After packing the sun cream in the last few Saturdays, it was a day for wellies and waterproofs as Cumbrian cricket returned to situation normal with a damp day and heavier rain forecast for the early evening.
On days such as these, there is always the concern that key matches may be weather affected and the late start at Fitz Park in Keswick, was worrying for the league leaders, as was the on-and-off light rain affecting large parts of the north and west of the county.
The home side were put into bat and when play got underway, they made quick progress rattling along at over 6 an over in an effort to beat the rain and set a target out of the visitor’s reach.
Leading the way, opener Will Atkinson hit 86 from 93 balls with Raveen Yasas chipping in with 39 from 42 balls.
With these back in the pavilion, it was left to Glen Weightman to push the total along as he struck a rapid 49 not out from 33 balls.
In reply, thanks to the weather, the Millom target was revised to 136 from 21 overs and despite a 50 run opening partnership between Joshua Mackie (32) and Nathan Waterson (40 not out) they were unable to reach the target and with an innings of over 20 overs, the result was confirmed with Keswick taking the 10 points with a 45 run win.
Just below them, Furness travelled to Workington with dampness in the air not affecting the 1pm start. Indeed, throughout the afternoon, while the sun didn’t shine much on the Ernest Valentine Ground, it did try hard on occasions with a noteworthy fleeting splash of sunshine seen at 5.57pm.
The home side won the toss and elected to bat, but it was the visiting bowlers that were on top. Losing wickets regularly, the home side stuttered to 94 all out. For Furness, opening bowlers, Peter Lawson and Josh Shaw took 3 wickets each as did Daniel Clark with a creditable 3 for 16.
In reply, Furness had the taste of a swift victory as their openers set them on their way with Daniel Clark having a good day (26) and Garry Thompson (22) before Thomas Smith with 32 not out brought them home with 98 for a 7 wicket victory off 25.3 overs.
Meanwhile, at Lowmoor Road, Wigton, Cockermouth fresh from their 10-point haul at Furness last week, the visitors would be hoping for a good result against a struggling Wigton side.
With the uncertain weather, winning the toss, the visitors might have been expected to take to the field especially with them having all-round pace bowling New Zealander Ben Breitmeyer as their professional. But seemingly never one for the obvious, skipper Matthew Sempill elected to bat.
And the decision appeared to pay off with opening stalwart, Gareth White sharing a 75 run 1st wicket partnership with stand in opening partner Reegan Scott (24) before he was joined by his skipper and the score was pushed along at pace.
White was then removed bowled by Dean Tomlinson for 77, his second half century in a row and a 82 run partnership with his skipper before Breitmeyer, who clearly hadn’t read the hype and was also dismissed bowled Tomlinson for 1.
Joined by his fellow county batsman, Greg Platten, the visiting skipper underlined his decision to bat by scoring at more than a run a ball. Losing Platten for 16 with the score on 200, the skipper went on, despite hitting four 6s and nine 4s, to fall 14 short of another season’s century ending on 86 from 75 deliveries, as the visitors accumulated 242 from 48 overs.
In addition to Tomlinson striking timber twice, Matthew Hodgson bagged 3 for 65 including two to catches by skipper Christopher Hodgson.
Batting second with a revised target of 239 from 48 overs, Wigton started brightly with opener Kieran Little striking a rapid 40 from 41 deliveries before Breitmeyer struck the wickets twice in three balls.
Clearly this upset the home skipper who opened his account with a 6 with his 4th ball faced who then went on to get 56 not out when the innings came to a close with the home side on 163 for 8 after 37.2 overs giving the visitors the win by 75 runs.
On the bowling front, in addition to Breitmeyer’s pair, Ethan Hardie-Knight took 2 for 39, Joshua Brown 2 for 37 and a late double for the skipper ending with figures of 2 for 8 off 2 overs perhaps in vindication of his decision to bat first.
At Dalton, the home side made good use of the ball against bottom side Egremont by dismissing the visitors for 114 in 38.3 overs.
Only Marwah with 23 before being run out, Jack Hodgson (18) and wicketkeeper Owen Thompson (11) made double figures while, in the field, 3 wickets late in the innings for 8 off 3.3 overs for Lewis Woodend, rounded off an all-round bowling effort seeing Bayman, Stanway and Edwards taking 2 apiece.
In reply, Dalton clearly had either a bus to catch or rain to avoid as then went off like a train striking at more than a run a ball losing opener Stanway for 32 off only 20 balls having only run for two singles as he smashed six 4s and a 6.
Runs came steadily with Liam Curwen getting 22 off 20 balls before being caught before a partnership between Joss Edwards (27) and Lahiru Dilshan (32) scoring at a more sedate pace for a partnership of 48, bringing home the 10 points with 116 for 2 off only 21.4 overs.
In the final match, Whitehaven, on the back of their win against Furness, travelled up the road to Cleator where they put in the home side hoping to take advantage of the conditions. Cleator lost both their openers for ducks each before Sri Lankan professional Jayalath gave the home side something to cheer in the overcast conditions, as he struck a century ending the innings unbeaten on 130 as they made 206 in their 50 overs.
For the visitors, Josh Foster took 4 for 45 in his 10 overs with Jonathan Stewart chipping in with 2 for 31 from his allocation.
In reply, Whitehaven battled to 59 for the loss of their openers to Jayalath, crowning a good day for him, before the rains came with only 18.2 overs bowled in the second innings, meaning the match was abandoned with 4 points for each team falling 10 balls short of the required 20 overs for a result.
So, despite the weather, only one match failed to provide a result with the top four teams all winning, the leading positions remain unchanged.
Next week, the Premier Division takes a break in favour of the quarter finals of the Higson Cup with Cleator at home to near neighbours Egremont, Cockermouth at home with Workington making the eight-mile trip along the A66, Dalton at home to Millom and, perhaps the tastiest match up seeing Furness welcoming league leaders and title rivals, Keswick, to the Cornerstone Ground.
All matches due to start at 1pm.
