Cricket round-up: Huntingdon trip up to second-placed Alconbury

HUNTINGDON

STALWART Freddie Khan (41) was unable to prevent the Huntingdon �batting line-up capitulating to the in-form bowling attack of Alconbury on Saturday.

Khan’s innings was the only bright spot for Huntingdon as 10 wickets tumbled inside 22 overs and the home side were �dismissed for a miserable 73 runs.

The Alconbury attack was led by Dexter Ewing (3-22) and once again father Richard (2-6) and Shaun Hubbard (2-8) weighed in to dispatch an out-of-sorts Huntingdon.

Alconbury’s reply was led by �Richard Willcock (30), although Huntingdon snatched five wickets as Alconbury reached 75-5.

Captain Gary Cole praised his bowlers and fielders for a victory that raised �Alconbury to second spot in Hunts 1.

“It was a cracking 22 overs of work in the field but I was surprised no other �batsman took root to support Freddie Khan. We still struggle a bit with the bat but Richard �Willcock put us in charge.”

Huntingdon opener Khan acknowledged his side’s form with the bat had been disappointing. He said: “We are not playing as a team at the moment but as individuals. However, we are still well-placed for a title challenge and there is a lot of cricket to be played before the season ends.”

In Hunts Division 4, Huntingdon II had a better day against Eaton Socon III, taking the points but not before a middle-order batting wobble. Socon batted first and amassed 170-9. Dan Till (57) and Craig Leigh (35) got the Huntingdon reply away to a flyer but a collapse made for a tense finish. Socon’s Tommy Burns (3-25) caused panic but Hunts regrouped to get home on 174-8.

GODMANCHESTER

JAMES Cowan’s figures of 6-27 made sure that Godmanchester took the bragging rights as he almost single-handedly destroyed Ramsey in their Cambs League encounter at The Parks on Saturday.

After Paul Swannell won the toss and invited Ramsey to bat, the Clarke brothers Damien (21) and Tim (17) built a good opening partnership of 48. However, the introduction of Cowan and Oliver Verrall changed the course of the game.

Verrall (3-31) backed up the impressive Cowan well and Ramsey lost 10 wickets for 57 runs to be dismissed for 105.

Michael Cafferkey (61) continued in his rich vein of form at both club and county level to put his old club on the rack. The former Rams batsman nailed yet another 50-plus score to hustle Godmanchester to a win inside 15 overs. Of the Ramsey bowlers only David Carlaw (3-27) showed any determination to halt the inevitable.

ALCONBURY

ALCONBURY III and visitors Sawtry III gave a good display in their friendly encounter on Sunday.

Batting first, the home side saw Trent Ewing (21) and Aaron Magee (27) build a solid start but the Sawtry bowlers hit back and reduced Alconbury to 92-7.

Jack Tait (72) came to the hosts’ rescue and the innings closed at 160-9 with James Wiltshire (2-15) top performer with the ball. Sawtry chased the target well and reached 161-7 thanks to good knocks through the batting order. Hayden Bream (32) and Glyn Smith (25) led the way although Ewing (3-19) did his best to turn the tide.

ABBOTS RIPTON

BATSMEN Jerry Hyde (58) and Lee Smith (89*) were in excellent form as Ripton side totalled 201-5 against St Ives IV.

Patrick Sarkis (44) and Richard Bowater (28) led a positive reply that left Ives just 11 runs short at 190-8. Jake Irwin (4-34) did enough to keep his side in front.

WARBOYS

VISITORS Newborough were asked to field on Saturday and early signs seemed to indicate that home captain Richard O’Leary had made a bad call.

At 39-3 the Warboys innings was wobbling, but Roger Allpress (58) and Daniel Hyde (65) put on 98 runs and with Wayne Humphrey and Adam Hyde scoring 19 apiece, the Witches totalled 215-8.

Newborough faced an even bigger challenge at 38-4 after Adam Hyde (3-57) had made early progress, but an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 179 by Gareth Clingo (80*) and Andrew Fitzgibbon (77*) saw the points disappear north.

Warboys II restricted Peterborough Town III to 150 all out after inviting them to bat on Saturday in their Hunts 3 clash. Sam Latchford (3-16) provided the best performance with the ball as the Town total benefitted from 32 extras.

Solid knocks across the card saw the Witches take the spoils. Charles Smith (30) and Sam Latchford (33) made the early pace and Tom Skidmore (40*) and Mick Hoy (25*) completed the job.

Warboys III visited Dean II in Hunts 5 on Sunday, but found their batting time limited after winning the toss. Warboys were brushed aside in 18 overs for just 50 and the home side galloped to the win in 12 overs at 52-4.

Newborough II provided a stern test for Warboys II in their Rutland League 7 meeting on Sunday. Apart from evergreen Martin Croucher (56*) who bagged his first club half-century, no other batsman stood up to the test and Witches collapsed to 92 all out.

Hosts Newborough needed less than 20 overs to charge to a win at 94-2.

In Rutland 6, Wisbech visited the Sportsfield but failed to cope with Richard O’Leary who added a five-wicket haul to last week’s sixer.

Wisbech made good use of the pitch to score 225-8 but O’Leary (5-44) ensured it was no more.

Daniel Hyde (69) made things happen at the start but too many batsmen failed to get past the teens as Warboys fell to 178 all out.

LITTLE PAXTON

PAXTON and Buckden II made runs in the sun on Sunday as the match runs totalled 649.

Fourteen-year-old Alex Marsh had a day to remember as he hit an impressive 169, forging an opening partnership with Simon McCutcheon (69) of 165 as Buckden crashed their way to 368-7.

Undaunted by the total, Paxton replied in fine fashion with Ian McGraw (68), Dave Page (48) and Wayne Huttly (48) severe on the bowling.

But the target proved too high and after a great effort Paxton ended on 281-7 in reply.

JUNIOR CRICKET SCORES

U11

Godmanchester lost to Eaton Socon by 60 runs.

Godmanchester 128 (Tom McCarthy 35*) beat St Ives 88 by 40 runs.

Godmanchester 91 lost to Peterborough Town 92.

Ramsey 275-6 (Sam Medhurst 18, Jack Critchley 18) beat Orton Park 270-5 (Jack Harlock 2-11).

U13

Warboys 175-4 (Jordan Cafferkey 50*, Kieran Judd 50*) beat Newborough 66 all out (Jordan Cafferkey 2-7, James Wright 2-2) by 109 runs.

U15

Warboys 121-4 beat Peterborough Town 91-7 by 30 runs.