The league season finished on Saturday and ultimately it was a mixed year for the club but we still enjoyed some outstanding moments.
After relegation from the Home Counties Premier League last season, the 1st XI were looking to rebuild back in Thames Valley Divsion 1 this year. The batting was boosted with Tom Fray joining from Reading and Chris Marrow joining as a keeper/batsman from South Africa. Tapiwa Mufudza returned as overseas player from Zimbabwe after a previous stint at the club in 2014.
We ultimately finished 7th in the league which was slightly disappointing but three wins in a row in August ensured a tight relegation battled was comfortably avoided. The main season highlight in the league was a 28 run win over local rivals Boyne Hill in which Wasim Maharoof (in his second game for the club after joining from the opposition) took five wickets. Comfortable wins over Henley 2s, Finchampstead 2s and Marlow also saw some strong performances. With the bat Ben Millar led from the front in one of his best ever seasons as he struck 608 runs at an average of 43.43. Tom Fray also passed 600 runs, while Chris Marrow (500) and Yash Rastogi (422) also provided top order stability. With the ball Tapiwa Mufudza (32 wickets), Simret Mangat (20) and Yasir Qureshi (16) formed a potent off-spinning trio while Wasim Ahmed (15) and Simon Foster (12) were the top performing seamers.
A first Julian Cup final since 1984 ultimately ended in disappointment. After knocking out North Maidenhead, Marlow and Windsor in the earlier rounds we faced Burnham in the final. Despite their 1st XI being two divisions above ours we managed to run them incredibly close and were denied the chance of a famous win by the weather. After Burnham made 179 from their 20 overs we were 167 for 6 before the rain came and the match had to be replayed. Burnham won the replay by 18 runs after making 169 but Rob Mettler's innings of 50 gave them a scare.
In the Village Cup we won the Berkshire section to make the last 32 and host Oxfordshire winners, Aston Rowant. After posting what looked like a below par 194, the bowlers and fielders put in a superb performance to keep us in the game which went down to the final over. Needing two off the final ball, the visitors managed to hit a four to win the game. They would eventually go on to make the semi finals of the competition.
The 1st XI also made the semi finals of the Berkshire Cup before being heavily beaten by Finchampstead thanks to 181 from Dan Lincoln. This is thought to be the highest score ever at Ricketts Field!
After four years in charge, Arun Brar passed over leadership of the 2nd XI to Richard Lucas. Due to new clubs joining the league, the 2nds needed to finish in the top six to ensure another season in Division 4b. Despite winning their first game of the season comfortably against Amersham 3s (posting 315 in the process), the 2nds endured a tough first half of the season as they lost three of their next four games heavily.
The form picked up strongly in the second half however and a promotion charge perhaps looked possible at one stage. The 2nds lost only two of their last nine games and the win over eventual league runners up Farnham Royal was probably the most impressive. After missing much of last season Parminder Mangat made 524 runs at an average of over 50. His runs were supported by Jake Richardson (300 runs), Richard Lucas (252), Greg Davis (242) and Sav Gandesha (201). With the ball, Gandesha (39 wickets) and Aaron O'Donoghue (31) were the spearheads of the attack and enjoyed particularly impressive finishes to the season. Simon D'Ardenne and Faaez Shamsi provided support to them with 12 wickets each. The 2nds eventually finished in 5th place and secured their safety for another season.
After three promotions in four years, the 3rd XI were always likely to find things tough in Division 6a. Like the 2nds, they needed to finish in the top six to stay up and despite a thrilling one wicket win against Burnham 4s in the first game of the season this always looked unlikely. The 3rds managed only two more wins all season against Teddington Town 2s and Eastcote 4s respectively. These wins were thanks mainly to destructive bowling spells from Isaac Richardson (5-10) and Dan Matthews (7-56 off 21 overs!). Another season highlight was Clive Lambden and Under 15 Kieran Devereux sharing a 200 run stand at Burnham.
Ultimately the standard of batting we faced was a lot stronger than what we had previously been used to and our batting underachieved. This led to an 8th placed finish and the 3rds will be back in Division 7 next season. Only Clive Lambden (221) and Kieran Devereux (213) passed 200 runs while James Taylor (18) and Murad Alam (15) were the only bowlers to take more than ten wickets. The season ended in comical fashion for Taylor as he took the third hat-trick of his CDCC career in the final game of the season against Barnes Wild Geese!
The 4th XI competed in the league for the second season under the stewardship of Dave Brooks. The side is mainly made of colts and the main aim is to develop the skills of our younger players. They suffered some early cancellations as a number of teams in the league struggled with early season availability, friendlies were usually found however to fill the gaps!
They managed two victories during the season against Cove 5s and Kidmore End 3s respectively as they finished 6th in Division 9a. The win over Cove 5s was impressive as Aaron Calver's 5 for 9 off four overs skittled the opposition for 69. Taine Richards then struck 37 not out to ensure a 10 wicket win. The Kidmore End victory was thanks mainly to Rory Millar's 86 not out as he returned to the club after a four year exile in Devon. He is expected to play at least two teams higher in 2018 as he rejoins regularly!
Dave Brooks scored plenty of runs at the top of the order (303) while Carl Slater (83 not out) and Aaron Calver (73) made their first senior 50s for the club. Arjun Viswanathan (13) was the top wicket taker with his off spin but unfortunately will not be at the club next season due to moving to the USA...perhaps we will next see him in an ICC tournament playing for his new country! Frazer Finlan, Razza Rashid, Kieran Mistry, James le Fleming and Toby Lemon also showed some promise with their seam bowling.