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LINCOLNSHIRE ECB

PREMIER CRICKET LEAGUE

 

All the up-to-date news from Lincs ECB Premier League 2011 cricket season

            

 

Archive: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010

 

Lincolnshire ECB Premier League sponsored by Readers

Results and latest positions round-up for the 2011 season

 

Latest details (September 17)

FINAL TABLE

Premier League

P

W

L

D

A/C

Bat

Bowl

W

D

A/C

Pts

 

Bracebridge Heath

22

13

2

3

4

84

77

130

27

29

347

 

Bourne

22

12

6

3

1

76

89

120

19

8

312

 

Boston

22

10

7

4

1

66

77

100

26

8

277

 

Sleaford

22

9

8

4

1

81

68

90

24

8

271

 

Grimsby

22

10

7

2

2

76

68

100

12

13

269

 

Market Deeping

22

8

5

6

3

76

65

80

14

24

259

 

Louth

22

8

7

4

3

65

69

80

20

24

258

 

Hartsholme

22

6

6

7

3

69

65

60

25

21

240

 

Woodhall Spa

22

6

9

6

1

68

70

60

24

8

230

 

Lindum

22

7

10

2

3

53

66

70

12

24

225

 

Skegness

22

4

10

6

2

68

53

40

38

13

212

 

Nettleham

22

0

15

3

4

41

43

0

9

26

119

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key: A/C = abandoned or cancelled match

 

Details this season:

 

SCORECARDS

Full scorecards for all games can be found on the following website:

http://lcbpl.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/results.asp

 

 

September 17

 

Top and bottom of the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League may already be decided but a season of eventful matches and surprise results continued into the final week.

 

At Grimsby, Jim Morgan became the first – and only – double centurion of 2011 when he blasted 208 off 169 balls with five sixes and 21 fours.  Morgan, together with Neal Snell who made 58, helped the home side to 329 for seven and Carl Taylor and Gary Tillison then joined forces to take four wickets each as Louth were bowled for 116.

 

At Skegness, more than 600 runs were scored for the loss of 10 wickets as the home side notched up 366 for five against Market Deeping, Wade McCall with an unbeaten 151. Deeping then replied with 236 for five.

 

Fahad Masood ended the season on 86 wickets, shattering the league record at Bourne who were restricted to 196 for nine by Woodhall Spa.  Masood then took five for 63 as the visitors were bowled out for 136.

 

Matt Bradley also took five wickets for Bracebridge Heath at Lindum, the champions hitting 271 for eight before bowling their hosts out for 152.

 

Bourne had already claimed the runners-up spot but Boston gained sufficient points to hang on to third place despite going down to Sleaford, for whom Matthew Mountain made an unbeaten 127.  Sleaford finished on 249 for eight before bowling the home side out for 194.

 

But the closest game of the day was at Hartsholme who ended their 50 overs on 204 for nine.  Going into the final over with four runs needed and eight wickets down, Nettleham looked like claiming their sole victory of the season – but Rob Thorpe’s first two balls bowled both Nettleham’s final pair, giving Hartsholme a three run win.

 

ECB Premier League: Grimsby 329-7 (Morgan 208, Snell 58), Louth 116; Bourne 196-9, Woodhall Spa 136 (Masood 5-63); Sleaford 249-8 (Mountain 127no), Boston 194 (Baxter 61); Bracebridge Heath 271-8 (Houston 53), Lindum 152 (Robinson 50, Bradley 5-47); Hartsholme 204-9 (Shooter 55), Nettleham 201 (Manby 63, Wright 75, Shillito 6-60); Skegness 366-5 (Epton 75, Wilson 71, McCall 151no), Market Deeping 236-5 (Wheatley 60no).

 

September 10

 

Bracebridge regained the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League title with a victory over last year’s champions Bourne who had to settle for second place at the end of a hard fought campaign.

 

But Fahad Masood ensured that the leaders didn’t have things all their own way as, after coasting to 188 for two in the 38th over, Bracebridge lost three wickets to the Pakistan bowler in the 39th and two more in the 41st. 

 

Masood finished with seven wickets – taking his total for the season to 81 - as the home side slumped to 202 all out then went on to score 76 runs but could not keep his team in the hunt for the title as excellent fielding and catching from Bracebridge and five wickets for Ashley Schultz saw Bourne bowled out for 148.

 

At the bottom of the table, Nettleham came within 11 tantalising runs of their coveted first win of the season as they chased Market Deeping’s 252 for seven.  Dan Wright hit 85 as the visitors were finally bowled out for 241.

 

Skegness lost their battle to avoid finishing in the relegation zone after Louth made the day’s highest score of 290 for seven at London Road.  Brothers Graham and Stewart West each made a half century and Matt Crowther finished unbeaten on 97.  Stewart West then went on to take five wickets as the seasiders were bowled out for 186.

 

Nettleham and Skegness must now wait until the league meeting on September 21 when promotion and relegation issues will be decided.

 

The other two contenders for 11th place made themselves safe with 20 point wins.  Nathan Poundall scored the day’s only century with 110 to take Hartsholme to 225 for six before Lindum were bowled out for 129.  But Woodhall Spa faced a much harder task as they overcame third placed Boston by just one wicket.

 

And in mid-table, Sleaford’s winning run came to an end at London Road as George Linde took seven wickets to restrict the home side to 195.  Jim Morgan then hit 97 in Grimsby’s four wicket win.

 

ECB Premier League: Bracebridge Heath 202 (Houston 77, Cook 70, Masood 7-58), Bourne 148 (Masood 76, Schultz 5-72); Hartsholme 225-6 (Poundall 110), Lindum 129; Louth 290-7 (S West 56, G West 59, Crowther 97no), Skegness 186 (S West 5-73); Market Deeping 252-7 (Gillett 63, McDougall 57no), Nettleham 241 (Wright 85); Sleaford 195 (Shorthouse 58, Linde 7-43), Grimsby 199-6 (Morgan 97); Boston 163, Woodhall Spa 164-9.

 

September 3

 

Two records were broken – most wickets and most catches in a season – in an eventful weekend in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League.

 

Market Deeping skipper David Gillett took three catches in the match at Lindum to break his own record of 17 for the season while Fahad Masood took seven wickets at Boston to smash the record of 67 set by Kristian Adams in 2003.

 

And at Augusta Street, more than 500 runs were scored in one of the best games of the season – and at the close, Grimsby and Woodhall Spa were locked together in a hard fought tie.

 

Woodhall made 253 for eight, with Fawad Alam contributing 86 and skipper Jack Luffman an unbeaten 60.  The Grimsby innings followed the same pattern with captain Richard Antcliffe making 53 and South African George Linde 77 and at the close the home side had reached 253 for nine collecting 13 points to their opponents’ 14.

 

This pushed Woodhall up another place in the table above Hartsholme who went down heavily to leaders Bracebridge Heath, being bowled out for 89 after the home side had made 286 for seven. Vikram Atri hit 72 to take his total runs for the season to 892.

At the Mayflower Ground, Fahad Masood blew Boston away with figures of seven for 43 as Bourne consolidated their second position. Boston were bowled out for 92, a total the visitors overtook for the loss of four wickets. 

 

Sleaford stay fourth after Tom Shorthouse and Prabodha Senevirathne both hit centuries at Skegness who were left chasing 274 for three but were bowled out for 210, Wade McCall amking 64.

 

At St Giles Avenue, Lindum had victory in their sights despite being bowled out for a modest 173.  With nine wickets down, Market Deeping still needed 38 for victory but bowler Ali Sharpe showed his batting skills to take his side to a one wicket victory, ending 41 not out.

 

Nuwan Shiroman, who returns to Sri Lanka this week, ended his season with an unbeaten 146 at Nettleham and Graham West hit 102 as Louth notched up the highest score of the day of 312 for four before bowling the home side out for 189.

 

ECB Premier League: Boston 92 (Masood 7-43), Bourne 93-4; Bracebridge Heath 286-7 (Atri 72, Houston 52, Cook 75), Hartsholme 89; Louth 312-4 (Shiroman 146no, G West 102), Nettleham 189 (Wright 66); Sleaford 274-3 (Shorthouse 101, Senevirathne 102no), Skegness 210 (McCall 64); Woodhall Spa 253-8 (Alam 86, Luffman 60no), Grimsby 253-9 (Antcliffe 53, Linde 77); Lindum 173, Market Deeping 176-9.

 

August 27

 

On a rain affected day, Boston were the only one of the top three teams to pick up maximum points in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League.

 

While leaders Bracebridge Heath picked up only eight points from a rained off game at Market Deeping and second placed Bourne gained 17 at home to Hartsholme, the Mayflower team in third place took the full 20 after skipper Paul Timby took a gamble by declaring in an effort to complete the game against Grimsby. Boston had made 226 for three in just 37 overs – and had lost almost three hours of play to the weather – when Timby called a halt to the innings, Jonny Cheer having made 101 in a first wicket stand of 162 with Matt Ward (70).  And the gamble paid off as the visitors were bowled out for 168 of which George Linde hit an unbeaten 87.

 

This pushed Grimsby down to fifth, below Sleaford who made 185 for eight, Prabadha Senevirathne hitting 121, before Stephen Bradford took six wickets to help bowl Nettleham out for 90.

 

At Bourne, Fahad Masood hit 70 runs and took five wickets that took him equal with the league record of 67 with three matches still to go.  The home side made 251 for eight but were unable to finish Hartsholme off as the Lincoln side battled to 102 for eight at the close, Nick Wilkinson’s unbeaten 20 taking him past 20,000 league runs for his club.

 

Woodhall Spa came out best in the relegation battle with Skegness, Fawad Alam hitting 100 and Sam Evison 71 of the home side’s 287 for seven.  Skegness then made 234 for seven, Wade McCall with an unbeaten 75 to leave the seasiders six behind their opponents in 11th place.

 

But at Louth, only six overs were possible before the game had to be abandoned for the day.

 

ECB Premier League: Sleaford 285-8 (Senevirathne 121), Nettleham 90 (Bradford 6-20); Bourne 251-8 (Stroud 72, Masood 70), Hartsholme 102-8 (Masood 5-30); Boston 226-3 dec (Cheer 101, Ward 70), Grimsby 168 (Linde 87no); Woodhall Spa 287-7 (Alam 100, Evison 71), Skegness 234-7 (McCall 75no); Louth v Lindum – Louth 29-1, abandoned after six overs; Market Deeping v Bracebridge Heath – abandoned, no play.

 

August 20

 

Victories for the top three in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League saw a gap open up over the chasing pack.

 

Second placed Bourne gained three points over leaders Bracebridge Heath after the top team failed to bowl Louth out, cutting the deficit to 29 with four games to go.

 

Bourne picked up 20 at Grimsby after a superb spell of bowling brought Fahad Masood five wickets to take his total to 61 – just six short of the league record. And Boston stay third after returning home from Skegness with 20 points after Matt Ward hit 99 runs and Elliot Wilson took five of the seasiders’ wickets.

 

But the top team had to be content with 17 despite declaring on 282 for three – of which Vikram Atri hit 105 - and giving themselves 54 overs to dismiss their opponents who hung on to their last two wickets to deny their hosts the maximum.

 

At Hartsholme, 530 runs were scored for the loss of only six wickets as Warren Nel notched up an unbeaten 169 to help his side to 263 for two - only to see three Market Deeping players hit half centuries as the visitors reached their target with just four wickets down and an over to spare.

 

Boston’s victory consigned Skegness to 11th place, two behind Woodhall Spa who also had three players making over 50 in the day’s highest total of 321 for eight at Nettleham. The home side, still without a victory, were then bowled out for 152.

 

The mid-table battle between Sleaford and Lindum ended in a draw with Sleaford taking 16 points to Lindum’s 11 to go three points up above their hosts in the table.  Up and coming junior Will Wright hit his second half century for the Lincoln side while Alex Hornsby made 77 and Stephen Bradford took five wickets for Sleaford.

 

Grimsby stay fourth despite their defeat but are now 32 points behind Bourne and five above Louth – who are fifth but are only four up on eighth placed Market Deeping.

 

ECB Premier League: Bracebridge Heath 282-3 dec (Atri 105, John 65, Houston 64), Louth 159-8 (Bradley 5-30); Grimsby 182 (Masood 5-56), Bourne 187-4; Sleaford 237-9, Lindum 210-9 (Wright 62, Hornsby 77, Bradford 5-70); Woodhall Spa 321-8 (Milgate 74, Lovelace 61, Hughes 56), Nettleham 152; Boston 228-6 (Ward 99, Newton 54), Skegness 174 (Houghton 65, Wilson 5-52); Hartsholme 263-2 (Nel 169no), Market Deeping 267-4 (Jones 60, Morgan 74, Gillett 61).

 

August 13

 

he chasing pack gained four points on Bracebridge Heath as the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League leaders picked up 16 points after hitting the day’s highest total but failing to bowl out Sleaford.

 

Bracebridge finished on 288 for seven at London Road, Vikram Atri and Paul Cook making half centuries, while Sleaford hung on to make 175 for six, Will Brewster with 72.

 

Meanwhile, Bourne, Boston and Grimsby were all picking up 20 points with convincing victories over Market Deeping, Nettleham and Skegness respectively.  Deeping put up a good defence of their meagre total of 110, taking seven Bourne wickets of which five fell to Tom Andrews.

 

George Linde claimed six for Grimsby and Jim Morgan hit 61 in the Augusta Street team’s seven wicket win over Skegness and Jonny Cheer and Josh Newton both made centuries as Boston scored 287 for five before bowling Nettleham out for 126.

 

Louth stay fifth after winning the mid-table battle at home to Hartsholme, chasing down their opponents 187 for eight to win by seven wickets, Stewart West hitting 78.

 

And at Jubilee Park, Woodhall Spa failed to take advantage of the Skegness defeat and move out of the bottom two despite Sam Evison’s unbeaten 132 – the day’s highest individual total - that helped his side to 244 for six, a total Lindum overtook for five wickets, Richard Bishop also scoring a century.

 

This win moved Lindum back up to sixth in the table, just two points ahead of Sleaford and four up on Market Deeping and Hartsholme while at the top, Bracebridge still command a 31 point lead over Bourne.

 

ECB Premier League: Market Deeping 110, Bourne 111-7 (Andrews 5-38); Skegness 137 (Linde 6-29), Grimsby 141-3 (Morgan 61); Boston 287-5 (J Cheer 124, Newton 105no), Nettleham 126; Hartsholme 187-8, Louth 188-3 (S West 78); Bracebridge Heath 288-7 (Atri 85, Cook 64no), Sleaford 175-6 (Brewster 72); Woodhall Spa 244-6 (Evison 132no), Lindum 245-5 (Bishop 100).

 

August 6

 

It was all change yet again in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League table as, despite the rain, only one game had to be abandoned.

 

Just six points now separate the fourth and eighth placed teams after what proved to be a good day for teams lower down the table with three of the bottom six winning.

 

Lowly Woodhall Spa belied their 11th place by beating leaders Bracebridge Heath while at Lindum, Luke Robinson hit an unbeaten 117 and Stuart Turner took seven wickets to help overwhelm second placed Boston. Lindum reached 239 for five before bowling their guests out for a meagre 63.

 

This allowed Bourne to move up to second after Peter Morgan had hit the day’s second century, making 110 not out at Skegness whose batsmen then succumbed to the bowling of Charlie Hopkins who took six wickets.  Conrad Louth contributed 60 as Bourne made 234 for six before the seasiders were bowled out for 72.

 

After rain delays at Cross O’Cliff Court, Woodhall found some batting form to finish their overs on 182 for eight, Ashley Schultz taking five wickets. But the leaders were unable to match this as Woodhall’s bowlers, assisted by two run outs, restricted the final total to 160.

 

Tom Andrews took five wickets for Market Deeping but could not prevent Louth making the day’s top total of 242.  Deeping then fell 45 runs short of their target despite David Gillett’s innings of 70.

 

And Hartsholme recovered from 11 for four to finish on 146 for nine – then managed to defend this total, thanks in part to Henry Rush who took five wickets for 28 runs to help bowl Sleaford out for 117.

 

Valiant efforts were made by both sides to complete the game at Mulsanne Park where Grimsby reached 215 before their final wicket fell, Richard Antcliffe and Harry Warwick making half centuries.  But 30 overs into the second innings, with Nettleham well placed on 158 for three - of which Dan Wright hit 53 - the teams had to admit defeat and abandon the game.

 

ECB Premier League: Bourne 234-6 (Morgan 110no, Louth 60), Skegness 72 (Hopkins 6-28); Lindum 239-5 (Robinson 117no), Boston 63 (Turner 7-38); Louth 242 (Clark 59, Andrews 5-80), Market Deeping 197 (Gillett 70); Woodhall Spa 182-8 (Schultz 5-49), Bracebridge Heath 160; Grimsby 215 (Antcliffe 66. Warwick 51), Nettleham 158-3 (Wright 53) – (30 overs, match abandoned); Hartsholme 146-9, Sleaford 117 (Rush 5-28).

 

July 30

 

Colin and Jonathan Cheer made it a family affair when second placed Boston inflicted the first defeat of the season on Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League leaders Bracebridge Heath by a decisive eight-wicket margin.

 

After Boston had won the toss at the Mayflower Ground and invited their opponents to bat, Colin was first up to the plate by dismissing four of the top six visiting batsmen — the top three all being clean bowled. From a tottering score of 100 for seven, Jonathan Darke and Ashley Schultz then steadied the Heath innings with a stand of 66 and the final wicket fell on 182 in the 50th over.

 

In reply, Matt Bradley took a wicket on 19 but by the time the second one fell, Boston had 99 on the board. Matthew Poole then joined Jonathan Cheer to take the home side to their victory target with six overs to spare, Cheer finishing unbeaten on 128.

 

Bracebridge, though, still have a 40-point lead while Boston edged a further point clear of third placed Bourne who are now 11 adrift in third spot following a 38 run victory over Louth at Abbey Lawn.  The visitors were all out for 164 chasing their hosts’ 202 for eight.  Fahad Masood claiming five wickets to take his total for the season to 45.

 

Grimsby now share fourth place with Sleaford after both successfully chased runs on their home tracks. At Augusta Street, Lindum made 224 for 5, Richard Bishop and Geoff Middleton hitting half centuries.  But Grimsby were also on good batting form with 50s from Richard Antcliffe, Neal Snell and Harry Warwick who top scored with 58 not out as his side claimed a seven wicket win.

 

The highest scoring game of the day was at Sleaford where Market Deeping blasted 260 for seven, Josh Bowers just missing out on a century with a knock of 97.  But Oliver Burford made no mistake with his ton, hitting an unbeaten 113 with Matthew Mountain making 67 to give their side a six-wicket victory.

 

Deeping are now sixth but only two points behind while Hartsholme moved up to seventh with a resounding win at Woodhall.  Warren Nel’s 127 and Henry Rush with 53 saw the visitors to 244 for seven before the home side were reduced to 12 for six and were eventually bowled out for 67. This left Woodhall further behind in 11th place after Skegness beat bottom side Nettleham by 10 wickets, Tony Santini taking five and Peter Houghton hitting 67.

 

ECB Premier League: Nettleham 101 (Santini 5-12), Skegness 105-0 (Houghton 67no); Bourne 202-8 (Hopkins 59), Louth 164 (Shiroman 56, Masood 5-60); Bracebridge Heath 182 (C Cheer 5-78), Boston 183-2 (J Cheer 128no); Market Deeping 260-7 (Bowers 97), Sleaford 263-4 (Burford 113no, Mountain 67); Lindum 224-5 (Bishop 52, Middleton 52), Grimsby 225-3 (Antcliffe 51, Snell 50, Warwick 58no); Hartsholme 244-7 (Nel 127, Rush 53), Woodhall Spa 67.

 

July 23

 

Bracebridge Heath picked up another 20 points in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League and second placed Boston opened up a 10-point gap over the chasing teams. But lower down the table it was all change as 2010 champions Bourne shot up from sixth to third and Lindum jumped from 10th to seventh.

 

Lindum were involved in the tightest game of the day as the team gave new captain Harry Dunn his first victory by beating Skegness by just seven runs at St Giles Avenue. The home side were bowled out for 176 with 14-year-old Will Wright scoring 56, his maiden century in the ECB Premier League. Matt Rutherford then took six wickets as Skegness were bowled out for 169, Carl Wilson hitting 54.

 

Jason Scheepers took four catches and made one stumping as Bracebridge demolished Grimsby’s batting for just 105, Matt Bradley and Brett Houston with four wickets each. Vikram Atri then hit 61 off 49 balls with 13 fours as the leaders cruised to a nine wicket win. 

 

Boston had a harder game at Hartsholme where Matt Ward hit 78 and Jonathan Cheer 55 in a first wicket partnership of 104. The visitors went on to make 231, Henry Rush taking six wickets and Tim Shooter then hit 50 as Hartsholme reached 200 for six at the close to claim a share of the points.

 

Bourne made the highest total of the day and added to bottom side Nettleham’s woes.  Conrad Louth made 67 and Charlie Hopkins an unbeaten 87 as the visitors ended their 50 overs on 251 for five then bowled the home side out for 100.

 

Rain reduced the game to 92 overs at Market Deeping where Jack Luffman hit 66 for Woodhall Spa who made 228 for seven then restricted their hosts to 178 for nine. However, the points gained were enough to keep Deeping in fourth place, only one behind Bourne after Louth failed in their quest to move into the top three.

 

Sleaford swapped one London Road for another and came away with 20 points after bowling Louth out for 157 and winning by six wickets to go within one point of their opponents in the table.

 

ECB Premier League: Grimsby 105 (Scheepers four catches and one stumping), Bracebridge Heath 109-1 (Atri 61 no), Bourne 251-5 (Louth 67, Hopkins 87no), Nettleham 100; Boston 231 (Ward 78, Cheer 55, Rush 6-29), Hartsholme 200-6 (Shooter 50); Lindum 176 (Wright 56), Skegness 169 (Wilson 54, Rutherford 6-55), match included a maiden ECB League half century for 14-year-old Will Wright; Woodhall Spa 228-7 (Luffman 66), Market Deeping 178-9; Louth 157, Sleaford 160-4 (Burford 78no).

 

July 16

 

For the first time this season, every game in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League was called off without a ball being bowled. Woodhall Spa was the only ground where at one stage the fixture looked likely to get under way but a downpour just as play was due to begin put paid to the match.

 

July 9

 

Boston moved back to second place in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League table after a seven wicket win over Louth while Grimsby beat Market Deeping to leave the two teams neck and neck in third, just six points behind the Mayflower team.

 

But it is Bracebridge who march on at the top, beating Nettleham by 115 runs after Vikram Atri had scored one of the day’s two centuries to enable his side to declare on 276 for five after 45 overs. The other ton came from Bourne captain Peter Morgan who, like Atri, hit exactly 100 before being dismissed. Bourne made 236 for eight and Fahad Masood finally got among the wickets, taking seven for 31 as Lindum were out for 114.

 

George Linde made an unbeaten 83 for Grimsby who finished on 249 for nine at Market Deeping then bowled the home side out for 166, David Gillett hitting 64.

 

The highest overall score was at Skegness where the seasiders made 274 for four, four players passing the half-century mark.  Henry Rush then hit 96 as Hartsholme claimed a share of the points with 228 for five.

 

Woodhall Spa finally found some batting form at Sleaford who were restricted to 205 for seven of which Oliver Burford hit 84. Pakistan international Fawad Alam, who arrived in England on Friday evening, shook off his jet lag to take two wickets and hit 31 runs but it was skipper Jack Luffman’s innings of 40 that was instrumental in taking his side to a welcome four wicket win.

 

Matt Ward hit 79 for Boston who kept Louth’s total to 194 for eight with three of the home side’s players dismissed with scores in the 40s and Scott Elleray the pick of the bowling with three for 30 off 10 overs.   Boston then reached their target for the loss of just three wickets.

 

ECB Premier League: Louth 194-8, Boston 197-3 (Ward 79); Bracebridge Heath 276-5 dec (Scheepers 84, Atri 100), Nettleham 161; Bourne 236-8 (Morgan 100), Lindum 114 (Masood 7-31); Sleaford 205-7 (Burford 84), Woodhall Spa 206-6; Grimsby 249-9 (Linde 83no), Market Deeping 166 (Gillett 64); Skegness 276-4 (Brackley 71, Wilson 63no, McCall 60, Houghton 58), Hartsholme 228-5 (Rush 96).

 

July 3

 

Winkworth Cup

 

Just one run separated the contestants at the end of the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League Winkworth Cup final, but it was Bracebridge Heath who carried off the trophy for the second successive year.

 

In a repeat of last year’s final, the current league leaders played Boston, who are also well in the hunt for honours and the teams produced one of the best finals seen since the league introduced the 20/20 format. Bracebridge had a bye in the semi-final following the withdrawal of Grimsby, while Boston won through at the expense of Lindum who were out for 117, chasing a total of 150.

 

Going into the final, Bracebridge won the toss and elected to bat but faced some tight bowling and fielding from the Boston side which brought the wicket of Vikram Atri in Colin Cheer’s first over. When Paul Cook was caught off Paul Deans’ first ball, the score was 40 for two but Karanjit Bansal and Nick John (26) added 80 and when Bansal fell to Tom Baxter for a well-crafted 53, the total had reached 126 for four. Jason Scheepers and James Wright also contributed as Bracebridge finished on 163 for seven, Scott Elleray and Baxter each taking two wickets.

 

Boston looked favourites from the start as Jonathan Cheer and Tim Norris put on 26 for the first wicket and Norris and David Sargeant added a further 70.  Norris made an excellent 61, taking Boston to 116 for three and Elleray and Josh Newton saw the total to 149 for five.

 

With four overs to go, Boston needed just 22 runs for victory with wickets in hand but Bracebridge kept up the pressure and going into the final over, nine were needed. But Jonathan Darke kept his head, restricting the batsmen and taking a wicket on his fifth ball. This left new batsman Luke Gilding with the unenviable task of hitting a four to win off the last ball but the batsmen could only run two and the trophy was Bracebridge’s. Norris’s innings and his fielding earned him the man of the match award, presented by Martin Thompson, Director of cup sponsors Winkworth.

 

Full scorecard can be found on http://lcbpl.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11334615

 

July 2

 

More than 700 runs were scored off 100 overs at Market Deeping in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League for the loss of only nine wickets – the highest overall total recorded in the league.

 

Four players hit centuries, two on each side as Skegness came away with 15 points and the home side eight.

The seasiders hit 417 for five – just 15 short of the league team record - with Paul Butler making 119 and Wade McCall 100.  Market Deeping then replied with 297 for four, John McDougall with 109 and Chris Jones unbeaten on 104. This was sufficient to move Deeping back into second place after Boston went down to Sleaford in a low scoring game, setting their opponents a total of only 143, which Sleaford knocked off for the loss of five wickets.

 

It was similar scores but a much tighter game at Louth where Grimsby were all out for 133, of which Lee Charlton hit 60.  Louth then lost eight wickets reaching their target with George Linde claiming five to take his total at the half way stage of the season to 41. This moved Louth up to third with Boston fourth, Grimsby fifth and Sleaford in the top half of the table for the first time this season.

 

But leaders Bracebridge Heath opened up the gap at the top once again, making 247 for seven and bowling Lindum out for 161.

 

At the bottom, Nettleham are still without a win after Paul Sheppard had taken five of their wickets to help bowl them out for 134.  Warren Nel then made an unbeaten 78, taking his total for the season over the 600 mark as Hartsholme cruised to a nine wicket win.

 

Pete Morgan hit the day’s other century as Bourne reached 258 for nine at Woodhall Spa who were then bowled out for 153 to keep them in 11th place.

 

ECB Premier League: Skegness 417-5 (Butler 119, McCall 100, Santini 57no), Market Deeping 297-4 (McDougall 109, Jones 104no); Bracebridge Heath 247-7 (Cook 86, Atri 55), Lindum 161; Boston 143, Sleaford 146-5 (Hollingworth 60); Nettleham 134 (Sheppard 5-58), Hartsholme 135-1 (Nel 78no); Grimsby 133 (Charlton 60), Louth 134-8 (Linde 5-31); Bourne 258-9 (Morgan 105, Stroud 55, Milgate 5-92), Woodhall Spa 153 (Luffman 66).

 

June 25

 

Louth consolidated their place in the top half of the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League table after Stewart West recorded the season’s best bowling figures, taking eight for 44 at Skegness to join the ranks of top wicket takers, led by Mark Dixon who took nine in 2010 and Andy Carter who claimed eight in 2008.

 

The weather conditions proved ideal for West’s medium paced swing as the seasiders collapsed to 92 all out, a total Louth passed for the loss of only one wicket, Nuwan Shiroman hitting an unbeaten 72.

 

Boston moved into second place following their six wicket victory over Woodhall Spa whose batting again collapsed to 140 all out despite 51 from Ricky Lovelace. The Mayflower outfit also closed the gap on leaders Bracebridge Heath who were bowled out for 136 at Bourne.  Charlie Hopkins claimed four victims but the home side then saw their last wicket fall on 121, Ashley Schultz taking three for 17 off 11 overs for Bracebridge who came away with 16 points to Boston’s 20.

 

Grimsby slipped to fourth after going down to Sleaford on what was a good day for spin bowlers at Augusta Street – George Linde took four wickets the home side and Stephen Bradford and Jonathan Miller each took five for Sleaford as, chasing a seemingly modest 181, Grimsby were bowled out for 130.

 

Market Deeping moved back up to third after adding to the woes of bottom side Nettleham with a six wicket win at Mulsanne Park where Lee Peacock took five wickets as the home side were all out for 154.

 

Lindum bounced back into the top half of the table after a close game at home to Hartsholme who were bowled out for 205, Warren Nel making 71 and Matthew Wooldridge an unbeaten 60. At the half way stage of their innings, Lindum were only a third of the way to their target and with 10 overs to go still needed 65 to win.  But Luke Robinson, Alex Hornsby and Matt Rutherford all contributed, Robinson making 56 while skipper Dale Christie finished off the game with a big six to take his side to a five wicket victory with six balls to spare.

 

ECB Premier League: Nettleham 154 (Peacock 5-66), Market Deeping 155-4 (Sharpe 59); Woodhall Spa 140 (Lovelace 51), Boston 141-4; Bracebridge Heath 136, Bourne 121; Hartsholme 205 (Nel 71, Wooldridge 60no), Lindum 208-5 (Robinson 56); Sleaford 181, Grimsby 130 (Bradford 5-31, Miller 5-49); Skegness 92 (S West 8-44), Louth 95-1 (Shiroman 72no).

 

June 18

 

Rain washed out half of the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League programme but benefited Grimsby and Boston whose games ended in victory, moving both sides up one place in the table.

 

Leaders Bracebridge Heath had completed only a handful of overs at Hartsholme when the game was abandoned and it was the same situation at second placed Market Deeping who hosted Lindum.

 

But at Woodhall Spa, Grimsby were recovering from 41 for three to make 202 before the final wicket fell, Harry Warwick hitting 62 and sharing a stand of 103 with John Maddock who was out on 49. Woodhall also had a good third wicket stand as Nic Stone and Dan Milgate put on 61 and the home side looked set for a successful run chase but when David White joined the attack, wickets began to tumble. Stone hit 50 but White’s nine overs brought him four wickets and Woodhall ended 16 runs short on 186, Steve Crossley making five dismissals behind the stumps for Grimsby. This moved Richard Antcliffe’s team up to second in the table.

 

Meanwhile Boston went third above Deeping after picking up 17 points at Bourne. Batting first, Boston ended 227 for eight, of which Matt Ward hit 80 and Bourne were then restricted to 123 for eight a the close.  Boston are now three points behind Grimsby but just one ahead of Deeping.

 

Sleaford opened up the gap over the bottom two when, having been put in to bat by Skegness, they smashed 300 runs for the loss of only five wickets, Phil Sneath hitting 96 and Tom Shorthouse and Luke Hollingworth each making half centuries. Skegness found runs harder to come by and at the close had made only 176 for six, Carl Wilson with 59.

 

No play was possible at Louth who were hosting bottom side Nettleham.

 

ECB Premier League: Sleaford 300-5 (Shorthouse 68, Sneath 96, Hollingworth 74no), Skegness 176-6 (Wilson 59); Boston 227-8 (Ward 80), Bourne 123-8; Grimsby 202 (Warwick 62), Woodhall Spa 186 (Stone 60); Bracebridge Heath 27-2 v Hartsholme – abandoned; Lindum 78-2 v Market Deeping – abandoned; Louth v Nettleham – abandoned, no play.

 

June 11

 

Bracebridge Heath opened up a 35-point gap at the top of Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League, making a massive 380 for three against rivals Market Deeping who were then bowled out for 115.

 

Deeping stay second after third placed Grimsby went down to Boston, continuing the Mayflower team’s good run which now sees them just one point off the top three.

 

Lindum continued to yo-yo around the table, this time in a downward direction as they lost out to Louth for whom Arran Brindle hit 72.  Louth are now up to fifth while the Lincoln side slipped to eighth.

 

Nettleham stay bottom after losing out to Sleaford who are finding it hard to pull away from the bottom two after their poor start to the season and still occupy 10th place, just two ahead of Woodhall Spa.

 

A ton for Ricky Lovelace saw Woodhall get their batting back on track and make 205 for five but the dependable Paul Butler – who had earlier dislodged Lovelace on 100 - helped Skegness to a three wicket victory with a knock of 53.

 

Hartsholme found runs hard to come by at home to Bourne and ended up on the wrong end of a draw but picked up sufficient points to stay ninth with the help of Warren Nel who made 77.

 

Two centuries were scored at Bracebridge where Paul Cook’s 134 was matched by Nick John who was unbeaten on the same total, this partnership putting on 191 for the third wicket. Brett Houston took five wickets for the leaders while Stephen Bradford also bagged five for Sleaford. And at Hartsholme, bowler Fahad Masood made up for his current dearth of wickets with an innings of 52.

 

ECB Premier League: Bracebridge Heath 380-3 (John 134no, Cook 134), Market Deeping 115 (Houston 5-30); Grimsby 135-9, Boston 136-8; Bourne 248-7 (Bentley 60, Masood 52), Hartsholme 184-6 (Nel 77); Louth 187-7 (Brindle 72), Lindum 90; Nettleham 158-8 (Bradford 5-32), Sleaford 159-3 (Shorthouse 52no, Hollingworth 50); Woodhall Spa 205-5 (Lovelace 100), Skegness 207-7 (Butler 53).

 

June 4

 

Boston moved up to an all-time high position of fourth in the Readers ECB Premier League with an 18-run victory over Skegness.  The Mayflower-based outfit were bowled out for 218 in the 45th over, Josh Newton top scoring with 44 and Elliot Wilson swapping ball for bat with an unbeaten 42.  This gave Skegness 55 overs to bat – which, ironically, ultimately counted in Boston’s favour as they bowled their opponents out for 201 in the 54th, Peter Houghton making 47.

 

Meanwhile, at the head of affairs, Bracebridge Heath opened up a gap at the top of the table with victory over Louth, setting their opponents a target of 229.  But Louth could only manage 152, of which Nuwan Shiroman hit 62 and moved to top place in the total of runs for the season with Hartsholme’s Warren Nel, both having made 390 from seven games.

 

Although Nel made only six before becoming the first of Tom Andrews’ six victims, his side came away from second placed Market Deeping with the lion’s share of the points after notching up the day’s highest total of 259 for nine.  Kit Spence was closing in on his maiden Premier League century when he too fell to Andrews for 94 and with Chris Jones at the crease, Deeping looked set for another successful run chase. But wickets fell steadily at the other end, Martin Shillito claiming four and Deeping had to settle for 198 for seven, Jones carrying his bat with 103, the day’s only century.

 

Deeping are now 16 points behind Bracebridge. They were bowled out for 229.  But at 51 for five, the top side were looking at a much lower score before James Wright and Brett Houston saved the day with a stand of 109, both passing their half centuries.  Newly arrived South African Ashley Schultz took three Louth wickets and looks set to fill the opening bowler slot vacated by Aaron Onyon.

 

Grimsby profited from Deeping’s result and are now just 10 points off second place, replacing Lindum in third after setting Bourne a target of 227 before bowling them out for 200, Conrad Louth making 83.  Jim Morgan hit 72 and Neal Snell 51 for Grimsby while George Linde added five more wickets to his growing total.

 

Lindum slid down the table once again to fifth after being bowled out for 114 at London Road, a total Sleaford overtook for the loss of six wickets, Oliver Burford making a welcome return to captain the home side.

 

Nettleham slipped to the bottom of the table after going down by four wickets to fellow strugglers Woodhall Spa for whom Sam Evison hit 80, while skipper David Manby again reached a half-century for Nettleham.

 

ECB Premier League: Boston 218, Skegness 201; Grimsby 227-9 (Morgan 72, Snell 51), Bourne 200 (Louth 83, Linde 5-52); Bracebridge Heath 229 (Wright 59, Houston 53), Louth 152 (Shiroman 62); Hartsholme 259-9 (Spence 94, Wilkinson 65, Andrews 6-69), Market Deeping 198-7 (Jones 103no); Lindum 114, Sleaford 115-6; Nettleham 154 (Manby 50), Woodhall Spa 155-6 (Evison 80).

 

May 28

 

Market Deeping closed the gap on Bracebridge Heath at the top of the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League with a convincing win over current champions Bourne while Hartsholme scored a surprise victory over Louth to put themselves well clear of the three teams below them at the foot of the table.

 

But it was Lindum who made the most significant move, bouncing back up to third with a 20 point win over Woodhall Spa who slumped from 68 for two to 106 all out, Matt Rutherford bowling 11 overs, five of which were maidens and taking five wickets for just 17 runs. In reply, Lindum found themselves seven for two then 58 for five but from here Rutherford and Harry Dunn got together to score the 49 runs required for victory.

 

Sleaford elected to bat at Cross O’ Cliff Court and Matthew Mountain’s 54 helped the total to 203 for eight. Bracebridge were then reduced to 74 for three but Paul Cook and George Neal put together an unbeaten partnership that took their team to victory, Cook with 89 and Neal 53.

 

At Ashby Avenue, with the score on 190 for five, Warren Nel still at the crease and plenty of overs to go, Hartsholme looked set for a big score.  But Nel was stumped off Mark Roberts for 119 and some tight bowling from Nuwan Shiroman and Tom Corden saw the home side slump to 212 all out in the 47th over, Corden finishing with four wickets. Louth lost two early wickets and by the 31st over had been restricted to 124 for five with Stewart West making 67 of these runs.  But the lower order dug in until Nel rejoined the attack to take three wickets and the visitors’ challenge ended 15 runs short as the last wicket fell on 197.

 

Nettleham gained valuable points at home to Boston to stay above Sleaford at the bottom of the table.  Dan Wright finished in the 90s for the second time this season as he was out for 96 with Phil Brown hitting 54 and Tom Baxter taking six wickets. The visitors then made hard work of chasing the runs and could only reach 157 for eight, Matt Ward with 50 and Jack Bayliss taking five wickets for Nettleham.

 

Skegness pulled off the shock result of the day, beating Grimsby, who had occupied third place.  Playing at Richmond Road, the seasiders finished on 169 for nine, Norman Brackley with 40 and Carl Wilson 44 while Lee Charlton took four wickets for Grimsby who could only manage 145 before the final wicket fell.

 

Market Deeping made the day’s top score of 225 for nine at home to Bourne who were then bowled out for 112, Lee Peacock hitting 58 for Deeping and Tom Andrews taking five for 37.

 

ECB Premier League: Woodhall Spa 106 (Rutherford 5-17), Lindum 107-5; Hartsholme 212 (Nel 119), Louth 197 (S West 67); Sleaford 203-8 (Mountain 54), Bracebridge Heath 205-3 (Cook 89no, Neal 53no); Nettleham 201 (Wright 96, Brown 54, Baxter 6-66), Boston 157-8 (Ward 50, Bayliss 5-45); Skegness 169-9, Grimsby 145; Market Deeping 225-9 (Peacock 58), Bourne 112 (Andrews 5-37).

 

May 21

 

Louth provided the main highlights of the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League weekend with a century from Arran Brindle – believed to be the first by a female player in any ECB Premier League – and a run-fest that saw 598 scored and only 13 wickets taken.

 

But the most unusual occurrence was at Woodhall Spa, where Bracebridge Heath made 350 for four, Paul Cook with an unbeaten 122 off 69 balls and three other batsmen with half centuries. Four Bracebridge bowlers – Brett Houston, Tom Cuthbert, Mark Fell and Karanjit Bansal - then each took a wicket with their first ball while Jonathan Darke took a wicket on the first ball of his second bowling spell. Woodhall then hung on to their final wicket to finish 136 for nine but Bracebridge nevertheless extended their lead at the top of the table to nine points after Market Deeping’s valiant pursuit of Louth’s 335 for six, in which Brindle hit 128, ended on 263 for seven, David Gillett with an unbeaten 76. Brindle’s team-mate Nuwan Shiroman topped the 300 mark for the season with 53.

 

Elsewhere the day brought two more centuries – Jim Morgan’s 113 for Grimsby and 102 for Phil Sneath at Sleaford. Grimsby moved into third after a six wicket victory over Nettleham who were bowled out for 198, Morgan and Antcliffe (60) putting on 180 for the first wicket, while Bourne slipped to fourth after Skegness finally found some batting form to record a seven wicket win, Peter Houghton enjoying another good innings with 79. 

 

A low scoring game at Boston saw the home side bowled out by Lindum for 154. But in Boston’s reply, Elliot Wilson bowled an inspired 13 overs to take six for 26 and help bowl Lindum out for only 76. Sleaford moved off the bottom of the table, picking up 15 points despite failing to bowl Hartsholme out. Sneath’s century helped his side to 271 for eight but Matthew Wooldridge’s 74 kept his side in the game and the visitors finished on 207 for seven.

 

ECB Premier League: Boston 154, Lindum 76 (Wilson 6-26); Bourne 207-9 (Louth 79), Skegness 211-3 (Houghton 79); Nettleham 198 (Manby 50), Grimsby 199-3 (Morgan 113, Antcliffe 60); Louth 335-6 (Brindle 128, Shiroman 53), Market Deeping 263-7 (McDougall 66, Jones 50, Gillett 76no); Sleaford 271-8 (Sneath 102), Hartsholme 207-7 (Wooldridge 74); Bracebridge Heath 350-4 (Bansal 68, John 57, Atri 50, Cook 122no), Woodhall Spa 136-9.

 

May 14

 

Bracebridge Heath moved to the top of the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League table after former leaders Lindum went down heavily to Grimsby.

 

Playing at Cross O’Cliff Court, Bracebridge bowled Boston out for 119 and went on to win by six wickets and take the maximum 20 points. Meanwhile, across the city at St Giles Avenue, Grimsby were inflicting a similar defeat on Lindum who were all out for 105, their batsmen unable to handle the spin of George Linde as the South African took seven for 21 off just 32 balls, a feat that included a hat-trick. 

 

In hot pursuit of the new leaders are Market Deeping who once again chased down a sizeable score and lie just three points behind Bracebridge.  Having suffered the loss of Oliver Burford, in hospital with appendicitis, Stephen Bradford took over the Sleaford captaincy and saw his side make a challenging 233, Matthew Mountain hitting 85.  But Deeping made short work of this total to win by six wickets, Tom Andrews and David Gillett unbeaten on 80 and 74 respectively.

 

Nettleham also regained their batting form to pick up valuable points at home to Skegness who took advantage of a batsman-friendly track to make a massive 346 for five, Peter Houghton with 147 – the day’s only century – and Carl Wilson unbeaten on 55. In reply, Nettleham reached 238 for five off their 50 overs, Dan Wright with 92 and David Manby hitting 67 not out.

 

Scores were lower at Louth, but London Road was the scene of the day’s tightest game as Fahad Masood took another five wickets to help bowl the home side out for 163 in 40 overs.  This gave Bourne 60 overs to knock off the runs but in the face of some tight bowling the league champions made hard work of their task, losing eight wickets and taking their innings into the 51st over before finally claiming a victory which moved them up to third place, Conrad Louth hitting 50.

 

At Ashby Avenue, Hartsholme came out on the right side of a draw with Woodhall Spa.  Hartsholme finished on 203 for eight, Henry Rush with 52, before restricting their visitors to 179 for eight.

 

ECB Premier League: Boston 119, Bracebridge Heath 120-4 (John 56); Hartsholme 203-8 (Rush 52), Woodhall Spa 179-8; Lindum 105 (Linde 7-21), Grimsby 106-4; Louth 163 (Masood 5-50), Bourne 164-8 (Louth 50); Sleaford 233 (Mountain 85), Market Deeping 237-4 (Andrews 80no, Gillett 74no); Skegness 346-5 (Houghton 147, Wilson 55no), Nettleham 238-5 (Wright 92, Manby 67no).

 

May 7

 

Lindum extended their lead at the top of Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League by one point with a six wicket win at Skegness while Bracebridge Heath moved up to second after Grimsby were left ruing a dropped catch that helped their visitors to victory.

 

But the most exciting game of the day came at Sleaford who invited Louth to bat and bowled their opponents out for 221 with two balls of the innings to spare. Nuwan Shiroman was again among the runs for Louth with 79 and then took an early wicket before Shaun Morris dug in with support from the middle order as the score crept steadily towards the target. Going into the 47th over, one run was needed for victory but it was not to be as the last wicket fell on 220 leaving the home side still without a win and pushing Louth up to fourth place.

 

Lindum bowlers Matthew Bursa and Jake Benson claimed seven wickets between them as Skegness were bowled out for 141, a total Lindum overtook for the loss of six wickets to give them 20 points.

 

A much higher scoring game at Grimsby, in which Jim Morgan and Brett Houston both hit centuries, saw the home side set a total of 222, Morgan with 113 and Mark Fell coming out of retirement to take five for 41. Houston was then dropped on 10 and went on to make an unbeaten 125 that took Bracebridge to a three-wicket victory with just one ball of the game remaining.

 

This pushed Bracebridge up a place, one point ahead of Market Deeping who hit the highest total of the day after successfully chasing Woodhall Spa’s 262 for eight at Jubilee Park. Nic Stone hit an unbeaten 82 for Woodhall while Karl Green, making his 1st XI debut for Deeping, took four wickets including a hat trick. In reply, Chris Jones made 109 and Jamie Morgan 78 as Deeping claimed a six-wicket victory with three overs to spare.

 

The fourth century of the day came at Bourne where Ben Stroud’s maiden ECB Premier League century helped his side to 226 for eight against Nettleham who were then bowled out for 88, Fahad Masood taking seven for 23.

 

The absence of injured skipper Nathan Poundall and the first-ball-of-the innings dismissal of Warren Nel contributed to Hartsholme’s low score of 134 at Boston. Nel was out lbw to Scott Elleray who went on to take four wickets and Matt Ward then hit an unbeaten 77 in the home side’s five wicket win, putting Boston on equal points with Bourne in fifth place.

 

ECB Premier League: Hartsholme 134, Boston 135-5 (Ward 77no); Skegness 141, Lindum 142-4; Bourne 226-8 (Stroud 107), Nettleham 88 (Masood 7-23); Louth 221, Sleaford 220 (Morris 53); Grimsby 222 (Morgan 113, Fell 5-41), Bracebridge Heath 223-7 (Houston 125no); Woodhall Spa 262-8 (Stone 82no, Green 4-51 inc hat trick); Market Deeping 263-4 (Jones 109, Morgan 78).

 

May 2

 

Boston, Lindum, Grimsby and current trophy holders Bracebridge Heath won through to the semi-finals of the Lincolnshire ECB Premier League’s Winkworth Cup.

 

All 12 league teams were involved in round robins at four venues – and at Louth, the umpires had their calculators out as each of the three teams won a match with Grimsby declared winners with the highest runs to wickets average. Earlier, Grimsby had beaten Louth, then Louth beat Woodhall Spa and in the final match Woodhall chased Grimsby’s 189 for three to win by seven wickets, Jack Luffman with 103 not out, the only century of the day.  But Grimsby had lost only eight wickets in their two matches and came out on top in the countback.

 

Alex Hornsby hit 72 off 42 balls in Lindum’s final game against Bourne who made 133 from their 20 overs, Pete Morgan scoring 70 of these runs.  Lindum took just 14 overs to chase this total down for the loss of only two wickets.  Earlier, both teams had beaten Hartsholme with Pierce Morley-Barnes making 53 for Lindum in the opening game. At the Mayflower Ground, Nettleham went down to Boston and to Market Deeping who were set a target of 157 in the final match but were bowled out for 107, Jonny Cheer hitting 52 off 28 balls for Boston.

Sleaford hosted some of the closest games, with the home side first up against Bracebridge Heath who were set a challenging total of 181 for six.  But a captain’s innings of 86 not out from Paul Cook saw the cup holders to victory with seven balls to spare.

Sleaford then faced Skegness – and won by just seven runs.  Will Brewster and Matthew Mountain each made half centuries in the Sleaford total of 160 for nine while the seasiders’ 20 overs ended 153 for seven. In the last match, Bracebridge Heath faced Skegness who reached 147 for six, Wade McCall making 59.  But Cook was soon back in action making 60 to help his side to victory, again with seven balls to spare.

 

The semi-finals and final will take place at Sleaford CC on Monday, May 30 with matches at 10.30am, 1.30pm and the final at 4.30pm.  The overall winner will go forward to represent Lincolnshire in the Cockspur Cup Area Finals against the winners of the South Yorkshire and Central Yorkshire Leagues.

 

April 30

 

Hartsholme hosted the highest scoring game of the day in the Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League with a century scored in each innings as Grimsby chased down a total of 274 to win by five wickets. Warren Nel was unbeaten on 130 as the home side finished their 50 overs for the loss of only one wicket, though captain Nathan Poundall was forced to retire with a knee injury having hit 70. Matthew Wooldridge also chipped in with 52. But Grimsby skipper Richard Antcliffe also found the Ashby Avenue pitch to his liking, carrying his bat for an unbeaten 129 to help his side to victory.

Bracebridge Heath racked up the highest total of the day with 306 for four, Nick John just missing out on his century when he was out for 96 and George Neal unbeaten on 68. The home side then made sure of a maximum 20 points by bowling Skegness out for177.

Lindum were only three runs behind Bracebridge after Pierce Morley-Barnes and Luke Robinson had put on 140 for the first wicket in just 20 overs. Morley-Barnes made 69 and Robinson 82 and Matt Rutherford contributed 67 lower down the order to help the total to 303 for eight.  Nettleham were unable to match this but denied their hosts maximum points, ending on 199
for eight.

A third century came at Louth where Nuwan Shiroman was 122 not out as the home side finished on 275 for five, Graham West making 52. Woodhall Spa’s batting form then deserted them as they reached only 146 for eight at the close.

Tom Andrews hit another half century at Market Deeping, finishing 64 not out and Lee Peacock made 51 as the home side successfully chased Boston's total of 195, Matt Ward hitting 63 of these runs.

And champions Bourne got their season on track as they restricted Sleaford to185 for nine, Oliver Burford with 73, then knocked off the runs for the loss of only two wickets, Conrad Louth hitting 81 and Pete Morgan 54.

 

ECB Premier League: Bracebridge Heath 306-4 (John 96, Neal 68no), Skegness 177; Hartsholme 274-1 (Nel 130no, Poundall 70 retd hurt, Woodridge 52), Grimsby 276-5 9 (Antcliffe 129no); Lindum 303-8 (Morley-Barnes 69, Robinson 82, Rutherford 67), Nettleham 199-8;Louth 275-5 (Shiroman 122no, G West 52); Woodhall Spa 146-8; Boston 195 (Ward 63), Market Deeping 201-7(Andrews 64no , Peacock 51); Sleaford 185-9 (Burford 73), Bourne 186-2 (Louth 81 Morgan 54).

 

April 23

 

Last year’s Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League champions and runners-up both suffered heavy defeats on the opening day of the season, which began in brilliant sunshine but ended with two matches abandoned.

 

Fahad Masood began his quest for the league wickets record with five dismissals for Bourne but could not prevent Lindum racking up a total of 238 for eight, Alex Hornsby and Geoff Middleton hitting 62 and 66 respectively. Bourne were then reduced to 82 for five and despite half centuries from Conrad Louth and Charlie Hopkins, the last wicket fell on 173.

 

Sleaford, meanwhile, duplicated last season’s poor start by being bowled out for 92 at Woodhall Spa for whom Luke Smith took five wickets.  The home side then knocked off the runs in 15 overs for the loss of one wicket.

 

Boston’s Jonny Cheer hit 81 to help his side to 231 for seven, a score Louth failed to match.  However, 50 from Arran Brindle and 56 for Nuwan Shiroman helped the visitors hang on for a share of the points with 210 for nine.

 

Grimsby were bowled out in the 50th over at Augusta Street but by this time had 263 on the board, Neal Snell top scoring with 51. Market Deeping set off in fine style, John McDougall and Chris Jones putting on 40 in eight overs before three wickets fell in quick succession.  A stand of 102 between Tom Andrews and 16 year old Josh Bowers gave the visitors hope but after Andrews went for 56 the rate slowed and despite Bowers unbeaten 52, the overs ran out on 231 for six. 

 

At Hartsholme, the home side chased Skegness’ 244 for eight, Wade McCall celebrating his return with a knock of 76.  However, despite Warren Nel’s 87, the home side had been reduced to 168 for nine when a thunderstorm washed out further play.

 

The weather also frustrated Bracebridge Heath who were well on their way to victory at Nettleham when heavy rain flooded the pitch.  Bracebridge hit a massive 388 for six, Vikram Atri making 160 and Karanjit Bansal 112 while Nettleham had reached just 111 for six when the match was abandoned.

 

ECB Premier League: Boston 231-7 (J Cheer 81), Louth 210-9 (A Brindle 50, Shiroman 57); Lindum 238-8 (Hornsby 62, Middleton 66, Masood 5-62), Bourne 173 (Louth 56, Hopkins 55); Grimsby 263 (Snell 51), Market Deeping 231-6 (Andrews 56, Bowers 52no); Sleaford 92 (Smith 5-23), Woodhall Spa 96-1; Skegness 244-8 (McCall 76), Hartsholme 168-9 (Nel 87) – match abandoned, thunderstorm, 5 points each; Bracebridge Heath 388-6 (Bansal 112, Atri 160), Nettleham 111-6 – match abandoned, thunderstorm, 5 points each.

 

April 16

 

Readers Lincolnshire ECB Premier League champions Bourne get their season under way with a home game against Lindum who finished two places behind them in 2010. Last season’s top wicket taker Fahad Masood returns to Abbey Lawn for a second attempt at the league record as Pete Morgan’s side look for their second successive championship.

 

Lindum, captained this year by Dale Christie, have also recruited a bowler, 22-year-old Australian Matthew Bursa who was the leading wicket taker in the recent Sydney Second Grade competition.

 

But it is to Woodhall Spa that all eyes will turn as, following his devastating seven match spell at Jubilee Park last year, Pakistani international Fawad Alam is set to return as Woodhall’s overseas player for 2011. Difficulties with Alam’s visa saw him and the club investigated by the UK Borders Agency in 2010 but no action was taken and the agency has cleared the fast bowling all-rounder to return for this season. Alam may not make it here for Woodhall’s first match at home to Sleaford but is expected to arrive later in the month. 

 

Off-spinning all rounder Dan Milgate has also returned to Jubilee Park where he played for Woodhall Spa in 2008.  Australian Milgate, who took 43 wickets for Boston last season, is now a permanent resident in England, which allowed Woodhall to go after Alam as their overseas player. And to strengthen to batting top order, Andrew Crook has transferred back to the Jubilee Park club from Bracebridge Heath.

 

Grimsby have also added to their squad, signing quickie Carl Taylor from Appleby Frodingham and batsman Jim Morgan from Louth as well as bringing over South African spinner George Linde, who is also a talented batsman and is expected to fill the gap at number four while the ever-improving Neal Snell bats at three. Market Deeping are the visitors to Augusta Street and are expected to show few changes to their team, although bowler Michael Kearns has moved on to play for Spalding.

 

Louth visit Boston whose overseas player is 22 year old wicketkeeper/batsman Matt Ward from Australia while Louth welcome back one of the league’s best know overseas players – Sri Lankan all-rounder Nuwan Shiroman. hE played in Essex in 2010 but prior to that had five years in the Lincolnshire Premier League with Louth and Lindum.  He will be joined in the Louth line-up by former Cleethorpes and Barnsley quickie Andy Carrington and slow bowler Michael Brown who has moved from Grimsby.

 

Going from Louth to Bracebridge Heath is bowler Jonathan Darke and he will be joined in the line-up by former Lindum player Karanjit Bansal and Lincolnshire batsman Vikram Atri who makes a welcome return to Cross O’Cliff Court.  County skipper Paul Cook is this year also captaining his club who will be chasing the championship that eluded them last season.

 

Nettleham is the venue for Bracebridge’s first game and the home side will hope to introduce top order batsman Daniel Wright (24) from Australia to replace Warren Nel who has moved to Hartsholme.  Wright averaged around 40 in the championship-winning Lara Club’s season and is also a medium paced bowler.

 

Skegness are the guests at Hartsholme, with Australian Wade McCall making his return from his homeland.  Returning with him is 19-year-old bowler Lochlan Christian and the seasiders have also signed top order bat Norman Brackley who is from Zimbabwe but holds a British passport.

 

Fixtures for April 23 – noon start: Boston v Louth; Bourne v Lindum; Grimsby v Market Deeping; Hartsholme v Skegness; Nettleham v Bracebridge Heath; Woodhall Spa v Sleaford.