DAN MARLES says Finchampstead have to “let our cricket do the talking” as they prepare to welcome Tring Park to Berkshire on Saturday.
It is the first time the two sides have met since Finches lost their cool – and the match – against Tring back in May, which led to captain Marles and a number of his players receiving suspensions.
But they have responded superbly since, taking their unbeaten tally to seven matches with a 24-run success against Oxford on Saturday to keep them in the title hunt.
And Marles says his side are ready to turn the tables against Tring Park this weekend.
“We’ve just got to try and let our cricket do the talking,” he told The Wokingham Paper.
“We want to put that behind us and just go out there and get another win, regardless of what’s happened in the past.
“I think that’s the most important thing on Saturday, to keep this unbeaten streak going.
“It might feel like that (revenge) and we are still a bit bitter about it, but actually let’s just try and let the cricket do the talking on Saturday.”
He continued: “Looking back at it now, we’re pretty gutted that we didn’t win that game because we’d probably be top of the league by now.
“We should’ve won that game, we know that.
“We’ve got a lot of players in good form and we’re backing ourselves on Saturday and hopefully we can put another good performance in.”
Finches stayed in second place, 16 points behind leaders Henley, after another nervy game at the weekend.
Fresh from the thrilling one-wicket win over High Wycombe, Finchampstead took their clash at Oxford down to the final over before forcing through a victory.
After losing two early wickets in the first innings, the visitors moved on to 110-3 following a good partnership between Adam Dewes and Dan Lincoln before the latter fell for 37.
Ed Oliver (16) and Josh Lincoln (28) came and went before Dewes finally fell for 81 off 164 deliveries.
Set a target of 225 to win, Oxford lost early wickets and were reeling on 89-5.
But they dug in and looked like they would hold on for a draw before the final wicket eventually fell in the last over.
JJ Dewes was the pick of the eight bowlers used on the day, posting figures of 5-66.
“We’re getting used to these dodgy wins,” said Marles.
“It’s good fun to play a part but obviously we would like to win a bit easier really.
“We’ve based our success this year around getting big scores up top and Adam set the game up really well for us.
“It was tricky early on but he saw it out and batted really well.
“He was unlucky not to get 100 really, he deserved it after a fantastic knock.
“JJ was fantastic with the ball again and showed how good a spinner he is, getting five wickets.”
Marles added: “We know how good a side Henley are.
“We’ve just got to hope that someone beats them or even better that we go and beat them when they come to us in three or four weeks.
“They’re a top class side and we are chasing them.
“There’s a lot of sides around us with similar points to us so we’re just trying to play the best cricket we can every week and hopefully that takes us somewhere near the top four and maybe even near the top two.”
Marles confirmed Billy Rogers should return to the side this weekend, but Finches could be without Dan Lincoln due to football commitments.
Fellow wicket-keeper Sukhi Kang is set to miss the rest of the season through injury.
FINCHAMPSTEAD batting: House 4, A. Dewes 81, Marles 16, D. Lincoln 37, Oliver 16, J. Lincoln 28, Coetzee 16, Carter 6, Parson 6, Hodges 0, J. Dewes 1no.
Bowling: Coetzee 2-14, Parson 0-7, Carter 1-43, J. Dewes 5-66, Hodges 0-8, J. Lincoln 1-33, A. Dewes 0-14, Marles 1-9.
