'This is the game we look for' (From Bucks Free Press)

'This is the game we look for'

8:10am Friday 3rd July 2009 in

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TOMORROW is the day of reckoning for Beaconsfield.

Newly-promoted from the Thames Valley League, they have taken the Home Counties by storm and one game short of the half-way mark they are looking down on everyone else.

It’s been half a job well done. But the final task before they turn for home is likely to be their toughest – ransacking the castle of illustrious neighbours Gerrards Cross.

Beaconsfield captain Paul Gurnell said: “The guys have been looking forward to this game for a few weeks.

“For us Gerrards Cross is the big derby of the season and it’s the game we look for when the fixtures come out.

“We are two very different clubs, but there is certainly no inferiority complex here.”

And there won’t be on the pitch either.

Gurnell said: “I think we are the best two sides in the league. If you look at the results we are both beating the teams in the bottom half of the table so the games between ourselves, Gerrards Cross and Finchampstead are massive. I think they will play a big part in the outcome of the season.”

So who is better? Both sides have match-winners with bat and ball, but both are liable to off-weeks in the middle.

Cross have already been bowled out for 159 but regularly soar past 250 at home, while Beaconsfield have failed to reach 200 more times than not.

Gurnell said: “I think there are two decent bowling attacks, with the combination of pace and spin, so runs are really going to matter.

“We need someone in our top four to go and get 100 and then have a few 30s and 40s around him.

“We need someone to put their hand up and get some big runs.”

Luc Walker, Matt Gregory and Shahid Mahmood are the three players Gurnell identifies as potential match-winners for Beaconsfield, while Cross trio Hamza Taj, Johhny Hughes and Alan Duncan are the players he fears most in the opposition.

Beaconsfield though, have the psychological edge according to Gurnell.

They dug their heels in for a losing draw against Falkland on Saturday and on a day when defeat stared them in the face, their ten points were enough to keep them top of the table.

Gurnell said: “If we had lost last week we could have dropped off the top and that came into everyone’s thinking.

“Two seasons ago, when we went down, if we were 50 or 60-5 we would probably have folded to about 80 all out.

“But our batting line-up is strong now. We’ve got guys who can chase totals and guys who can bat time.

“It’s going to be very tight come the end of the season so those extra four or five points were points we needed to take.

“It keeps us top and I think that gives us the pyscological edge going into the match with Gerrards Cross.

“I think it adds to everyone in the team. It probably means more to us than the opposition, but it gives us confidence and had we dropped off the top it might have taken the edge off a bit.”

Beaconsfeld won the toss against third-placed Falkland and chose to instert their guests, but it looked dubious as their opponents moved to 81-0 and eventually scored 221-5 in 56 overs.

Beaconsfield’s reply was quickly on the skids as five quick wickets fell and their long-unbeaten run suddenly looked vulnerable.

But Shakil Ahmed (54) and Luc Walker (51 not out) rescued the situation as Beaconsfield closed on 180-8.

Gurnell said: “Bowling first was the right decision. The pitch had been under cover for the best part of a day and a half and I thought it would do a bit early on.

“It didn’t do as much as I thought but if we batted well we’d have got to 220 comfortably.

“It was a good result in the context of what might have happened, but it was a bad result because it was a game we would have looked to win.”

Beaconsfield are at full strength for tomorrow’s short trip down the A40.