So we enter the final third of the season and each team needs to keep collecting points to ensure safety or get out of the relegation zone. This season not only sees whether 0, 1 or 2 teams get relegated form Home Counties Premier Cricket League, but also the gap in Level 2 from the demise of Yateley 1s and also the possibility of a team being promoted into Level 4 meaning that it is unlikely to be a straightforward 2 up, 2 down!

The 1s were at home to Beaconsfield. The traditional format saw long stints from Todd Marchant 3 for 54 and Harry Stephens 4 for 47 to keep a lid on the scoring rate and with wickets falling regularly it was Will Ellison who top scored for Ascot with 47 as they reached 181 all out in 49.1 overs.

It was a close match in the end as while Beaconsfield kept up with the run rate, wickets kept falling. But at 171 for 5, Beaconsfield looked comfortable with Harry Stephens 65 and James Rendell 39 seeing off the threat of Kevin May with 3 for 29. But Nick Wiggett took a couple of wickets to give Beaconsfield a scare before they reached the finishing line with 2 wickets in hand.

This week the 1s have a blank weekend following the pull out of Yateley 1s.

The 2s were on the road at Theale & Tilehurst. Ascot won the toss and elected to field. In the end Theale & Tilehurst’s innings was built around skipper Micheal Holder’s 83 and the lower order helped them reach 202 all out in the final over of the innings. The wickets were spread across the whole of the Ascot bowling attack.

Ascot lost Joshua Jayasingh early but Murray Barter with 30 and Gareth Baker got the score to 50 for 1. Barter, Thomason and Coggins went but Gareth Baker was in imperious form and with skipper Robbie Handley found someone to bat to the end as they reached 203 for 4 in 43.4 overs, with Gareth Baker on a innings winning 127 not out.

That win looked like it would take them out of the relegation zone but both Bagshot 2 and Henley 3 also won and they drag a couple more teams into the relegation battle.

The 2s are at home to league leaders Binfield this Saturday.

The 3s were at home to While Waltham 2s. Ascot lost the toss and were asked to bat. On a testing wicket, Ascot only managed to reach 116 all out of 34.2 overs. 5 batsmen got into double figures but Rob Major top scored with 17. Jordan Thomas took 5 for 44 for the visitors.

In the end the visitors got home by 4 wickets with Andrew Parham top scoring with 18.

The 3s are on the road to Kidmore End 2s this Saturday.

The 4s were away to Thatcham Town 3s. In the end the 4s were comprehensive beaten and lost by 117 runs on Adjusted Run Rate as Thatcham compiled 264 for 6 off 40 overs which was adjusted to 232 as Ascot made 114 for 7 off 35 overs before the rain came.

The 4s will be looking for a change of fortune as they entertain Wargrave 3s on Saturday.