ELMSTEAD Grasshoppers captain Adrian Garnham described his team's 20-run Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship second division win over Easton as the most amazing game I've ever played in'.

Chasing the Grasshoppers' modest 118 total, Easton were racing to victory on 94 for three with 14 overs remaining when, clutching at straws, Garnham turned to 16-year-old medium-pacer Aiden O'Brian.

O'Brian, called in for his first-team debut, promptly instigated the mother of all collapses, marking his baptism with figures of three for eight as Easton lost their final seven wickets for the addition of just four more runs.

"The turnaround was incredible," said Garnham.

"To be honest I didn't really know what to do.

"We were short of a few regulars so I thought to myself I've got nothing to lose, let's put the boy on and see what he can do.

"Aiden wasn't even in the frame when we set out to select the team and now he has given us a major headache because there's no way we can leave him out after his exploits."

O'Brian also finished the day as Elmstead's second highest scorer with 17 runs behind opener Frazer Eadie, who hit 59 not out.

Garnham also weighed in with useful bowling figures of four for 40.

Frinton set down an early marker of their championship intentions this season.

The coastal club launched their new division one season with a 37-run victory over promoted Wivenhoe at Ashlyns Road.

Skipper Russell Everson described the win as an excellent start' and said: "Although our 151 for eight total didn't look too great, our relayed outfield hasn't settled yet so you could probably add another 30 runs to our score."

Matt Anderson, Frinton's Western Australian all-rounder from Perth, launched his second season with the club by top scoring with 87 before unorthodox leg-spinner Nicky Patel destroyed the Wivenhoe batting for only 114.

Trevor Moulton also weighed in with 23 runs and two wickets for 29 for Frinton, while opener Gerry Dunstan top scored for Wivenhoe with 47 after South African import Hennie De Wet had recorded figures of four for 27 in the Frinton innings.

But the opening day of the new first division campaign turned into a poor one for five-times league champions Halstead, who crashed by 120 runs at home to Mildenhall.

The Halstead batsmen had no answers to the Mildenhall bowling as they were skittled out for a mere 95, replying to the visitors' score of 215 for seven.

Only Mark Johnson, 35, Simon Steel, 15 and Paul Cooper, 12, managed double figures as Halstead struggled from the outset, losing their first four wickets for only 21.

David Elsbury was the pick of the Halstead bowlers with figures of three for 40 from 16 overs, admirably supported by Tom Philp, with two for 34, and Steel, with two for 36.