Despite the bad weather, it has been a busy week and a lot to catch up on.

Congratulations to the U15 Boys team as they beat Cookham Dean to proceed to the next round of the Berkshire T20 Cup. Ascot batted first and made 155 for 9 with Toby making 36 and Ronan 30. In reply, Cookham Dean had wickets in hand but tight bowling and fielding restricted them to 147 for 4 with Vishal taking 2 for 30.

In the next round they will face either Crown Taverners or Pinkneys Green.

Commiserations to the U13 Girls who put up a good performance but lost to Chobham in their T20 Cup.

Women v Holyport

On Sunday, the Women’s team played their first league match against Holyport. Holyport won the toss and elected to bat first.

Skipper Lynsey and Becky opened the batting for Holyport and got them off to a flying start with Becky top scoring with 17 to put on 34 as the first pair.

Mary and Jaz then continued the momentum for Holyport with a partnership of 27 taking Holyport to 261 at the half way mark.

Ascot got some momentum back as Louise picked up her first ever wicket and some good bowling and fielding saw Holyport reach 274 after their third pair.

The final pair of Fiona and Fran started well with 16 off the first 2 overs but Hemi and Sophie took wickets in the final two overs to keep Holyport under 300, as they finished on 294 off 16 overs.

Eleanor and Hemi got Ascot off to the perfect start with 29 in their 4 overs. The debutants, Clare and Vicky, then kept the run scoring going with an impressive 32 in their partnership, to get Ascot to 261 – exactly the same score as Holyport at half way.

Jenny and Sue then added 21 runs for the third pair to give Ascot 282, to set up the final pair. Ascot started well but a great catch in the 13th over pegged Ascot back to 5 runs in the over – 287. Some good bowling and fielding saw only 6 runs off the 14th over – 293.

A great 15th over by Becky including a wicket knocked Ascot back to 291, leaving Ascot 4 to win. A no ball and 2 byes saw the scores tied. Louise then scored 2 and then a single to leave Ascot on 297 with Sophie to face the final 2 balls. Sophie was able to block them out to see Ascot home in a very competitive match by 3 runs.

A great win and team effort all round.

1s v Wokingham 3

Wokingham were the visitors and on winning the toss, Ascot elected to field first. Tamoor Hussain removed the openers early on, but the middle order remained resolute and built a strong total through Priyen Prakash 26, Chris Ruane 29, Ben Jarvis 42, Graeme Engelbrecht 47 and more than a run a ball 72 from Cameron Prentice to reach 248 for 8 off 45 overs. Tamoor Hussain was the pick of the Ascot attack with 5 for 33.

Ascot started well through GK Reddy 45 and Mike Breet 39, followed by Andy Murray 28 and Adam Smith 40, but as the run rate climbed wickets started to fall. Jack Kendall 37 and Dan Mallett 16 kept Ascot in reach with 9 needed off the final over but fell 2 runs short finishing on 246 for 8.

Wokingham 4 v 2s

The 2s made the journey in the opposite direction and were put into bat by Wokingham. Ascot were in early trouble at 33 for 3, but a 72 run partnership between James Docker 67 and Tom Clarke 35 got Ascot back on track and with skipper Dan Corsini making 42, Ascot batted out the overs to reach 198 for 9 off 45 overs.

In response 6 Wokingham batters made double figures bat with No.9 Mahesh Bhandary top scoring with 26 not out they fell short by 56 runs with Tom Clarke pick of the Ascot attack taking 5 for 40.

3s v Sonning 3

Sonning were the visitors at Locks Ride and Ascot elected to field first on winning the toss. In response they faced a blitz as Sonning opener Shabin Rana made 81 off 34 deliveries aided by some poor Ascot fielding. Some control was regained with Naeem 2 for 30, and Richard Ellison 4 for 48 but Sonning made an imposing 304 for 9 in 40 overs.

It was always going to be a tall order for Ascot and despite 69 from Usman Mumtaz and other contributions, Ascot fell 63 runs short, bowled all out with 8 balls remaining. Ali Ansari was the pick of the Sonning attack with 3 for 48.

Sonning 4 v 4s

Ascot made the reverse trip and were put into bat by Sonning. Ascot’s innings revolved around two innings. Opener Glen Winning with 67 and Richard Baker managing the tail to make 40 not out, to get Ascot to 169 all out in 38 overs. Issac Blakey starred for Sonning with 5 for 35.

Sonning were in deep trouble at 49 for 7 as Raf Bocchio took 5 for 19. Sunit Bansode 27 and Max Murphy 34 staged a recovery but were bowled out for 128 in 31 overs.