Ruddington, visitors to the Manor ground on Saturday, were lying at the base of division E/F with only 2 points to their name. Toton skipper, David Hoon, was hoping to win the toss and insert the opposition to put pressure on their struggling batting line-up. However, he lost the toss and watched as 3 top order batsmen were dismissed cheaply.

Leon Smith (38) and Philip Haywood (31) then started to cut loose with some fine shots. Pat O’Neil then took the game well away from Ruddington with a powerful 49 as Toton Sycamore closed on 200.

Although Ruddington have been struggling, no-one told opener Craig Miller who hit 41, in the process removing Simon Bennett from the attack as his 4 overs cost 29 runs. Pat O’Neill also took some stick before Ian Day sensationally caught Miller and normality returned to the batting.

The opposition didn’t give up and although needing 8 an over, skipper David Hoon (2/54) continued to bowl himself, as he leaked runs all around the park. However, thanks to tight bowling from the injured Mick Stocken (3/23) the required run rate did rise to a point that the game became safe and Toton brought the field in to try to claim maximum points.

Ruddington finished on 173/9, boosting their points total to 10 whilst Sycamore’s 19 points sees them lying in a healthy 5^th position. 

Toton Sycamore  2^nd XI were without a game on Saturday so the Selection Committee allocated Sunday’s game at home to Attenborough II to 2^nd XI captain Donny Pezzolla. What a game it turned out to be.

Attenborough travelled with a strong representation of youth and experience; however none of that experience was used early on as they slumped to 39/7 by the 16^th over, with two pieces of excellent fielding having resulted in run-outs. None more costly to the away side than Ben Sheppard’s ill-advised second run on a bye; Jason Catchpole’s chase and throw resulting in his downfall.

Sheppard had had little trouble against Toton’s opening attack of Donny Pezzolla (3/25) and David Fawcett (1/18). Rahul Sarwal (1/23) bowled a tidy spell but the bowling of Jason Brookes, Stephen Polkey and Jason Catchpole conceded  a further 76 runs to the total as Attenborough’s tail wagged to the tune of 104 mainly off the bat of David Evans (59), whose innings was ended by the 3^rd run out of the game.

Having lost all three league encounters on Saturday, another defeat was starring Attenborough in the face until Evans pulled the innings round to finish on 143.

Toton’s innings took an early blow as in-form batsman Dennis Wright was caught behind for 7. Opening partner Dileepa De Silva (42), and Jason Catchpole (56), then dominated the bowling as they put on 70 runs for the 2^nd wicket by the 16^th over. David Fawcett (15) pushed on towards the victory that Gary Bush (8*) and Donny Pezzolla (11*) brought about in the 32^nd over.

Sycamore has caught the winning habit and as both league sides are handily placed in their divisions, there is hope of extending the run with the weekend’s encounters. The 1^st XI is away to West Indian Caribs, one of the more testing fixtures in the elongated division. The 2^nd XI is home to Edingley II a game which, on paper, they could win.

Sunday sees the arrival of Tudor CC to the Manor ground Toton, which has seen a great improvement this year as club and council aim to bring the wicket up to the standard suitable for top flight cricket. Later in the season the club are to look at investing in site screens, the only stumbling block left to promotion for the club should they maintain a top 10 finish.

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