WEEK 1 - 28-29th April 2012

Three teams were promoted into the Premiership last season and their first matches in the stratosphere resulted in differing fortunes. Shap came down to earth with a bump with a comprehensive defeat at Caldbeck and direct contrast to Culgaith’s seven wicket victory over Carlisle II. Appleby II’s defeat at home to Stainton I was less clear cut, ultimately losing by fourteen runs. It was a chastening experience for Carlisle as the third team were outplayed by Scotby. Braithwaite, relegated last season, made their mark in Division One with an eight wicket victory over Kirkby Stephen, one of the teams they would expect to be vying with for promotion. The other demoted team, Temple Sowerby, not at full strength, lost in a low scoring game at Patterdale. Whether it was lack of batting practice, or a desire to finish as soon as possible in Saturday’s Artic conditions, low scoring matches appeared to be the norm. The exception was at Lanercost where Langholm, playing in their first match in the EVCL, travelled the short distance over the border to beat Lanercost III by four wickets. On a day where the bowler held sway patience was the key when it came to batting emphasised by the fact that most of the highest scorers remained unbeaten; in the Premiership Mike Strong (Caldbeck), debutant Simon Brittain (Scotby), Dan Fawcett (Stainton) and Richard Errington (Culgaith) were instrumental in their team’s success. The best example, albeit in defeat, came at Braithwaite where Kirkby Stephen’s opener, Sam Bell, remained undefeated and scored two thirds of his teams total in the process. There were some exceptional bowling spells throughout the divisions well illustrated in the Wetheral – Lowther match where three bowlers completed their spells at less than two runs an over. Best performance of the day was at Great Corby where debutant Mark Cameron, not introduced until the thirtieth over, proceeded to take six Carleton wickets. The away side, had the final say in what turned out to be the quirkiest finish of the day, and possibly the season. With the last pair at the wicket Great Corby seem to have succeeded in gaining a draw with a single being taken off the last ball of the innings. However, the umpire called a no ball, which allowed Martin Cowley another delivery, which he duly used with good effect. Henry Parfitt, another debutant who won’t forget this match in a hurry, was caught by Sean McDermott as the two points in the balance went west of the river.

	TEAM BATTING FIRST	SCORE	OVERS	RESULT	TEAM BAT. SECOND	SCORE	OVERS
Prem	Caldbeck (h)	201 / 7	40	Beat	Shap (a)	95	27.1
	Mike Strong Andrew Clarke	76no 28no
	Lee Stockdale Tom Wentworth	10-2-26-2 10-3-34-1			Callum Donald Kevin Pattinson Steve Watson	7-0-42-4 7-3-8-1 7-2-21-3
Prem	Scotby (h)	199/8	40	Beat	Carlisle III (a)	78	29.4
	Simon Brittain Andy Teasdale	64no 51
	Ian Oultram Callum McLeod	5-1-32-3 9-0-38-2			Simon Brittain Vijay Kopparthi Nick Rigg	6-2-5-2 6-3-9-2 6-1-14-2
Put into bat Scotby were in trouble at 71-7 as their top order failed to turn starts into anything significant as four of the top five reached double figures but none of them managed to reach 20, the game then changed completely as Andy Teasdale was joined by debutant Simon Brittain and the pair put on 121 for the 8^th wicket with Brittain achieving his highest ever score. Carlisle’s reply never got going and at 51 for 8 the game was well and truly over, some late hitting by Hogarth and McLeod gave a modicum of respectability to the score but victory eventually game in the 29^th over. A good victory for Scotby but one that came at a price as Andy Teasdale is likely to be out for some time with cartilage damage to his knee.
Prem	Stainton I (a)	160/5	40	beat	Appleby II (h)	143	35.1
	Dan Fawcett Jonny Ridley	69no 32			Phil Brabbins	57
	Mitch Dowding Phil Cook	10-2-26-1 10-2-33-1			Jonny Ridley Jeff Marshall	10-1-27-5 9.1-0-42-5
Anthony writes: Appleby welcomed Stainton in their first game back in the top flight, and after winning the toss elected to field first. The season got off to a great start when first ball of the innings Mitch Dowding had Rick Kay caught at slip. (don’t suppose the league secretary would consider it so….ed) Stainton then carefully started to build their innings. Arran Pamphillon and Dan Fawcett both batted patiently before Ryan Davidson had Pamphillon (22) caught. Jonny Ridley continued Stainton’s good progress with an intelligent innings before being bowled by the evergreen Phil Cook. Dan Fawcett batted through the innings, and finished on 69 not out, benefiting from two big sixes in the final over. Appleby made Stainton work hard for their runs and at tea time both teams would have been reasonably happy. Appleby’s innings got off to a good start with Phil Brabbins and Anthony Errington (22) putting on 41 for the first wicket. Errington’s dismissal was quickly followed by Colin Westgarth for a duck, both to Ridley. Brabbins was joined by Joe Davidson and they got Appleby to 96-2 before Stainton began their fight back. Jeff Marshall removed Brabbins and then Davidson next ball and a slow progression of wickets began to fall. Once Ryan Davidson and Scott Murray had both fallen, Stainton looked favourites and a five wicket haul for both Ridley and Marshall gave them a win by 17 runs. Well played to Stainton who came back superbly to win. An early lesson in the season for Appleby as to the quality and intensity that the step up in division will bring. Appleby played well for 60 overs but Stainton’s pressure with the ball and sensible batting earlier on gave them a fully deserved opening day victory.
Prem	Carlisle II (a)	114		Lost	Culgaith (h)	116-3
	Tom Sarjeant Nigel Fowles Ted Stamper	6-0-13-3 10-0-23-2 10-0-43-2			Richard Errington	52no
Teddy writes: As Adrian marched out to the middle for the prematch formalities the excitement levels at the Oval were almost unbearable. Returning to the pavilion signalling to his bowlers to ready themselves for battle there was a hint of expectancy in the air. Sargeant looked calm and relaxed the old dog having seen this all before. The young stallion however at the other end looked like he had just been gelded. He stormed in for a few over’s being expertly dispatched over the deep backward square boundary. An older member of the watching public politely explained that he didn’t go as far as that on holiday. He marched back to his mark before the obligatory hip injury curtailed his afternoons work and he was returned to his pasture down at fine leg. Despite this he did take one very good wicket, the first LBW at the oval since Ted’s last visit. Sargeant kept up the pressure with steady wickets from the other end leaving the visitors tittering on the brink of collapse five down with not many on the board. A few steady overs from Stamper kept the pressure on while Fowles bowled expertly at the far end. Other special moments that were eagerly observed were an Errington stop that Tom Daley would have been proud of perhaps his extracurricular activities have helped his athleticism. The double tea pot was observed on numerous occasions, and rarer than that were two dropped “dolly” catches by Hall in the short extra cover vicinity off Stamper's bowling to the disappointment of his adoring public. However fielding was generally well done and the captain’s expertly laid plans were expertly executed. Carlisle were dismissed for a paltry 114 which was never going to be enough against the mammoth batting line up in Culgaith’s armoury and on a pitch that has been shown so much care and attention that if it was a women it would do anything asked of it by the top grounds man in the county. As the sausage rolls were being digested by this beast of a batting line up Hall and Sargeant scampered their way to a good start that laid the foundation for a superb knock by the exquisite Errington who only got dropped three times; 50 is 50 however and this earned him second most valuable player behind Stamper. Robson batted well however threw his wicket away in a manner that will surely see the captain batting down the order next week. Despite this a truly fantastic performance by the Champions and one game in one win, one destructive performance, message sent, and job done.
Prem

	TEAM BATTING FIRST	SCORE	OVERS	RESULT	TEAM BAT. SECOND	SCORE	OVERS
Div 1	Kirkby Stephen (a)	76	27	lost	Braithwaite (h)	77/2	14
	Sam Bell	48no			Mark Oswald Jason Pyke	32 26no
	Phil Knight Lee Zaninetti	10-0-25-3 8-0-20-3			Daniel Todd	6-1-23-2
Gilbert writes: Braithwaite began their 2012 season with a home match against Kirby Stephen. A cold blustery, but crucially dry afternoon greeted both sides on their arrival to the Institute Ground. A soft, but drying pitch saw Braithwaite winning the toss and inserting the visitors. A solid start from the Kirby openers saw no early wickets although Dan Pyke spilt a difficult caught and bowled opportunity. The breakthrough for the home side saw a sharp bit of fielding by Lee Zaninetti on the boundary whose excellent throw in saw Thornborrow (6) short of his ground .Wickets then began to fall at regular intervals. Phil Knight claimed two wickets in two balls and was well backed up by Zaninetti who took three quick wickets as Kirby had slumped to 73/6. Opening bat, Sam Bell, continued to offer some resistance for the batting side. Knight and Zaninetti were the key bowlers for the home side with Gilbert Pyke mopping up the tale as Kirby Stephen were bowled out for a meagre total. An honourable mention for Sam Bell, who carried his bat through the entire innings and remained unbeaten. Braithwaite made a good star with both Nathan Fox (7) and Mark Oswald scoring at over four an over. When Oswald was dismissed with the score on 41 most of the work had appeared to be done and with Jason Pyke scoring rapidly with the final twelve runs needed to win coming off two deliveries. A clinical batting performance saw the 77 runs needed to win scored in 14 overs with the loss of only two wickets.
Div 1	Patterdale (h)	79	30	Beat	Tem. Sowerby (a)	59	30.1
	John Howard Adrian Thompson	9-2-23-5 4-4-0-3			Richard Kelso Garry Martin	10-5-20-2 8.1-1-10-1
Div 1	Wigton II (a)	127/5	40	lost	Baggrow (h)	131/4	23.4
	Jack Bullock	39			Andre Logue Ashley Peile	37 35no
	John Raven Steve Hudson	10-4-13-3 10-1-20-1			Richard Liddle	8-0-30-2
Div 1	Penrith III (h)	140/8	40	lost	Rockcliffe (a)	142/6	34.1
	Jacques Rowe Peter Kelly	43 31			Robert Wharton	45
	Derek Foster Richard Johnston Graeme Cross James Freebairn	10-4-35-1 10-3-37-1 10-2-37-1 10-3-29-5			Ken Reed	9.1-3-21-2
Robert writes: A cold but dry day seen Rockcliffe travel to Penrith III’s for the first game of season.  Both teams looking forward to the challenge of the First division after promotion last year. Rockcliffe won the toss and put Penrith into bat and made a solid start against the bowling of Derek Foster (Dex) and Richard Johnston (Dick); given that neither Dex nor Dick had not bothered with pre-season nets they surprisingly settled into a nice rhythm and line and length.   However the star of the show in the early exchanges was the cat behind the stumps – Jez Sewell; standing up to the pace of Johnston and Foster he took two sharp chances to dismiss the openers, Sykes and Berger. With Dick and Dex tiring in the heat!! (sorry the cold) Jacques Rowe took advantage and batted very well for his 43 which took Penrith to 81-3 off 22 overs. Where was Jimmy Freebairn I can hear you asking?  Last season’s leading wicket taker and average topper.  Well the captain, John Wharton had purposely held him back, in fact Jimmy had asked to be saved as he felt a bit tired from being up all night with his rabbits! Not to be kept out the game he came on to ball and with his second ball removed the dangerous Rowe. Bowling in tandem with Graeme Cross the wickets fell regularly and only thanks to a run a ball from Kelly did Penrith get up to a competitive total.    Rockcliffe’s reply started a bit scratchy and after 10 overs had only moved onto 21 for no loss.  Will Wharton then went LBW to the consistent Reed which brought Sewell to the crease.  With this Rockcliffe pressed on and Robert Wharton and Jez Sewell took the score up in the 80’s before Sewell skied one.  With Wharton anchoring the innings at one end the other lads chipped in and Rockcliffe edged nearer the line. However with 20 needed Reed had Wharton caught behind and, just to make things more interesting, Johnston ran out Cross. To make up for this he plundered 14 from Berger’s last over and obligingly left the skipper to score the winning runs. A good, competitive and enjoyable game to start the season.
Div 1

	TEAM BATTING FIRST	SCORE	OVERS	RESULT	TEAM BAT. SECOND	SCORE	OVERS
Div 2	Wetheral (h)	122-8	40	Beat	Lowther	77	33.2
	Giles Vasey	31
	Ed Tallis A Ward	10-4-16-1 3-0-8-3			Graeme Campbell Marco Oliver Malcolm Bamber	10-4-16-1 10-3-23-3 9.2-0-18-5
Richard writes: Lowther arrived at Wetheral on a cool but dry day for the opening fixture of the 2012 season. Both teams were missing a few players but managed to field full complements with Lowther winning the toss and electing to field first. Bamber and English opened the innings and got off to a sluggish start before Tallis bowled probably his only loose delivery of the day cleaning out English with a full toss. The score had moved onto 52 in the 24^th over before Robinson removed Bamber for 20 (this wouldn’t be the last we heard from Bamber). Vasey then tried to move the score along at a quicker pace which included two sixes, the first a hefty blow straight down the ground and into the neighbouring field and the other only just clearing a fielder at deep long off. He was then bowled by Birkett with the score on 74. Wickets then began to fall at regular intervals with only Marco Oliver (23) amassing any score of note with a stylish innings as Wetheral finished their innings on 122-8 thinking they were probably around 30 runs light. Lowther got going at a decent rate chasing a modest total and had moved onto 18 without loss heading into the sixth over. Marco Oliver then removed T Didcock (12) as he and Campbell (who went past the edge on numerous occasions) pegged back the scoring before Campbell trapped Johnson in front for 1 in the 15^th over. With the scoreboard showing 29-2 Stuart Birkett came to the crease and he and Tallis calmly took the score onto 47 making them slight favourites at that stage. Birkett then took on Bamber in the 22^nd over aiming for the long on boundary but coming up short as Timperon swiftly got round to safely hold on to a towering catch. Salkeld followed in the next over, mistiming a poor delivery from Vasey pulling it straight to English at backward square leg. With the score now showing 50-4 it all seemed pretty even. Tallis (23) and Jackson then moved the score onto 67-4 and with 13 overs remaining Wetheral opted for a change in pace and brought Oliver back on from the Wetheral end. He promptly answered his captain’s call with a wicket maiden removing Jackson for 13. The pendulum was now swinging back in Wetheral’s favour. The evergreen Malcolm Bamber sensed the game was there for the taking and supported by Oliver, Vasey and an energetic field he took four of the remaining five wickets in 3.2overs for the cost of only three runs narrowly missing out on a “hat-trick” in the process. Lowther had come up 45 runs short in a good spirited affair, contested between two somewhat “rusty” teams giving Wetheral the all-important eight points.
Div 2	Carleton (a)	146	40	beat	Great Corby (h)	117	40
	Martin Cowley	52			Mark McAlindon	33
	Mark Cameron	6-2-12-6			Martin Cowley	10-1-45-5
Andy writes: Carleton took maximum points taking the final wicket of the last ball of the match. Martin Cowley was undoubtedly man of the match excelling with both bat and ball. After being inserted the visitors were indebted to a third wicket partnership of 73 between Cowley and Ian Henderson (24). Mark Cameron, a late transfer window recruit for Great Corby, began bowling in the 30th over and took six wickets in a golden arm spell. In reply the home side lost early wickets but Mark McAlindon and Neil Swainson (14) seemed to be putting the game back into balance until the former was run out. Martin Cowley then took over with the ball taking the important wickets of both Swainson and Cameron. The ninth wicket fell in the 38th over leaving two juniors to try and see the home side to a single point. This appeared to have been achieved when from the sixth delivery of the final over Callum Kennedy calmly took a single, only for a no ball to be called. From the consequent extra delivery Carleton took the final wicket to gain the full points.
Div 2	Wigton III (h)				Gamblesby (a)
Awaiting score sheet
Div 2	Keswick II (h)			rain	Edenside Acdy (a)
Div 2	Lanercost II (h)			beat	Penrith Acdmy (a)
Penrith unable to raise side

	TEAM BATTING FIRST	SCORE	OVERS	RESULT	TEAM BAT. SECOND	SCORE	OVERS
Div 3	Appleby III (a)	89	33.2	Lost	Stainton II (h)	90/1	26
					Roger Holliday Liam Mulholland	37no 34no
	Liam Mulholland Graeme Silburn Ben Cleminson	6-3-5-1 8-2-18-3 7-1-29-1
Div 3	Lanercost III (h)	156/8	40	lost	Langholm (a)	157/5	38.4
	Keiron Veivers Kiran Ajith	30 55			Ben Maxwell John Bell	62 27no
	Gregor Park	10-3-32-3			James Crabtree P Halliday	10-2-19-1 8-0-28-3
Div 3	Nunwick II (h)			rain	Threlkeld (a)		15
Rain stopped play – awaiting score sheet
Div 3	Caldbeck II (a)	56	24.3	lost	P. Wanderers (h)	60/4	23.2
	Rob Bland Rob Thomlinson	6.3-2-16-3 8-4-11-4			Leigh Todhunter Greg Tickle	7-2-8-1 8-3-8-3
Div 3	Keswick III (a)	101/8	40	Beat	Irthing Vale	59	27.3
	Phil Corrie Nick Crosby Neil Corrie	10-4-13-1 10-4-22-1 8-1-15-4			Joppy Hodgson J McGown Jamie d’Leny Olly Dunn	6-2-14-0 5-2-8-1 8-3-16-4 8.3-2-8-3
Keith writes: Keswick III captained by Tom ‘Tendulkar’ Mattinson got off to a positive start in the Eden Valley Cricket League’s third division and it was good to see Ollie Dunn, returning to Keswick after two seasons with Threlkeld, make an immediate impact with the ball in an opening day victory at Irthing Vale. Ollie has immediately been promoted to the club’s 2nd XI for this Saturday’s home game against Gamblesby. Jamie D’Leny, resting several injuries, bowled off-spin, as opposed to his usual pace but was just as effective as Vale were all out for 51 in reply to Keswick’s modest total. At least Keswick batted the full 40 overs on a testing Vale wicket and the leading run makers were that old war horse Bill Richardson (25), James Benson (24) – run out by the deceptive running of Richardson because he was in danger of outscoring him – and, batting at No 4, young county player “Joppy” Hodgson who hit a more than useful 22 and who I think is going to prosper this season as a run maker; so much so that I am backing him in the club’s fund raising Fantasy Cricket league which will be underway soon. David “Bulldog” Bragg who at long last has found a KCC cricket shirt that will fit him comfortably (he’s gone for the XXL version which is otherwise known as the ‘Convention Tent’ range) was undefeated on 11 which included a six and a four. The 2nd XI’s opening fixture, against Carlisle Academy at Fitz Park last Sunday was rained-off without a ball being bowled. The next day was bright and sunny. Typical.