Two Huntingdonshire bowlers managed to take seven wickets in the Premier One division of the Tucker Gardner League this weekend – and both ended up on losing sides.
Chris Whitfield took seven wickets for 31 runs in Warboys’ defeat at home to March Town, while Ramsey’s Michael Cafferkey took seven for 34 in their clash with visitors Waresley, for whom Nigel Buckingham-Jones took five wickets for 31 and Blair Tickner five for 40.
That was the match of the day with Waresley at the top of Premier One going to one of the division’s pre-season favourites – and upsetting the odds.
However, Waresley, batting first, set Ramsey just 108 with Tickner top scoring with 24 – though that total wasn’t far short of what Simon Donald was expecting.
“It was a good win,” said the Waresley captain, who thought a score of around 140 or 150 might be par for the conditions. “So a score of 108 may look a bit low but we weren’t far off par. Obviously the bowlers did a great job. We needed an early wicket and not one of their batsman really managed to get going.
“We are in a pretty good position. There will obviously be a run of games where we won’t pick up points but if we can get another win against Nassington on Saturday then we will already have a bit of a cushion.”
Ramsey, for whom Rob Menary at nine top scored with 14 not out, had won their first two games of the season and were second to Waresley last week. Now they are fourth below Sawston and Godmanchester with a trip to Cambridge NCI this coming Saturday.
For Godmanchester Town, it was a good day. They went to Nassington and set their hosts a target of 208 with the captain Matt Pateman hitting 40 and Mark Askew 37.
With the ball, Kiran Adhav starred taking four wickets for 27 as the home side fizzed out at 125.
“I was happy with the team effort,” said Pateman, “We really squeezed them in the field and we had to prize them out.”
Matt Cooksey scored 38 for Warboys who lost at home to March despite Whitfield’s amazing efforts and seven wickets. In fact, the bowler took all seven of March’s wickets as they successfully chased Warboys’s 165.
It was gutting for the captain Leighton Gilbert who said that once Whitfield had bowled his 16 overs straight – no-one was able to finish the job off.
“It was all going really well,” he said. “Until their eighth wicket partnership. We were in the box seat but we couldn’t break the partnership.
“It was a hard one to take and Chris Whitfield deserved a win for his bowling. We let them off the hook.”
It was Warboys’ third defeat in three games but the newly promoted side aren’t far off, said Gilbert.
“We are moving closer to a win,” he said. “We are a young side that is learning, playing against established Premier One teams.”
The highest knock in Huntingdonshire for the day was from the talented St Ives Town 15-year-old opener Tom McCarthy. The Hunts County youth player hit 57 but his team could only draw their Premier Two game at Yaxley.
Ryan Withers took five wickets for 74, while McCarthy himself took three for 30 runs to cap an excellent day.
Ray Tudor top scored for Eaton Socon in the same division with 44 as they chased hosts Abington’s 85. After winning the toss, Eaton’s bowlers did a brilliant job with Matt Taylor taking a superb five for 24.
Eaton lost three early wickets to find themselves at 30 for three but Ray Tudor’s unbeaten 44 saw them home for their first win of the season.
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