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In a weekend decimated by the weather on July 5/6 the only match to survive in the Premiership was a bonus to the home side.
Stainton secured five points in a drawn match against Braithwaite and were able to move off the bottom.
They managed, with a lot of hard work on the ground, to get started at 3-15 start time, which two hours earlier had looked very unlikely.
Stainton’s investment in covers and a `water hog` over the winter paid off and when the pitch was uncovered it was surprisingly dry.
Stainton lost the toss again and were asked to bat but made a steady start through skipper Adam Jakeman and his opening partner Alistair Worth, taking 23 from the first seven overs.
Mindful of the fact that the game had been reduced to 28 overs per side Jakeman tried one over ambitious shot too many and fell victim to the bowling of Dan Pyke who’s opening spell of five overs for 16 was exemplary.
Rick Kay was the next man to fall with the score on 40 and this sparked the beginning of Stainton’s big hitting middle order with Bain the first man to the crease.
Worth fell for a well made 34 and then Jon Greenwood (46) and Graham Bain (36) accelerated the score putting on 80 in the next eight overs.
Both fell in quick succession and with Ruddick falling cheaply Stainton were in danger of a collapse but vice captain Jeff Marshall (29no) and Jack White came together to finish the innings off in style.
Marshall hit 29 from just 12 balls and played what were described by one spectator as, almost proper shots, turning what was looking like a par score to more than that.
Stainton were full of confidence going into the second innings but in typical Braithwaite style Mark Oswald and Phil Knight (26) got them off to a flier with 32 from the first five overs.
White made the first breakthrough clean bowling Oswald and when Harry Rigby fell soon after for nought Stainton felt more in control.
This brought young Dan Pyke to the crease, and he came out with positive intent. Although dropped early on, he hit the ball with amazing power for such a young player.
He fell to the usual combination of Stew Marshall and Jon Greenwood (stumped) and when Marshall removed Knight Stainton were back in the box seat.
A partnership formed from Andy Rigby and Trevor Kitchen but with the field set back and some excellent bowling from Marshall and Bain in particular, they found it difficult to up the run rate which was needed to stay in touch.
They put on 40 but Kitchen fell in the 22nd over leaving Braithwaite needing 82 for victory from just six overs.
The big-hitting Ian Dixon (25) came to the crease and struck some lusty blows but with the field set back and Rinder and White using the tactic of you miss and we hit, it was a matter of time before a mistake was made. Dixon’s quick fire innings had Stainton rattled for a short time, but when a yorker from Rinder found its way through the game was effectively over.
It was left to the Pepper brothers to bat out the last three overs for the draw and they duly did so ensuring the captain was not exposed at the end.
Credit to both teams for wanting to play and a result that helps to keep Stainton’s survival chances alive.
In Division One Kirkby Stephen continued their excellent run with a win at Cockermouth II and join them at the top on the same number of points.
After a dismal weather forecast it was with trepidation that Cockermouth prepared a pitch they thought they might not get to use.
A downpour at mid-day led to a hasty telephone conversation and a decision by the captains for the visitors not to travel until a pitch inspection later in the day.
In the end the game started at 3-30pm with a reduced over allowance of 28 per side.
Cockermouth were asked to bat first and this looked a good decision as scoring was slow, and the early wickets fell as the top order batsmen tried to force the pace.
Dean Platten and Liam Monaghan batted with great maturity and no little skill to put Cockermouth in with a realistic hope of setting a daunting total.
The loss of both their wickets led to a collapse in which the score progressed from 110-4 to 120-9 in the space of the last four overs – a section of the game that Cockermouth were later to reflect as being very costly.
Tea was taken with the sun breaking through, and ribald comments about the need for sun cream were exchanged.
Scoring was also initially slow in the Kirkby Stephen innings. David Skilbeck took his customary early wicket and bowled a controlled spell of 5-2-1-9 but was less economical in his last two overs.
Kirkby Stephen skipper Paul Thornborrow grew in confidence in his shot selection and was joined by younger members of the side who tried to force the pace. They gave Cockermouth two catches, the second of which is an early contender (but cast iron certainty) for catch of the season.
After running at pace for 30 yards Monaghan dived and held a one handed catch on the boundary, which was worth the admission money in any standard of cricket.
Thornborrow was run out for 51 going for a cheeky single with the victory target in sight and was beaten by the throw from a fired up Jon Gibson who hit the stumps directly from 20 yards.
Mark Middleton almost brought Cockermouth back into the game with his fiercely turning leg breaks, but couldn’t quite control the length of the delivery that was confidently hit to the boundary by Elliot for the winning runs.
Thirty minutes after the Kirkby Stephen team left a tremendous downpour showed how fortunate the teams had been to be able to play a game of cricket with such wet conditions all around.
In Division Three players are obviously made of sterner stuff, with two matches completed as well as all three Sunday ones starting, with two reaching a conclusion.
Rockcliffe now have a commanding lead at the top of the Division, and took revenge for a League Cup defeat, with a comprehensive win against Stainton II.
On a soft wicket Stainton were reduced to 18-6 before Andy Ritchie (19) doubled the total, but once he went nobody else made any contribution and they were bowled-out for 37.
Rockcliffe went straight out to bat, before rain decided tea time. When play resumed Stainton glimpsed an unlikely victory as they reduced Rockcliffe to 13-3 in the first five overs, before reality in the form of Robert Wharton (17no) and Derek Foster (10no) intervened.
To compound Stainton’s misery, they also lost second place spot to Penrith Academy who won an over reduced match at Irthing Vale II the previous day.
Penrith’s scouting party arrived at the gate of Irthing Vale’s ground at 1pm to find a gale force wind blowing across the ground – but no rain!
Frantic phone calls from other team members travelling through torrential rain to the ground assured them that there was none at Irthing Vale – yet!
By 1.45pm the gale was happily blowing that torrential rain across the field horizontally and the players huddled for cover in the pavilion considering the pub as a resting place for the afternoon. But with eight under 15’s in their team, Penrith were considering the nearest ‘bouncy castle’.
After around an hour of waiting the elements relented and the captains decided that it was sufficiently safe to venture to the middle where they found a soft and very wet wicket.
However to make sure the assembled throng got some cricket and with more heavy rain forecast, a shortened 24 over a side game was agreed.
Penrith won the toss and elected to field. The changing room was a scene of much bartering to find suitable clothing and footwear to deflect the elements.
In fact it turned out to be not that cold, and only the occasional flurry of rain drifted in during the Irthing Vale innings.
With some first team players in to make the team up, Vale were to be applauded in ensuring that the genuine second team players got their chance.
Penrith’s bowling was tight from the start, aided by a wicket where bounce was indifferent (if at all) and sideways movement extreme.
Scoring was hard with the ball not coming on to the bat and Vale struggled to 53 all out after 22.4 overs. Pick of the bowlers were John White (4-7) and Mark Cameron (4-9) – showing that age and guile can often exceed youth and speed – especially on a helpful pitch.
Some more rain accompanied tea but almost immediately, the sun came out, albeit briefly, to accompany the wind.
Penrith’s youngsters were sent in to chase the modest target, and found out just how hard batting was on the wicket, losing three wickets without many on the board.
However the introduction of the more aggressive Thomas Callaghan (19no) and the steady form of Robbie White (17) saw them through comfortably.
Wigton thirds and Baggrow seconds reduced their match to 32 overs a side due to the threatening skies.
Wigton won the toss and chose to bat against the undermanned visitors. Stuart Ward (30) and Mark Evans (27) added 54 for the first wicket before Callum Ward (2-12) and John McGuffie (1-28) struck to reduce them to 73-3.
The next pairing had got within sight of 100 at 95-3 before the clouds dropped their load upon Low Road. An early tea was taken, but the damage had been done and the match was abandoned.
In a low-scoring game at Caldbeck the home side beat Penrith Wanderers by 18 runs.
Amrik Panesar (41) held Caldbeck together when they were bowled-out in 33.2 overs for 105 with Rick Tomlinson taking 4-26.
David Bentley top-scored for the Wanderers with 32 but they were dismissed for 87 as Scott Wetheral took 6-16.
It looked unlikely that Nunwick seconds and Lanercost seconds would be on, especially when the visitors were welcomed with an additional downpour.
The game eventually got under way an hour late, reduced to 28 overs per side. Lanercost won the toss and elected to put their visitors into bat.
Nunwick were scoring runs at a steady rate but the Lanercost bowlers never allowed the batsmen to get settled, with no one making a telling contribution. They made 122 with John Mounsey top-scoring on 25.
In reply Lanercost lost opener Robley in the second over, but this brought Brian Foster (33) and Ross Wilson (40) together.
Foster was scoring quickly, and with Wilson’s lightning running between the wickets, Lanercost were comfortably making their way to six points.
Then Foster threw his wicket away by chasing a wide ball from James which did not even pitch on the Astroturf.
After his departure Lanercost’s scoring rate dropped. Consequently they had to up the run rate, but 15-year-old Zach Sinkinson bowled superbly in his closing spell, climaxed by a hat trick in his last over.
He finished with 3-14 and Lanercost were becalmed on 107-7 still 16 runs short of victory.
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