Kiveton keep up the pressure
by Paul Barker, 10th June 2007

When the season started both Cuckney and Cutthorpe looked the likely candidates for honours and that might well still be the case, but Kiveton Park have made a concentrated effort and are only nine points adrift of Cuckney at the moment.

Their latest victims were Marshalls who have been doing rather well of late, but Kiveton simply brushed them aside by eight wickets to win virtually as they pleased. The whole Kiveton side is playing well and with the strong likelihood of Phil Cooper returning soon, only a fool would write them off.

Marshalls started well with skipper Paul Van den Heuvel setting a fine example making 56 and with Chris Hearn remaining unbeaten on 46 a score much in excess of the 155 for 9 they finished with looked very much on the cards.

That they were limited to such an economical score was mainly duo to Kyle McKeeman who bowled tidily and accurately to take 4 for 30.

Facing this modest target never looked like being much of a problem and Richard Grainger (30), Tom Neeley (33) and Sri-Lankan star Harsha Cooray (73 n.o.) steered their side home with complete comfort. Apart from a rained off match, Kiveton have won all their other games and you can’t ask for any more than that.

For the first time in a while, the potent Cuckney side failed to record a straight victory, but they did manage a winning draw against a gallant Bridon side who battled it out till the end. Batting first, Cuckney put together the mammoth total of 270 for 6 with Will Butler (43), Richard Stroh (71) and Steve Bentley (92) all batting brilliantly. Simon Davison who seems to be improving every week took 3 for 63 and was the best of the Bridon attack.

Not that this huge total intimidated Bridon who did extremely well to reach 206 for 5 with some degree of comfort. Never at any time did they threaten the target set, but it was a first rate effort from the Ordsall lads whose determination and effort saw them claim eight deserved points.

Roger Wells (52) and Will Lee (62) were the Bridon batsmen in form and both these two battled superbly as Cuckney applied the pressure. Will Butler with 3 for 40, was the best of the Cuckney attack in what was a rather surprising result.

Can anyone stop Tom Elliot? Notts. & Arnold Amateur’s Australian run-machine had his first taste of the wonderful Farnsfield batting strip, declared it was to his liking and smashed another 141 runs before being run-out. He has now managed 763 runs in six visits to the crease with four centuries and has an average of 190.75 and his lowest score is 82. Quite incredible really and with someone of his quality in their side, they will pull off a victory against one of the top side’s before the season ends and it will be at a time when that side certainly doesn’t want it!

In addition to Elliot, Notts. & Arnold must also be thankful to Mark North (42) and Shav Yaqoob (33) as the innings reached a massive 271 for 7 to set Farnsfield a daunting task. For a while it looked just possible whilst Paul Delaney (55) and the elegant Rashid Riaz (48) were together, but it is an awesome task to keep it going for 50 overs and with wickets falling at regular intervals they finally had to settle for 209 for 8. Dave Bell (38) also batted well, but it was former Blidworth skipper Dave Wood who did the damage taking 5 for 42 in a steady spell which was extremely useful for his side.

Bolsover on the evidence of what they have showed this season can no longer be regarded as the yo-yo club who were relegated and promoted virtually every season a few years ago. Make no mistake they now have a side that is capable of beating the best and their latest triumph was a 95 run thumping of Thoresby Colliery who will testify to anyone who wants to ask the capabilities of the current Bolsover side.

Batting first at Fourth Avenue, they smashed a colossal 269 for 6 with Andy Rogers (36), Steve Wooley (39), Matt Ryalls (73) and Chris Pemberton (40 n.o.) all making telling contributions. This target proved much too much for Thoresby who were dismissed for 174 with only Chris Spring (39), Farook Aziz (32) and Shailesh Patel (34) making any impact at all.

The Bolsover hero was Hasnan Kazim who had a memorable debut for the club taking 4 for 58 including a hat-trick. This was a truly great start for Kazim and with Bolsover beating Farnsfield and Thoresby Colliery in their last two matches, nobody will relish running into them at present.

Glapwell easily brushed aside Ransome and Marles by 122 runs and the Newark side who made a promising start after winning promotion last season are now contemplating the harsh reality of facing the top clubs every week. They need to address the slump they are in quickly or this will turn out to be a very long and hard season.

Spare a thought for Rob Davison who batted superbly before suffering the heartbreak of being dismissed on 99. Lee Topham added 45 and skipper Matt Hall (47) as Glapwell piled up a huge 252 for 9 total.  Ransome’s skipper Gary Lambert did his best to keep his side in the game taking 5 for 64 and Andrew Nicholson took 3 for 48, but the target looked a big one and a good start was imperitive.

It never came however and although South African Henno Jordaan made 31, there was no support at all as Glapwell bowled them out for just 130. Richard Hope (3 for 13) was the pick of the Glapwell attack and Matt Hall (2 for 17), Chris Barrett (2 for 2) and Andy Woolvern (2 for 23) all weighed in to snare out some rather insipid Ransomes batting.

In Division 2 the burning question is, can Waleswood win promotion for the third consecutive season. A Blidworth spokesman told me that he was certain that they could and added that they were far and away the best side his team had faced this season. Not really surprising after they had wracked up a massive 293 for 3 with Gareth Davis scoring a magnificent unbeaten 164 which the Blidworth spokesman also said was entirely chanceless.

Amer Riaz added a further 84 to set Blidworth an almost impossible target and that was confirmed as they were bowled out for 174 and went down by staggering 119 run margin. Three Blidworth players got going, Dave Willcock (39), Craig Turton (36) and Rehan Riaz 36 but none of them could go through with the effort which would have had Waleswood trembling.

Simon Cope (3 for 58), Peter Norbury (3 for 17) and Shaun Grice (3 for 39) shared the wickets between them and Waleswood continue to look a very good side. There is a long way to go yet, but the signs for them are very good and the fairy tale has a better than even chance of becoming reality.

Edwinstowe kept up their challenge by defeating Whitwell by six wickets at Forest Corner. Whitwell batted first and posted a reasonable score of 218 for 7 mainly due to a magnificent knock of 84 by Ian Dennis. Paul Benson (2 for 27) was the most productive of the Edwinstowe attack and the way they have been batting of late gave one the feeling that this target gave them little to fear.

The challenge was answered immediately with the brilliant South African Dean Elgar scoring a quite superb unbeaten 103 and with Jon Garnham weighing in with 41 they coasted home on 222 for 4 to plunge Whitwell ever nearer towards the foot of the table. There is no doubt that the shock defeat has wakened Edwinstowe up and they are now in prime form and will prove a menace to all comers. Whitwell on the other hand are going through a terrible time, but remember they are the only team to beat Waleswood this season and any side that can do that are capable of beating some of the rest!

Eckington absolutely annihilated North Wheatley with Leverton and the game was all over before 5.30 p.m. Batting first North Wheatley looked comfortable until Wayne Harrison was caught by Tom Dawson off Luke Dawson and then the fun began. Once the Eckington skipper Tom Dawson decided on a double bowling change which introduced Simon West and Ian O’Neill into the attack, taking the pace off the ball, North Wheatley were totally dead and buried.

They didn’t help themselves however with a series of woeful shots and were bowled out for just 100. Only Dave Waller (27) and James Blackwell (26) made any impact at all as Simon West took 4 for 32 and Ian O’Neill picked up 4 for 12 and both proved virtually unplayable.

It was totally different when Eckington batted and they raced to 101 for 1 and a nine wicket win with 39 overs still in the bank. Ian O’Neill was unbeaten on 61 and Chris Ludlam likewise on 17 as North Wheatley had an afternoon to forget. As we stated last week, when they are bad, they are really bad and this was one of those days.

O’Neill is absolute class! With the exception of two boundaries, everything was stroked across the carpet with real style. One wouldn’t think he would be capable of doing this because he has the worst stance at the crease I have seen since Henry Horton of Hampshire some 40 years ago. The similarity continues however, Horton despite his stance scored a mountain of runs and O’Neill is doing just the same so frankly it doesn’t matter how bad you look when you are waiting to receive as long as you can play, and he most certainly can. 

Caythorpe 2^nd and Anston are two sides just bubbling under the surface at the top and they produced an excellent game with Caythorpe coming out on top by just 19 runs. Batting first, Caythorpe managed a rather disappointing 154 all out on a pitch that generally has a stack of runs in it with Peter Mansfield top scoring on 36. Valuable support came from Billy Wright (30) but the Anston attack in which Andrew Ruczenczyn (5 for 38) and Adam Crowle (3 for 53) were outstanding would not be denied and the final target looked a quite reasonable one.

Caythorpe however showed the same tenacity in the field and in a superb exhibition bowled Anston out for just 135. `Only Michael Norbury (33) defied the Caythorpe attack for any length of time and Richard Scott (3 for 26) and Andrew Staskiewcz (3 for 47) bowled tidily and extremely effectively. Don’t rule Caythorpe out of things, they are playing very well after a slow start and look to have a ‘never say die’ spirit which is serving them very well indeed.

Mansfield Hosiery Mills 2^nd piled up the highest score of the day in the top two divisions when they made a massive 320 for 7 against a toiling Mansfield & Pleasley side. Mick Rodgers top scored with a brilliant 108 and the pace never slackened as Ben Rossi (49), Sam Butler (85) and Rob Ward (39) literally butchered the Mansfield & Pleasley attack into oblivion. Skipper Darren Walker was the only bowler to show anything like economical figures taking 3 for 55 in an excellent stint in difficult circumstances.

In reply, Mansfield & Pleasley who were in the picture in the promotion stakes for much of last season were bowled out for 198 with only Keiron Evans (47) and Ian Woodall (53) making much impact. Nathan Flowers (4 for 60) and James Fraser (3 for 21) bowled superbly for the Hosiery Mills who picked a very welcome maximum points haul. However Mansfield & Pleasley must be wondering what has changed from last season as they look a totally different side. They certainly need to pick things up because at the moment they are looking like relegation material which nobody would have thought at the start of this campaign.

Everton who started the day at the foot of the table certainly showed how to turn things around with a stunning three wicket win over high flying Papplewick & Linby 2^nd who are a strangely inconsistent bunch. Batting first Papplewick made 166 all out with only Steve Thomas (55) really applying himself to the job in hand. Jon Shaw (4 for 49) and Chris Woods (4 for 59) were the best of the Everton attack which produced their best performance of the season.

Despite one or two hic-cups along the way, Everton finally recorded a much needed and deserved victory with Rob Nicholas (63) and Chris Anthony (31) leading the charge as they reached 168 for 7 and victory.