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All the
up-to-date news from Lincs ECB Premier League 2008 cricket season
Index
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Season
2008 PREVIEWS AND REPORTS |
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2008 results, table |
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Review for May 3/4/5 Woodhall Spa recorded their second 20-point
win of the season in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League to stay top
of the table with a 100 per cent record. Louth were the victims at Jubilee Park,
being bowled out for 172 and it was young batsman Conrad Louth who hit the
winning four, at the same time taking his own unbeaten score to 100. Champions Bracebridge Heath also
picked up 20 points after bowling Lindum out for 173 - of which Josh Brodie
hit 96 - and going on to claim a nine wicket win with Mark Fell and Paul Cook
among the runs, hitting 82no and 72 respectively. Bracebridge stay second
while Market Deeping made it three wins out of three to climb into third
after bowling newcomers Haxey out for 100, five wickets falling to Nick
Cowley, and winning by eight wickets. Richard Antcliffe recorded the highest score
of the weekend hitting 120 of Grimsby’s total of 210 for four. Caistor then suffered another miserable
result as they were bowled out for 76. For the second time in a week,
Nettleham got the better of Sleaford, following up their cup win with a six
wicket victory after restricting their opponents to 150 for seven. Phil Sneath hit 55 for Sleaford and
Ashique Rahman an unbeaten 58 for the victors in this match. And Messingham’s
score of 210 for six – in which Ian Dawson made 62 and Jason Scheepers 79 –
proved too much for Bourne who, nevertheless, managed 180 for eight and a
share of the points. Top of the table Woodhall Spa crowned a successful Lincs ECB Premier League weekend with victory over Bourne in the first round of the Winkworth Cup on bank holiday Monday. Aaron Onyon took five for 25 to help bowl Bourne out for 119, a total Woodhall overtook for the loss of four wickets. Woodhall now play the winners of Bracebridge Heath v Lindum who are playing an evening game on May 14 following last month’s rained off fixture. Grimsby notched up 292 for five off their 50 overs,
Oliver Burford recovering from his long journey back from Lincolnshire county
victory in Dorset to hit 153 and opening bowler Danny Cliffe coming in at
five to make an unbeaten 63. Caistor’s batting showed improvement over their
recent efforts but at the close the visitors had reached only 169 for four,
Marc Watkins hitting an unbeaten 115. Messingham celebrated a good league weekend with a
seven-wicket win over Lindum in a re-arranged match. Alex Hornsby’s unbeaten 85 saw Lindum to
205 for seven, but Andy Langford hit 86 not out and Ian Dawson 54 to take
Messingham to victory. |
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Review for April 26/27 Louth and Market Deeping continued their good start to
the Readers Lincs ECB Premier League season, Louth adding to Caistor’s woes
while Deeping scored a surprisingly comfortably victory over Lindum. Last
season’s top two, Bracebridge Heath and Grimsby both topped the 200 run mark
but both had to be content with winning draws. For newcomers Haxey, runs were hard to come by in their
first league match in the Readers Lincs ECB Premier League. Faced with an
in-form Bourne side, the newcomers could only manage 133 runs off their 50
overs but hung on doggedly to deny their guests the final wicket. In reply, Bourne lost three wickets on
their way to victory, Chris Bamber hitting 52. Nick Cowley made an unbeaten
69 and Michael Kearns took five wickets as Market Deeping beat Lindum by 42
runs. Having notched up 161 for six,
the visitors then bowled their hosts out for 119. The highest individual scores of the day came at
Sleaford where Paul Cook hit 76 for Bracebridge Heath and Warren Nel matched
this for the home side. The league
champions made 230 for four with Mark Fell and Jason Vero also passing the
half century mark – Vero’s 53 coming off 44 balls – but Nel guided Sleaford
to the close on 152 for six to take a share of the points. Louth added
another 18 points to their total with their outright win over Caistor despite
a haul of six for 61 for Marc Watkins.
This restricted Louth to 184 for nine but Jon Dixon replied with five
for 34 to help bowl the home side out for 108. The closest game of the day
was at Messingham where Grimsby reached 214 for nine off their 50 overs only
to see their opponents chase their target hard and finish just 14 runs short
on 195 for six. Nettleham’s match against Woodhall Spa had to be called
off after water seeped under the covers at Mulsanne Park following heavy
rain, but on Sunday the expected rain held off for Nettleham’s Winkworth Cup
match at Sleaford. This provided an exciting finish as the home side chased
174 for seven, a total the visitors reached after a slow start. Matt Smith provided the impetus to get the
innings moving, hitting an unbeaten 61 and putting on 57 for the sixth wicket
with David Manby (35). On 123 for three with 17 overs remaining, Sleaford
looked to be heading for victory but two wickets in two balls for David Manby
and one for Paul Cook made it 123 for six and from here Nettleham regained
the upper hand. However, the lower
order fought back and the team were only nine runs short of the total when
the final wicket fell. |
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Review for April 19/20 Eight half centuries, one ton and five wicket hauls from five bowlers marked the start of the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League 2008 programme as batsmen and bowlers defied the cold to produce some excellent performances. The recent rains claimed one victim when the only the game at Grimsby had to be called off, the waterlogged Augusta Street ground denying newcomers Haxey their first fixture in the top flight. Further south in the county, Bourne’s new Australian signing Mark Fotheringham made 101 in the highest scoring match of the day which saw the home side reach 271 for nine, Will Clough also starting his season well with 78. Tom Lane took five wickets for opponents Lindum and Josh Brodie started where he left off last year, hitting 86 in the visitors’ reply of 229 for seven wickets, five of which fell to Cliff Spinks. Only Woodhall Spa picked up the maximum 20 points, Australian Daniel Milgate taking five for 31 as Caistor were all out for 139. Jack Luffman and Ricky Lovelace then hit half centuries to take their side to a nine wicket win. Bracebridge Heath dropped a point in their 100 run victory over Nettleham who restricted the champions to 214 all out after Bracebridge had raced along at six runs an over for the first half of their innings thanks in part to Jason Vero who hit 88. A fine bowling spell from David Hutchinson produced five wickets but Nettleham’s batsmen found the going tough and were all out for 114. Sleaford denied Market Deeping full bowling points, finishing 159 for nine at Outgang Road but half centuries from David Gillett and Tom Andrews helped the home side to a seven wicket, 16 point win. And Louth also set off well, losing their last wicket on the final ball of the innings with the score on 183, Danny Rands claiming five for 31 and Graham West hitting 56. West then claimed five wicket-keeping dismissals but Messingham dug in, batting their 50 overs for 106 for nine to take an extra point from the game. Having had their first taste of Premier League
cricket postponed for 24 hours following the cancellation of Saturday’s
league match, Haxey faced Market Deeping in the Winkworth Cup - and
claimed victory in the closest of matches. After David Gillett hit 63 to help
Deeping to 163 all out, Haxey looked comfortable with 20 needed off the last
five overs. But wickets began to fall and their win came with just one ball
of the match remaining and one wicket still standing. In the next round of
the cup, Haxey are home to the winners of the match between Sleaford and
Nettleham, which is being played next Sunday. Sunday’s other two scheduled
matches were called off (Boston v Oakham and Bracebridge v Lindum). Both are
hopefully to be re-arranged. |
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Preview for weekend of April 19/20 The Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League welcomes a
new team for the 2008 season as Haxey come up from the Lincolnshire County
Cricket League to take the place of demoted Boston. The newcomers face a
tough match at Augusta Street where they meet the 2007 runners-up Grimsby
Town who will field a team similar to last year, except for Sri Lankan
Dammika Gunawardena who is unable to return.
Haxey are captained by spin bowler Mark Atkins who helped his team to
promotion as the leading bowler in the premier division of the LCCL. The
village side, once again, have the services of their Sri Lankan player
Rodrigo, who has now been resident in England for more than two years, and
arriving shortly will be Rodrigo’s brother to add strength to the side.
Bracebridge Heath welcome back Australian Jason Vero after a couple of years’
absence as they set off in pursuit of their sixth successive championship
with a local derby against Nettleham whose popular Bangladeshi bowler Ashique
Rahman is back for a second season. Also returning is Sri Lankan Nuwan
Shiroman, now in his fourth season in the league and looking for another good
year with Louth who finished a creditable sixth in 2007, their first season
in the top flight. An interesting opening match at Owmby sees Louth entertain
Messingham who welcome the return of a number of young post-university
players. The news from third placed Lindum is that Kiwi all-rounder Josh
Brodie is back. Brodie, who took the most wickets in the league last year and
was second in the number of runs scored, returns to play under a new captain,
Matt Rutherford, who will be assisted by Richard Bishop. Rutherford was just
one behind Brodie in the 2007 wickets total, giving the Lincoln side a
formidable bowling attack. Lindum’s opening match is away at Bourne whose slightly
erratic batting displays pushed them down to an unaccustomed seventh last
year. Skipper David Christmas will undoubtedly be looking for more consistent
performances from his talented youngsters and a return to the top half of the
table. While happy to finish fifth in their first Premier
League season, Woodhall Spa’s aim to improve on this has seen them strengthen
their team with the signing of bowler Aaron Onyon and batsman Conrad Louth –
formerly with Lindum and Boston respectively. In addition to their league
challenge, a big season looms for the Jubilee Park club with a one-day
Lincolnshire county match in April and the visit by Lashings World XI in
August. Woodhall’s first match is at home to Caistor who welcome back
Australian batsman Mark Watkinson. Wicketkeeper Liam Mitchell has taken over
as Caistor captain from Kristian Adams who has left the club. The final match
of the opening weekend is at Market Deeping where the visitors are Sleaford,
captained once again by John Riddell and fielding many of the team that
finished fourth last season. The home side will be hoping for another
productive year from seasoned batsman David Gillett who hit more than 700
runs and topped the batting averages in 2007. Deeping will also be
anticipating good performances from last year’s Premier League young player
of the year, 19-year-old Michael Kearns who took 30 wickets and 18-year-old
wicketkeeper Jamie Morgan who made 20 dismissals. Market Deeping are in
action again on Sunday when they take on Haxey at home in the first round of
the newly-named Winkworth Cup. Bracebridge Heath entertain Lincoln and in a
clash between two invited South Lincolnshire and Border League sides, Boston
are home to Oakham. April 19 fixtures (12 noon start) ECB LEAGUEBracebridge Heath v Nettleham Bourne v Lindum
Grimsby v Haxey Louth v Messingham
Market Deeping v Sleaford Woodhall Spa v Caistor April 20 fixtures (12 noon start) WINKWORTH CUPMarket Deeping v Haxey Bracebridge Heath v Lindum Boston v Oakham |
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