The 1st XI endured a frustrating draw at home to Wooburn Narkovians. We batted first and lost an early wicket to a run out, but Charlie Anderson and Alex Martin then put on a partnership of 170 before Charlie was dismissed for a fantastic 130. A few wickets fell as the accelerator was pushed to the floor but Alex kept his head and made it to 3 figures unbeaten as the declaration came on 272. So all we needed was to take 10 wickets, but we only managed 7. Their opening bat frustrated us with a ton (3 in one match!!) and we grassed at least 6 catches – a familiar story I’m afraid! Despite the disappointment the 1st XI remain in 2nd place in the league.

The seconds recorded a fantastic win against High Wycombe 5’s. Asked to bat on a soft drying wicket usually means slow scoring and loss of wickets but on this occasion only the first was true as Brian and John dug in. At drinks we were 44-2 but seen off their best bowler leaving Nathan Chapman, holding a bat for the first time in nearly 2 years, to make an invaluable 42, ably supported by Mike Pickard with 21 to take us to a credible 151-9. All we had to do now was bowl, which is exactly what we did. Alex Walker and Emily Brown saw 10 come off the first two overs then bowled 7 consecutive maidens, removing both openers and having to come off after 6 overs each had Wycombe at 18-2. Brian and Max took over and by drinks Wycombe were 35-3. 4 overs later Emily returned to squeeze Wycombe further, finishing with just 21 runs conceded off her 10 overs with Alex doing the same at the other end with 24 off his 10. That left Max and Brian to finish things off having 8-10 runs an over to play with. We won by 23 runs and whilst Nathan and the 4 bowlers get the headlines this was an all-round team performance, every run scored and prevented in the field are worth their weight in gold in low scoring games. The skipper even pulled the team aside at the end of the game to ensure we gave ourselves a round of applause. So well done team, probably the team performance of the year

The Sunday XI took on Thames Valley Ramblers this week at home. The opposition won the toss and batted first making a large total of 249 for 8 off 40 overs in perfect batting conditions. Emily Brown was economical as ever with 6 overs for 17 but tried to stop a caught and bowled chance and sustained a nasty bruise to her hand - fortunately nothing was broken. Brian took 3 for 37 and Ronald 2 for 32. We set off our run chase well with an opening partnership of 40 with Mattie Brown making 28 with Brian, but the age gap was always going to be a problem when running between the wickets, and Mattie was duly run out after a stop start conference in the middle. Brian went on to score 48 and we continued to hit aggressively and there were good performances from Ronald Eltringham (24), Ian Gilmour (22) and Mike Pickard (20). After this point we had a mini collapse and with Emily unable to bat ended on 161 all out. We were beaten by a strong batting side but made a creditable fist of it and I feel they were a little concerned at the rate we were chasing their score down until we lost some quick wickets. Anyway an enjoyable match played in a good spirit by both teams.

Next week the 1st XI host Burnham and the 2s travel to Beaconsfield. The Sunday XI have no scheduled fixture but will be looking to find an opposition.

Colts Matches:
First, a catch up on the U15 Girls match on Friday 12th July at home versus Farnham Royal. The visitors batted first but the innings was marred by the unconventional retirements of batsmen on 28, 21 and 20! But once all other batsmen were out with the score on 103, the retirees returned to advance their individual scores to 30 (at which point retirement is mandatory), and their team score to 124. Wickets were shared between Caitlin Walker (2), Emily Brown, Amelia Peck, Madi Binnion, Lara Daurka and Sophia Davies. Catches for Emily (2) and Poppy Lewis. The Chenies innings fell short of the target at 100. Amelia scored 26 during which she broke her bat but was then caught behind off a borrowed bat!. Sophia Davies was 21 not out.

On Monday the U15 Girls visited Chalfont St Peter. Illness resulted in some last minute personnel changes, an absent coach and ultimately Chenies only having 10 batters. The hosts batted first scoring 126-9. Wickets were shared between Roisin Grady (2), Alice Godfrey (3), Madi Binnion (2), Ruby Daurka and Emily Brown. The Chenies innings was dominated by Amelia Peck (2 sixes and 3 fours in her 30) and Youie Nichols (6 fours in her 30), but despite those excellent performances the innings fell short on 111-7.

At Chenies on Monday the U16s entertained Holmer Green. The visitors batted first and despite Ben Cross bowling both openers to reduce them to 9-2, they rallied to amass 172-4 courtesy of 86 not out from their no. 3. Chenies also only lost 4 wickets in their innings, but the required run rate was beyond them, managing 97-4. Ben Cross scored an excellent 51.

On Tuesday the U15s played host to Stokenchurch. The visitors elected to field first with a strategy to restrict run scoring. Initially this worked and after 10 overs Chenies had only managed to get to 29-3. However, the acceleration was led by Mattie Brown who scored 55 before retiring, and then Alexander Poole was 37 not out as the innings closed on 124-6. Stokenchurch took a similar approach to their chase but left the acceleration too late and the Chenies bowlers were able to contain them sufficiently and the chase fell 4 runs short.

On Wednesday, with only 24 hrs notice the U15s travelled to The Lee to play a game that had fallen foul of the weather earlier in the season. Despite the short notice we managed to get 11 players onto the field, albeit missing a couple of key players. For the 2nd evening in succession the toss was lost and for the 2nd evening in succession Chenies batted first and for the 2nd evening in succession Mattie Brown went past 50. Akshit Varkala added a useful contribution of 21 and the innings ended on 103-7. It proved to be just enough but it took a very good bowling and fielding display. Wickets went to Anish Vaddiraju (3), Emily Brown (2), Marley Tarrant (2) and Alexander Poole. Plus a superb run out from Gurleen Grewal whose throw from the boundary was not just big, but also right over the top of the bails. This win made it 5 from 5 in the league this season – it has been a fantastic effort by all involved

Friday’s Chenies derby between the U15 Girls and the U13s was unfortunately lost to the weather

Colts fixtures for the next week:
Mon 22 July – U14 v Bledlow Ridge (A)
Tue 23 July – U16 v Ley Hill (H)

In other news:
Subscriptions – if you have not yet paid your annual subscription then please pay as soon as possible.

Prosecco Cricket is up and running for the season. Come along on Tuesdays from 8pm. It’s a fun way for women to get involved in cricket. It’s soft ball and a great keep fit session with a glass of Prosecco to finish. Roll up to play and £5 per session. Please spread the word! Julie Pickard looks forward to welcoming you all and any queries please get back to her (01494 762707, mgmpickard@icloud.com)

An invitation from Club Welfare Officers, Julie Pickard and James Herring: Club Welfare means making everyone feel welcome, involved, happy and safe at Chenies. We want to find out what the Colts think about their experience. We eventually plan to set up and oversee a Colts Committee that we can use to influence and feed directly to the main Club Committee. As a first step to achieving this all Colts are invited to a Colts Meeting at 9.30am on Sunday 28th July to give us an idea of what we are doing well and what we can do better next season.