Burnham finally turn the corner
Adnan's men claim eight-wicket win over Cookham Dean
There's a sense that Burnham may have finally turned a corner after Adnan Shabbir's side defeated Cookham Dean by eightwickets on Saturday to register their first victory of the season.
After four consecutive - and disheartening - losses, Burnham were propping up the Thames Valley Division 1 table heading into Saturday's home clash with a youthful but exciting Dean side.
They remain there after Saturday's crushing eight-wicket win yet the gap to the sides above them has been partially bridged and Adnan can look ahead to the rest of the season - and the switch to the longer format of the game with real optimism.
Performances in the Julian Cup aside, optimism has been in short supply at Burnham over the past few seasons. Last summer they were relegated from the Home Counties Cricket League and have had to contend with a degree of upheaval and the loss of key players off the back of that. Finally, they now appear to have a more settled side - despite the visa issues which have held up the arrival of their overseas player - and Saturday's display against Dean suggests they'll be more than a match for most sides at this level.
“I tell you we needed that,” said Adnan this week. “We needed that win as a team and as a club.
“After losing the first four games we needed a win to lift everyone up and we can now take this momentum into next week's game against Eversley.
“There's a good vibe in the team and the whole atmosphere has changed because of this win.
“We probably should have won before now, but this week we had a guy who made 117 (Lasan Kumara De Silva Wijemuni) and we need players in the top order to kick on and get those big runs for us when they get a start.”
For a side low on morale, this was an excellent display. Having restricted Dean's potentially explosive batting line up to just 145 in 33.4 overs, they chased down their target for the loss of two wickets in 23.5 overs. Lasan Kumara De Silva Wijemuni smashed an unbeaten 117 off just 73 balls to dominate their reply.
Imran Aslam (3-26), Sajid Aziz (3-2), Muddassar Nawaz (2-42) and Adnan (2-25) were their key players with the ball, sharing the wickets around while their fielding was also on point.
“We hit the right areas with a good length and that paid off,” said Adnan.
“We had them five down for 40 after 10 overs and that set the tone. The way we used the new ball was very important and our fielding was on the mark as well. We took all our catches. It was just a good team effort. We’re still bottom of the table but at least we’ve won, and the gap isn’t huge.
“It's taken a couple of weeks to observe what we were doing wrong as a team. I'm a new captain this season and some big players left our club in the off season, some to play Home Counties Cricket elsewhere. It's been a difficult start, but I think we're now at a point where we know what our strengths are, and it worked well for us on Saturday.
“We should really kick on from here and take this momentum into the next game. We enjoy the long format as we're strong with left arm spinners.”
Eversley, who beat Gerrards Cross by one wicket on Saturday for their second win of the season, are the visitors this weekend.
“They're a good side who also won at the weekend,” added Adnan. “They've won two of their matches but we're at home and playing a different format. It will be a different challenge but it's one we're looking forward to.”