Luck wasn’t on Slough CC’s side as they’re held to a draw by Finchampstead – Photo 1 of 1

Slough fielding against Finchampstead on Saturday. Photo: Andrew Batt

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Lady luck didn’t appear to be on Slough’s side as an untimely rain-shower and poor umpiring decisions dashed their hopes of victory against Finchampstead on Saturday.

The visitors were seemingly in control of proceedings as they sought to chase down Finchampstead’s impressive total of 264-8 from 64 overs.

With 18 deliveries remaining, they needed just 11 runs to seal their second league win of the season, however, an unfortunate rain shower sent both sides from the field and when they returned later in the afternoon, they had just three balls left to make up those 11 runs.

In the end they fell three runs short of victory, finishing on 262-5 from 54 overs, and captain Nadeem Syed was left to bemoan his side’s misfortune as the match finished in a draw with Finch collecting 12 points to Slough’s 15.

“We needed 11 runs in three overs, and we had bright blue sunshine, and then, from who knows where, we had a five-minute shower,” said Syed. “That meant we had to go off, and when we came back, they changed the equation from 18 balls to score 11 to three balls to score 11 runs. We still managed nine runs but didn’t get the result.

“I don’t think there is anything more to it, we were just unlucky.

“It’s disappointing because we’d done all the hard work but didn’t come away with 25 points. It wasn’t great.”

Syed was also irked by a poor umpiring decision which went against his side much earlier in the match. With Finchampstead looking to build a challenging total, the visitors appeared to have captain Gregory Smith caught behind shortly after he came to the crease. It would have been a prized wicket and a major blow to Finch’s chances, however, despite most Slough players hearing an audible nick off the bat, Smith somehow survived and went on to top score for his side with 67 runs. His efforts at the crease were matched by Jed Crerar who also made 67.

In response, Slough produced their best display yet with the bat, as Wajid Shah struck a magnificent century (105) and Lesbourne Edwards hit 56 from a more conservative 108 balls. Both departed to Guy Ashby (2-75), however, Syed (24no) and Mohammed Rizvi (25no) looked to be closing in on Finchampstead’s target when the rain intervened.

“I think we did well in the field. We bowled well, but a few decisions didn’t go our way. The umpiring we’ve had in some games has been substandard and it’s costing us dearly. It an aspect we will ask the league to look at because some of the decisions that were made were so critical to the game. It impacted the outcome massively. The umpire made a mistake, we’re all human and they apologised afterwards and acknowledged it could have been done differently.

“A similar thing happened last week against Datchet. And that one was not controversial. The umpire gave the batsman out on a leg before, but then when the batsman challenged it, they reversed the decision, which was beyond my understanding.

“This Saturday there was a caught behind which pretty much everyone knew in the ground and the leg umpire also said he heard a noise. It was not a 50/50 decision, it was a proper nick, it was out, and he went on to score 67 when he was on one or two runs, or maybe even zero.”

Slough host leaders High Wycombe on Saturday.

“I’m happy with the way the team is progressing but there is work to be done,” added Syed. “We are not perfect yet and we need to show improvements in all departments, bowling batting and fielding, but we’re in a good place as a team and we’re competing well. We’ve shown fighting spirit in all our games so far.”