SIMON Myles shrugged off a hamstring injury to top score for Wokingham as they defeated Cookham Dean at Sadlers End on Saturday, writes Dave Wright.

He made 67 to help the Oaks finish on 233-9 from their 50 overs. They then bowled out their visitors for 172 to secure their third victory in five Thames Valley League games and move up to fourth place in the table ahead of their trip to unbeaten leaders Cove this Saturday.

“It was a good win for us,” said Myles, who had celebrated his 51st birthday on Friday.

“Hopefully, we can get another at Cove to get our timed (100-overs) games off to a good start.

“Apart from Cove and Gerrards Cross, there are very few points separating most of the clubs, and this win over Cookham Dean has lifted us up the table.

“From what I’ve seen so far, there appears little difference between most of the sides in our league, but we know that even at this stage it only takes a couple of hiccups to mess up your season.”

The Oaks have finished in the top three twice in the last three seasons and are aiming to do even better this time around.

“It would be great to win the league and I think we will be up there again this year,” added the former Hong Kong International.

There is plenty of experience in the team, with Myles being joined by two other former first-class players Danny Housego and Michael Bates.

With both of them failing with the bat last Saturday, it was largely left to Myles, along with Archie Carter and Tom Wood to enable Oaks to put a decent total on the board.

‘It would be great to win the league, I think we will be up there’ Batting at No. 7, he came to the crease when Wokingham were looking in some trouble at 97-5, but he and teenager Carter (49) added 55 for the sixth wicket and 54 with Wood (32no) for the next.

Myles’ 67 came off just 60 balls and included two sixes and seven fours, but in the process he pulled his hamstring, forcing him to use a runner.

“I couldn’t then bowl, so we were one light in attack, but the rest of the boys bowled well,” added Myles.

“Overall our attack has lost a bit of penetration and this has put quite a bit of pressure on (spinner) Paul Dewick in his 10 overs, but he has bowled excellently. We can bowl him for much longer now we are going into the timed games that start this week.

“We have missed Cameron Spence due to work commitments and Jack Wood is playing only as a batsman, and we have missed their bowling.

“But it has given opportunities to other people. Lewis Sharp, who came to us from Eversley, has started okay and Jacob Clark is going to be a decent all-rounder. He is getting opportunities with the ball probably a bit earlier than he had expected.”

In addition to playing, Myles also looked after the ground at Sadlers End. “The square has got better each year and it’s not a bad wicket,” he continued. “It’s not perfect yet, but it is improving and it’s a great facility we have here.”

Myles has no intention of retiring from the game, adding: “I still love playing. I have started playing a bit as well with the Berkshire Over-50s, which is enjoyable as I am back playing with mates I haven’t seen or not played with for a few years “We had a good win against Essex at Finchampstead last Wednesday. We had a strong side out, though not quite as mobile in the field as we used to be, we had a lot of fun and played some decent cricket.”