A ROUND-up of the weekend cricket action across Huntingdonshire, including Waresley’s win over Bluntisham which lifted them to second in Tucker 2.

WARESLEY

VICTORY over Bluntisham saw Waresley leapfrog St Ives into second-place in Tucker 2.

Matt Rawling (44) got Waresley going, but it was the second-wicket stand of Simon Donald (77) and Paul Field (81), worth 167, which made the difference. Waresley declared on 219-1 after 44 overs, and had few problems in disposing of the Bluntisham order.

Only two batsmen made it to double figures, as Chris Whitfield (3-13) and Terry Hayden (3-15) collected the wickets. Waresley now sit just behind leaders Ickwell, their opponents on the final day of the season.

NEEDINGWORTH

NEEDINGWORTH saw their recent revival take a setback at Littleport in Junior 1, as the visitors crashed out with a total of just 90.

James Baldock (33) batted well for Needingworth, but Littleport spinner Douglas Marsh was a constant thorn in the Needingworth side, as the spinner recorded an impressive 7-10. Only Callum Mitcham (10) and Ian Armstrong (17) made it out of single figures. Littleport breezed past the target in 20 overs, with the loss of just three wickets, taken by Robert Milne (2-40) and Daniel Sherlock (1-16)

FENSTANTON

FORMER Junior 4B leaders Fenstanton slipped to third place and could see their title hopes fade after tasting defeat in three of their last four fixtures.

After losing the toss, Fenny were invited to bat against Milton III, with openers Mike Piaggesi (19) and Mahmood Yakub (58) grinding out 47 together. Fenstanton bowler Andy Taylor’s (3-32) efforts reduced Milton to 44-4 early on, but the home side could not find a way through thereafter and Milton eased to a five-wicket victory.

EATON SOCON

EATON II fell to a disappointing seven-wicket defeat against Ketton.

Joe Dawborn (120*) and Ryan Brown (50) got Eaton in the runs quickly and helped them to 222-5, but the bowlers could not defend the total.

Ketton proved too strong for Eaton’s attack and they comfortably reached the required target with a loss of only three wickets.

In Hunts 4, Eaton’s development team suffered a 136-run defeat to Alconbury II.

Despite fine bowling from Matt Nicholson (6-30), Martin Ruff and Bruce Staines hit 81 and 52 respectively, leaving Alconbury with 216-9 off their 45 overs. Eaton’s batsman had no answer to Alconbury’s superior bowling and found themselves all out for 80, with Raj Sunner top-scoring on 22 not out.

WARBOYS

WARBOYS defeated Eltisley by four wickets to win the Smith Barry Junior Cup, and gain revenge for their Coote Cup final defeat.

After winning the toss and putting Eltisley in, Steve Hill (5-12) justified captain Richard O’Leary’s decision, supported by Adam Hyde (3-36) and Alex Grange (2-31) as Eltisley totalled 150 all out in 36.4 overs. Claude Peters (52) top-scored for Eltisley, assisted by Dom Walker (37).

Warboys opener Ryan Humphrey (49) got the reply off strongly, and Grange (43) at four again showed form with the bat. The Eltisley bowlers asked questions but could not prevent a Warboys win at 151-6 in 40.2 overs.

Warboys III were brushed aside after Cambourne III hit 202-6, driven by a knock of 60 from Taalib Minhas which included 14 fours. Abhi Sharma (34) and Matthew Casey (24) led the Warboys reply but it fell short at 129.

Warboys I’s game against Sawtry in Hunts 1 was abandoned because of the weather, as was the Warboys II game against Blunham in Hunts 3.

YELLING

BRYAN Topham’s 67 helped Yelling to 179-8 in their 94-run with over Ely.

Yelling opened the batting, and Lee Johnson (41) and Dom Walker (28) got the away side off to a flying start. Only two Ely batsmen made it into double figures as Walker (3-7) found joy with the ball.

BRAMPTON

BRAMPTON came under early pressure against Upwood but batted their way to victory against the title hopefuls.

After winning the toss, Upwood elected to bat and raced away to a good start, with David Drage (35) doing the majority of damage. Andy Watts (3-43) and Chris Atkin (2-15), restricted the flow for Brampton, leaving a total of just 142 to chase.

Andy Pegram (41) led the reply, and with help from Ian Purser (25) and John Parker (24), Brampton got over the line for victory.

ABBOTS RIPTON

TITLE-chasing Abbots Ripton proved too strong for Wimblington in Junior 5A.

After Abbots elected to bowl, the impressive Scott Walton took 3-15 from 10 overs and Wimblington were all out for 111.

The home side made it look easy in reply, reaching 112 in just 22 overs, with Lee Bailey (45*) and Lee Smith (30*) racking up the runs. Second-placed Abbots face a crunch match next week when they take on leaders Chatteris.

COUNTY CRICKET

HUNTS U11 finished fourth in a six-team tour at Shrewsbury School.

The side played five games in consecutive days, drawing against Staffordshire and Shropshire, but losing narrowly to Herefordshire and Derbyshire.

The highlight for Hunts was a victory over Northamptonshire, with Hunts bowling them out for 106 thanks to good work from Tom McCarthy (4-13) and Josh Smith (3-14). Leg-spinner and captain McCarthy was also awarded with the prestigious ‘Bowler of the Tournament’ award, after collecting 10 wickets.

Hunts U17 went down to a heavy first innings defeat in a two-day fixture against Cambridgeshire.

Hunts were bowled out for 121 in the first innings, before Cambs posted 260 all out. Alex Laud took 3-30 for Hunts. In Hunts’ second innings, captain Jon Carpenter scored 103 not out in a total of 272-5, his fourth century of the season in his final U17 match. Carpenter’s batting makes him the highest scoring under-17 in the country with an average of 159 with 636 runs.

Hunts U15 finished the season in mid-table after a draw against Bedford. Spinners Rob Sayer (4-34) and Jack Skidmore (5-33) helped bowl Beds out for 188. In reply, Hunts made a steady start but then lost wickets before Sayer (65*) and Elliott Cafferkey (45) took Hunts to the brink of victory. However, they could not get over the line and stalled at 188-9.