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Midweek XI on course
to defend their crown

Binfield 149-5 Sandhurst Midweek XI 189-9
Bracknell & District Midweek League Cup semi-final

ADAM Birch (left) has led Sandhurst into the League Cup final for a second successive season after a second successive victory over Binfield (June 30th).

Having beaten Binfield in the league the week before, Sandhurst's openers of Des Sussex and Saj Shafi set the stage for a big score with a stand of 128 from the first nine overs.

Sussex made 84, while Shafi went for 42. This attacking approach forced the home team to position their fielders on the boundary for the latter half of the Sandhurst innings, allowing for a big score of 189-9, though a number of wickets were thrown away - among them three suicidal run outs.

Binfield's reply was frustrated by tight bowling early on, as the hosts managed just 65 from the first eight overs. Andrew Bradshaw, for the second game in a row, was on a hat-trick at one stage.

Sandhurst eased to victory by 40 runs, as Binfield managed just 149-5. The Midweek XI has therefore reached the final of the League Cup, to be staged at Bracknell on July 24th.

Sandhurst 1st XI

Forthcoming fixtures

July 4th Sandhurst 1st XI v. Peppard Knowl Hill 1st XI v. Sandhurst 2nd XI July 5th Hawley v. Sandhurst Sunday XI July 6th Emmbrook & Bearwood v. Sandhurst U13 Spitfires Sandhurst U11 Hawks v. Ascot & Sunningdale Princes July 7th Sandhurst Midweek XI v. Old Beans

Sandhurst U11 Hawks

Falcons are
no match
for Hawks

Finchampstead Falcons 86
Sandhurst U11 Hawks 136-2
Berkshire Youth Cricket League Division B

THE Hawks' fantastic season continued on Monday (June 29th) with a cracking win by 50 runs over Finchampstead Falcons, which keeps them on track for the league title.

Batting first on a glorious night at Finch, the opening pair of Mark Paget (25 retired) and Jason Wiseman (25 retired) made the most of the quick out-field and short boundary by plundering runs against good bowling and rattled along at six an over.

Alfie Gibbons is scoring runs for fun at the moment. He launched two sixes in his innings of 25 (retired) to up the tempo even more, though the middle order which followed was unable to follow suit as Sandhurst finished on a decent total of 136-2 from 20 overs.

Finch's reply was hampered by Sandhurst's opening bowlers, who clamped the run rate down. Spinner Bill Rooney (2-9), skipper Dan Bird (2-10) and Jack O'Neil (1-10) tore through the top order. Add to that a couple of run-outs from Rooney and Ben Cousins, and Finch were beaten.

Manager, Ian Cousins, said: "All round a great performance, especially the fielding and bowling to close the game out at the end.

"There was a great team spirit, with encouragement from all the boys right the way through on a very hot night.

"It was also pleasing that we retired three batsmen in one game and were able to set a challenging target."

Next match: away to Ascot & Sunningadale Princes (July 6th).

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Slip-up but
Sandhurst
stay second

NOT one to be outdone by his fellow-elder statesman, Simon Coxwell (right) emulated Martin Pharo's antics from the previous match with seven wickets, but the 2nd XI's batting let them down as they lost by 20 runs at West Reading (June 27th).

Despite this disappointing defeat, the 2nd XI remain second in the table at the midway point of the season, as both Twyford and Waltham both lost. Leaders Mortimer, though, have opened up a daunting gap.

West Reading won the toss and chose to bat first at Reading University. Openers Waseem Akram and Adnan Raja put on 67 at four runs an over before Martin Pharo bowled Akram for 43, scored off 49 balls.

For the second week running, Russell Stone had no luck with many aerial shots off his bowling evading fielders, while Calvin Hall - opening the bowling for the first time this season - bowled an excellent spell of 10 overs. He took 1 for 19 - his wicket courtesy of a sharp stumping by 2^nd XI 'newcomer' Adam Birch.

Skipper Coxwell had opener Raja caught by Mark Honey for 55, then ran through the middle order to finish with 7–41. Mark Clapham took the final wicket courtesy of a third extraordinary catch from Hall (left).

West Reading finished on 156 all out off 35 overs, leaving Sandhurst with 55 overs to bat.

After a tea, which will not have threatened the £35 budget, Sandhurst began their reply shakily as West Reading started with the old ball, opening with spinners Taimoor Yousuf and Ghoddusi. Yousuf soon had Coxwell caught at slip and this set the tone for a very disappointing effort as Sandhurst slumped to 68–7, before Martin Pharo and Rob Lloyd dug in with a partnership of 57 to take Sandhurst to within 30 runs of an unlikely victory.

However, once Pharo mis-timed a drive to be caught for 34, the last two wickets quickly followed and Sandhurst finished on 136 all out with seven overs still to bat and 20 runs short.

* There are certain things you don't expect to see on the cricket field at this level of the game. Streakers is one of them, while one would be mildly surprised if division four of the Berkshire Cricket League triggered pitch invasions, or Mexican waves. And an umpire wearing an iPod could be accused of not concentrating fully on the match, but this is exactly what faced the Sandhurst 2nd XI at West Reading. That, coupled with a skipper who felt it necessary to coach his batsmen in between overs whilst umpiring, also raised a few eyebrows. Slipping standards ...

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