Windsor 2’s 302 for 3 off 39 Overs (Davis 102, Chana 93, Gould 51)
Tring 3’s 137 All Out off 43.1 Overs (Plummeridge 82, Mohindru 6 for 32)

With all still to play for in Division 4A, Windsor 2’s entered this match on a positive note knowing that a 25 point win would at least give them a chance at closing the gap on the leaders and winning promotion. Upon winning the toss, Windsor had no hesitation in deciding to bat in an attempt to set a total for which they could bowl Tring out.

Davis and Chana once again opened and were positive from the outset. The inexperienced Tring Park bowling was put to the sword as the Windsor openers were mercelous in their pursuit of runs. Davis passed 50 as Windsor passed their 100 in the 15th over. Chana was not far behind and the pair continued to put Tring to the sword. Once in the 90’s, Davis began to become somewhat unsettled, but reached his hundred in the 27th over as Windsor reached their 200 in turn. When Davis finally fell for 102 in the 28th over, Windsor were well set on 204 for 1. Gould joined Chana and together they built yet another partnership. Chana fell 7 short of a deserved hundred for 93 when his missed a straight one to be adjudged LBW. Gould and Charters carried on the momentum, with the former reaching a fine and well-deserved 50. After Gould’s departure, Malik and Charters saw Windsor past 300 and gave Davis chance to declare the innings and give Tring Park 61 overs to chase the target.

The target of 302 looked even further adrift when Tring found themselves first 4 for 3 and the 24 for 4 thanks to the spin bowling of Mohindru and Kellard. But when Plummeridge and the Tring skipper began to build a solid 5th wicket partnership, the wickets stopped and the game became a contest again. They batted for over 35 overs together and put Tring in a far more comfortable position. However, the combination of Green removing the Tring skipper and Plummeridge getting cramp, put paid to any thoughts of victory. Mohindru returned and gained the vital wicket of Plummeridge and along with Kellard, the spin twins made light work of the Tring tail. Windsor ran out comfortable winners by 165 runs.

Despite the huge win, the 25 points gained were not enough as results in the rest of the league went against Windsor. Indeed all but one of the competing sides won and as such, they finished 10 points behind the leaders, gaining back only 5 on the day. That said, it has been a good season for the 2nd XI and it has seen some good young players establish themselves into the side and develop well towards a bright future. The balance for next season will be to continue to progress the younger players and putting in a serious attempt to win the title.

Windsor 2's 208 for 9; 52 Overs (Malik 90, Lines 39)
Wooburn Narkvoians 159 All Out (J. White 64)

After the disappointment of the week before, Windsor 2'sentered the penultimate game of the 2009 league season with nothin to lose as they new a win against the leageu leaders would completly open the innings. When Davis won the toss, he had no hesitation to bat first and look to take maximum points.

Chana and Davis opened the batting for Windsor and were immediately put udner pressure by the impressive MA Tennant's left arm seamers. Indeed, it was a fine delivery that removed Chana and continued putting pressure taking the wicket of Charters. Davis then fell to a loose shot after looking well set and Windsor were 45 for 3. Malik and Lines then began to build a match-defining partnership and upon seeing off Tennant, both began to be fluent. When Lines was finally out for 39, they had put on 109 and put Windsor in strong position. As has been the case for some time this season, this wicket was the start of a mini collapse as Windsor lost 3 wickets for 2 runs in 3 overs. Malik managed to continue the Windsor innings with his remaining partners, but when he fell for 90, Windsor was still 20 short of 200, a testing target and maximum batting points. It took the contrasting batting of Mohindru and Kellard that saw Windsor break 200 and post exactly the same mark as from earlier in the season.

The Wooburn innings start with a bang for both teams. First Greene removed the Wooburn no. 1 with the third ball and then some counter attacking lead by White, began to take the innings away from Windsor. When Davis and Mohindru combined the attack, the score was 45 for 1 off 8 overs. Both veterans began to settle, but Wooburn's White continuing to be a thorn in their side, the game was very much at a even keel. When Mohindru removed skipper Ball and Davis removed White in consecutive overs, the tide turned for Windsor. Kellard joined the attack and he and Mohindru increased the pressure on Wooburn, with the former taking the final wicket to a fine catch by Lines to win the match.

A huge 25 points for Windsor 2's now leaves them with all to play for in the last week. With 15 points between them and the top spot, only a huge win against already relegated Tring Park 3's will now do. Should Windsor pull off the win, it will be a waiting game to see how the other sides have done to find out their final fate for 2009

Amersham 2’s 254 for 6 off 50 Overs (Colquohoun 86, D Ward 58*)
Windsor 2’s 150 All Out off 47.1 Overs (K Condon 54)

After a busy day of 6-a-side chaos the day before, Windsor made the trek into the Chilterns to play their vital TVCL Division 4A game against Amersham 2’s knowing that a win would put them very much in contention. After the losing toss, Windsor 2’s was asked to field first on what looked to be a great batting wicket.

Windsor’s opening attack of Greene and Lazaczuk started well and maintained a good line and length putting Amersham at 30 for 2 off 12 overs, with the former taking both wickets. This however, only brought arguably the best batsman in the division to the wicket in the form of Colquohoun. Whilst his partner at the other struggled to score, Colquohoun began to build a strong innings and was severe on anything loose. Windsor toiled without success and even the introduction of Kellard and Condon could not abate the scoring. When he was finally out to Greene for 86 (with Amersham on 136 for 4 at the time), the innings was well set. Relief at removing the best batsmen sound turned to frustration as Windsor could not stem the runs on a flat pitch, with Ward scoring a fifty that combined early patience with lusty hitting. A poor last ten overs saw Amersham post an imposing 254 for 6 off 50 overs.

The old ball and a pair of spinners confronted the Windsor openers and it was to prove to be crucial as Nair, Chana and Lines all departed cheaply, bringing skipper Davis to the crease with the score at 4 for 3. Sustained resistance and some counter-attacking saw Davis and No. 3 put on 50 for the 4th wicket, but the skipper fell to a loose shot outside off. Kevin Condon entered the fray and showed the undoubted talent that he has plundering a fine 52, creating partnerships with No. 3 and Lazaczuk on the way. Sadly the early loss of wickets meant Windsor were always on the back foot and after the elder Condon departed, Windsor were batting for a draw, As often happens in these circumstances, a crazy run out saw Kellard depart. The final wicket of Greene saw Windsor stumble to a 104 run loss that greatly affects their promotion chances.

On the whole it was a disappointing performance for Windsor, but one that must be seen as a learning curve. In a side made up of 5 Under-21’s, learning to play league cricket against an experienced opposition such as this can only help the team and hopefully iron out the inconsistencies that have plagued the season. With the league leaders visiting Home Park on Saturday, Windsor must win in order to have any hope of promotion going into the final game of the season.

Hampton Hill 137 All Out off 49.2 Overs (Kellard 4 for 55, Davis 4 for 35)
Windsor 2's 141 for 4 off 34 Overs (Malik 49, Chana 48)

After a poor loss to Stoke Green the week before, Winsdor needed to get back to winning ways in this TVCL Division 4A encounter. Upon losing the toss, Windsor were asked to bowl first.

Condon and Lazaczuk took the new ball for Windsor and Hampton took great delight in putting any width away. Hampton Hill sped to 45 for 0 after 10 overs, when Davis made a double-switch that had an immediate effect. Windsor's own Hill bowled well, picking up two wickets including the dangerous Hampton for 43 and Windsor were suddenly on top. After Hill was forced out of the attack with a hamstring strain, the old combination of Davis and Kellard took up the attack. The immediate effect was a slowing of the run rate, with one 10 over period resulting in less than 10 runs. Hampton Hill continued to lose wickets and when the final wicket fell to Kellard, they had been bowled out for 137 inside their 52 overs. Davis and Kellard both finished with 4 wickets a piece.

In reply Windsor quickly lost Nair to a misjudged pull shot. Charters and Chana steadied the ship and took Windsor onto 40, before Charters also fell to the same shot. Malik then entered the fray and with Chana built the partenrship that would see Windsor to victory. Both played well, with Malik striking some characteristically huge lofted drives and Chana striking deft touches for four. Sadly both players fell with their 50's and the winning line in sight. This left Lines and Lazaczuk to see Windsor home for an impressive 6 wicket win.

Windsor 2's 160 All Out off 51.3 Overs (N. Hussain 5 for 31)
Stoke Green 161 for 1 off 25.3 Overs (S.Patel 102*)

With the weather finally set fair, Windsor 2's made the short trip to Stoke Green for their Division 4A match. Upon winning the toss, Windsor chose to bat first on what looked to be a wicket suited for their spinners later in the game. This would prove to be the first crucial error.

The Stoke Green bowlers started very strongly. Bowling a containing line and length, they were able to exploit the conditions well and produced prodigious swing and seam. Chana was the first of many Windsor batsmen to loose his patience and was dismissed in the 6th Over. He was followed back to the pavilion in quick order by Huggins, Davis and Malik, all losing their wickets to impatient shots. It was only the patient innings of Jones and Care that steadied the Windsor ship and helped them pass 100. After the loss of Care, Lazaczuk strode to the crease and with a determined approach put the Stoke Green bowlers to the sword. His 37 off 20 balls helped Windsor to a respectable total of 160 All Out off 52 overs.

Patience was again an issue as Stoke Green began their innings, as Davis and Lazaczuk failed to bowl a consistent line and length. Despite picking up an early wicket, Windsor could never slow the run rate and Patel in particular took a liking to the short boundary on the legside. Kellard and Chana both bowled well, but struggled to supress Patel and Bourne from scoring freely. Chances that did come were not taken or dropped just short of the fielders and Windsor began to realise it was not to be their day. Patel brought up his century with a 6 over square off Kellard that also finished the game. Stoke Green won by 9 wickets in a game they had dominated.

Windsor now enter the the last 4 games firmly in the chasing pack still looking for promotion. Now 18 points behind 2nd place, only a positive approach and good performances will see Windsor gain promotion. This week Windsor 2's entertain Hampton Hill at The Home Park in a must-win game.

Windsor 186 for 4 off 46 Overs (Davis 52, Mason 47*)
Slough 69 for 1 off 9.3 Overs (Jetty 47*)

After two consecutive wins batting first, Windsor 2’s entered the local derby with Slough 3’s on a high but local at the skies with trepidation. After overnight rain and a week of heavy rain, Windsor won the toss and chose to bat first with the aim of scoring runs quickly.

Windsor openers Davis and Chana took advantage of the visitors lack of early numbers to get Windsor off to a flying start, reaching 45 for 0 after 10 overs. Davis then took particular toll on the full length that was being bowled at him and hit a number of straight drives for four. However, after reaching his half-century, Davis managed to find the only fielder deep on the legside and proceeded to caught for 52. This proceeded a mini-collapse and Windsor went from 94 for 0 to 95 for 3 in six balls. Mason and Lines began to steady the ship, with Mason in particular savage on anything overpitched. Malik joined Mason upon the loss of Lines and he and Mason proceeded to build a strong partnership. With characteristic lofted drives, Malik seemed to be finding some form and with Mason set Windsor up for a strong finish. However, the persistent rain that had been around during the innings saw an early tea and a long break. Windsor had achieved 186 for 4 off 46 overs when the innings was forced to a close.

After around an hour’s delay and with the match reduced to 88 overs, Slough set about the chase knowing that rain was in the air, so they threw caution to the wind. Jetty in particular was savage on anything full and raced to 47 before rain finally took its toll and washed the game out once and for all. Slough had reached 69 for 1 and were well set.

It was a difficult game to assess due to the bad weather, Windsor had played well but were thwarted by the poor weather around. It would have been an interesting game in dry conditions and the affect the weather had on the game drew the inevitable result of match abandoned as a draw.

Windsor 2nd XI 168 All out (Singh 5 for 65)
British Airways 1st XI 131 All Out

Windsor 2nd XI 175 for 7 off 52 Overs (Hill 82, Scott 5 for 33)
Chesham 2nd XI 171 All Out off 47.2 Overs (Davis 5 for 57, Kellard 5 for 75)

OMT 1st XI 225 for 9 off 52 Overs (McCabe 50)
Windsor 2nd XI 175 for 8 off 48 Overs

Windsor 2nd XI vs Tring Park 3rd XI

Windsor 208, 52 overs
Riches 50
Murray 50

Tring Park 175, 42 overs
Chana, 5-58

Windsor won by 33 runs.

With the absence of Brian Davis, Umar Malik took the reins of the 2nd xi captaincy.

Tring Park won the toss and put Windsor into bat. Windsor lost butt early but it was Riches and Chana who pushed on. Chana was next out, caught in the covers for a well played 31. Malik was next in but was run out without troubling the scorers. Huggins and Riches held the innings together with them both being dismissed in quick succession, Riches for a well deserved 50. Young George Gould and Murray came in the last 12 overs and contributed 20 and 50 respectively to take Windsor to 208 from their 52 overs.

Tring park started their inning well, taking advantage of anything loose from the Windsor openers. It was the bowling change of Kellard and Chana that bough two quick wickets for Windsor. The two spin twins bowled well in tandem, creating pressure for each other. The two took wickets at crucial times and finished the innings with Harmeet 'dart pea' Chana 5-58 off his 14 overs and Kellard finishing with 4 wickets.

All in all, a really gutsy performance from the Windsor team, and a much needed 25 points!

Saturday 27th June

Windsor 2's 208 for 3 off 52 Overs (Chana 69, P Huggins 62*)
Wooburn Narkovians 211 for 6 off 46.3 Overs (J White 51)

On a day with thundering around the edges of the ground, Windsor 2's lacked the thunder on the pitch to convert a good start into a substantial total.

After winning the toss and chosing to bat first, Windsor openers Chana and Davis made a positive (if not in the case the latter) if risky start. With the score at 75, Davis was first to go for 37, caught on the long off boundary. Huggins joined Chana and the pair began to build further on the strong start made, with Chana reaching a deservered 50. However, with innings beginning to stall, runs began to dry up as Huggins suffered in the heat and Chana was caught on the boundary attempting one big shot too many. Nair briefly joined the now immobile Huggins and tried in vain to hit out with boundary riders all around the ground. One final push by Riches helped Huggins get Windsor past 200 and settle at a total of 208 from 52 overs. With 7 wickets still hand, this total could surely have been at least 20 more had more risk been taken.

Wooburn started positively, but as Hill, Gould and Davis chipped away with early wickets, the game was wide open going into the final quarter of the match. The extra runs missed earlier in the day would prove to be decisive as White and Wooburn skipper Small made a postive move with less than 15 overs to go. Small in particular played some lusty blows over the long on boundary. When Bennett later replaced Small, the two left handers set to frustrate Windsor further and get closer to the total. When Small was finally out to sharp catch by Nair off Chana, the game was already won for Wooburn and Bennett ticked of the final runs with ease.

A disappointing loss for Windsor especially considering how they had dominated with the bat for good portions of the game. Windsor need to find that extra gear going into the swecond half of the season to get to totals of 230 plus to give for a strong platform for which to bowl a side out on.

Windsor 2nd XI 208 for 9; 52 Overs (Lines 58)
Amersham 2nd XI 209 for 4; 43.3 Overs (Colqhohoun 50, Aylott 51, Dolleymore 34)

Fresh on the back of a good win at Hampton Hill the week before, Windsor 2’s returned home to Windsor last weekend hoping to build a winning run. With the 1st team flying in their division, the team were hoping to add to the feel-good factor that they developed. On a dry wicket, Windsor skipper Davis had no hesitation to bat first in an attempt to set a strong total.

The Windsor innings got off to a good start as Chana (30) and Butt (24) registered a 60-run opening partnership. But as both fell to disappointing dismissals in the same over, the theme of the innings seemed to set in. With Ash’s off-spinners in particular gripping and turning, Amersham managed to register 5 successive maidens and crippled the Windsor run-rate. Huggins (16) and Nair (30) both tried to push the rate along, but both fell to soft dismissals trying to up the rate. Only Mark Lines managed to restart the flagging Windsor innings and along with Hill and Care, they managed to work the ball around the large ground and the pair took Windsor towards a respectable total of 208. This was only a par score and much less than Windsor had looked to be heading towards.

Amersham’s reply started in the worst possible way as, with old ball in hand, Kellard struck with the first ball of the innings with a sharp catch at short leg by Chana. This proved to be the last time Windsor had control of the innings as Colquohoun set about forcing the game away from the home team. Some inconsistent bowling was matched by merciless batting and he soon raced to 50. Windsor in the meantime had the disappointment of losing Hill (their leading wicket taker this season) to a groin injury. This greatly restricted the Windsor attacking bias and forced Davis to try to defend from one end with his bowling. Unfortunately, pressure could not be maintained and despite Condon removing Colquohoun for 50 and Kellard finally forcing a further wicket on the boundary. Some lusty blows from Aylott and Dolleymore kept Amersham ahead of the game and they coasted home with loss of only one more wicket. Whilst Amersham produced an excellent chase, it was a disappointing bowling performance by Windsor, especially considering the desire to be aggressive and win the game.

With a visit to league leaders Wooburn Narkovians up next on Saturday, Windsor 2’s need to return to doing the basics correctly. That being bowling one side of the wicket and building big scores out of good starts. This is basically the difference between winning and losing games, making Windsor somewhat unpredictable.

Hampton Hill 178 All Out (Hampton 78, Exworth 61, Condon 6 for 38)
Windsor 2’s 179 for 4 (Davis 58*, Huggins 57)

After a frustrating week of watching competitors in the league pick up points whilst not being able to play, Windsor 2nds got their league campaign back running again at Hampton Hill. On a hard looking deck, Windsor once again lost the toss and was invited to bowl first.

As in the previous game, Windsor got off to a flier with Hill picking up two wickets in his first 4 overs. With Condon bowling well at the other end Davis replaced Hill and also took a wicket with his first ball. Hampton Hill immediately found themselves on the back foot and it was at this point Condon blew the innings wide open. After struggling for form in the weeks of the season, Condon suddenly let fly removing key man Fullocks who shouldered arms to a ball that cut sharply back in. His first wicket seemed to relax Condon and with pace and accuracy he went on to take a further 3 wickets. When skipper Exworth joined Hampton the score was on 62 for 7 and the home side were in some trouble. However an incredibly resistant 8th wicket partnership of 116 saw Hampton Hill towards a competitive total and frustrated Windsor. When Exworth finally fell for 61, giving Condon his fifth wicket in the process, the game had truly turned on its head. Sensing the chance to close the innings out, Condon and Kellard quickly wrapped the innings up with Hampton the final wicket to fall for 78. Hampton Hill had reached 178 all out off 45.1 overs, giving Windsor 54 overs to reach the target.

Windsor started strongly, but were unfortunate to lose the wicket of Butt lbw in the 10th over. Huggins joined Chana and they quickly set about building the chase. A fifty partnership was formed as Huggins drove well and Chana was brutal on anything short. The introduction of spin seemed to bring out some demons from the Bushy Park pitch and the loss of Chana for 20 to one that kept low, slowed Windsor somewhat. Mirza, who had endured a number of tough overs, finally succumbed to a sharp catch by the Hampton Hill keeper. This wicket brought skipper Davis to the crease, who soon showed his intentions clear by hitting Hill’s skipper Exworth for three consecutive fours. With Huggins supporting well, Windsor drove towards the target and withdrew the last hope from the Hampton Hill bowlers. Huggins (57) would fall shortly after another fine fifty, but it was left to Davis (58 not out) and Murray (12 not out) to guide Windsor home to a 6 wicket win with 8 overs to spare.

It was a great bounce-back for Windsor after a couple of disappointing losses and showed good character in the team. Condon’s bowling stole the honours for the day as he really showed the promise he has long had.

This week Windsor 2nd team have Amersham 2nd team visiting them at Home Park for what should be an interesting encounter.

Slough 3rd XI 202 for 7 52 overs (Chagger 50, Uddin 62)
Windsor 2nd XI 185 All Out 46.3 overs (Chana 62, Murray 55)

After the thrills and spills of the game the previous week, Windsor 2’s looked to get back into winning ways with their short trip to Slough. On what looked to be a hard deck, Slough 3’ chose to bat first, with what proved to be a view to spinning their visitors out.

The Slough innings started in the worst possible way as both openers were dismissed cheaply by Hill. With the occurrence of Windsor’s Taz bowling at Slough’s Taz, the innings settled into a more settled pattern as Karim and Chagger took a hold of anything loose served up by Hill and Condon. Davis replaced Condon and immediately found the ball cutting off the seam, which helped to slow the score and saw the removal of Karim for 27. Skipper Chagger continued to build the score, but with Kellard producing prodigious spin at one end, Davis was able to remove him shortly after passing 50. Unfortunately, the next 15 overs would prove to be costly for Windsor as a number of catches were shelled and run-outs narrowly missed and Slough fought their way towards a competitive total through the partnership of Uddin (62) and Ghazi (35). Slough finished their innings on 202 for 7 off their 52 overs.

In reply, Windsor got off to the worst possible start. With Slough opening with spinners and using the old ball, Windsor quickly found themselves at 20 for 3. With Huggins, Gould and Mirza all dismissed cheaply to the fine bowling of Kahn and Mustafa. It took a fantastic partnership from Chana and Murray to put Windsor back into the game and both reached fine fifties. However, with the Slough heads down and a winning position in sight, Windsor managed to bring about disaster. First Murray was run out after a mix-up (which could only be settled by a mid-pitch chat) saw him run out with yards to spare for 55. Then, shortly after, Chana inexplicably walked past a straight one and was bowled for 62. With George and Davis briefly restabilising the innings, it was the wicket of Davis that saw the start of the final disastrous collapse. Hill, Condon and Care all quickly followed the skipper, leaving number 11 Kellard to help George bat out the final 6 overs. Despite a valiant effort, Uddin managed to gain the final decision and had Kellard lbw with 8 balls left. Windsor had collapse to a 41 run defeat.

This was an incredibly disappointing result for the Windsor 2nd team, but one that can be addressed through hard work as a team. Windsor this week face top of the table Stoke Green at the Home Park, looking to restore some confidence with a good performance.

Windsor 2's 234 for 7 off 51 Overs (Lines 60, P Huggins 58)
British Airways 1's 235 for 9 off 28.4 Overs (Fiazal 62, Edge 5-68)

After a strong start to the season, the visit of British Airways to Home Park was always seen as a test of the credentials of the Windsor 2nd Team, and the resulting game would prove to be a classic. On what looked to be a good deck, BA skipper Raj asked Windsor to bat first.

Windsor openers Huggins and Channa took a measured approach to the start of the game as good BA bowling had them pegged back somewhat, but by managing to put away the bad balls, still recorded the first 50 opening stand of the season. When Chana was finally dismissed for 38, Windsor had cantered onto to 60 off 18 overs. Lines continued the hard work as both he and Huggins built upon the good start, his on-drives in particular were sweetly timed. The Windsor total continued to build despite the loss of both Huggins (58) and Lines (60) shortly after passing the 50 mark, which left Charters and Murray to continue the attack. Windsor passed the 200 mark with 8 overs still to go in the innings, but a mini-collapse saw the runs dry up and Windsor reached 234 for 7 off 51 overs when skipper Davis declared the now spluttering innings. How crucial the extra over would prove to be has yet to be decided.

To describe the British Airway's as just positive would be a understatement. Both openers attacked from the off and Faisal in particular was brutal on any width. Condon, Edge and Davis all were dispatched to all parts before Kellard finally got Faisal to sky a ball to Charters at long-on. By that point BA were on 115 for 1 off just 16 overs, with Faisal scoring 60 in the process. Windsor were literally up against the wall, but a controlled spell of bowling from Hill and Kellard, followed up by Edge soon brought Windsor back into the game. After 116 off the first 16 overs, only 40 were scored from the next 16 and BA suddenly needed over 5 an over to successfully chase their target. A fine 6th wicket stand then changed the match again and put BA firmly back on top. Any width was dispatched and once in, both batters took advantage of the good playing surface. With just 3 overs to go, BA required 11 to win.

With a packed balcony watching, Edge tore in from the castle end and produced a wonderful over with 3 wickets in it. Starting the over 224 for 7, BA finished at 227 for 9. After another tight over from Condon, Edge then tore in again and narrowly missed his hat-trick with one that shaved the off stump. It was left to the BA captain Raj, the team's number 11 bat, to swing an almighty blow with 3 balls left to hit the winning runs, a four over mid-off. The BA team naturally went berserk and the Windsor crowd on the balcony applauded a fantastic game of League cricket.

Windsor undoubtedly learnt a lot from the game, but the fact that the points margin at the end of the game was only 5 as a result of losing bore testament to the quality of cricket on show. This week Windsor travel to local rivals Slough 3's looking to get back onto the winning trail.

Chesham 2nd XI 184 for 9 52 overs (Saunders 48, Kellard 3 for 30)
Windsor 2nd XI 185 for 5 46.3 overs (Gould 43, Murray 38)

In their first home league game of the season, the Windsor 2nd team entertained Chesham 2nd team at The Home Park. After a number of days of heavy rain, the wicket and ground was somewhat wet still. But with good weather and a howling gale blowing over the castle, the ground was drying fast. With this in mind, upon winning the toss Windsor choose to bowl first.

Windsor again started with the combo of Edge and Condon who both found the conditions difficult for differing reasons. Edge bowled well considering he was bowling head long into a strong wind and looked tired when replaced by Davis in the 14th over. Condon contrast struggled to settle on the correct length with the wind behind him. When Hill replaced Condon in the 15th over, Chesham had made a strong start with skipper Bilbury and Saunders setting a good foundation until the former played around an inswinger off Davis and was out for 29. A period of consolidation followed, which also lead to a period of frustration for both sides. Chesham looked to kick on, whilst Windsor looked to take more wickets. Despite a few catches being dropped, Windsor was able to take more control and slowed the run rate down greatly as Chesham entered the final 15 overs. When Saunders finally fell to Davis for 48, Chesham seemed to lose all momentum and struggled along to the end of their 52 overs. The excellent control of Kellard tore a hole in the Chesham middle order and along with Hill and Davis, finished with 3 wickets each. Chesham finally posted 184 off their 52 overs.

The reply started in bad fashion for Windsor as Lines was out in just the second over to a fine inswinging delivery. With Scott bowling tight lines with his Left arm seamers, Huggins and Gould found runs hard to come by. Indeed, only the class of Gould provided much of the Windsor resistance for some time and he frustrated Chesham with some fine stroke play. When Huggins finally fell for 7, a 40 run partnership was broken and brought Mirza to the crease. Working the ball around with Gould, the run rate was maintained around 3 an over, but the target was still over 100 away when Gould fell for a fine 43. Murray and Mirza continued to push for runs, but the tight bowling of Rance was holding Windsor at bay. Indeed the match turned on its head when the two young Chesham spinners were replaced. With Mirza and Murray both falling to Scott, it was again up to Hill and Davis to tick the required runs off at the end of the innings for the second week in a row. After needing over 6 an over two big overs off Scott changed the innings. An over including a huge six from Davis was followed by a big over from Hill, which put Windsor needing 5 of 12 balls. Hill duly brought up the win with a fine lofted drive past the bowler. Windsor won the game by 5 wickets with 9 balls to spare.

Another strong run chase bore testament to another fine team performance. The fielding needs to be worked on still, but all in all a very good win from Windsor chasing a par score on a wet wicket.

Windsor this week face top of the table British Airways at the Home Park for what is bound to be a test for both sides of their potential for the 2009 season.

OMT 1stXI 168 all out 41.3 overs (A Shelley 54, A Hill 6 for 42)
Windsor 2nd XI 171 for 5 53.4 overs (P Huggins 52, A Hill 45*)

Windsor 2nd XI finally started their league season last Saturday with a trip to Rickmansworth to play Old Merchants Taylor. With the home side (originally) missing influential captain Dave Katz and having lost a couple of players, it was a new-look side that Windsor faced to that off previous seasons. Upon winning the toss, OMT decided to bat first on what would look and prove to be a great track.

OMT openers looked to be positive from the word go and both Edge and Condon, the Windsor opening bowlers, were unlucky to see a number of boundaries hit from there bowling. Whilst it was Condon that was regularly whistling balls past the bat, Edge took the first wicket of McCabe through a well taken catch at mid-off by Noble. Shelley continued to attack for OMT and soon brought up his 50. After 19 overs, OMT sat at 89 for 1 and were flying. Then a stroke of fortune turned the game dramatically as Hill had Shelley caught down the legside by keeper Care, the result of which was a start of a dramatic collapse. With leg-spinner Kellard bamboozling them at the one end, the OMT batsmen had no let up from the pressure Hill started to exert from his bowling removing a solid looking number 3 with a smart in-swinging delivery. Hill and Kellard worked in tandem and ripped out the OMT middle order. Hill then capped a fine spell with a hat-trick over two overs, taking his 4th, 5th and 6th wickets in the process. In between the last two wickets came a Kellard over that removed another batter bowled around his legs. With the last man at the crease OMT had crashed from 89 for 1 to 119 for 9 over the space of 8 overs. Some pride was restored though through some odorant batting by Richards and Booth, which managed to push OMT along to a total of 168 all out when Edge removed the final wicket. Hill was the pick of the Windsor bowlers with 6 for 42, but a good team effort by all the bowlers had put Windsor into that position.

With 58 overs to knock the runs off, Windsor set out seemingly looking to use up all the overs they had at hand. The run rate was at around 2 runs per over throughout the first 25 overs and when Noble was out for 11 in the 27th over, Windsor suddenly needed 4 an over to reach the target. Huggins passed a good 50, maintaining his early season form, but the wise and guile of Neil Richards was causing Windsor no end of problems. Indeed, he duly removed Gould, Chana and Gould in a short space of time and was conceding at around 1 run per over. When skipper Davis reached the crease, there was little choice but to up the scoring rate and heavy hitting soon upped the scoring rate. With the loss of the next wicket, Davis began to play the support role as Hill’s dream day continued as he began to plunder runs as well as wickets. With an aggressive flourish, Hill was brutal with any width he was offered and hit one magnificent six back over the previously unshakeable Richards’ head. When Hill hit the final boundary, Windsor had won with 20 balls to spare. Hill was not out 45 and Davis not out 26.

Windsor had battled hard for a good win in their first league outing against one of the many first teams in the division. The side has the makings of a good team and need to just be more conscious of not getting bogged down on run rates when batting and have that extra killer instinct to finish off an oppositions tail having worked so hard to remove the top order batters. On the whole though, this was an excellent win. This Saturday (16th) Windsor 2’s is at home to Chesham 2’s.

Windsor 160 for 8 off 40 overs (Mirza 58, Davis 26, Hill 26)
Princes Risborough 131 for 7 off 40 overs (Strong 45, Jones 4 for 20)

In the final practice match prior to the start of the league season, the Windsor 2nd team took on the challenge of Chiltern League club Princes Risborough. Due to bad traffic the start was delayed and the game was reduced to 40 overs per side win, lose or draw game. Upon winning the toss, Windsor chose to bat first and look to try practice the art of setting a target and bowling a side out.

Windsor’s inning got off to a slow start and when Noble was out in the 7th over, the score had only just received double figures. Mirza joined Huggins and took the onus of the innings, building a strong 2nd wicket partnership. When Huggins ran himself out in the 21st over, Windsor were 60 for 2 and struggling to build a strong target to defend. The introduction of the left-handed Davis seemingly disrupted the tight bowling lines of the Princes Risborough bowling and Mirza and Davis proceed to take 50 from the next 8 overs and Windsor suddenly found themselves in a strong position to build a good total. However, the loss of Mirza shortly after reaching 50 precipitated a collapse and Windsor lost 4 wickets for 10 runs. A good partnership between Hill and Care clawed back some advantage and when latter departed Jones continued the mantle. When Hill was out on the last ball of the innings for 26, Windsor had set a competitive total of 160. Greaves was the pick of the Princes bowlers with 4 for 35.

With 4 an over needed from the off, the Princes Risborough openers looked to attack from the word go. Windsor opening bowlers Edge and Condon both strived for early breakthroughs, with the latter picking up the first wicket of Strong, with the counterattacking from Strong was the main source of the visitor’s runs. Hill then joined Condon and both bowled well without luck. Pitt continued to hold one end up, whilst Strong built from the other and Windsor struggled to make breakthroughs. However the introduction of Jones seemed to turn the tide and the luck for Windsor. Jones removed Pitt and Strong in consecutive overs and along with the leg-spin of Kellard, Windsor made strides through the visitors batting order. Only the resistance of captain Morton and Hitchcock managed to stem the flow of wickets and Princes Risborough finished with 131 for 7 off their 40 overs.

Whilst the match ended in a draw, Windsor had been on top for much of the game and should be disappointed to not have bowled their opposition out. Arguably, when the numbers 7 and 8 started to counter attack with attacking fields, it caused Windsor to relax and expect wickets when previously they had worked for them. This is an issue that requires a minor tweak and more focus to ensure the chances that were lost last year are not repeated this.

This Saturday, Windsor 2’s will play their first league game of the season away at OMT.

Datchet 2 173 All Out off 41.1 Overs (Lancefield 55, Jackson 33 - Hill 3/22; Jones 3/47)
Windsor 2 176 for 4 off 38.1 Overs (Huggins 46*, George 42 – Lancefield 3/23)

With local bragging rights up for grabs, Windsor 2nd Team entertained Datchet 2nd team at The Home Park last weekend. After a week of wonderful weather, the rain of the morning made little difference and the wicket looked to be hard but green.

Upon winning the toss, Datchet skipper Kenny chose to bat first. Datchet began very strongly with the unorthodox stroke-play of Jackson defying a belligerent opening spell of Hill and Edge. Edge repeatedly passing the outside of the Datchet bats, but finished his 10 overs wicket less, despite one very close appeal. Hill managed to pick up two wickets in his opening 8 overs, but by the end of his first spell Datchet we well set on 50 for 2 after 16 overs. The introduction of the leg-spin of Mahmud Mirza suddenly saw a dramatic reward as Jackson skied a chance to deep mid-wicket that Hill confidently gobbled up. After taking a second Datchet wicket, Mirza was then struck out of the attack by a counter-attack by Lancefield and Stapleburg.

At the drinks break, Datchet had reached 112 for 4 off 24 overs and looked well set for a competitive total. As often is the case, drinks only brought a wicket as Stapleburg was removed by a juggling catch by Davis at mid-wicket. Lancefield continued to counter-attack, but with Davis and Jones regularly picking up wickets, his 55 was the only remaining contribution to the Datchet total. When Hill returned and removed Datchet captain Kenny with his first delivery, Datchet were all out for 174 in the 41st over.

After yet another quality tea, Windsor took the field looking to knock off the 175 runs needed to reach the victory line. Both Huggins and Bird looked positive from the off, picking up regular boundaries and the odd quick single to keep the scoreboard ticking along. However, the two quick wickets of Bird (8) and Chana (0), saw Stapleburg put Windsor firmly onto the defensive. Nair joined Huggins and together they built a strong 50 partnership and moved Windsor towards a winning position. But the introduction of Lancefield captured the wickets of Nair (23), Davis (0) and Junaid (11) in the space of a few short overs and put the Windsor innings under threat of collapsing. Fortunately, the counter-attacking style of George (42 not out) and support of Huggins (46 not out) managed to created a final resolute partnership that took Windsor over the finish line with 7 overs to spare.

Another good win for Windsor creates another opportunity to build on small errors that occurred in the game. On the fielding side, the key will be to support our players through basic skills and not through conveying of disappointment. With the bat the key will be to avoid mini-collapses which slow the tempo and create partnerships to help the flow of the innings.

This Saturday, Windsor 2nds play there last pre-league season friendly against Princes Riseborough 1st XI at Home Park. With their division packed with 1st XI opposition, this will provide a strong test prior to the start of a competitive campaign.

Egham 2 140 for 10 off 50 Overs
Windsor 2 144 for 4 off 46.1 Overs (Huggins 52*)

In the first game under the new captaincy of Brian Davis, Windsor 2nd XI entertained Egham at The Home Park. On what proved to be a slow, low and wet track; Davis was pleased to win the toss and insert the opposition. In an attempt to ensure as many club members got a game as possible, the match was played as 12-a-side.

Windsor opening bowlers Edge and Lewis bowled excellent tight lines and restricted the visitors to just 14 off the first 10 overs, both of them taking a wicket each in the early overs. Jones and Hill then took on the mantra and kept things very tight, with the scoring rate hardly breaking 1.5 per over in the first 25 overs. Egham captain Reid and his left-handed partner managed to steady the ship and increase the scoring rate and began to look towards building a score, until both were dismissed in the space of two overs by Davis and Hill. Boundaries continued to be hard to come by and with the introduction of Alam’s off-spin wickets began to fall regularly once again. Egham finally managed to reach 140 off their 50 overs, with all bowlers picking up a wicket and Alam and Edge picking 3 each.

In reply, Windsor got off to relative flyer, but lost two key wickets to typical early season shots. Huggins and Rich Noble settled the ship down, but the scoring rate was always slow and pressure was building on them. When Rich Noble fell, Windsor was still short of half way and with less than half the overs remaining. Rob Noble joined Huggins and both dug in for a long effort. Egham used their slow bowlers well and were able to keep the rate very low. Noble showed some good signs of aggression, but boundaries were scarce and Windsor entered the last 10 overs needing 40 runs to win. Two quick wickets (Rob Noble and Care) saw Davis come to the crease. He immediately looked to push the field back and with 12 taken from the 46th over, Windsor found themselves with 1 to win off 4 overs. Huggins duly hit the winning 4, bringing up his 50 in the process.

A good win to start the season, but it did highlight the need to be able to adapt the batting to the conditions. On a slow wicket, Windsor found itself looking for the big shot rather than plundering singles that were available. But with two more games before the start of the league season, there is time to develop this side of the game.

Windsor 2nd XI vs Hayes 1st XI 19.7.2008

Hayes 278-8 52 Overs

Funnel 54
Kumar 66

A. Hill 4-60

Windsor 251-7 48 Overs

H. Chana 75

Windsor entertained Hayes on a bright and blustery afternoon at the Home Park in confident mood off the back of 2 victories and the arrival of overseas player Glen Du Preez. Conditions looked ideal for batting with the wicket looking hard and flat and the outfield resembling a billiard table. With Huggins back at the helm after wedding duties the previous week it was normal service resumed at the toss and Hayes had no hesitation in opting to bat first.

Du Preez and Hill were entrusted with the new ball but both found the going tough as the Hayes openers threw the bat at anything wide or over pitched and the score board quickly rattled along. It was the introduction of Hartridge that brought about the break through as he trapped Forey LBW for 20 to leave the score at 62 for 1. What ensued was a period of play that ebbed and flowed as runs were added quickly with wickets continuing to fall. Next to go was the dangerous M. Green who after a couple of crisp drives pulled a long hop to Malik at square leg to depart for 10 off the bowling of Hill. Next up was Ramneth who chanced his arm squeezing a couple of boundaries away behind square off the bowling of Hartridge. However, his expansive stroke play soon brought about his down fall as he drilled a full toss to Kellard at mid off who made no mistake as he departed for 21.

Windsor next picked up the wicket the key wicket of S. Green for 40 bowled as Hill managed to squeeze his fourth successive yorker through his defences. At this point Windsor were clawing their way back into the game with the score at 117 for 4. Two more quick wicket fell as Wallis was well held by Chana for 13 off the bowling of Hill followed by Frost who was deceived by a Du Preez slower ball and Windsor were looking well on top with the score at 129-6.

With the wicket still playing flat and true and the Windsor bowling attack still offering plenty of scoring opportunities Funnel and Kumar set about rebuilding the Hayes innings. Both rotated the strike well taking quick singles due some complacent Windsor fielding and as both grew in confidence they started to find the boundary with increasing regularity as they started to take the game to Windsor.

The bowling was rotated, but none of the Windsor bowlers could find the break through that was required as the Hayes batsman started to take the game away from Windsor. The next wicket came courtesy of a run out after some good work in the deep by Du Preez as Funnel departed for 54 with score on 233 and Hayes were well placed for massive total. Morgan came to the crease and provided able support for Kumar who stepped up the scoring rubbing further salt into the wound after been dropped striking Malik’s next ball for a towering 6. Malik finally got his man though off the last ball of the innings as he was well held by Riches at long on for 66 as the innings closed on 278 from 52 overs.

Windsor faced a daunting task if they were to win the game, but with the side stacked with batting they knew that they could get there if they batted well.

Openers Chana and Paul Huggins got the Windsor innings off to a steady start as Hayes opted for the old ball and opened with spinner M. Green from one end. As both got there eyes in the scoring started to accelerate aided by the new ball been taken. With the score on 74 in the 18th over Huggins was the first to go for 33 stumped off the bowling of Green as he overstretched. Riches and Chana continued to move the score along with some classy stroke play from Chana supported by brutal aggression from Riches. Disaster struck in the 27th over though as Riches was bowled for 22 by Kumar and was then quickly followed by Malik for 2 to leave the score at 125 for 3. Mark Huggins was the next in and was quickly into his stride as Windsor continued their pursuit. Chana was the next to go adjudged LBW for 75 off the bowling of Kumar.

Huggins was then joined by Millman and together they continued with some good stroke play as Windsor looked as if they would get themselves in a position to have a real go at the Hayes total. However, Huggins fell for 33 bowled by Wayland and Millman followed closely for 23 caught and bowled by Green to leave Windsor 206-6 at the end of the 40th over. With Hartridge and Du Preez at the crease Windsor were still in with a shout. Hartridge perished though for a quick fire 18 caught and bowled by Green and Windsor decided to call off the chase with the score at 221 for 7 at the end of the 42nd over with no further bonus points to be claimed and not wanting to give Hayes the win. Du Preez and Hill comfortably batted out time as the Windsor innings finished on 251-7 at the end of the 48th over. Du Preez finishing 13 not out and Hill 18 not out.

A draw was a fair result with Hayes taking 13 points to Windsor’s 9. The batsman gave a good account of themselves, however, they were left with a little too much to do after a ragged bowling and fielding performance in which 34 extras were conceded. With Windsor travelling to second placed OMT next week the bowlers will need to rediscover their discipline if Windsor are to compete and with any one down to 6th place still in a position to push for promotion every game now becomes a big game if Windsor want to maintain their position at the top of the tree.

Wooburn Narkovians 155 all out (50 overs) Rogers 49, Edge 4 for 43, Kellard 4 for 11

lost to

Windsor 2 159 - 4 (33.4 overs) Malik 78*, Riches 48

With quite a few changes from the week before due to unavailability's, and with poor convoying skills, the Windsor 2nds all drove different ways for the short journey to Wooburn! After some cross country driving, found the covers to have been stolen mid week and therefore the pitch to be damp and soft to say the least. Vice captain Hill, standing in for Huggins won the toss and duly elected to bowl first, to see what sort of total Wooburn could post on what looked to be a track that would trouble the batsmen early doors

Being told he was running down the track after his first delivery, and therefore having to adjust his run up caused Hill some early line problems, but managed to snag Lees wicket in the 3rd over with a clean catch off a ball that popped off the wicket to mid off. Immediately both Hill and Hartridge got bounce lift and swing with the overcast conditions, but the Wooburn opening bat Rogers and number 3 Tennant were not looking to build a steady innings and looked to push hard at anything just outside off or overpitched. With a fair amount of shots being hit in the air, the ball seemed to be chasing new player Ward around the pitch, with potential catches simply not carrying. Wooburn were rattling away at 44-1 off the first 10. After Hartridges 7 permitted overs with no breakthrough, Davis was brought into the attack to start to dry up some of the runs due to his wicket to wicket approach that Hill hoped would build some pressure. With no more wickets coming Hill's way, veteran Edge was brought on, but struggled in his first 5 deliveries to find the ideal length, but on the last ball bowled A Tennant. In the next 12 overs the runs did start to dry up as both bowlers found the wicket to be in their favour and gave the batsmen some things to think about. Some deliveries were keeping low and some were popping off a length. Davis eventually got Cuthbert to push at a drive that didn't clear Hill running round at mid off. M Tennant pushed the ball about giving some life towards the end of the Wooburn innings, but the tight lines really kept building the pressure. Edge also broke through 3 more times in his spell to end on 4 - 43 off 15 overs. Davis toiled well and really is becoming the all rounder he didn't want to become, going for 32- 1 off 12!. Hill knew that the Wooburn batsmen had to go after the ball in the last 12 overs as there score was only 118-6 and brought young spinner Kellard, back from holidays, into the attack in the 50th over. M Tennant, Barker, Small and Aslam were all victims of moving down the wicket to Kellard and being bowled or stumped. Kellard, whose flight and line was excellent finished on 4-11 off 5! Wooburn got to the 150 mark in the 50th over when the last wicket fell on 155, giving Windsor 2 extra overs to chase the low target.

After a fantastic tea, (from a cancelled BBQ the night before) Windsor went out in a positive frame of mind to attack the low score and Chana, scoring a neat single off the first ball was unlucky to be run out off the 2nd ball as k Condon drove a crisp drive back to the bowler who skillfully flicked the ball onto the stumps and Chana was clearly out of his ground backing up. Riches then cam into the fray and decided to carefully take a good look at the pitch with Condon and scored slowly for the first 7 overs, but didn't take any risks either. M Tennant, the Wooburn opening bowler, found the same popping and lifting wicket as Windsor and this caused Condon to be bowled in the 7th over after a very tight opening spell. Riches started to find he could drive the ball with more confidence and him and Malik got Windsor to 34 in the 10th over when it started to rain. Play was stopped for 25 mins and Malik and Riches kept attacking the bad ball and paying due respect to the good balls. It wasn't until the 24th over, where Windsor were on 112, that Riches, having done all the hard work against Tennants accurate seam and Aslam's controlled spin, tried one sweep too many off Aslam and topped edged with his score on 48. Ward and Davis came out to offer support to Malik, and backed up well and pushed some singles around. Ward was run out, with Malik loosing concentration for a split second, and Davis ended up not out. Malik at the other end was brutal, hitting five 6's and four 4's in his impressive and controlled 78 not out, and hit the winning runs with a huge 6 into the trees.

Windsor approached the match with a positive attitude given the scale of the changes to the team the week before, and attacked the game well on a wet wicket. Some fielding was a little poor and Windsor must concentrate on this part of their game this week to ensure all catches stay caught and must apply pressure on the singles close to the wicket. All in all a solid effort for a well deserved 20 points

Windsor 2nd XI vs Finchampstead 3rd XI 5.7.2008

Windsor 202-6 52 Overs

H. Chana 62
A. Weston 51

Finchampstead 176 All Out 46 Overs

M. Lines 6-50

After a stormy morning the clouds subsided to provide a warm, but blustery setting at the Home Park as Windsor entertained Finch 3’s. The afternoon started well for Windsor as Skipper Huggins finally won his second toss of the season and opted to bat first on what appeared to be a firm flat track.

The new look opening partnership of Nair and Chana were watchful to start with as the Finch openers found some early movement with the new ball. Nair was the first man out though for 5 as he was yorked by Smith. This brought skipper Huggins to the crease who appeared to be in no mood to hang about as he struck his 3rd and 4th balls to the boundary. After a couple more boundaries off the bowling of Smith he was replaced by Clarke who together with Jubb slowed the run rate with some disciplined bowling. Despite this Huggins and Chana managed to keep the score board ticking with some good running and putting away the occasional bad ball.

Windsor were well placed for a good total reaching 70-1 in the 22nd over. However, Huggins departed caught behind for 31 off the Clarke bringing Malik to the crease. On this occasion Malik’s stay was a brief one as he was pinned LBW by Rose for 2. Next up was the returning Mark Lines who looked to be in fine touch with some crashing cover drives mixed with some deft flicks into the leg side. His promising start was brought to an end as he was well held at mid on off the bowling of Rose for 18 and the Windsor innings was in the balance at 103-4 in the 31st over. Weston was up next returning from injury and was slow to start as he struggled to adjust to the variable pace and bounce which the wicket was now offering. The introduction of slow bowler Brown also served to slow the scoring rate as both Chana and Weston struggled to find the boundary.

In the 42nd over with the score on 137-4 both batsman started to kick on as they pushed the Finch fielders and the boundaries started to come. Chana completed a patient 50, but was next out as he was caught behind off the returning Jubb for 62. Hartridge was next, in the kind of situation he has played well so far this season. Quick runs were what was required with the score on 163 for 5 and 6 overs remaining. These came courtesy of a big over from the bowling of Brown as Weston struck him for 6 followed by two 4’s from Hartridge. Weston collected a well earned 50 as Windsor passed the 200 mark in the 52nd over as the innings closed on 202-6 as Hartridge perished off the final ball of the innings for 21. The score looked to be a competitive with the wicket wearing and the pace and bounce becoming more variable.

Windsor went out in search of an early wicket and found one as Baglow was trapped LBW for 5 by Hill by a delivery which didn’t get up. This brought Clarke to the crease who together with Biggs, set about dispatching some wayward bowling from Hill and Bean. Edge was introduced at the expense of Bean and despite a more disciplined approach he too struggled to make further inroads as he toiled away into a stiff breeze. Hartridge was introduced in place of Hill and he also failed to make the break through required.

With the score at 82-1 for at drinks Huggins turned to spinner Lines and this was instantly rewarded as Biggs played on for 47 in his first over. Hartridge then removed Clarke bowled for 24 and it was game on and from here wickets fell regularly. Potter was next well held by Malik off the bowling of Lines for 6. Lines then removed House bowled for 11 and the game was swinging in Windsor’s favour. Edge returned in place of Hartridge to remove skipper Jones caught behind by George for 15 and then Lines bowled Rose around his legs for 10. Despite the flurry of wickets Finch continued in pursuit of Windsor’s total. Jubb came in and looked to play shot a ball cricket and this only served to bring about an early down fall as he was held by Hartridge off the bowling of Edge for 0. Huggan next to go for 1 off the bowling of Lines for his 5th wicket and victory was in sight.

Finch number 10 Smith appeared to have other ideas as he set about the Windsor bowling dispatching Lines and Edge to the boundary. However, the faint hope of a Finch victory was ended as Smith was held by Hartridge in the deep off the bowling of Lines for 38 to give Windsor victory and Lines the excellent figures of 6-50 as the innings closed on 176 in the 46th over.

It was great to see the team bounce back well after defeat the previous week. The batting looked be in good order again with solid contributions from Chana and Weston and the bowlers performed well with Lines the pick of the bunch collecting his first 5 wicket haul in the second XI.

Windsor 2nd XI vs Cookham Dean 1st XI 28/6/2008

Cookham Dean 282-7 49 Overs

Miller 82
Lambden 92

Hill 3-55

Windsor 175 All Out 42.4 Overs

M. Alam 41

On Saturday Windsor travelled to Cookham Dean for their top of table clash looking for a win to distance themselves from the chasing pack. On a bright sunny day Skipper Huggins was again looking to win his second toss of the season with the wicket looking flat, hard and ideal for batting. However, again it was not to be and Cookham had no hesitation in opting to bat first.

Windsor’s new ball pair of Hartridge and Hill soon found the going tough as the Cookham openers Brooks and Miller dispatched any loose deliveries on offer which raced away across the quick out field. It was Hill who struck the first blow for Windsor finding some inswing to trap Brooks L.B.W for 10. This brought Gandesha to the crease and his stay was only a brief one when Hill yorked him for 2 and Windsor were clawing their way back into the game with the score at 54-2. From here though Miller and Lambden took the game away from Windsor with some assured batting. Miller was quick to punish anything over pitched and after a watchful start Lambden joined in on the act stroking three half volleys to the boundary from one Hill over.

Edge was introduced into the attack and almost struck with his first delivery, but, a regulation chance from Miller was put down at square leg and from here the two batsman offered nothing as they started to dominate a wayward Windsor attack. Kellard was then introduced, but he too was to suffer the same fate as his first over went for 9. As the overs went by the run rate only increased with Lambden finding the offside boundary almost at will. It was the introduction of Malik to the attack that finally brought about the break through as Miller after hitting the first two balls of the over for 4 holed out to Hill at deep midwicket for a well made 82. This left the score at 178 for 3 and with plenty of time remaining and wicket is hand Cookham were well placed for a massive score.

Windsor toiled away manfully in the heat, however, with the Cookham batsman able to chance their arms the runs continued to flow. Butt came and went for 7 as he was bowled by Kellard and it was Bibby who proved to be the next able ally for Lambden as the two continued to force the pace with some clean hitting and good running. Lambden was out next run out for 92 care of some good work in the deep by Hartridge. Windsor continued to chip away as Austin was bowled by Hartridge for 1 and then Nunn removed for 4 bowled by Hill and the declaration came at the end of the 49th over with the score at 282 -7. Windsor knew they faced a massive challenge if they were to win the game.

Windsor’s reply got off to the worst possible start as Noble was trapped LBW second ball of the innings by Butt as Cookham took the old ball and opened with spin. Skipper Huggins decided to promote Alam to three and this had the desired effect as he struck his first ball for 4 and soon set about the Cookham bowling. Chana was next back in the pavilion for 5 after a top edged pull from the bowling of Butt well held in the deep by Miller and it looked as if the Windsor innings was losing it’s way. Malik was in next and he too looked to keep the score board moving with Alam who was regularly finding the boundary. Alam was next out though unluckily stumped for 41 from the bowling of Patel as the ball rebounded off the keepers pads onto the stumps. With the score at 66 for 3 Skipper Huggins joined Malik looking to halt the steady fall of wickets, but, this was not to be the case as Malik was bowled through the gate by off spinner Gandesha for 23. Riches then strode out to the crease and after a couple of well struck 4’s he was bowled by a googly from Bibby for 9 and Windsor were firmly on the back foot at 103 for 5.

Hartridge joined Huggins and the pair played sensibly working the ball around and dispatching any loose deliveries for 4. With the partnership growing it was Huggins to go next for 25 as he drilled a Gandesha half volley to wide mid off. Worse was to the come as Hartridge played on for 23 off the first ball of the next Rosenthal over and the chase was all but over with the score at 144 for 7. Hill was next to perish bowled by Gandesha as he was beaten in the flight for 3 and George was soon to follow as he could only fend one back to Patel that got big on him. It was left to final pair Kellard and Edge to try and salvage a draw for Windsor with a number of overs remaining. After some dogged defence mixed with a few lusty blows Windsor’s resistance was finally broken in the 43 over as Edge was bowled by Rosenthal for 9 to leave Windsor 175 all out.

It was disappointing to suffer the first defeat of the season by such a large margin and there will be plenty of room for improvement in next weeks home game against Finch. The bowlers will need to regain the discipline that has served them so well up to this point. On the batting front there will need to be more application, as although a number batters looked in good nick and got starts they will need to kick on and register 50’s and beyond if the team is to be successful in chasing runs and posting totals again.

Windsor 2nd XI vs Chalfont St. Peter 2nd XI 21.6.2008

Windsor 216-5 52 Overs

P. Huggins 51
U. Malik 46
M. Huggins 44

Chalfont St. Peter 183-9 48 Overs



After a wet morning Windsor entertained basement side Chalfont St. Peter 2nd XI. With the wicket looking damp, green and soft Skipper Huggins was desperate to win his second toss of the season. However, it was not to be and Windsor were asked to bat first.

A cautious start ensued from openers Noble and Riches as the wicket provided variable bounce and movement off the seam. Riches was the first to depart for 2 edging to second slip as Ali got on to move away off the seam. This brought Paul Huggins to the crease who looked to consolidate with Noble and it was Huggins who initially pushed the score along clipping a couple of loose deliveries to the short leg side boundary. However, former Windsor player Javid continued to get the ball to pop from a good length and it was Noble who was next to go as he fended a ball to short mid-wicket for 21. Next in was last weeks centurion Malik who after taking his time to assess the conditions was soon upping the tempo. Opposition Skipper Razaq felt the brunt of Malik’s aggressive approach as he opted for the aerial route.

Spinners Gill and Wigley were introduced to try and stem the flow of runs. After both batsman had worked the spinners round picking up the singles and collecting the occasional boundary it was Malik who cut loose striking Gill for two long straight six’s in his final over. Just as Huggins completed a hard worked 50 Malik was yorked by the returning Javid for a run a ball 46. This saw Mark Huggins head to the crease to join older brother Paul. However, the two were not together long as Paul was bowled for 51 aiming a big shot into the leg side off the bowling of Wigley.

It appeared Windsor may struggle to reach the 200 mark with the score at 132-4 at the end of the 41st over with two new men at the crease. However, as has been the case this season Windsor’s middle order stepped up to the plate. Mark Huggins fresh off a hundred in the 3’s the week before was in no mood to mess around as he soon set about the Chalfont bowlers while ably supported by Murray at the other end. Both batsman mixed aggression with good running as they started to take the game away from Chalfont. When Huggins departed for 44 off 28 balls in the 51st over Windsor were safely past the 200 mark and it was left to George and Murray to finish things off. The Windsor innings closed on 216-5 from 52 overs with Murray on 32 not out at better than a run a ball. The score looked to be competitive on a wicket that would continue to offer assistance through out the game.

In reply after a couple of lusty shots from the Chalfont openers they were soon on the back foot as Edge claimed the first wicket courtesy of some sharp work by Riches at second slip. Worse was to come though as Hill at the other end removed Kayani and Razaq both bowled in the same over. The Chalfont innings looked to be in trouble at 15-3. From here the Chalfont batsman launched a counter attack looking to bludgeon there way back into the game. This appeared to work initially as they moved to 73 in the 13th over, however, regular wickets fell and it was Edge who claimed the next one as Lewis clung on safely at cover.

The introduction of Kellard into the attack soon slowed the scoring and it was he who struck next as Gill holed out to Riches at long on and Windsor were still well in the game. The wicket saw Javid come to the crease and he started off in determined fashion striking Hill for 2 sixs. However, he attempted one big shot too many as he skied a pull shot to Paul Huggins who clung on safely at mid off and Chalfont’s hopes of victory looked to be slipping away. From here Windsor continued to push hard for the win, Lewis claimed his first wicket as Mallinder struck a full toss to Hill at extra cover who did well to hold on. Kellard was the next into action as he claimed two more wickets to leave Chalfont 9 down with 6 overs to go.

Huggins turned back to openers Edge and Hill as Windsor went in search of the elusive last wicket. However, dogged defence from Crossley and Ali though saw Chalfont home for the draw as the innings closed on 183-9.

It was another good performance when Windsor had the worst of the conditions for the second week running and with a bit more luck in future will convert these positions into wins. There were good performances with the bat from the Huggins brothers, Malik and Murray and Hill was firing on all cylinders with the ball in his second game back after a 3 week absence. Next week Windsor travel to Cookham Dean, who lie second in place, looking to reinforce their position at the top of the table and maintain their unbeaten start to the season.

Windsor 2nd XI vs Bagshot 2nd XI 14/6/2008

Windsor 231-5 52 Overs

U. Malik 101*
M. Lines 57

Bagshot 183-8 48 Overs

D. Dawson 69
Edge 8-64 (including hat-trick)

Windsor travelled to Bagshot on Saturday looking to build on the superb win against BA and consolidate their place at the top of the league. With Paul Huggins back at the helm Windsor lost their 5th straight toss and were invited to bat first on what looked a soft green wicket and as suspected it provided ideal bowling conditions with the warm overcast weather. Huggins and Noble found the going extremely tough as opening bowlers Sutherland and Grinstead found extravagant swing and seam and the ball regularly passed the outside edge. The scoring crawled along with only Huggins occasionally cutting loose when the opportunity presented itself. Noble was the first to go for 3 in the 19th over bowled by Budd as he attempted to up the scoring rate. Riches came to the crease and with Huggins and the scoring started to accelerate with Huggins picking Budd off for a couple of good looking straight drives. However, just as the partnership started to gain momentum Huggins attempted a single as he pushed the ball wide of mid on only for a direct hit to leave him a couple of yards short of his ground for 30 leaving the score at 46-2 in the 26th over.

Riches was joined by Malik and both made steady progress until Riches played all round a straight one from Budd for 16 and it was starting to look as if a score of 170-180 would be realistic at best. However, younsters Malik and Lines had other ideas. Both were watchful to start, but, with the wicket flattening and the bowling tiring both batsman started to up the pace. Lines was driving and pulling with aplomb and Malik struck a couple of sweetly timed straight sixs and with the score at 135-3 in the 42nd over Windsor were well placed to go for broke in the final 10 overs. What ensued was a period of exceptionally clean hitting from both batsmen with Malik in particular striking a number of towering sixes as Bagshot rotated their bowlers to no avail. Lines was the next to depart shortly after completing a stylish 50 in a partnership of 112 with Malik. With the score on 174-4 in the 47th over Malik was in no mood to relent as he continued on his way to his first senior 100 for Windsor off the final ball of the innings which contained 8 sixs in total! Malik was well supported by Murray who departed for 4 in search of quick runs and in the finish by George. The Windsor innings closed on 231-5 from their 52 overs and this looked as if it could be a par score given the improving batting conditions and small boundaries.

The Bagshot reply got off to positive start with openers Young and Dawson quick to pounce on any loose deliveries on offer as Windsor struggled to make best use of the new ball. It wasn’t until the 16th over with Edge introduced into the attack that Windsor made their first break through as Young was smartly caught behind by George for 32 with the score on 71. Timms was to follow him shortly miss timing a pull off Edge to mid wicket to leave the score at 73-2 and Windsor were gradually feeling their way back into the game.

Dawson and Rowlett soon set about consolidating Bagshot’s position with Dawson providing some big hitting of his own as he passed 50. With the score at 131-2 with 18 overs to go Bagshot appeared to be in the box seat, however, next came three balls that turned the game on it's head. Edge with ball in hand had Rowlett caught at mid off after some juggling by skipper Huggins for 19. With the batsman crossing Edge then cleaned bowled Dawson for 69 and then with the field in Reed hit his first ball to Lewis at short midwicket to give Edge his first ever hat trick. The passage of play left Bagshot reeling at 131-5. From here the run chase looked out of the question and wickets continued to fall. Grinstead was next to go smartly caught down the leg side by George off the bowling of Edge for 6 and Sutherland followed quickly after with Murray taking a sharp chance at slip also from the bowling of Edge. Windsor were in the ascendancy at this point and Edge had all seven wickets to fall. After some dogged defence Edge had Rowley trapped LBW and the finish line was almost in sight. Windsor continued on the all out attack, but, could not get through the stout defence of Holloly and Grinstead. Hill was re-introduced without success and the game finished in draw with the score on 183-8. Edge returned the exceptional figures of 8-64 from 18 overs.

It was disappointing not go away with the win, but, it was great to come away with another solid performance given the opposition had the better of the conditions. There were also some fine individual performances from Malik and Edge who put in the best batting and bowling displays seen in the 2’s for some time. With BA and Wooburn also only managing draws Windsor have slightly extended their lead at the top of the table and will go into Saturday’s home game against bottom side Chalfont St. Peter full of confidence.

WINDSOR 2 242-5 7

R.W.Noble 65

BRITISH AIRWAYS 210

C.Kellard 6-89

Windsor went to the top of league following a superb win against newcomers and early pace setters to the League British Airways at the Home Park last Saturday. With Captain Paul Huggins enjoying a break in Las Vegas and his appointed Vice Captain Alex Hill on wedding duty in South Africa it was a much changed XI that included 3^rd XI skipper Richard Noble, with Max Murray and Steve Ward drafted in from the lower XI’s in an attempt to bolster the team.

Stand in skipper Chris Edge lost the toss and Windsor were inserted on a good looking but greenish deck which offered a bit to the bowlers and Rob Noble and Umar Malik found life difficult against some accurate bowling. After taking the shine off the ball Malik and Brian Davis both departed caught behind and at 45/2 from 16 overs Windsor needed to do some rebuilding. Zimbabwe had the Flower brothers and Windsor have the Noble brothers as Rob was joined by his brother Richard who made an immediate impact on the game. Running between the wickets certainly improved as Richard pushed Rob hard turning 1’s into 2’s and 2’s into 3’s which started to make a big difference to the score. Some lusty blows along the way saw Rob reach his 50 as BA’s change bowlers started to feel the heat. Attempting 1 blow too many however Richard was caught at mid-on for 38 and will be disappointed not to have reached his half century, although his job was done as Windsor had reached 156-4 with 15 overs remaining providing an excellent foundation for the middle order to press on. This they did in superb style as Max Murray and Steve Ward completely dominated the BA attack, both getting into their stride quickly and dispatching the now visibly wilting bowling around the park. With 1 over to go Ward fell for 46 and Murray finished undefeated on 48 as Windsor posted an impressive 242-5 from their 52 overs.

BA had won all their previous games chasing and so despite the large score, Edge impressed the need for Windsor to remain focused and to take the chances when they arrived. However it was a very disappointing start from the opening partnership of Dean Bean and Edge as although Edge removed the prolific Kathait after just 7 overs BA had raced to 74-1 with Bean in particular getting some punishment from BA’s overseas player Sharma. This prompted a double bowling change as the spin of Rahul Moindru and Chris Kellard being introduced with Kellard getting instant result by bowling BA’s other opener. BA were still however playing their shots and motoring along still at 7 an over as Sharma in particular showing his class. However this then played into Windsor’s hands who were happy to keep BA in the hunt and as the chances came Windsor started to capitalise. Both Mohindru and Kellard took wickets at regular intervals as both started marathon bowling spells. Intelligent fielding kept Sharma off strike as Windsor continued to target his partners turning the screw and drying up the runs. Umar Malik took a superb diving catch at Long on to take the 5^th wicket from the bowling of Mohindru and a clever slower ball from Mohindru saw him take a sharp return catch to see BA reduced to 176-6. The turning point of the game however came when Sharma who had so far produced a faultless 68 tried to reverse sweep the leg spin of Kellard to be bowled and it was now Windsor’s game to win. However with time running out and 2 wickets to take Windsor kept their spinners on rather than reverting to their seamers and this ultimately won them the game as still going for their shots Kellard managed to outfox the final 2 batsmen to wrap the game up with 3 overs to go returning excellent figures of 6-89.

This was an excellent win for Windsor and a terrific game of cricket which could have gone either way. Sharma is a class bat for BA and will cause many problems for teams this year but through excellent cricket thinking and great determination in the field Windsor managed to restrict his impact and outthink the remaining batsman to wrap up a great 25 points and to leapfrog BA to go top of the League. Windsor travel to Bagshot next week with 9 players who could conceivably be in the team next week returning and it will be a real headache to decide who goes where for the selection committee after such a magnificent and committed display.

Windsor 2nd XI vs Slough 3rd XI 30/6/2008

Windsor 170 – 9 52 overs

D. Riches 57*
R. Gregory 31

Slough 100 all out 36 overs

C. Edge 5-31
C. Kellard 4-19

Windsor travelled away to old foes Slough 3’s looking to build on the great win against OMT the week before. On an overcast day and wet wicket and outfield Skipper Paul Huggins was exceptionally keen to bowl first in what looked like ideal conditions. However, when he called wrong at the toss the opposition Captain had no hesitation in opting to bowl first.

As was thought the conditions did provide ideal for bowling as openers Zain and Amo found exaggerated swing and seam repeatedly beating the outside edges of openers Huggins and Malik as they struggled to lay bat on ball. Disaster struck in the 8th over as Huggins was adjudged LBW to Amo for 4 and Davis fell in the same fashion the very next delivery for a first ball duck. From here Windsor were well on the back foot with the score board reading 8 for 2. It was down to youngsters Malik and Riches to rebuild the innings and both made steady progress until with the score on 35 Malik played all round a swinging delivery from Muqit to depart for 13. This brought Mark Huggins to the crease who initially played with caution until a rush of blood led to ungainly swipe at Muqit as he was bowled for 6 and the Windsor innings was starting to look in real trouble at 43 for 4.

From here the rebuilding work started. Firstly, Riches was joined at the crease by Charters as the pair carefully added 26 before the later edged behind for 13 off the bowling of Rishi for 13 to leave the score at 69 for 5. George was the next to come and he too played sensibly supporting Riches as he grew in confidence and started to up the scoring rate. Boundaries were still hard to come by with ball held up by the slow outfield. George was out next mistiming a shot and getting a leading edge to point for 9 off the returning Amo as the score board was slowly improving to read 106 for 6. Gregory was in next and quickly into his stride as he manoeuvred the ball around well and took over the lead role from Riches. Just as Windsor were looking set for a competitive total Gregory fell for 31 attempting to cut one too close to him as he was bowled by Zain. With the score at 144 for 7 and only the tail to come the innings was in the balance again. Edge came and went bowled second ball by Zain as Slough sensed there may be an opportunity to wrap up the innings early. However, some sensible batting by Bean and then by Kellard in support of Riches allowed Windsor to close the innings on 170 – 9 with Riches finishing with a well earned 57 not out. Given the conditions Windsor knew Slough would need to bat well to pass their total.

Slough’s reply got off to the worst possible start as Gregory showed his golden arm qualities bowling Shalath with his first delivery to leave them 0 – 1. From here Chaggal and Ghazi showed good composure as they waited patiently for the bad balls to come as the score board moved at a steady rate. This lead to the experienced Chris Edge to be introduced into the attack as Windsor looked for the next break through and this duly came as he bowled Chaggal for 30. However, Slough looked to be well placed to challenge Windsor’s total at 58 – 2 on an improving wicket. The introduction of Kellard at the other end though soon swung the game back in Windsor’s favour as he had Ghazi caught and bowled for 17. From here no other Slough batsman made double figures as Kellard and Edge cut through the batting order reaping the rewards from some disciplined bowling. The last man Gumbs fell to the bowling of Edge for 7 well held by Kellard at mid off and Windsor had wrapped the innings up in 36 overs with Edge finishing with 5-31 and Kellard also returning excellent figures of 4-19.

It was pleasing to wrap up such a comprehensive win given Windsor had the worst of the conditions throughout the game. Dave Riches another Windsor youngster batted exceptionally for his 57 and some of his team mates would do well to take note of the application and determination shown in his innings. Credit also has go to the bowlers with Chris Edge showing he still has plenty to offer in the 2’s and Chris Kellard who is keen to regain a spot in the 1st XI and will have done his chances no harm with this performance.

Windsor 2nd XI vs OMT 1st XI

OMT 258 – 8 51.5 Overs

Broadley 76

Harris 3-108
Hartridge 2-40
Edge 2-59

Windsor 262 – 6 48 Overs

Malik 64
P. Huggins 61
Lines 58*

Windsor entertained early pace setters OMT on a bright but blustery day at the Home Park with a team showing no less than 6 changes from the side that performed so well the week before away to Hayes.

OMT won the toss and elected to bat first on what looked to be an excellent track and openers McCabe and Lamb soon provide this to be the case. The score moved along at a steady rate as both openers were quick to latch onto any loose deliveries and it soon started as if it could a long afternoon in the field for Windsor. After reprieve Lamb was the first to go for 22 as he was bowled by a full swinging delivery from Edge. This only served to accelerate the scoring as Broadley came to the crease and was instantly into his stride taking full advantage of the flat wicket and quick outfield.

In an attempt to slow the scoring Windsor turned to young spinner Harris, but he too found the going tough as Broadley struck his first delivery back over his head for 4 more. This set the tone for the next 10 overs as Broadley went on the offensive striking a number of boundaries as McCabe provided the support running quick 1’s and 2’s as they tested Windsor’s fielding. Charters was introduced the attack to further take the pace off the ball and from here Windsor started to claw their way back into the game. Windsor finally made a much needed break through when Bullock held onto one at long on from the bowling of Harris as Broadley departed for a brisk 76.

The OMT batsman were in no mood to let up as they continued in the persuit of quick runs. Next to go though was McCabe for 48 off the bowling of Harris and Windsor started sense they may be able to keep the score within reach. This brought the brother’s Winkle to the crease who mixed aggression with quick running as the scoring started to accelerate again. Hartridge was re-introduced to the attack and he made the break through clean bowling R. Winkle for 35. From here regular wickets fell as Turner quickly followed him back to the pavilion trapped L.B.W for 3 by Hartridge. Shergold came and went as he was bowled by Harris for a duck and it seemed there could be the opportunity to wrap up the innings early. Skipper Katz and M. Winkle had other ideas though as they produced a late burst with Harris on the receiving end. The introduction of Edge for the final over saw Katz depart for a breezy 19 well held by Harris over his shoulder chasing back at point. A mix up in the running saw Davis depart for 0 and OMT declared on 258 for 8 with a ball to spare with M. Winkle finishing up on 41 not out.

Windsor realised they would have to bat well if they were to get any where near the score despite the favourable batting conditions. Windsor’s reply got off to a solid start as openers Malik and Paul Huggins mixed defence with some solid stroke play against the new ball pair of Turner and Katz as the scoring moved along at 3 an over. With wickets not forth coming OMT rotated the bowling introducing the spin of Lamb and Richards, but, the innings continued to make steady progress with Windsor reaching 64 for no loss in the 20th over. From here both batsman started to up the scoring as 55 were added in the next 8 overs with both openers reaching their 50’s, Malik in particular noticeably growing confidence as he started lofting seamer McCabe back over his head for 4 off consecutive deliveries. This left Windsor with 140 required from the last 20 overs with all 10 wickets in hand, a tall order, but one which was definitely achievable.

Windsor lost their 1st wicket though as Malik aimed one big shot too many down the ground off the bowling of McCabe to be caught by Lamb at long on for a well made 64. This brought Mark Huggins to crease who appeared to be in no mood to mess around as he dispatched Davis for 6 from the first ball he faced, however, it would appear he struggling with his maths on this occasion as with 10 runs already taken from the 1st four balls of the over he aimed an ungainly swipe across the line to be bowled for 8. This left Charters and Paul Huggins to rebuild after 2 quick wickets. From here the scoring slowed as Charters struggled after taking a blow to the ankle whilst fielding and Malik had to return to the middle as his runner. With the pressure building Paul Huggins was the next to go caught at point from the bowling of Davis as he aimed a big shot over the top of cover and looked as if the Windsor innings looked to losing it’s way.

On this occasion youngster Mark Lines had other ideas as he and Charters soon upped the rate striking boundaries and pushing the OMT fielders hard turning 1’s into 2’s and it was game on again. Charters departed in the 43rd over caught behind off the bowling of Turner for 27 to leave the score at 211 for 4. Bullock and Doye came and went for 5 and 3 respectively as they perished in search of quick runs leaving Hartridge and Lines to continue the chase and the two showed a maturity beyond their years as they kept Windsor in the hunt. More clean hitting and good running left Windsor needing 30 to win from the last 3 overs and the runs continued to flow with Lines passing his maiden senior 50, leaving 10 required from the final. With Lines taking 1 from the first ball it was left for last weeks star with the ball Hartridge to step up with the bat. Two 2’s and a four left the scores tied with two balls to go. A play and a miss left the nerves jangling, but, Hartridge off the final ball of the innings struck Katz down the ground with a classic straight drive for 4 to seal a great first win of the season as he finished 20 not out.

It was great to get the first win of the season after coming so close the week before, but, what made it even more pleasing was that it was done chasing a challenging with younsters Lines and Malik sticking their hands up with 50’s and a great cameo by Hartridge at the end to win the game.

Windsor 2nd XI vs Hayes 1st XI

Windsor 205 – 8 from 45 overs

Mark Huggins 70
M. Green 3-81

Hayes 174 – 9 from 41 overs

M. Green 80
T. Hartridge 5-52
R. Gregory 3-47

Windsor headed to Hayes on Saturday for their first away game looking for a win to kick start the season.

On a gloomy and overcast day Windsor lost the toss and were invited to bat first on what looked to be a firm but grassy track. Only 2 overs play were possible before the rain came which were safely negotiated by openers Paul Huggins and Noble. After a number of attempts to resume play as the showers came and went the teams finally took to the field again after a 50 minute delay leaving Windsor with 43 overs to bat. The next 8 overs saw a good contest between bat and ball as both openers were quick to seize on any loose deliveries, but, at the same time had their outside edges beaten frequently. Skipper Paul Huggins looked to be in fine touch as he plundered 12 runs from one Green over.

Windsor were well placed with 40 from the first 10 overs when Huggins was adjudged LBW off the bowling of Green for 19. From here Hayes began to battle back as regular wickets fell. Next to go was Weston bowled for 7 by Wayland as he attempted an ambitious pull shot and was closely followed by Noble in similar fashion for 21. When Riches was yorked off the bowling of Morgan for 14 the Windsor innings was in the balance at 71-4. As had not been the case in previous weeks when Windsor needed a partnership they found one in the form Mark Huggins returning from injury and Malik. After a few sighters Huggins was back to his usual swashbuckling self as he drilled Morgan back into the sight screen for six. What ensued was a good passage of play for Windsor with a mix of aggression and quick singles. Huggins played the dominant roll as struck two further sixs and a number of fours and was ably supported by Malik who also looked to be fine touch as he played the shot of the day as he drove Fahid through the covers for 4. The next wicket to fall though was Malik chipping Fahid to midwicket for 19. This brought George to the crease who was quickly into his stride striking Fahid through midwicket for four and then over long on for 6. With Windsor well placed to push for 200 Huggins perished for 70 as looked to force Fahid through mid wicket leaving the score at 170 for 6. Hartridge came and went as he was bowled by Green for 4 and then a mix up in the running between Gregory and George saw the later depart for 19 as it started to look as though Windsor would fall agonisingly short of the magical 200 mark. However, they were not to be denied as Gregory dispatched Green over long on for 6 in the final over and the Windsor innings closed on 205 for 8 which looked as if it would require an exceptional batting performance to pass on a testing wicket.

Windsor took to the field knowing if they put the ball in the right areas the wicket would still be offering plenty of assistance. As had not been the case the previous weeks Windsor got the early break through as Gregory bowled Ahmed for 4. This brought M. Green to the crease fresh from a big hundred against Finchampstead the week before and Windsor soon found he was in fine touch dispatching any loose deliveries to the boundary, with opening bowler Bean in particular on the receiving end. The score raced along at 5 an over with Skipper S. Green providing support at the other end. It was Gregory who took the second wicket as S. Green played on a short delivery for 15. From here the score board continued to move at 5 an over, however, Windsor continued to take regular wickets. Next to go was Farooq for 6 bowled by Gregory and was closely followed by Frost bowled by Hartridge for 8 and Windsor were in the ascendancy with the score at 76 for 4. At this point Hayes consolidated as M. Green was joined at the crease by Wallis who played the perfect foil nudging the ball round as Green continued to take the aggressive aerial route as they battled back into the game. Skipper Huggins turned to young spinner Harris in attempt to stem the flow of runs, but, he too found the going tough bowling with the wet ball. Green’s approach was always going to offer chances, but, Windsor failed to take these as he was dropped twice off the bowling of Hartridge. Hartridge proved to be the man though as he removed Wallis L.B.W. for 16 and then Green caught behind for 80 as he attempted one big shot too many and the game started to swing back in Windsor’s favour. Morgan came and went as he was run out for 8 courtesy of a sharp piece of work by keeper George spotting he had not returned to his crease after playing his shot.

Windsor started to feel the win was there for the taking and it was Hartridge who continued to provide the wickets with Wayland caught by Mark Huggins at slip for 6 and then clean bowling Arshad for 22 leaving the score at 168 for 9 with 4 overs remaining. Windsor pushed hard for the win and a difficult chance spilt at short fine leg off the bowling of the returning Gregory, however, Windsor thought they had won the game in the final over as Hartridge struck Fahid in front offering no shot only for the umpire to adjudge that it was going over the top. From here Fahid saw out the final three deliveries as Hayes clung on for a draw. Tom Hartridge was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 5-52 from 15 overs.

Although it was disappointing not to claim the win after dominating the game for long periods of time skipper Huggins was happy with his sides much improved performance. It was good to see Mark Huggins in good touch in his first game back from injury, however, it was even more pleasing to see another youngster Tom Hartridge stick his hand up with a great performance with the ball.

Windsor 2nd XI vs Wooburn Narkovians 1st XI

Wooburn Narkovians 193 All Out 51.4 overs

Rogers 60
Davis 6-40

Windsor 126 – 7 48 overs

On a warm, but slightly overcast day at the Home Park Windsor entertained Wooburn Narkovians in their 1st game back at level. In light of recent batting displays Skipper Huggins won the toss and elected to field first to make use of any early assistance the conditions may have to offer. However, Windsor soon found themselves on the receiving end as Wooburn got off to a flier. Opener Rogers was quick to pounce on anything off line as the ball flew to all parts with Gregory coming in for some harsh treatment. Lewis was introduced to the attack at the expense of Gregory in attempt to stem the flow of runs, however he to found the going tough and was withdrawn after three costly overs. At was at this point Dean who had been toiling away at the other end gave Windsor their first break through as opener A. Tennant attempted to pull a short pitched ball only to top edge the ball high into the air and the catch been taken comfortably by keeper George. This brought White to the crease who was quickly into his stride seizing on anything short or full. With Bean tiring and the score still rattling along at 5 an over Windsor opted for the double bowling change introducing Davis and debutant Harris into the attack.

This signalled a change in the game as both settled quickly into a steady line and length. It was Davis who struck first trapping White LBW for 23 to leave Wooburn 99-2 in the 20th over. From here the scoring began to slow with Windsor’s fielders backing up the efforts of Davis and Harris. Rogers passed a well earned 50, however, departed shortly after cutting Harris to point. From here on Windsor showed great spirit as they fought their way back into the game. Regular wickets then began to fall as Wooburn struggled with the inswing of Davis as he ran through the middle order. Next to go was Cuthbert bowled by Davis for 8 closely followed by Hall LBW for 0. Barker and Cutherbert then looked to consolidate, however, Davis was to be denied as he removed both care of some sharp work behind the stumps by George with Cuthbert caught for 30 and Barker stumped for 15. With the overs running out the Wooburn batsman carried on in pursuit of 200 and maximum batting points. Wickets continued to fall though with Aslam was stumped for 3 off a wide by George off the bowling of Davis and Small holing out to Gregory at long on off the bowling of Harris for 13. The last wicket fell in the final over when Clarke was run out courtesy of some good work by Harris off his own bowling as Wooburn innings closed on 193. Davis finished with the impressive figures of 6-40 off 18 overs and was well supported by Harris who finished with 2-62 from his 18.

Windsor knew they had battled back well when early on it looked as though they would be chasing a score well in excess of 200.

Windsor’s reply got off to a poor start as Skipper Huggins departed for 7 off the bowling of Small to leave the score at 18-1. This brought Riches to the crease who looked to be in fine touch striking some crisp boundaries off the bowling of M.Tennant. However, he soon departed caught at cover from a leading edge off the bowling of Small for 15 as he looked to play through the mid wicket area. As has been the case so far this season the Windsor innings quickly ran into trouble as regular wickets fell as Gregory and Hartridge were bowled by Tennant. Davis struck a couple of sweet boudaries before been caught behind off Tennant for 10. Noble departed shortly after for 23 off the bowling of Barker and the Windsor innings was in real trouble at 66-6. With so few wickets in hand and the run rate in excess of 5 and over the only option was to bat time and pick up as many batting points as possible. George and Malik showed great patience as they batted time putting away the bad balls as they came along. Wooburn rotated their bowlers as they went in search of further wickets and the match appeared to be heading for a draw until Aslam trapped George LBW for 31 in the 45th over. Malik and Harris though showed good sense in batting out for the draw with Harris hitting opening bowler Small back over his head for 4 to secure an additional batting point as Windsor finished on 126-7 with Malik unbeaten on 23.

Skipper Huggins was satisfied with the result given Windsor had not played their best cricket, but had worked hard throughout the game after a difficult start and was impressed by the bowling of Davis and 17 year old Harris. However, the batting will need to step up a number of notches if Windsor are to register their first win of the season away at Hayes next week.

Pre season Friendly

Windsor 2nd XI (120-6) vs Enfield 1st XI (121-5)

On Saturday Windsor 2nd XI travelled to Enfield to play a game many thought would be called off given the rain over the past week. Windsor lost the toss and were invited to bat on what appeared to be a soft green track.

The innings got off to the worst possible start as Noble departed in the third over caught behind off the bowling of Brevier without troubling the scorer. This left skipper Huggins and Weston to set about rebuilding the innings. Both found scoring difficult as the Enfield made excellent use of the bowling conditions finding late swing and seam. With opening bowlers negotiated Weston and Huggins looked to push the scoring along. However, both batsman continued to find scoring difficult on the slow wicket and Weston perished as he was out stumped advancing down the track to the off spin of Jackson. This left Windsor at 46-2 in the 23rd over. With innings in the balance regular wickets fell in the middle order as the scoring continued to fail to gain any momentum. Riches was bowled playing inside the line of Jackson for 2, Davis was caught behind off Allena for 2 and George was bowled attempting to sweep the leg spin of Barry for 9. With the innings in real trouble Alam came and went LBW for 1 playing back to a full length ball off the bowling of Allena. The innings appeared to be on the brink of collapse at 85-6 in the 36th over. Malik and Huggins then set about the second meaningful partnership of the innings adding 35 in the remaining overs as the inning finished on 120 for 6 off 45 overs with Huggins 48 not out and Malik 21. The score was thought to be 20 to 30 runs short of par.

Windsor realised they would bowl and field exceptionally well if they were to have any chance in the match. Skipper Huggins had the desired response from the opening bowlers Lewis and debutant Bean. Bean was particularly impressive with his line and length, however, Windsor failed to take the early wickets required. The break through arrived in the 16 over with Lewis dismissing openers Bolt for 7 with Alam taking a fine diving catch at cover to leave the score at 21 for 1. Next came the partnership that swung the match in Enfields favour between Ryan and Barrell. Windsor rotated the bowlers looking for further wickets. Condon and Malik tried their luck without success as the Enfield pair continued to push the scoring of along with Barrell playing some big shoots off the bowling of Malik. This led skipper Huggins to turn to the unlikely bowling combination of Davis and Weston who both started to gain a strangle hold on the scoring. The second wicket came in the 23rd over courtesy of a run out as Plumb attempted 1 quick single too many and was run out for 25 leaving the score at 68 for 2. Despite the wicket though Windsor could feel the game slipping away with Enfield holding wickets in hand. Ryan and Barrell then added a further 20 to the score before Ryan was run out for 6 care of a good through from Condon in the deep and some smart work by George behind the stumps. Free then gave Huggins an easy catch at cover off the bowling of Weston as he departed for 4. Windsor knew time was running out and Huggins turned back to Bean, who removed Barrell bowled for a well made 56. It was all too little too late though as Enfield cantered home in the 43rd over.

Windsor go into next weeks league game knowing they will need to produce a much more determined performance with the bat if they are going to compete.

failing to make the best use of the best batting pitch in the league!

Windsor 178 all out (Bullock 54)

lost to

Farnham Common 181 for 3 (Fearon 59)

Windsor played away on Sat, at local rivals Farnham Common, in the second to last game this season, and wanting desperately not to finish last! Hill won the toss, and decided to bat on a belter of a pitch that had a bit in it for everybody. Hill wanted to post a minimum of 200 on a track that should give you 250 if you had an in form team. Farnham Common also wanted to bat first to try and cement their promotion ambitions, so it was set up for a thrilling match!

The new opening pair of Channa and Noble again opened this week and Channa seemed in the groove straight away hitting 10 runs of the first over! runs slowed down rapidly in the following overs and Noble was removed for 1 in the 6th over with the score on 12. Davis came to the crease and faced some tight lines from both opening bowlers, but Shabir doing the best work. Davis fell in the 10th over bringing Charters into the attack. Cahnna and Charters looked steady and pushed some lovely looking drives to the boundaries on a very fast outfield. Channa was caught in the 17th over with the total on 65, and Windsor looked to be getting themselves into trouble. Bullock entered the fray and played some glorious drives, and the pair took windsor past the 100 mark. Charters, played what he described as 'the worst shot all year', to be bowled for a lovely 33. Patel was run out on 14 (after looking settled and attacking any bad delivery) in a bizarre situation and bizarre appealing, bringing Hill to the crease. Shabir came back on and again bowled a lovely out swinging line. Hill flashed at one outside off stump and was caught by the 'best catch of the season' in the gully area. Windsor again were looking down the barrel at 161 for 7. Bullock was out soon after for a lovely 54 and Windsor tail just managed to hang in using all the overs to set a below par 179 to win.

Farnham Common play one way and one way only and looked to play thier wild attacking shots from the very first ball! Hill and Edge were on the receiving end of lots of bad luck with edges going for 4, catches being dropped or not attempted at all and inside edges missing the stumps. Fearon was finally removed by Edge on 42 but had raced to 73 for 1 off Windsor's forst 12 overs! Hill brought on Endacott to try and slow the game up, which with his straight and full medium pace, did the job. The wild shots slowed and the run rate dropped slightly from a huge effort by the seamer who was in to replace injured Hartridge. Farnham pressed on though and punished the bad ball, which brought Kellard into the attack to try and take some valuable wickets. The Farnham batsmen played with their heads down to try and prevent Windsor from taking any more points. Once the batsmen had got used to Endacott and Kellards lines, Hill brought himself back on in the 30th over with the score on 150. Hill first removed Kumar with a genuine bouncing delivery which caught the gloves on the way past the batsman's chest, and caught well by Davis behind the sticks. 2 balls later Hill also removed Shakil by bowling him on 59. Edge came back on , but the writing was on the wall and Farnham hit a boundary in the 34th over to seal a comfortable victory.

Farnham turned it on today, and rode their luck early doors with the bat, but deserve to go up and play a better standard of cricket in 2A next season. Windsor had some good moments during the game but it wasn't enough to challenge Farnham and deserved to loose. Windsor play their final match at home next weekend, and only a mathematician can work out that if we get 25 points and all the luck in the world goes our way with everyone else loosing in the relegation battle in 3A and 3B, can Windsor possibily stay up.....

out shone in the sun......

Windsor 131 all out

lost to

Falkland 132 for 4

Windsor faced Falkland at home park on Saturday, desperately needing all 25 points if they were going to make it out of the last spot in the league that they have been held in for weeks. Windsor lost the toss and were put in by a confident Falkland team. Windsor had decided to pick an extra batsman this week to go all out for the maximum points possible.

Windsor got off to its normal dreadful start by Noble being removed for 0 in the 3rd over. Channa and Davis looked as if they might be able to steady the ship and got Windsor up into the early 40's by the 14th over. The opener Trumper bowled some very tight lines, which pinned back any big strokes. Davis fell first with Channa following the very next over leaving Windsor reeling on 47 for 3 in the 16th over. Charters, Bullock, Patel and Weston all got small starts but none capitalised, and Windsor were looking down the barrel at 101 for 6. The attack turned to spin, and Falkland extracted some good bounce and turn which it hard to get off the square. Hill edged one in the air whilst trying to rotate the strike, attempting to allow more of the strike to a good looking effort with the bat by young Hartridge. The tail folded and Windsor were all out for 131 in the 46th over giving Falkland 6 extra overs to get the small target.

Hill decided to not change anything and opened with himself at the castle end let Edge plough a furrow from the river end. Both bowled tight lines and got the new ball to swing early doors, not allowing the Falkland openers any free reign. Hill removed the opener LBW for 4 with Edge removing the other opener and number 3, returning good figures of 9 overs 2 for 16. Windsor felt optimistic that they could make things hard for Falkland, and earn some extra valuable points if they kept bowling well and picking up wickets. After getting used to his lines, Hill replaced himself young Hartridge who unfortunately bowled a tad short which the Falkland bowlers were quick to punish. With Kellard missing, Hill had to keep changing the attack and brought Malik on try and slow the run rate down. Needing some medium pace seam up Hill brought under used Patel, and returning Weston into the attack, and they did well to make the batsmen think about their shots, and slowed the run rate slightly. Weston picked up a well deserved wicket in the end, but Falkland were too strong and didn't buckle under the small pressure Windsor imposed, and got to 132 loosing only 4 wickets in the 38th over.

Plenty of people have said that Windsor should have batted first more often this season. Obviously winning the toss helps, but again, this week shows that bating was not strong enough batting first or second. Being given a life line with an opportunity to post 200 and try and get 25 points proved too much of a challenge. Windsor are still bottom and deserve to be. 2 games to go and the season is all but over. Windsor will go into next weeks away game against Farnham Common wanting and trying to win. Let's end the season on a little high, but the batsmen have to knuckle down.....

Dark clouds rolling in.......

North Maids 227 for 8 (Stewards 103*, Hussain 65)

drew with

Windsor 186 for 9 (Hill 43*, Khan 5 for 42)

Windsor went to N Maids knowing that there was a lot to play for in these final games against a team that could be in the relegation battle with us. The game was starting at the earlier 12.30 time due to the light, but the sky was dark before the game even started! Hill lost the toss again and was was put into a cold field!

Without S Condon again, Windsor opened with Hill and Edge, both of which tied up each end from the word go. Edge made an early break through by removing Khan caught behind on 4. Hill soon removed Peachey and N Maids were faltering on 25 for 2 off 15 overs. After 9 overs, Hill replaced himself with the returning Hodgson, who immediately bowled his miserly line and length. Stewards confidently pushed the ball about and was quick onto anything short. The sky's were darkening and the drizzle started but both teams were keen to try and get as much of a game in as possible. Returning batsman Davis was brought into the bowling attack as Hussain and Stewards were looking comfortable. Brian, trying hard to get his line and length made 2 key breakthroughs in his six overs removing Hussain and Saleem. Hodgson, had little luck with 3 chances in the air went begging. Malik was brought on after the drizzle stopped to see if Windsor could tempt some lofted shots. The N Maids batsmen started to run away with the runs, but Malik removed Benningshaw and Attiq. Hill and Edge came back into the attack 6 overs from the end to try and stem some runs, but found it difficult to bowl with what only can be described as a bar of soap! They picked up a wicket each in this final spell, but N Maids had posted an impressive target of 227 off their allocated 52 overs.

As the players walked into tea, the heaven's opened and it started to rain quite hard, and the covers were put on. After long conversations between the captains, and the eagerness to try and get a result for both sides paramount, the Windsor Innings started in drizzle, with Mullins umpiring in his waterproof fishing gear! N Maids, going for the 25 points took the old ball and opened with spin to try and tempt the Windsor batsmen into getting themselves out. Hill wanted Windsor to go all out for a win from the word go as we had no idea how long we could play in the conditions.

Chana was out first ball bowled which brought Davis in quicker than he expected!! Noble and Davis stared the run chase in different ways. Noble his usual reserved pace, and Davis punishing the bad balls. After a series of tight overs, and the pressure building, Davis was caught out on 23 and Windsor were 45 for 2. George went in and hit out from the word go trying to get the run rate up. With the wet out field slowing the ball up and preventing some boundaries, Windsor were finding it hard to keep up with the required rate. A mix up on a run out saw George walking back to the pavilion, and Charters joining Noble. Noble fell on 34, Chartes and Patel fell for under 10 runs each and K Condon was out for 0 and Windsor were staring down the barrel again at 127 for 7. Hill joined Malik at the crease and was still keen on trying to get as many points as possible. Malik was removed by Khan and Hill decided to open his shoulders punishing the bad deliveries. Khan ended up on figures of 12 overs 5 for 42, which was a good effort with the old ball! The sky dried up and N Maids started to bowl seam up to remove the remaining batsmen. Edge hit some lovely shots but when he fell for 14, Hill decided to shut up shop with Hodgson providing a solid defence at the other end. Hill top scored with 43 batting number 9......... and Windsor limped to 186 for 9.

Batting batting batting. Windsor failed again to reach a target set to them against a team in the relegation battle. N Maids have to be thanked for going out to play in not very nice conditions to push for points on a day no other game in 3A was played. Windsor came away with 1 point more than they would have got for an abandonment.......... Windsor are at home to top of the table this Sat.

The friendliest game of cricket ever.......

OMT 172 all out (Kenburg 62)

beat

Windsor 145 all out (Chana 54, Nokeli 4 for 37)

windsor travelled away to OMT, to look to try and gain some valuable points against another team struggling at the bottom of the table. The usual distractions of bridesmaids walking near the boundary at OMTs ground were put to the back of mind for this crucial game. the wicket was soo green that Hill was wary of winning the toss. Windsor wanted to bat for the points but thought this wicket could be a bit spicy. OMT (a top bunch of blokes) and Windsor always have good competitive matches and both were keen to play in the best spirit of the game, and this was demonstrated on the pitch.

Windsor lost the toss and OMT choose to bat. Hill and returning S Condon opened proceedings quite tightly, bearing in mind the right and left hand batting partnership. OMT were clear from the outset that they were 'going to have a go' at anything wide or short and punished these deliveries. Condon got one to rear a little and removed McCabe caught behind and Hill soon followed suit removing Boarley caught behind as well. Kenburg looked to get himself settled whilst Hill removed batsmen 4 and 5 and OMT were stuttering on 4 for 49. Hill ending his spell on 8 overs, 3 for 38. Edge replaced Condon and started 'ploughing a furrow' in from the pavilion end. He made the batsmen play and miss countless times and the wicket was ading the seamers a lot. Edge had the politest sledging match with the OMT batsmen Hill had ever heard during his spell! Kellard replaced Hill got the batsmen to start play more shots in the air. McPhearson and Kenburg pushed OMT to 142 as OMT started to gain runs quickly. Edge was rewarded for his efforts by returning figures of 11.4 overs, 3 for 42. with only 10 batsmen, OMT posted a reasonable 172 and gave Windsor 61 overs to chase them.

Hill, pleased at bowling a team out again, was hoping his batsmen would do him proud this week. Chana, drafted in after his 100 for the Sunday 1's the previous week, looked solid and in comand from the word go opening with Noble. Windsor raced to 36 runs, but over number 14 changed the face of the game. Modi, a young seamer, was pushing the ball through hard and removed Noble caught behind. K Condon followed Noble back to the Pavillion the very next ball. Nilesh ran a single and was caught in no mans land with a mix up on a run with Chana. Windsor were facing a familiar collapse, and were now 36 for 3! Tom Bullock was bowled in the next over from Nocheli! Malik went to the crease looking to stop the rot and steadied the ship but slowing the run rate too, until the 33 over where he was removed by Richards. George went about his innings fast and scored some lovely shots and was joined by Hill once Chana was out for 54. Hill tried to keep the momentum going but Windsor kept losing wickets. S Condon and Kellard tried bravely at the end to push for the win, but failed when Katz removed an under the weather S Condon in the 51st over with Windsor only needing 28 to win.

Disappointing. these are the games we should be winning against teams in the relegation battle with us. 61 overs to chase 172 is not a task that should be beyond the WCC players we have in this side. All too often this season the 7th or 8th batsman is going in with under 100 on the board. For the number 8 to be 2nd highest scorer on 21 tells a tale....This is not good enough and it seems that the players are leaving it too late to fight their way out of last place. Windsor travel to North Maids next Saturday.

A light at the end of the tunnel?

Cove 163 all out (Cooper 62, Marsh 51. Hodgson 4 for 37, Kellard 4 for 63)

lost to

Windsor 167 for 5 (Davis 84)

After the shambles of the batting performance last week, Windsor went into the game against Cove wanting to bat first to try and get points on the board, and try, with their re-shuffled bowling attack to try and bowl a side out. Hill lost the toss but the outcome of the game was a good one for relegation faced Windsor.

Windsor, without Edge or Condon, opened with Hill and wily Hodgson. The later proving his place by bowling tight and miserly lines to restrict Coves batsmen. Hill made the first breakthrough which had their opener out on a duck. After 7 overs from the river end, Hill turned to 2st XI batsman Davies to help with the bowling duties. Davis, 'the best net bowler at WCC' hit his line and length straight away. Hodgson toiled away at the castle end, and a superb run out from Malik dislodged Marsh for a well earned 51. This was the action that started to change the game and Cove were starting to look comfortable. Hodsgon then removed batsmen 4,5,6 and 7 returning bowling figures of 20 overs 9 maidens, 4 for 37! Davis was replaced with young spinner Kellard who bowled some good lines, but struggled with his length a little. However he tempted the Cove batsmen and removed the opener Rhodes on 62. The Cove tail succumbed to Kellards spin and were all out in the 52nd over. Kellard ended on 16.3 overs, 1 maiden, 4 for 63.

Having bowled a side out again, Hill hoped his batsmen would be able to chase down this total with relative ease, but the 07 season has been anything but easy. With a re-jigged batting line up, Davies opened with Noble, and both looked comfortable from the word go, Davis especially looking good and finding the boundary quickly. Tight opening bowler Finney and Tomsett were replaced but couldn't seem to dislodge either of the Windsor openers. Regan in the 30th over got a ball to nip away off the seam and Noble was removed on 30. Richies and Weston were removed in the space of 4 balls and Windsor looked like they were going to have a familiar collapse. Patel steadied the ship with Davis and hit some effortless shots. Tomsett got Davis out for a fantastic 84 in the 40th over, and Malik follwed him back to the pavillion shortly afterwards! Doye came to the crease and played sensibily to help steer Windsor home with Patel not out on 32.

A much better performance this week. This is how Windsor used to play. Good fielding, good bowling and fairly solid batting. This is the glimmer of hope Windsor need to go into the last few matches to try and avoid relegation..........

Windsor washed aside.....

Amersham 179 all out (Hamilton-Pike 63)

beat

Windsor 124 all out (Rajabali 6-42)

On the back of a good victory over Slough last week, Windsor were away to Amersham. After some comedy errors on the Sat nav in the captains car, the team finally arrived full of confidence that they could get a result against the 2nd placed team in the league. Windsor won the toss, and having seen Amersham had most of their victories this season batting second, Hill stuck the home team in on what looked to be a two paced but well prepared pitch.

Windsor opened with the returning Hill and young Condon, and immediately put the ball in good areas, making the openers play and miss and found some edges in the first few overs. Runs were hard to come by with the attacking field. 20 runs had come off the first 10 overs and once Edge had replaced Condon, the first wicket fell in the 18th over with the total on 50. Hamilton-Pike came to the crease and immediately started to play some lovely drives. Kellard looked to tighten up one end, and chances were starting to be made, with shots being hit in the air. Edge removed the 2nd batsman in the 22nd over. Edge bowled his trademark miserly line and took a 3rd wicket with the score on 88 in the 22 over. Hamilton Pike and Amersham Captain Weston started to pile on the runs. Kellard removed Weston with Bullock taking a high long catch on the Mid -on boundary, with Amersham having raced to 158. With Condon returning and taking the wicket of Hamilton-Pike after he got to 63, the runs dried up. The rest of the Amersham tail collapsed for a total of 176, with Hill taking 3 quick wickets at the end and Bullock taking a good run out chance. Windsor gained an extra over for the run chase

Windsor stuck with Patel and Noble to open the chase. However Windor lost their openers for 2 runs in the first 4 overs with the score on 3! Chorley, started cracking the ball hard through square on the off side and through the covers, injuring Weston slightly in the process! Richies, looked in good touch too, and was playing some lovely timed strokes. Windsor raced to 50 off the first 12 overs, and looked to be taking apart the seam attack, with Rajabali tying up one end very well. Richies fell first to Rajabali and 2 runs later Chorley edged one from the bowling of Sidebottom for a lovely looking 37, but Windsor were looking shaky on 67 for 4. George came in and looked to play his trademark shots straight away, but with Bullock, Condon and Hill falling for a total of 4 runs between them, there was no partnership to try and see the chase home. Edge, Care and Kellard tried to steady the ship slightly at the end and tried to get to the 125 mark for an extra point, but fell one run short. Rajabali returned impressive figures of 21 overs, 9 maidens, 42 runs, 6 wickets!

Again, batting has been the weak point of the team. the bowling attack and the team fielding did well to restrict the opposition to 176, and this total should have been able to be chased down. One more game like this and Windsor face a very tough challenge to avoid relegation! Windsor face Cove 2 at home this week.......

Windsor vs Slough

Windsor 2's claimed a vital 20 point victory on saturday against local rivals Slough 3's, in a hard fought encounter at Home Park. Slough opted to bat first on a damp wicket but considering the apocolytic rain the day before the ground and pitch held up remarkably well.

Slough took the attack to Windsor and their openers certainly played their shots. Windsor however stayed calm and with the score on 83, Chris Edge dissmissed one opener , and Tom Hartridge nos 2 and 3 to leave Slough suddenly on 83-3. Windsor picked one more wicket before thundery rain forced off the players after 27 overs with Slough on 101-4.

With the rain steadily falling and puddles forming on the square it looked as if the wretched weather this summer would cause another abandonment.Remarkably however, the rain just about eased off at about 4.45 ,and thanks to the enthusiasm of both sets off players and sensible co-operation from both umpires, a start time was agreed for 5.00pm. Slough would now have 37 overs and Windsor 33.

In a rather surreal scenario, Slough then came out to bat for 10 more overs in bright sunshine but to the bewilderment of everybody, steady rain, which nobody could really work where it was coming from. Under a huge rainbow, Chris Edge and Tom Hartridge continued to run in at Slough, but with the field flug far and wide, the game took on a the feel of a 20-20 contest. Slough played their shots and Windsor's fielders slid around the outfield in a desperate attempt to cut off boundaries. Wickets inevitably fell and Slough ended on 169, which was was certainly competative.Windsor only used three bowlers, Chris Edge gallantly plowed through from one end taking 4-90 off 16 overs. Sam Condon went for 52 off 11 overs but can count himself unlucky not to get a wicket, while Tom Hartrige impressed with figures of 11-2 off his allotted 7 overs.

Set 170 to win, and knowing that most other games would be called off, Windsor had a great chance to pick up a vital 20 points. Openers Rob Noble and Nilesh Patel walked out under increasingly dark and thundery clouds, and it seemed almost inevitable that the game would done for within five minutes or so, as one more rain break would certainly have caused an abandonment. Somehow, the rain stayed away and Noble and Patel gave Windsor the start they needed, taking quick singles and putting away the bad ball when it came. At 10 overs windsor were 47-0 and looking good, despite it being so dark that cars going along the Datchet road had their headlights on full beam.

With the score on 57, Noble clipped one off his legs straight to square leg to be dismissed for 17, and Windsor lost their first wicket. Soon after that, Patel was run out for a vital 32. Chorley and Riches both found conditions tricky as Slough's seamers tightened up. The skies brightened but not Windsor's fortunes as Riches and Chorley then perished in quick succession for 12 and 11 respectively.Windsor were now 88-4, with plenty of work still to do. Tom Bullock and Richard Charters then formed a superb partnership which took Windsor to the brink of victory.

Excellent running between the wickets and punishment of the bad ball was a feature of a partnership. Bullock in particular hit a couple of enourmous sixes, which kept the run rate managable. Charters then fell for a well made 35, and this brought in Tom Hartrige who ably partnered Bullock to see Windsor home in the last over. Hartridge ended on 9 not out but it was Tom Bullock who fittingly hit the winning runs to finish on 47 not out, and the pair recieved a rousing reception from the balcony as Windsor celabrated a deserved and hard fought win in which everybody had played their part.

Lost to

Aldershot 1st 127 for 4

Windsor 2’s desperately needed a win on Saturday, to even have a chance to look to get out of the relegation zone. Travelling away to Aldershot and deciding to take the fun bus there, Windsor were in high spirits. Getting a call that two players and our umpire were stuck on the M25 brought us back down to earth though, but all 3 made it in time. Looking to maximize points available, Windsor won the toss and decided to bat. The wicket looked a little un even and patchy, but Windsor were keen to try and set a target and get double batting points.

Things could not have started worse, as Patel was bowled by an in swinging yorker first ball! Noble, struggling to get the ball off the square, was ably supported from the other end by veteran Dawson, who was finding runs in his favored area of 3rd man Noble was bowled in the 8thth over and Windsor were on 30. Richies cam in and looked to build with Dawson and pushed for regularly for 2 runs, however Dawson was bowled in the 10th over for a well earned 23.. Gin from George cam to the middle, but only hung around for 4 overs when he received a very unlucky half pitched ball that got all of 2 inches off the floor and removed his off stump. Windsor were looking shaky in the batting dept again! Bullock pushed well and partnered Richies and looked to build a partnership with him. Richies was caught behind in the 28th over and was quickly followed by Bullock and Windsor were teetering on 85 for 6. Hill and Malik decided to try and stabilise things, with Hill playing defensively to Summers and Gill, who both bowled half decent lines. Malik, tried to hit the spinner and was boweld so Edge joined Hill in the middle. Again both patiently waited until there was only 8 overs to go before opening the shoulders. Hill was bowled on 15 and Windsor were facing a low score. Endacott and Kellard tried to stay around and use up as many overs as possible. Windsor were however all out in the 48th over for a measly 126

Hill opened the bowling with Edge, to try and restrict the openers early on. Hill realized that he would have to switch to spin fairly quickly if neither seamer could make the vital breakthroughs. Hill was nearly warned by the umpire for ‘running down the track’, which forced and change of run up. Both Hill and Edge didn’t give the batsmen too much to hit and restricted Aldershot to 30 runs off 14 overs but neither could make a breakthrough. Baig and Dickson looked fairly comfortable so Hill brought Kellard on from his end. After 11 overs Edge was replaced by Endacott and he made a breakthrough by bowling Dickenson, who had got to a well earned 49! Kellard took the next wicket after drinks with a good catch from Richies..Murray was adjudged LBW to kellard, and aldershot were looking fairly comfortable at 83 for 4. Baig pushed on and Hill, running out of runs, turned to opener patel to bowl a couple of overs. Nilesh bowled Bookhobsa and Windsor had their 2 bowling points. Umar came on and bowled a couple of overs, but the total was never enough and aldershot eased past the total in the 39th over, and Baig eneded on a well deserved 47.

Bowling OK (only 4 extras was good) & fielding looked sharp. Batting again has let us down. Its up to the batsmen to knuckle down and net and net and net. Windsor are home to big hitting Slough , so we need to be able to set a total, and or chase one down. Hill is unavailable along with some other members, so Edgy will be captain this weekend.

Newbury bypass Windsor

Newbury 174 all out

Beat

Windsor 152 all out

After missing a weeks play due to the bad weather, Windsor 2nds again had a ‘far far and away’ fixture at Newbury CC. A changed side again due to availability issues and injuries meant a call up for veteran Dawson and Endacott. With Smith stuck in traffic, Windsor were down to 10 men to start the game, never a good move! Windsor lost the toss and were put into the field, but the wicket looked like it would do all sorts. Hill opened with Edge, the two bowlers a few yards slower than a coupe of seasons ago! Hill, swinging the ball wildly and gave Newbury some cheap runs. But Edge ploughing a furrow up hill bowled his usual miserly line and restricted the batsmen from one end. Hill removed himself after 5 overs and looked to brisk medium pace bowler Endacott to make the breakthrough. Windsor were tight on the singles in the field, but some edgy shots and some poor fielding to harder hit shots gave openers Anstey and Uden some easy runs. At drinks Windsor were looking on dodgy ground as Newbury were on 70 for 0 of 26. After drinks Endacott quickly removed batsmen 2 and 3 and Kellard then removed opener Anstey. When Kellard removed Walker, Newbury looked vulnerable on 112 for 4. Kellard continued to rattle through the middle order with his spin, and was ably backed up by Endacott. Both bowlers turned in good figures and Kellard ended with a 5 fer! Hill came back on in the dying overs to take 2 wickets and Newbury ended up losing the last wicket in the last over to Kellard for 174.

With an obtainable target on the board, Windsor went out to bat full of confidence. The unchanged opening pair of Patel and Noble looked to get after the bowlers early doors. However in the 2nd over Patel had a ball rise sharply and was out caught and bowled. In came Dawson to try and build a partnership with Noble. Hanabe then bowled 4 maidens on the trot and Windsor crept along to 27 for 1 off 11. Nobel opened his shoulders and played some glorious cover drives and Dawso found the boundary too. In the 17th over Windsor looked comfortable at 42 for 1, but Dawson was caught out followed quickly by out of form Weston. ‘Under the weather’ Smith hit some cruching shots but holed out and Bullock followed soon after cheaply. In came in form George, Windsor’s last hope, to build a stand with Noble. Both players looking good, George raced away punishing the bad balls. Noble went for a well earnt 27 and Hill came in looking to give George the strike as often as possible. Anstey was bowling a looping tempting line and both batsmen survived until Hill cut the ball onto his stumps. Edge came in determined to try and push for the win with George. Edge hot some lovely shots and the game was on. A ball pitching short of a length pea rolled on to George’s stumps for 37 almost ending Windsor’s chances. Endacott and Kellard battled bravely but had too much to do with 20 runs remaining, and Kellard was adjudged to be LBW in the 42 over, and Windsor had lost again.

Simple, not good enough!. To have extras joint top scorer at 37 is not a way to stay in this league. Batting is failing and unless partnerships are built, and solid performances are turned in, Windsor face relegation now that half the season has gone. On the positive bowling is looking OK, and the fielding is not bad, but heads shouldn’t go down after a boundary is hit. A monumental effort is need against Aldershot this weekend……

“We are losing in the rain……”

Windsor 149- 8

Lost to

Falkland 150 – 8 (Harrison 57)

Looking to finally start making an impact in the league, Windsor made the long journey to Falkland in the rust bucket/ minibus that was going to take them on tour the following day!. Windsor had wanted to bat first to try and get some valuable extra points, and were stuck in after losing the toss. The wicket looked in surprisingly good shape with excellent work done by the groundsman.

Falkland bowled impressive line and length from the word go and extracted some bounce and movement early on removing Noble in the 2nd over. Patel and Chorley made a determined effort to see of the new ball with their wickets intact. The runs were not coming and Windsor were 14 for 1 off 13 overs! Patel and Chorley battled through but Nutley removed Patel for a hard fought 22 in the 18th over. Huggins looked in better touch and saw Chorley fall at the other end. The game looked finely balanced at 88 for 3 off the 32nd over when the heavens opened. Tea was promptly taken to try and not loose too many overs. After the rain stopped and the square had dried a little play commenced with Windsor having their overs reduced to 44 and Falkland got 40 to complete the game. Weston started hitting some lovely shots showing us what he is capable of, and got a well deserved 43. Windsor were desperate to pile on the runs to set a decent total for Falkland to chase. Wickets fell regularly with stand in keeper Bullock, Murray and Sam all adding a few runs to the total. Hill and edge couldn’t get the final run off the final ball to make the 150 and Windsor ended up on 149 for 8.

Opening pair Hill and Condon wanted to make some early inroads into the Falkland batting line up. Hill’s line was a little off but Condon was bang on the money straight away. Condon removed both openers, both bowled, with the score on 6. Windsor got a taste that their might be life left in the wicket. Hill removed Bloodworth and Falkland were 24-3. Condon was replaced after his restricted 7 overs by Kellard. Kellard immediately got the batsmen playing and missing and trying to hit him for the big shots. Edge replaced Hill from the other end and frustrated the batsmen with his miserly line and length. Edge removed Rasman and Falkland were 62 for 4. Windsor fielding was sharp and Chorley took a good catch of Kellard to remove Harrison for a dogged 57. When Kellard removed Townsend for a duck Windsor sensed victory could be had. Falkland needed 41 runs off the last 12 overs. Hill turned back to Condon as soon as his restriction expired to try and gain some bounce and lift from the wicket. Falkland pressed on getting singles and 2’s to push closer. Condon frustrated the batsmen and Hill took a catch as Randall spanked one to covers. At the end Falkland wanted 7 runs from 2 overs. Condon bowled well but a mis field on the boundary, and keeping Kellard on to try and take the last 2 wickets proved the un doing as a single was eased through the covers in the last over with 3 balls to spare.

A good effort, real commitment from the bowlers, and the fielders. Windsor nearly worked a victory out of nothing. Windsor’s batsmen need to knuckle down and need to show some mettle to grind out an innings, on water affected tracks. Windsor are now bottom of the league, and we are losing games against teams that on paper are no better than us. Application, concentration and a resolve is needed if Windsor are to survive. Windsor host Farnham Common next weekend…..

Like Lambs to the slaughter…..

OMT 1st XI (271-5 off 50 – Lamb 128*)

Beat

Windsor 2nd XI (154 all out- Noble 52)

Windsor went into battle today much better prepared than last week. No lateness, no traveling, no hangovers, and fully up for taking 20 or 25 points from OMT. On a cloudy but bright morning with a wicket that looked like it would flatten out later in the day, Hill, back from Stag duties, won the toss and decided to bowl. The batting performance last week gave Hill reservations about being able to post a defendable total. Windsor had a strong bowling attack and wanted to restrict and chase, the ploy that worked so well in the promotion season!

The game started well with Hill and S Condon missing the outside edges of both openers countless times. The field had been set with a very attacking format early on with 4 slips and a gully to the swing of Condon. Unfortunately bats were being swung with reckless abandon and runs were being gained quickly. But OMT were also very strong at running quick singles, and gave Windsor a lesson in rotating the strike. Lamb was dropped on 25 and went on to score a mammoth total. How Windsor needed that catch to stick! OMT pressed on and made use of the long boundary (by running a min of 3 every time) and the short one (by not having to run at all!). With the ball still shiny Hill turned to youth Holmes to bring some extra spice to the attack, and he obliged by showing us the pace he has gained in his action this season. Unfortunately Holmes couldn’t make the break through. Edge replaced the miserly Condon at the castle end, and bowled tightly aswell. OMT made use of the attacking field and the loose balls from each end and pressed on, each new batsman making his mark straight away and batting positively. Windsor utilised Kellard and Alam’s spin to try and reduce the runs in the latter stages and Hill came back on at the death. In the end Lamb made a very impressive 128* and Windsor were facing a chase of over 250, with OMT declaring after using only 50 overs, to tempt Windsor into the chase.….

Windsor went out to bat in a confident manner, believing the flat track would give aid to the run chase and not offer too much to the bowlers. Windsor opened again with an unchanged pair of Noble and Patel. Both looked very good early doors with Noble hitting some crunching drives and moving the score along and an unusually quick pace. Patel also played some shots but was adjudged to have been caught behind on the leg side by the keeper, this was the start of the end for Windsor. Noble soldiered on though and made a well deserved 52, and had provided a platform for others to build on. Huggins and Weston both got starts but were unable to convert. Alam played some of his characteristic unconventional shots for runs, but played much more orthodox shots while defending. Hill threw his wicket away, by trying to hit the tempting slow bowling of Richards. In total six of the Windsor batsmen succumbed to Richards deceptive deliveries. A typical Windsor ‘calypso collapso’ soon ensued with the tail losing their 5 wickets for a total of 25 runs. S Condon, who had to have a runner after pulling his hamstring in the nets, worked hard with Kellard at the end to get Windsor to the 150 mark to gain the extra point.

Learning’s from this defeat? With the bowling attack, we should still set attacking fields, but not be afraid to drop fielders if the batsman are going to bring out the long handle early on. But we are still bowling 2 rank balls an over on average…….. But batting is the key to Windsor staying in Div 3 this year. The batsman need to show a resilience missing so far, by batting selfishly and refusing to give their wicket away. This needs to be balanced with punishing the bad ball, but Windsor need to become the machine that they were 2 years ago if they are to survive. Windsor face bottom of the league N. Maidenhead this weekend, in a crucial must win game……

Dr Jekyll and Windsor 2’s

Windsor 2nd XI 106 all out; 35 Overs
Cove 2nd XI 107 for 1; 25 Overs (L.Voyce 50)

After last weeks resounding victory over Amersham, Windsor 2’s headed to newly promoted Cove 2’s looking to pick up their first away win of the season. However, thing did start well as the team arrived at the ground late and stand in skipper Huggins lost the toss as Windsor were asked on what looked to be a soft, green wicket.

The innings got off to the worst possible start as Noble departed for 2 offering a simple chance to the fielder at gully. Patel and Huggins then set about rebuilding the innings. However, progress was slow as the Cove openers continued to bowl with good discipline whilst finding plenty of swing and seam on offer. Next to depart was Patel to a smart catch at first slip for a well made 33. This brought overseas player Weston to the crease who looked to push the innings along and the game was evenly poised as Windsor went to drinks at 68 – 2. However, skipper Huggins departed to a dubious LBW decision 2nd ball after drinks and Windsor again found themselves on the back foot. This then brought about a massive batting collapse in the Windsor order through a combination of accurate bowling and loose shots as they went from 81 – 3 to 104 all out with Weston the only other player to reach double figures. McNeil was the pick of the bowlers returning figures the excellent figures of 17-3-27-5. Windsor went to tea knowing that a score of 104 was well below par on a wicket that despite offering assistance to the bowlers was by no means treacherous.

In reply the Cove innings got off to swift reply as Windsor went for broke. Despite the wicket still offering the bowlers plenty of assistance the Windsor openers struggled to bowl with accuracy shown by the Cove attack. Windsor also knew that to stand any chance in this game they have to take all their chances, but, this was not the case as Nobel dropped a regulation chance at slip off the bowling of Birch as Windsor started to sense this was defiantly not going to be their day. Windsor rotated their bowlers as they went in search of the break through which eventually came as Rhodes holed out to Birch a long off the bowling of Kellard. This proved to be Windsor’s only success as Cove cantered home to victory in the 25th over. Cove thoroughly deserved their victory comprehensively outplaying Windsor in all three departments.

Windsor will need to focus on playing consistent disciplined cricket over the coming weeks if they are to make any impression in the league this year.

'Hollywood' glamour comes back to the 2nd XI

Amersham 104 all out (Piper 34, Birch 4 for 34)

lost to

Windsor 105 for 2 (Patel 61*)

Having resigned themselves to drawing last week, windsor turned up to the team photoshoot full of confidense as a more balanced batting and bowling side. Oliver 'Hollywood' Birch and Andrew Chorley dropped to the 2nds with returning players to the 1st XI bolstered the side in readiness for thier first league win. The gloomy day did not look like it was going to lift, but the wicket looked slightly green and windsor knew the ball would zip around early doors, and decided that they would have a bowl if they won the toss. Amersham had chased down the runs set against them for thier first two league wins so Hill was keen to see if Amersham could defend a total. Amersham won the toss and decided to bat! Windsor were happy with this.

Hill again opened the bowling looking to imporove on last weeks performance. His first delivery hit Jupp in the mid riff which may explain why he left the second ball completely. However the second delivery swung in a long way and broke the bail on the top of off stump! this was the break through Windsor wanted. Birch opened from the castle end and quickly found his pace and rhythum. Piper looked solid and both batsmen looked to get on the front foot early, but this gave a few close outside edges and runs through the gully area. Windsor had set a very attacking field and didnt want to loosen thier grip on these early stages of the game. Birch struck and bowled Haddock, and Amersham were looking dicey on 11 for 2. Hill made another breakthrough by removing his opposite number, the Amersham captain LBW. After 14 overs, Windsor turned to Veteran Edge to work his magic from the river end. Birch continued strongly from the castle end and made a futher 3 breakthroughs to end on 4 for 34 off 13 overs. Edge also struck to leave Amersham little over 60 runs for 7 wickets down. Piper stood firm and offered the only resistance. Condon replaced Birch from the castle end. Gill supported Piperby knocking some singles but not many boundaries were struck. Bringing Kellard on to tempt the batsmen with his spin proved the undoing of the Amersham tail. Windsor used up 45 overs bowling amersham out for 104 giving themselves an extra 7 overs.

The rain fell imediatly after kellard took the last wicket and windsor rushed the covers on for the tea interval. Luckily the rain stopped at the end of the tea break and windor could get on with trying to chase the total before the weather could play another part. Amersham opened the bowling with spin from Rajabali to try and take the initiative. Noble, opening again with patel looked to produce soem more runs after his half centuary last week, but fell in the 4 th without scoring. Patel however looked firm and solid and determined not to give Amersham his wicket eaisly, and hit a six off the spin bowler in the 3rd over! Chorley supported Patel and scored a couple of boundaries in his innings. Amersham bowled tightly and restricted windsor slightly. Chorley fell on 12 bringing into bat the returning overseas player Weston. He was keen to prove a point and was excellent in the field, and wanted to show what he was capable of with the bat. Weston played very sensibly to take a look at the bowlers before unleashing some fine shots. None of the amersham bowlers made another breakthrough and Patel got to 61 and Weston raced to 21 with fine straight drives, to reach the required 105 in the 25th over.

Much, much better this week from windsor, and it shows that when you have a balanced team with the quality players this club has this year, it makes all the difference. The attitude in the field was superb, and the clinical nature of the performance is encouraging. Windsor need to now build on thier first victory and use this as a platform for the rest of the season.

Better bowling, poorer batting.

Slough 197 all out (Khan 39) (Kellard 4 - 52)
Windsor 150 for 7 (Noble 65) (Farooq 5 - 36)

Trying to put last weeks defeat firmly behind them, a re-jigged 2nd team, with more of emphasis on bowling attack went to their local rivals Slough this weekend to try and gain their first win of the season. Slough, whose first game was a wash out, was also keen to get their season underway. Hill lost the toss, again, and was then surprised by the fact the Slough skipper had to go off to ask his teammates what he wanted to do. The decision finally came back that they wanted to bat. Windsor were going to bowl anyway, so this suited Windsor perfectly.

Hill opened with the young Kiwi under 15 Thompson at the other end. Slough always likes to get after the bowling straight away, and hit out at Hill’s looser deliveries from the word go. Thompson on the other hand maturely bowled clean and tight lines, making the Slough openers think he was a much older player. Thompson could only bowl 5 over spells and so to make the breakthrough the returning Edge was brought on, and the young Holmes into the attack. After only a few overs both Edge and Holmes removed the opening pair. Kahn at number 3 looked to get after the Windsor bowlers quickly and was supported well by Ghazi. The boundaries at Upton Park are huge and many 3’s were run in the chase for the ball! Windsor again fielded tightly but a few mistakes gave Slough some valuable boundaries. Kellard came in to replace Holmes to try and slow things up a little with his controlled spin. Baber, coming up to fill the gloves in the 2nds did well by taking 2 caught behinds off Edge and Thompson and a stumping of Kellard. Slough’s 5th, 6th and 7th wicket fell in the space of 11 runs and Windsor were looking to turn the screw. Slough’s entire batting line-up contributed to the runs scored, all the way down the order. Some determined batting, and the deck flattening out got Slough up into the 190’s. Kellard and Thompson, bowling with maturity beyond their years, finished off the Slough batting, with Kellard ending with a 4-wicket haul! The decision to bring another bowler into the attack paid off as Windsor bowled Slough out for under the 200 mark, and gained 2 extra overs for the chase.

Windsor in reply looked to opening pair Noble and Patel to start the run chase. Both looked settled against the tight Slough openers, yet resulted in the first 5 overs being maidens! Windsor needed a sensible run chase, as the batting was slightly light. Noble took some time to get into a rhythm, but started to open up with some fantastic cover drives, that couldn’t reach the huge boundaries. Patel was unfortunately judged to have been LBW with a claim for an inside edge onto his pads. Noble battled on confidently, but none of the Windsor recognised batsman were able to partner him at the other end. Chasing low totals is all about building partnerships, and then supporting the in-form batsman. Farooq bowled very tightly and did the most of the damage to the top order. Huggins, Bullock and Condon all got small starts but didn’t capitalise. Baber went in and started to play the seamers well. The run chase was still within reach but Windsor didn’t have enough attacking players left in reserve to go hell for leather. Slough noticed this and pulled the field in very tight and restricted the singles. When Baber fell in the 32nd over Hill went to the crease with the aim to give Noble support. Slough never loosened their grip and the run rate had got to over 8 an over in the last 12. Noble wanting to push on played some nice drives, with some singles coming from the other end. When Noble was caught, the decision was made not to give Slough any more points, and not to give them a win. Edge and Hill confidently batted through the rapidly changing bowling attack of Slough (every over) and saw Windsor home to the 150 for an extra point and no extra points for Slough.

All in all a half-decent performance. Bowling was good and tight, and fielding was good. Windsor takes on Amersham who are top of the table this weekend at Home Park. Due to good availabilities this week, another batsman is needed to strengthen the team, and give Windsor the ability to confidently set or chase a total down. Windsor are looking to take their first win of the season.

Rain Rain, go away......

Windsor 2nds 162 all out (George 54) (Hameed 4 for 36)

lost to

Aldershot 1st XI 163 for 1 off 34.5 overs (Cosstick 102*)

Windsor 2nd's fell short of expectations on Sat at Home Park. Hill, wanting to win his first league toss, and put Aldershot into bat, didn't and Aldershot stuck Windsor in on a wet but flat pitch. Rain overnight and during the morning affected the afternoon preperations. When the game finally got started it was reduced to 48 and 44 overs respectivly. Hill saw this as a game where the batsman had to dig in and play some boring and ugly cricket, and the bowlers would have to hit thier line and length early doors, neither of which happened....

Windsor got off to a poor start losing Noble, who had opened with the returning Huggins, in the first over. Gill bolwed incredibly tight lines getting lift and movement off the soft deck. His first 7 overs from the castle end were maidens and had taken 2 wickets! Some dodgy running between the wickets saw off Huggins and overseas Weston soon followed. George, in fine form in recent weeks started taking the attack to the Aldershot bowlers. Howard, also looked in fine fettle after his ton last week. Things were looking brighter in the sky and for windsor until Howard was caught. Opener Patel, who had arrived at the ground late, went in at 6 and looked to support George who raced to 54. Windsor in theory bat to 8 but Smith and Condon failed to turn it on for Windsor this week. Windsor at one stage didnt look like they would get to 150! Hill played a very boring innings and bloked most of his deliveries to try and soak up some of the overs so as not to give too much advantage to Aldershot. After Hill was bowled Kellard and Holmes stood fast and used up the final over allocated to Windsor before Kellard fell. Even though the wicket was soft and wet, all credit goes to Aldershot who bowled very well and made the best use of the facilities. Windsor, however did not.

Hill opened form the castle end with young Holmes bravely running into the strong wind. Neither bowler found good line and length giving Aldershot some early 'freebies'. George made a fantastic debut with the gloves as a replacement for the injured Smith. K Condon soon reaplced Holmes at the river end and found some good line and pace despite the wind. Hill made the batsman work hard and found the same bounce Aldershot had when he could get the length right. Hill made the only breakthrough, trapping Taylor LBW, from a ball that kept low. In came overseas player Cosstick to take the attack to Windsor. Hill replaced himself with young leg spinner Kellard, who imediatly got the batsmen thinking and slowed the run rate immediatly. When the ball was pitched up the batsman couldn't get him off the square. Condon, battling into the wind pulled a few deliveries short which were punished. Hill turned to Howard to look for the second break through that never came. Aldershot didnt ease off and dispatched all the bad balls from both ends to the boundary. Windsor never gave up and were superb in the field, but Aldershot never gave any chances. Aldershot coasted home to get to 163 for the loss of only 1 wicket.

Windsor did not fire on all cylinders on sat. Both teams had to play on the same wicket and so blame cannot be soley passed on to the pitch and weather conditions. Windsor need to shore up and play basic solid cricket to get wins this season. Aldershot bowled well, and batted even better.... basic batting and bowling wins games. Windor only gained 6 points on Sat, 1 point less than if it was rained off! Windsor is a batting heavy club and choices for the must win game at Slough 3's this week mean a change to the balance of the batting vs. bowling attack may be needed......

Howard turns up the heat.....

Windsor 2nd XI 301 off 44.2 overs (Howard 113) (Stark 3 for 39)

beat

Enfield 2nd XI 261 for 9 of 45 overs (Chapman 89, Barber 61)

After a disappointing loss last weekend, Windsor were fired up to win against Enfield at Home park on Saturday. This was the 2nd XI's 3rd match at home in as many weeks! Windsor lost the toss with both captains wanting to bowl first, as both said that their batting was stronger then their bowling.... so Windsor were stuck in on a dry and fairly lively track for this early in the season. Baber was brought up to keep wicket this week in place of the injured Smith.

Windsor lost Condon early in the 2nd over and Mirza came in at 3 to try and give Windsor a solid platform. Noble and Mirza looked in touch and pushed the ball round confidently. Windsor raced to 48 off 7 overs. Windsor 2nd XI bat down to at least 8 and were confident that we could post over 200 with the weak bowling attack Enfield put out. But when George came in Windsor were struggling a little with keeping wickets in tact but runs were still flowing. George picked up from last week and confidently hit the ball around and pushed the score along well reaching a well deserved 35. Windsor's middle order in Rodwell and Alam lost their wickets quickly and Windsor were on 112-5, which made Hill worry that we may not post 150! Smith had dropped down the order this week due to an injured thumb sustained in the Cockspur cup game. In comes Howard to steady the ship, playing lovely drives and cut shots off some inconsitient bowling. Smith could only face 5 balls before retiring hurt and this brought Hill into the fray earlier than he would have liked. Wanting to calm things down, Hill played a solid defensive game (mainly due to being out of touch and worries hitting out may cost his wicket). Hill was happy for Howard to start giving it 'the long handle' from the other end and was happy giving him strike. Hill then got out to the softest of caught and bowled ever seen on Home park! Baber, from the word go, offered solid attacking support for Howard who was now punishing every poor delivery, before caught on a superb 113. Baber also got a richly deserved 39 to take Windsor over the 300 mark off 44.2 overs

Hill, very happy with the total posted, and giving Howard a rest after his heroics with the bat, opened from the river end with Jones opening from the castle end. Hill troubled the batsmen early on, but struggled to find length and rhythm. Jones, bowling nice lines, and most balls on a length managed to take a few wickets. Howard replaced Hill from the river end, and despite his tiredness, bowled some excellent line and length. Mirza, was brought on at the castle end after Chapman started getting after the seamer's ending on a very good 89. Mirza was confusing the batsman with his pace of spin and he missed the outside edge a number of times. Hill knew that in the last ten overs Enfield would be pushed to chase down the total set, and so turned to 'pure gas' bowler Condon to make the breakthrough. Alam bowled a few overs from the castle end to tie up the Enfield batsmen. With Condon's pace and accuracy, excellent fielding, restricted the flow of runs to leave Enfield needing over 40 runs to win at the end.

With huge numbers available for the first league game against Aldershot 1st XI this coming sat, some tough selection decisions face the teams this week. Hill has again taken a lot of positives from this win and is happy with the strength of the team and the team spirit shown on the field. Changes in batting order and bowling attack are needed however as the bowlers need to generate more penetration of the top order and need to up their game for the predicted strong Aldershot side. Bring the league on!!!!

'What's that comming over the Hill......?'

Datchet 254 for 8 off 45 overs (Jackson 81, Williams 62, Furness 53*) (Hill 13/1/5/50)

Windsor 214 all out (Junaid 64, Smith 40) ( Jacobs 7/0/3/32)

Due to poor availabilities, Windsor 2nd XI fielded a side with no less than 7 changes from the team that beat Egham the week before. This was to be the first game on the main square this season, and Hill was keen to see how the pitch played, and having set a good total the week before, wanted to test Windsor's ability to chase a total. The sun was shining again, and Windsor set about warming up well after a few key players were under 'the arches' till the early hours, and Datchet turned up looking a little peeky after their annual dinner! Datchet and Windsor 'agreed' on the toss and Windsor put Datchet in to bat first. (12 year old district player Kristen Baumgartner was brought in, son of 1st XI wicket keeper Rick, to fill a last min drop out!)

Veteran Hill opened the bowling from the river end and got a wicket in the first over, a feat repeated from last week. Hill made another break through in the second over reducing Datchet to 3 for 14 off 3! Young Holmes improving with every over from the castle end, was bowling good pace and lines and was regularly missing the outside edge in his superb 9 over spell. New recruits this season, Paul Howard, Chris George and Pete Jones all were very committed in the field along with Lewis. However despite heroics in the field Jackson and Williams decided there was no point in this becoming a slow innings and decided to get about the windsor bowling changes. Paul Howard, that unbeknown to Hill hadn't bowled in 5 years, was given 10 overs straight away on the trot (welcome to Windsor)! Paul rose to the challenge and bowled tight lines. Junaid, a Sun 2nd XI wicket keeper was also experimented with, and was brought on to try and mix things up with his spin bowling. Some huge 4's and sixes were dealt out by Datchet and one six cleared the nets and landed in the road at the back of the pavilion! Datchet had started to run away with the innings and windsor started to go flat in the feild after a few drop catches and some big shots. Hill brought himself and back on from the castle end and Holmes from the river end to try and break the partnership and slow the run rate. Hill pinched 3 more wickets in this second spell to end on figures of 13 overs, 1 M, 5 wk for 50 runs. Holmes also bowled tightly at the end but Datchet had set an impressive 254 off their 45 after a very poor start.

Windsor started the run chase in the form of George and Junaid, both playing their first Saturday games this season for Windsor. Ignoring the captains advice of playing themselves in and not rushing the run chase, George and Junaid went after the Datchet bowling from the word go! Any poor delivery was punished to the boundary. Windsor were 31 off 6 overs! George played some lovely shots and Junaid's 'unique' batting style frustrated the bowlers. After George departed, Howard came in to bat and partnered Junaid who ended up on a very deserving debut 64. Weston, playing some good looking shots again showed signs of the class to come this season. Smith also played some lovely shots, and hitting some huge boundaries. Windsor had a mini collapse in the lower middle order losing 5 wickets for 16 runs with Hill being caught for a dismal duck. Baumgartner, bravely faced the Datchet paceman, who upon getting the youngster out made a huge a huge celebration (he must have really enjoyed bowling full pace at a 12 year old!) Holmes bravely pushed the ball about, with last wicket support from lewis, but with Windsor needing 40 runs of the last 2 overs, the total was out of reach, and Holmes lost his wicket.

Windsor have taken a lot of positives from this game, based on the massive unavailability issue this weekend. New recruits and batting being plus points so far. Places in the 1st and 2nd XI's are going to be highly fought over for the first league game. A lot of players are becoming available, new recruits are performing well with the bat, and Uni students are still yet to come back! Windsor, happy with the batting ability in the team, need more in their bowling attack this weekend against Enfield CC in the last pre-season friendly, as windsor look to hone their strategy for the rest of the season with the 1st League game in 2 weeks time.....

‘Way out West’

Windsor 2nd XI 267 for 7; 45 Overs (Weston 64, Noble 62)
Egham 2nd XI 235 for 7; 45 Overs (Campbell 51*, Price 53*)

Windsor 2nd XI made an impressive start to their season this weekend in their first pre season friendly. Under new captaincy in the form of opening bowler Alex Hill, and with stand in Vice Captain and wicket keeper Tim Smith, Windsor went into the friendly against Egham CC with 12 players, and used the rotating 12th man fielding formula that worked so well for England in 2005! Windsor also welcomed their 2nd XI overseas player, Adam Weston, to the fold this weekend from Coffs Harbour in Oz. And what a welcome he got, as literally hours after stepping of the plane he was in ‘the Rose’ enjoying a ‘special’!

The sun was shining brightly for April, and the wicket looked as if it was going to deteriorate over the course of the match. Knowing the sun sets low over the pavilion, and makes it hard work for the batsmen, Windsor won the toss and batted first. Veteran Noble, and new opener (and last minute replacement for his younger brother) K Condon, got Windsor off to a solid looking start, seeing off some tight bowling from Egham. A couple of wickets fell, but Noble stood strong and welcomed a shaky looking Weston to the crease. Once Weston had remembered that he wasn’t batting at the MCG, and that this was England in April, he managed to use his front foot a bit more and looked every bit the batsman Windsor were hoping for. Noble and Weston pushed the ball round the park confidently and built a strong platform. Noble fell for an impressive 62, and after another couple of wickets fell in the middle order, out strode Windsor’s big hitting talent Smith to join the fray. Tim unleashed some huge shots that spurred Weston on to free the hands, and both batsmen took the attack to Egham, whose heads started to drop. Hill would have been happy for Windsor to post 225 on that wicket but to his delight Windsor ended up on 267 for 7 from the allocated 45 overs, with Smith finishing not out on 48, just missing his half centaury. Pick of the Egham bowlers was Price who finished up with figures of 3 for 63

After tea, Windsor got to work with the ball. Hill made two breakthroughs in his first 2 overs, reducing Egham to 10-2 after 3 overs. Young fast bowler Holmes made a good start from the river end, sending some good pace down the wicket to the Egham batsmen. Ex captain Chris edge was brought into the attack and quickly made another break through and this put Windsor firmly in control. Windsor’s fielding efforts were also top class, with Mark Lines, being thrust into the covers position and stopping everything that was hit at him. Windsor continued to bowl tight lines, by bringing new recruit Javaid into the attack. His frustrating inswing gave the Egham batsmen no room to play attacking shots. Mark Lines, Windsor’s young left arm spinner, also bowled very tightly. With 15 overs to go Egham needed over 120 to win. Campbell and Price decided that they should get after the Windsor bowling attack. Coupled with a change to non-regular spin bowlers Charters and Noble, Egham piled on some valuable runs towards the end. Campbell and Price, got to their half centauries with their attacking strokes, especially off the bowling of Noble, ending with 51 and 53 not out respectively. But for all their heroics at the end, Egham ended up falling short of the Windsor total by over 30 runs

A good natured friendly was had with our friends at Egham, and Windsor look forward to taking on their local rivals Datchet CC at Home Park this coming Saturday………..

Woeful (again!)

Windsor 146 (A. Smith 68)
Boyne Hill 147-5

A dreadful second half of the season was summed up by Windsor 2nd XI at Home to Boyne Hill on Saturday, although after an hour and half’s play it was Windsor that were dominant. Indeed Paul Huggins return to form with a gritty 47 and Abe Smith cracking a wonderful 68 saw Windsor to 139-4 with 20 overs to go. However when Huggins was adjudged LBW, he was followed next ball by Tom Bullock to the same fate. Smith was caught offering a meek shot to cover who was then followed next ball by Oliver Birch. Dave Richies fell to the part time spin of Mellor and then Chris Edge went first ball, caught behind to Preston, who then followed up his next ball by dismissing Sam Condon with a beauty. Alex Hill was then caught at point and Windsor had lost 6 wickets for 7 runs in the space of 5 overs with Preston returning 6-59 which incredibly saw him on a hat-trick 3 times during the innings with 4 of Windsor’s players recording golden ducks.

It was always going to be an uphill struggle and with the wind gusting from one end both Alex Hill and Oliver Birch made good starts but again were not backed up by the fielders with Gannon being dropped in the slips and gully before getting going. Boyne Hill motored to 80-0 and Windsor rotating their bowling were again forced to call upon the off spin of Rob Noble who had Mellor sky him to the wicket keeper 2nd ball. This gave Windsor a lift and with Abe Smith picking up a couple of wickets, backed up by Sam Condon, this gave Windsor a couple of bonus points, which thanks to results going their way means the threat of relegation has been lifted as they travel to Eversley next week.

Improved performance eases relegation worries

Windsor 227-8 (Birch 56)
Slough 192-7

A much improved performance from Windsor than in recent weeks gave the the lions share of the points in this local derby at the weekend. Winning the toss Windsor batted first and were shaken by the early dismissal of Rob Noble. However, Paul Huggins was finding the booming drives that have been missing this season and he and Dave Richies regrouped to move the score along. At 78-1 both were then dismissed as good accurate bowling from Slough got them back into the game. They then took wickets steadily to leave Windsor at one stage 141-6. However Harmeet Channa and Oliver Birch put a blistering 98 runs on the for the 6th wicket as Windsor rattled past the 200 mark as Slough visibly collapsed in the field with the onslaught. Birch fell for superb 57 and Channa 44 and it was left to Alex Hill and Chris Edge to end the innings with Windsor on a respectable 227-8 the exact same score they made in the encounter earlier in the year.

Opening with Chris Edge and Alex Hill both seamers found pace and bounce as the Slough openers restricting Slough to just 27 off the first 10 overs and 35 from the first 15. With the run rate creeping up the openers patience ran out and heaving wildly at the ball Hill made the breakthrough. Slough consolidated although never really scoring freely the game seemed to be meandering with Slough 141-3 with 15 overs remaining. Throwing caution to the wind Windsor introduced the very part time, very optimistic off-spin of Rob Noble and he instantly got success clean bowling Taj for 54 and then when a perilously close LBW was turned down the batsmen attempted to take a single Abe Smith threw down the stumps with a tracer arm and the game was wide open. Abe Smith then clean bowled Sheperd and 7 down it was Windsor’s game to win as Slough closed the game up. Oliver Birch huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow the resistance over and despite some over attacking fields Sloughs interest dried up and the game ended in a draw.