Weekend Roundup May 27/28
Preston Firsts went down by 97 runs against Shenley in the Championship of the Herts League.
Taking first knock on winning the toss, Shenley’s Thurston rode some luck in the early part of what was to be a match winning and composed knock of 142 off 135 deliveries. Shenley made 283/7, despite some excellent bowling from the Preston attack. Aussie Nathan McSweeney at No 3 contributed in support with a patient 53. A fielding injury to Jack Stevens didn’t help as he withdrew to Watford A&E with a bad finger break. Scholzy took 3 wickets with Ed and Max taking two each. The Preston reply roared off with Ed crashing much of the Shelley attack over the boundary, reaching 80 off just 45 balls before being caught. From then, the Preston innings lost much of its impetus with wickets falling too regularly. A well made 30 from Biggsy secured at least a few extra points to close on 186 all out. Redbourn next week which promises to be great match.
Preston Seconds were early winners against Frogmore CC. Batting first on winning the toss, Preston reached 241/7 off the full 50 overs. Dom Baldwin continued promising form with 51, young Ollie Catlin with a well made 41 and Skipper Fleckney making 45 in at No 7 helped build an impressive total. The Frogmore innings struggled against a strong Preston attack. Wickets were shared around but Catlin Snr took home 4/8 of his 4.5 overs to secure the 30 points inside of 38 overs.
Preston Thirds beat Bamville CC by 29 runs to take home another 30 points. Winning the toss and electing to bat, Preston made 192/9 off their 40 overs. Andrew Hedges made a superb 93, assisted by Amit Rajani (27) and James Battersby (36). Several of the Bamville batsmen made starts but wickets fell regularly before a big score could be achieved. Three wickets apiece for Bhav and Gurpreet and a very tight opening spell by young Rohan Ramasoor (8-2-13-0) helped ensure the 30 points as Bamville were all out for 163 in 37 overs in a well fought match.
Preston Fourths won by 1 wicket in a very close contest v Hertford 4’s. Hertford won the toss and elected to bat making 144 all out in 39.4 overs with Josh Ashby being the biggest headache taking 3/38. In reply, VC Chris Harper made a solid innings of 34 before adjudged LBW. 21 from Pete Joiner and 16 from Skipper Phillips helped steady the ship and swashbuckling innings of 19 in at No 10 got Preston over the line.
Sunday action in the Beds League saw Preston go down by 84 runs against Flitwick.
Preston Juniors have also been in the thick of the action with some excellent wins lately against Pirton and Reed. Some amazing cricket is being played and for many in the u9’s playing their first of hopefully many games for the club. A great deal to be thankful for and the ground has had the chance to shine to visiting teams and parents of junior players.