'Top tier' Slough poised for promotion with title in sight

Slough’s Yash Lakhani opened and scored 18 in Saturday’s defeat.

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Slough are a ‘top tier’ team according to captain Nadeem Syed and, should they hold their nerve in their final match at home to Falkland on Saturday, they’ll deservedly return to the top table of the Home Counties Premier League.

Syed’s side have been involved in a three-way tussle with Wokingham 2nds and Gerrards Cross for supremacy and look set to finish top of the pile come Saturday evening.

They lost by six-wickets in a rain-affected match at Gerrards Cross on Saturday, however, with others seeing their matches abandoned because of the weather, Slough managed to retain a nine-point advantage over Wokingham going into the final day.

Cross are 16 points back from the leaders and likely cannot haul themselves into the mix, even if both Wokingham and Slough suffered surprise defeats.

Slough will go into Saturday’s final game against already relegated Falkland as heavy favourites for victory and should they do it they’ll be crowned champions.

“I’m feeling confident we should be able to do that job this Saturday,” said Syed.

“We are motivated, and we want to finish on a high. I don’t think they (Falkland) have much to play for as I’m sure they’ve been relegated by now.

“So, it could go either way. They might not be motivated at all, or they might play more freely because they’re under no pressure at all.

“They’ll have nothing to lose. We’re not taking them lightly as they’re a good team. Any team at this level is a good team. We will prepare as if they’re going to come out all guns blazing.

“We’re not thinking like that. I’m just thinking about us becoming champions and winning the league on Saturday. We’re not thinking about Wokingham or Gerrards Cross or anyone else.

“We just want to be the number one team this season. It’s in our hands and our focus is on winning the game and that’s it.”

They might have made life a little easier for themselves at Gerrards Cross on Saturday but, having put on a decent score of 226-All out in 47.2 overs, they then saw their hosts score quickly through their top order to get to 114 / 4 (21) when the rain arrived.

On Duckworth Lewis this had them ahead of where they needed to be (109 from 21.0 overs) and they took the win by six wickets, even if Syed felt his side might have won the game had it gone the full distance.

“We would have backed ourselves if the game had gone to full overs,” added Syed.

“Because it was a rain affected game it could have gone either way. Gerrard Cross did well to score those runs, there were some missed chances in the field that had we taken the result could have gone the other way.

“There’s not much regret because we did our best, and when you have a shortened game, sometimes luck plays a part as well.

“They played well, and they got over the line.”

If, as expected, Slough get the job done this weekend, they’ll be deserving of the title and their place back in Division 1. They’ve shown their talent and character throughout the campaign to stay just ahead of the chasing pack.

“We’re a solid unit and we have good team spirit and plenty of talent,” he said.

“Everyone can bowl, and bat and we have gelled well. If we win the game next week, we thoroughly deserve it.

“Having spoken to the guys, I don’t think they’re feeling any pressure or nerves. They’re just focused and quietly confident without being overconfident. They’re quietly confident they’ll get the job done. We’re feeling fairly optimistic.

“Slough have always played Division 1. We had some issues and were relegated, and we should have been promoted last year as well, we missed out because of our last game we couldn’t play when other teams played. I think we were deserving last year as well. Slough as a club is a top tier club.”