FRIETH Cricket Club was involved in league and cup matches that totalled just under 1,500 runs this week.

Although not an orthodox record to keep a track on, it is surely a club record and something that everyone is proud of.

Club chairman, Ben Smiley, said: "This is a fantastic number of runs and I'm pleased to say that approximately 900 of these were scored by Frieth players.

"We've had a very successful weekend and it was only a superb run chase from North London Cricket Club on Sunday that prevented us from recording four wins from four matches."

The

Frieth

first team piled on the pressure at the top in Chiltern & Mid Bucks Premier Division Two after a 149-run win at Emmbrook & Bearwood.

Frieth

were put into bat and, after the usual wobble at the top of the order, pulled things together to score 219-9 from their allotted overs. Runs flowed from the middle order, however it was Ramzan Ghafoor who anchored the innings with 90 before he was caught and bowled by Matt Howarth.

With the ball in hand, the visitors tore into the batting line-up and limited them to only two double-figure scores. Ashan Maqbool was the star of the show, achieving figures of 7-27 from eight overs. Sufiyan Hussain and Alex McKenzie chipped in with two and one wicket respectively.

The victory puts Frieth second in the league table and 13 points behind leaders Harpsden, with the table-toppers up next at Parmoor this Saturday.

It would have been understandable had those involved in the Mid Bucks 2s Knockout Cup final lost focus on their league fixture against Wendover 2s, and it seemed the visitors to Parmoor felt the same when making the surprising choice to put Frieth into bat first on Saturday.

Despite overnight rain, Wendover's decision backfired and Frieth built a commanding total of 235-7 from their allotted 50 overs. Strong starts from Owais Ali (35) and captain Graham Swales (43) were backed up by a superb 71 from Amar Ghafoor, who was returning from injury, as the home side made steady progress towards their second-largest total of the season.

Frieth got straight to it in the field and made light work of bowling out Wendover 2s for 128 runs, subjecting them to their first defeat of the summer. All six bowlers were involved in the wickets, with Tassawar Hussain the pick of the attack with figures of 3-40.

With a comfortable win under their belts, the Frieth 2s arrived at Ley Hill Cricket Club on Sunday full of confidence for the Knockout Cup final against rivals Cadmore End 2s.

Frieth won the coin toss and chose to field first. Cadmore powered to 114-3 in 13 overs but, with their expected acceleration, came more wicket opportunities. Frieth kept the pressure on and bowled out Cadmore for 160 runs in the 20th over.

Frieth started slow and steady in their chase, getting to 78-3 in 10 overs. Having absorbed the run rate pressure, middle order batsman Sharaf Ali (42*) and Khuram Hussain (38*) set about the second half of the chase and saw their side home in the 19th over.

The seven-wicket victory was the first trophy that the Frieth second team has won, in only the first season they have won a Knockout Cup match.

Frieth 2s Twenty20 captain, Shuayb Karim, said: "It was a close game and only team spirit that saw us pull together with both bat and ball to get across the line.

"There was a little bit of concern as the run rate slipped away from us during the middle overs, but we knew that we had the ability within our team to achieve the target. We're all delighted."