CAPTAIN Terry Day believes the first team squad at Eaton Socon is strong enough to win promotion back to the Cambs & Hunts League.

Eaton finally got their Hunts League Division Onee season off to a winning start with an 18-run victory over Blunham at Peppercorns Lane on Saturday.

Batting first, Eaton made 211 thanks to debutants Namal Seneviratna (86) and Ray Tudor (58) with the only other Eaton batsman to make double figures Will Hall getting 35.

Eaton then reduced their visitors to 30 for four before Darryl Hendricks (69) and Shabtz Hussain (72) got Blunham into a match-winning position.

But the return of Chris Box proved the turning point as he dismissed both batsmen and ended up with four for 38 as the visitors were bowled out for 193.

Day said: “It’s a great start to the season, especially for the new boys Namal and Ray. They have settled in really well.

“We have put together a strong squad for this season and are aiming to win promotion back to the TuckerGardner League.”

Huntingdon & District started their season on a winning note against Godmanchester II despite their top order collapsing for just for 20.

There was a great recovery however by the wicketkeeper Jahanzeb Khan (32), and Amir Iqbal (18), and they were helped by Shalinder Ranaut (25) and Nomi Khan (23) as Huntingdon posted a decent fighting score of 140 in 39.3 overs.

In reply, Godmanchester had a slow start with tight bowling from the opening pair of Navid Ahmed and Ranaut, as wickets were needed to have any chance of winning.

Captain Hamza Rashid brought himself on in the ninth over and changed the game straight away. He had a brilliant spell of six for 17 in nine overs and was nicely supported by Nomi Khan two wickets for three runs in five overs, and Nick Kumpukkal (1-16).

Alconbury beat visitors Burghley Park in their eagerly-awaited first home game of the season with Neil Suckling taking five wickets for 31 in 12 overs.

Gary Cole (2-20) and Dexter Ewing 2-7 supported Suckling well before Alex Burke hit 34 not out as they chased their target of just 66 runs which they reach for the loss of three wickets in 16.4 overs.

WARESLEY II earned a 69-run victory at home to Ramsey II with Phil Gillett taking three wickets from 20 in 11 overs and Pat Ellerbeck taking five for 12 in six.

Waresley were asked to bat after Ramsey won the toss and after a steady start the home side were 36 for none. However, Ian Donald (15), Chris Pierce (20), Ashwin Reddy (13) and Nick Greenfield (0) all tumbled in quick succession leaving some rebuilding to be done at 62 for four.

Strong partnerships between Simon Blows (27) and Phil Gillett (20), and Gillett and Jim Keys (23) got the innings back on track, though quick wickets late on brought the innings to an abrupt end at 145 all out. Edward Manchett topped the Ramsey bowling with three four 41 from 12 overs.

In reply, Joe Colebrook and Keys bowled extremely tight opening spells with Ramsey only scoring 28 for none in the first 15 overs.

Then, in a matter of a few overs, Ramsey had been reduced to 29 for three when two quick wickets from Keys and one in his first over from Gillett removed Ramsey’s top three, including their danger man Malcolm O’Grady, for just 15.

Ramsey steadied the ship with a partnership between Dan Malem (19) and Jordon Cafferkey (13) so Ellerbeck was brought on and took two wickets in his first over.

This sparked the slow demise of Ramsey’s lower Order with wickets being taken at regular intervals. In the end, Ramsey were all out for 76.

HUNTS 2

EATON Socon II made it two wins from two with a comfortable 137-run victory at Houghton and Wyton. Batting first Eaton reached 269 for nine with opener Bob Nicklin smashing a brilliant 119. Ryan Vale chipped in with 36 and Houghton and Wyton could only make 132 with Dan Newman taking three for 22.

HUNTS 4

BRAMPTON’S batting let them down again on Saturday when they lost to Yaxley II – and another defeat on Sunday means they have lost their first five games of the season.

They had an awful start at Yaxley with none of the top four finding double figures. John Parker was the only top order basman to get amongst the runs, scoring 31, including a couple of sixes, as they stumbled to 86 all out. At 5-2 wickets – and then 40-4 – Brampton were back in the game, but Yaxley didn’t lose another wicket after that.

Sunday’s opponents Jinnah were a class above, right down to their 11th batsmen.

The pick of the Brampton bowlers were Pete Boardman (4-68) and Chris Peck (3-53) as Jinnah reached 230 all out.

Unfortunately, Brampton’s batting followed the trend of previous games and the team was skittled out for just 53. Andy Watts top scored with 20 and the injured Duncan McGregor was the only other Brampton batsman to get into double figures.