WEEK 11

Saturday and Sunday, July 6 and 7

Division One

OVINGTON are the new leaders of the first division after another dramatic Saturday saw some of their rivals melt in the heat.

The Knavesmire-based side swept to a five-wicket win at Hirst Courtney, where a hostile opening spell by Craig Nicholl was followed by a clatter of wickets. The late movement of bowlers Dave Brummitt (4-24) and Neil Metcalfe (4-52) saw the home side all out for 140, Jake Wild hitting 37.

Chris Tune, promoted to open the batting, blasted 33 in the first five overs before Pete Kelly (54) carried on the good work. That left Steve Tremayne to smash an unbeaten 30 from nine deliveries, which included four sixes, as Ovington knocked the runs off in style and take over the leadership from Stockton & Hopgrove.

Stockton must have fancied their chances when NorthCave only turned up with eight men, but the visitors played out of their skins to win by five wickets. S&H’s cause was not helped when skipper Rich Kerrison (33no) had to retire with a torn calf muscle. His side were bowled out for 174, Jamie Kerrison scoring 32. Chris Colbeck was Cave’s most successful bowler with 3-18.

Steady batting by James Windeatt (49) and Mike Stellings (47), who put on 56, enabled Cave to pull off an unlikely victory with ten balls to spare.

Bishopthorpe’s title hopes were dealt a blow as they lost by one run at Hemingbrough who slumped from 88-2 to 134-8 before a defiant stand of 40 by Paul Van Dyke and Tom Shepherd saw them close on 186-9. Earlier, James Dougherty (58) and Matt Milburn (48) and kept the Bish attack at bay as Ian Holmes (4-25) went beyond the 30-wicket mark this season and Andrew Seager took 4-36 after a spell in the dressing room for treatment to a knee injury.

Bish looked out of it after Colin Markham was out for 61, requiring 56 from the last six overs with only three wickets remaining, but the tail took the game right down to the wire. John Short hit 23 from 13 balls before Graham Davies (24no) and Rory Watson (17no) took the game to a thrilling climax. Mike Pounder was the key bowler for Hemingbrough with 3-34.

Askham Bryan remain anchored firmly to the bottom after being crushed by 10 wickets by Burn. Askham lost Ali Hogben to the third ball of the innings by Matt Smith (3-30). That was one of four ducks – two of them golden – as Askham were bowled out for 138, Dave Sladen (47no) running out of partners. Jacob Webster also bowled well for 3-32. Burn openers Leigh Adamson (70no) and Ray Adamson (56no) cashedin on some below par fielding to knock the runs off in 23 overs.

Kelfield have enjoyed a solid return to the top flight and won at Fulfordgate, who beat then to the second division title last season. The home side were bowled out for 121, Martyn Rhodes taking 4-9 from only 23 balls and Sam Dunn recording 3-22. Chris Walker cracked a superb unbeaten 75 as Kelfield romped home with 11 overs to spare.

The only bowler to make an impression was Max Henderson whose 3-45 took him to 31 victims this season.

Division Two

THIXENDALE unveiled their promotion credentials by becoming the first side to beat division two leaders North Duffield.

Dale recorded an emphatic eight-wicket win to end the only remaining unbeaten record after becoming the first side to bowl them Duffield out this season.

It was an excellent display by the Thixendale bowlers, led by Dean Tyler (3-24), as the visitors were seen off for 113, Paul Johnson making 32. Miles Flather (2-17 from 12 overs) and Jonty Gillingham (2-12) had cranked up the pressure with some accurate spells.

Les Milburn (50no), who took a stunning catch to remove Duffield’s James Knibb, shared an 84-run stand with GeoffRoom (39) as Thixendale eased to victory. Milburn hit eight boundaries, the last being the winning runs which also heralded his unbeaten half-century.

Westow lost a thriller at Selby by one run after the Ryedale side almost pulled the game out of the fire. Selby were restricted to 178-7, Dave Coverdale and Andy Phillips each taking a couple of wickets. Steve Whisker (45) and Jamie Middleton (41) were the backbone of the Selby innings with a stand of 83 for the third wicket.

Mark Earle (49) and Tom Fussell (29) led Westow’s reply but wickets fell at regular intervals to spinner Dave Brunyard (4-24) and the visitors went into the final over with their last pair at the wicket needing six to win. Chris Inman and James Wood scrambled three from the first five balls of Khalil Afzal’s last over but Wood was run out with the final ball after attempting a second run which would have tied the match.

Phil Holland (58no) and Paul Anderson (47) led YorkRI to an easy win against Thorpe Willoughby. RI made a useful 188-6 on a good track and then bowled Thorpe out for 83, Steve Jackson taking 4-23 in 10.3 overs.

Ben Johnson bounced back from conceding the previous week’s fixture with a strong showing against Wheldrake.Steve Wragg made the most of being dropped three times to make 60 and with Jamie Agnew (50) also scoring a half century, BJ’s finished on a healthy 201-9. Dave Fearn (4-34) and Mark Cass (3-44) both bowled well at the death for Wheldrake.

The visitors’ reply began cautiously to say the least, only 23 coming off the first 15 overs as Wragg (8-3-13-1) and Derek Snowden, who conceded only 20 runs from a dozen overs, kept it tight. Nick Myers (41) came in to inject a bit of pace and with Ben Challis (36no) also in good touch managed to get Wheldrake to 154-3 at the close.

On Sunday, Heworth were bowled out for just 77, their highest stand being 19 for the last wicket. The bowlers who did most of the damage were Liam Green (4-12) and Steve Bygott (3-27). Alliance, whose side included six juniors, sped to 10-wicket victory as Josh Bean hit 52 not out from 62 balls and fellow opener Ali Barton remained unbeaten on 24.

Division Three

MELBOURNEtook another step towards the division three title as Malcolm Harrison returned eye-catching figures of 12-5-18-7 in the win at Goole.

Apart from Anthony Myers (39) all the Goole batsmen found Harrison near-unplayable as they were bowled out for 88. The leaders lost just one wicket on the way to victory, Oliver Steels remaining unbeaten on 34.

Leg spinner Chris Gill (6-36) bowled Stillingfleet to victory at Copmanthorpe whose form has become patchy after a dazzling start to the season. Despite a rapid 39 from Kev Ryder and 33 from Neil Brook, Cop’s 152 all out was probably 30 just short of what was required. Chris Woodfine took 3-29 with his off-cutters to support Gill. Stillingfleet laboured to 60-6 as Roy Atkinson (4-39) put Cop in the ascendancy by Rob Bielby and Derek Jenkinson (28) pushed the score on to 143 before they were separated. Bielby (53no) kept things going and brought up his half-century with the second ball of the 30th over to secure victory in style.

Pocklington paid the price for a slow start as they lost by three wickets at South Cave & Brantingham. Pock crawled to 39-3 at drinks after some pinpoint bowling by James Gorbutt whose 12 overs only cost 12 runs. After 11 overs only eight runs were on the board but things picked up a bit with a 65-run stand between James Baker (44) and Elliott Newby (36no) and a rapid knock from Jed Vale who included seven boundaries in his 35.

Vale, Ryan Lockwood and Callum Quarton then each took two wickets each but a chanceless 80 not out from Suresh Kandasamy secured Cave the 30 points.

James Spencer was Malton & Old Malton’s hero as they won in some style at Ovington II.He took 6-37 as the York-based team were bowled out for 105, a total that promised to be a lot less as Ovington’s top five were in the hutch with only 23 on the board. They were rescued by Ian Kirkup (35) and Liam Herringshaw (21) who added 65 before the final five wickets fell for 20 more runs. Ollie Varey claimed 3-31 for Malton. Spencer then opened the innings and struck an unbeaten 62 not out as Malt won by four wickets despite a great bowling effort by Brian Svenson who created confusion at the other end with 5-37.

Division Four

THERE were some outstanding individual performances in division four led by 14-year-old Will Huffer who unfurled some superb shots in his unbeaten 150 in Heworth’s thumping ofStamfordBridge.

It was the first time the youngster had reached triple figures and he pushed on to make one of the biggest scores in the league this summer, enabling Heworth to total 248-4. Bridge were never in the hunt despite Rob Gilyeat’s 36 as Mobien Akhter’s 5-9 from seven overs and Grey Sykes (3-19) capped only a secondleague win of the summer for the Elm Park Way side.

Mark Fairey (105) put on nearly 200 for the second wicket with Matthew Booth (77) as Yapham put strugglers Burton Salmon to the sword. It was Fairey’s maiden ton and helped Yapham tuck into tea on 220-4. Nine-man Salmon’s batsmen then failed to cope with the pace and accuracy of Steve Hardwick (3-22) while two run outs executed by Tom Connell and Booth didn’t help Salmon’s quest for batting points. They eventually closed on 92-8, Martin Senior scoring 31.

Former England Under-21 footballer showed his all-round cricket skills with 92 and 4-48 as Bishopthorpe II defeated Hemingbrough II at Ferry Lane. The visitors made a challenging 199-8 thanks to John Cockerill (51), John Kelly (38no), Granville North (33) and Leo Howard (31). But they were upstaged by Ford, who cracked four sixes and 13 boundaries in his blistering innings, and Jamie Blackburn (54no) as the Bishops won by three wickets.

Askham Bryan’s first time may be finding it difficult in the top division, but their second string overhauled Hemingbrough II to go top of division four after winning at Burn II.

Burn were bowled out for 156 with Vikas Dangi taking the bowling honours with 5-30 from 11.4 overs, Luke Mitchell supporting with 3-33. Bob Adamson (40) and David Bramley (35) were Hemingbrough’s main batsmen. Askham lost a couple of early wickets but a 106-run stand between Mike Bains (45) and the free-scoring Varatharajam Balakumar (71no) swept them to a convincing victory.

Dunnington hung on to beat Stockton & Hopgove II by five runs after the game looked as though it would be heading for an early finish. None of the top seven Dunnington batsmen made double figures as Anthony Williams (4-49) and Tom Williams (3-31) got to work. That all changed when David Wilson (68no) and Alexander Wilson (37) came to the crease to push Dunnington to a tea score of 170-3.

Tom Williams then led S&H’s push for victory with 57, but Alexander Wilson took 4-33 as the visitors fell just short.

Division Five

HIRST Courtney II moved into promotion contention by beating leaders Thorp Arch & Boston Spa.

TABS took first knock but their 155-8 was below par on a good batting track. Richard Laver top scored with 36 but Hirst’s bowlers kept plugging away in the heat with Anthony Hinch taking 3-28 while Dave Howsam and Steve Galton chipped in with a couple of wickets each. Solid Hirst batting then saw them to a good seven-wicket win, Galton (46), Ben Copeland (36) and Aiden White (34no) all doing an excellent job.

Second-placed Thorpe Willoughby II were unable to cash in on TABS’ loss as their batsmen flopped against Woodhouse Grange. Willoughby crashed to 55 all out as James Hattee (3-11) and Rebecca Ainley (3-12) starred with the ball. Hatte then made 19 as Grange won by eight wickets.

Andy Mann was Malton & Old Malton II’s star turn in the home win against Selby II, taking 4-28 as the visitors were bowled out for 127. Steve Ryder made 37 for Selby. Malt looked edgy on 47-3 but Chris Bingham (47) and Nick Lock (39) calmed the nerves as they wrapped up a five-wicket win.