CRicket round-up
NYSD Premier Division
Barnard Castle........ 174-8
Thornaby................ 127
BARNEY moved into top spot of the premier division – but only after the side’s strength in depth was tested.
Once again, it was Yorkshire pro Karl Carver who produced the stand-out performance, this week with the bat.
He took guard with Barney struggling at 55-4 after skipper James Quinn was dismissed for 13 off 64 balls.
Wickets continued to fall, and it wasn’t until Carver was joined by Rob Dixon, coming in at nine with the score on 96-7, that the innings gained some momentum.
Carver accumulated patiently, hitting just six boundaries in his 74 off 111 balls before he was caught having helped to move the score on to 166. Dixon ended not out for an invaluable 32.
Dixon then claimed the wicket of Thornaby opener Danny Clark for a duck in his first over.
Josh Bousfield removed the other opener for nought, Samarth Seth taking the catch.
Husnain Bukhari (39), Arslan Riaz (23) and Harvey Spaxman (21) briefly threatened but a couple of excellent catches from Rob West exposed the lower order, which was duly mopped up by Richard Watson and Carver.
Barnard Castle 174-8 (K Carver 74, L Harper 3-59, L Metcalfe 3-26). Thornaby 127 (R Watson 3-7).
ECB National Club
Championship
Woodhouse Grange.... 160
Barnard Castle............ 163-3
BARNEY dominated this group two ECB National Club Championship tie from the moment skipper James Quinn won the toss and inserted his Yorkshire opponents.
Woodhouse Grange, captained by former Barney skipper James Finch, found runs difficult to come by.
Rob Dixon bowled his allocation of eight overs in one spell, going for just 18 and picking up a wicket along the way.
Rob West claimed the prize scalp of Chris Bilton, who had scored an unbeaten century for Woodhouse 24 hours previously, and Tom Merryweather accounted for South African pro Fritz de Beer.
Only a run-a-ball 33 from keeper Daniel Barrett took the visitors to a score that was just about defendable.
In reply, Barney were always ahead of the rate thanks to an opening stand of 87 before Finch lured Finn Usher into an injudicious shot when the young opener was on 41.
James Quinn looked in good touch for his 41 and the game was done when James Clarkson was out for 57 with the score on 157.
All that remained was for Karl Carver to hit the winning boundary.
Barney now face a tough away tie at York in the second round.
Hartlepool II.......... 294-7
Barnard Castle II... 199-9
BARNEY’S last wicket pair of Shane Mullery and Ross Hutchinson survived to ensure a draw in a high scoring encounter at Vere Road.
Having elected to bat, Hartlepool’s top order enjoyed themselves, with Liam Prosser, George Relton and Ben Scott scoring half centuries.
Peter Stanwix picked up three wickets but his 12 overs went for 83.
The Barney reply included knocks of 48 from the in-form Joe Toulson and 44 from opener Ralph Makepeace, but wickets fell at regular intervals and it looked as though Hartlepool would leave with the points until Barney's last pair saw the innings through.
Barnard Castle III .......275-2
Darlington RA III.........127
SKIPPER Joe Toulson led by example, hammering his second century of the season.
His unbeaten 117 came off just 114 balls and such was Barney dominance of the RA bowlers, Toulson was able to declare with three overs of the allotted 40 remaining.
Toulson was accompanied in an opening stand of 97 by Andrew Gedye, who made 40, while Daniel Watson ended 68 not out.
While the RA openers replied with a first wicket partnership of 69, Watson then took four wickets to complete an excellent all-round afternoon as Barney ran out comfortable winners.
Durham and North
East League Division 2
Murton.............. 154
Evenwood......... 157-0
OPENERS Thomas Teesdale and Luke Bannister saw Evenwood home in double quick time after the visitors had been restricted to just 154.
Having elected to bat first, a couple of early strikes from Evenwood’s opening bowler Regan Goundry set the tone for the afternoon.
Had it not been for keeper Nikhil Bafna’s 55 and 37 extras, Murton would have struggled to post any kind of score in the face of some decent bowling.
Jamie Abbott picked up 3-15 and as well as Goundry, there were two apiece for Owen Peddelty and Rhys Peairs.
In reply, Teesdale hit 77, which include two sixes and eight well struck boundaries, and Bannister ended unbeaten on 62.
Evenwood are back on the road next Saturday, with a trip to Bill Quay.
Darlington and
District League
RESURGENT Barningham ended Lands’ good start to the season with a comfortable 52-run win.
Barningham were indebted to Nick Wright’s 45 and lower order runs from skipper Jake Black and Adam Bellwood as they were bowled out for 159.
Michael Crane was the pick of the Lands bowlers, taking 4-52.
Black and Joe Blackburn then ran through the Lands batting order, the skipper picking up 3-30 and Blackburn chipping in with 4-21 as both bowled their ten over spells straight through.
At Staindrop, the Dent brothers Matt and Joe both scored centuries as Raby Castle hit 258-1 against Cliffe.
Matt remained unbeaten on 122, while Joe was dismissed for 106.
Cliffe made a good fist of the chase, but fell 14 runs short. Sam Cull hit 81 and there were 40s for Bailey Besford and Will Heathcote, while James Forster claimed 3-36 in his ten overs.
Eryholme’s Sam Potter returned figures of 8-47 in his side’s victory against Aldbrough St John.
Potter’s spell helped reduce an ASJ side missing a few familiar faces to just 125.
Simon Warne’s unbeaten half century ensured the chase was successfully completed with few alarms.
Chris Coatsworth smashed 144 not out, helping Haughton to 256-7 in their 40 overs against Middleton St George.
Christopher Hall held Middleton’s reply together with 81 not out, but the side was bowled out for 200, Craig Edwards taking 4-31.
In the division’s other fixture, East Cowton conceded to Cockerton.
In the B division, Aldbrough St John II conceded to Middleton-in-Teesdale.
Barton’s Matty Short took 5-14 to restrict Raby Castle II to just 83 and Mark McAdam hit 40no in the successful chase as Barton won by nine wickets.
Middleton Tyas’ openers George Spink (114 off just 60 balls) and Dan Smith (64no) led their side to a ten wicket win against Cliffe II, who had earlier posted 181-9.
Spink hit 15 boundaries and five sixes in his savage knock.
For Cliffe, skipper Richard Mallender scored an unbeaten 61, while Tyas’ Rob Errington took 4-49.
Other B Division scores: Haughton II 184-4, Catterick Village 186-2; Oxbridge 134, Witton-le-Wear 135-8; Spennymoor 151, Richmondshire 154-2.
In the C Division, Etherley’s 155 against Barton II was built around opener Jon Joe Bolton’s 47.
The bowlers then restricted Barton to just 100-6 in their 40 overs.
At Ingleton, King James posted a competitive 195 thanks to Tom Whittaker’s 122, but visitors Cockerton II reached the target with five balls and two wickets to spare, Graeme Stansfield top scoring with 75.
In the division’s other game, Northallerton III crawled to 43-8 from 40 overs. Middleton St George II knocked them off in 11.3 overs for the loss of one wicket.
