Adam Weston: "Windsor CC are weaker this season"

By Anthony Smith • Published 25 May 2012 07:00 0 Comments

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WINDSOR Cricket Club skipper Adam Weston admits the club's chances of challenging for promotion this season are looking slim as they gear up for Saturday's crunch derby against Datchet at Home Park (1pm).

Weston believes a top-three finish in Thames Valley Division 2a may be the best Windsor can hope for after a tough winter.

The loss of key players like Ben Harris and Arrie Van der Merwe have hit Windsor hard and Weston believes his side are not the force they once were.

And he felt their failure to chase down 210 to win at Eversley last Saturday was proof of that.

"We don't hold the same aspirations we've had in previous years," Weston told the Observer. "We know where we are, we need everything to go right and we need to win games like Eversley if we're going to have any chance of winning the league.

"If I'm honest, we're probably a top-three side unless something changes dramatically because we don't have the personnel any more."

Nevertheless, Windsor have enjoyed a solid and unbeaten start to the league with one win and one draw from their opening two matches and sit fifth in the table.

They appeared to be in the driving seat at Evesley last weekend after Australian overseas star Luke Patchett (85) and Will Harris (30) put on 119 for the first wicket.

Sadly, Windsor then lost seven wickets for 31 runs and were happy to avoid defeat in the end, finishing on 144-7.

And Weston knows Windsor's batting must improve overall if they are to beat Datchet at home this weekend.

"Luke and Will batted superbly again but we need more guys to put their hands up," he insisted. "We are always up for a game against Datchet, it's the biggest game of the season for us so we're looking forward to it."

Datchet boast an identical unbeaten record to Windsor so far, but have picked up more points and sit second in the table.

They go into Saturday's clash on the back of a four-wicket win over North Maidenhead last weekend, bowling out their opponents for just 134.

And Datchet skipper Tim Alldis believes his side can push for promotion this season: "We want to get promotion, that's what we aiming for," he explained.

"We want to remain unbeaten for the whole season and win as many games as we possibly can.

"We think we can win with the players we've got but we can't get complacent.

"We've got the players to win the division very comfortably but it's no good saying it, we've got to go out and do it."

And he added: "Our batting has definitely strengthened, we have players who will score shedloads of runs in this division.

"Whereas in previous years we have lost one or two wickets and crumbled, this year we can lose six or seven but still have batsmen to come. We've got a very strong batting line-up."

And Alldis knows the key to winning this weekend's derby with Windsor will be keeping big-hitting overseas star Wes Nichols quiet.

"It will be competitive," he predicted. "They've got some very good players like Wes Nichols who has been very good for the last four or five years, we'll have to watch him."

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