Wright action for battling Carlton

Published on 16th August 2007 in Sport

Carlton Towers 233-8

Scarborough 212

Carlton Towers defied their critics and sent the Fat Lady back to the audition as they recorded only their second League victory of the season, to keep alive their hopes of First Division safety, writes Stephen Carr.

It was a remarkable performance and pulled Scarborough into the end-of-season relegation battle. With Whitkirk also being beaten at home by Saturday's opponents Hornsea, it leaves a mouth-watering menu for the last six matches of the season.

As the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. It was fitting therefore that Paul Wright stood out in the success. He made an emphatic 72, his highest score of the season, and then proceeded to take five Scarborough wickets, along with a cheeky run-out to get rid of the Scarborough danger man and a catch for Ben Lamb.

His contribution was immense. As well as his individual efforts he featured in three substantial partnerships, the first a third-wicket 45, with Neil Robinson who made 14; a fourth-wicket 52 with Jonathan Dilks, who made 34 before playing on - and who seems to be coming into form at the right time; and a fifth, which produced a score of 51, with skipper Jamie Pocklington, who made 25.

John Burton also contributed to the team resurrection, making a valuable 22 before being run out, the innings ending on 233 for 8. It was the first time this season that the side had managed to reach the magic 200, and on the day it was the highest score of all the sides in the Division.

In reply, Scarborough were hanging on like a trawler in the vicious winter North Sea. The side, having been reduced to 23 for 3 and the first two wickets falling to Paul Wright, were in deep trouble. Australian Simon Branston, who made a century in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season, had also been caught by Jonathan Dilks off the bowling of the ever-improving Callum Reilly for only 14.

Simon Smith and N. Fletcher had other ideas, though, and began to produce a recovery. The pair made 69 for the fourth wicket, from only 11 overs, Fletcher making 33 before being bowled by Ben Lamb. Peter Beard then took over to make an impressive 66, only to be too slow to react to Paul Wright's throw at the stumps whilst he was out of his crease, sending him back to the pavilion.

After putting themselves into a winning position, the loss of these wickets left Scarborough facing a dilemma. The batsmen decided to seek preservation, but it was not to be as Paul Wright took out the last two batsmen with successive deliveries to secure victory by 21 runs.

This was a morale-boosting victory for Carlton Towers in the twilight of the League season and their fight against relegation. If the side does go down, it will not be for want of passion, honesty and commitment as shown in this match.

Hull Zingari II 145-4

Carlton Towers II 141-9

Carlton Towers II failed to make hay in the sunshine of Hull on Saturday. After restricting their hosts to 18-4 and defending only 141, a fifth wicket undefeated partnership of 127 between Martin Read, who made 57 and Nitin Bejjanki 54, saw Hull Zingari take the points and maintain their promotion challenge.

The route maps were a little unclear, and the Carlton Towers late arrivals meant a reorganised batting line-up and a struggle to create any impact in the game.

In fact it took an eighth-wicket partnership of 65 between Darren Graves, who made an undefeated 45, and Chris Heald, who perhaps produced his best batting performance of the season, to make 34, to get the innings over the century mark.

Andrew Pocklington had made 12 early on and in a surprising twist Robert Haw made an undefeated 15, batting at number 11.

Martin Russell appeared to be too good for the Carlton Towers batting line-up as he took 7-22 from his 12-over spell.

Hull Zingari reached the target in 29 overs. Graham Spence took 2-23 and the economical Robert Haw, capping a fine all round display on the day, took 2-29 from his 11 over spell.

Weekend fixtures

Hunters York and District Senior League

Division One

Hornsea v Carlton Towers.

Division Six

Carlton Towers II v Huntington.

HPH York Vale League

Division Five

Stockton and Hopgrove II v Carlton Towers III.

Sunday August 19

HPH York Vale League

Mitchell Cup Final

at Carlton Towers Cricket Club between Drax I v Westow I, with a start time of 2pm.