Another fine but chilly day meant the heavy sweaters were still in evidence as the Cumbria Cricket League entered its second week but already expected pace setters Furness cemented their place as favourites for the title with a comprehensive victory at Egremont.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat but were soon losing wickets with regularity with only professional Tarwan Marwah reaching 21, before being caught behind by Harrison Thomson for bowler Josh Sharpe’s only wicket.
A late flurry from Lewis Gribbin bagged 23 including 3 4’s and a 6, took the home side to 94 all out in 31.4 overs.
For Furness, pro, Anshul Balaji taking 3 wickets for 36 off his 10 overs but a mention for opening bowler, Peter Lawson who delivered 5 overs with 4 maidens, including a wicket maiden and conceding only 1 run.
In reply, the visitors lost 2 very early wickets, leaving them reeling at 3 for 2, giving the home side some hope before Thomas Smith (56NO) and Dominic Hendricks (27NO) shared a 97 run partnership to take them to an easy victory with 100 for 2 off only 16.5 overs.
Meanwhile at Fitz Park in Keswick, the home side opened their campaign in front of their supporters, with an emphatic 9 wicket victory over Wigton.
The visitors won the toss and elected to bat but losing 3 wickets for only 7, they were in trouble from the outset. Only Lewis Little with 24, batting at 7, troubled the home bowlers with Finn Turnbull and Dan Gaskell taking 3 a piece with the latter conceding only 12 runs from his 7.4 overs. In the field, Arran Davies took 2 catches.
In reply, Keswick lost only Stephen Hindmarch (19) before Will Atkinson with a half century and Ben Sharpe (15NO) saw them take the 10 points in 21.1 overs.
At the Playground, Whitehaven opened their win account with a 62 run victory over their coastal neighbours, Workington.
Put into bat, Whitehaven were in no mood to hang about with opener Chase Young hitting two 4’s and a six in the first over from Regan Jackson as he raced to 26 before being caught by Callun Sutton off Ben Scott.
Terence Warde (36) and a fine knock from Josh Foster (65) sent the home side into tea with 208, despite losing their last 4 wickets for 23, with 4 Workington bowlers, Jackson, Scott, Chambers and Lannaghan bagging 2 wickets each.
In reply, the visitors lost their skipper, Jake Daniel (12) in the 8th over with the score on 25 as they were pegged back by some frugal bowling, notably, Billy Thompson with 4 for 24 and Terence Warde with 3 for 27 off 10 overs.
One highlight for the visitors was Callum Sutton with 67 from 120 balls, including nine 4’s, as they fell well short on 146 all out from 48.3 overs.
Last week’s standout team, Cockermouth, didn’t consolidate their first week win when they travelled to Millom, leaving with only a solitary point.
Having elected to bat, the visitors lost both openers for 7 runs in only the 3rd over before skipper Matthew Sempill with 61 off 53 balls gave notice of a high score but it was not to be.
Thanks to Zak Mawdsley with a career best to date of 6 for 34 off 8.3 overs, only Shrikant Mundhe with a steady 56 off 105 balls, was able to manage the home attack and Cockermouth ended with 156 all out from 39.3 overs.
In reply, despite losing opener Joshua Mackie with no runs on the board, Declan Tyson gave every impression of having a bus to catch, scoring 19 from Sempill’s first 2 overs, as he plundered 64 including eight 4s and three 6s, aided and abetted by wicketkeeper Nathan Waterson with an even speedier 48 with five 4s and three 6s, as the home side raced to victory in 33.5 overs.
Despite losing Waterson with the score on 83 and Tyson with 126 on the board, the home side were seen home by Callum High (17) and skipper Graham Dawson with 25 which included six 4’s.
On the bowling front, only Joshua Brown with 2 for 34 from 9.5 overs, including a first over wicket maiden, was able to tame the bus catching Waterson and Tyson.
In the final game of the day, home side Cleator gained the win over southern opponents Dalton thanks to the standout innings of the day from stalwart Darren Clarke with exactly 100 before holing out to visiting skipper Lewis Bayman off the bowling of Joss Edwards on the last ball of the innings.
Unfortunately, no one seemed to want to hang around with Clarke as he saw a succession of partners, including dad Ian, despatched to the pavilion as the home side reached 167 all out off 41/3 overs.
In reply, Dalton kept up with the run rate but lost wickets regularly to end on 119 all out off 33.3 overs. Only Daniel Sharpe (30), wicketkeeper Curwen (25), opener Joss Edwards (20) and Adam Hunter (18) reached double figures as they took home 3 bowling points.
Week two sees favourites Furness and highly fancied Keswick, both with 100% record, at the head of the table, with Dalton at the foot of the table, one point behind Egremont.
Next Saturday, May 10, sees some interesting match ups with Furness travelling to Wigton and fellow leaders Keswick having a second home match in a row with Cleator the visitors.
Workington and Millom face off at the Ernest Valentine Ground in Workington, while bottom club Dalton have a home fixture against Whitehaven who travel on the back of their victory today.
The final game sees Cockermouth at home to second bottom Egremont with the home side no doubt wanting to put their Millom trip out of their minds.
All matches begin at 1pm.
