Bad weather can't halt Lordswood progress

The Third Round of the Cockspur Cup was hit by bad weather - with a number of matches called off due to waterlogged grounds.

Lordswood and Bickley Park in Kent were determined not to be beaten by the elements that had left the run-ups far too wet at Lordswood to consider playing there. Both clubs agreed to switch the tie at the last minute to Bickley’s ground and a 40-over match ensued.

Lordswood having bowled Gore Court out very cheaply in the previous round on their own ground proceeded to do the same at Bickley Park. Having set a target of 160, due in no small part to Alan Pattenden’s 66, Lordswood then demolished their opponents bowling them out for a mere 62.

The most bizarre cause for a delayed start had to be at Oxford where low-flying aircraft from the model club next door meant that a start could not be made until after the scheduled 1:00pm time.

After this delay a close game ensued with Oxford scoring 216 for six with Joe Porter scoring 57 not out and Stuart Hole scoring 40 off only 18 balls. Henley looked to be well set for victory at 168 for six but Shamilal Mendis had other ideas and blew away the remaining batsmen to return figures of 5-30 with Henley subsiding to 200 all out.

In Group 8, Kibworth, the 2004 champions, hosted local rivals Loughborough Town at their new ground. This is the second of three matches in three weeks between the two sides in various competitions. Kibworth having won at Loughborough the previous week were confident and a large crowd turned up to witness the match enjoying the tremendous view from the large extremely well-appointed pavilion.

Considering the amount of rain that had fallen in the area it was a testament to the hard work of the club that the ground was fit for play and Kibworth laid the foundations for a challenging score on a slow wicket. With a very soft outfield boundaries were scarce so acceleration of the scoring rate proved tough. Despite having a large number of wickets in hand Kibworth struggled to raise the tempo and their innings closed at 212 for five – local pundits felt that this was 30 runs short and so it proved.

Loughborough’s openers started their innings cautiously playing themselves in and building a solid foundation from which to attack the target set. Kibworth were unable to make the early inroads that would put pressure on their opponents and despite a couple of late wickets falling Loughborough were able to ease to victory.

Elsewhere in this Group, West Indian Cavaliers from Nottinghamshire bowled Leamington out for 108 and then cruised to a six-wicket victory and will host Loughborough in the next round.

In the other Midlands Group (Group 7) the only game played was at Moseley where the visitors West Bromwich Dartmouth batted first. Despite a battling 64 from N Tahir, West Bromwich were bowled out for 116 with Jas Virdi taking 6-33.

Moseley in reply were struggling at 78 for eight with only their tailenders left but number nine Zahid Mahmood led them to victory by two wickets scoring 25 not out in this low-scoring encounter.

In Scotland, Clydesdale recorded the biggest winning margin so far in this round when they bowled West of Scotland out for 90 in reply to their total of 249 in which Rennie Keith scored a century. Ayr had a narrow win against Poloc.

A fine all-round performance by Quentin Hughes helped Chester-le-Street to send Newcastle home with their tails between their legs. Chester-le-Street scored 231 for eight, Quentin contributing 58 not out to the total and then taking 4-38 in Newcastle’s reply of 139 all out.

A tighter match was played at Scarborough where South Northumberland scored 214 for six and then bowled the hosts out for 207, thus prevailing by seven runs.

Two matches were played in Yorkshire with Methley reducing York to 95 for five before Marcus Wood (55) and Rob Flack (52) added 107 for the sixth wicket; York’s innings closing on 213 for eight. Methley, in reply, struggled against some good York bowling led by Mark Bell who took 4-39 and were eventually dismissed for 154.

Sheffield Collegiate hosted Doncaster Town, who batted first and set a very challenging total of 286 for four. Graham Attenborough scored 116 and Peter Ellis contributed 88 not out off 63 balls with five sixes in his 11 boundaries. Sheffield Collegiate, despite Nick Gaywood’s 51, could only total 160.

In the North West a number of matches have been delayed a week due to the heavy fixture load for clubs over the Bank Holiday Weekend. The highlights in the matches played in this area were Lytham’s nine-wicket victory against Darwen and three close matches with Egerton beating Bradshaw by nine runs, Astley & Tyldesley winning at Bramhall by two wickets as did Hyde at Little Lever.

Bowdon appear to be mounting a serious challenge in this area as they scored 256 for six against Leigh with Antony Crozier scoring 89 and John Gray 54 and running out winners by 85 runs. Maghull beat Neston by five wickets.

In the South West, St Just eased past Falmouth’s total of 142 with Neil Curnow (51 not out) and Gary Thomas (59 not out) adding an unbeaten 122 for the second wicket in a nine-wicket win. Taunton scored 142 against their local rivals Taunton St Andrews, Lee Cooper scoring 56 and Graham Porter taking 4-28. Taunton St Andrews were then led by Brian Hoyle (64) in their successful chase running out winners by seven wickets.

Group 11 (South) was the only group in which all matches were played. Havant, last year’s beaten semi-finalists, scored 183 for seven whilst beating Basingstoke & North Hants by 69 runs. Finchampstead (209-8) beat Falkland (121) by 88 runs. Bournemouth had a closer game with Portsmouth. The hosts scored 155 for six and then bowled Portsmouth out for 132 winning by 23 runs.

Reading had a successful trip to the Isle of Wight. Ventnor scored 210 for five with Matt Compton leading the way with 81 and had Reading in trouble at 94 for six but Vishal Aeri scored 71 not out as Reading went on to win by four wickets.

In the South East Groups a large number of matches were called off and are in the process of being rescheduled. In the matches that were played there was one all-round performance of note from Ben Claypole of Brondesbury. Ben returned bowling figures of 4.1–2–2–4 but was outshone in this department by Toby Sharpe who took 4-1 in his nine overs!

Needless to say Hertford were hustled out for 54, the lowest score in the Round. Ben was obviously in a hurry to get somewhere as he then scored 42 not out as Brondesbury knocked off the runs in just over 10 overs.

Winchmore Hill scored 161 for six against Radlett who then passed this total for the loss of seven wickets. Brentwood scored 194 for nine (D Brandy 81, Nick Batcheler 5-11) and then restricted Saffron Walden to 186 for eight (Ryan Sparrow 72, G Muwas 4-35) Brentwood thus running out winners by eight runs in the surprise result of the Round.

Southgate were bowled out by Upminster for 121 with Nick O’Dell taking 4-20, Upminster cruising to a five-wicket win. Hainault & Clayhall were bowled out for 97 by Waltham but were then on the verge of causing a major shock when Waltham were reduced to 52 for eight by M Ismail (5-22) but Waltham managed to struggle through by one wicket.

The highest scoring match in the Round was at Weybridge where Teddington scored 259 for six (Elliot Hill 73, Ben Duncan 53) and Weybridge were dismissed for 215 (Abeed Janmohammed 58, Ollie Slipper 52). Teddington will now host either Purley or Richmond in the next round.