Looking forward to this weekend’s match ups in the Cumberland Cricket Premier League, many would have looked closely at unbeaten league leaders, Furness at home to a Cockermouth side still smarting from their defeat when they last travelled south two weeks ago.
But to the surprise of many it was the match at The Playground where Whitehaven, with only one win in the opening three weeks taking on unbeaten and impressive Keswick, hitting the headlines.
Winning the toss, the home side accrued 234 in their 50 overs for the loss of 7 wickets with contributions from opener Chase Young with a swift 48 from 45 balls including two 6s, professional Terance Warde (55), Josh Foster (39) and Kian Larmour (34) before a late flurry from home skipper Leo Sanczuk with 18 not out from 12 balls. And it was these runs which, ultimately, became the difference between the two sides.
On the bowling front, Scott McGown, Dan Gaskell and Sri Lankan pro, Raveen Yasas, bagged 2 a piece.
Keswick would surely have thought that this was a total they could achieve and while there were some solid contributions, with Yasas helping with a solid 44 from 81 balls at number 3, Glen Weightman (31) and Ben Sharpe (36), it was left to Scott McGown to hit 43 from 63 balls to bring them almost to the win.
Almost, but not quite.
Home skipper Sanczuk made his second telling contribution by stumping McGown from Stephen Holliday’s bowling, with 11 needed on the 4th ball of the penultimate over.
With 3 wickets remaining it was the lower order that would be required to perform but the visitors faltered losing Gaskell LBW to Chase Young and the rabbits to two run outs courtesy of Kian Larmour and, that man Sanczuk once again striking with the penultimate ball to round off a good day at the office for him and his team.
Despite the result, by hitting over 90% of the home side’s total, Keswick would take the full 5 bonus points which, thanks to results elsewhere, would take them to top spot at the end of the weekend.
Meanwhile, at Furness’ Cornerstone ground, Cockermouth shrugged off the journey down by winning the toss and producing a sparkling display from their top order to reach an impressive 304 for 7 off their allotted 50 overs.
Openers, Gareth White with his first half century of the campaign, and Alex Grainger continuing his run of form with 50, set the standard with their 88-run partnership before the fall of the latter brought Skipper Matthew Sempill who continued the attack with a swift 39 and a partnership of 64 with White. With White then out, this saw stand in professional Chirag Khurana hit the fireworks button with 119 not out in only 76 balls.
For the home side, there were two wickets each for Peter Lawson, Dominic Hendricks and professional Anshul Balaji.
In reply, Furness’ top order were unable to get going with the impressive right arm spin of Khurana taking 3 wickets for 13 in his 10 overs. Skipper Sempill chipped in with 2 wickets as Furness reached 190 for 6 in their 50 overs thanks largely to a late flourish by Garry Thompson hitting 72 from 79 balls.
Elsewhere, Dalton continued their recent good form when they travelled to Millom and collected the 10 points.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat but with their top order having an off-colour day, it was left to Robert Thompson (53) and Graham Dawson (46) to build a steady, middle order 100 partnership taking the home side to 230 all out.
On the bowling front, Dalton’s wickets were shared with Lewis Bayman and Lewis Woodend getting two a piece with opening bowler Joss Edwards being the scourge of the top order with a frugal 1 for 11 from his 10.
In reply, Dalton skipper, Joe Braund Smith led from the front with a solid 43 before professional Lahira Dilshan launched the assault on the target with 91 not out off only 68 balls aided and abetted by wicketkeeper Liam Curwen with 33 from 29 balls as the visitors reached the target with more than 6 overs to spare for the loss of 5 wickets.
At Cleator, the home side elected to bat having won the toss and despite opener James Rogers hitting a half century (54), the innings looked to be drifting with wickets falling regularly, including the unusual ‘hit wicket’ by first year professional Dilan Jayalath.
Struggling at 115 for 7, it took a flashing 90 off 84 balls from David Blackwell, whose previous high score had been 31 in his 20 plus years, to give their bowlers something to bowl at finishing with 225 on the board for 7 wickets from their 50 overs.
In reply, only Steven Rumney and Jonathan Pearson with 16 each, reached double figures as Blackwell completed his champagne day by taking 5 wickets for 20 runs off 8 overs with James Rogers bagging 3 wickets for 6 runs off 8 overs with 4 maidens, limiting the visitors to a paltry 68 all out in 28.5 overs.
In the final match, Egremont, without a win this season, entertained a Workington side with only one win from the first 3 weeks and it was the visitors who were to come out on top.
Workington won the toss and elected to bat with opener and skipper Jake Daniel setting an example with 52 while losing partners with some regularity, leaving them 106 for 5 when he vacated the crease for one of 3 wickets for skipper Coady Scott.
But Workington fortunes were to change with Adam Chambers lighting up his season with 83 not out ably assisted by Oliver Armstrong (21) and stalwart Kristian Moffat with 23 as the visitors reached 234 for 7 from their 50 overs.
In reply, none of the established batsmen really got going with Owen Thompson with 35 including seven 4’s the only one to brighten Egremont gloom on a sunny day.
Pick of the Workington bowlers were Hamish James with 4 wickets for 9 off 6 overs, Matthew Lowden with 2 wickets form 4 off 6 overs, bowling an opening 4 maidens with the last also taking a wicket, and a late brace for Moffat (2 for 14), as the home side reached 124 off 34.4 overs.
So, despite losing, the bonus points take Keswick to the head of the table with Egremont firmly in last place.
Next week sees league leaders Keswick at home to Millom, Furness travelling to Workington, Cockermouth making the short trip up the A595 to Wigton, Egremont facing a daunting trip to Dalton and Whitehaven travelling to near neighbours Cleator.
All matches start at 1pm and with the brilliant weather not forecast to last beyond Thursday, fingers will be crossed for another day of wonderful cricket where anything could happen.
