Thames Valley League

Divisions 1-3

Fleet started their Division One campaign in fine fettle, away at Tring Park, where they skittled the hosts for just 53, waltzing to a thumping 199-run win.

After skipper Tim Downes had won the toss and elected to bat, the Fleet openers made a solid start before two quick wickets pegged back Fleet’s progress, with Russell Black and Peter Talbot dismissed.

Opener Andy Parker and Doug Ferguson (33) battled to ensure the innings steadied, with a partnership of 79, only for three wickets to fall with the score at 140, leaving Fleet precariously placed at 140-6, especially as Parker was one of the players to go, after a splendid knock of 82.

It was left to the middle order of Steve Morgan (24) and Dave Gurney to get Fleet over the 200 run mark, with overs left in the bag.

Gurney’s highest 1st XI league innings of 60 not out, at just under a run a ball, guaranteed Fleet a very competitive score of 252-9 off 51 overs. The Tring response got off to the worst possible start, losing a wicket with the first ball of the innings, with Matthew Adams trapped LBW by Phil Singleton.

The old ball opening bowling partnership of Singleton (2-17) and Talbot (3-26) put Tring Park under huge pressure and, when the new ball was taken at 40-5, the game was almost up for Tring Park.

Graham Chalkley (2-9) and Morgan (2-1) made sure there was an early finish to game by whipping out the tail and wrapping up a comfortable victory as Tring were all out for 53, in an innings that included six ducks and just one score in double figures.

Downes was understandably delighted after the 25-point win — the only maximum-point victory in the division across the weekend — as Fleet look to build on last season’s six-placed finish, after promotion the year before.

“I am really pleased with this start to the season,” said Downes. “It really was a brilliant all-round team performance.

“Hopefully we can carry this form into the next few games, starting with High Wycombe 2s at home, this coming Saturday [tomorrow].”

Eversley suffered what all too many teams do against Datchet — the wrath of Tim Alldis’ bat.
Alldis, who has played for Devon in the Minor Counties’ Championship, hit a century as Datchet chased down Eversley’s 268-4 in Division 2A.

But Eversley captain Ben Savile was reasonably content with his side’s performance, despite the defeat.

“We have won two promotions in a row and it is the first time many of the lads have played at this level,” said Savile.

“Datchet are one of the strongest teams in this division and they have finished in the top two or three over all the last few seasons.

“To take 13 points from them and score so many runs — we looked in full control with the bat, despite them having bowlers like Andy Dick, who takes plenty of wickets — is a good sign. Hopefully this can be a benchmark that we can compete well at this level as it is a little bit of the unknown for us.”

Savile did his bit with the bat, making 90, with overseas player, Australian Rhys James, hitting a quickfire unbeaten 107 to race Eversley to 268-4.

That prompted Savile to make a bold declaration, after just 47 of a possible 52 overs. Datchet chased down the total with five balls to spare.

“It was a great game of cricket,” said Savile. “One of those that you would love to play in if it was a Sunday match but a tough one to lose when it is in league cricket.

“Rhys batted superbly and made his 107 off only 90-odd balls. I would do the same again and declare if we are in a similar position later in the season. Good luck to any side who can chase down 270-odd in little more than 50 overs —and Datchet did that on the day.

“We had our chances to win and it did not help that we dropped Alldis [who made 101] when he was on 50 or so. Shane Green did well, taking 3-36 with his medium pace but Datchet put on 30-odd for the crucial eighth-wicket partnership and it won them the game.”

Datchet eventually claimed the win at 269-7, timing their chase to perfection, one ball into their final over.

“I don’t think we can get too ambitious after two promotions,” said Savile. “The important thing is to make sure that we are competitive and progress, just as the whole club develops.”

Eversley will soon have the benefit of indoor nets and a second square will be available at the club towards the end of the season.

Cove 2s, who also play in 2A, suffered at the hands of another of the division’s most powerful players, Gary Loveday.

The former Berkshire player, now aged 45, is still one of the handiest cricketers in the Thames Valley League and he made an unbeaten 72, as Finchampstead 2s made 225-4 at Cove.

The hosts could only muster 159 in reply, with Finch’s Matt Harper taking 6-59.

Bagshot lost by three wickets at Marlow, who had Graham Paskins to thank for guiding them home to 187-7.

Cove are in Division 2B and began their season with a resounding victory over Kidmore End.

Visitors Cove loss the toss and were inserted but made a healthy 233-7.“We started well, with a good opening partnership but stumbled a little in the middle and at one stage were at 170-6,” said captain Andy McNeil.

Enter overseas player Vineet Sinha, from Mumbai, who smashed 58, off just 25 balls, including six sixes. That quickfire knock, on the back of a more patient 64 from opener Luke Voyce, allowed McNeil to declare on 233-7 after 49 overs.

“It hadn’t even entered my mind to declare until Vineet changed the face of our innings,” said McNeil (pictured, below). “But his knock gave us a chance and it made a statement to the opposition that we were confident of victory, as well as giving ourselves a few extra overs to bowl them out.”

It proved a very wise decision, as Kidmore battled until the final over of their 51 allocation. While Sinha had taken 3-60 with his fast right-arm over bowling and Andy Short had done well to take two wickets, with two run outs into the bargain, it was 15-year-old Jordan Finney who was the last-over hero.

He took the decisive wicket with his offspin with just three balls to spare as Kidmore were all out for 171 off 50.3 overs. Jeff Sheldon was left marooned on 68.

“The 1st XI are still very much the pinnacle of the club, supported by the 2nd XI,” said McNeil. “But it is a test having the 2s in a parallel league to the 1s. It puts the 1s under a little bit of pressure to perform. And Henley 2s, on Saturday, will be another tough game.”

Aldershot opened their Thames Valley League divison 3A season with a strong performance that left opponents Harefield II clinging on for a draw.

After making 201-5 from 52 overs, Aldershot had Harefield at 160-9 at the end of their 48 overs.

But for a dropped catch at slip by Amir Hameed, Aldershot would have taken the last wicket.

“It was a sharp chance to slip off Neil Mumby,” said Aldershot captain Dave Booton. “Amir got his hands to it but it popped out.”

That was the only chance Aldershot got to bowl at the Harefield No 11. “We played well today and made a solid start to the campaign. We pressed hard for the win, but were unlucky to fall just short,” added Booton.

Harefield won the toss and asked Aldershot to bat — ‘I would have batted anyway,” said Booton — on an early season pitch that was not easy to score on. Aldershot batted solidly with the innings held together by Andy Taylor’s patient 77.

Taylor was returning to 1st XI action after missing last season following a lay-off due to a shoulder injury that required surgery. His innings was a welcome return for a player who has anchored the Aldershot batting line-up in previous years.

The pitch suited Harefield’s seam attach but Taylor’s innings set the platform for aggressive batting from brothers Danny and Duncan Anslow, hitting 32 and 24 respectively.
Their contributions took Aldershot to a total of 201-5.

In response, Harefield were always struggling following an early breakthrough from left arm pace bowler Bobby Gill.

Wickets fell regularly as Aldershot’s bowling attack applied pressure, with the pick of the bowling coming from veteran off-spinner Mumby (pictured, left), who took 17-4-41-3.

“I don’t think we really could have performed much better,” said Booton.

“We got 15 points and, to an extent, it would have benfited us if Harefield had got closer to the target as that way they would have been more likely to take risks and we would have got the ten wickets.

“But it was still an achievement to take nine wickets on a track that did not misbehave. Neil Mumby bowled exceptionally well; teams at this level will always struggle to play against decent spin bowling like his.”

Divisions 4-9

There was an extraordinary opening game of the season at Yateley, where the hosts’ derby against Odiham & Greywell ended in a tie in Division 4B.

This was a low-scoring thriller with Yateley, having lost the toss, skittled for just 110 in 32.4 overs.

Matthew Hall was the chief architect of Yateley’s cheap demise, taking 6-18 from 12 overs.
Just two batsmen — Chris Petts (26) and James Muir (26) — made double figures for Yateley, as they posted what looked like being a woefully inadequate total.

But the home side battled back and Odiham, requiring 111 to win off as many as 67 overs, could only equal their opponents.

That meant the first tie in the last 30 years for Odiham, for whom Chris Turner top-scored with 27.

Hall made a vital 26 and Jim Steven 16 but Stephen Spreadborough was left marooned on 10.

Andy Peace had most to shout about among the Yateley bowlers, returning figures of 10.4-3-22-4, including the all-important last wickets, including a stunning caught and bowled for the penultimate one.

Gerhard Pienaar also excelled with the ball, taking 3-37 with his offspin, while Harry Bartlett enjoyed an miserly spell of 8-3-13-2.

For Yateley skipper Stuart Lipo, 15 points for the tie was like ‘getting out of jail’ after his side’s poor batting display.

“It was a very extraordinary game,” said Lipo. “Our batting was a little bit disappointing but we showed that we have the battling qualities to get a result.”

Odiham will be kicking themselves for not chasing down such a modest target, given that they needed fewer than two runs an over for victory.

“We did really well before tea,” said Lipo. “We restricted Odiham to 32-2 off 21 overs  and then took some quick wickets after tea and we were right back in the game.

“Harry Bartlett bowled really well, as did Andy Peace,” as Yateley gave themselves a chance of victory, at 100-7. As it was, they did take three more wickets — but not before Odiham had inched to ten more runs, eventually all out off 53.4 overs.

Odiham captain Phil Thomas was fairly satisfied with 15 points away to Yateley, even if he admitted his side ought to have won after their bowling exploits.

“It was a bizarre game and, in hindsight, yes, we should have won and I would normally back us to chase down 110. But that is cricket for you and I am happy to take  15 points at Yateley.

“We bowled really well but then so did Yateley later on.

“The pitch was very soft and had not been covered during the week. I guess it was a good toss for me to win and we will learn from not chasing down the target after getting ourselves into such a good position.

“I have never been involved in a tied match before and we have players in the side who have been playing for Odiham for 20 years and they had never experienced such a game. It was a quite a start to the season.”

In the same division, Eversley 2s (ten points) lost by six wickets away to Barnes Wild Geese.

Eversley, who won the toss and batted, struggled to 196-9 from 52 overs, with Andrew Hogston (33) and Robert Pigden (31) providing vital runs at Nos 9 and 10.

But Raheem Mohammed’s 5-39 in that innings would prove decisive, as Barnes eased to 197-4 in 40 overs, with Jonathan Shorrock making an unbeaten 110.

Ben Hughes returned very respectable figures of 7-2-18-2 for Eversley.

Also in 4B, Finchampstead 3s (233-8) lost by five wickets to Caversham & Redingensians.

Elsewhere in the lower leagues, Cove 3s enjoyed an excellent 21-run win at home to their Wokingham counterparts in 5A, after dismissing their opponents for 200.

Aldershot 2s (204) started the season with an exciting maximum points win by 11 runs over Royal Ascot 2s.

Aldershot, at home, batted first and contributions came throughout the order, headed by senior player Lance Morley (47) and some legside hitting from Chris Ford (32).

The total of 204 was always  going to be challenging in conditions where the ball was swinging.

Royal Ascot’s response was initially restricted by accurate bowling from Stuart Green (10-3-27-3).

After a good Ascot recovery, an incisive spell from debutant Des Williams (10-1-42-5) turned the game and the final Royal Ascot wicket fell with 1.3 overs to spare.

Yateley 2s (211-4) beat Farnham Common 2s by six wickets in 6B.

Yateley paced their innings superbly with skipper Paul Sandford (44) being well supported by Lakhshmi Srinivasan (40), Mark Cowdrill (30), and Simon Treadwell (31 not out), as they eased home with ten overs to spare.

Dave Howorth made 81 as Eversley 3s (175-5) beat Slough 4s by five wickets in 7A.

Pete Thornton was the all-round star as Fleet 2s trounced Slough 5s by 118 runs in 7B.

Thornton made an unbeaten 110, including 18 fours, as Fleet made 257-2 off just 43 overs and he then took 3-9 as Slough made just 139. Lee Newman took 4-54.

Ahmed Bawa made 102 and James Peacock scored 69 and took 5-36 as Odiham & Greywell 2s beat Kidmore End 3s by 160 runs in 8A.

Tight bowling saw Yateley  3s hold Aldershot 3s to 141-9, also in 8A, with skipper Andy Davies taking 4-36. Andy Pippett made 27.

Yateley then struggled in turn but thanks to Phil Mackie (22) and Mike Downey (20) they scraped home by one wicket with skipper Davies hitting a four off the last ball to win the match. Andy Bossom returned excellent figures of 15-3-35-5 for Aldershot.

In the same division Cove Academy (104-2) beat Wokingham Oaks & Acorns by eight wickets, but Fleet 3s lost out by one wicket in a low-scoring game at Basingstoke & North Hants 5s (108-9).

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