The 2007 season was a very progressive one for the club: the merger with ICI Paints brought a good number of new players to the club, which led to the regular fielding of 3rd XIs on both Saturdays and Sundays (home matches were played at Richings Park), and several of these new players, most notably Mandeep Gill, Razaq Ishaq and Tariq Gulfishan, made notable contributions off the field of play with committee work; in addition, the junior section continued to thrive and expand, the new practice facility was finally completed (albeit after the season had finished), and the new covers were available for use. On the down side, in a miserable, wet summer, the Chalfont Park square did not, for the most part, play very well, and we do not presently have the financial resources to make the major investment which is really needed to turn it round.

In the Thames Valley League, the 1st XI finished 3rd out of 10 in Division 2B, a sharp improvement on last season but also slightly disappointing, given that we led the table for most of the season. During the season, Saqib Ahmed resigned the captaincy and Mandeep Gill took over, and this disruption was clearly not helpful. However, the main problem was that our batsmen did not support the outstanding efforts of our bowlers, most notably Fareed Ahmed (38 wickets @ 10.47) and the evergreen Zamir Khan (33 wickets @ 10.61). Last year I said that I did not think the 1st XI players at the club were contributing enough off the field: Mandeep’s contribution rectified that during 2007, to some degree, but I still feel that the basic problem remains – too many of our regular 1st XI players are not actively contributing to the committee.

In Division 4A of the Thames Valley League the 2nd XI finished 4th out of 10 – given the standard of cricket being played, this is the best performance by our 2nd XI since 1982 when we had a very good season in the Truman/Lee League. Razaq Ishaq did a tremendous job in his first season as captain. There were no outstanding individual contributions on the field of play – it was a solid all-round team effort. In 2007 the Saturday 3rd XI enjoyed an unbeaten season under the captaincy of Tariq Gulfishan, and next season it will enter the Thames Valley League, playing home matches on the Beaconsfield 3rd XI ground. We are still hoping to find a more local 3rd XI ground in the long-term, with the playing fields at the National Centre for Epilepsy the most likely venue.

The Sunday 1st XI had a mixed season, reaching the semi-final of the County Cup but only winning one match all season in the Thames & Chilterns Sunday League; availability was erratic, but Mudho Ahmed did an excellent job in trying circumstances. The Sunday 2nd XI and Sunday 3rd XI played regularly throughout the season and as always enjoyed their cricket, on and off the field.

The junior season was really spoilt by the dreadful wet weather during June and July, but we nonetheless fielded seven teams from Under 11 through to Under 17. As I said last year, while the club is enormously indebted to Phil Noot, Keith Neave, Jonathan Lindsay and their various helpers, we need more volunteers to help out with the juniors – umpires, qualified coaches, helpers at practice sessions etc.

The poor weather made life very difficult for our hard-working groundsmen, Shabir Ahmed and David Banner, and the pitches at Chalfont Park were poor. This was reflected in the marks we received from the Thames Valley League. There has been considerable debate about the best way of improving the square, but lack of financial resources prevents us from the obvious resolution – relaying at least part of it. Keith Neave prepared the pitches at Richings Park for the benefit of both our 3rd XIs and some Junior XIs, and the club is greatly indebted to him for his magnificent efforts. The new practice facility was finally completed at the end of the 2007 season, and we are greatly indebted to Dan Webb for his perseverance on this project, which was delayed several times due to lack of financial resources.

Looking forward to the 2008 season, I believe that the priorities for the club should be to improve the Chalfont Park square, to continue to develop junior cricket at the club, and to consolidate our performance in the Thames Valley League. Committee meetings during 2007 were not very well attended, and there are still not enough 1st XI players driving the club forward off the field of play – it would be nice to see an improvement in both these matters in 2008.

Matthew Stevenson

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