CRICKET: First outing under their belt - now St Ives chase a first Division One success
St Ives, pictured ahead of their defeat at Godmanchester Town, are back row, left to right, Murray Reid, Shaun Asplin, Nick Bennett, Jack Haycock, Jonny Perring, front, Micheal Speed, Archie Ablewhite, Ricky Greiller, Tom McCarthy, Matthew Wells, Umair Tariq. Picture: DUNCAN LAMONT - Credit: Archant
St Ives skipper Ricky Greiller took plenty of heart from their Cambs & Hunts Premier League Division One return last Saturday.
St Ives bowler Shaun Asplin sends down a delivery to Godmanchester Town opener Tariq Aziz last Saturday. Picture: DUNCAN LAMONT - Credit: Archant
His newly-promoted side suffered a 66-run derby defeat at Godmanchester, but it was not without positives – not least the form of Tom McCarthy who claimed 5-33 after hitting 50.
McCarthy’s exploits with the ball, and a useful 3-29 from Matthew Wells, helped to remove the home side for 209, but St Ives could only reach 143 in reply after being reduced to 21-5 early on. Youngster Michael Speed (35) provided good support for McCarthy.
Now Greiller hopes his side can register a first victory since returning to the top-flight when hosting Waresley tomorrow.
He said: “We didn’t start well in either innings at Godmanchester, but we fought well as a team and made a game of it.
“We treated it as a warm-up game to be honest, as a lot of the lads were having their first taste of Division One cricket.
“It’s important we get them used to the standard and hopefully we can now push on and look for a result against Waresley.
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“They had a very good start in beating Eaton Socon, but we know consistency can be a problem for them and we’ll hope we catch them on an off-day.”
Victory against St Ives ensured a winning start as Godmanchester captain for Matt Durrant.
Amit Gupta hit a debut half-century for Town. His 54 off 41 balls was the highest individual contribution.
Russel Withey was the most successful Godmanchester bowler with 3-18.
Opener Tariq Aziz fell five runs short of a half-century of his own as Godmanchester reached 209 before dismissing the visitors for 143, with Russel Withey (3-18) leading the way. New overseas player Nadeem Nazar and former skipper Paul Swannell claimed a couple of wickets apiece.
Wicket-keeper/batsman Alex Scully was the Waresley match-winner with a classy 78 as they saw off Eaton Socon by five wickets last Saturday.
Tom Griffiths’ side eased past their visitors’ offering of 196-8 with just over four overs to spare.
Captain Jonny Carpenter was the chief source of runs for Eaton Socon with 61. His side will aim for a first win of 2017 when hosting Saffron Walden this Saturday.
Ramsey endured a miserable start to the Division One season when on the receiving end of a 165-run thumping at Wisbech last weekend.
Without suspended skipper Michael Cafferkey, the locals could only limp to 142 in pursuit of their hosts’ imposing 307-7.
Ramsey host Division Two champions March this Saturday.
* Ramsey also fell at the first hurdle in the ECB National KO Cup last weekend. They slipped to a 23-run defeat against Lutterworth on Sunday when being dismissed for 109.
