Barley find it tough going again

Great Shelford, inspired by Alan Sutton, inflicted another defeat on Barley, who slipped to a disappointing five-wicket defeat in Cambs Junior Division 1B.

A promising start offered so much for Barley, with Jamie Walters (46) and Andrew Hunt (37) both setting some early momentum, and with a valuable 22 from Mark Downer, a return to form looked on course.

When all three were undone by Paul Ellum, taking the catches of Walters and Hunt, and then bowling Downer, the Barley innings began to wobble, with skipper Brian Symes (7), Ali Wallace (12) and Joe Fanthorpe (3) following soon after.

Chris Markham offered some stability with a well-worked 16, but following Jason Busby-Mitchell's short-lived 5, Bruce Carnaby and Keith Markham were both dismissed for 0, and Barley were all out for 166.

In reply, Sutton was quickly in full swing, smashing four fours and three sixes on his way to a brilliant 73, and with William Thomas (34), began to dominate.

When Thomas was caught by Walters off the bowling of Brian Symes, Paul Mortlock quickly followed for 5, courtesy of the same Barley combination, before Mark Milne (36) dragged Great Shelford closer to their required total with a controlled innings.

Peter Chuck gave the hosts some hope when he dismissed Paul Ellum for 0, but with too much to do, Barley were eventually put to the sword, with John Bravo seeing the visitors home at 167 for 5.

In Division 5C, Barley seconds faired much better with a 67-run victory against rivals Bassingbourn seconds. Barley chalked up 154 for 8, before restricting Bassingbourn to 87 for 10.

There was also a defeat for Bassingbourn in Division 2C, as they slipped to a five-wicket defeat at Foxton seconds.

The visitors made 134 for 8, before they were undone by a well-worked Foxton innings of 136 for 5.

In Division 1B, Cokenach edged out Thurlow by 16 runs to move into third place having set a 137 for 9 target.

THRIPLOW seconds showed table-topping Sawston thirds what they are capable of with a fine victory away from home.

Batting first, the visitors set about making a challenging total, with opening pair Dan Carr and Duncan Walker putting on 34.

When Carr was undone for 14, Tom Sherwin (8) was quickly sent packing, but Jeremy Tuck soon had Thriplow back on the road with a top-scoring 37.

At the other end Walker (26) continued to work hard, and when Martin Dabnor (14) was called upon, he too took the visitor's score forward.

A tight closing spell by the Sawston bowlers however, restricted the scoring, and saw wickets tumble, and the innings closed on 145 for 9.

Thriplow's score was reportedly the highest posted on Sawston's ground all season, and owed mainly to the quality batting that on a different ground could have been expected to result in a much greater total.

In response Thriplow opened the bowling with the pacy Nathan Sugden and Andrew Woolley, who immediately pressured the hosts' openers with some challenging deliveries.

In an impressive opening salvo, Sawston saw five wickets tumble as Sugden reached 10-2-24-3, while Woolley finished on 10-0-32-1.

With half the overs bowled, Sawston were struggling at 52 for 5, but opening batsman Guy Skinner was proving difficult to dislodge, particularly for Turner.

At the other end Sherwin's bowling proved a revelation, and his enforced change was the catalyst for the fall of further wickets.

However, Turner's first over from the other end saw Skinner (42) well caught by Andrew Woolley in the deep and his second over resulted in a stumping for Sawston skipper Tibble (12).

Turner (7-1-24-3) and Tuck then mopped up the remainder of the innings, as Tuck (2.2-0-4-2) took the last two wickets with consecutive deliveries.

As a result the visitors claimed a 42-run win and move up to sixth place in Division 3C.

Martin Dabnor said: "We now have two weeks off, but we must ensure a strong finish in order to avoid relegation.