Notts Premier League Report

The results in this weekend’s Nottinghamshire Premier League yet again demonstrate how close the competition is at both ends of the table.

At the top of the table, 2009 champions Clifton Village took advantage of a weak performance from the Notts Academy side to record an eight wicket win at Lady Bay and extend their lead to 21 points. Academy skipper won the toss and chose to bat first and was the only significant contributor with 51 in a poor total of 151 all out in the 43rd over. Liam Andrews with 4-31 and Alex Turner with 3-41 were the leading bowlers for the visitors. The strong Clifton batting line up needed fewer than 29 overs to overcome the total for the loss of just two wickets, with Dan Birch scoring 80 and Andy Walters 53.

Papplewick slipped back from second to third position mainly due to losing away at Welbeck Colliery but also aided by being fined 2 points for a slow over-rate in their recent match against Cuckney. At Sookholme, Welbeck were invited to bat first and the visitors will have been satisfied with their efforts as they bowled the home side out for just 189 in the final over. Robin Rhodes and Kris Barfield were the stand-out bowlers with 3-23 and 3-22 respectively. For Welbeck, Paul Pollard showed his class with 49 supported by Martin Dobson 33 and Chris Murphy 36.

In what turned out to be a very close game, Papplewick were dismissed for 183 also in the final over to give Welbeck the win; Nottinghamshire’s Charlie Shreck did the most damage with 4-52. John Wakeling will have been disappointed that his innings of 78 did not put him on the winning side and Alex Lloyd batted equally well to record 42.

Taking Papplewick’s previous position in second are the perennially strong West Indian Cavaliers who travelled to Cuckney and came home with a 19 point win. Cuckney reached a respectable 197-9 in their 50 overs thanks to 70 from Adam Burgess and 33 from Daniel Watson; Alex Tudor continued his fine form with the ball to grab 3-43. In reply, the Cavaliers managed to haul down the target in their last over but not without the loss of eight wickets. Patrick Gada scored 41 and the Cavs were hauled over the line by Tinashe Panyagara with 41*, despite the efforts of Daniel Watson with 3-43.

At the other end of the table, bottom side Attenborough may have started the turn around as they won away at fellow strugglers Radcliffe. The home side batted first and went to tea on 214 for 9, thanks largely to a superb 139 from Luc Durandt which included 21 fours; Martin Rayner had the best bowling figures of 4-36. In yet another close finish, Attenborough managed to win the game with just one ball to spare thanks to solid contributions from Shaun Fitzgibbon (46), Sam Clulow (45) and Martin Shoemaker (33). This first win of the season for Attenborough still leaves them bottom of the table but the gap to the club in eleventh has now shrunk to 27 points.

That eleventh placed club is Wollaton and they welcomed Caythorpe and just managed to cling on for a losing draw; the visitors batted first and closed on 227 for 7 with James Hartley scoring 44, Guy Welton 34 and Andy Hunt 42 not out. David Smith grabbed the first innings headlines with figures of 5-60 from his 15 overs. Caythorpe could not take the final opposition wicket as Wollaton hung on at 133 for nine – Phil Wells (43 not out) being the leading home batsman.

The final game saw a resurgent Kimberley travel to Mansfield Hosiery Mills and they came away with their seventh win of the season in a low-scoring match. The visitors batted first and were skittled for just 119 in 49 overs with Mansfield’s Stephen Ludlam leading the bowling attack with a return of 3-27. Kimberley’s leading scorers was Jarred Sewell with 30. In reply, the Mansfield side collapsed to 97 all out in 31 overs with Richard Adams grabbing 5-49 supported by Matt Wright with 4-39. Only Sudesh Fernando with 36 not out could provide any realistic resistance.