On winning the toss the hosts asked us to bat first in the 120 overs match. A poor start as Greg Smith was out caught in the second over. By the eighth over the score was 36 but skipper Chris Britz had been bowled by Charlie Hill for a well-played 29. Then Tommie Predgen fell caught leaving Finch precariously placed at 36 – 3.

We then saw a fine partnership develop between Dan Marles and Toby Albert. The pair saw 100 up by the 26th over. By the 44th over the pair had put on a valuable 120. Then at 156 Dan fell lbw to Dave Eaton for his well-made 64. The 200 was up in 51 overs then at 210 Toby was caught in the deep for a well-earned 77 so now five wickets down.

With Eddie Campion already playing strokes he was joined by Ben Salter. The pair began an assault on the bowling which produced 98 runs in 10 overs. Ben closed on 73 not out in only 31 balls and with Eddie 53 not out the declaration was possible at 308 – 5 in 61 overs.

Banbury given 59 overs to bat lost their first wicket at 19 seamer Lewis Sharp having John White caught behind. It was not until the 18th over for the second wicket with Chris Britz bowling Ramkomer for 30 so 56 – 2. Then at 63 Lloyd Sabin was well caught at mid-wicket by Eddie Campion so three down and two wickets for Chris.

No more wickets for another 21 overs when at 126 George Tait was caught behind for 37 off Lewis Sharp. So then 18 overs only remaining and four wickets down. Then drama at the 53 overs mark. With 181 on the board Chris Britz took two wickets then one run later Lewis had Dave Eaton caught so 182 – 7 with three wickets for one run and six overs remaining.

No more alarms for Banbury as they settled for the draw at 218 – 7 in 59 overs, Kevin Coyne ending on a fine 98 not out. Chris Britz returned 4 – 52 and Lewis Sharp 3 – 63. The 15 points gained from the match keeps Finches in second slot 14 points behind High Wycombe.

Finch 2’s

With the annual fete taking place Wargrave were the visitors on the leas. The third meeting in a week between the two clubs and an all too familiar tale played out for the visitors. Choosing to bat first Wargrave struggled to score freely and lost regular wickets throughout the innings. A late partnership of 65 meant they somewhat recovered from 115-8 to close on 170-8 from 52 overs. Kailan Patel leg spin returning figures of 4-42 and as ever Paul Stephens monotonous line and length secured 2 wickets at just over 2 runs per over from his 15 overs.

At the innings break it was assumed that the total was likely to be well below par given the conditions and it soon played out that way. Openers Stuart Parsons and Matt Eldridge were aggressive from the start and scored boundaries at ease all-round the wicket. An opening stand of 148 was eventually broken when Stuart Parsons fell for 78. The remaining runs were knocked of with no further wickets for another dominant and impressive 9 wicket win (5 victories on the bounce). Matt Eldridge finishing on 74* to cap off his tremendous runs haul in June and fully deserved with his fitness/skills training work ethic between games. Three points now separate the top 3 sides with Finch travelling to top of the league Wokingham this week to finish the first half of fixtures.

Finch 3’s

A battle between the top two sides as Finch travelled to unbeaten and high-flying/spenders Bracknell United. Finch were asked to bat and struggled to 104-7 with just Ben Simmons 39 as opener the only score of note from the dismissed batters. Crucially however Wes Roberts batting 4 was still there on 40 and in defiant mood after watching on last week in his pads. Matt Harper provided good support for the next 15 overs putting on a 73-run partnership. Batters 10/11 were unable to replicate this and Wes unfortunately finished agonisingly short of his ton stranded on 98* with Finch dismissed for 196 with 2 overs not used.

Early wickets were crucial with the top order of Bracknell all having scored big runs throughout the season so far. The pace trio of Albie Sharp, Adil Mohammed and Lewis O’Donoghue delivered picking up two wickets each to reduce Bracknell to a similar score of 92-6. The hosts unlike Finch had no set top order batter remaining and the remaining 4 wickets were chipped away giving Finch a victory by 17 runs. A great result given the opposition and trouble faced during our batting innings; also further highlighting the team spirit and belief all the sides are showing currently.

Finch 4’s

Finch hosted struggling Eversley at Windlesham and were asked to bowl first for the first time this season. We were not at our best with the ball as extras were far higher than in recent weeks. Regular wickets fell for the visitors however with no batter managing to pass 30 despite the small square Windlesham boundaries and lightning outfield. Finch bowled out Eversley for 194 in 43 overs. Ishaan Moitra once again the pick of the bowlers with 3-33 from his 9 overs.

With a run rate of just above 4 required only early wickets could cause Finch issues and that was successfully avoided. Steve Raubenheimer made 40 opening the innings and Ian Rose batting 4 made a quick-fire 41. After a few wickets lost in quick succession Kwame Appiah batting 3 used all his experience to guide Finch home for a comfortable 5 wicket victory. He finished with a classy 56* to show his playing career is still very much alive despite his off-field promotion to being co-host of the newly formed Finch podcast this season! Four wins in a row for the 4’s as they move up to third with last year’s final game relegation survival a distant memory.

Finch 5’s

Sulhamstead 4’s were the visitors on Sunday due to the fete and Finch were asked to bowl first in draining conditions you would normally associate with Southern Europe. The run rate was always high, but Finch did well to keep taking wickets to reduce Sulhamstead to 190-7 after 30 overs. The tail wagged however, and they were bowled out for 273. Fred May and Sam Fearon both taking 3 wickets a piece. Gary Woodford opening the batting scored an excellent 49 but with the rate constantly climbing wickets fell regularly and Finch were dismissed for 150. It was a very strong Sulhamstead side and certainly the toss was crucial given the weather on Sunday.

General News/Updates

In last Wednesday’s T20 midweek fixture we batted first and amassed a huge score of 262-3. This being noteworthy due to Paul Stephens scoring 100* off just 58 balls in true Ben Duckett style, playing both conventional and reverse sweeps (many of which for 6) with consummate ease. His maiden ton for the club and further adding to the list of highlight reel achievements/performances in just his first two months as a Finch player.

Upcoming Fixtures

Tuesday – Midweek T20 side are at home in the cup Semi-final v Bracknell Utd (6pm start)
Sunday – Away to Weybridge U21’s Surrey Trust League (1pm start)

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