Two friendlies to report on from Saturday – Luke Marsden tells the story of the home game against Pinner:
In a very unsurprising start to the game, Skipper Alex Walker lost the toss - with tails as per usual not failing. Alex Martin opened the batting with Roshan Dias, setting a more than solid base of 121 runs before the demise of Mr Dias for a cracking knock of 75. Including 15 4s and 1 large maximum striking at 220.59! In came Stef Bartlett who cruised to one of the classiest tons I’ve seen at Chenies, he was just a class above the bowling he was facing! Following Stef’s retirement we were firmly in the driving seat in the game, helped by the debut innings of our new overseas Donnel Sylvester. After an understandably nervy start, he turned it on and started to smash some large shots out of the ground. Niketh Shetty finished off what was a superb Chenies innings with an attractive 31 from 31 balls - keeping the scoreboard ticking over to finish on 326-4 from 40 overs. The second innings was more of the same in terms of Chenies dominance, with Donnel bringing some much needed heat with his bowling, on what was a cold spring afternoon!! Mr Sylvester took his first 2 wickets for the club with bowling I couldn’t even see with my glasses on, I felt bad for the batsmen! Anosh Mahawaduge, and Mark Rogers and the Skipper bowled some important and inexpensive overs which helped us towards a well deserved and comprehensive victory. The win, however, was not as comprehensive as it may have been. Luke Marsden bowled the last over, after some serious nibbling of the captain’s ear, which went for 16! However, this did lead to one of the moments of the season, as Alex took an incredible left handed, one handed catch. You cannot do that Ben Stokes!!

For the away game against Northwood, played at Pelicans CC in Missenden, Gaurav Mehta picks up the story:
It was a nail-biter to kick off the season. On a fine sunny day at a picturesque ground, the 3rd XI won the toss and elected to bat first. After the early loss of a wicket, Sarthak and Rahul took charge, rebuilding the innings with a flurry of powerful strokes all around the park. Their aggressive partnership not only steadied the ship but also kept the opposition on the back foot — they even managed to lose over a dozen balls in the process! Rahul brought up a brilliant 50 before his dismissal, while Sarthak contributed a solid 39. However, after their departure, the momentum dipped as the middle and lower order couldn’t quite replicate their pace or dominance. Still, Chenies posted a competitive total of 191, giving the bowlers something to work with. Chenies' bowling and fielding effort was commendable, consistently applying pressure throughout the innings. Special mention to Luke, who claimed three crucial wickets, helping to keep the chase in check. The fielders backed the bowlers superbly, culminating in a tense final over that saw the opposition needing 11 runs. A boundary from the penultimate ball saw the opponents edge over the line in a nail-biting finish. While the result didn’t go our way, the team showed promising signs, with energy high and early-season rust starting to shake off. Overall, it was a day filled with spirited cricket, great camaraderie, and signs of readiness for a strong season ahead.

On Sunday our Women’s Super 8 side welcomed Cookham Dean and High Wycombe to the CCG. Cookham crossed the line first against Chenies winning by 31 runs, but the afternoon drew to a close with a fantastic win for Chenies against High Wycombe by 11 runs.

On Monday there was a well supported intra club match in the cold and drizzle of a typical bank holiday Monday. Luke Marsden (again) takes up the quill to describe it for you:
Chenies SuperKings 181/6(34.5) v Latimer Super Giants v 228/7 (35.0) - Milan’s LSG won out in this pre-season intraclub friendly by 47 runs. A game played in very good spirits despite it being a pretty miserable, drizzly day, building up many players’ form for the league season starting imminently. Notable performances include: a good looking 30 from Dan Layzell opening up, Milan Lad who posted 50* striking at 122. Milan also bowled tidily, with 4 overs going at 3s. Some excellent bowling, first change from Rohin Modasia, who bowled sharply and showed impressive control with the ball. Alongside the excellent youngster Arav Ramesh, who took 4 wickets from his 7 overs. The only thing which prevented his 5for was Mark Roger’s batting, who gave up absolutely nothing! Rahul Gahlot, and Minesh opened the batting together excellently, fire and ice! After that opening partnership however, the CSK tail did not wag!!

Next week the league starts with the 1st XI hosting OMT 2s, the 2nd XI travelling to play Gerrards Cross 3s and the 3rd XI host Bushy Park 3s. On Sunday the Women Super 8s side travel to Slough to play the hosts and Chalfont St Peter and the Sunday XI have a home game against Rising Globetrotters.

Colts:
The colts season is up and running with the usual vibrancy at Chenies on Sunday mornings alongside the sunshine.

Colts managers – please do send in your match reports for inclusion in the bulletin

Teas / coffees and cakes will be on sale every Sunday morning in the pavilion. All cakes are home-made by Zaynab Haq and all proceeds will go directly to the club. We have a card payment machine so please do avail yourself of the fayre on sale, and save yourself the trip to the coffee shop on the way to the club.

In other news:
2025 Subscriptions are now due and available on the website. Thanks to those that have already paid. Full details at this link https://www.chenies-cricket.org/a/subscriptions-46652.html Please pay promptly and early, many of the club running costs are loaded to this time of the year so we do need funds to be coming in so that we can maintain a healthy cash flow. Also remember that you are not insured via the club if you have not paid your subscription. And for senior playing members, remember that there is a discount for paying early.

Overseas Player - We are delighted that we will have the services of a fast bowler from Grenada this year. We have sorted accommodation for him but just need a job. He is looking for manual work – if you can help out please reach out to Stef Saleem on 07780 530300

Season launch social event – there will be ‘a bit of a do’ at the club on Saturday 10th May:
In the spirit of inspiring an exciting season ahead, for all members and also the community, the club will be putting together an evening of music, food and drinks on the 10th - getting everyone together after games on Saturday, for an "Aprés Cri" celebration starting from 6pm.
On Saturday 10th May, our Men's 1st XI will be playing their first league match of the season. This is a home fixture against Old Merchant Taylors CC, with play starting at 12.30pm and finishing at approx 7pm. Our Men's 2nd and 3rd XI will also be playing their first league games, away. The Women's Super 8 campaign is underway, and of course all of our wonderful Colts teams, many of which will be playing their first matches this week. There will be homemade Chicken Biryani alongside a selection of mouth watering vegetarian street food items. This evening will also offer a perfect opportunity for members and community to enjoy the impressive selection of craft ales and wine provided by our new bar operator, The Sticky Wicket. With the prospect of good weather looking promising, we hope you will be able to join us. All are welcome and no booking is necessary, although to help cater for numbers it would be useful if you could indicate your intention to attend by sending a message to Rohin on 07958 973839.

Personal Coaching – if you want to find that next level in your game from personalised 1:1 coaching then reach out to Roshan Dias on 07427 926943 or visit his website here

An appeal for further help to run the club
Our wonderful club has seen unprecedented growth over the past few years. Credit goes to everyone at the club for facilitating this, but special credit goes to the management committee for working so hard to develop and grow the club.
The downside to this is that the workload upon the committee has also grown such that it is no longer possible for our officials to cope and run the club efficiently or effectively.
We are therefore appealing for members to come forward to help.
The first appeal is for someone to take up the position of Sponsorship Manager: Sponsorship is a significant yet untapped opportunity for funding at our club. We are looking for someone to manage and nurture our existing sponsors, and to proactively work to develop new sponsorship partnerships. The role could easily be shared among 2 or 3 people. If you are interested please speak to Dave Brown or Simon Hargreaves.
Our mantra is ‘many hands make light work’ and we are looking for 2, 3 or 4 people in each of the following areas to form a small team working with the committee member responsible for that area. None of these are committee positions so you don’t have to worry about coming along to meetings; all we’re asking is to get involved and help out in a way that suits you:

Our bar is going from strength to strength under the stewardship of Mick French. But he can’t be there all the time and if we are going to open more frequently with publicised hours then we’ll need volunteers to take on shifts behind the bar. If you’re interested in joining a group of volunteers who could take on shifts occasionally then please contact Mick (mickbeernut@gmail.com / 07771 866370)

An intra club Fantasy Cricket game has been set up by Alex Walker. These are great fun – you just pick a team of 6 from the club’s players and see how their points rack up for your team based upon performances. Entry is just £3. Go to http://chenies-latimer.fantasyclubcricket.co.uk/. Player prices will change each week based on form and anyone not in the database yet will be added automatically once they play a league game.

Instagram – some great work behind the scenes has revived our Instagram account and we’ll be posting regularly and aften throughout the season. Please follow us @chenieslatimercc and @chenieswomenscricket

Also make sure you have downloaded the club app and have your Pitchero account profile set up to receive communications from the club. More details here

For all club kit and clothing requirements, please visit https://www.chenies-cricket.org/a/club-kit-58457.html and contact Dave Brown to order.

Our kit supplier, Chiltern Sports, are also 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. Call the shop on 01296 613399 or Richard Young on 07831 662874.