Nichols expects league to turn on its head

Windsor CC captain Wes Nichols believes that TVL Division 2A is set to be turned on its head as 2nd XI sides call upon their more senior players as the race for promotion and relegation hots up.

Nichols is predicting that the five 2nd XI teams that play in Windsor’s division will do anything to avoid the drop - including drafting in 1st XI players.

“There could be some interesting results in the last few games,” he said.
“We’re expecting to be playing against a few 1st XI players which will obviously make getting results a little bit trickier.

“No club wants their sides to get relegated so they’ll be doing everything they can to keep themselves in this division.”

There are five 2nd XI teams in Division 2A, with four of those currently in the bottom five.

Farnham Royal are presently in last place and with their senior side dominating Division Two (West) of the Home Counties, the club could well afford to select some of their best players in a bid to prevent the drop.

Both Burnham sides have been struggling this year in their respective leagues, but if their 1st XI were to reach safety before the season’s close, there could be wholesale changes in the two line-ups.

Such player movements do not surprise Nichols but he insisted that there was no way that Windsor would be following suit.

“I can understand that clubs want to do everything they can to avoid relegation and you won't get me complaining about the new players.

“It’s not something we’ll be doing because I don’t want to change the balance of our teams.

“Maybe if we’re safe with a couple of games to go I’ll try and test out a few young players from the colts, but we have to make sure we’re safe.

“It’s always good to try out a few young players but only if they’re ready. We don’t want to be barbecuing players when there not ready yet.”