Richmondshire had a productive Bank holiday weekend, with eight wicket wins for the 1sts, 2nds and 3rds and a big Kerridge cup win for the 1sts on Monday.
Saturday saw the 1sts entertaining old rivals Great Ayton at Hurgill Road, but the villagers aren’t quite the force they were and the game wasn’t as tight as some in the past. Richmondshire won the toss and chose to field and the Ayton openers were soon back in the pavilion.
The third wicket pairing were starting to look well established, with a half century for Sam Moylan, when captain Gary Pratt came on to bowl and take two quick wickets. Gary 5 for 28 and Steve Reeves 3 for 23 ended the Great Ayton innings at 132 all out after 48.2 overs.
This target proved no great challenge for the Richmondshire batsmen, with openers Rob Carr (41) and Gary Pratt (47 not out) getting them well on the way. Mike Layfield looked in good form and played a couple of super shots before being lbw for seventeen and Steve Reeves (16 not out) then joined Gary to overhaul the target in 25.4 overs.
The 20 point win puts Richmondshire third in the table just a point behind next week’s opponents Thornaby. Barnard Castle, however, moved 19 ahead at the top thanks to a 25 point win batting first and having managed to get in a game last week when Richmondshire were rained off.
On Bank Holiday Monday, the 1sts began their defence of the NYSD 40 over Kerridge Cup at Seaton Carew. Put in to bat, Richmondshire piled up a massive 297 for 8, with 65 from Rob Carr and 129 from Mike Layfield.
Quickly reducing Seaton to 18 for 3, well behind the rate, captain Gary Pratt took the chance to use nine different bowlers. This resulted in rare bowls and wickets for Steve Mather and Mike Layfield. Despite a century from Neil Whitworth (111 not out), Seaton ended on 214 for 8, defeated by 83 runs.
Richmondshire will now visit Stokesley in the next round on Bank Holiday Monday. They will hope that this form carries into next weekend when they are at second place Thornaby in the league on Saturday. Then start their defence of the Royal London National Club Championship at home on Sunday against North East Premier League team Eppleton.
The 2nds got their first win of the season at Blackhall. Bowling out Blackhall for 153 with five wickets for Jonny Carr and three for James Kelly, the Richmondshire batsmen made short work of the target. Josh Cartledge (88 not out) and George Spink (47) getting the bulk of the runs in an eight wicket, twenty point win.
They couldn’t manage a repeat on Monday when playing stronger opposition in newly relegated Bishop Auckland. Put into bat Richmondshire made 152 all out, with George Spink (33), James Kelly (34) and Dion Wood (40) the main contributors. In a game reduced to thirty one overs Bishop managed to knock this off for the loss of five wickets but only with one ball to spare.
On Sunday, the 3rds also had a quick win against Saltburn, to stay unbeaten. Winning the toss and putting Saltburn in to bat, they then skittled them out for 71 in 21.2 overs. Taking a break from his A’level revision Jonny Carr (4 for 20)took four wickets to add to his five yesterday and Julius Glasgow also took four (4 for 30). George Spink then went three better than Saturday to score 50 not out as the runs were knocked off in just 14.3 overs.
The 4th team played at Barningham and despite 122 not out from evergreen Clive Layfield the total 203 for 4 wasn’t enough to challenge Barningham who overhauled them in twenty five overs.
It has been a frustrating weekend for the junior section, with several games called off either due to the weather or opponents unable to raise a team. However there were wins for the Under 11s at North Stainley and Rockcliffe Park
