Slough are put to the sword by ruthless league leaders Henley
Slough CC: Captain Nadeem Syed believes his team aren’t showing the talent they possess as they sit in sixth
For the first time this season, Slough were comprehensively beaten as they went down to a 117-run defeat against Henley on home turf on Saturday.
The team’s top order has struggled for form all season yet somehow Nadeem Syed’s men have managed to churn out two thrilling victories, with Mohammed Avas (50no) marshalling their innings in last weekend's superb three-wicket win at Buckingham
Town.
But on Saturday there was no recovery to their tepid reply with the bat as Slough collapsed to 52-5 chasing Henley’s 272-8. Captain Nadeem Syed once again applied himself well further down the order, contributing an unbeaten 42 to add to last week's 41no, however, support was thin on the ground, and he was eventually left without a batting partner in the 46th over with the score on 155.
Henley had piled the pressure on Slough's struggling batsmen by scoring 272-8, a score Syed admitted was better than par for the wicket. Michael Roberts was run out just shy of his century on 99 while opener Johnny Connell also contributed a brilliant 81.
Having toiled in the early overs, with Henley racing out to 184-2, Slough did eventually reel in their visitors with Syed taking his side's best figures of 333. Syed is adamant the top order will come good and find their true form very soon, but he also expects the team to give a better account of themselves in all departments.
They visit local rivals Datchet at the Wally Gage Memorial Ground on Saturday in a game that's historically produced high-scoring, competitive clashes.
“I don't think we're showing the talent that we have in our team,” said Syed, whose side sits sixth in the table after four league matches.
“Henley scored 25 runs more than par for that wicket. Having said that we should have given a better account of ourselves with the bat.
“The top order hasn’t come to the party yet in any of the four games that we’ve played, but I'm sure they'll do that. They're just out of form but I'm confident they'll rediscover that very soon.
“Based on the talent we've got we're not functioning how I'd like us to as a team. It's not like we haven't got the players to perform, we've got the players but for some reason it's just not clicking now.
“A positive is we've still managed to get two wins on the board, but last weekend we were beaten comprehensively. When we start functioning well hopefully there's only one way to go and that's up.
“Saturday was the only game where I felt we were behind the ball and
Henley were deserving winners.
“But our batting line up must come good at some time and I think it's about time. I'm sure someone will put their hand up and start scoring runs.
“If we get the top order going again with our strong bowlers, we'll have the bases covered.”
On Saturday, they face a Datchet side who blotted their perfect start to their Home Counties Division 1 campaign with a 54-run defeat against Banbury last time out.
“Datchet are a strong outfit,” said Syed, “They play at a small ground so matches there are usually high scoring. It will be interesting to see how things pan out. But to be honest, I’m not looking too far ahead. Our target for next week is to put in a stronger batting performance, one that will give us a chance, either to defend or to get into the game. If we could bat well, I’d be in a better frame of mind to where I am now because at the moment it's not clicking.”