A very poor batting performance from our middle order saw us loose a game that we were always in control of!

Excellent bowling from Sam Martin (another 6 wkt's) supported by Sam Mayne and the nomadic Holloway contained Chenies to 168 runs in their full 52 overs.

Amersham's reply started well with Rob Viney looking good before being unfortunately run out and Sam Mayne scoring an accomplished 52. The middle order then lost impetus and we eventually were all out just 5 runs short on 163.

The story of the season so far

After the unfortunate rain intervention last week away at top of the table Caversham, who we had dismissed for 100 but were unable to start our innings, the weather held against 4th placed Gerrards X.

Superb bowling from promising new comer Sam Martin 6 for 37 and Mash 4 for 54 allowed the batsmen an easy task as they knocked them off inside 28 overs losing just 2 wickets.

So all is not lost yet another win on Saturday against lower half Wokingham and we are back in the hunt.

Not much one can say about this performance as the season gets worse and worse, still rooted to the foot of the table with no sign of improvement.

Bowled out for 64 with a batting side that shoould be good enough at this level. Not really anything else to add the bowlers were never given a chance.

Lets hope things improve and fast or relegation looms!!

This was the relegation battle of the weekend, with Datchet second from bottom and Amersham at the foot of the table.

Unfortunately Amersham were never really in the game and were comprehensively outplayed. With a strong batting side "on paper" and good knocks from Mash and also Rob Viney at the end the total of 167 was never a challenging target!

Perhaps the result may have been different if the Datchet opener had been given out caught behind early in his innings but he went on to lead them home with an unbeaten 92 as they cruised to 6 wicket victory.

So the result is that there is now a gap developing at the bottom and we will have to pull out all the stops to avoid the 2nd relegation in two years!!

Saturday's team was: M Ash, J Andrews, A Bridle, W Walsh, J Fisher, I Rogers, R Adams, E Hamilton-Pike, R Viney, A Hands, M Garvey

This was a very good game of cricket which Amersham really should have won! An excellant all round bowling performance kept Chenies to the manageable total of 168, this could have been even better had not Amersham very old boy and veteran Kevin Heffernan not played a cameo at the end of their innings. Jeremy Hemmings bowled more overs in this match than in the past three seasons put together! 19 infact.

Amersham were reduced to 8 for 2 by some hostile fast bowling by Richard Burroughs, but then a partnership between Jo Shuttle and Adam Gibson who both scored good 50's lifted Amersham into a winning position. However the return of Burroughs to the attack proved too much for the Amersham middle order as we finished 10 runs short on 158 for 8.

The next 3 weeks are important to the overall season as we play the weeker three sides in the league, so make sure you are all available!!

A much improved performance led to our first win of the season away to 2nd placed Gerrards X.

After winning the toss we elected to bat first and after a poor start we looked in trouble at 30 for 4, some good batting from Ian Rogers 30, Tim Loy 20 and Shambles at the end with a very valuable 22 enabled us to post a total of 170. It didn't really look enough on a very good wicket and fast outfield.

Our opening bowlers bothed bowled with speed and aggression which had the X batsmen jumping around. Tim Loy was very unlucky not to take a wicket in this spell but Duncan (the fielder) Ward was excellent taking 4 wickets, Brian Watt took his 401st wicket for the club (sorry about last week) and Adam Gibson completed the job with 5 wickets in a great display of offspin. I must also mention Damien Van B's 3 quality catches which effectively won us the game.

As Ian Rogers said to me after the game this was a terrific win and showed what we can do in this league.

So onwards and upwards

This was a much better performance by the 2nd X1 The captain won the toss and elected to bat after the recent poor attempts at chasing. Mark Bater ensured we got off to a solid start with a good 50 this laid the platform for the ageing maestro Ian Rogers to prove he still has a couple of tunes left on his fiddle!! The impetus from Ian's quickfire 50 and a late rush from Tim Loy enabled us to reach 197.

In reply Brian Watt bowled with his usual stealth and took an early wicket but apart from a couple of quick wickets in the middle of their innings we were unable to force the win. Adam Gibson bowled well without luck for 18 overs and the game ended in a tame draw with the visitors on 166 for 6.

But I have to mention availability again after an improved display on which we should be able to build, of Saturdays selected side THREE are available again this coming weekend!!!

2nd X1 league fixture cancelled due to unavailability and inability to travel to Falkland.

A very poor batting display saw Amersham 2nd X1 beaten easily by an average Wooburn X1, only Adam Gibson was able to come to terms with the slow wicket in a good knock of 44. The rest of the batting line up (very strong on paper) gave up their wickets rather than being bowled out by the opposition. The final dismissal a run out in the final over was more tragic than comic!

Earlier Amersham had bowled reasonably well with Tim Loy the pick with 5 wickets, the fielding again however lost concentration in mid innings.

The second X1 really must sort out this early season poor form before it is too late after last years relegation this is a league in which on ability we should perform very well. We need some application, practice and consistent availability. Looking forward to the improvement on all three counts see you all at nets on Thursday night.

Amersham took the field with only eight men, and were immediately up against it as Datchet took 25 runs from the first two overs. The third over saw Amersham increase their complement to ten fielders, but Datchet continued to rocket along at more than six an over.

Datchet had reached a formidable 220 for 3 from 36 overs when Jeremy Hemmings (2 for 33) returned to the attack. Hemmings and Renny Adams (2 for 50) now applied the brakes, and Datchet were only able to muster a further 25 runs from the next twelve overs before the declaration came.

The Amersham reply got off to a cautious start, with just 15 runs coming from the first eight overs. Robert Viney (17) got off the mark with the 21st ball he received, glancing a boundary to the vacant fine-leg area. Meanwhile, Tim Aylott had adjusted to the slow nature of the pitch, picking up the tempo with six boundaries in his 39.

However, Tim's dismissal led to a middle-order collapse as five wickets fell for 16 runs in the next nine overs. This included the wicket of Adams, who was pinned in front by one that kept low for a first-ball duck.

Joe Dudderidge (38) kept his head, and was just hinting at going for the target, which had now risen to nine-an-over, when he slipped turning for a second and was marginally run-out.

Hemmings came and went, and it was left to the final wicket pairing of Martyn Johnson (24*) and Charles Holloway (8*) to see out the last seven overs and take Amersham past the 175 mark.