SATURDAY 5TH JUNE

ELEVENS CONTINUE IN STYLE

Having completed the first round of the league fixtures with an unblemished record of four wins out of four Stockton travelled to Feethams to play against Darlington a team that are strong in this age group year in, year out.

The weather was kind again on Saturday morning and in near perfect batting conditions Stockton were asked to bat first. In an unspectacular start to the innings extras outscored the bat as the batsmen concentrated on not giving wickets away. Briefly this extended to refusing easy singles as nerves seemed to play their part.

Gradually the batsman began to put bat to ball with James Winship contributing 9 and Hameed Ulahah smashing an unbeaten 15 incorporating three 4's all hit through the square leg region. Tom Hewison made a positive contribution with the bat despite losing wickets to over-exuberance, indicative of his ability to find the boundary on a regular basis.

The final score of 96 for 3 making a net 72 look like a highly defendable target.

Darlington made reasonable progress at the front and end of the innings but lost their way somewhat in the middle overs. During this spell Matthew Graham opened his wickets account for the season with a catch taken by Sam Fenwick at wicket keeper. This is the second week in a row that Sam has held a difficult catch at wicket keeper. Bowling honours for the day went to James Winship finishing with fine figures of three for 9 from his three overs..

Darlington finished with 58 for 5 making a net 18 leaving a winning margin of 54.

 

SUNDAY 23RD MAY

ELEVEN'S IN FINE FORM

THE FINE form of the under 11's continued into the third fixture of the season. On a glorious early summer morning the team convened in eager anticipation of a fixture against Newton Aycliffe.

Skipper Tom Hewison lost the toss but was pleased to be put into bat. The visitors opened up with a fine bowling spell which was successfuly defended. The boys pressed on steadily accumulating runs without losing wickets. Tom Swan scored his first ever boundary having borrowed Toby Stevenson's bat. Toby was eager to claim the boundary for himself,(since it was his bat) however once he later scored a four of his own, he was magnaminous enough to agree to award the runs to Tom.
The score tickled along steadily if unspectacularly with no wickets falling until the final pairing when Tom Hewison wishing to impose himself on the match attempted an injudicious pull off a perfectly good ball. Unfortunately Tom missed but the ball didn't.
Nevertheless with a net score of 261, only one wicket having fallen hopes were high that the target could be defended.

After a well earned juice, biscuit and bacon sandwich break at the kind hands of Parrs' Catering Services it was Newton Aycliffes turn to bat. Possibly the heat was now taking it's toll on both sides as the bowling became less than it's usual metronomic standard. Extras were outscoring the bat but wickets were falling. Adam Graham was the pick of the bowlers, claiming the first hat- trick of the season with each batsman dismissed by being bowled.

The final pair saw some inspirational batting from Newton Aycliffes Durham representative. He made an unbeaten 28 flogging the happless bowling to all parts of the field. Despite this late flourish Newton Aycliffe finished up with a net score of 223 having lost seven wickets en route. The winning margin was therefore 38 and relatively comfortable.

DARLINGTON RA V STOCKTON

YOUNG GUNS ON FIRE

Stockton’s youngest team continued their fine start to the season with a comprehensive win over an inexperienced Darlington R.A. side. After electing to bat first Stockton posted an impressive score of 119 for the loss of just two wickets. (Net 103) Making their outdoor cricket debuts were Sam Fenwick and Adam Graham, Special thanks to Sam having come along as a last minute replacement when one of the regulars failed to turn up for the meet.

The most notable batting contribution came from Tom Hewison smashing an aggressive 35 incorporating 6 fours.

RA were probably dispirited looking at such a large score to chase and managed to reach 54 for 7 (Net -2)

The wickets were evenly spread but praise goes to Adam Graham for his 2 wickets and Sam Fenwick for his one wicket on their respective debuts.

The fielding was exemplary with long barriers and one handed pick ups that have been practiced used to keep the opposition pinned in their crease. One memorable moment came when Gaffney made a clean pick up from a well struck drive and threw the ball to the bowler Tom Swan who caught the ball and whipped off the bails despite the fact that it was thrown at him with full force from only ten yards away. Neither Swan nor Gaffney knew whether to celebrate the run out or rub their injured hands and fingers.

Stockton won by 105 runs.

STOCKTON V BARNARD CASTLE

THREE TOMS IN COMMAND

On a cold and slightly damp start to the 2010 season Stockton welcomed the arrival of Barnard Castle Cricket Club for the first match for a relatively new group of cricketers.

Stockton batted first and made an impressive net score of 88 having lost three wickets en route. Notable contributions were from two of our triumvirate of Tom’s. Messrs Gaffney 13 and Hewison 19 both punishing the bowling with boundaries as well as taking singles to rotate the strike.

Barnard Castle batted initially with some intent however the loss of wickets on a regular basis meant that the young team began to play with less adventure and benefitted from the experience without threatening to overhaul the Stockton score.

Wickets were shared around with Tom Swan taking two wickets and Tom Hewison weighing in with three.

Stockton 112 for 3 net 288
Barnard Castle 33 for 8 net 169
Stockton won by 119 runs.

 

Wednesday 14th Aprl

UNDER 11S START THE SEASON WITH EARLY PROMISE

The annual Cleveland Indoor Cricket Tournament was held at Eston throughout February and March. Stockton won the tournament last year and this season’s crop of youngsters had a lot to live up to.

Throughout the first stage tournament the team were unbeaten with victories over Guisborough, Stokesley, Great Ayton, Norton, Saltburn, Marske and Marton. This meant that Stockton won the group and played Saltburn in their semi final. The match was played in a great spirit with Stockton easing to victory over a well drilled but inexperienced Saltburn team.

This led to a Final clash with local rivals Norton. During the group stages Norton had been Stockton’s toughest opponents and the final was to prove a tense affair. Batting first Stockton posted an impressive score of 78 for 2 (net 68). The batting did show signs of nerves, no surprise really as the team incorporated only three members of last years successful team in the same competition. Nevertheless the fact that so few wickets had fallen was promising.
Norton set about the task manfully but the all too frequent wickets kept them slightly behind the run rate. Wickets were taken with great catches and run outs rather than the more metronomic bowling that the boys had shown earlier in the competition. Once again nerves appeared to be playing their part as the boys struggled to find a good length.

As the final Norton pair came to the wicket they had a lot to do but a victory was still on. Fortunately for Stockton the pressure of the run rate was telling a further two wickets fell and Stockton finished up winning by 8 runs.