Amersham first XI clung on to a draw against a Tring Park side who are finally realising their potential to be one of the League's strongest sides. Amersham put Tring into bat, despite the fact that they only had two regular bowlers in the side, which in general had a different look, thanks to the return of several students. The bulk of the bowling was done by the captain Bulman himself, with 29 overs, and left arm spinner Nick Moore with 22 overs. Tring started positively and ex-Surrey and High Wycombe bat Paul Atkins looked in little trouble before being snaffled by Dudderidge at the wicket off a fine delivery by Bulman. Tring's top four all produced runs and although Chris Owen deputised well as a standby bowler and Amersham fielded well, Tring finally ended up with 220 for 9.

Amersham's innings started disastrously as the Tring opening bowlers Steptoe and Sutcliffe strangled the life out of the top order, accounting for Stephenson, Mayne, Atkins and Bulman. From a position of 21 for 4, Amersham were never going to win this game and managed to gain some respectability through defiant knocks from Bridle and Hamilton-Pike, ably supported by Dudderidge, to defy Tring. Honours not exactly even then, but in the first round of the second phase of the season, Amersham can gain heart that they were not beaten by one of the favourites to win the league, having beaten them earlier in the season.

Marlow won the toss and after a brief shower delayed the start by 30 minutes, put Amersham into bat on a familiarly true pitch. Amersham got off to a shaky start losing two wickets in the first 3 overs, but this brought together Danny Bulman and Rich Stephenson who tore the Marlow bowlers apart in a breathtaking partnership of 188. Despite the early setbacks, the murderous pace rarely abated, and Marlow managed just one maiden from their 56 overs. Although Bulman (99) and Stephenson (92) both fell short of three figures, they were Amersham's highest two scores since the formation of the league in 2000. Duncan Ward (30*) and Tim Aylott (20) ensured that Amersham kept their stranglehold on the hosts as wickets eventually fell.

Marlow, set a daunting 281 from just 46 overs, lost both openers with the score at 31. Robertson, after an uncertain start began to dominate, but any hope Marlow had of reaching their target disappeared with him when Mustapha Rajabali deceived him and he top-edged a sweep to short fine leg. With plenty of runs to play with, Amersham attacked the Marlow middle order. Bulman had a wicket, a run out and two catches to go with his 99, but despite good spells from Nick Moore, who deceived Norman with his quicker ball, and Ward who had Pearson caught at slip, they were unable to turn their superiority into a victory.

Next week Amersham are at home to high-flying Henley.

After a washout at Burnham last week, Amersham entertained Wokingham at Shardeloes on Saturday in the 7th weekend of the season. Suresh Perumal and Chris Owen returned to strengthen the batting line up but with both regular openers absent - amongst others - skipper Danny Bulman was again unable to field his first choice line up.

Wokingham won the toss and, on a surprisingly unreliable surface, found the Wokingham new ball bowling too much to handle slipping to 45 for 5 with only Jon Atkins offering significant resistance in the early stages. However in an innings of great skill and character, Suresh Perumal made 59 before being last out having steered the home side to 183. Perumal received invaluable support from Stu Shanks (17), Duncan Ward (31) and Tim Aylott (27).

The hard work of the middle order looked to have established a formidable total on the difficult wicket and a disheartened Wokingham side left the field faced with a total twice what they might have expected given the early inroads made into the Amersham batting.

Unfortunately any luck on offer on Saturday went to the Berkshire side and Soza made an accomplished 90 and with Simon Myles (45) put on a match winning partnership of 80 before Bulman had Myles caught at the wicket. Sri Lankan Soza however was there at the end to see Wokingham home by 7 wickets.

This week's game is away at Marlow.

Amersham came off decidedly second best on Saturday, losing badly at Shardeloes to Oxford & Horspath, who as a result moved up to second in the table. After Amersham won the toss and put the opposition in to bat, the home side did not capitalise on a positive start when Alex Hands took an early wicket in a good spell with the new ball. Unfortunately, Skipper Danny Bulman was surprisingly flat in his opening spell, which allowed Oxford to get a good start. The visitors, with seven current Oxfordshire players in their side, were indebted to student Ben Thompson playing his first game of the season who scored a chanceless102 not out. Stalwart Mustapha Rajabali was again Amersham's saviour with 5 for 65 off 23 overs, but Oxford still cruised to a total of 247 for 7 off their allotted 60 overs.

Amersham's innings started disastrously as Rich Stevenson was out first ball of the innings and he was soon followed by Jon Atkins, who cut a ball firmly to cover point. This set a pattern for the whole innings and it was only former RGS pupil Hugo Matcham who put up any resistance at the top order, batting with classy composure. Evan Hamilton-Pike, in his return from his first year at Glamorgan University, hit some lusty blows at the death, but Amersham were not able to reach three figures and finally capitulated for a paltry 98. They will have to improve vastly on Saturday as they face Burnham who last week toppled leaders Henley by bowling them out for only 48.

Three wins from four games !

After the disappointments of 2000 season Amersham stand 4th in the feeder league of the Home Counties Premier League with only top side Henley having a better record of four wins.

Saturday's victory was however dominated by the performance of Kiwi skipper Danny Bulman who ripped out the north Bucks sides top order and then single handedly held the run chase together with 75 before falling just short of seeing his side to victory. The first act of the day however was just as crucial but had more to do with a lucky call than anything as the toss went Amersham's way and Bulman inserted Wolverton on a damp wicket. Surprisingly Rajabali opened the bowling alongside Bulman and the combination of spin and swing was too much for bottom placed Wolverton.

Bulman hit the stumps three times in the first hour and soon Wolverton were three down for 22 and they never recovered as Rajabali gave nothing away at the other end and could himself have taken wickets more regularly in a marathon spell of 27 overs. Despite that Rajabali took three important wickets and was as much as anyone responsible for the demise of the home side. After the heart of the Wolverton top order was removed left arm spinner Nick Moore tightened the noose and took three critical wickets to finish with three wickets to share the spoils with the experienced Rajabali.

In reply Bulman came to the crease with the score at 26 and saw the Amersham side to the brink of victory just 5 short of their target of 140. He played fearless shots in a near perfect innings and required only modest support from a below strength Amersham batting line up. Jonny Andrews (22) and William Walsh (15) were the best of the rest but it was Alex Hands and Tim Aylott who saw the side home but not without some anxious moments after the imperious Bulman had parted.

Oxford will be Amersham's next opponents at Shardeloes on Saturday where play starts at 11.30.

After two wins from their first two matches skipper Danny Bulman was looking for another big effort from his Amersham side last Saturday but unfortunately the result went against them with a defeat at the hands of Falkland.

After losing the toss Amersham were asked to bat first on an good Shardeloes wicket but found the going hard early on. Hugo Matcham failed to get a start for the first time this year and all rounder John Lishman - promoted in the order in the absence of batting stars Atkins and Stevenson - also went cheaply. Only the skipper Bulman and later Stu Shanks and Duncan Ward batted sensibly enough to allow a decent, but below par, score of 175 to be posted.

However with Falkland not having won a game this year and with Amersham proving that their strength lay in their bowling in early season form there was every reason to be positive. Former Hampshire player Wood opened the innings in aggressive mode but soon fell to Bulman with Alex Hands having previously accounted for the other opener. Zaheer Abasi, Falklands overseas player from Pakistan, then fell to Rajabali after some tight bowling. However further breakthroughs were not forthcoming and sensible if unmemorable batting from the Falkland middle order saw them home by 7 wickets.

This week Amersham travel to Wolverton looking to get back into winning ways.

Amersham made it two wins out of two on Saturday, when they beat pre-season favourites Tring Park in a shock win. This stunning victory puts the Shardeloes side on top of the snappily titled Home Counties Premier League Division Two (West).

Put into bat after Kiwi skipper Danny Bulman lost the toss, Amersham made a steady start on a damp, green wicket through Rich Stephenson and youngster Hugo Matcham. When the former was out, Jon Atkins took centre stage and tucked into the Tring bowling by launching them several times over extra cover. Atkins stayed to make 60 and enjoyed decent partnerships with Bulman, 29, and Jonny Andrews, 22. Stuart Shanks entered the fray late on with some pretty impressing hitting for 29 to take Amersham to a respectable 197-9 off their allotted 60 overs.

After taking the field, Amersham struck early through Alex Hands, but Tring began to dominate through their captain Matt Bowyer and ex-Wendover star Richard Shearer. Once again, the South Bucks side was indebted to wily campaigner Mustapha Rajabali, who not only took wickets at vital times, but also bowled tightly at the death. The defining moment of the match, however, came when Danny Bulman had Bowyer caught behind by Matcham for 78 as Tring were cruising at 153-3. This wicket swung the match and sent Tring into a state of panic. The Herts team couldn't handle Rajabali's guile nor Bulman's pace and the final 7 wickets fell for just 23 runs, Bulman bowling their number 11 with time to spare. Next week Amersham take on Falkland at Shardeloes.

Amersham won toss and asked Bletchley to bat. Amersham got off to good start and had Bletchley 40-3 as Danny Bulman and Alex Hands restricted Bletchleys batting. Mustapha Rajabali then tore the heart out of Bletchleys middle order with 4 wickets and Nick Moore took 2 in his first over.

Amersham's reply was anchored by Hugo Matcham with 30 as Amersham cruised to victory