Ashton Wold C.C. vs Rushden Wanderers C.C. 24th May 2008

Wining the toss Ashton chose to bat.

Unfortunately the opening partnership only lasted until the 6th ball of the first over when. S Palmer was clean bowled for just 4 runs. His opening partner M. Papworth stood his ground and batted well for his 18 before he was bowled in the 12th over. The Rushden opening bowler was causing havoc amongst the opening batsmen, taking the first three batsmen's wickets. It wasn't until N. Barnes came to the crease at No. 5 that some stability came to the batting. Nigel batted very well as wickets fell around him. C. Wood going in at No. 10 had a good little cameo for 16 before he was caught. H. Williams unfortunately hurt his wrist and gave his wicket away without scoring. The partnership between N. Barnes and J. Ray was a handy one for the team with them making 21 runs between them before they ran out of overs! Nigel finishing on 33 not out and John finished on 12 not out. Ashton as a team finished on 141 for 9 off 40 overs. Bowling from Rushden Wanderers ~ Walker 7-2-17-3, Norwood 8-0-26-0, I. Bainbridge 5-0-11-1, Patel 6-0-18-2, McMahon 5-0-22-1, Cooper 4-1-14-1, McNally 4-0-12-1, L. Bainbridge 2-0-16-0.

With Harry hurting his wrist he was unable to field. Leaving Ashton with just 10 men in the field and young Sam Nowlan taking over the wicketkeepers duty. As usual C. White and C. Wood opened the bowling. C. White taking the first over, first delivery was a good one and was inside edged straight to the keeper. Rushden were one down off the first ball. The first ten overs were kept tight by the opening two bowlers. At ten overs Rushden were 19 for 1. The change of bowling then brought Youth and experience to the attack with L. Papworth and J. Ray. John as reliable as always bowled very well but with no luck. One catch dropped and many just missing the fielders through the air. Lloyd asked to be taken off after just 4 overs as he felt the there wasn't anything happening for him. S. Palmer was then brought in to the attack. He bowled very well with out any luck. Whilst this excellent bowling was in progress there was also some good batting by G. Small and T. Cooper for Rushden. It wasn't until N. Barnes was brought into the attack that Ashton were able to make a break through, T. Cooper was caught by M. Papworth at point off Nigel's bowling fro 35. Nigel then continued to bowl well taking a further three wickets giving him 4 wickets for the day. C. Wood was brought back into the attack at the end to keep things tight as the game was coming to a close but the scores were getting closer. Chris Wood Managed to take three wickets in his last 3 overs of the game with some good bowling. T. McNally finished on 30 not out. Rushden finished on 129 for 9 off 40 overs. Bowling from Ashton ~ C. White 5-2-9-1, C. Wood 8-0-23-3, J. Ray 8-2-16-0, L. Papworth 4-1-15-0, S. Palmer 8-0-22-0, N. Barnes 7-0-30-4.

Ashton won by 12 runs.

Great Houghton C.C. vs AShton Wold C.C. 18th May 2008

Ashton lost the toss and were put in the field.

With all the bowlers bowling well we restricted the apposition to just 120 for 9 off 40 overs. The top scorers for Great Houghton were C. Hart with 27 who was eventually stumped by S. Francis off of the bowling of J. Ray and B. Mousley with 24 who was caught off Chris Wood's bowling by Jack Duncan. Stewart Francis had a good game behind the stumps with a catch and three stumpings. Pick of the bowlers was Sam Nowlan with three wickets, two stumpings and a caught and bowled. Bowling from Ashton ~ C. White 8-3-9-1, C. Wood 8-2-22-2, D. Blatch 6-2-7-1, J. Ray 8-2-26-1, C. Thompson 6-0-26-1, S. Nowlan 4-0-10-3.

After tea Ashton opened the batting was the trusted partnership of C. Evans and S. Francis. Unfortunately S. Francis was he first to fall for just 7 after 19 overs. With the fall of that wicket it brought the skipper to the crease Harry Chapman. Harry and Clive saw the team through to the win, with the winning run being hit in the 35th over by Clive. Clive scored another 50 for the club hitting 62 not out and his partner at the end, Harry making 34 not out. Bowling from Great Houghton ~ Freeman 6-1-16-0, Page 4-0-12-0, Mousley5-0-10-0, Hughes 5-2-7-1, Bentley 4-0-22-0, Afford 6-0-22-0, Cains 3-0-19-0, R. Hart 0.2-0-1-0.
Ahton 121 for 1 off 34.2 overs.

Ashton won by 9 wickets.

Eaaston On The Hill C.C vs A.W.C.C 11th May 2008

Well it was another glorious day and yet another game of cricket.
Ashton lost the toss and were put into bat. The opening partnership were steady and made 48 before the loss of Peter Lucas for 27. Stewart Francis his opening partner stayed at the crease until the late in the game making 37. He played the supporting role for the team holding his end up and allowing the others to play around him. Dan Blatch was one of these batsmen that played with Stewart, scoring freely eventually making 52 before he was caught, Dan's first fifty of the season. Ashton finally made 169 for 7 off 40 overs. Bowling for Easton ~ S. Lattimore 6-1-17-0, S. Barrot 8-1-25-3, D. Tuffnail 8-0-24-3, G. Chaplain 7-1-23-0, S. Sewell 4-0-31-1, S. Ellis 5-0-22-0, N. Lattimore 2-1-8-0.

Easton were beaten all ends up by the opening partnership of Chris Wood and Chris White after the first 10 overs they were 4 wickets down with the score around 30. Chris Wood getting three of the wickets. Once again the marvelous John Ray steps up to bowl. For the second day on the trot he takes 4 wickets, that's 8 wickets hes taken this weekend off 16 overs for 21 runs. The only Easton batsman to put up any resistance to the bowling attack from Ashton was D. Tuffnail, he ended the day on 49 not out. Easton were eventually bowled out for 104 off 31.5 overs. Bowling from Ashton ~ C. Wood 5-1-11-3, C. White 5-2-17-1, J. Ray 8-4-14-4, N. Barnes 8-3-19-0, D. Blatch 2-0-5-1, A. Buckley 2.5-0-10-1, J. Duncan 1-0-11-0.
Ashton won by 65 runs.

Dereck 'Rosco' Rawson Memorial Match vs Tolethorpe Park 10th May 2008

This was the forth time Ashton have played for the Dereck 'Rosco' Rawson Memorial Cup, unfortunately Ashton had lost the three previous occasions, first time it was played it was against Southwick and the other two, were against Tolethorpe Park. Ashton have continued this tradition and played Tolethorpe once again for the cup.

Ashton batted first and got off to a good start with Clive Evans and Stewart Francis opening the batting. Clive was on fine form, eventually making 135 not out. The first century of the season for the club. After 19 overs Ashton were 81 for 2, with the fall of that second wicket brought young Sam Nowlan to the crease. Sam batted exceptionally well and eventually scored his maiden 50 for the club. His wicket fell for 56 in the 36 over with the score at 188. This brought Ashton's oldest player to the crease Jeremy Firth (71 years young) he scored a quick ten before being stumped. Ashton were 225 for 4 off their 40 overs. Bowling from Tolethorpe ~ M. Davies 8-0-30-0, T. Gartrell 6-1-25-0, M. Green 8-0-59-2, S. Green 8-0-37-0, C. Thompson 8-0-52-2, Bullimore 2-0-15-0.

After tea Ashton took to the field. Opening the bowling with Lloyd Papworth and Nigel Barnes. For both Nigel and Lloyd it was their first game of the season for Ashton. they bowled very well after the first 10 over (5 overs a piece) Tolethorpe were 22 for 1. With Nigel picking up the wicket of G. Bower for 7. The bowling change brought John Ray into the action and as reliable as ever he picked up 4 wickets for only 6 runs from his 8 overs. Dan Blatch and Chris White picked up a brace of wickets each before Nigel returned to the action and finished off Tolethorpe's batsmen. Tolethorpe Park 89 all out off 36.2, A. Bullimore scored 22 not out and I Fitch scored 15. Extras were the highest score for Tolethorpe at 24. Bowling from Ashton ~ L. Papworth 8-3-15-0, N. Barnes 5.2-1-8-2, D. Blatch 8-3-16-2, J. Ray 8-3-7-4, M. Buckley 2-0-14-0, C. White 5-1-16-2.

Ashton Wold won by 136 runs bringing the cup home were it belongs! That game was for you Dereck!

One thing to note about the game was Ashton's slip cordon........ Their combined age is 195, S. Francis 57 years young ( Wicket Keeper), Jeremy Firth 71 years young ( 1st Slip) and John Ray 67 years young ( 2nd Slip). Probably the oldest slip cordon around! And both slips took a catch in their positions during the match too.

Braunston C.C. vs A.W.C.C. 4th May 2008

The second game of the season was a close fought game. A.W.C.C. eventually lost by 24 runs.

Ashton lost the toss and were put in the field! The team bowled and fielded very well. All catches stuck, with the Stewart Francis (wicket keeper) holding on to 4 catches. All taken from some great bowling. Ashton restricted the home side to just 128 all out off 38.2 overs. The only batsman to score any noticeable runs was the opening batsman M. Bindley who batted almost to the end of the innings for 61 runs. Bowling from A.W.C.C ~ C. White 8-2-15-2, C. Wood 7-2-25-3, J. Ray 8-2-25-1, D. Blatch 8-0-20-3, S. Nowlan 5.2-0-24-1, M. Buckley 2-0-8-0.

Ashton then had to bat. Most people made a contribution to the score, but the only real noticeable contribution came form the young Sam Nowlan with 33 runs. unfortunately the next highest scorer was the extras giving us an extra 22 runs to our total. Ashton were looking like they were on the road to victory until a freakish bit of fielding ran out Chris Wood. Chris White middled the ball back down the ground the bowler stuck his foot out in order to try and stop the ball, he did, but the deflection hit the non strikers stumps and unfortunately that was the end of Chris Wood. Once C. Wood left the crease the remaining two wickets fell in quick succession for no more runs, leaving Chris White stranded on 8 not out. Ashton managed to make 104 all out off 36 overs. Bowling from Braunston C.C. ~ Grays 8-2-9-2, Hill 8-2-18-1, Baird 6-1-28-2, Scrivens 6-2-13-2, S. Suffolk 8-1-26-2.