Great Horwood CC travel to bottom of the Four Counties Cricket League Division Two table Harlington CC on Saturday knowing nothing but victory will do, after defeat last week to Printers the league leaders now share top place with them level on points, with just two games left to play the race for promotion as well as the title is wide open as the top three are separated by just ten points. In Horwood’s favour this week whilst they face a side lacking in confidence, is their title rivals face each other as second play third, victory and results elsewhere this Saturday could see Horwood confirmed as being promoted, but the title will not be decided until the final game of the season next week, an exciting finale is in store for all involved.

Glyn Davies returns

This week Sports Shots caught up with Horwood skipper Stuart Parker to ask how much of a relief last week’s win was in the end:

For the first forty overs in the field we were very good! To restrict them to one hundred & thirty-five was a great effort with everybody bowling well and backed up in the field, which included three run outs.

The batting from the top order was woeful though! To their credit they bowled well with the new ball but at twenty-six for seven it looked like we could be on the end of an embarrassing score!

However Army played probably the best innings of his life as he looked to smash our way out of trouble! He hit sixty-nine including six sixes and with good support from Robby, Simon Gale and Pidge (Jack Trundell) got ourselves back in with a chance! Unfortunately he was last man out as we fell nine runs short in the thirty-ninth over!

And the thoughts on this week’s game?

This week we play Harlington who are currently bottom, however at home they gave us a very good game and were certainly not the worst team we have played this season!

It is a crucial weekend which sees the possibility of securing promotion but with second playing third in Printers v Soulbury the top three could be in any order come Saturday night!

This week’s squad news:

We are missing Billy Harper again along with Robby Taylor this week, however Glyn Davies returns!

Team:

Stuart Parker

Adam Armitage

Dale Armitage

Glyn Davies

Sam Krajnyk

Haydon Morrison

Chris McStraw

Tom North

Simon Ridgway

Deran Taylor

Sam Willett

Start: 1.30pm

Div. 2 table (click to enlarge)

Games left to play:-

Saturday 24^th August:

Harlington v Great Horwood

Printers v Soulbury Village

New City (MK) v Eggington Foresters

Saturday 31^st August:

Great Horwood v Newport Pagnell

Cranfield University v Printers

Soulbury Village v Harlington

North Crawley v New City (MK)

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

Great Horwood CC – 126 all out off 38.2 overs

Printers CC – 135 all out off 39.5 overs

Adam Armitage hit 69 and took an early wicket

The Four Counties Cricket League Division Two promotion race was blown wide open on Saturday as Great Horwood were beaten at home by Printers, and with Soulbury Village winning, the top two promotion places are both up for grabs as Horwood and Printers share those positions currently tied on points, with Soulbury in third just ten points behind. Next week-end could be pivotal as Stuart Parker’s men travel to bottom of the league Harlington whilst those two teams behind them play each other, victory in Bedfordshire would confirm promotion for Horwood unless a very high scoring game evolves at Printers, but the title looks like going to the very last game of the season, if Soulbury can win next week-end they could then be in the race to lift the silverware in two weeks’ time.

Printers elected to bat on Saturday after winning the toss, Sanjeevan Sritharan made fourteen until Parker caught him off the bowling of Adam Armitage but from there Mayuran Vijayaratnam hit thirty-eight & Razzan Mohamed with twenty-nine enjoyed success with the bat. Once Dale Armitage & Haydon Morrison removed them the rest of the side failed to reached double figures except for Purus Paran who made fourteen until he was run out, a total of one hundred & thirty-five with just a ball to spare in their allotted overs seemed achievable, the best of the bowling saw Dale Armitage take four wickets for twenty-two runs off twenty balls, Morrison chipping in with a brace in his nine overs.

FCCL D2 Table (click for full view)

Horwood looking for a good start were soon under pressure as the skipper & Haydon Morrison were removed for thirteen & eight respectively, from there wickets fell cheaply with only Simon Ridgway & Rob Taylor making double figures until Adam Armitage came to the crease and made an impressive sixty-nine before he was caught, the home side falling short of victory by just ten runs! For the visitor’s Razzan Mohamed took four wickets for just fifteen runs off his nine overs, Shan Dikshan with a pair for thirteen, Horwood now look to take maximum points at Harlington on Saturday ahead of what could be a thrilling finale at home the week after.

For match scorecard: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/results/3851390

Games left to play:-

Current position indicated in ten team division

Great Horwood:

Saturday 24^th August – Harlington (10^th) v Great Horwood

Saturday 31^st August – Great Horwood v Newport Pagnell (5^th)

Printers:

Saturday 24^th August – Printers (2^nd) v Soulbury Village (3^rd)

Saturday 31^st August – Cranfield University (6^th) v Printers (2^nd)

Soulbury Village:

Saturday 24^th August – Printers (2^nd) v Soulbury Village (3^rd)

Saturday 31^st August – Soulbury Village (3^rd) v Harlington (10^th)

New City (MK):

Saturday 24^th August – New City (MK) (4^th) v Eggington Foresters (7^th)

Saturday 31^st August – North Crawley (9^th) v New City (MK) (4^th)

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

Great Horwood CC can go a very long way towards clinching an immediate return to the Four Counties Cricket League top tier on Saturday as they host Printers CC in this top versus second clash, the next two very contrasting weeks will define Horwood’s season as they face bottom of the league Harlington next week. If Stuart Parker’s men can win these next two matches they will go up as champions, which was always the aim after suffering relegation in their first season in a new league last year, however Printers have already beaten their hosts in the reverse tie earlier in the campaign, and are on a three game winning spree but Horwood are full of confidence themselves after winning their last seven games that they’ve completed, there is an outside chance that a win here could clinch promotion whereas defeat could really open up the top of the league once again.

Adam Armitage has taken vital wickets last two weeks

This week Sports Shots caught up with Horwood skipper Stuart Parker to ask how much of a relief last week’s win was in the end:

Last week was another hard fought victory in a game that could have gone either way again. We got off to a fast start after being asked to bat through Haydon, Glyn and myself and looked on for a big score, however lost regular wickets and that kept Aspley in the game. Sammy K held the innings together well but in the end the lower order of Chrissy (McStraw) and Robby made sure we posted a competitive score in getting up to one hundred & eighty-seven for nine.

Army took a key wicket with the help of another great catch from Sam Willett early in the reply, however they then had a couple of good partnerships that put them in control. The introduction of H changed the game and helped keep the run rate under control, despite not taking regular wickets the rate increased and as they struggled to keep up we were able to pick up wickets later on with Army returning to control the death overs for the second week running!

And the thoughts on this week’s game?

This week we play Printers who are second, a win would virtually seal promotion for us but they beat us away earlier in the year and will want to repeat that and try and replace us at the top of the table. Eight points guarantees we remain top!

This week’s squad news:

No surprises that Glyn was due a week off and misses the game, along with Billy which is also a blow for us!

Team:

Stuart Parker

Adam Armitage

Dale Armitage

Simon Gale

Sam Krajnyk

Chris McStraw

Haydon Morrison

Simon Ridgway

Rob Taylor

Jack Trundell

Sam Willett

Start: 1.30pm

Aspley Guise CC – 167 all out off 40 overs

Great Horwood CC – 187-9 off 40 overs

Stuart Parker top scored for Horwood

Great Horwood took another step to an immediate return to the Four Counties Cricket League Division One with victory on Saturday at Aspley Guise, with just three league games now remaining they stand top of the table some thirty-three points clear of third place, if they can avoid defeat next week in the top versus second clash, where they host Printers CC then promotion could just be a week away. Horwood were put into bat first and made one hundred & eighty-seven with skipper Stuart Parker top scoring with thirty-seven, the hosts fell short by twenty runs as they were bowled out in their forty allotted overs despite a half-century for David Quick.

Haydon Morrison opened alongside his captain & they put on thirty-five until the former was caught by Bradley King off the bowling of James Carr, Dale Armitage failed to score but Glyn Davies came to the crease to enjoy a partnership worth forty-three until he was run out when on twenty-four, Parker then trapped lbw fell just three runs later. Sam Krajnyk & Simon Ridgway added twenty until the latter lost his bails, Sam Willett went the same way, but Krajnyk alongside Chris McStraw added a further twenty-three until he was bowled by Robert Harrison with his score on twenty-six, the second highest of the innings. Billy Harper was caught soon after, McStraw went on to make eighteen before he was caught, leaving Rob Taylor & Adam Armitage to see the innings to a close, the pick of the Aspley bowling saw Bharath Sukumaran finish with three wickets for thirty-one runs off his nine overs.

Adam Armitage removed Ben Savage with the scoreboard on just twelve but from there the hosts batted well and frustrated their guests, John Rowbotham with Quick adding forty-eight until the former fell to Taylor, but Carr then came to the wicket alongside Quick and they added sixty-two until Ridgway finally removed the half centurion, the home side at this stage needing a further sixty-six runs with seven wickets to spare. But as has been the case with Horwood this season, they dug in and turned it round with four wickets for just twenty-five runs, Carr eventually out for twenty-three bowled by Armitage, & as the home side got into the one hundred & sixties they then lost their last three wickets for just six runs. Pick of the bowling saw Adam Armitage take three for twenty-four off his nine overs.

For match scorecard: https://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/results/3851358

League table: https://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=83514

Left to play:-

Saturday 17^th August – Great Horwood v Printers

Saturday 24^th August – Harlington v Great Horwood

Saturday 31^st August – Great Horwood v Newport Pagnell

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After last week’s seven hour dual & ultimate victory over New City, Great Horwood CC this week travel to Aspley Guise looking to maintain their winning run which now stretches to six successive games (albeit with a rained off game in there somewhere), their lead at the top of the Four Counties Cricket League Division Two table over third place is currently twenty-eight points, with just four games left to play victory on Saturday could take them within touching distance of a return back to the top division after just a season in the second tier, especially as this weekend see’s third play fourth. In the reverse fixture back in June Horwood bowled their opponents out for just fifty-two to claim an eight wicket victory, more of the same this week would set them nicely ahead of next week’s top of the table clash with Printers CC.

Stuart Parker on his way to 56 last week

This week Sports Shots caught up with Horwood skipper Stuart Parker to ask how much of a relief last week’s win was in the end:

Very pleasing to get the win in the end, it was a very hard fought victory! At one hundred & fifty for three with ten overs left we really should have posted more than one hundred & eighty-seven but then we started really well in the field and at ninety for seven it looked like we had the game won! Credit to them though, a partnership of eighty odd threatened to take the game away from us. We kept going though and Army returned to bowl despite an injury and got the last two wickets for us!

And the thoughts on this week’s game?

We are hearing reports from our local sources that they are missing a few players. They are struggling a bit in the league but have a couple of players who are having a good season individually so we need to keep performing as we have most of the season to keep our run going! I’m sure it will be a tougher test than the last game when we bowled them out for fifty-two

With just four games left to play, what are the immediate plans?

To win the league! Firstly though we want to ensure promotion as quickly as possible, two wins should do that. However we want to go up as champions! If we can keep everybody available for the final four games then we should give it a good go! A big game next weekend looms against second placed Printers!

This week’s squad news:

Just the number one spinner Olly Prendergast unavailable this week due to personal reasons, other than that we are at full strength! Unbelievably Glyn Davies plays back to back games for the first time since he met his Mrs in 2013!

Team:

Stuart Parker

Adam Armitage

Dale Armitage

Glyn Davies

Billy Harper

Sam Krajnyk

Haydon Morrison

Chris McStraw

Simon Ridgway

Rob Taylor

Sam Willett

Start: 1.30pm

Great Horwood CC – 187-9 off 40 overs

New City (MK) CC – 177 all out off 39 overs

Stuart Parker on his way to 56 for Horwood

03.08.2019

Great Horwood CC beat New City on Saturday in a thrilling game that went on late into the evening as the odds on winning the fixture swung from one team to the other during the afternoon, the hosts batted well including a fifth half-century of the season for skipper Stuart Parker but some late wickets fell slowing the scoring down to leave the visitor’s a target of one hundred & eighty-eight to win, a good start then saw early wickets start to fall until a late partnership threatened to take the points back to Milton Keynes, however a late return to bowling for Adam Armitage saw him wrap up the tail end with just six balls to spare to see his side win by just ten runs.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat, Parker was fortunate with the very first ball of the game that he edged to first slip but was dropped & alongside Haydon Morrison put on thirty-eight until the latter was given lbw in the ninth over, Dale Armitage joined the captain and they put on a further forty before he was caught when on twelve, Glyn Davies came to the crease and was knocking boundaries in regular succession helping the score along even further. Parker reached fifty-six before he was bowled by Manjit Singh but at one hundred & forty-six for three Horwood looked in control.

Within five runs Davies was trapped lbw, but Simon Ridgway came in to make fifteen before his stumps were removed and from there New City found more success with the ball as they took four wicket for just five runs. Sam Willett & Neil Taylor saw the innings out and with numerous extra’s the scoreboard read one hundred & eighty-seven as the teams went for tea, Arshad Mahmood top wicket taker for the away side with four for twenty-five runs, closely followed by Dylan Agnew with three for twenty-eight.

Sam Willett catches off the bowling of Adam Armitage

Adam Armitage struck in just the third over after the restart as Sam Willett took a great diving catch to his left to remove Saqlain Ishtiaq with the score on thirteen, the same bowler removed the stumps of Dylan Agnew who’d made sixteen & when Billy Harper removed Tyler Badenhorst the score was fifty-three for three. Horwood then toiled for a while as Ashish Ratia & Ananta Funde dug in and frustrated their opponents putting on twenty-five, Simon Ridgway eventually making the breakthrough bowling Ratia who was on twenty-five & just two runs later Funde was caught by Glyn Davies off the bowling of Rob Taylor.

Taylor then saw Vishal Naik sky a shot high in the air that Harper did well to follow, catch & hold on, Manjit Singh made just three as he was caught on the boundary off Harper and at ninety for seven Horwood looked home & dry. However Harsh Jethra top scoring with forty-four alongside Viral Shah who made thirty had other ideas as they scored well and swung the pendulum back towards the Milton Keynes based side.

Over after over passed with the away side seemingly heading towards their target with ease, but a switch of bowling saw Dale Armitage in his first over remove Shah with his side needing just fourteen more runs for victory, Adam Armitage then came back on to bowl and his pace removed the stumps of Jethra & Mahmood at the end of the penultimate over to snatch the win, the game finally ending at a quarter to eight under ever darkening skies. With four games left to play, Horwood sit top and twenty-eight points clear of third with the top two teams to gain promotion.

Match scorecard: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/results/3851387

League table: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=83514

Left to play:-

Saturday 10^th August – Aspley Guise v Great Horwood

Saturday 17^th August – Great Horwood v Printers

Saturday 24^th August – Harlington v Great Horwood

Saturday 31^st August – Great Horwood v Newport Pagnell

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

For 2 pages (177 images) of match day photography please click here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmFSLnF1

Great Horwood CC host New City (Milton Keynes) CC on Saturday after a week off due to the wet weather last week-end, both sides had the day off and with Soulbury Village & Printers both winning they moved above New City pushing them down to fourth place in the Four Counties Cricket League Division Two table. Whilst Horwood still have an eighteen point gap at the top, the three sides chasing them are now separated by just twelve points, with just five games left in the campaign things are getting tight at the top, and Horwood will be looking for revenge for the defeat they suffered to this week’s opponents in the reverse fixture back at the beginning of June.

Glyn Davies back in this weeks team

This week Sports Shots caught up with Horwood skipper Stuart Parker to ask what he feel’s having last Saturday off has done for his side, and if there has been any extra preparation for this game?

Last week was frustrating to be called off, playing a side down the bottom of the table we wanted to try and extend our lead. This was made worse when we saw a couple of the teams close to us at the top had managed to get a game in and win!

Extra preparation?? It’s hard enough to get some of the lads to do any preparation!

And the thoughts on this week’s game?

New City are a side we are quite familiar with after playing them twice last season and once already this year. They beat us in a close game a couple of months ago so we want to try and put that right this time.

The top of the league is very tight, a win would see us put a bit of daylight between them in the race for promotion but defeat could see us drop to second and things get very close between four teams! So it’s a huge game for us!

This week’s squad news:

The big team news see’s Glyn Davies available for only his sixth game of the season!

Team:

Stuart Parker

Adam Armitage

Dale Armitage

Glyn Davies

Billy Harper

Haydon Morrison

Simon Ridgway

Deran Taylor

Neil Taylor

Rob Taylor

Sam Willett

Start: 1.30pm

Great Horwood CC travel to North Crawley CC II’s this Saturday on the back of five successive victories in Four Counties Cricket League Division Two which has seen them open up a thirty point gap over second place, and more importantly another three points from third place as the battle for those top two promotion places really warms up. With just six games left of the campaign, Horwood will be full of confidence going to third from bottom Crawley especially after a six-wicket win back in May in the reverse fixture, a sixth straight win would set them up nicely for next week’s top of the table clash where they host New City (MK) who climbed into the second promotion place after last week’s results.

Haydon Morrison scored 36 and took 4 wickets last week

This week Sports Shots caught up with Horwood skipper Stuart Parker to find out how he felt last week’s game went:

With six first teamers missing it was very pleasing and a little surprising to win with such ease. They opted to bat first surprisingly on a damp wicket & with Army and Billy away we decided to go with Haydon to open the bowling along with Robby. After two overs and with twenty on the board that appeared to be a mistake! However they both turned it round to pick up four wickets apiece from the first twenty-four overs as all the batsmen continued to try and attack! If only we could roll that track up for Robby every week!! Olly then came on and wasted no time grabbing the final two wickets and dismissing them for just seventy-four.

In reply Haydon and I reached the target in fourteen overs without loss. Haydon hitting his highest score in senior cricket of thirty-six not out, then ensured everybody knew about it all evening!!

And the thoughts on this week’s game?

North Crawley this week and I’m sure they will be keen to make up for the performance against us earlier this season. For us we just keep trying to increase the gap at the top before a run of games against the teams chasing us that are coming up

This week’s squad news:

This week we have Army, Billy, Dale and Chris all back! However are without Robby, Sam Krajnyk and Olly added to Glyn Davies who hasn’t been seen for weeks!

Team:

Stuart Parker

Adam Armitage

Dale Armitage

Ken Cronshaw

Billy Harper

Simon Harper

Chris McStraw

Haydon Morrison

Sam Ridgway

Deran Taylor

Sam Willett

Start: 1.30pm

Eggington Foresters CC – 74 all out off 22 overs

Great Horwood CC – 75-0 off 18 overs

Rob Taylor took 4 wickets

Great Horwood confirmed their position at the top of the Four Counties Cricket League Division Two table with this thumping win over Eggington Foresters by ten wickets, the hosts won the toss & elected to bat but were dismissed for just seventy-four runs, Horwood skipper Stuart Parker along with Haydon Morrison knocked off the required runs to take the victory whilst elsewhere Soulbury Village & Printers both lost meaning the league leaders now have a thirty point gap from second place New City (MK) & a further three points off third, with two teams going up at the end of the season it now really is all in Horwood’s hands.

Eggington made a fairly good start with Kabir Khan & Waseem Yaseen who put on twenty before the latter was bowled by Morrison, Raheel Arif came to the crease however was soon c & b by the same bowler & when Khan fell to Rob Taylor for nineteen with the score on thirty-four the visitors were in control. Asif Shah made ten before hitting his own wicket, from there no further batsmen made double figures, Rob Taylor & Haydon Morrison both finishing with four wickets each off their allocated overs, Olly Prendergast also helped put the boot in with a couple of wickets in his two overs.

Horwood rattled off the required runs without loss, Parker finishing thirty not out & Morrison thirty-six, with their nearest rivals all losing or not playing, New City seized upon the opportunity to move into the promotion places; Horwood travel to third bottom North Crawley next weekend and with the lead they have can put some clear daylight between themselves and the chasing pack as games start to run out for those seeking promotion to Division One.

For match scorecard: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/results/3851376

League table: http://4ccl.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=83514

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

Great Horwood CC travel to Eggington Foresters on Saturday still perched at the top of the Four Counties Cricket League Division Two table, another win here will make it five on the spin as the promotion battle gathers pace. The top five are separated by just thirty-five points, but Horwood are building momentum and will be confident this week against the side that back in May in the reverse fixture set them a target of one hundred & twenty-five which they rattled off for the loss of just a single wicket. Great Horwood have bowlers taking wickets and top order batsmen that are scoring well of late, if they win this week it will really set them up going to second bottom North Crawley next week, then silverware could really be in sight.

Haydon Morrison took 3 wickets last week

This week Sports Shots caught up with Horwood skipper Stuart Parker to find out how he felt last week’s game went:

Last week was pleasing as they have been on a good run! We lost the toss and with Army (Adam Armitage) running late we had to spend the first seventeen overs in the field with ten men. This also meant Robby (Taylor) had to open the bowling so we knew wickets would be hard to come by!

We didn’t field well, dropping a few catches, but at one point they looked like getting one hundred & sixty plus so to restrict them to one hundred & twenty-nine was a good effort in the end. H (Haydon Morrison) managed to burgle another 3 wickets!

In reply H and I had a good opening partnership of 35 until H was out for eleven, we then lost Dale & Olly quickly and were in a bit of trouble at forty-eight for three. However Sammy (Krajnyk) came in and played his best innings for the club to date, together we were able to rotate the strike regularly and put on eighty-two unbeaten to get us home comfortably!

And the thoughts on this week’s game?

We beat Eggington comfortably at home earlier in the season but they are still a dangerous side and have had some good results but just seem to lack consistency

Over halfway now in the season, how has it been so far?

We are obviously hoping to win the league from here, we have put ourselves in a good position but there are still seven games to go and a lot can happen! Our bowling has been very good all season with all the lads (minus Robby) amongst the wickets!

Our batting is where we need to strengthen moving forward and ensure we are able to post consistent challenging scores

This week’s squad news:

This week we are really struggling with availability which will make the trip to Eggington even harder, no less than six first teamers unavailable! So those of us that are there will all have to perform and hope the lads stepping up can chip in too!

Team:

Stuart Parker

Simon Gale

Sam Krajnyk

Haydon Morrison

Olly Prendergast

Simon Ridgway

Greg Saunders

Deran Taylor

Rob Taylor

Sam Willett

TBC

Start: 1.30pm