Finally, we managed to get in a full weekend of cricket. Congratulations to our Under 13s who beat Wokingham by 14 runs to reach the quarter-finals of the Berkshire Cup. Commiserations to our Under 15s who lost to Farnham Royal in the Berkshire Cup by only 2 wickets and with only 4 balls remaining.

1s v Taplow

Taplow were the visitors at the Racecourse Ground. Ascot skipper, Mike Brown, won the toss and elected to field first. That seemed to be the right decision as Myles Trainor (2 for 28) had the visitors in trouble on 9 for 2. But a 94 partnership between Yasir Ahmed 18 and Haseeb Haider had Taplow back on course.

But the pivotal moment in the match was the wicket of Haseeb Haider for 64 with Tharindu Denipitiyage taking a superb caught and bowled to remove him. Tharindu (2 for 26) and Tom Walsingham (6 for 34) then wrapped up the Taplow innings as the fell to 141 all out in 35 overs.

Muzzammil Sherzad (2 for 26) had Ascot in early trouble at 10 for 2 with the removal of Harry Watson and Adam Smith. A third wicket partnership of 65 between Tharindu (25) and Andy Murray restored the innings and despite the loss of Tom Walsingham, Andy Murray (45 not out) and Jem Bains (28 not out) saw Ascot home by 6 wickets with nearly 9 overs remaining.

2s v Henley 3

The 2s were on the road but had little to show from this encounter apart from injuries in this one-sided affair. Henley won the toss and batted first.

Openers Rob Kenworthy (74) and Ajmal Safi (43) set the foundation for what was to be a formidable total as they made 198 for 7 off 45 overs. Jeremy Wing was the pick of the Ascot bowlers with 3 for 43.

Ascot were already one batsman down due to an injury in the field and the omens didn’t get any better when skipper Rob Handley had to retire while batting as well. Several players got into double figures, but with Jacob Parry (21) top scoring Ascot lost by 102 runs. Sean Taylor was the pick of the Henley bowlers with 4 for 32.

3s v Bradfield 2

At Locks Ride, Bradfield 2 were the visitors. The 3s won the toss and elected to field first. As with the 2s match, it was the openers who set the foundation for their total with Tim Wilson (31) and Tom Rushton (68) leading the way to a total of 144 for 9. Satpal was the bright spot in the Ascot bowling attack with 5 for 17.

Unfortunately in response only 2 Ascot batters reached double figures as they subsided to 74 all out in 30.1 overs. Siddarth Subramaniam was the pick of the Bradfield attack with 4 for 12 and there were also 3 run outs.

4s v NPL 3

The 4s visited south-west London again, this time to play NPL 3. NPL won the toss and elected to bat first. 18.4 overs later and the innings was finished as NPL made 45 all out as Saria Mohammad took 5 for 12.

Despite a spell of 3 for 12 from Matt Watkins, the 4s won by 6 wickets with nearly 30 overs remaining.