Duffield (8pts) 131-7 [46 overs] (P Jordan 65*, J Clarke 32) drew with Clay Cross (15pts) 173-6 [46 overs] (A Eyre 47, P Lemon 52*)
Clay Cross again loss toss and were asked to bat first. The solid opening partnership of A.Eyre and S.Bhatt failed on this occasion with the early loss of Bhatt (14). With the loss of two more wickets Cross were struggling on 70-3 at the half way stage. After drinks A.Eyre (47) was dismissed and Cross were now getting bogged down on a very slow low wicket at 75-4.However Paul Lemon and Bill Hartley (25) slowly but surely brought Cross back into the game with some sensible batting. With 10 overs remaining Cross had reached 110 but had not lost any more wickets, giving themselves a chance of a decent total . Cross eventually finished  with a respectable 173-6, with Lemon (52n.o) guiding them through to the end.

Cross bowlers were again out of the traps with some accuarate bowling and Duffield were in all sorts of trouble at 24-4, which included a run out from Cross youngster J.Burrows with only one stump to hit. However Cross let this game slip by as Phil Jordan (65 n.o) was dropped very early on in his excellent knock and took Duffield to a creditable draw. Duffield eventually ended up on 133-7, but Cross will look back at this game and will be kicking themselves for not coming away with maximum points. But the day ended well for Cross as news filtered through that all there nearset rivals were beaten and are now 50 pts clear at the top of Division 2 North.

Scorecard

Clay Cross (5pts) 166-6 [46 overs] (S Eyre 30, J Sullivan 34*) lost to Shipley Hall (22pts) 167-5 [37 overs] (J Turner 47) by 5 wickets
Instead of sending out expert tosser John Green, Captain Else was confident in his own tossing ability as Cross entertained Shipley Hall on a cold wet day in Danesmoor. This confidence proved to be totally misplaced as Else lost the loss and predictably the Shipley Hall skipper had no hesitation in asking Cross to take first knock on a very damp pitch. Openers Else and Steve 'Kayak Paddle' Notingham found it tough going with Shipley's bowlers exploiting the conditions and bowling extremely tightly. Both opening bowlers bowled their 14 overs straight through giving away nothing and making it very difficult for the Cross batsmen. After 28 overs, Clay Cross were 50-2 with McDonough (14-4-22-2) and Chapman (14-5-20-2) bowling superb spells. It was always going to be difficult after such a slow start to post any sort of total, but good innings from Steve Eyre (30), Mark Harland (21*) and a great comeback knock from James Sullivan of 34 not out took Cross to a respectable 136-6 from 46 overs. The other succesful Shipley bowler was North with 2-42.

With the bowlers having carried the team all season, Cross felt they weren't out of this game by a long stretch, but it was always going to be difficult with a drying pitch and a quicker outfield. Opener North started aggressively before Kipper Crowder had him caught at cover by John Green for 15. Green was bowling tightly at the other end and soon picked up the wicket of Parkin (4). A run out follwed and another wicket for Green to leave Shipley 40 for 4 and in some trouple. Captain Hunt (25*) batted sensibly whilst Turner rode his luck at the other end, hitting everything in the air but luckily managing to place everything in the gaps. This partnership took the game away from Cross, but when Bob Evans made Turner finally hit one to a fielder to be magnificently caught by Crowder for 47. Shipley still needed 40 runs with 5 wickets left. However, McDonough (26*) joined his captain and with some lusty blows finished the game off with ten overs to spare. Wicket takers for Cross were Crowder (1-26), Green (2-50) and Evans (1-12). Cross took only four points from this game but cling onto their place at the top of 4N after the weekends other results.

Scorecard

Clay Cross (22pts) 106-2 [29 overs] (T Holmes 42*, B Clarke 39*) beat Wirksworth & Middleton (2pts) 102-9 [46 overs] (I Fearn 53, D Clarke 3-17) by 8 wickets
No report available

Scorecard

Sunday Friendly - Cutthorpe 164-9 lost to Clay Cross 165-9 by 1 wicket
Cross welcomed Cutthorpe for their Sunday Friendly game on a bright day in Danesmoor. With Captain Plant making a last minute dash to pick up an 11th player, self appointed Vice Captain Branson made a deal with the opposition that meant Cutthorpe would bat first! Branson and Riggott opened the bowling in tight fashion with the Cutthorpe batters in ultra defensive mode. Riggott was in aggressive mood sending down a barrarge of bouncers and finally had success with 2 wickets falling to sharp rising balls that were fended off to gully. At the other end Branson was taken off for being too expensive (3-3-0-0). Clarke and Cloggy were brought into the attack and continued with the miserly bowling and picked up a wicket each and with a needless run out this left Cutthorpe 20-5 at drinks. Opener Tavare Tags was still there grafting though and along with some friendly bowling from Cross and some huge hitting from Chapman Cutthorpe rattled up a decent score. Tags was finally out for 43 painstaking runs whilst Chapman fell in the last over to Dent jnr for 77. Cutthorpe closed on 164-9 with 2 wickets a piece to Clarke, Cloggy and Riggott, wickets a piece to Dents jnr and snr and a run out effected with a rocket throw from Andy Watson.

A decent tea was provided by Bravo (we've finally found a use for him)

The Cross reply started badly with the horrendously out of form Plant chipping up to mid off in the 2nd over. Jordans Lemon and Burrow batted sensibly to steady the ship, both showing their potential before a lapse of concentration from Lemon saw him caught for 16. This triggered a bit of a collapse with no batsman other than Burrow really troubling the Cutthorpe attack and once he was out for a well made 29, Cross were staring down the barrel of defeat . At 102-9 from 30 overs only 1 result seemed possible, however no one had told Dent jnr and Clarke who proceeded to build a wonderful partnership based on inteligent batting and relentless running between the wickets. The pair picked the gaps and found the odd boundary to leave Cross needing 4 top win from the final over. Cutthorpe brought back premier bowler Chapman for this over but he was unable to stop Clarke hitting the winning runs and capping a great game.

Thanks go out to Cutthorpe for participating in a wonderful game of cricket and for boosting the bar profits by staying a good couple of hours after the game had finished.

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