After a glorious May, June gave way to rain and more rain, with most of the league programme abandoned, but a couple of Saturday’s matches still saw some action.

2s v Windsor 2

Ascot seems to have its own microclimate, and despite the significant rain, the match started with Ascot winning the toss and electing to field first. Razwan Hanif picked up the early wicket of Adam Bird leaving Windosr 23 for 1. But a couple further rain interruptions saw the match reduced to a 43 over match.

However, after James Summers picked up the second wicket, the rain forced another stoppage at 83 for 2, which would end up in the match being abandoned, with Chris Dixon 48 not out.

3s v Cove 3

That microclimate includes Locks Ride, and despite the overcast conditions, rain skirted around but not over the cricket ground. Ascot won the toss and elected to field first. Cove started brightly as the openers put on 43 for the first wicket but then suffered a mini collapse as 61 for 1 became 66 for 4, James Hammond (33) rebulit the innings with a partnership of 50 for the fifth wicket with Fraser Gibbs.

Fraser Gibbs then held the tail together with 56 not out as they reached a very competitive 199 all out with one ball remaining, with Aizaz Hussain doing the damage at the end of their innings with 4 for 29.

Ascot lost two quick wickets to be in early trouble at 35 for 2. But Hassan Sohail (40) and Waqas Ashraf got the innings back on track when Hassan fell with the score on 78. Waqas was joined by Gyan Patel and they continued to keep up with the run-rate as the clouds darkened, the wind picked up and the microclimate succumbed to rain. The match was abandoned after 26.4 overs with Ascot 8 runs ahead of the DLS, finishing on 124 for 3 with Waqas 35 not out and Gyan 26 not out. A close victory.

Women’s Update

Last week the Women’s Softball team started their season with a tough match in the second round of the Berkshire Cup against Crowthorne & Crown Wood. Despite a strong team effort, Ascot lost despite a valiant 23 from captain Laura Quaid. They now go into the plate competition against another Division 1 team – Reading Lions.

This Sunday they will start their league campaign with a match away to Datchet.

Midweek T20 Update

The midweek team kept up their strong record with a 57 run win over at Hurst Rangers to remain top of the table. Jacob Phillips (70) and Toby Dodwell-Bennett (37) did the damage with the bat and Bas Pal (3 for 16) and Tanav Suresh (3 for 28) did the same with the ball.

We are effectively at the half-way stage of the season since Farley Hill have conceded all their matches bat the one they played and lost, and Ascot are top of the table with a 3 point lead.