The Four Counties Cricket League fixtures have been announced, and Great Horwood begin their assault on Division Two on Saturday 4^th May 2019 at Soulbury Village with a 1.30pm start.

These two sides were two divisions apart last season, Soulbury winning the Division Three championship whilst Horwood were relegated from Division One, their inaugural season in the league itself.

Soulbury have in fact been promoted every season for the past four years, having started in Division Six back in 2015 finishing third they went up to finish runners-up the following year. This was followed by finishing runners-up again the following season in Division Four before last year pipping Cranfield to that title by just two points.

Horwood begin their home campaign the following weekend with the visit of the other promoted side Cranfield University, on Saturday 11^th May again with a 1.30pm start.

The full list of teams that Great Horwood will face this season is:

Aspley Guise CC (West Hill, Aspley Guise, MK17 8DX)

Cranfield University CC (College Road, Wharley End, MK43 0AL)

Eggington Foresters CC (Mill Road, Eggington, LU7 9HX)

Harlington CC (Sundon Road, Harlington, LU5 6LS)

New City (MK) CC (Marsh Drive, Great Linford, MK14 5AP)

Newport Pagnell CC (Willen Road, Newport Pagnell, MK16 0DF)

North Crawley CC (High Street, North Crawley, MK16 9LH)

Printers CC (High Street, Great Linford, MK14 5AX)

Soulbury Village CC (Stewkley Road, Soulbury, LU7 0DF)

FCCL Website: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/web_pages/118526

New City (MK) – 117 all out off 30.1 overs (5 points)

Great Horwood – 118 for 8 off 31.2 overs (25 points)

Great Horwood won their final game of the Four Counties Cricket League Division One season on Saturday and in the process relegated their hosts New City along with themselves, and the final league table shows both sides only needed to win one more game through the season to have stayed up. In a ten team division, the bottom half of the table were separated by just thirty-three points and with twenty-five points for a win the final positions reveal just how tight this league was but ultimately Horwood will start next season in Division Two.

Dale Armitage took 4-28

The home side chose to bat first after winning the toss, and lost two early wickets when Josh Nix bowled Dharmesh Mistry for four, and Billy Harper skittled out Viral Shah without scoring to leave the hosts 6-2. Jay Singadia & Yash Tailor settled to add twenty-one to the score before Haydon Morrison caught Tailor off the bowling of stand-in skipper Dale Armitage, which triggered three wickets falling with no further runs being added.

Jacobus Barnard went for a golden duck, and Vishal Naik lasted just two balls ahead of being caught by Nix off the captain again; Singadia was then joined by Mihir Choksi and they added fourteen until the former was caught & bowled by the same bowler. Manjit Singh made 10 off eight balls before he was caught by Alex Gilder off Robby Taylor, but the home side then dug in and frustrated the Horwood bowlers.

Choksi and Jai Dave added 21 before Taylor trapped Choksi LBW on 22, Shalin Parikh came to the crease and a further 16 runs were added to the New City score until Dave was given LBW to Neil Taylor. The final wicket was the most difficult to remove, Parikh was joined by Jaco Theron and they made 28 till Theron was caught to end the innings. Armitage the best of the bowlers taking 4-28 off his nine overs.

Sam Willett & Haydon Morrison opened for Horwood and made 20 until they were both removed in successive overs by Jaco Theron & Jay Singadia respectively, bringing together Ken Cronshaw & Alex Gilder and their partnership was worth a superb 40 before the latter was bowled by Shalin Parikh, who proved to be the away sides top scorer with 26 which included five boundaries.

Alex Gilder top scored

Just 4 runs later Cronshaw was caught by Vishal Naik but Dale Armitage was now in bat and keeping calm, Josh Nix was bowled on his second ball by Manjit Singh and Horwood were now 72-5, still forty-six runs short of their target. But the captain teamed up with Simon Ridgway and they were worth 24 between them till Ridgway was caught by Theron off Viral Shah with his score on twelve.

Billy Harper came to the crease and was to remain unbeaten, Armitage finally out when he was caught & bowled by Shah for 16, but his innings lasted fifty minutes which was more valuable to the result. Chris McStraw faced just two balls until he was trapped LBW by Shah, but Robby Taylor came out to pair up with Harper and the pair saw their side home with a partnership worth 11, Viral Shah the best of the City bowlers with 3-21 off his five overs.

Match scorecard: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/results/3368486

Final League table: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=78263

Please Note: If you use any of our material or images, please ensure you credit sportsshots.org.uk

Great Horwood end their season on Saturday with a trip to New City (Milton Keynes) and despite already being relegated themselves go into the game knowing they can still contribute towards to the other relegation place which is currently occupied by their hosts, who need to win and hope either New Bradwell or Eaton Bray lose and pick up minimal bonus points in their quest to stay in Four Counties Cricket League Division One.

Stuart Parker in action for Horwood

This week Sports Shots caught up with Horwood skipper Stuart Parker to reflect upon what has been a very difficult season in a new league, and first we asked just how disappointing an end to the season it has been?

Yes the last few weeks have been disappointing, we have struggled to get a consistent team out with numerous changes each week and that has proven costly for us

So what had the club expected from joining the FCCL?

If I’m totally honest I think the whole club has been surprised at the strength of the division, in particular the batting of sides. The reduction in overs to 40 from 45 that we had in the OCA has resulted in a more aggressive approach from sides that wasn’t often the case last year

In a very tight league where does Stuart feel Horwood haven’t competed?

I think we have showed we can compete, we have beaten some of the better sides, sometimes comfortably as well!!

Unfortunately we lost a couple of close games to sides around us at the bottom, and we’ve also struggled to get some of our better players out on the field as much as we needed to due to a number of players having young families now. But as they say, the table never lies come the end of the season and we know we haven’t been good enough

Robby Taylor

We asked the skipper if there was anything he could have done differently to change results?

Scored more runs and taken more wickets ha ha!

Going back to mid-season we were on a good run, myself & Sam Willett were both scoring runs heavily & Robby Taylor in particular was bowling as well as he ever has for the club, with Olly Prendergast taking regular wickets, but unfortunately a dip in form recently saw us on the wrong end of results

So what are the plans over the winter ahead of next season?

We will start winter nets in February next year and aim to keep the current squad together, maybe adding one or two new faces along the way

And what’s been the hardest part as captain?

Struggling to get out our best eleven regularly enough, if in fact at all!!

Although the club is in a much stronger position than it was twelve months ago which is a massive positive, with the second team not having to cancel a single game this season

Sam Willett

Tough game on Saturday in Milton Keynes, same approach as any other game?

I am missing the game due to being away, but the lads can go and play now with no pressure, and hopefully that will help

And finally, how confident are the club of bouncing straight back next season?

We had a number of young lads join us this season and probably Division One came a little too early for them, but hopefully next season with them all being a year older and having that first season under their belts, we will be able to involve them in the first team more often and see them fulfil their potential in the second division. So maybe relegation isn’t a bad thing after all!!!

Team for Saturday:

D Armitage (c)

K Cronshaw

Al Gilder

B Harper

C McStraw

H Morrison

J Nix

S Ridgway

N Taylor

R Taylor

S Willett

Sports Shots would like to thank Stuart for his time not only this week, but for every week of this season for his previews and team lists.

Great Horwood – 160 all out off 28.4 overs (7 points)

Thurleigh – 189 for 9 off 31 overs (25 points)

Great Horwood were beaten at home on Saturday by Thurleigh in a result that see’s the club relegated from the Four Counties Cricket League Division One with one game left to play. A difficult season for Stuart Parkers men sees them now confirmed as relegated despite a mid-season revival that saw them pick up in form, however Saturday’s defeat makes it five successive losses and now the club prepare for life in Division Two next season. The home side reduced Thurleigh to 189 in their allotted overs which included a superb 5’fer for Robby Taylor, however a steady start for Horwood soon turned into wickets tumbling and they fell short by twenty-nine runs.

A rain affected match saw the overs per side reduced from forty down to thirty-one with Horwood winning the toss & putting their visitors into bat, and Taylor made the early breakthrough with the wicket of Chris Wood with just 6 on the scoreboard. But from there Robert Stean & Martin Bennett took control and a magnificent partnership of 104 saw them take control of the game, Stean falling just shy of his half century to Haydon Morrison, Andy Milne coming in didn’t score as Simon Ridgway had him caught by Alex Gilder, before the pairing of Bennett & Brody Willerton added a further 44 to the Thurleigh score.

Robby Taylor took 5 wickets

Willerton fell to Ridgway with his score on 22, and just ten runs later Bennett was bowled by Taylor with his score on a superb 84, and from there quick succession wickets fell as Clive Franklin failed to score, Gary Armstrong made 7 before he was caught and bowled by Taylor, Danny Barford failed to score and the final wicket fell to Dale Armitage when Ian Simmons was caught by Taylor. The final pair of batsmen added ten runs before the end of the innings to set the hosts 190 to win. Taylor ended with figures of 5 wickets for 28 runs off his 7 overs, Ridgway with 2 and Armitage & Morrison with a single wicket apiece.

The home side opened with Haydon Morrison & Sam Willett who made a positive start reaching 39 before the former was caught by Andy Milne off the bowling of Brody Willerton with his score on 26. Captain Stuart Parker came in but failed to score soon after, and when Willett was run out with his score on 28 the scoreboard read 50-3, but a thirty-seven partnership between Glyn Davies & Dale Armitage steadied the ship until Davies was bowled by Milne for 15. Simon Ridgway made 3 before he was seen off by Milne, but Dale Armitage battled on to reach 32 before he was caught by Gary Armstrong off the bowling of Robert Stean.

Dale Armitage top scored with 32

Two further very quick wickets fell when Ken Cronshaw & Alex Gilder were both caught off Stean to leave Horwood 130-8, but Olly Prendergast & Sam Krajnyk did well to add a further 26 to the score before the former fell to Willerton with his score on 19, and just four runs later it was all over when Krajnyk was caught by Wood off Stean for 14. Stean ending with figures of 4 wickets for 27 runs off 5.4 overs, team mate Willerton took 3 for 13 off his 6 overs & Milne ending with a brace off seven overs.

Match scorecard: https://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/results/3368464

League table: https://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=78263

Please Note: If you use any of our material or images, please ensure you credit sportsshots.org.uk

Great Horwood CC entertain Thurleigh on Saturday in their final home fixture of this campaign knowing only victory will do if they are to pull off a relegation escapade, but face the side currently sitting third in the Four Counties Cricket League Division One table.

Ken Cronshaw

Thurleigh haven’t lost since the 14^th July, and Horwood have lost their last four successive games, so a shock result is needed ahead of their final game of the season next week away at New City. If Horwood are defeated on Saturday and other results go against them, it could be confirmed Saturday evening that Stuart Parkers men will be playing division two cricket next season.

Glyn Davies & Ken Cronshaw return this week after missing last week’s game.

Team:

S Parker

D Armitage

K Cronshaw

G Davies

A Gilder

S Krajnyk

H Morrison

O Prendergast

S Ridgway

R Taylor

S Willett

The match starts at 1.30pm

Glyn Davies

Eaton Bray – 187-9 off 40 overs (25 points)

Great Horwood – 66 all out off 24 overs (4 points)

Great Horwood were convincingly beaten on Saturday at Eaton Bray, and now need to win both their final two matches of the Four Counties Cricket League campaign if they are to stand any chance of staying in Division One. Stuarts Parker’s men now sit twenty points adrift of third bottom and next week host third placed Thurleigh who haven’t lost in five, before finishing at New City (MK) who are currently in that third bottom position the week after, in what could possibly be a win or bust fixture although their fate may be sealed before that game commences.

Horwood won the toss and elected for their hosts to bat first and made an early break through when Adam Armitage removed Andrew Norris with the score on 11; fellow opener Wes Hosking was met at the crease by Joe Braddon and the pair made 47 before Braddon was caught and bowled by Simon Ridgway. With James Flecknell as a partner Hosking reached his half century before Olly Prendergast removed Flecknell, Glenn Hearn replacing him then partnered Hosking as they made fifty-three between them until Hosking was finally removed by Ridgway with his score on 87.

Simon Ridgway took 3 wickets

Two further quick wickets saw Lawrence Bunker & Jaco Jacobs removed by Ridgway & Robby Taylor respectively, and with the score on 173 Jamie Osborne was run out for the seventh Eaton Bray wicket to fall. With Hearn now on 28 Josh Edwins came to the crease but the pair failed to add any score as Dale Armitage removed the bails of Hearn, Philip Spicer & Edwins made a further 14 runs until the former was run out, and the home side finished their innings with a total of 187, Simon Ridgway taking 3-46 off his 9 overs the best of the Horwood bowling.

Stuart Parker & Sam Willett opened for the visitor’s and reached 17 before the skipper was seen off by Andrew Norris, Willett then fell just two runs later to the same bowler with his score on 11 & he was to be one of only two Horwood player to make double figures during the innings. Dale Armitage and Alex Gilder added six runs before Armitage was caught off the bowling of Josh Edwins, a run later Dom Pritchard became the first wicket of the afternoon for James Flecknell.

Simon Ridgway went for a duck after being trapped LBW off Flecknell, and a series of extras then helped the Horwood score along until Olly Prendergast was stumped off the bowling of Flecknell leaving the score 46-6. Alex Gilder fell a run later, Robby Taylor a further two runs later and Adam Armitage fell with the score on 56, Haydon Morrison came in and made 10 but when he was bowled by Jamie Osborne the game was over, Horwood making just 66, of which twenty-one were extras, James Flecknell took 4 wickets for 5 runs off 5 overs the pick of the bowling.

Match scorecard: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/results/3368441

League table: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=78263

Please Note: If you use any of our material or images, please ensure you credit sportsshots.org.uk

Great Horwood CC travel to Eaton Bray on Saturday as they begin their run in on what is a four-way battle to avoid relegation from Four Counties Cricket League Division One. The bottom four places which includes both teams are separated by just seventeen points, so a twenty-five point win would see a huge lift to the Horwood squad.

Sports Shots caught up with captain Stuart Parker ahead of the game:

This weekend we travel to Eaton Bray in a must win game if we are to avoid relegation. They sit 3 places above us but a win would probably see us jump above them depending on bonus points. We beat them comfortably at home so fingers crossed for a repeat performance!

Adam Armitage, Haydon Morrison and Alex Gilder return to the team from last week, however Glyn Davies, who hit 50, is unavailable

FCCL Div 1 table

Team:

S Parker

A Armitage

D Armitage

A Gilder

S Krajnyk

H Morrison

O Prendergast

D Pritchard

S Ridgway

R Taylor

S Willett

The match starts at 1.30pm

Great Horwood – 148 all out off 37.4 overs (4 points)

North Crawley – 152 for 5 off 34.2 overs (25 points)

Great Horwood were beaten at home on Saturday by league leaders North Crawley and with the defeat slumped to the foot of the Four Counties Cricket League Division One table, but with three games left to play there are more than enough points left to play for to get Stuart Parkers men out of trouble especially as two of those games are against teams in the same relegation dogfight as Horwood. Glyn Davies made a half century as the hosts reached a total of 148, but it was never going to be enough against the side who are now comfortably clear at the top of the league, and five of their seven batsmen scored more than twenty as Horwood toiled to try and get something from the game.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat first and regular openers Stuart Parker & Sam Willett reached 19 before Parker was given out LBW off the bowling of Courtney Gresty; replacement Ken Cronshaw made 1 before he was caught off the same bowler, & in the very next over Willett was caught off Carl Bryce to leave the home side 23-3.

Dale Armitage & Glyn Davies then steadied those early nerves and put on a brilliant 46 between them, but Armitage fell in the 18^th over driving straight into the hands of John Collings off Richard Bryce when on 19. The returning Olly Prendergast lasted just three balls before being caught, Sam Krajnyk didn’t fare much better being trapped LBW and when Dom Pritchard was bowled without scoring Horwood were 79-7.

Glyn Davies reaches 50

Davies continued to score and his partnership with Simon Ridgway made 36 helping Horwood settle once more and get over the three figure mark, and in the 31^st over his eighth boundary of the afternoon saw him reach a much deserved half century, although the very next ball saw him trapped LBW and his innings was over.

Ridgway then struck up a rapport with incoming Chris McStraw and the pair added a further 32 before the former was caught when on 28, then a mix up in the running between McStraw & Rob Taylor saw the former run out and the Horwood innings ended on a respectable 148 considering they’d been 23-3 and 79-7. Richard Bryce the pick of the bowlers taking 4 wickets for 15 runs off his 9 overs, Carl Bryce & Courtney Gresty taking a pair of wickets each.

After the break Crawley came out and batted as if they were looking to be home early, scoring twelve off both the opening two overs and ten off the third. With the score on 42 Horwood finally made the breakthrough when Jack Shiel hooked a shot at Ridgway who took the catch off Taylor’s bowling, the runs continued but a brilliant diving catch by bowler Dale Armitage saw him take the wicket of Alex Walker when he was on 31.

Another 22 partnership frustrated the home side but was briefly interrupted when a fierce shot was caught full in the face by the square leg umpire who had to retire from his duties, thankfully a replacement was found amongst those watching from the pavilion. Once the game restarted Rajet Nahar was caught and bowled by Prendergast, and the score at 84-3 gave Horwood a brief glimmer of hope.

Olly Prendergast took 2 wickets

Collings & Steve Sharpe added another 19 before Ridgway bowled the latter, and just three runs later Collings was caught off Prendergast and the home side suddenly had a spring in their step, but as the skies darkened so did the home sides mood as Sam Marley & Carl Bryce refused to be beaten, and the pair added 45 runs to take the victory with thirty-four balls to spare. Prendergast with a brace of wickets upon his return to the side, Taylor, Armitage & Ridgway all taking one apiece.

Match scorecard: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/results/3368462

League table: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=78263

Please Note: If you use any of our material or images, please ensure you credit sportsshots.org.uk

For match photography please click here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmqFuoHZ

Great Horwood CC host top of the table North Crawley on Saturday in their toughest game of their run in, as they try and escape the long arms of relegation currently wrapped around them. With four teams separated by just nine points at the foot of the Four Counties Cricket League Division One table, Horwood are in desperate need of some fortune this weekend, although both teams have the same recent record of one win in their last three matches.

Horwood will be looking to avoid a repeat of the fixture at Crawley where the home side batted first and amassed a score of 211 for Horwood to target, however the innings lasted just 79 balls as they were skittled out for just 37!

Sports Shots caught up with captain Stuart Parker ahead of the game:

This Saturday we entertain North Crawley which will be a very tough test as they sit top of the league and we are missing a host of bowling options.

But on the plus side Glyn Davies, Bill Bridgman and Olly Prendergast all return after not featuring for a while

Olly Prendergast

Team:

S Parker

D Armitage

B Bridgman

K Cronshaw

G Davies

S Krajnyk

C McStraw

O Prendergast

S Ridgway

R Taylor

S Willett

The match starts at 1.30pm

Great Horwood – 164 for 8 off 40 overs (4 points)

Milton Keynes – 166 for 3 off 26.1 overs (25 points)

Sam Willett top scored

Great Horwood suffered defeat again on Saturday at home to Milton Keynes CC, and now find themselves embroiled in a four-team scrap at the bottom of the Four Counties Cricket League Division One table, with two relegation places available just nine points separate the bottom four sides. It was always going to be tough going against high flying MK & Horwood set them a target of 164 for victory, but they rattled the runs off for the loss of just 3 wickets, and just shy of fourteen overs left in the game.

Horwood won the toss and elected to bat and were soon two wickets down as Stuart Parker & Ken Cronshaw were both dismissed by Usman Iftkhar, but Dale Armitage came in to partner Sam Willett and the pair added a further 25 runs before Armitage was caught by Neil Gordon again off the bowling of Iftkhar. Sam Krajnyk made 7 before being bowled out by Daniel Ramsell, Dom Pritchard then suffered the same fate when on 6 and Horwood were 67-5.

Willett then paired up with Simon Ridgway and the partnership was worth 24 runs until Willett fell to Nimesh Chavda with his score on 32, and shortly after Ridgway fell to Grant Ebrahim after reaching 25. Adam Armitage came to the crease but lasted just seven balls before being bowled out by Joe Fairbrother, and that left Chris McStraw with Robby Taylor and between them they saw the innings out with a partnership of 56, the former finishing 19 not out and Taylor ending 30 not out.

Robby Taylor hit 30

Nick Hillman was removed by Dale Armitage with the score on 22 but from there MK took control and a 96-run pairing of Chavda & Gordon saw them reach 118 before Horwood took another wicket, Taylor bowling out Chavda with his score on 68. Gordon moved the score on until caught by Parker of the bowling of Ridgway for 37, but with just seven runs required for victory Sam Hagger & Ebrahim clinched the win for their side.

Match scorecard: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/results/3368459

League table: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=78263

Please Note: If you use any of our material or images, please ensure you credit sportsshots.org.uk