Hartley sets Wokingham stiff safety target

Pete Phillips • Published 5 Aug 2009 09:00 0 Comments

WOKINGHAM wicketkeeper Nick Hartley is confident three wins from their final five games will be enough to save the club from relegation.

Wokingham currently sit second bottom in Division Two West of the Home Counties League, with just three victories all season, but Hartley remains optimistic the club can double that win tally in the closing weeks and still beat the drop.

The Wellington Road outfit will need to show a marked improvement in the final weeks of the season to pull clear of the drop zone as they've won just once in their last nine outings but Hartley remains upbeat.

He said: "We've got work to do but the league is still very tight and one win could put us back up to mid-table. There are several teams separated by just a few points and anyone can beat anyone else on their day.

"I think we probably need at least two more wins to stay up and three would put us in a very strong position.

"We've lacked a few runs this season and we need to get a few more on the board to give our bowlers something to work with but there's still plenty of cricket to be played yet."

Wokingham were saved from another defeat by the rain last weekend as winless Burnham looked to be easing home in the battle of the basement boys before the heavens opened to deny them their first victory of the season.

Wokingham had been bowled out for 127 in their innings as spinners Zulfiqar Butt (4-39) and Naseer Ahmed (6-52) ripped through their line-up.

Rock bottom Burnham then appeared to be cruising to their long-awaited first win of the season as they raced to 76-1 but a heavy downpour then brought an end to proceedings as Wokingham escaped with a draw.

Wokingham should welcome back Ryan Hiscoe, who missed last weekend's draw after contracting swine flu, and Dan Reddyhough for this Saturday's trip to Falkland, although Hartley is unavailable for the trip to Enbourne Lodge.

Tweet

Post a comment

Your Comment:

Registered users log in here

Username or email

Password

If you are registered with us, you can login here. If you are not registered, do so now.
Once logged in you wont have to complete word verification each time you post.

Prefer not to register?

Screen Name *required

Email (not displayed) *required

Usernames must be 4 - 20 characters. Registration only takes a few minutes. Registered users can also take part in competitions and other features of the site.

Word Verification:
Enter the text as shown.

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.

Follow @rdgchronicle