On Sunday the weather abated and Chenies took on Harrow Wayfarers at Home. Chenies won the toss and chose to bowl first. The opposition stared slowly until the mid-point of their innings when they began to launch an aggressive batting assault and fought their way up to 249 for 8. The wickets were shared around with Tom Horsburgh and Alex Walker taking 2 each and with Taran Ranjan and Alex Martin taking one each. With the bat Alex Martin and Mattie Brown built a solid partnership early on before Mattie fell on 28. Alex Martin went on and scored an impressive 105. Chenies fell short of the target scoring 206 – 9 off their 40 overs. The game was played in excellent spirits from both sides.

Next week we hope for some drier and warmer weather. The 1st XI host Chesham, the 2nd XI travel to Marlow and the 3rd XI are at home to Chesham. Home for the 3rd XI this season is at Hawridge and Cholesbury CC. The Sunday XI will be hosting West London CC.

Colts:
The colts age groups are now getting into full swing with their practice sessions and the matches are coming thick and fast:

U15’s v Chalfont St Peter 4th May - It was a bright, breezy, sunny evening when we arrived at Chalfont St Peter’s ground and expectations were high for our first league game of the season. But unfortunately it was the weather and not the cricket that had the final say. Aayush won the toss and inserted the opposition, whose openers quickly got into their stride despatching Gurleen and Paritosh to all corners of the ground and after 5 overs had raced to 50 without loss. Jack and Matthew came on and slowed down the run rate by bowling a good line and length with Jack getting his reward by bowling their main batter and he was unlucky not get another. However, Chalfont St Peter continued to attack every ball and by the close had amassed a big total of 161 for 4 of 20 overs. Being the first game of the season it was important for all team members to play an active part and skipper Aayush gave everyone a bowl with Kai, Ayman, Shashank, and new player Ayan “turning” their arm. Gurleen and Paritosh bowled a much better line for their last overs and were rewarded with a wicket a piece. With such a wide variety of bowlers a special mention for Stuart who was outstanding behind the stumps only conceding 1 bye. Our innings started with Paritosh and Shashank but with the dark clouds gathering the likelihood of completing the match looked unlikely and after just 2 overs the rain came and the game was halted. It was clear that the rain would be with us for some time and with the light fading the decision was taken to abandon the game. In sharing the points we definitely “got out of jail” since with the best will in the world our chances of reaching such a big total were remote. Not our best bowling/fielding performance and we have much to work on if we are to be competitive this season but we do have match winners in the team and I’m confident we will get much better as the season progresses.

Chenies U11 Lions vs Wendover U11s (AWAY) - In the midst of a showery week, the weather managed to stay dry for long enough for us to play our away match against Wendover. For the Lions this was their first match against Wendover and also their first match at Wendover on their astro pitch, so it was a step into the unknown. In addition, Wendover have 4 county boys in their side, so it promised to be a challenging fixture! We won the toss and elected to bowl first. Oscar Knight (2-3 from his 2 overs) and Neil Chahal (1-11) started with good control and 3 clean bowled wickets to get us off to a great start. Harry Neal (0-5) and Jeevan Brar (2-12) continued the good work, with James Henderson taking an excellent catch at point. Unfortunately, Frank Harrop jarred his shoulder while diving as wicket-keeper and was unable to keep, bowl or bat although he bravely continued to field for the remainder of the innings - thankfully Frank was fully recovered by the following day. Jeevan took over wicket-keeping duties and Noa Fonseka (1-13), James Henderson (0-15) and Zac Saul (0-11) kept the run rate under control - assisted by 2 run-outs with great fielding from Neil at point to get the ball into Jeevan to complete a run-out, and Jeevan scoring a direct hit as the batters tried to steal a bye. Our closing pair of Aarav Majithia (2-11) and Louisa Peck (1-19) bowled 3 overs each and bowled with pace and control to record 3 clean bowled wickets and restrict Wendover to a pairs score of 242. Zac Saul (20 runs from 14 balls) opened the batting and hit 3 crunching boundaries to give us an excellent start. Noa Fonseka (11 from 9) and James Henderson (12 from 12) both batted well, as did Aarav Majithia (19 from 10 balls) who hit 3 boundaries to keep the runs flowing. Jeevan Brar (30 from 22) batted in 2 pairs to cover for Frank's injury, and advanced down the pitch to drive the final ball of the innings straight down the ground for a boundary. Overall, it was an excellent batting performance as we only lost 2 wickets and finished on 334 to win by 92 runs. It was another brilliant all-round team performance from the Lions to record a very comfortable win against strong opposition.

Chenies U8 Lions vs Redbourn U9s (HOME) - The U8s were very excited about playing their first ever league match, although there were a few questions about whether we would be ok playing a year up in the U9 league. Parents, coaches and kids were all delighted to see that the weather was dry and even warm so we were well set to start the match. Sam Brar won the toss for us and elected to bowl first. The innings started in spectacular fashion with a run-out from the first ball, but the Redbourn opening pair were strong and scored 44 runs from their 4 overs. Aran Brar (2-2 from his 2 overs), Sam Brar (1-3), Kiyaan Hassan (1-5) and Jake Knight (0-7) did an excellent job against Redbourn's second and third pairs to pull the score back. The last pair were also held in check as Ethan Rajaneyagan (2-15) bagged a couple of wickets and there were a couple more run outs from excellent fielding. Redbourn finished on a pairs score of 232 (the score starts at 200 and 5 runs are deducted for each wicket) from their 16 overs. Sam Brar (31 from 13 balls) and Ethan Rajaneyagan (10 from 6) opened the batting and scored 45 runs from their 4 overs to provide an excellent start. Aran Brar (9 from 4) and Charlie Myers (14 from 10) continued the good work, although they were frustrated by 10 wides in the bowling, to add 43 runs from their 4 overs. Kiyaan Hassan (13 from 11) and Aarav Thakker (3 from 11) then kept the team moving forwards with 20 from their 4 overs, before Dhiren Rayat (23 from 11) and Jake Knight (14 from 9) added 44 from their 4 overs to take us to a pairs score of 352 and a 120 run victory margin! Terrific batting and bowling from the whole team, but also magnificent fielding with several run outs and then excellent calling and running between the wickets. Coaches Raj, Bhups and Wasim were all very proud of the whole team - the debut league match could not have gone any better!

In other news:
Subscriptions for the 2021 season are now due. Many thanks to those that have already paid. A full guide to the subscriptions process can be found here https://www.chenies-cricket.org/a/subscriptions-46652.html

Covid – as our freedoms are gradually restored following lockdown please remember that we are still obligated to observe social distancing and incremental hygiene practices. We are operating the ‘venue check-in’ for track and trace purposes via the NHS app. QR codes are displayed prominently on the pavilion so please do check in each time you visit the club.

Club Kit and Equipment - As we can now look forward to returning to the playing field, let's make sure that we're kitted out appropriately to represent the club. If you need to order any of the club playing or training kit then please contact Dave Brown. Club kit details can be found on the website or by clicking here. https://www.chenies-cricket.org/a/club-kit-58457.html Dave can be contacted at dave@homebrown.co.uk or on 07710 150692. Our supplier, Chiltern Sports, are also now open if you need to acquire any playing equipment. They are well stocked with Shoes, bats, helmets, pads and gloves plus all other playing accessories that you might need. Rather than just turning up they ask that you make an appointment. Call the shop on 01296 613399 or Richard Young on 07831 662874.