Tucker Premier League Royston 156 Fordham 160-4 Fordham won by six wickets AN 84 not out from the inspirational Darren Theobald ensured that Fordham took victory away at Royston on Saturday. Royston batted first and were quickly put on the back foot by

Tucker Premier League

Royston 156 Fordham 160-4

Fordham won by six wickets

AN 84 not out from the inspirational Darren Theobald ensured that Fordham took victory away at Royston on Saturday.

Royston batted first and were quickly put on the back foot by Fordham's spinners' Carl Arnold and David Stannard after Craig Theobald had grabbed the first two wickets.

Arnold finished the innings with superb bowling figures of four wickets at cost of just 26 runs from 16 overs.

Stannard was also impressive with three wickets from 12 overs with four maidens along the way as Royston ended up all out for 156.

The Royston field came out in defiant mood and Fordham lost two early wickets with Neil Clarke (1) and Matthew Foulds (4) both being dismissed for lbw.

Christopher Rule (31) then stabilised the innings before Theobald came in to steal the show. Theobald's magnificent display ensured that Fordham could easily reach their 157 run target after only 31 of their allotted 48 overs.

Theobald will be hugely satisfied with his match-winning innings but it was a shame that he was not able to progress to a thoroughly deserved century.

Fordham entertain Castor and Ailsworth at the weekend.

CCA Division 1N

Fordham II 164-8 Newmarket 119

Fordham II won by 45 runs

IN what was an excellent day for Fordham Cricket Club the second team fielders took only 28.3 overs to dismiss the Newmarket batsmen and take victory.

Fordham batted first and lost three early wickets but a controlled partnership of 62 between Neville Bussingham (29) and Phil Dean (33) restored stability to the innings.

When Bussingham and Dean were finally dismissed another two wickets fell in quick succession but a fine partnership of 44 between Chris Foulds (32) and Stephen Morley (18 not out) steered Fordham to a respectable 164-8 from their 40 overs.

Newmarket began their innings well and looked to be full of confidence but Fordham's Ron Howard quickly turned the tide with an accurate spell of bowling. Dean and Bussingham also went on to bowl well, making life difficult for the Newmarket batsmen and giving away few runs.

Olly Rix was clearly the danger man in the Newmarket side and he went on to an extremely impressive 67 runs but the rest of the Newmarket side could not withstand the pressure and they were all out for 119 with 11.3 overs to spare.

Howard finished the innings with an excellent four wickets at a cost of just 23 runs and Dean took two wickets for 24 runs.

Fordham II visit Milton this weekend, and the third XI travel to March.

CCA Division 1N

Little Downham 204-8

Witcham 64

Little Downham won by 140 runs

WITCHAM were outclassed as they suffered a heavy defeat at home on Saturday.

Little Downham batted first and Witcham looked determined as they took to the field and Phil Howells bowled particularly well, taking three wickets.

Despite the fact that seven of the Little Downham batsmen failed to reach double figures, and three of those going for ducks, they managed to leave Witcham with a formidable target of 204.

This success was mainly down to the performances of three men. Opening batsmen C Heaps was just shy of a half century with 44 before he was run out, number three D Cutforth was the star of the show with 78 and P Baker made a hugely impressive 39 not out.

The Witcham batsmen never looked up for the challenge that lay before them and after a disastrous start, number four Howells managed to calm the onslaught by scoring a respectable 16.

However, after Howells was dismissed by an R Palmer bowl, it did not take long for the resilience to subside and the team fell well short with a score of 64 all out.

Palmer was inspirational in attack for Little Downham and he blazed through four successive wickets, taking out numbers two to five to destroy any realistic chance of a Witcham fight back.

CCA Division 2NB

Wilburton 58-9 St Ives II 59-0

St Ives II won by 10 wickets

WILBURTON were well and truly slaughtered by an awesome St Ives outfit on Saturday.

Wilburton batted first and their opening batsman Tony Jacobs (22) was the only player to reach double figures as the entire side were dispatched with ease by the end of the 16th over. Raj Marwha and Zane Ul-Hassan were in scintillating form for St Ives and they gave the batsmen no respite.

The last five Wilburton wickets went for just five runs. Marwha came away with four wickets at a cost of only 12 runs from his eight overs and Ul-Hassan took five wickets for just 16 runs from four overs.

The second innings was just a mere formality for the St Ives batsmen.

It took Steve Baxter (18) and Tom Beale (40), who smashed eight fours, just 7.3 overs to reach their target and ensure a very early, and for the Wilburton players and fans, a very welcome end to the game.

Peter Bedford Memorial Cup

Welney Croft 124 Brentwood and Havering LPCC 125-3

Brentwood and Havering won by seven wickets

BRENTWOOD and Havering won the Peter Bedford Memorial Cup with ease at the weekend.

Ken Smart's performance was the only high point in a hugely disappointing day for Welney.

Smart held the bat for one hour and 15 minutes to make 32 and this included an impressive 47 run partnership with number three Neil Parkinson (17).

The Welney bowlers failed to break through and make any real impact on the impressive Brentwood and Havering batsmen, although Sargent bowled well and was unlucky not to take more than his single wicket.

Brentwood and Havering's star bowler John Taylor deservedly won the man-of-the-match award, taking four wickets from just six overs.

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Thirty Six Over Friendly

Saxlingham Gents 201-9

Old Wilhads 115

Saxlingham Gents won by 86 runs

OLD WILHADS travelled to Norfolk for their first ever meeting with Saxlingham on Sunday.

Saxlingham batted first and Nigel Baker bowled very well for Old Wilhads. From his five overs Baker took four wickets at a cost of just 11 runs.

The Saxlingham batsmen were too powerful and, in an innings punctuated by retirement, they went on to reach 201. Stand-out performances came from Jenner (41) and the opening batsmen Pearson (39) and Sheppard (35).

Skipper J Aniskowicz was the highest scorer for Old Wilhads with 26 and Stan Cornwell weighed in with 15 not out but the Saxlingham attack was just too strong for them to cope with.

Pearson and Baldock bowled excellently for Saxlingham, taking three wickets each.

Friendly Match

Burwell III 90 Sutton II 71

Burwell won by 19 runs

NINE man Sutton faced 10 man Burwell at the weekend.

Sutton won the toss and put Burwell into bat first. Sutton fielded excellently and restricted Burwell to just 90 runs before they were all out.

Top bowling performances came from Phil Harrison who took four wickets from his four overs and Glen Campbell who took three wickets and conceded just 18 runs from nine overs.

Things started to go badly for Sutton when they took the bat and they got off to the worst possible start, losing two wickets in the first over.

Despite valiant efforts from Craig Faux (20) and Paul Robinson (16) Sutton fell short by 19 runs.