SCHOOLS may have taught the three R’s but when it comes to Division Three is it the three B’s that everyone is studying.

Basildon & Pitsea, Benfleet and Billericay are unbeaten this season and occupy the top three places in the division in alphabetical order.

The new towners travelled to West Essex and defeated their hosts by one wicket.

Julian Joy proved a thorn in Basildon’s side as he top-scored with an unbeaten 61.

But few other batsman enjoyed any joy against a Basildon attack which saw Lee Lewis lead the way with 4-25, and Dean Bedford take 2-19 and Chris Clarke-Irons 2-30.

Basildon’s reply got off to a good start thanks to Scott Noble (33), Danny Gray (21) and Steven Ayres (15).

But five wickets fell for single figures, with only Ben Munday (16) steadying the ship as Zia Anwar (5-29) and ZA Nazir (3-25) got into their stride.

However, Clarke-Irons (34) and Bedford (24) guided Basildon to 197-9.

“It’s been a brilliant start to the season and I could not have asked for anything more,” said Basildon captain Danny Gray.

“I said it was important for us to get a good start and pick up wins in the 50/50 and we have managed to do it.

“West Essex were on 108-9 and their last partnership took them to 196.

“We were on 121-9 but Chris and Dean were the real heroes for us because they got us the win.

“We were all sitting on the sidelines saying it can’t possibly happen.

“But credit to the pair of them, they played with no fear in what was a crazy game.”

Benfleet hosted Epping at Woodside Park and beat them by five wickets.

Ben Marks top-scored with 20 on a day when only five Epping batsmen got into double figures.

They were put to the sword by an attack which saw Gareth Steed claim 5-16 from his 10 overs, seven of them maidens.

David Miles took 2-39, Australian overseas player Emmanuel Parmakellis 1-16 and Andrew Scott 1-15.

Scott (29) and captain Paul Tremain (23) made early inroads before Sean Pritchard (25no) and Steed (16no) saw Benfleet to a winning 120-5.

“Two wins has been a nice way to start the season, although we have not hit top form,” admitted captain Paul Tremain.

“We bowled consistently as a unit on Saturday and I was pleased for Gareth as he excelled with the ball and at times he was unplayable.

“David Miles and our Australian Emmanuel Parmakellis also did well for us.

“We chased the runs down reasonably easy. We were 33-1 and looked comfortable but then we lost Ray (Gipson) and Andy (Prophet) and they are key batsmen.

“Gavin (Blowes) followed soon after, but Gareth and Sean came in and took the game away from them.”

Billericay successfully chased down more than 300 runs to secure a four-wicket win against Old Brentwoods.

The Old Boys notched up a triple ton for the second match in succession before being bowled out for 303.

Stuart Hynes took 4-51, Gary Hynes 2-75 and New Zealand overseas player Charlie Crassbourne 1-42, with his second spell being 1-8 from four overs, two of them maidens.

Skipper Stewart Rutland led the reply with an unbeaten 73 but got good support from Stuart Hynes (49), Dan Harford (48) and Andy Smith (31) as Billericay posted 304-6 in reply.

“It was a really good win against Belhus in our first match and that was down to the performance of the team,” said Billericay skipper Stewart Rutland.

“It was important that we carried on playing as a team and that is exactly what we did on Saturday.

“We fielded reasonably well but it was not a par performance for us and we know we have a little bit to do there. However, there were some good batters for them.

“When it came to the reply, I top-scored but everyone contributed.

“To chase down 300 with an over to spare is great and I cannot really speak highly enough of the bats. It was a superb run chase.”

Belhus secured their first triumph of the league season with a 110-run victory at home to Old Parkonians.

Gavin Jefferies (118no) got the hosts off to a fine start and received strong support from Martin Guilbert (46) and Joe Joyce (35) as Belhus made 289-6 from their 50 overs.

Billy Winter warmed to his task with the ball by taking 4-27 as Old Parks were dismissed for 179.

Dale Kenyon (2-34), Connor Day (2-40) and Michael Cansdale (2-41) also got among the wickets, with only Imran Khan (51) and Rushan Pandya (44) providing significant resistance.

“It’s nice to get that first win as the Billericay game could have gone either way,” said Belhus captain Wayne Read.

“Gavin batted very well and everyone chipped in to make an impressive total. But I told the team that you have no right to defend a big score, you have to work hard for it. “They got off to a flyer and then lost a few wickets. Pandya and Khan batted well but we took a wicket with the first ball after drinks and they lost their way.”