‘Way out West’
Windsor 2nd XI 267 for 7; 45 Overs (Weston 64, Noble 62)
Egham 2nd XI 235 for 7; 45 Overs (Campbell 51*, Price 53*)
Windsor 2nd XI made an impressive start to their season this weekend in their first pre season friendly. Under new captaincy in the form of opening bowler Alex Hill, and with stand in Vice Captain and wicket keeper Tim Smith, Windsor went into the friendly against Egham CC with 12 players, and used the rotating 12th man fielding formula that worked so well for England in 2005! Windsor also welcomed their 2nd XI overseas player, Adam Weston, to the fold this weekend from Coffs Harbour in Oz. And what a welcome he got, as literally hours after stepping of the plane he was in ‘the Rose’ enjoying a ‘special’!
The sun was shining brightly for April, and the wicket looked as if it was going to deteriorate over the course of the match. Knowing the sun sets low over the pavilion, and makes it hard work for the batsmen, Windsor won the toss and batted first. Veteran Noble, and new opener (and last minute replacement for his younger brother) K Condon, got Windsor off to a solid looking start, seeing off some tight bowling from Egham. A couple of wickets fell, but Noble stood strong and welcomed a shaky looking Weston to the crease. Once Weston had remembered that he wasn’t batting at the MCG, and that this was England in April, he managed to use his front foot a bit more and looked every bit the batsman Windsor were hoping for. Noble and Weston pushed the ball round the park confidently and built a strong platform. Noble fell for an impressive 62, and after another couple of wickets fell in the middle order, out strode Windsor’s big hitting talent Smith to join the fray. Tim unleashed some huge shots that spurred Weston on to free the hands, and both batsmen took the attack to Egham, whose heads started to drop. Hill would have been happy for Windsor to post 225 on that wicket but to his delight Windsor ended up on 267 for 7 from the allocated 45 overs, with Smith finishing not out on 48, just missing his half centaury. Pick of the Egham bowlers was Price who finished up with figures of 3 for 63
After tea, Windsor got to work with the ball. Hill made two breakthroughs in his first 2 overs, reducing Egham to 10-2 after 3 overs. Young fast bowler Holmes made a good start from the river end, sending some good pace down the wicket to the Egham batsmen. Ex captain Chris edge was brought into the attack and quickly made another break through and this put Windsor firmly in control. Windsor’s fielding efforts were also top class, with Mark Lines, being thrust into the covers position and stopping everything that was hit at him. Windsor continued to bowl tight lines, by bringing new recruit Javaid into the attack. His frustrating inswing gave the Egham batsmen no room to play attacking shots. Mark Lines, Windsor’s young left arm spinner, also bowled very tightly. With 15 overs to go Egham needed over 120 to win. Campbell and Price decided that they should get after the Windsor bowling attack. Coupled with a change to non-regular spin bowlers Charters and Noble, Egham piled on some valuable runs towards the end. Campbell and Price, got to their half centauries with their attacking strokes, especially off the bowling of Noble, ending with 51 and 53 not out respectively. But for all their heroics at the end, Egham ended up falling short of the Windsor total by over 30 runs
A good natured friendly was had with our friends at Egham, and Windsor look forward to taking on their local rivals Datchet CC at Home Park this coming Saturday………..