Farnham assured themselves of division one cricket next season when they comfortably beat relegated Addiscombe on Saturday.

And with results going in their favour, Farnham even managed to jump a place to seventh in the table.

Gary Clapham had no hesitation in bowling first and after some early resistance, his strong attack soon got amongst the wickets.

Peter Dickinson made the breakthrough with his immaculate line and movement away from the bat. He had Richard Johnson well caught by Guy Hicks at second slip and trapped left-hander David Liddemore lbw next ball. These were vital wickets and, from that point, the home side had no answer to Farnham's pace trio.

Patrick Murphy, although wicketless, obtained awkward bounce from his extra height, causing uncertainty amongst the batsmen, and two wickets in an over for Aubrey Steyn reduced the home side to a disastrous 26-5.

Faheem Sheikh played all round a straight one from Dickinson (36-6). Crocombe batted well before falling to the first ball of Chic Stedman's second spell and finally Tom Hicks took his chance to impress, whipping out the tail to leave Addiscombe all out for exactly 100.

Addiscombe are a stronger bowling side then their league position suggests and Alan Thorpe and Nick Whitworth took no chances against the left-arm duo of Dale Cooper and Adnan Saleem. They were content to wait for the bad ball and when it did come along Thorpe pulled authoritively and Whitworth drove nicely through the covers.

Their stand was worth 30 when Whitworth was snapped up in the gully. Simon Hollingsworth was content to nudge the singles in support of Thorpe who was eventually adjudged lbw for 31.

Two more wickets fell, which left Guy Hicks and Hollingsworth to see the job done with no more mishaps.

Farnham, the league's under-achievers, entertain league leaders Normandy on Saturday, hoping to prove to observers that they should have been a match for anybody this season.

addiscombe

R Johnson c G Hicks b Dickinson 5

C Salmons lbw Steyn 14

D Liddemore lbw Dickinson 0

B Cox c Clapham b Dickinson 4

A Saleem c Clapham b Steyn 0

M Crocombe b Stedman 33

F Sheikh b Dickinson 2

M Stoneman c and b T Hicks 15

S Sharma c G Hicks b T Hicks 7

J Pewter c Hollingsworth b T Hicks 5

D Cooper not out 1

Extras 14

––

Total 100

––

Bowling: P Dickinson 4-29, A Steyn 2-9, C Stedman 1-14, T Hicks 3-10.

farnham

A Thorpe lbw Cooper 31

N Whitworth c Cox b Johnson 17

S Hollingsworth not out 12

T Hicks b Johnson 8

P Dickinson c Sharma b Crocombe 6

G Hicks not out 17

Extras 11

––

Total (for 4 wkts) 102