we had thought.

“We then brought the spinners on, including Adrian Chad, who was bowling spin rather than seam as he had dislocated his shoulder the week before, and we had them all out for 137.”