SHAZ Khan put a month of injury problems behind him with a tidy half-century on his return to the Wootton Bassett top order on Saturday.

The Rylands Way player-coach has been struggling with a variety of ailments over the past five weeks, but he played a major role in Bassett’s eight-wicket victory over Hinton Charterhouse in Wiltshire League Division One, scoring 55 in his side’s successful pursuit of 177.

After the game, Khan told the Advertiser he was delighted to be back out in the middle.

“It was nice. I’ve been off for four or five games with injuries and hopefully I’ve put those behind me, touch wood,” he said.

“It was nice to get some runs, I needed it and thoroughly enjoyed it as well.

“I’ve had tendonitis in my left wrist, some problems with my shoulder and I’m also playing with some Achilles injuries but I’m trying to see the season out.

“I’m starting to think maybe I’m getting too old and perhaps I’ll have to make some decisions about my future. Jokes apart, it was pleasing to be back.

“Psychologically you come back and start thinking you have to get some runs and it was long overdue, as some of the guys said. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Bassett, without a number of regular first-teamers due to injury and absenteeism, restricted their hosts to just 176-9 from their 45 overs before easing to their target with 14 overs to spare.

They still lost ground on table-topping Purton, but now sit only 15 points behind second-placed Urchfont as the race for a place in the West of England Premier League intensifies.

“The first couple of games where we slipped up at the beginning of the season hurt us, but since then we’ve built up some good momentum going through into this half of the season,” said Khan.

“We’ve got to keep on playing good cricket and make sure we keep getting wins.

“The boys have been working really hard every game, especially in this heat when it’s been hard work.

“We’re hoping we can push on and make sure we finish in that top three at the end of the season.”