Division Seven A

Brett Harvey took a season’s best five for 64 for Rickmansworth Seconds, but it was not enough to stop Old Cholmelians posting a formidable 209 for nine.

The Ricky reply was limp and they crumbled to 75 for eight in reply. Wicket keeper Dave Cooper then staged a one-man recovery scoring 75 runs of his own, including 12 boundaries, but he was last man out as Ricky finished 41 runs short on 168 all out.

Division Eight A

Langleybury Thirds continued their winning ways against Northwood Town.

They inserted Northwood on a wet wicket and got instant results, quickly reducing Town to 12 for four. But Vanker and Patel got Northwood out of trouble with an excellent 83 partnership.

But the drying wicket still had some tricks up its sleeve and Town were all out for 128 all thanks to the impressive bowling of Kevin Kelly (three for 13), Graeme Roe, three for 30, and Josh Spinks with three for 41.

Langleybury’s reply started smoothly until Graeme Roe chose to leave a straight one. Roger Ball followed him on 31, before youngsters, Tom McHugh (21) and Alex McLachlan 50, saw Langleybury home for the loss of four wickets.

Division Nine A

Kings Langley Thirds fell to a six-wicket defeat as they visited Stevenage Fourths on Saturday.

Asked to bat, Kings soon fell from 20 for no wicket to 60 for six after 21 overs. Three juniors then mustered some fight as the final three batters salvaged the score to 107 all out, led by 14-year-old Adam Syed who produced a hard fought 23 on his senior debut.

The home side were put under some early pressure, losing three early wickets, but recovered to claim a well-deserved 30 points.

Division Nine B

A combination of good bowling and fielding turned Abbots Langley Thirds’ decision to bat second into a good one as they beat London Colney Seconds to end a run of close defeats.

They restricted their opponents to a below-par 164 for eight after 53 overs and with Tom Ruxton, Kuldip Hayer, James Allan and Harry Khan eating into the total with quiet efficiency they won by five wickets.

Division Ten A

A season’s best of five for 31 from Brendan Lindsay helped Rickmansworth Thirds restrict visitors Holtwhites Thirds to 161 for seven.

However, the much vaunted Ricky batting line-up failed to establish any partnerships in reply and at 71 for seven it looked like an early finish was on the cards.

Ameed Hanif (29) and Andy Milner took the score up to 113 for eight but that was there the resistance ended as Ricky were bowled out for a lowly 126.

Ryan Smart stands to win the prize as the most unlucky batsman around last weekend.

The West Herts Thirds batsman was on 15 when he played a shot that hit fielder, Woods skipper Rob Dunstone in the head, and ricocheted straight into the hands of the grateful Chorleywood Thirds bowler Ciaran Lad. That type of bad luck did not stop West Herts from cruising to victory.

Adeseh Kapoor provided more than half of their 142 runs with a fine unbeaten knock of 72 not out as they needed just 34 overs to knock off Chorleywood’s 141 all out in 52.5 overs.

The highlights of Chorleywood’s innings were Ed Rogers, who compiled a gritty 51 before he was the last man out, and Martin Tyler’s 27 as he became the only other Wood batsmen to break the 20-run marker.

Division Ten B

Opener Richard Mackay’s splendid 79 helped Northwood Thirds set a total that was too high for Broxbourne fourths to overhaul.

After being put into bat, Mackay made the visitors regret their decision to field first as he piled on the runs before having his stump removed by Chamara Gamage.

Khurram Rana, 35, and Chaminda Thithalapitigie, 21, kept the scoreboard ticking along as Northwood reached 220 for eight from 53 overs.

With Thithalapitigie then taking four wickets for 27 with the ball in hand and Paul Reeve claiming three for 25, Northwood dismissed their opponents for 175 in the 45th over as Northwood won by 45 runs.

Regional Division B

West Sixteen-year-old Owen Blackwell scored his maiden half century as Rickmansworth Fourths claimed a draw chasing Redbourn Fourths’ 281 for two.

Blackwell’s 53 was bettered by clubmate Bobby Shome who then took up the chase with a well-crafted 79 not out but a steady loss of wickets at the other end made the run chase ultimately too much to sustain and the match was drawn with the Rickmansworth innings closing on an admirable 242 for eight.

Chorleywood Fourths had to settle for a draw at Old Camdenians seconds in a game that either side could have won.

Wood batted first and posted a competitive 195 all out in just 40 overs with Jonathan Lyons continuing his run of form with a fine 86, with support from Steve Dunning (40).

Dunning continued his fine game as he then picked up four for 48 as Wood picked up wickets at regular intervals. But they were unable to stop Camdenians closing in on their target. In the end, the home side finished nine wickets down but just nine runs from victory as the sides had to settle for a share of the points.

Regional Division C West

Abbots Langley Fourths beat West Herts Fourths by ten runs despite losing their opener and two other batsmen for nought.

They posted 137 all out after being put into bat and that proved to be a winning total as West Herts’ chase finished ten runs shy despite the best efforts of Mark Wheeler who contributed 46.