After a welcome victory last week, Amersham were brought back down to earth at Bletchley Town, losing heavily to a young and talented team, which confirmed relegation to the Thames Valley League. Skipper Sam Martin won the toss and inserted the hosts, but despite beating the bat frequently in his opening spell, Bletchley roared to 194-1 by lunch. Ed Packard (126*) and Jamie Wade (87) piled on the runs, and they declared on 291-3 off 56 overs. The good news for Amersham was the continued form of spinner Nick Moore who took all three wickets.

Amersham never looked likely to get close to the giant target, and paceman Mohammed Ghufran (5-21) ripped through the top order to leave Amersham is disarray at 37-5. A Kiwi partnership of 40 between Andy Robertson (28) and Martin (15) brought a grain of respectability, but the visitors were all out for a disappointing 87 soon after tea, failing even to save the follow on.

A case of little too late for Amersham's first eleven in their league game on Saturday as they demolished fellow strugglers Buckingham by nine wickets, but this result still leaves the Shardeloes side adrift at the bottom of the table. Amersham, however, proved in a solid all round display that they have the ability to win matches at this level, but just lack the consistency in their batting.

Amersham achieved this result without two of their stalwart veterans, Mustapha Rajabali and Jonny Andrews. As a result, Sam Martin went into the game with only three recognised bowlers. It was left to himself, who bowled tirelessly for 26 overs and Nick Moore, completing 21 overs, to do the bulk of the bowling. Left arm spinner Moore was the purists' choice as he bowled with great guile to take 5 for 54, whilst Martin the captain kept his end up with 5 for 74. Debutants Nick Robinson and Ben Ramsden both acquitted themselves well in the field, as did returning student Neil Densley. Amersham took wickets regularly and never allowed the Buckingham batsmen to settle, coupled with an over rate over 20 an hour, and the north Bucks visitors had to settle for 176 all out.

In response, Amersham had a 'flier' and started at a cracking pace through Rich Stephenson and Jon Atkins, opening the batting for the first time this season. Indeed, the openers continued at such a pace that when Stephenson was out for 31 at the score at 93, Amersham were well on the way to victory. Andy Robertson came in and played his part with 21, but Atkins continued flaying the opposition bowling to record a win in 32 overs, ending unbeaten just three short of his century. Only two more league games to go and Amersham are merely playing for pride, but last Saturday they went some way to achieving this.

A disappointing defeat against Falkland on Saturday means the Amersham 1st XI face relegation from the Home Counties League unless their fortunes and form radically improve. Set a total of 257 to chase at the picturesque south Berkshire club it was not inconceivable that a repeat of the early season win over Falkland at Shardeloes could be repeated.

At the top of the Amersham order only Andy Robertson made a telling contribution on a good wicket notwithstanding starts from Rich Stephenson and Chris Owen. A defiant Captain's innings of 42 from Sam Martin engineered a mini recovery but the final total of 174 was 84 short of the target.

The former Hampshire pro Julian Wood set the tone for the Falkland innings with a blistering assault on the new ball. After the fall of his wicket at 107 the rest of the batting was more measured particularly as Nick Moore and Mustapha Rajabali took control with their left arm spin. On a quick scoring ground however runs still cam freely and a declaration came at 57 overs, three short of the maximum allowed.

If any salvation is possible for Amersham it lies in a comprehensive defeat of Buckingham this weekend to give confidence a boost and set up an attack in the last of the season's games.

The highlight of the day was a fine hundred from Richie Stephenson who shared in an opening stand of 186 with Jonny Andrews having been asked to bat first by the Farnham Royal captain. Despite early movement with the new ball the Amersham openers kept up pressure on all the Royal bowlers and a big score was on the cards as Stephenson made his first league hundred for Amersham after moving to the Club from the Yorkshire Leagues and opening the batting for minor county Lincolnshire. Andrews struck the ball well and the running between the wickets was of a high standard as Royal tired on the hottest Saturday of the year so far.

After Andrews fell to leg spinner Khan for 60 the unaccustomed job of cracking quick runs fell to the previously exposed middle order batsmen. Chris Owen made a well hit 24 and Jon Atkins was unbeaten with Joe Shuttle having taken the score to 253 for 7 after the full allocation of 60 overs had been used.

In reply Steve Cooper looked in good form but lost his leg stump to an inspired piece of bowling from Sam Martin who was again the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3-64. The left arm spinners Moore and Rajabali had been waiting for an opportunity to bowl with a big score on the board and did not let the opportunity slip. Unfortunately the overs slipped away and despite never attacking the Amersham total. In finishing at 168 - 7 Amersham closed the gap on Farnham at the bottom of the league (see attached) and face Tring on Saturday at Shardeloes with renewed confidence. A win on Saturday could put Amersham out of the relegation area.

Amersham were forced into their first drawn game of the season against a talented, yet antagonistic Bletchley Town side. Amersham were unable to get close to Bletchley's total of 235 all out and the visitors resorted to verbal abuse when faced with the intractable lower order batsmen of Amersham, who refused to give their wickets away cheaply and deny them a win. Bletchley's stated justification was that they had drawn 5 out of 7 games so far, having lost the toss every game and have been unable to bowl sides out.

Skipper Sam Martin put the opposition in to bat and he was he and left arm seamer Alex Hands who took the bulk of the wickets, though on a good hard track, Bletchley's run rate was always high. Bletchley captain Packard chanced his arm and luck favoured the brave, scoring a rapid 50 and Loughbrough student Wade was class personified till Martin had him caught behind. Amersham therefore needed to score at nearly four and a half an over, but were hindered by good opening bowling by Mohommed and Umpleby. Matcham and Andrews departed early, but Stephenson and Robertson batted well for the home side with the former scoring an accomplished 59. Once these two departed, quickly followed by Fisher and Shuttle, things got nasty as the visitors became frustrated that Amersham looked like playing for a draw. Loughbrough student Umpleby, recently selected for Bucks CCC but chose to play Cricketer Cup, felt it necessary to abuse all batsmen who he came up against and was joined by several of his colleagues, which left a sour taste in the mouth. It was left to Mustapha Rajabali and Jon Atkins, batting with a runner, to hold out for a draw.

Saturday's match was away to Buckingham Town, newly promoted to the league, and with only one win to their name. Amersham were coming off a win against Falkland last weekend and a victory would have put ACC in the top three of a very tight league table.

Veteran Jonny Atkins was replaced by student Simon Dudderidge in the Amersham line up but otherwise an unchanged side batted first having lost the toss. The early loss of Richie Stephenson was consolidated by Jonny Andrews and Andy Robertson who put together a stand of 99 before Kiwi Robertson was LBW for a well made 40. Joe Shuttle continued his good run of form and saw the side through to 134 at lunch with two wickets down but only 19 overs of the allotted 60 left to face.

The required acceleration in the run rate unfortunately cost quick wickets with Andrews falling to James Gear (captain of BTCC and son of Amersham and Bucks stalwart Mike Gear) for 79 off 131 balls. Skipper Sam Martin and Alex Hands restored order and pushed the total to a respectable 216 for 9 off the full 60 overs.

In reply Buckingham failed to gain control with Martin and Rajabali dominating. Hands and Moore bowled well in support. Fielding was below par with the exception being a brilliant catch from Stephenson to dismiss Gear.

At 127 for 8 all appeared lost for the north bucks side but brave hitting from their tail brought quick runs and the ball simply failed to go to hand for Amersham. The game slipped away as boundaries were hit regularly and the return of Martin failed to close the door on a very unlikely win for Buckingham.

The table is attached and as you will see it is very tight with the midway point in the season approaching.

Amersham scored a stunning win against guests from Berkshire, Falkland, last Saturday despite only posting a score of 116. The Shardeloes wicket still shows signs of the heavy rain over the past two months and runs have been hard to come by this season. Accordingly, Amersham struggled in their innings, taking nearly 50 overs to reach their score. A bigger total had looked possible, after a bright 30 from vice skipper Richie Stephenson, but from 99 for 4, Amersham succumbed to the bowling of Randall and Thomas. Only doughty left handed veterans Fisher and Atkins put up any other resistance.

Amersham skipper Sam Martin decided to attack from the start and though his partner Alex Hands struck early for the first wicket, it was Martin that did the damage with a brilliant spell of medium quick bowling, taking 6 for 42 off 19 overs, including the ruination of South Australian bat Brewster. Falkland must have been kicking themselves, as Amersham, buoyed by the England victory against Denmark, rallied from a perilous position as the visitors reached 48 for 2. Mustapha Rajabali, as ever, backed Martin up with three wickets. The Falkland final pair held out for some time and a nervous end looked likely, before Jon Atkins plucked a catch at short extra cover off Rajabali to register a surprising yet welcome win.

Amersham 1st XI played local rivals Wooburn in a pre-league friendly before the league season starts next Saturday. Hosts Wooburn currently play in the Thames Valley League, but it was they who prevailed in a generally uninspiring game. Rich Stephenson captained and put the opposition in to bat, in order that his four bowlers would get plenty of practice. This they did, as Wooburn crept to 155-9 off their allotted 52 overs. Alex Hands was pick of the bowlers, taking 5-20 off 12 overs, though he was ably supported by Nick Moore (3-44), the evergreen Mustapha Rajabali (2-59) and Kiwi newcomer Sam Davis (1-23). In reply, Amersham started well and appeared to be in control through another Antipodean in the youthful guise of 17 year old, fresh off the boat, keeper/bat Andrew Robertson, who top scored with 28, and Jon Atkins, who isn't 17, who had taken the score to 85-2. However, once these two fell there was little resistance to Wooburn's adequate attack and Amersham succumbed to 127 all out, With Matt Ash stranded on 17 not out. If you were going to be harsh, you could point the finger at some ordinary, rusty batting, but no, the blame lies firmly on the shoulders of Cleethorpe's finest, Rich Stephenson, who blatantly overbowled his spinners!