Farnham hosted Addiscombe in a basement battle in Division Two of the Surrey Championship on Saturday.

Skipper James Berry lost the toss and Farnham were inserted on what looked to be a good surface.

Openers Nathan Thorpe and Harry Morrogh then treated the visitors to a clinic in opening batting – punishing the bad ball and rotating the strike off the good balls. Morrogh looked particularly fluent and he led the scoring as the pair took Farnham to 68 before Morrogh was run out for 40.

The breakthrough brought Guy Hicks to the crease and he and Thorpe continued to take the attack to Addiscombe’s spinners. Thorpe used his feet well and brought up his 50 with a six straight back over the bowler’s head. Hicks refused to be outdone and promptly deposited the ball into the road shortly afterwards.

The pair put the tiring Addiscombe attack to the sword and not even the return of opening quick bowler Sultan Sherzad could stem the tide, with Thorpe pulling a bouncer into the moat.

Thorpe looked to be on course for a century, however in his attempt to push the innings on he fell slog sweeping Shareef Hassan to cow corner for a well-made 82. Hicks took the score past 200 before he fell for 70.

Farnham then got slightly carried away with trying to push on, which resulted in a flurry of wickets before the hosts declared on 240 for eight from 50 overs.

That was all the cricket that was to be played as the clouds gathered during the tea break and heavy rained washed away Farnham’s hopes for a win and a much-needed 24 points.

A frustrating day for Farnham, but the batting performance must form a blueprint for the remainder of the season if they hope to survive. Farnham host high-flying local rivals Camberley on Saturday, July 27.

Farnham’s second team lost a close game at Egham.

Farnham lost the toss, and Egham invited them to bat first. Skipper Dan Wakely and Evan Mann got Farnham off to a solid start against disciplined bowling. The pair mixed defensive shots with targeted aggression before Mann fell for 18, caught at mid-on looking to go over the top. This brought Haris Khan to the crease, and he and Wakely continued to bat sensibly to bring Farnham to 64 before Wakely was caught behind for a well-made 28.

Will Kirkland and Khan took Farnham past 100 before Khan edged a cut shot behind after grafting hard to make 28. Kirkland was well set and began to expand his range, hitting powerfully over the mid-wicket area and running well between the wickets. Kirkland reached his half-century and finished on 70 not out as Farnham set a defendable 172 for nine off 55 overs.

Egham started their innings slowly with opening bowlers Freddie Kendall and Khan keeping things tight and applying pressure. Kendall in particular was a handful, beating the outside edge with regularity throughout his six-over spell, and he was rewarded for his accuracy by removing Egham opener Charlie Bridgwater.

Egham accelerated their scoring, but the introduction of Max Wood into Farnham’s attack brought two crucial breakthroughs. A good catch by Scott Rodgers removed Satyajeet Thakur and Wood cleaned bowled James Sprackling for 46 to leave the hosts on 67 for three.

This provided a swing in momentum towards Farnham and Kirkland picked up two quick wickets with his off spin to leave the game in the balance with Egham on 76 for five with 25 overs to go and Farnham in the ascendancy.

However, Egham rebuilt with some sensible batting from Elliott Hook and Tejas Bhardwaj, and when Bhardwaj was run out with a direct hit from Kirkland the score was 136 for six. Return spells from Kendall and Wood did not result in the breakthrough Farnham were looking for and Hook and Cam Hamilton took Egham home, with a dropped catch rubbing salt in Farnham’s wounds.

Farnham can take plenty of positives from their performance and how they battled throughout the match. They will hope to take the momentum forward when they return to Farnham Park against Old Emmanuel on Saturday.