Dan Lincoln and Dan Marles will put their friendship on hold for a few hours when Finchampstead host High Wycombe in Division One of the Home Counties Premier League this Saturday (11am), writes Dave Wright.

Both have come up through age-group cricket at Finchampstead, but are now on opposing sides with Marles having switched to the Buckinghamshire club this season, with Lincoln replacing him as Finch skipper.

“We still speak frequently on the phone and will be catching up with each other each week,” said Lincoln, who admits to having “learned a few things” from him about how to captain a team.

“We both enjoy playing the same way – good, hard cricket.”

But Lincoln added: “We won’t be the best of mates on Saturday afternoon, but no doubt we will have a beer together after the match.”

Both are now minor counties players, with Marles having made his debut for Buckinghamshire last Sunday, scoring an unbeaten 50 off 46 balls in their T20 win over Herefordshire at Wycombe, only to be dismissed for a duck in the second game which Bucks lost.

Following Marles’ departure, several other players left Finchampstead, leaving them to rebuild their side under Lincoln’s captaincy.

They have been forced to bring in young players and some have found it difficult to adjust to the standard required in the Premier Division.

Finch have only one league win after five games and find themselves 40 points behind High Wycombe, who top the table following four wins.

“It is going to be a tough game for us and Wycombe are the team to catch at the moment, but we are looking forward to it,” commented Lincoln, who helped Berkshire to win both their T20 games against Oxfordshire last Sunday.

“We have a few more players available this week, and I expect to have 15 players to pick from, so I will be able to pick batters and bowlers rather than just getting 11 to play.”

Lincoln will be hoping his side can bounce back from their 23-run defeat at Henley last weekend when, after looking out of the game, they produced a last 10-over charge with Dan making 74 not out and brother Josh 37. Simon Bell had earlier made 61 after Finch had lost their first three wickets for 46 as they chased Henley’s 260-8 off 50 overs.

“It was disappointing to fall a bit short, but you have to give credit to (Henley’s) Tahir Afridi and Tom Nugent as they bowled really well in the last three overs and possibly won the game for them,” said the skipper.

“Or you could look at the other side of the coin and say we gave away 20 runs too many in the first 25 overs. Henley were 150-1 at one stage, but they finished on 260 and so you have got to give credit to our bowlers.

“On a wet wicket in the first hour and a half we would liked to have got a couple of more wickets, but we didn’t quite always put the ball in the right spot and didn’t always get behind the ball in the field. There’s still room for improvement. Overall, I felt we played at 60 percent and were not far short of beating the best side on paper in the league.

“If we play at 70 to 75 percent, we would be winning games and hopefully, that will happen against Wycombe on Saturday. With Dan (Marles) returning he will want to impress and it should be a very good game.”