CRICKET
Sat 1XI won by 8 wickets against Stoke Green.
Sat 2XI lost by 5 wickets against Teddington II.
Sun 2XI lost by 4 wickets against Prestcold.

SOFTBALL
Chalfont Park Phoenix won 37-7 against Ascot Blue Jays.

CRICKET
Sat 1st XI, Chenies & Latimer, away, 1.30pm start
Sat 2nd XI, Kidmore End II, home, 1.30pm start
Sun 2nd XI, Chesham Bois II, home, 2pm start

SOFTBALL
Thursday 20th, Waifs and Strays, home, 6:45pm start

ROLLER UPDATE
A big thanks to Shabs and Banner, who gave up three days of their time this week to take apart, repair and put back together the cricket roller. Potentially, they have saved the club about £2500, a fantastic effort and greatly appreciated by everyone, I'm sure.

EURO 2004 QUIZ
The cricket section is promoting a Euro 2004 quiz, £5 to enter and all profits to CPSA. How much money the winner, runner up and third place get depends on how many entries we sell (50% of income to CPSA, 50% in prizes). Please have a go yourself, and sell to friends and family as well. There are two ways to enter:

1) Electronically, by filling in the attached spreadsheet, and sending it to Saqib Ahmed at Saqib.Ahmed@sabre.com
2) the old fashioned method of filling in a form (available from Saqib Ahmed, Matt Stevenson, Zamir Khan, Rahul Punj, David Peters, Dan Webb and Peter & Sandra behind the bar)

The competition is very easy, you just predict the quarter finalists, semi finalists, finalists and winner, and the total number of goals in the tournament as a tie breaker. Closing date is Friday, 11th June. Updates will be posted during the tournament on the club web site (thanks in advance to Nigel Shaw, who will be doing all the hard work behind the scenes).

HOCKEY UMPIRES - PLANNING FOR NEXT SEASON.

Following my election (volunteering) at the Hockey AGM as Umpire Co Ordinator for the Hockey section I am keen to track down all Umpires, players and ex players who are willing to Umpire any Hockey match at any level next season. If I can build a full list and keep a record of restrictions (ie Home games only, Saturday am only, Sunday Juniors only when my family is playing) and preferences (Men Only, Ladies Only, League Games Only) I can then make informed appointments to all our matches up to six weeks in advance. The first step is building the list - if you want to umpire please contact me on 01494 434496 or by e mail mark.yeomans@uk.ibm.com

"WHATEVER NEXT!" Chalfont St Peter 1st XI cricketers spotted warming up and practising fielding before a game. This scarcely believable event was followed by a solid all-round performance against Stoke Green. The visitors batted first on a slow, low Chalfont wicket , and were restricted to a below par 122 all out from 41 overs. This was due to an excellent spell of swing bowling from Salman Khan (6-22 from 15 overs), ably supported, as ever, by Shahid Din (3-35 from 12 overs). This low score wasn't entirely all good news as the boys were in the hutch early for tea and the chips weren't ready! Compensation came in the form of a fine homemade chocolate cake however.

In reply Chalfont made light of the required total. An opening partnership of 44 from Andy Parsons (18) and Shazi Shaughti (21) got the innings off to a steady start. Raff Moughal continuing his fine early season form (44 not out) with skipper Zeddy Khan (30 not out) reigning in his natural attacking game, saw Chalfont home. 123 for 2 from 38.4 overs. 20 very fine points in the bag, next stop Chenies and Latimer (away) on Saturday.

CUP WIN
Chalfont Park Phoenix beat the Ascot Blue Jays 37-7 away on Thursday evening to progress to the next round of the league cup. The Phoenix started strong, batting in eight runs in the first innings and they never looked back, with the game being called to an end by the umpire after the fourth innings on the mercy rule (we were too far ahead!). Overall performance was brilliant which included the team batting at 88%.

The Phoenix travel to first division Thames Valley Marlins in the next round in June.

Here are the best performances of the season so far:

BATTING
Neal Collins, 78, Sun 2XI -v- Dunstable II (25/4)
Andy Parsons, 64, Sat 1XI -v- Wokingham II (08/4)
Neal Collins, 55, Sun 2XI -v- A-o-t-Hill (09/5)
Alex Hales, 54, Sun 2XI -v- Prestcold (16/05)
Matt Stevenson, 52, Sat 2XI -v- Ashford II (24/4)

A weakened Chalfont team travelled to London to play NPL Teddington II on Saturday, and suffered a rather cruel last ball defeat in a thrilling game of cricket. Things started badly, with the convoy of cars first getting lost after a missed turning, and then getting separated by some horses. And then it got worse, as we found ourselves with twelve players in the dressing room. Martin White snr, back from Spain for the weekend, very kindly offered to stand down and umpire.

We won the toss and elected to bat on a hot, sunny day. The wicket looked good, but the outfield was very slow, it really looked like it could have done with another cut. Fours were rare, and sixes seemed the best boundary opportunity. Ajay Wanasinghe top socred with 34, but had to retire hurt (ankle) in the middle of his innings; he was replaced by Adam Laubser, who struck an excellent 31, before he too had to retire hurt (shoulder). So, we had the bizarre sight of an injured batsman being replaced by the injured batman he previously had replaced. Much confusion all round, not least for the scorers. James Mallinder watched most of these events from the non strikers end, but after he was out the innings fell away, and we finished agonisingly one run short of two more bonus points on 149-9 from 52 overs.

Our score looked inadequate, but two early wickets from Sohail Ijaz (2-41) gave us a chance, and Asif Raza then took three more during a herculean, unbroken 24 over bowling spell (3-53). At 62-5, amazingly, we had a chance of victory. But NPL's seventh wicket partnership batted very well, and we couldn't quite maintain the pressure. Ravi Mangat and Tom Richardson both put in good spells, and Ajay Wanasinghe gave a superb display of wicket keeping, but it all proved to be in vain. In the last few overs, we had no chance of victory, our only hope was to achieve a draw. NPL needed 18 off 3 overs, 11 of 2, 5 off the last, then 1 off the last two balls. James Mallinder foiled the first attempt with a diving stop, but the last ball was hit for four. Defeat by five wickets, and only six points to show for it, which was cruel!

SHORT VERSION (For those with attention deficit disorder): We lost by 4 wickets to Prestcold.

LONG VERSION: 'Twas a warm an' sunny day in deepest Binfield Heath, where the comedy bandwagon that is the Sunday 2XI rolled up in all their finery and frippery to take on the might of a refrigerator company, now defunct. Prestcold is their name, and they play in Coppid Hall, in the middle of nowhere, where locals hide in the shadows muttering and twitching.

Two trees dominate the ground and are worth two runs if you hit them - a feat that I have yet to see performed by either side in two years. The clubhouse is more of an elongated shed, with two changing rooms large enough for one person to sleep off their hangover at a time in, with no electricity, but with no lesser new fangled technology than running water. Alas, no showers. All cars used now smell like the inside of a Nike trainer after the London Marathon.

Having arrived at the ground in expectation of a 2pm start, it was slightly worrying to find that the opposition were not present. After a quick look at the green wicket upon which you could graze cattle, a look at the sky and the sacrifing of a small chicken and reading of the entrails, we decided that if we won the toss (and if the opposition turned up) we would bat first so we could be home by dinner time.

Latterly the opposition did turn up, looking suprisingly young and about our level of cricket - crap. It was with some suprise therefore that when we won the toss (two on the bounce - look out Mr Vaughn) and decided to bat that a completely different team emerged from the changing room. Which was some feat, because we had to get changed in shifts.

On to the batting. Of the 108 we scored in our 30 overs, Alex Hales got exactly half of the runs. Next highest scorer was the ever reliable Jonny Extras with 15, followed by Yoxall Jnr who stayed in for an hour for 14. Bugger. Comedy moment came with the return of Martin White from Spain to the ground where he lost a tooth last year, only for him to play the ball on to his body, off his pad and on to the wicket, all in slow motion.

After the feast of corned beef, tuna and cheese that was lunch - along with something that was quite nice when you broke it into bits but otherwise had the general look and consistency of a run-up marker - came the joy that was bowling. Once again this is a story about Alex Hales, who took 4-17 from his eight overs (two caught by ageing Lothario Whitey!), with only Bubloo (3-0-20-1) and Lindsay (8-3-16-1, 'Kodak Moment' catch at gully by Webb) making any impression as Prestcold put the mockers on us in 29.1 overs.

Many thanks go to Malcolm 'King Louie' Upton for taking the hardest job of the day - drinking beer in the sun whilst scoring.

Is this the end? Have the 2s peaked already? Will Neal Collins turn up next week to give us a chance of victory? Where's Dean Page? Can Jon Lindsay go a whole over without complaining about his injuries? Will Dan Webb ever not get a mention in the report that he writes? Will Chris Yoxall stop bowling sausage rolls to add to the buffet? Will Dave Nolder ever repeat his batting from Headstone? Will Dave Andersen play defensively to the straight ball? Will Steve Clarke get his third duck in a row when he next plays? All these answers and more in next weeks edition, be sure to tune in!