Runs, Runs, Runs and then some more Runs.

Windsor 301-7 dec. (51.1 Overs) (M. Joel 161, R. Noble 61 - Moxon 5-86)
Teddington Town 304-6 (47.2 Overs) (P.Rauby 79* , A.Patel 63)


Before the start of the game, Windsor lay in 3rd Place, Teddington in 2nd and just 4 points separated the sides. Both had made excellent starts to the season having lost only 1 game each. Before the match you sensed something special was going to happen, and the players didn't disappoint......

Winning the toss Windsor captain Chris Edge, elected to bat and after 4 overs with the score on 8-2, Windsor having lost opener Paul Huggins and Nigel Wing both for 0, it looked like the skipper had made the wrong choice. However, the gritty Rob Noble was now paired with Matt Joel and what followed next was 38 overs of the most breathtaking batting anyone had seen all season. Noble was the perfect foil for the elegant Joel. Constantly rotating the strike, and making use of the short long on and long off boundaries, quite visibly the Teddington players wilted in the heat. Some awesome hitting by Joel brought up a quickfire fifty. Before anyone knew it, even bigger hitting brought up his hundred. This was also done in some style by hitting the ball into the scorers parasol and sending both the parasol, scorer, chair and pens flying! Noble then reached his fifty and Windsor looked unstoppable. Runs were being leaked all over the field and the scoreboard continued to rattle along. Having put on a club record 217 for the 4th wicket Noble was finally bowled. However the fireworks didn't stop there Tim Smith came in a crashed a few boundaries. Joel brought his 150 up with him being dropped at mid wicket, the only chance of his innings, and a score of 300+ with a double century for Joel was not unlikely. However Joel took on one hit too many and he was taken by a superb catch low down on the boundary by Teddingtons stand in skipper Patel for 161, just 7 short of his previous personal best 168. Bullock and Gould continued the onslaught and in the final over with the score on 301, Edge declared on what he thought would be an almost impossible score to chase.........

Teddington, to their credit, did go after the score, however, just as the batsmen were looking set Windsor took wickets with O'Shannesy, Edge and Griffiths all taking vital scalps. When the 5th wicket fell in an amazing piece of sportsmanship by Teddington Batsman Russell, who walked when the umpire wasn't sure, at 138 even though there were overs to spare surely the game was up for Teddington? However, Windsor didn't count on wicket keeper Rauby and Captain Patel once again turning this match on their head. Sensing victory Windsor attacked, in hindsight now for too long, as once the momentum of the two batsman got going, like a runaway train, there was nothing Windsor could do could stop it. Both played superb innings of good clean hitting and sensible running between the wickets and Windsor were now the ones under pressure. When Patel gloved Griffiths for 63, Windsor again thought they were in with a shout of winning the game but it was Teddington who now had the upper hand and they didn't relinquish it. The game went into the final over, and with 2 required and the field in when Rauby cracked Edge through covers for 4 Teddington were elated and Windsor deflated. However, once the dust had settled, and both teams converged in the bar afterwards, everyone remarked on what a superb game this had been and now sets up the penultimate game between these two sides at the end of the season, into one that shouldn't be missed!

Windsor suffer in bore draw
Windsor 2nd XI Vs Chalfont St. Peter 2nd XI

Saturday saw Windsor entertain Chalfont at the Home Park. With Captain Edge winning his first toss of the season Windsor elected to bat. The decision looked to be a correct one as Windsor openers Paul Huggins and Robert Noble added 71 for the first wicket, before Huggins was dismissed for 24 as he looked to push the score along. This brought the experienced Nigel Wing to the crease as he and Noble carried the attack to Chalfont. Windsor then suffered a mid-innings wobble as Noble departed one short of a deserved 50 and Gould and Smith fell cheaply. However, some fine stroke play by Tom Bullock and Wing coupled with some excellent running between the wickets saw the Windsor score accelerate as their innings drew to a close. However, Wing went for 66. A brief partnership between Bullock and O’Shannesey saw Windsor on to 258-6 off there allotted 52 overs with Bullock finishing unbeaten on 59.

In reply the Windsor attack bombarded the Chalfont rearguard action, with an attack consisting of pace stars O'Shannassey, Griffiths, Edge, Gould, Wing and Endacott plus spin king Abdul Ashraf. However, stubborn resistance by the Chalfont batsmen, ultimately saw Windsor huff and puff, yet fail to blow the house down. The away side 'over the moon' to escape defeat, with O'Shannassey being the pick of the bowling despite being under the weather .

Much has been said in the local press recently about the need for the league to review the allocation of points to discriminate against teams who do not attempt a run chase. However whilst credit must go to the visitors, the Windsor team are left to rue a draw, which should never have been, the rules are clear at the start of the competition.

Crash, Bang, Wallop

NPL Teddington 226-6 (52 Overs - Royce 57)
Windsor 227-7 (47.2 Overs)

In a week which saw the introduction of the new twenty-twenty competition to English Cricket Windsor created their own style of hard-hitting cricket to secure a win on a glorious day at NPL Teddington last Saturday.

Losing the toss Windsor were asked to take the field first and although they couldn't make any initial breakthrough NPL found it hard to score. In the 13th over Michael Gould replaced Tristan O'Shannesy with instant results trapping Gardiner LBW with his second ball. There then followed around 15 overs of consolidation with Gould tying up one end and Chris Edge bowling 17 overs on the trot for a miserly 32 runs. However, with wickets in hand the big hitting began and the ball flying to all areas of the ground. Some good bowling by Kevin Condon brought a couple of wickets but some huge hitting towards the end saw NPL overtake the 200 mark and post a very tough 226 which Windsor would have to chase down at a rate of 4.7 per over for the duration to win.

Things didn't look too good for Windsor however when Paul Huggins departed for his third duck in a row, however this brought Tim Smith to crease and to say he put the bowlers to the sword would be an understatement. By the end of the 10th over Windsor were 78-1 with Smith on 48 of which 11 of these came from the boundary. However the introduction of McCormick paid instant dividends when eyeing his 50 Smith cut straight into the hands of point to give NPL hope. Davis departed soon after and it was Michael Gould and Richard Charters that continued the attack, although set on 38 Gould will be disappointed in skying one too many of McCormick when a deserved 50 was in sight. With 10 overs to go Windsor still needed another 55 runs and it was the experience of vice captain Rob Noble and the hard hitting of Abdul Ashraf that saw Windsor home. Cleverly taking singles and twos and hitting boundaries when required left Windsor needing just 1 off the final over. When Noble cut to point and scrambled home for a single Windsor celebrated which was further enhanced with the news that with Teddington Town's loss at OMT, Windsor had moved back into the top two.

Windsor vs Chalfont St. Peter
21st June 2003 - Meet Home Park 12.30pm

C Edge
RW Noble
N Wing
P Huggins
M Gould
T Smith
T Bullock
R Endacott
A Ashraf
T O'Shannessy
W Griffiths

NPL Teddington Vs Windsor
14th June 2003 - Meet Home Park 12 noon

C EDGE
RW NOBLE
T SMITH
B DAVIS
P HUGGINS
T O'SHANNESY
R CHARTERS
K CONDON
T BULLOCK
A ASHRAF
M GOULD

BLASTED AWAY....

Eversley 199 a/o (Kaminski 77)
Windsor 62 a/o (Piso 6-14)

It was the biggest match of the season at the Home Park as both undefeated Windsor and Eversley locked horns. Upon winning the toss Eversley elected to bat first, and although they took 9 of O'Shannessy's first over from then on found runs hard to come by, with Edge removing on of their openers to splendid catch from Mohindru and O'Shannessy unlucky at the other end. A double change bringing on the spinners of Mohindru and Davis brought instant results with Mohindru taking a wicket in his first over. Davis, bowling his first spell of the season almost made a critical breakthrough when Kominiski edged a ball through Chorley at first slip before he then began to dominate the batting. Wickets fell at regular intervals with good cricket by Windsor restricting Eversley to less than 200. Mohindru being the pick of the bowlers with 4-52.

Against a 'normal' bowling attack the casual observer would have backed Windsor to chase down the target, however Louis Piso, a former Orange Free State First Class bowler in South Africa, is not, it would be fair to say, your normal Div 4b bowler. Opening with the new ball Piso tore in and and (almost literally) decapitated Windsor's top order. The first 4 batsmen all failing to score against his devastating pace and at 29-7 when Piso took a well deserved break the game as good as up. Rahoul Mohindru together with Abdul Ashraf, put up token resistance and made the score look a touch more respectable but even then Rominski and Plank bowled well and when Endacott fell with the score on 62, all Windsor could do was applaud Piso in the knowledge that they had been well defeated. However, the season is far from over and Windsor will be looking to get back to winning ways next week away at NPL Teddington.

Windsor vs Everlsey
7th June 2003 - Meet Home Park 12.15

C EDGE
RW NOBLE
A CHORLEY
B DAVIS
A ASHRAF
T O'SHAUNNESY
R MOHINDRU
R ENDACOTT
T SMITH
P HUGGINS
N WING

FUN IN THE SUN

OMT 202-6 (Petterson 72)
WINDSOR 204-5 (Huggins 63)

Windsor maintained their 100% start to the season after a well earned win at OMT last Saturday. Making it's first real appearance of the season, the sun shone down at OMT's picturesque Croxley Green ground for the start of the OMT innings. Openers Edge and O'Shaunnesy bowled well and a wicket in the opening over from O'Shaunnesy put the breaks on the OMT innings. So much so that by the 22 over mark OMT had limped to an excruciating 48-2. However, as the sun beat down the pitch began to flatten out and the bowlers began to tire. Michael Gould bowled well without any luck and then Windsor were denied when what seemed like a clear edge when Petterson was adjudged not out off the accurate bowling of Endacott. Salt was further rubbed into the wounds as Petterson rode his luck further to reach 72 and set up some big hitting for the OMT lower order. The return of Edge and O'Shannesy brought the fall of a few more wickets but in the final over OMT reached the 200 target to finish on 202-6.

The opening batting of Davis and Huggins had so far proved to be a revelation this season with opening stands of 96, 85 and 66 already this season and the pair again failed to disappoint. This time Huggins dropped the anchor and Davis made the running, playing elegantly all over the wicket. With the score on 68 and with Davis set on 46 he played one shot too many and gave a catch to mid-wicket to give OMT hope. The old adage of 1 wicket bringing 2 was compounded in this case by 1 bringing 3 as Wing departed to a calamitous run out and Gould being dismissed cheaply. However, after his half century last week Richard Charters continued his good run of form and together with the watchful Huggins, began to rebuild the Windsor innings. By the time Charters was out for 44 Windsor required 48 from the remaining 10 overs. Tim Smith however, didn't intend to use the full 10 overs as he cut, drove and sometimes edged a succession of boundaries including a mammoth six over long on to get Windsor to the target with 3 overs to spare. Next week comes the visit of Eversley 1st XI in a match which will provide a pointer to who the front runners in division 4 will be this year.

Windsor CC Performance of the Week - Sponsored by the Red Rose Tandoori

Paul Huggins - 63 Windsor 2nd XI vs Old Merchant Taylors 2nd XI

Despite strong competition from Scott Martin in the 4th XI, Paul Huggins claims this weeks Windsor CC performance of the week award sponsored by the Red Rose Tandoori.

Nicknamed the Tug Boat, Huggins lived up to the pseudonym as he dropped anchor and steered Windsor 2nd XI to an important win away at Old Merchant Taylors.

With Windsor losing wickets cheaply, Huggins refused to panic and dug in to score a dogged 63 against some tight bowling. Huggins was supported well by Charters and Tim Smith, who both provided the fireworks, whilst Huggins quietly accumulated runs. Having played continuosly in his brothers shadow, Paul certainly deserves the credit for this win.

Paul can now look forward to a 'Sunday Special' meal provided by the Red Rose tandoori and a medal to recognise his achievements.