Colin Justice reports

Ist XI v Purley
Yateley were outplayed by high flying Purley on Saturday. Electing to bat Ben Viner 38 and John Muir 37 added 73 for the first wicket before both fell in quick succession. Yateley failed to build on this steady start and wickets tumbled. Mannu Rawat scored 30 as the crashed to 157 all out.

Purley's innings began in a flurry as Yateley's opening attack presented them with a succession of lose balls and they reached 62 for 0 after only 10 overs. Harry Bartlett pulled Yateley back in the game with 2 for 18 off his 5 overs. Yateley took the 5th wicket with the scoreboard on 120 but some hard hitting saw Purley to a comfortable 5 wicket victory.

2nd XI v Sonning II

Yateley put in a spirited batting performance. Laks hit 11 fours and 2 sixes in a hard hit 69 and acting skipper Jim Henstock 41 including 30 in boundaries. chris James scored 27 not out as Yateley ended on 214 all out.

Sonning's batting was totally dominant and they reached the target with the loss of only 1 wicket in only 31 overs, Van Der Walt scoring 112 not out. Yately's only wicket alas was a run out!!!

3rd XI v Wokingham Oaks and Acorns

The thirds recovered from 118 for 8 to reach 206 for 8 thanks to Tim Moore's excellent 64no supported by skipper Andy Davies' 33 no. Peter Phillips made 20 and James Halson 13 on their senior debuts. Wokingham were never in the hunt and 'man of the match' Tim Moore took 3 for 25 but we couldn't press home our advantage and W O&A hung on at 176 for 7. Well played Tim.

Colin Justice reports

The firsts continued there impressive run in the TVL with a storming win over Barnes Wildgeese. On a moist track the visitors decided to bat and were soon in trouble with the first wicket falling to the first ball of the second over with a fine yorker from paceman Ben Swingler- Brown. Soon the away side seemed to be in total disarray with only 32 on the board for 5 wickets. However Barnes fought back with an excellent sixth wicket partnership. Tight bowling from Harry Bartlett and Skipper Stephen Davies kept the runs in check and a mammoth spell of Stuart Lipo including three wickets kept Barnes to 215 for 6 from 52 overs.

Opening pair Ben Viner (51) and Chris Petts (56) dominated from the start both reaching their half century's in quick succession. Scott Gore then scored an impressive 73 not out well supported by Mannu to bring victory in the 35th over and fourth place in the league.

A depleted seconds put up a good performance and narrowly failed to win on Saturday.Yateley bowled first with Aswin Velasumy taking 1 for 40 off 15 overs and Laks 1 for 24 off 9. Dave Regan weighed in with 2 for 36 as Purley were restricted to 204 for 5 off 52 overs.

We kept up the chase to the end with Chris Tull scoring an impressive 96 before holing out as we pushed for the win. Laks scored 36 and Dan Vincent 27 in what was a spirited run chase which finished on 197 for 7. This result kept Yateley in 4th place in Division 6B.

Congratulations to Mark Cowdrill who scored a maiden hundred for the club scoring 106 as Yateley amassed a massive 268 for 3. Jim Henstock 58, Jack Wood 47 and Mike Downey 31 all made excellent contributions as Yateley declared after only 45 overs.

Thatcham were never in the hunt but batted steadily throughout and never looked as if they would lose. They finished on 225 for 7. Skipper Andy Davies bowled 17 overs 3 for 40 but they could not drive home the advantage and the match finished in a draw. Although currently third from bottom, the thirds are also only 16 points off third place with six teams very close together. If they can maintain their current good form, the thirds could still finish in the top three.

The victory over Twyford on Sunday turned out to be very convincing. Yateley batted first and amassed 241 for 4 in 40 overs. Jon Dow and Tom Wood put on 155 for the first wicket. Jon was out for 43 but Tom went onto complete his century scoring 108. James Muir 31 and Jack Wood 21 threw the bat to see the total to 241.

Chris James struck twice in the first 5 overs as Twyford struggled to 6 for 2. Twyford then dug in and a boring draw looked likely before a "Woody" moment turned the game. Jack Wood beat skipper Downes and brother Tom took off the bails for a match changing stumping. Harry Bartlett took 3 for 11 bowling a mixture of pace and spin, Jack Wood 2 for 5 and Chris James 4 for 9 as Twyford were bowled out for 85 leaving Yateley winners by 156 runs.

John Muir reports
ON Sunday rain thwarted our 100% win record. Against Binfield we lost the toss and were asked to field. Our openers kept things tight but gradually the batsmen were getting on top. Jamie Harris making his Sunday debut took 3 for 43 and Ants Muir 1 for 10 off 8. The highlights featured 2 run outs. The first by the captain trapped a ball on his instep before hitting the stumps with an underarm throw. (not sure who was more surprised the batsman or our fielders!!!!!!!!!). The other was a great stop by Anthony in the covers who stopped the ball and threw the ball to the ball before the batsman got half way. (obviously leant a lot from his Dad!!!). Binfield declared on 197 for 6 of 45 overs.

After a downpour Yateley set about their task. They reached 29 for 0 before the rain returned to end the game. Jon Dow and Tom Wood were stroking the ball nicely and the Binfield score did not look enough to trouble them.

Colin Justice reports
The club got another hat-trick of wins on Saturday and in 12 matches in the second half of the season we have won 9.

Ben Swingler-Brown led the first eleven attack with great style taking 5 for 20 against Chiswick and Latymer with Jon Dow 3 chipping in with 3 for 12. The firsts were also indebteded to keeper Danny Mortimer with five catches and a ten over spell from Stu Lipo which yielded 1 for just 15 runs as we dismissed Chiswick and Latymer for a lowly 104. Openers Ben Viner (41) and John Muir (24no) ensured there were no surprises and Chris Tull added a quick fire 38 no to seal a nine wicket win.

George Sandford lead the twos attack with 3 for 10 and four wickets for Lakshmi Srinivasan routed Farnham Common 2s for just 134. Youngsters Henry Wildey (30) and Sandford (37no) saw Yateley home by 4 wickets

Yateley thirds were indebted to Francois Bosch (35), Mark Handcock (27) and Asim Kayani (22) in reaching 150 all out against Cove Academy. Phil Mackie with 3 for 21 and two wickets for Issy and Mark Handcock and a wicket apiece for Any Davies, Tim Moore and Francois Bosch helped dismiss Cove for 109.

John Muir reports
Youth, Youth and Youth, and is 26 really old?

The Sunday XI continued to progress with a 57 win run over Hartley Wintney.

Batting first Mark Cowdrill (31 runs not years) and Tom Wood added 52 for the first wicket before both fell in the same over. Then a partnership of 72 from Jon Dow (58) and Jack Wood (32) set up a good total. It was nice to see 13 year old Jack show his brother a thing or two. Will Moore showed the maturity of a 21 year old to add 26, before James Muir flashed 31 off some 15 balls (I thought it was more but he said he was counting) and Old Boy Phil Mackie scored 26 one for each for his tender years. Yateley finished with 230 for 5 in 40 overs.

When Hartley batted they added 92 for the wicket in 18 overs. They were restricted by some tight bowling especially from Anthony Muir who did not take a wicket but conceded only 10 runs from his 8 overs. Hartley had to up the scoring rate but Harry Bartlett and Phil Mackie each took 2 wickets to interrupt the flow. The final word was left to Jack Wood who took 2 for 7 as Hartley were restricted to 173 for 8.

In desperation to match his brother "little" Tom Wood reverted to pace in his final over but still looked pedestrian in comparison.

Colin Justice reports
The Cricket Chairman regrets that he is going on holiday and can only give a quick 'heads-up' of Saturday's matches. However two bits of good news first - (a) John Muir will be sending in a longer report in a day or so and (b) as this is one of the few weekends that John didn't pull off a stunning full length diving catch, the report will be 2 or 3 pages less than it might have been. (Let alone a weekend without structural damage in the surrounding area)

After two successive wins, the firsts crashed to a resounding 9 wicket defeat at the hands of Chesham 2s in 4B. A poor batting display saw us struggle to 115 all out on a damp pitch. However when it came to Yateley's turn to bowl Chesham had no difficulty in cruising in for an emphatic 9 wicket win to take over third spot.from us.

Yateley 2s ran up a third successive win at second placed Burnham 3s as Mark Handcock took another four wickets to add to his six of last week and Pete Denston also chipped in to send Burnham reeling to 156 all out. James Muir (46), Simon Treadwell (30) and Matt Handcock (26) saw Yateley home by 5 wickets.

Yateley thirds beat league leaders Bagshot 3s with four wickets for Francois Bosch and a fine 67 for David Regan in an excellent partnership with Mike Sewell as Yateley chased down 211 with three wickets in hand. Chris Roper smashed a stress relieving four to finish the game with two balls left. As this game was clearly going to be a tight finish I phoned Ryan Bone's dad Jesse on his mobile to see how the run chase was faring. I would like to put on record my appreciation to Jesse for giving me an excellent indication of how it was going from his usual vantage point on the far side of the ground. Sadly only an indication however as, from his favoured spot, Jesse is totally unable to see the scoreboard.

Stuart lipo reports
Frimley won the toss and decided to bat first, after a couple of sloppy overs in the field, we started to tighten the screw with some very good bowling from Andy "The Engine" Davies, Tom "Tiger" Wood, Anthony Muir and Ben "Pretty Boy" Swingler-Brown. The tight bowling resulted in the Frimley batsmen taking chances running between the wickets and Yateley had four run outs from FOUR DIRECT hits. Anthony Muir and Andy "The Engine" Davies took two wickets each. Frimley finished on 124 for 9 off their 15 overs.

Yateley's reply did not get off to a good start losing their first wicket in the first over and from there on, Yateley batsmen struggled and could not pick up the tempo. The star of the innings was Ben "Bambi" Viner, who seemed to hit top form scoring 49. The youth of Tom "Tiger" Wood and James Muir showed the "older" "experienced" players how to run between the wickets with a fine partnership at the end of the innings and almost won us the game. Yateley fell short by 9 runs.

I would like to thank on behalf of the team for all the supporters that came down to watch as well as the supporters who were unable to make it. Your support was very welcomed and sorry we could not live up to our previous years reputation. We WILL be back next year and win!!

Colin Justice reports
Yateley enjoyed a comfortable hat-trick of wins on the first Saturday of the second round of matches.

It didn't look so good for the firsts though when, after 4 overs, they found themselves at 7 for 2 with John Muir and Ben Viner back in the pavilion. Scott Gore (27) and James Muir (46) set up the recovery with James anchoring the innings perfectly in tough conditions. Inspite of losing Will Moore,for a useful 17 good contributions from Danny Mortimer (33), Ben Swingler Brown (30) and the swash-buckling Stuart Lipo (55), saw us reach 238 all out in the 52nd over. For the second week running Stuart Lipo bowled superbly and his 6 for 47, with two from Ben Swingler-Brown, saw Datchet dismissed for 141 in just 36 overs as the firsts move smoothly into third place in 4B.

The seconds restricted Wooburn Narkovians to 151 for 8 with Mark Handcock bowling accurately to take 5 for 27 in 18 overs with a 35 yard boundary behind him. (Hopefully he'll start moving again in time for next Saturday.) Anthony Muir bowled excellently to return 2 for 18 off 8 and another good week for Tim Moore with 1 for 31 off 11. Chris Tull did a great containment job with 8 overs for 19. John Howells (53) and Chris Tull (66) batted superbly on a pitch that was never easy and took us to 110 for the first wicket but a few unnecessary wickets fell and KP has nothing to fear from Aswin "Switch Hit" Velusamy. Keep (or perhaps start) practicing Aswin!! Jon Dow kept his head and we eased home for a comfortable 6 wicket win and fifth spot.

The thirds had an even easier win after skittling Bracknell 2s for 50. Andy Davies took 4 - 8 and Issy took 3 for 8. Yateley, with experienced / veteran / stalwart / old campaigner/ old* Stuart Hill racing to 29 not out, showed that every team needs a few 'grey hairs' about (although not normally quite as many as that). We eased home by 8 wickets to move well clear of the drop zone.

John Muir reports
Yateley 1st XI got back to winning ways with a crushing 92 run defeat of Caversham & Redingensians. Winning the toss skipper Steve Davies elected to bat and openers Viner and Muir put on 52 in 7 overs before both were out in quick succession. Then Chris Petts scored his 2nd century of the season to to see the total to a creditable 264 for 9. Danny Mortimer 38 and Manu Rawat 28 made useful contributions. The opposition spinners bowled 41 overs in the innings with veteran Chip Sainsbury taking 5 for 93 off 22 overs.

Redingensians were never in the game as Stuart Lipo, Ben Swingler Brown and Harry Bartlett kept things tight. Lipo took 2 early wickets  but dropped catches looked likely to be Yateley's downfall. Skipper Davies returned to action and took 2 wickets and Lipo returned to return season's best 5 for 50. Yateley won by 92 runs with 6+ overs remaining.

Yateley 2nd's matched their 1st XI winning by 4 wickets v Chiswick & Latimer. Their young pace attack were the stars Chris James 3 for 32 (including an opening spell of 3 for 8) and Anthony Muir 2 for 23 saw the home team slump to 96 for 5.Glover struck 85 to see the visitors to 203 all out, Chris Tull returned to form with 2 for 8.

In reply Yateley were always on target but lost wickets at regular intervals. Henry Wildey 39, Paul Sandford 28 and Laks 34 all main telling conributions. A seventh wicket unbeaten partnership of 49 by Ashwin Velusamy and Phil Mackie saw Yateley home to a deserved victory.

The thirds put in a good all-round bowling performance against Basingstoke fifths with good spells from Francois Bosch, Issy Acktar and Chris Roper. They ran up 186 for 7 with two wickets for Jon Dow and Matt Handcock and a tight spell from Tim Moore. However faced with a lightening outfield, a good strong looking batting line up managed to collapse to 112 all out inspite of 33 from Tim. Francois looked dangerous but no one could stay with him.

Stuart Lipo reports
HW won the toss and batted 1st.  They got off to a bit of a flyer but the experience head of Andy Davies slowed them down and he was rewarded with 3 wickets two of them being caught by the reliable hands of Stuart Lipo.  HW kept losing wickets in bunches and Stuart Lipo, Ben Swingler Brown and Scot Gore finished with a wicket a piece and Andy finished with 3 wickets.  Yateley went into bat needing 177 to win, which on HW pitch is very getable.  Again, Yateley lost wickets in bunches and ended on 145 off their 15 overs, top score was Ben Viner with 53 and Will Moore 35 not out.

It was great to see some support for the team at HW.

Yateley now play a potential double headed against Frimley in the coming weeks.  The game will be the final of last years Plate final as well as this year's group game, which is a must win for Yateley to advance to the Plate.  Date to be finalised for the Frimley game.

John Muir reports
Yateley retained their unbeaten record against Stoke Row on Sunday. After winning the toss and batting Stuart Lipo held the innings together with an excellent 70 before holing out in the 33rd over. Jon Dow and James Muir fell early on a difficult wicket as yateley were 27 for 2. A late partnership by Dan Vincent 25 no and Harry Bartlett 27 no then smashed the ball to all parts of the ground to see the total to 207 for 8.

Now when I was young the senior bowler (or was it older? or is that the same thing?) got the preference of bowling downhill with the wind, but apparently times have changed and I was told that the youngsters had preference. Well without a grumble I took the ball and showed the kids that there was life in the "old dog" yet as 2 for 8 off 6 overs saw the home side struggling. Harry Bartlett kept up his good form with 3 for 22 (which would have been 18 he moaned if that throw at the stumps hadn't gone for 4 overthrows!!). Matt Handcock took exception to the Stoke Row number 6 smacking him on he head with a short ball before having him LBW 3 balls later. Ian Garner in his first outing took 2 fine catches. Stoke Row batted 12 players and still only reached 161 all out seeing Yateley winners by 46 runs.

The firsts poor run continued at high-flying Sonning in spite of looking well placed as we reduced Sonning to 97 for 5. Congratulations to 15 year old left-armer Harry Bartlett who stepped into Ben Swingler-Brown's shoes to return 2 for 25. Well bowled Chris James as well who penned down some high quality batsmen. However when Stevens (60) then cut loose, Sonning closed on 252 for 8 with a good return from Phil Mackie with 2 for 41. We lost Ben Viner to the first ball of the innings but John Muir managed to see off the young Aussie pace bowler only to be adjudged (to use a telling phrase) lbw for 21. Phil (15) and Stu (20) at least enabled us to reach three figures as we declined to just 105 all out.

Well played the Seconds. They ran up 299 for 7 against Fleet 2s with James Muir making 97 - the sudden appearance of 97 on the scoreboard, in time-honoured fashion, making sure that James didn't get anymore!! He was well supported by Will Moore, returning from college, with a well struck 68 and skipper PAul Sandford (57). Fleet held out for a draw on at 192 for 8 as Paul rang the changes in a desperate effort to force a win. Best bowling went to another university returnee, Stuart Skeates with 3 for 30.

Top marks though to the thirds who toppled second placed Aldershot 3s by one wicket in a tense finish. Aldershot posted 169 all out with good bowling from our attack. Andy Davies has asked that we make special mention of U13s player Miles Covers. Miles return was 8 overs 5 maidens 7 runs and 4 wickets and totally contained a big hitting no 3 batsman who made an aggressive 49 but decided to see Miles off. Fine bowling paid the best possible complement by an experienced cricketer. At one point with Miles bowling in partnership with Chris Roper, the Aldershot innings almost ground to a halt and in the end this was crucial. When we batted a number of players got useful starts but the team was indebted to Mike Sewell whose 77 was a fine knock and Shoiab Baig with 22. In a tight finish the cool head of Chris Roper struck the winning runs as we squeezed home by 1 wicket.

The first's availability was poor so we threw our youngsters into the fray in the absence of anumber of regulars and were pleased to dismiss Purley for 213 with Chris Petts taking 3 for 43 and Ben Swingler-Brown 3 for 65. They were well supported by Harry Bartlett (2 for 28) in 10 overs and Anthony Muir returned 1 for 9. Sadly a total batting collapse followed, with only John Muir (26) in double figures although Chris Petts could feel hard done by. We were shot out for 55.

The seconds fared little better in a weekend best forgotten as Sonning 2s ran up 280 for 8. Again we threw the youngsters in and Hampshire under 13 Jack Wood recorded a credible 2 for 26 with the slightly less youthful Lee Latif returning 2 for 15. Only Matt Handcock (26) and Mark Handcock (20) offered any resistence as Yateley subsided to just 127 all out. Many thanks to Kevin wood for helping out with the captaincy.

Thirds were rained off which constituted the best result of the weekend!!

The firsts couldn't force a win against Barnes Wild Geese after posting an imposing 300 for 7. An opening stand of 72 between James Muir and John Muir was a delight to watch for a number of reasons. Firstly there were no rows that could be assertained from the boundary. Secondly some very sound and experienced advice was given during the partnership which it appears that John listened to. Thirdly on no occasion was either player lapped by the other whilst running between the wickets. They set up a good foundation and Mannu Rawat (61), Stuart Lipo (55no), Henry Wildey (30) and Scott Gore (25) capitalised on a good track. Barnes never really took it on however and in spite of two more wickets for Prabu Girirjan they comfortably forced a draw at 184 for 6.

We remain in fifth only 18 points behind the second promotion place.

Yateley seconds held Purley to a very gettable 206 for 8 thanks to Antony Muir's 3 for 45 and tight seam bowling from Harry Bartlett who conceded just 2 an over in his 1 for 18. Both lads bowled at the depth and we were hopeful that the total Yateley was in our range. However we contrived to lose wickets with some soft dismissals and only John Howells (21) and Simon Treadwell (23) were able to made any fight of it as we subsided to just 124 all out. We have dropped to 7th.

Yateley thirds could only manage 92 all out with Pip Squire again top scoring but skipper Andy Davies lead an excellent fight back with four wickets as Thatcham 4s struggled home with 7 wickets down.

John Muir reports
Yateley continued their unbeaten run on Sundays and as usual youth led the way. Tom Wood (60) and Dan Vincent (24) put on 69 for the first wicket and then Jon Dow (32) and James Muir (37) accelarated he innnings with some fine stroke play. Steve Masters came in at a difficult time and added 19 not out as Yateley scored 241 for 6 off 40 overs.

Ashford decided to attack from the start and had 36 on the board from 3 overs. However U15 opening bowlers Harry Bartlett 2 for 41 and Anthony Muir 2 for 28 stuck to their task and were not deterred by the onslaught. Spinners Tom Wood 3 for 15 and Prabu Girirajan 2 for 41 took middle order wickets as Ashford finally succumbed for 219. Star man in the field was Andy Davies with 3 catches including a one handed catch that we all lost money on !!!!

Yateley won by 22 runs

The firsts lost their unbeaten run on Saturdays that goes back two years to our Berkshire League days. Batting first Yateley attacked the Odiham bowling from the start and John Muir lead the way with four sixes in an inning of 66. (Anyone who can recall a batsman hitting four sixes with no backlift before should write to Wisden). Manu Rawat kept up his fine form with a well made 68 and Scot Gore (25) and Chris Petts (25) gave aggressive support. Stu Lipo nipped in with a fiery 22no. We declared early at 271 for 8. However Odiham who were looking for their first win of the season after a series of low scores choose the Yateley 'belter' to achieve just that. They paced their reply brilliantly with Oates (55) and Turner (61) setting a great platform for Pete Voisey 56no to see the visitors home in good style by 6 wickets. Of the Yateley bowlers only off spinner Prabu Girirajan with 2 for 30 could keep a reasonable economy rate per as the quicks toiled gallantly but without any great penetration.

On an unreliable pitch at Kidmore End, Yateley were disappointed to let the home side reach 178. Four more wickets for offie Aswin Velusamy and three for Simon Treadwell with wickets for Phil Mackie and Francois Bosch gave us maximum bowling points. Our batsmen failed to counter the variable bounce however and we were dismissed for 96.

The thirds did well to dismiss league leaders Royal Ascot 3s for 219 with four wickets for Pip Squire and three for Andy Davies. Good bowling also from youngsters Jack Wood and Miles Covers bodes very well for the future. Asim Kayani (16) and Kevin Wood (20) looked comfortable but a steady loss of wickets put us on the back foot. Yateley were indebted to Ryan Bone (16) and Jack Wood (15) as well as Miles Covers who not only saw out the remaining overs for a draw but told his skipper to "calm down" following an injudicious stroke as they held out for a credible draw at 137 for 8. Let's see if a 13 year old advice works where 20 years of more senior advice has failed!!

John Muir reports
On Sunday we took on local rivals Sandhurst. The average of the side excluding the skipper was 16 and 19 with the skipper. 15 year old James Muir skippered the side and 14 year old Jon Dow scored a marvellous 110 before retiring. Dan Vincent (16) and Jon put on 66 for the first wicket then James Muir and Dow added 127 for the 2nd wicket before James retired hurt for 53 with a pulled muscle in his back. Jon was unflappable as he stroked his way to his maiden ton. Yateley ended up scoring 253 for 4 off only 38 overs.

Sandhurst never attempted to go for the victory and reached 54 before John Muir (older than 20) broke the deadlock when he got one to turn and had the opener baffled with his spin. Ben Swingler Brown (still only 16) turned to bowl spin and took 5 for 32. The end came when Sandhurst were on 160 and Harry Bartlett took the final 2 wickets. Yateley won by 93 runs and continued their unbeaten run on Sundays.

Well done Jon lets hope this is the first of many !!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps it's a good week results-wise to mention the responsibility that the colts players are taking on in the senior Saturday teams. With senior availability down this weekend, the first team fielded a 14 year old, a fifteen year old and two 16 year olds. The second team fielded a 14 year old, four 15 year olds and a 16 year old. Both teams won well and the lads performances are a tribute to the work that goes into our youth development programme.

Stand in 1st XI skipper Stuart Lipo lead from the front with two early wickets against Chiswick and Latimer. However the introduction of spin slowed their innings dramatically as off-spinner Prabu Girirjan took three wickets. However, pride of place went to 16 year old Hampshire left-arm spinner Tom Wood who took 4 for 13 in 11.3 overs as the hosts struggled to 137 all out.

With three of the top-four batsmen missing, veteran John Muir stepped in to anchor the Yateley reply with a patient 43 but a quick fire 23 from Lipo and a cool head from man of the match Wood (16no) saw Yateley home by 5 wickets to take fifth place in league 4B.

The 2nd XI put Farnham Common seconds into bat and spin again caused the problems with Ashwin Velusamy taking 4 for 60 with his off-spin, well supported by medium pacer Simon Treadwell with 2 for 26. The visitors were bowled out for 219. In reply, Paul Sandford (20) and 15 year old Angus Boobyer (41) set up a good foundation but it was an aggressive partnership between Simon Treadwell (50) and 15 year old Matt Handcock (29) that accelerated the run rate and set up the win. Two more youngsters Jon Dow (16no) and John Howells (19no) coolly took Yateley home by 3 wickets.

The 3rd XI collapsed to 85 all out with only Mike Sewell (28) and Asim Kayani (18) reaching double figures. Two wickets for Issy Acktar and one apiece for Andy davies and Mike Sewell was not enough to stop Cove Academy cruising to a deserved 6 wicket win.

Some splendid batting performances; in the 1st XI a first Yateley ton for newcomer Chris Petts and a typically splendid 74 for Mannu; in the 2nd XI a fine 50 from Paul Sandford and a good 46 from Matt handcock, and in the 3rd XI match winning performances from Pip Squire (82), and Paul Henderson (50 no).

The 1st XI had Maidenhead & Bray on the rocks at 173-6 with good bowling from Ben Swingler-Brown (3-54) and the spin of Prabu (1-57). But Yateley's depleted bowling attack (missing Lipo, Arno, Denston, Housley, Barratt Gilham and Woods, to name but a few) couldn't prevent the vistors recovery to 303-8.

Batting first at Hampton Hill the 2nd XI were in trouble collapsing to 88-5 then 93-7. Paul Sandford and Simon Treadwell stopped the rot with a fine partnership, and Matt Handcock got 46 to see Yateley recover to 203 all out to gain maximum batting points. However, 250 runs in needed in the TVL to bowl the opposition out.

The 3rd XI claimed another great victory. Batting first against Theale & Tilehurst Pip Squire got the home side off to a solid start with a magnificent 82. He was well backed up by Paul Henderson (50 no) and Asim Kayani (38 no). Yateley declared on 220-5.

Full report to follow

With a depleted bowling attack, the first eleven struggled to contain Chesham who declared at 298 for 5. We raced to 25 for 0 off 4 overs but the rain ruined what could have been an excellent game of cricket.

The seconds lost by 3 wickets. We declared at 200 for 7 with Mark Handcock (68) well supported by Prabu Girirjan ( 45) and Laksmhi Srinivasan (25). Two wickets for Harry Bartlett and three for Prabu failed to prevent Burnham getting home by 3 wickets.

The thirds battled hard with only ten men and good bowling by Ben Moran-Wardle (3 for 35) and Mike Sewell (3 for 7) saw Bagshot in trouble but a late rally took them to 140. Ben then top-scored with 24 and Steve Masters made 21 but they couldn't prevent a 39 run defeat.

John Muir reports

Yateley youngsters again showed their maturity as a first defeat looked likely on Sunday. Set only 113 to win Yateley were 79 for 8 when Anthony Muir (age 15) marched in to join John Dow (14). Jon finished 18no and Anthony 17no. Between them they hit an unbeaten 34 to see Yateley to victory. Earlier James Muir (15) had anchored the innings with 29 before playing a rash shot sparking a collapse from 55 for 4 to 79 for 8.

When West Reading batted Francois Bosch showed the youngsters that pace wasn't everything as he took 3 for 15 with an excellent piece of medium pace swing bowling. 2 run outs plus wickets from Dan Bailey and Tim Moore saw West Reading on 101 for 8, and then Jon Dow wrapped up the game with 2 quick wickets.

It is one thing scoring runs when you are on top but it takes character to dig yourself out of a hole and this performance shows that through our current crop of youngsters we have a great future at the club. Well done boys !!!

John Muir reports

Yateley preserved their unbeaten record on Sunday with a hard fought victory over Shinfield. After winning the toss Yateley ground out 221 for 9. At a time when youth seems to be showing the way veteran John Muir hit 9 fours in an innings of 62. When he was out new boy Ash Unnithanaswin 25 and Ben Swingler Brown 38 kept the scoreboard moving. Tim Moore hit 3 fours at the end to finish on 14 not out.

Colin Justice reports
Yateley celebrated their arrival in the Thames Valley League with a hat-trick of wins on the first Saturday of the new season.

The 1st XI opted to bat against Datchet seconds and were in early trouble at 5 for 2. This brought Ben Viner and Scott Gore together and after steadily re-building the innings they started to take their toll of the Datchett attack with a fine century partnership.

The loss of Gore for 54 to a needless run out only seemed to inspire Viner and, well supported by Chris Petts, Stuart Lipo and Danny Mortimer, he went on to an excellent century finally falling on the dreaded 'nelson' for 111. Ben Swingler-Brown added some telling blows in a quick-fire 23 and Yateley declared at 274 for 9.

Sixteen year old Swingler Brown was given the new ball on his first team debut and repaid the compliment by reducing Datchett to 29 for 3 with fine left arm swing bowling. The appropriately named Oram then struck an impressive 50 but just as it looked as if Datchet could mount a challenge, two wickets apiece for Lipo and skipper Steve Davis set up the win. It was fitting that the game was ended by a fine in-swinging yorker from the impressive Swingler-Brown giving Yateley a comfortable win by 147 runs. The 2nd XI enjoyed a hard fought win against Wooburn Narkovians. Mark Handcock took 2 early wickets as Wooburn made steady progress, but the introduction of debutant Prabu Girirajin changed the game. Wooburn had no answers to his beautifully flighted offspin and his return of 5 for 17 put Yateley in the driving seat. Simon Treadwell, making a welcome comeback, chipped in with two wickets as the home side were bowled out for 168. Yateley made a steady start and were indebted to Mark Cowdrill's 45 for a positive start to the reply. Fifteen year old James Muir then put Yateley in sight of victory with an assured 32 and it was left to youth team coach Handcock to hit a robust 22 not out to see his side to a well-deserved 4 wicket victory. The 3rd XI could only manage 96 all out against Bracknell second thanks to Asim Kayani (26), Francois Bosch (21), Andy Davies (15) and Miles Covers (10). Skipper Davies then ripped the heart out of the Bracknell innings with a rapid spell of 5 for 8. He was well supported by the accuracy of Bosch and Covers and the left arm spin of 13 year old Hampshire youth player Ben Moran-Wardle who took 2 for 20 including a caught and bowled to end the Bracknell innings on just 51 all out.

Sunday 4 May 2008 - Yateley v Frimley (Friendly)

John Muir reports Yateley started their Sunday season with a convincing win against Frimley. Put into at Frimley could only muster 104 against a very young Yateley attack. Harry Bartlett took 1 for 7 off 9 overs and Anthony Muir 3 for 13 off 6 overs shone. Nick Cox, Dan Vincent, Hugh Squire and Andy Davies all made useful contributions. Yateley started well with Dan Vincent and Mark Cowdrill adding 50 for the first wicket before Mark retired for 18. James Muir then scored 15 not out efore Dan Vincent went on to score his maiden half century for the adults scoring 53no. Apologies to all who didn't get a bat but it is great to see so many youngsters holding their own in men's cricket. For the record we had 1 x U13, 4 x U15, 2 x U16 and 1 x U17 playing for us. Ok and 1 over 50 and 2 who didn't want to say !! Well done boys good start.

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