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Denham 1st XI v Englefield 1st XI
April 29th 2006
'Right Up Against It'
(By Skipper James Nicholas)
Denham went into their first game in the top division right up against it.
Not only had we lost key players, but we were playing Englefield, the undefeated champions from the previous year.
James duely lost the toss and Denham were asked to bat. Contributions from Usman Khan 29, Russell Bowry 27 and Mark Shepherd 27 took Denham to 100/4, but at a very slow pace due to tight Englefield bowling.
A horrendous collapse followed, leaving Denham with a paltry 113 all out.
This was never enough runs against our experienced opponents, and although Denham bowled well, Englefield passed our total with relative ease for the loss of 2 wickets. A poor start for the 1st XI, but it can only get better from here!
Little Kingshill 2nd XI v Denham 2nd XI
April 29th 2006
'What a tosser....'
(By Skipper Mark Dalton)
First League fixture: Denham 2nds away at Little Kingshill.
Returning captain Mark Dalton got the 2's off to the worst possible start: a comprehensive defeat at Little Kingshill by 6 wickets.
Ex-skipper Payne advised Dalton that 50p's always come down 'tails'. With that advice at hand Dalton incorrectly called 'tails' and Little Kings put us in to bat on a wicket as green as a snooker table at the Crucible world championship (but maybe not quite as flat or true).
Losing the top 3 (Dalton, Ambler and Tang) for 12 runs was not a good start but the confident Simpson (31) and entertaining JK (22) slowly but surely rebuilt the innings and at drinks the score had progressed to 60 for 3.
That was about as good as it got. Wickets often fall in pairs or in our case 3's and 4's and the innings subsided to a subdued 116 all out off 50 overs. The Lt Kings bowling attack was too good for the rusty Denham batting order on our first outing of the season.
Dalton keen to impress his team that he had some tactical awareness used all his skill and experience to try and restricted the Little Kings batsmen. Excellent opening spells from Grover (11-5-33-2) and Akhil (11-2-41-2) had Little Kings wobbling at 50 for 4. Good fielding, catching (and fielder placement) from all and good keeping from Payne kept us in with a sniff. Unfortunately some lusty (and lucky) hitting from batsmen Rashid (42*) and Miandel (22*) kept the boundaries flowing and Lt Kings reached their target 4 wickets down off 30 overs.
Denham 3 pts, Little Kings 20 pts
Next game: Away at Binfield
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Sunday 30th April
A typically cool, cloudy April day greeted Denham at Sonning and the gloom persisted as Denham failed to record a victory.
Denham began brightly with encouraging bowling from openers Jack Grover and Jamil Shaikh and a sharp slip catch from Harish Bhatt. Russel Bowry bowled meanly with 3 overs, 1 for 4 and debutant Andy Grant showed promise with 2 for 30, once he decided to pitch the ball.
However, a well crafted century from Sonning's opener and an early season gift of 20 wides allowed Sonning to score 193 for 7 in their 40 overs.
The Denham reply started controversially with Russell Bowry sportingly "walking" after a possibly grounded catch had been claimed in the gully. The other early batsmen struggled as the score increased to 59 for5, but the second part of the innings saw a revival led by Jamil Shaikh who scored 63 N.O., finishing with a stand of 70 with Andy Grant (24 N.O.)
Unfortunately the runs could not come quickly enough and Denham finished 16 short at 177 for 7.
It is with great pleasure that I can announce that Sir Stuart Payne has agreed to lead the side on the field of play next Sunday in the prestigious fixture against The Royal Household.
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