| Saturday 30th August 2003 |
| | Reading IV v Amersham II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
| | Reading IV 190-9 (52 ovs; K Mahmood 41, Mustapha Rajabali 4−39) |
| | Amersham II 106 (38.4 ovs; M Ali 4−29) |
| | Reading IV won by 85 runs |
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Amersham gained promotion byt surrended any chance of winning the league with a poor display against Reading. Reading won the toss and elected to bat first. Mahmood got them off to a flying start smashing the ball to all parts and he was especially severe on Toates. Ward finall made the breakthrough forcing Mahmood into a false stroke. Amersham then came back into the game with another fine spell of bowling from Mustapha Rajabali which saw Reading 111 for 7 before Amersham fell asleep in the field and allowed Reading to post a respectable score of 190.
Amersham got off to the worst possible start losing the first 4 wickets for 7 runs. It was left to Rogers, Adams and Ward to rescue the situation but it was just too much. A good 9th wicket partnership between Lindsay Matcham and Jamie Toates saw Amersham pass 100 before Reading wrapped up a comfortable win. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 23rd August 2003 |
| | Amersham II v Kidmore End III |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
| | Kidmore End III 76 (21.2 ovs; Rajabali Mustapha 5−11, John Lishman 4−23) | | Amersham II 77-0 (18.1 ovs; Simon Blayney 39*) |
| | Amersham II won by 10 wickets |
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Amersham cruised past lowly Kidmore End by 10 wickets. Kidmore End won the toss and elected to bat first. They were soon in trouble as John Lishman ripped through the top order leaving them struggling at 25 - 5. Mustapha Rajabali made short work of the tail taking 5 - 11 in 6.2 overs as Kidmore End were skittled out for 76 in 21.2
Neil Densley and Simon Blayney made short work of getting the required runs to give Amersham an easy victory. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 9th August 2003 |
| | Amersham II v Eversley II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
|
| | Eversley II 198 (43.2 ovs; W Nyman 59, Mustapha Rajabali 3−41) | | Amersham II 201-4 (39.1 ovs; Matt Ash 107, Ben Langley 40) |
| | Amersham II won by 6 wickets |
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Amersham returned to winning ways by beating Eversley by 6 wickets. Amersham lost the toss and were asked to bowl first on a blistering hot day. Amersham started well with Duncan Ward taking the wicket of in form Briscoe second ball. Amersham contained Eversley with good bowling from Mustapha Rajabali (3 - 41), Jamie Toates (2 -9) and Matthew Ash (2 - 34 and 2 catches). As the heat started to make the fielders wilt, Nyman came to the crease to crash a quick fire 59 to push the score to 198 all out.
Amersham's reply got off to a bad start with Asa Bridle being adjudged LBW in the second over. This brought Ben Langley (40) to the crease to partner Matt Ash (107) in a stand of 150. Both batted very well and kept the scoreboard ticking over nicely. Once Ben Langley was out the game was all but won. Matt Ash then secured his maiden hundred for the club to cap a brilliant day before falling to heat exhaustion Duncan Ward and Renny Adams took no time at all to score the required runs all of which came in boundaries to leave Amersham clear at the top. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 2nd August 2003 |
| | Finchampstead III v Amersham II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
|
| | Amersham II 205-9 (52 ovs; Simon Blayney 63, Renny Adams 41*, Brown 4−80) | | Finchampstead III 207-6 (47 ovs; M Simonite 56, R Potter 50, Duncan Ward 3−51) |
| | Finchampstead III won by 4 wickets |
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Amersham lost their unbeaten record in a tight match away to Finchampstead. Amersham lost the toss and were asked to bat first. Amersham got off to a good start with John Lishman and Tim Aylott looking to dominate the attack. This was carried on by Simon Blayney with a good half century. Amersham suffered a mini collapse as Finchamstead fought back. Renny Adams and Jamie Toates steadied the ship to push the score past 200 and set Finchampstead a decent target.
Finchampstead got off to a poor start when Duncan Ward had their opener Caught and Bowled for 0. Then things started to slip away from Amersham as they preceded to field badly, dropping six chances that would have swung the game their way. Finchampstead were cruising to the target before a final burst from Ward and Rajabali brought Amersham feint hope. It was too little to late as Finchampstead won by 4 wickets with 1 over to spare. Amershan need to return to winning ways against 3rd placed Eversley on saturday at home. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 26th July 2003 |
| | Beaconsfield III v Amersham II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
|
| | Amersham II 211-7 dec (46 ovs) | | Beaconsfield III 89-3 (26 ovs) |
| | Match abandoned (rain) |
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Amersham batted and got maximum batting points and then bowled a few overs before the heavens opened. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 19th July 2003 |
| | Amersham II v Fleet II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
| | Amersham II 237-6 dec (43.5 ovs; Simon Blayney 79, Duncan Ward 47, Tim Aylott 33, Ian Rogers 30, A Dugay 3−65) |
| | Fleet II 64 (24.1 ovs; D Batchelor 39, Mustapha Rajabali 6−29, Jon Lishman 3−18) |
| | Amersham II won by 173 runs |
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Amersham continued their winning streak with an impressive 173 run victory over Fleet. On a stinking hot day Amersham elected to bat first with openers N Densley and S Blayney chipping the bowling to all parts as they got the side off to a solid start putting on 68 for the first wicket.
Blayney was joined by T Aylott and they kept the momentum going. Blayney was now in the groove and smashed his way to a deserved half century. There was no rest for the Fleet bowlers as D Ward and I Rogers kept up the tempo as Amersham cruised past the 200 mark in 38 overs. Amersham declared after 44 overs with 237 on the board.
With the majic of Musti and pace of J Lishman Fleet were never in the hunt. Lishman blew away the top order as Fleet found themselves 5 for 4 and 15 for 5. Mustapha then mesmerised the middle and lower order with his majical spin helped by C Holloway taking two towering catches in the deep to bowl them out for 64. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 12th July 2003 |
| | Hampton Hill II v Amersham II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
|
| | Amersham II 225-4 dec (46 ovs; Phil Walsh 71) | | Hampton Hill II 150 (42.1 ovs; Mustapha Rajabali 8−31) |
| | Amersham II won by 75 runs |
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Amersham Seconds continued their impressive dominance of league division 5b
with a 76 run away win at Hampton Hill on Saturday. Winning the toss under
cloudless skies Ian Rogers had no hesitations about making first use of the
dusty,dry track. Amersham made good earlier headway against the erratic
Hampton bowling,both Jon Atkins and Will Walsh being severe on anything
short and wide. After their departure the middle order of Rogers,Bridle and
the younger Walsh,Phull, commanded the crease to post a total of 225-5.
Phull Walsh top scored with 71 which was a credit to his application and
concentration in the searing heat.
Amersham bowled well from the outset and once again on a helpful wicket to
his art, it was the "Sheikh of Tweak" ,Mustapha Rajabali who took the
plaudits with an immaculate display of slow left arm bowling with 8 for 31
to scythe through the Hampton Hill order. Backed up by his fielders and
innovative field placing, Rajabali turned it square to win the game for
Amersham with nine overs to spare. |
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| | Charles Holloway |
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| Saturday 5th July 2003 |
| | Bracknell II v Amersham II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
|
| | Amersham II 101 (36 ovs; A Crittenden 5−41) | | Bracknell II 96 (32 ovs) |
| | Amersham II won by 5 runs |
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Amersham 2s maintained their dominant season away to Bracknell on Saturday
with a tight five run victory. Put in to bat on a green wicket in overcast
conditions,Amersham struggled to 101 all out and were grateful to the
excellent batting by the colts in Glen Saffrey and Jamie Toates that they
got anywhere near such a total in the face of such a helpful wicket to the
bowlers.
Faced with such a meagre total, Bracknell wilted under the early pressure
and aggressive field placing of stand-in skipper ,Renny Adams. From the
relatively comfortable position of 45-2 ,Bracknell undid themselves through
poor shot selection,suicidal running and lack of concentration particularly
from opener Tubb, who seemed to get himself out engaging in an altercation
with opening bowlers Jon Lishman and Charlie Holloway. The middle order
folded like a pack of cards under the pace of Mike Garvey who picked up two
valuable wickets which left the former Southampton University opening
attack of Lishman and Holloway to mop up the tail, leaving Bracknell just
short of their victory target |
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| | Charles Holloway |
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| Saturday 28th June 2003 |
| | Amersham II v Reading IV |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
|
| | Reading IV 160-9 dec (46.2 ovs; Mustapha Rajabali 5−?) | | Amersham II 165-5 (44.2 ovs) |
| | Amersham II won by 5 wickets |
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Amersham regained top spot following this 5 wicket win over Reading. On a stinking hot day Amersham won the toss and elected to bowl first. Reading got off to a good start with Mahmood swinging so hard his bat was a blur. Once Holloway dismissed Mahmood, normal service was resumed as the old pro Mustapha Rajabali spun his web to trap another 5 victims. Backed up by some average fielding Reading declared at 160-9.
Amersham's reply got off to a bad start with Niall 'Petal' Densley giving easy catching practise in the 1st over. Will Walsh and Dominic Neil-Dwyer recovered well to put on 47 for the second wicket before Neil-Dwyer received a snorter from Ali to end his innings. Asa Bridle helped Walsh push the score along until both fell on 70. Walsh was very unlucky to be triggered by the fastest finger on the circuit.
Ian Rogers and Renny Adams steadied the nerves to steer Amersham comfortably to within 1 run of victory when the heat finally got to them and Rogers called for a suicidal single with Adams comfortably out. This only delayed the win by 1 ball as the next one went hurtling past the keeper for 4 wides. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 21st June 2003 |
| | Kidmore End III v Amersham II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
| | Kidmore End III 112 (32.3 ovs; Waldron 37, Tariq 34, Mustapha Rajabali 6−24, Charlie Holloway 3−23) |
| | Amersham II 116-2 (19.2 ovs; Niall Densley 48, Will Walsh 44) |
| | Amersham II won by 8 wickets |
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Amersham maintained their winning streak with a 8 wicket win over Kidmore End. Amersham won the toss and asked Kidmore End to bat first. The Kidmore End openers got off to a flying start as they flailed away, batting as if it was a Twenty20 cup match. Charlie Holloway made the break through bowling the opener. This just made way for Tariq to take up the challenge. Kidmore End's batting was based on high bat speed and little defensive play. Mustapha Rajabali came into the attack to slow things down and regain the initiative. Rajabali bowled well and the batsmen didn't have an answer against the maestro as he took his regulation 6 wickets.
Holloway wrapped up the innings with a quick vicious yorker to bowl Kidmore End no 11 who's batting position matched his age.
Amersham's reply got off to a good start with Walsh and Densley batting with a Caribbean flavour as they hooked, pulled and cut the ball to all parts of the ground. They were going well until Petal played the ball straight to point and called for 1. Walsh never stood a chance and was out by a country mile. Densley then was caught on the boundary going for six which would have brought up his 50 and the win. This allowed Bridle and Ash to finish the job within 20 overs for another easy victory. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 14th June 2003 |
| | Amersham II v Odiham & Greywell I |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
|
| | Odiham & Greywell I 173 (48.2 ovs; Mustapha Rajabali 6−61) | | Amersham II 174-2 (40 ovs; Niall Densley 49, William Walsh 84*) |
| | Amersham II won by 8 wickets |
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Amersham 2nd XI continued their winning start with an 8 wicket win over Odiham & Greywell. Once again Amersham lost the toss and were asked to bowl first. Odiham soon found themselves in trouble at 21 - 2. Amersham then went off the boil by putting down a number of catches and allowing Odiham to build momentum in their inning. C Turner batted well for 62. Odiham then suffered a mini collapse and found themselves 131 - 8. J Frawley batted sensibly with the tail to guide them to 173 all out. The pick of the bowlers was Mustapha Rajabali who picked up another 6 wickets.
Amersham's reply got off to a great start with William Walsh and Niall Densley putting on 70 for the first wicket. Densley was especially severe on any wayward bowling. Once out Walsh took control of the innings playing some wonderful drives and cut shots. He was ably assisted by Ben Langley who was unlucky to get out with just 7 runs required. This left Duncan Ward to come in and score the winning run. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 7th June 2003 |
| | Eversley II v Amersham II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
| | Eversley II 110 (40.5 ovs; Mustapha Rajabali 5−18) |
| | Amersham II 111-2 (30 ovs; Tim Aylott 59*, Lindsay Matcham 30*) |
| | Amersham II won by 8 wickets |
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Amersham travelled to Eversley in search of their 3rd win of the season. Having lost the toss Amersham were surprisingly asked to field first and soon took control of the game with a good opening spell by Alex Hands supported by Mike Garvey. Amersham's fielding looked good in support. The Eversley innings collapsed with the introduction of Mustapha Rajabali with a devastating spell of spin bowling.
Amersham got off to a bad start in reply losing both openers for 22 runs. However Tim Aylott and Lindsay Matcham batted sensibly to see the side home in a comfortable victory. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 31st May 2003 |
| | Amersham II v Finchampstead III |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
| | Amersham II 195-8 (52 ovs; Duncan Ward 56, S Milne 4−67) |
| | Finchampstead III 180-7 (48 ovs; S Huggan 56, Ramskir 44, Duncan Ward 3−25) |
| | Match drawn |
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Amersham drew with Finchampstead in a thrilling game. Amersham lost the
toss were asked to bat first. Finchampstead bowled well and Amersham found
it hard to build a big score with wickets falling at regular intervals.
Duncan Ward scored a steady 56 while those around him made good
contributions. With a few good lusty blows in the final overs Amersham
reached a respectable 195. Something that they were confident of
defending.
Finchampstead's reply started steadily with Alex Hands and Mustapha Rajabali
keeping the run rate down. Both were unlucky not to take wickets as a few
catches were put down. This gave Finchampstead the moment and at 135 - 2
with 16 overs left it looked like Finch would win this at a canter. A
change of bowling brought a change of fortune as Ward took 3 wickets to make
things more interesting. With Rajabali also bowling well Finch just faded
and ended 15 runs short. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 24th May 2003 |
| | Amersham II v Beaconsfield III |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
|
| | Beaconsfield III 113 (42 ovs; P Swindle 42, M Butcher 43, Mustapha Rajabali 6−22) | | Amersham II 115-6 (35.2 ovs; Duncan Ward 34, Ian Rogers 31*, C Price 3−37) |
| | Amersham II won by 4 wickets |
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Amersham 2nd XI beat Beaconsfield by 4 wickets to maintain top position in the division. Amersham won the toss and elected to field first. Alex Hands made the early break through before Swindle and Butcher batted well to take the score to 92 before Mustapha Rajabali took the 1st of his six wickets which saw Beaconsfield collapse to 113 all out due to very good bowling from Rajabali and Adam Gibson.
Amersham's reply got off to a good start with Duncan Ward and Adam Gibson punishing any wayward bowling. Amersham then lost 2 quick wickets on 69 and it was left to Ian Rogers ably supported by Ben Langley to see the team home.
Amersham take on 2nd place Finchampstead on saturday at home. |
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| | Duncan Ward |
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| Saturday 10th May 2003 |
| | Amersham II v Hampton Hill II |
| | Morrant Thames Valley Cricket League − Division 5b
|
| | Amersham II 103 (27.2 ovs; Evan Hamilton Pike 30, James 6−35) |
| | Hampton Hill II 73 (46 ovs; Duncan Ward 4−20, Mustapha Rajabali 3−32) |
| | Amersham II won by 30 runs |
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Amersham 2nd XI started their league campaign with a win over Hampton Hill. Having lost the toss Amersham were asked to bat first on a good wicket and and got off to a flying start with Stephenson and Hamilton Pike scoring at 5 an over. Stephenson was the first to go being unluckily given out LBW though he had hit the ball. After this wickets fell at regular intervals as the batsmen managed to find numerous ways of getting themselves out. On a pitch good enough for a total of 200 Amersham just managed to scrape past the 100 mark.
It was Amersham's bowling and fielding that saw them regain some pride with captain Duncan Ward leading the way taking a wicket in the first over. All the bowlers kept it very tight, making the Hampton Hill batsmen struggle to score. Amersham reduced Hampton Hill to 39 - 9 before the last pair put up a fight which nearly saw them snatch an unlikely victory before Ward rounded things off by bowling James.
Amersham 1st XI start their league campaign at home to Marlow Park while the 2nd XI travel to Fleet, hopeful of building on the success of Saturday. |
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| | Duncan Ward | |
