Elvaston through to Village Cup quarter finals
by Alan Rowley, 25th July 2002

Elvaston eased their way into the last eight of the National Village Championship with an emphatic 100 run victory over Great Ecclestone last Sunday.

Elvaston's hero this time was Paul Birch, star of the 1994 Lord's victory, who top scored with 70 runs before skittling the Lancashire lads with figures of 7 for 27 from his nine overs.

Batting first, Elvaston amassed 216 for eight from their 40 overs and, despite strong local support, the home side were all back in the pavilion with their score on just 116.

Elvaston are back in Derbyshire for the quarter final when they take on Colwall, who Elvaston annihilated last year. In the 2001 tournament, Elvaston had Colwall all out for a meagre 37 in reply to the Derbyshire side's 201 for 6. Richard Johnson scored 87 and Birch was again in form with the ball taking 3 for 4.

More good news for Elvaston came from Oxfordshire where Shipton-Under-Wychwood defeated last year's Lord's victors Ynystawe by three wickets. The Welsh side were strong favourites to progress to the final yet again, but in a close game, the Oxfordshire lads came out on top.

The full quarter final draw, to be played on Sunday August 4th, is:

Rowledge v Langleybury
Shipton-Under-Wychwood v Werrington
Elvaston v Colwall
Wolviston v Streethouse