The 1st XI negotiated a closed M4 to meander through the highways of west London to play Hounslow & Whitton. A soft wicket led us to believe that the covers had not been utilised during Friday’s deluge and that we should bowl first. This proved to be an error as the wicket became tougher to bat on as it dried out through the day. So the hosts set about their innings with attacking gusto and the ball was flying to all parts. More often than not it made its way to the boundary, but the Chenies cause was not helped by grassing chances when the ball went to hand. The bowlers toiled and at times wrested back some control. The wickets were taken by Dave Brown, Roger Vessey, Ben Cross and Ateeq Mohammed (2) but the innings closed on 245-5. The chase got underway slowly, with the ball sticking in the pitch and not coming onto the bat making strokeplay difficult. After 22 overs we were 50-2 and struggling. But Alex Martin had patiently played himself in and was poised to attack. His fantastic 109 put us back in the game and was ended only by a ‘worldy’ catch on the long off boundary. 25 from Harry Dahiya, 15 from Ansur Mahmood and an excellent 30 from Ben Cross helped the cause but when the 8th wicket fell, 21 runs were still needed off 15 balls. The experienced duo of Dave Brown and Roger Vessey scampered between the wickets like ‘young uns’ and with 2 balls to go 8 were required. No scampering was required off the next ball as Dave Brown cleared the boundary back over the bowler’s head. So, 2 runs to win, 1 for a tie. There would be no repeat of the previous delivery and the ball was squirted out to mid-wicket and the single was scored to secure the tie. Given the match position at the half way stage of our chase, a very creditable result.

The second team returned to the top of Division 8b with an excellent win over Tring Park at home on Saturday. Tring won the toss on a bright sunny day at Chenies and elected to bat. Tring were pegged back to only 130 from the first 30 overs with good opening spells from Max Higginbotham and Tom Horsburgh. They managed to accelerate in the latter stages and eventually reached 206 for 7 from their full 40 overs. Max Higginbotham deserved more than a single wicket bowling 10 overs for 27. Brian Shipley was the top wicket taker with 2 for 71 from 10 overs. Special mention to Gaurav Mehta who took two great catches in the field. In reply Chenies chased down the total in the 39th over with 6 wickets down. There were strong performances from Ronald Eltringham (32), Majib Rehman (24) and Steve Hallam (42) but the star performer and debutant in the seconds was from 14 year old Taran Rajan. He scored a superb 58 only falling to a run out in the latter stages. An innings of high quality and talent which was roundly applauded by everyone including the opposition. Well done Taran.

No report has been forthcoming from the 3rd XI this week, and the next sentence may explain why!! Chenies were bowled out for 32 and lost by 10 wickets inside 6 overs. Enough said.

On Sunday Chenies played Roxbourne. Chenies lost the toss and were put in to bowl. Wickets were shared around with Mark Rogers and Mattie Brown taking two with Alex Martin and Tom Horsburgh each taking one. Roxbourne ended their innings on 261-7. Chenies went in to bat but were unable to chase down the target, ending the innings on 157-9 with Brian Shipley the pick of the batters, scoring 41.

Next week the 1st XI host Wargrave, the 2nd XI travel to Ruislip and the 3rd XI will play their first home game at Hawridge and Cholesbury against Princes Risborough. The Sunday XI have a home game against Batchworth.

Colts:

30th May 2021: Chenies U11 Tigers vs Bledlow Ridge U11 (A). It was a chilly overcast morning, confounding the weatherman’s forecast of a warm sunny day. The damp conditions created a low bouncing pitch which promised a low scoring match. Chenies won the toss and elected to field. Our opening bowlers - Harry Neal (3-7) and Reyan Patel (2-13) - immediately put the opposition on the back foot. They were ably followed by the next two bowling pairs who continued to put the batsmen under pressure. The pick of the bowlers was Max Schiavi who took 2 wickets and only conceded 2 runs. With the opposition on the ropes, the next two batsmen came out fighting and attacked our bowlers. Bledlow looked to be heading for a healthy total, but our final bowling pair managed to stem the tide with Joeseph Sear picking up 2 wickets for 9 runs. Overall, it was a good bowling performance to restrict the opposition to 225 runs. On paper, this looked like an achievable target, but we knew that runs would be hard to come by. And so it proved as our batsmen laboured to score runs. However, we did well to keep the total ticking over with good partnerships from Rafe Alibhai (4 from 10), Joseph Sear (2 from 12), Oscar Knight (7 from 14) and Luke Hargreaves (16 from 18, but was out twice). By the time the final batting pair came to the crease, Chenies had 235 runs on the board and the batsmen were under strict instructions not to lose cheap wickets. They duly obliged with Harry Neal scoring 9 from 14 (getting out once) and Reyan Patel scoring 2 from 11, leaving us with a total of 244 and a 19 run win.

Chenies U8 Lions vs Chorleywood U9s (HOME) - On a lovely sunny Sunday morning we won the toss and elected to bowl first, but Chorleywood then asked if they could bowl first so that one of their boys could bat in their first pair and then head off, so we agreed to bat first. Harry Ayres (8 from 10 balls) and Sam Brar opened the batting against good bowling from Chorleywood and added 16 from their 4 overs. Ethan Rajaneyagan (8 from 12) and Aran Brar batted next and again the Chorleywood bowling was strong as they added 15 from their 4 overs. Zaraar Khan (21 from 11) on debut and Jake Knight were then able to up the scoring rate as they added 37 from their 4 overs, assisted by a six each. Dhiren Rayat (14 from 9) and Kiyaan-Hassan Fazel (11 from 6) then provided a superb finish with 47 from their 4 overs as the Chorleywood bowlers struggled with 11 wides/no-balls, and Dhiren deposited the last 2 balls of the innings over the midwicket boundary for consecutive sixes to take us to a pairs score of 315 (scoring starts at 200 and 5 runs are deducted for each wicket). The boys bowled brilliantly again with Sam Brar (3-13 from his 2 overs) taking a hat-trick of clean bowled wickets with his first 3 balls and Zaraar Khan (3-9 from his 2 overs) also picking up 3 wickets, assisted by a couple of good catches from Jake and Dhiren, to make it a memorable debut. They were ably supported in the bowling department by all of the boys with Jake Knight (2-14) Aran Brar, Harry Ayres and Dhiren Rayat (all 0-9), Ethan Rajaneyagan (0-10) and Kiyaan-Hassan Fazel (1-16) as Sam completed a smart stumping to catch the batsman just out of his crease. The pressure was constant and the 4 Chorleywood pairs added 11, 9, 17 and 8 in their respective 4 overs each to finish on 245. This was another excellent all-round team performance and the U8 Lions have now reached the half-way point of Hertfordshire U9 league Division 1 - and 5 very comprehensive wins out of 5 puts us top of the table.

6th June 2021: Chenies U11 Tigers vs Wendover U11 (H) The Tigers arrived for the game with a cautious confidence knowing that they were top of the league, albeit having played one game more than the other teams. However, we knew that we were in for a tough game. Wendover won the toss and elected to bowl. From the outset, it was clear to see why Wendover had been involved in so many low scoring games - they had a number of quick bowlers who put our batsmen under pressure. However, we persevered and managed to keep the score board ticking over with some excellent stroke play from Will Butcher (16 from 16 balls), Rafe Alibhai (8 from 9 balls, with the loss of 1 wicket) and Max Schiavi (9 from 11 balls with the loss of 1 wicket). The highlight of the innings were two glorious cover drives from Will Butcher both of which went for 4. Unfortunately, the regular loss of wickets hampered our progress and we were only able to post a score of 231. Whilst this appeared to be a low target, we were confident that our bowlers could defend it. This was demonstrated in the first over, when Rafe Alibhai picked up two wickets for two runs with some accurate bowling. He finished on 3 wickets for 4 runs and was ably supported by Joseph Sear (1-1), Mayur Patel (1-3) and Will Butcher (1-4). By the 12th over, Wendover had only 191 runs on the board and victory seemed to be within our grasp. However, the next two batting pairs came out fighting and managed to claw back much of the deficit. By the 18th over, their score was 220 and the game was in the balance. This put a lot of responsibility on our final two bowlers ,Will Butcher and Mayur Patel, but they were up to the task and guided us to victory. Wendover's final tally was 223, resulting in an 8 run win for the Tigers.

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

Senior Availability - the Pitchero website will be used for all selection actions for senior matches. Therefore, all players are asked to indicate their availability for matches using the website or the app. A separate article on how to do this was published on 27th April and can be found here

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. 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.