A tough week at the office
There's no point denying it, it's been a tough week for all the skippers of Twickenham CC's Saturday sides. Availability has been decidedly 'patchy' and that's ended up with the 5th XI having little choice but to concede their game against Hampstead 5ths. A shame, a real shame.

The four other TCC sides will be taking to the field on 16 June and they'll all no doubt be hoping that the Eid celebrations (by the way, Eid Mubarak to all muslims coming to the end of their Ramadan fast) will mean that other sides have been hit by availability issues, too. We shall see.

1s welcome Ealing to the Green
The first XI welcome old friends Ealing to the Green. When the fixtures come out Ealing at home is one of the first ones every club in the MCCL looks for. Legendary club. However, Ealing haven't had it all their own way in 2018, and they currently sit joint third (see here) in the top flight. Ideally, the Ts would be a little stronger themselves, but Carlos Nunes can still call on a decent looking outfit.

Jakub Bhula is fresh off 135no v Hampstead last week (see here) whilst Gurjit Sandhu has recovered from his minor counties heroics for Shropshire against Norfolk last Sunday (see here). Mesom Hussain, Karthik Suresh and Jay Plaha come in for their debuts.

The full side is Carlos Nunes, Jakob Bhula, Rhys Davies (wk), Tom Field, Mesom Hussain, Don Manuwlege, Phil Nash, Jay Plaha, Gurjit Sandhu, Varun Sivaram and Karthik Suresh.

2nds visit North Midd
The seconds make the trip around the North Circular to take on top of the table North Middlesex. Last time the Ts were in the top flight they managed an impressive win over at the Midd and Eugene Berger's side could really do with something similar again so as to kick-start their season.

Berger finds himself calling on Coach Cowley and Olli George to bolster the batting ranks, whilst Parampreet Singh and Nick Darby-Welsh will be looking to do some damage with the ball. In every challenge lies and opportunity and Saturday offers a few twos players the chance to make a real name for themselves.

The full side is Eugene Berger, Steve Cowley, Nick Darby-Welsh, Olli George, Nikhil Nomula, Sanjit Sandhu, Param Singh, Geoff Stothert, Dom Thamby, Nakul Vishvanath and Ethan Wright.

Threes travel to Southgate
The threes are also trekking round the North Circular, although they'll be going on and beyond the twos; Steve Watts's troops visit mid-table Southgate (see here). It's about time lady-luck paid the threes a visit, and Watts will be hoping that Saturday is the day.

3s' opening bowler Firooz Ahamd will certainly be up for the game, he's playing against one of his former clubs. With Martin Fairn, Ant Hill and Stu Amos in the side the team is also not lacking in experience. Indeed, the XI has a solid feel about it. The full side is as follows.

Steve Watts, Firooz Ahmed, Mo Ahmed, Stuart Amos, Robbie Bosier, JP Bowman, Sam Cliffe, Martin Fairn, Connor Finney, Ant Hill and Nihal Tomar.

Fours are off to Highgate
The third of the Ts' sides having to wrestle with the North Circular this weekend is the fourth XI; they travel to Mill Hill to play Highgate IVs. Highgate are currently top of the tree (see here), but the fourths can, on their day, be a match for anyone. There's plenty of reason for Hinay Dassani and his team to travel in optimistic mood.

The 4th XI is Hinay Dassani, Pete Burke, Colin Blunden, Nikhil Chappaniya, Andy Donelan, Uzzi Khan, Nitin Parab, Raj Patel (wk), Rajdeep Choudhry, Sarwant Singh and Praween Siriwardene.

There will, of course, be plenty of World Cup football on in the pavilion so if you're not playing yourself, do pop by to take in one of the four games that are on live.

Go well everyone!