With the Holtwhites pitch back into its usual roadlike condition and with Reed (including former Cockfosters pop star Jon Kershaw) needing 15 points to secure the division title, it was no surprise to see them bat first when they won the toss.

After just 43 overs the declaration came on 252 for 3, with all of the bowlers finding it difficult to make things happen on an unresponsive track and against a top batting side. That left Fosters to make 140 to make sure of staying up. This was easily achieved thanks to a solid batting display. Dan Rollo (36) and Mike Pigden (32) opened things up and they were given good support all the way down the order with Akash making 14, Spooks 13, Tony Whaley 19 and Deano 22. Richard E and the skipper were there at the end as the innings closed on 189 for 7

Surreal moment of the day came with the fall of Tony's wicket. The celebration of the wicket by the Reed players had Tony grandly thinking how valued his wicket was......until he realised that the real reason for the celebration was Reed bringing up the 15th bonus point they needed to win the title - good luck in Div 11.

An absolutely vital win for the 4th XI given results at the bottom of the table - just another 5 points needed to guarantee safety now.

Neil Hale won an important toss and asked North Mymms to have first use of a lively looking track. Dean Johnson took full advantage with his best figures of the season bowling 17 overs unchanged for 7 for 29, as he tore the heart out of the North Mymms innings. Akash, Christian and Joe gave good support at the other end with Akash and Christian both taking a wicket apiece and Akash also involved in a handy run out.

In reply the the oldest combined opening partnership record set last week, was increased by a further 2 weeks as El Presidente and Richard E took a long time to score a 50 opening stand to settle any nerves. James went for 9, and although Akash soon followed, Dean Johnson capped his day by remaining unbeaten to see the side home by 8 wickets. Mike finished 43 not out.

A tremendous effort by 9 man Cockfosters resulting from a week of poor availability and late cry offs. Oddly Met Police chose to bat first against 9 men and it was a pretty good effort to restrict them to 205 for 6. Akash Singh was the pick of the bowlers taking 2 for 39 from 10 overs. It was good to see debut colts Christian Teale and birthday boy Bradley Sayers both picking up a wicket apiece. Dan Rollo and the develish spin of Shag also picked up a wicket each.

In reply perhaps the oldest combined opening partnership for Cockfosters (118 years - and some suspect James Grant is lying about his age!!) took to the field in the guise of Club President Mike Pigden and James Grant. It wasn't too successful though as they both failed to reach double figures. Dan Rollo chipped in with 21 and Akash made 12 not out before the summer rains returned to force and abandoned match and 10 welcome points in the circumstances.

Having decided to bat first, Fosters picked up some useful bonus points at the expense of a side below them in the table.

Kevin Brady picked up where he left off last week making another excellent start, although his innings was interrupted by a quick retirement for injury. At the other end Ajit Shah was proving equally stubborn although he struggled early on to make too much headway scoring just 30 from the opening 30 overs.

However as time went on and the Old Owens bowling and fielding tired runs became easier to come by. Ajit began to cut loose and ended up making 90, whilst the returning Kevin finished with a second successive 70, finishing on 78. A few quick runs by the other batsmen saw the total up to 222 for 5 before the declaration came.

In reply Old Owens never really looked interested in going for the runs and despite their best efforts, opening bowlers Deano and Benny bowled tidily but with just one wicket for Deano. Eventually the change bowlers got their rewards and brought the side close to victory. Spooks (earlier disappointed (!) to be run out) chipped in the 3 for 8, whilst Ajit capped an all round display with 2 for 24. Shaff also bowled really well with figures of 1 for 34 not really doing him justice.

In the end though Old Owens did enough to secure the draw ending on 142 for 7.

Well, this one didn't really go to plan either but 30 points were still secured! After putting Monken Hadley in to bat they struggled to 77 from 27 overs thanks to excellent opening spells from Richard Wells (still nursing his back on his 30th birthday) and Roy Hill. Unexpectedly though despite the support bowlers being well up to the task, the remaining overs did not go to plan as 7 an over came from Monken Hadley's final 20 overs, with Spooks coming on late to pick up 2 for 25.

In reply Dan Rollo fell early for 6 but from then on the innings took off. Jedi Knight scored 41 quick runs as he and the returning Kevin Brady put on 70 for the second wicket. Keving simply carried on when Jedi was out, putting on 102 for the 3rd wicket with Spooks who made his maiden league 50, finishing with 51. Kevin went for a well made 71 and it was left to Wellsy to hit some lusty blows in 23 not out to see the side home by 5 wickets.

A vital win taking the side into mid table with just 4 games left to play.

This didn't go according to plan! The toss was won and Fosters chose to bat first. After the early loss of Chris Duncan for a duck, Spooks and Michael Smith settled things but struggled to score runs against some useful bowling, with the score reaching just 34 for 1 after 21 overs. Michael then went for 19 to bring in Mike Pigden who found scoring runs much easier with a well made top score of 45.

Spooks was to eventually fall for a top score of the season 33, before skipper Whaley failed to find too much form, finishing 13 not out but failing to inject the quick runs that were really needed. The innings closed on 128 for 5.

This was immediately shown to be insufficient as the Ware batsman went after the Cockfosters bowling to knock off the runs in less than 22 overs. Akash Singh on his seasonal debut took a catch and picked up a wicket in a return of 1 for 24 from 5 overs, but overall this was a disappointing effort against a side in a similar position in the league.

30 points were there for the taking before the rains came. A solid batting effort by the side, having been put in to bat, yielded their highest score of the season. At the top of the order Dan Rollo, Chris Duncan and Michael Smith all made useful contributions before bringing on Wellsy - he duly smashed 41 runs before being run out after being sent back by Tony Whaley, who had barely scored at the other end.

This brought out the class of the innings as Mike Pigden made 48 well crafted runs as he rolled back the years - about time he made himself more available! Mike received excellent support from Shaff Babwah who finished on 24 not out as the innings reached 214 for 8 after just 43 overs. That was the end though as the scattered showers blended in to one to end proceedings.

A vital win for the 4th team and boy did they make hard work of it!

On a picturesque playing surface and outfield, the pitch may have looked beautiful to the eye but in reality it played more like a sponge. All of the bowlers bowled well on it and generally got their reward. Openers Chris Nickolls and Richard Blaby kept things tight but failed to get any reward. It was left to the rest of the bowlers to do the damage:

Ajit Shah, unluckily dropped to the 4th team returned excellent figures of 4 for 22 from 14 overs and the returning John Worley showed that he has lost very little by taking 3 for 22 from 12 tidy overs. Chris Duncan then came on to take 3 for 18 from his 5 overs as Letchworth creditably used up all of their allotted overs in making 115.

It all looked easy as Ajit and Jedi Knight put on 42 for the opening wicket in good time. However they both fell for 20 and sparked a remarkable collapse to 87 for 8. Jon Worley was perhaps unlucky to be adjudged lbw for 4 and Neil Hale fell to a good return catch but the rest was not pretty.

Fortunately this side batted all the way down this week as U17s Duncan and Nickolls put on an undefeated 31 for the 9th wicket, both finishing on 22 not out and seeing the 4th time home to their first played victory of the season, and importantly out of the relegation places.

There was no disgrace in this result coming as it did against league leading opponents and with a very inexperienced side. In fact it was a creditable performance in itself to fully bat out the overs, particularly after the first 3 wickets fell with barely 10 runs on the board.

It was a fine effort by the youngsters as Michael Smith making his seasonal debut top scored with 23 and then Joseph Barker chipped in with a well made 17. They were well supported by skipper Neil Hale who made 13, Mike Pigden with 11 and then young Michael Levy (eventually finding the ground) with an unbeaten 8.

98 for 9 never looked likely to be enough and so it proved as Great Gaddesden knocked off the runs in 22 overs. It was though a commendable bowling effort with Spooks taking 1 for 29, Daniel Smith 1 for 20 and Ravi Solanki bowling 5 teasing overs of spin.

An agonising defeat (the first this season) by the 4th XI will probably be good news in the league table on a day when most games fell foul of the weather - the bonus points for this effort being better than from an abandoned match.

After winning the toss and deciding to bat, Matt Langley showed the promise that he seen him push for more regular 3rd team inclusion, by scoring a well made 81 including 2 sixes and a number of boundaries. The only disappointment being the failure to convert into a century and the lack of support at the other end.

Of the top order batsmen only Dan Rollo gave any lengthy support with 24, and it was left to Duncan Pearce coming in at number 9 to score a late 19 before he was run out from the last delivery of the innings.

In reply the Fosters bowling always kept the game alive. Dean Johnson bowled unchanged from one end taking 3 for 80, whilst youngsters Chris Duncan and Duncan Pearce gave excellent support from the other end. Spooks later chipped in with 2 wickets and there were 2 run outs including one engineered by 13 year old Michael Levy making his league debut. In the end though the key was the failure of the home umpire to give a run out from a deflected hit down the ground....enough to see them sneak home by one wicket.
 

In keeping with everyone else early showers threatened to wash away this game. As it was the start was delayed for just under an hour and Botany Bay were given first use of the track. Richard Blaby and Dean Johnson removed both openers, but all the top 4 batsmen made sufficient runs to allow Botany Bay to set up a reasonable target.

Some missed chances in the field eventually led to a score of 141 for 9 from the allotted 39 overs, with Ajit Shah finishing with 4 for 47 and Shaffi Babwah with 2 for 23.

In reply Cockfosters looked to be cruising on 69 for 1 with the returning Matt Langley looking very comfortable. There then followed a middle order collapse that included 4 run outs, which left the game looking out of reach. The situation became much worse when Dan Rollo, who had made a belligerent 25, was well caught on the boundary. Richard and Shaffi were then ordered to bat out for the draw - Richard only losing his wicket to the last delivery when he decided that he was allowed to try one big shot!

In the end a disappointing result as only 4 points were picked up and the chance to pick up 30 with a good run chase had been missed.
 

On winning the toss this week skipper Hale decided to bat first and make the most of the positive side of the team! He was duly rewarded with the best all round batting display of the season. Danny White again showed his class (and the potential to play at a higher level) with another half century, whilst Kevin Brady just missed out with 48. There were steady contributions throughout the line up before some closing biffs from James Wells and Neil Hale brought the innings to a close on 238 for 7.

In reply Stevenage soon found themselves on 60 for 6. Their opening batsman who went on to carry his bat for 31 contributed to most of the carnage, managing to out Shag our own run out specialist with 4 of his partners falling that way.

Spooks bowled an excellent spell of 18 overs despite going wicketless. The lack of bowling was to prove decisive as the breakthrough wouldn't come....until Tony Whaley a nick behind that takes him top of the averages!

A useful 17 points though and a few places up the table.
 

Another good test for the 4th XI against a side that just missed out on promotion last year, ultimately saw another disappointing reward in terms of points, but an excellent effort to force a draw nonetheless.

Neil Hale sent Flamstead in to bat and saw a much improved bowling and fielding performance with 2 wickets apiece from Ajit Shah and Dean Johnson, plus one each for Chris Duncan and Sakib Butt. In the field Neil found standing up to the bowling to his liking, and there was even a star turn from Tony Whaley, managing to knock the ball up with the foot and shy in to the stumps from square leg!

Unfortunately from a tricky position of 140 for 6, Flamstead battled through their last 10 overs to set a target that looked a little bit high.

In reply Fosters soon found themselves in a perilous position on 48 for 6, with a number of confident top order batsman coming and going rather quickly. Morgan Edwards steadied the ship with a lengthy (but vital in the circumstances) 23 not out and Richard Blaby convinced Neil that he is a genuine all rounder with 39 runs before trying to despatch one too many. Sakib made 13 and it was left to James Wells (19 not out) to join Morgan in batting out the final 10 overs for another hard earned draw for the unbeaten 4th team.
 

One week removed from playing against a dropped Div 5 player, this week Cockfosters came up against a well grown 16 year old who captains his age group county side! Not only that, but when Fosters were pretty sure of an lbw shout they found that his father was umpiring - no chance of that decision being upheld then!

As it was, on a ground that resembled the great Tudor Park, the young lad went on to score a magnificent 161 not out from just 40 overs before the declaration came. The bowling figures don't look good but there some pretty good efforts from Messrs Blaby, Johnson, Westbury, Solanki and Pearce. The one area that the side let themselves down on was the fielding, with a number of dropped catches and misfields.

In reply reaching the target was never likely, nevertheless (and despite just one point being picked up) this was an excellent batting effort and heads didn't drop and everyone contributed. Dan Rollo top scored with 35 and Danny White looked a class act while making 24. Tony Whaley and Dean Johnson also contributed with 25 and 22 respectively, before Morgan Edwards saw it out for the draw.
 

Although the report below hoped for a better opposition this week, what Fosters could have down without was the dropping of a Div 5 first team regular to the Watton 2nd team. Whilst the player in question certainly proved his mettle, we could have done without his score of 97 out of 198 for 9!

As it was the whole side bowled well with Dean Johnson's figures of 2 for 56 barely doing him justice and Ravi picking up 2 wickets for 16 late on including the aforementioned batsman!

In reply Dan Rollo (34) and Kevin Brady (35) got Fosters off to a good start - Dan nearly starting a fight when Watton were convinced they had him caught behind - my spies tell me that he missed the ball by some margin but hit the ground with his bat! Ajit Shah looked good in making 4 before he was unlucky to be given out leg before.

Danny White making his return for Fosters looked likely to win the match - he made 52 in good time and was then unlucky to be run out.

In the end the shutters came down for a draw, with kudos to James Grant who, stepping in at the last minute ended on 21 not out. In the end a useful 12 points that keeps the 4th XI in the top 4 places.
 

The impact of Stevenage playing in the FA Trophy meant an easy 30 points for the 4th XI but ultimately a wasted day for a number of players who would rather have been out on the cricket field - let's hope for a bit more from Watton-at-Stone II's next week.