Losing the all important toss, Ts were asked to bat on a very slow wicket and a terribly under prepared outfield. After losing both openers cheaply, Bruce Koch and Sean DeJager began to rebuild the innings and at 83 for 2 they looked well set.

The loss of three quick wickets came as a shock and it was left to Phil Parker and all- rounder Alex Hughes to develop the score. Hughes des-patched the ball to all parts and finished on 85 not out while Parker playing an excellent supporting role, finishing on 40 not out after skipper Johnson declared on 214 for 5 from just 43 overs. This left the home side 54 overs to get the runs but they were never in the hunt with pace duo Koch and Scriven tearing through another top order. They reduced the home side to 24 for 7 and with a full 35 overs remaining the victory looked inevitable. However, the Lyonians tail dug in and as over after over ticked by and despite numerous bowling and fielding changes the Ts could not dislodge the determined tail.

All credit to the Lyonians tail who managed to hold on for a draw and finished on 84 for 9 in 54 excruciatingly painful overs for the Ts. The visitors were left to rue losing the toss and of 10 points.

Twickenham 2nd X1 vs Kenton 2nd X1

The seconds continued their fine start to the season with another thumping victory in what on paper looked a tough encounter.

Putting the visitors in on a slow green wicket the Ts were looking sharp and focussed on the job in hand and waited only to the second over before a fine diving catch by Hugh Lindsay at second slip removed Kenton's skipper for one. The Ts have developed a ruthless edge this season and never allowed the visitors to settle. The visitors were obviously taken aback with the aggressive cricket of the Ts and wickets fell regularly including a sharp chance at short leg which the skipper Richards took as he described "in a regulation" manner.

After excellent work by the seamers it was left, as is so often, for Bill Wright to fox the batsmen with his flight and guile.

With short fielders in place and the "red mist" in the Kenton batsmen's eyes, the Ts soon wrapped up the visitors' innings for 129 in 42 overs.

No side has scored more than 135 against the second eleven this season and this is a testament to the excellent bowling in addition to the fielding, which is superb.

All of the opposition sides have commented on how they could not believe the fielding on show and this obviously has an effect on the batsmen.

The Ts, after the early loss of Rand, looked totally in control as Lindsay and Vasant stroked the ball around.

Lindsay fell for 33, which brought Robbie Moore to the wicket.

With black clouds looming over Twickenham, Moore and Vasant looked for an early victory both working the ball around the green with precision and power.

Vasant finished on 32 not out and Moore with a very good 54 not out.

Ts reached the target with 20 overs to spare and chalked up another 30 points.

Draw for Hill lads

The growing spirit among the players of Hampton Hill Cricket club was again evident last weekend as both sides were involved in exciting games.

The 1st XI travelled to Odiham and Greywell to play in a fixture with a somewhat acrimonious history.

This time the game passed without too much sledging, although it did look as though Hill were in trouble as Odiham amassed 231 for 3. Hill's bowlers all struggled to find a threatening line and only a fired-up Johnson caused the home side any real problems.

Having seen Cogdon depart without scoring, Coates was joined in a partnership of 76 by Exworth. Although Hill had built a strong platform they were in need of some middle order impetus, but this never came. Exworth completed his half century before being caught and bowled, leaving the lower order to negotiate the final 10 overs.

Edwards and Johnson almost completed the job but Hill still needed the unconventional MacNamara to see out the penultimate over. In the end Johnson was able to steal an extra batting point with two fours from the final six balls, leaving Hill to claim a well earned draw.

The second XI also showed a new spirit in their demolition of the Odiham seconds. Batting first Hill posted a total of 192, thanks largely to an impressive 62 from the quickly improving Olly Hampton. There were also valuable contributions from skipper Allison, Ed Dudley and from the unlikely source of Jason Roberts.

In the field, new boy Tony Golding made a debut to remember taking an unbelievable 7 for 7. South African born Golding bowled with pace and aggression as he introduced himself to the stunned members of the HHCC two's. Bridges and Allison did the mopping up and Odiham were blown away, finishing up 17 all out.

Old Hamps knock spots off Richmond

Old Hamptonians maintained their recent good run of form with an impressive winning draw with near neighbours Richmond Town.

Having lost the toss the home side were put into bat and notched an impressive 208 for 6 off 49.2 overs.

Jimmy Sudbury (61), Andy Evans (29) did the damage with the bat, while seam bowler Clive Shaw picked off 4 for 44 in 12 overs.

In reply, Richmond were going well but lost wickets on a regular basis and at 65 for 4 off 20 decided to settle for a losing draw.

The visitors eventually finished on 122 for 8 off 45 overs. The only batsman to do himself justice was Andy Dalton, who scored 35.

Among the bowlers to do the damage were Paul Burnham 3-48, Andy Evans 2 for 31 and Matt Rochford 2 for 6.

Home skipper Gareth Evans, was annoyed the visitors gave up the chase half way through their innings.

He said: "It was a shame they gave up halfway though their overs. They were 65 for 4 after 20 and then when they lost another wicket just gave up and accepted a losing draw.

"After that it seemed to take forever to bowl our overs, as it was a long dour final hour and a half. But our bowlers stuck to their task and it was a shame that we couldn't get the final two wickets our dominance deserved."

l This weekend Old Hamptonians face new-boys Horsley and Send. Captain Evans concedes that they are an unknown quantity.

Evans said: "They are a new club. I don't know much about them because they amalgamated in the winter.

"But with every team in this league although we have no-preconceptions, a tough game is expected and the players will be on their guard."

Morden's teams

escape to defeat

Morden 1st XI 104 all out

Honor Oak 139 for 9

Similar to last weekend, Morden let the initiative slip after being in prime position as they lost again in the Kookaburra & Fordham league Division Two last Saturday.

After the visitors were put in to bat, J Lambert bowled shrewdly and doggedly in his opening spell as Honor Oak travelled at a snail's pace. Their innings only sparkled when Tolhurst and D Khan each played a compact innings. A Paul 3 for 42 and D Richardson 3 for 57, although expensive in the beginning, did come back to clean up the lower order as the visitors reached 139 for 9 at tea.

Morden should have reached the small target comfortably, but crumbled to Khan's magnificent bowling. K O'Connor (19), D Thorneloe (7) fell rapidly and in-form P Liddiard was brilliantly caught low down for a duck. Morden's tailenders couldn't get Morden out of a hole and Honor Oak ended up as surprise winners by 35 runs.

Morden 2nd XI 127 all out

Vinyl Products 187/7

The 2nd XI had little success as they lost to Vinyl Products after also being in poll position. Vinyl were slipping at 73 for 5 off 36 overs, but B Patel made a late rally to knock up 109 not out. It was innings of two halves: the first was slow and steady and the next half was rapid and classy as he raced to his century with eight sixes. Vinyl clocked up 187 for 7. Morden struggled from the beginning as each batsmen fell to some bad shots and only V Richardson 26 not out put up a decent fight. Morden were walloped in the end by 60 runs.

Legion turn on the style against BEC

SBLCC 267 for 9

BEC Old Boys 177 for 8

After last week's annihilation, the Raj sponsored Surbiton British Legion team were in no mood to serve up anything less than the spiciest of performances. Bec Old Boys won the toss and put SBLCC in.

James Thomas, on the back of some disastrous early season form, batted well for a steady 69.

Herring came in and tried to beat the opposition into the ground, before needlessly throwing his wicket away for a quick 36.

The batting highlight was once again James Rooke, who came in and bludgeoned a quick-fire 70, including seven sixes. He has now amassed 247 runs including 21 sixes in just two innings.

SBLCC ended on 267-9 off the allotted 45 overs. That was where the excitement finished as Bec Old boys gave up the fight and just played out the overs, consigned to a heavy defeat.

They ended on 177, with a couple of wickets in hand, after their 45 overs. SBLCC took full advantage and shared the bowling around.

The Raj will be witnessing another huge end of season celebration, with SBLCC bagging consecutive championships unless division three offers up a little more resistance.

In fairness, SBLCC look like quite formidable opponents for any side at the moment. Are the Windies looking for a warm-up game?

Casual Kingstonian fall by the wayside

Ten-man Kingstonian fell victim to championship chasing Roehampton at the weekend losing by just 15 runs in the Fuller Surrey league.

Roehampton batted first and made 177-9 off their allotted 55 overs, with Gary Rolfe top scoring with 40 and Maz Hassan picking up 4-38 with the ball.

Looking to score quickly, Kingstonian were looking good to spring a win, but despite Hassan's rapid 35 he ran out of partners.

Roehampton pace bowler Steve Dennis picking up 5 for 35 as Ks collapsed to 162 all out off 33.3 overs.

Kingstonian will be looking to field a full side this weekend when they entertain Haslemere and look to improve their record of just one win in three league games this season.

Treasurer Geoff Phillips branded his team 'too casual' and insisted that this was a game they should have won.

He said: "The players know they should have won the game.

"We bowled well to restrict them to 177 and when we batted chucked our wickets away.

"Most of our men scored 20s and 30s, but because it started to drizzle some thought that it might be rained off if they stayed out there.

"You could say that we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

But good luck to Roehampton they have got home twice before in tight finishes and are top of the table because of it."