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 flying high

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.