Brentham 3s head to Premier Division and 4s stay up on dramatic final day
Brentham 3s remarkable rise under James Hitchcock culminated in promotion to the Premier Division last week.
While the promotion-winning moment was a bit of a damp squib, a Week 17 rain-off against Eastcote giving us the points required, it shouldn't take anything away from a fourth promotion in five seasons which has rocketed the Trees up the leagues.
Not since 2012 have the 3s competed in the top-flight but it's reward for a remarkable half-decade of consistency from the team. Four top-two finishes in five years has taken the team from Division Four B in 2022 to the Premier Division in 2027.
This season's promotion was very much a tale of two halves with seven wins from eight to break the back of the campaign early.
Wins later in the season proved harder to come by but only three defeats from 18, which did include a six-wicket final day reverse at Kenton, show the resilience that Hitch's side will take into the top tier next season.
Brentham 4s were also celebrating on the final day after they survived the drop with victory over Wycombe House.
Under the temporary stewardship of John Whelan, the 4s went into the final game of the season needing a win to stay up and that's what they delivered.
A total of 240 from 45 overs was built around Tom Brandreth's 52 and contributions from the ever-reliable Deshraj Verma (48) and Gurvinder Singh (33).
With the ball, Richard Taper (2-43) and Siddhant Kothari (2-22) did the damage at the top before father and son Vishal Patel (3-14) and Niam Patel (2-9) ran through the rest of the order in a 105-run win.
After a tough 2026, the 4s will hope to be looking up the leagues heading into the new season.
Another comfortable season in Division One for the 2s ended in final day defeat at Harrow St Marys.
As the only side with nothing to play for on the final day, the 2s racked up 182-9 from their 45 overs. Jack Solomon (30), Daniel Taylor (28) and Pravin Jadhav (26) all getting starts.
With the ball, the 2s created half-openings at 59-2 and 137-4 but weren't able to really put pressure on the home side's batting. Youngsters Will Pye (1-45) and Tom Dobbin (1-33) shared the early wickets, as a sign of things to come going forward, with Jack (1-24) and Pravin (1-21) also chipping in.
The 2s eighth-place finish underlines the strength of Division One with only 20 points separating us and Indian Gymkhana in third.
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