Windsor CC 1stXI Vs Harefield CC 1stXI
Thames Valley League Division 1 – 14th May 2005

Windsor 1st Team played there first home game of the season, all the hard work put into the ground and pavilion showed, as Home Park Cricket ground looked fantastic. The wicket also looked impressive. Extra work that had been put in over the winter has so far paid off.

Windsor were without Gould, Towse and had slight concerns over the fitness of fast bowlers Griffiths and Granger, luckily both came through late fitness tests.

Windsor were inserted after losing the toss, skipper Thompson spoke to his players about building the innings and setting a target of 200 + before setting out with fellow opener and Vice Skipper Bird. Things were looking good for Windsor as both batsmen got there heads down early and pushed the score along to 30 of 9 overs without loss. Then poor shot selection from both openers, combined with a tight spell of bowling from Harefield, changed the game, putting Windsor in trouble at 38 for 4. Step to the crease Stuart Millman and Tim Smith, the later batting in his normal cavalier style. However it was the class of Stuart Millman that caught the eye. His excellent 47 was just when needed, playing with a very straight bat and choosing his shots carefully. Experienced Raul Mohindru scored an excellent 26, helping Windsor to get to 148 – 9.

Skipper Thompson thought that this would be short of a wining total but the Windsor never say die attitude was in full flow and the team started the assault on the Harefield batting like a locomotive. Granger tore in at the top order, removing the prolific Macloud and Reddy very quickly. The pressure began to build on Harefield as Windsor kept things tight. Then the Harefield overseas player (Whatham) scored a quick 24, pushing the game slightly Harefield’s way, Thompson then changed the bowling around and got reward immediately with 2 wickets falling quickly. The game ebbed and flowed, but with a good knock from the Harefield keeper, the game started to edge away from Windsor. However, the ever-reliable Mohindru struck again with Granger also removing Prodger’s middle stump to cause a late stir. But this effort turned out to be too late, as Har