BERKSHIRE AIM HIGH AFTER STUNNING MIDDLESEX

Berkshire coach Tom Lambert wants his side to build on their stunning six wickets victory over Middlesex in Sunday’s Showcase match at Falkland by adding more National Counties silverware this season. 

Berkshire romped to victory over their first-class visitors by chasing down a target of 351 with more than nine of their 50 overs unused courtesy of centuries from rookie opener Johnny Connell – who made 150 not out in only his third senior match - and captain Dan Lincoln. 

Lambert was delighted with his side’s performance and, at the start of the season with a side in transition, a victory over a first-class county might have been regarded as the highlight of the campaign. 

But Lambert now wants Berkshire to aim higher by adding to the eight National Counties they have won in the last five seasons. They are well-placed to do so having defeated Oxfordshire, who claimed their National Counties Championship crown last season, in a top-of-the-table Western Division One match last week and they face Dorset at Finchampstead this Sunday in the semi-finals of the National Counties Trophy – the competition they retained last season. 

“It is quite a new team and it’s about letting them understand quite how good they are but also understanding the limitations of the experience of some of the players,” Lambert said. 

“They are just getting their belief and days like this and what we have done so far will breed that.  

“Our expectations of ourselves have gone up a little bit. But it’s still the same message. These guys are enjoying the summer and we have said that, come September, we want to miss each other because we have had a fun summer. If we have done that we achieved. 

“We had fun against Middlesex and that’s the main thing. We don’t want to over-complicate things or think about what has happened previously. 

“But they keep setting benchmarks which teams previously haven’t done and that’s pretty exciting. 

“This will be a day that they will remember. If you had offered that at the start of the season we would probably have said it would be the peak of our summer. 

“But it must not be the height of our summer. The height of our summer now has to be finals. 

“This game will mean nothing if we lose in the semi-final. The Middlesex game has been good, we have had the opportunity to play and test ourselves against first-class opposition and we have caught them out a little bit, which is great. 

“I’m not sure we would do it again, they would probably come back with a little bit more about them. But the key is that it cannot be the height of our summer. The height of our summer is the next three weeks.” 

Connell, who plays his club cricket for Henley, might not have played against Middlesex had the in-form Savin Perera not suffered a season-ending hand injury but he now looks set for an extended run in the side and possible interest from first-class counties. 

“Perhaps it should have not been his third senior game, perhaps Johnny should have played previously ,” Lambert said. 

“But we have been pretty good this year, we have been loyal to people and we want to give people good runs in the side. 

“Johnny has been knocking on the door with runs for Henley. You look back now and you think maybe he could have got in earlier. 

“But the fact of the matter is that he is in now, he’s scoring runs, he’s as good as we thought he was, he’s taken his chance and he won’t be removed for some time. He deserves that loyalty as well.”