The Saturday 1st XI recorded a welcome five wicket victory against Tring Park II at Chalfont Park. Tring batted first on a very hot afternoon, and a Herculean spell of seam bowling from Martin Cartledge, who bowled 17 overs and took 4-42, helped restrict them to 186-9 from 52 overs. Our innings started badly, and when we were reduced to 61-4, it looked as though Tring were favourites. But then a century partnership for the fifth wicket between skipper Zamir Khan (73) and Satish Sharma (47 not out) swung the match our way, and we won fairly comfortably in the end, by five wickets.

The Saturday 2nd XI earned a hard fought draw on Saturday away to Windsor. Electing to bat first on hard track with a quick outfield, we did well to restrict the hosts to just 3-an-over for the early part of their innings although some dropped chances were to prove costly as Windsor had wickets in hand for a late assault on the bowlers. 109 runs were added in the last 11 overs as Windsor finished on 248 for 6 off 52 overs. Giles Payne was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 57 off 15 overs in his first game of the season. Our reply was solid and built around an elegant innings of 94 by Martin White which contained 15 4's. Showing great concentration and patience throughout, he helped see off the opening bowlers and reached his fifty off 79 balls before going on the offensive and falling just short of a well deserved century off 104 balls. Payne with a quickfire 39 and Mike Burge (23) gave White good support. It was left to Rob Machin and Tim Graver to ensure CSP gained full batting points and held out for the draw as the game finished with the distant sound of Prince William's party.

The Sunday 1st XI entertained Thame Town in a MASL fixture at Chalfont Park, and were defeated by four wickets. We batted first on a slow wicket and laboured to 160 all out in 39.3 overs, with Zamir Khan making the only notable contribution, an innings of 51. In reply, Thame looked to be cruising as they passed fifty in the sixth over, but our spin triplets, Rhys Mander, Zamir Khan and Safi Ahmed then pegged them back. However, with wickets in hand, Thame always looked the likely winners, and so it proved, passing our target in the final over, 162-6 in 39.3 overs. Mike Burge, as ever, provided the champagne moment of the day, removing one of the fielding circle disks and using it to mark his bowling run up.

The Sunday 2nd XI was comprehensively beaten against the quickest and nastiest bowling likely to be faced this year. Set in idyllic Cranford, with the spectacular backdrop of a 747 landing every minute, Crane won the toss and elected to bat. Early breakthroughs by Chris Yoxall Snr and Dean Page (3-18) lulled Chalfont in to a false sense of security, and it was left to some tidy bowling by Steve Baker and Gareth Noot, in addition to some sucidal running between the wickets from Crane to restrict the score to 127-8 from 32 overs. Local rules meant each bowler was allowed a maximum of eight overs, so it was left to Webb and Nagle to turn their arms over, only to see Crane accelerate to finish on 177-8. Only Dean Page (22) managed any sort of flourish with the bat, with the 2XI sharing helmets, arm guards, chest pads and thigh guards against bowling that threatened to break the sound barrier as well as incidental things like fingers, ribs and faces. Highest scorer in the game was the ever dependable extras with 29 as the 2XI slumped to a miserable 72 all out in just 24 overs.

This weekends fixtures are as follows:

Saturday 1st XI:
Beaconsfield II, TVL2B, home, 1.30pm start

Saturday 2nd XI:
Marlow Park II, TVL4B, away, 1.30pm start

Sunday 1st XI:
Beaconsfield, MASL, away, 2pm start

Batting:
Martin Cartledge, 101, Sat 2XI v. High Wycombe (31/05)
Martin L. White, 94, Sat 2XI v. Windsor (21/06)
Neal Collins, 82, Sun 2XI v. Marquess (01/06)
Zamir Khan, 81, Sun 1XI v. Harrow Town (11/05)
Neal Collins, 77*, Sun 2XI v. Old Owens (11/05)
Zamir Khan, 73, Sat 1XI v. Tring Park (21/06)