Bassetlaw cricket: Major boost for Thoresby

AFTER last weeks ignominy of dropping to the bottom of the table, Thoresby Colliery came back with a bang to completely outgun a battered Glapwell side by a massive eight wickets.

Glapwell lost two early wickets when Dan Bircumshaw and skipper Matt Hall fell victims to two awful shots and were both back inside with less than 20 runs on the board.

A good stand between Lee Topham and Rob Davison then took them to a very comfortable position and a huge score looked to be on the cards when Topham was caught for 36.

But worse was to follow when Davison, on 84 and looking good for a ton, dragged a wide ball on to his stumps.

After that Thoresby skipper Martin Cheshire tied down the Glapwell batting, with the exception of Nick Truswell who made a cavalier 33 in a total of 208-8.

Martin Cheshire bowled particularly well, taking 3-54 from 15 tight overs and Asad Hussain also made his presence felt with 4-40 in two fine stints.

Thoresby needed a good start and got one with Nigel Burkitt and Farook Aziz both looking in complete command from the first over. They added 67 before Burkitt was trapped lbw but Aziz continued to look dominant.

He played shots all around the wicket and found an able partner in Douw Van Vuuren, who provided the anchor.

It was a huge surprise when Aziz gave an easy catch when he had made a splendid 90 and a century was there for the taking. But some blockbusting hitting by Nyeem Ahmed (41*) carried Thoresby to 212-2 and victory.

Van Vuuren was also undefeated on 29 as Thoresby picked up a welcome 19 points.

Notts Academy returned to winning ways by beating unlucky Caythorpe 2nd by four wickets.

For a good part of the Academy innings, Caythorpe looked clear favourites to inflict another defeat on the side who have led the table for most of the season.

Caythorpe made 193-9 through Geoff Crook (35) and James Oldham (30), while slow left-armer Akhil Patel was the pick of the Academy attack, taking 4-36.

A tremendous burst from the Caythorpe opening bowlers quickly had the Academy in serious trouble and at 109-6.

However superb knocks by Adam Shepherd (57*) and Jacob Ball (43*), both better known for their bowling exploits, added an unbroken stand of 87 to the score and seal victory. Andy Seagers (3-55) was the pick of the Caythorpe attack.

Kiveton Park climbed to the top after a winning draw over Retford. They piled up 257-9 through Tim Ward (35), Chris Hadley (70) and Richard Grainger (30). Paul Singleton (5-56) was the pick of the Retford attack.

In reply, Retford scored 207-8 with Australian Rob Condy (34), Pascal Broadley (53) and John Cook (40) among the runs.

But Luke Donagy, promoted from the second team, claimed 3-69 and Rob Coxon 3-56 as Retford claimed ten points for the draw in an exhilarating match.

Previous leaders Killamarsh came down with a real bang against improving Anston. The arrival of Sri-Lankan star Amila Perera has made a huge difference and they are now looking a decent side.

Anston were all back inside for just 157 with John Lyne (37) and Amila Perera (30) top scoring. Jason Rowbottom, with 3-65, started the rot and Parminder Mudhar (6-31) completed things. At half way, Killamarsh must have been very pleased with themselves.

Although Matt Davis (65) and skipper Adam Whiteley (30) both batted well, the rest of the innings reached nightmare proportions as Neil Carter (4-41) and Amila Perera (4-19) ripped through some fragile batting at will as Killamarsh were dismissed for 150 to give Anston a seven-run win.

Edwinstowe came back to form with the highest score of the day, 284-8, with the brilliant Australian import Joe Burns making a scintillating 118. James Peacock was also unlucky not to record three figures falling just eight runs short for an impressive 92, while Notts & Arnold Amateur were well served by Richard Pallister with 3-69.

Credit however must go to Notts & Arnold for making quite a fist of this game before finally settling for a draw on 228-9.

Ian Flood top-scored on 74 and Mark North gave excellent support with 47.

Marshalls inflicted a 25-run win over an inconsistent Bridon side at Ordsall.

Marshalls were fired out for 139 with only Kevin Housham, who top scored with 30, defying Wayne Spooner (3-26) and Simon Davison (3-32).

From there it should have been easy, but it wasn't as Bridon were ripped apart and bowled out for just 114.

Nobody could cope with the Australian Joe Allan (5-20) and Paul Van den Heuvel (3-20) as Marshalls claimed maximum points.