Weeks 1 to 9 - 2008 season

WEEK 9

League results:-

A great win by 9 wickets for the 1st XI against Rockliffe Park 2nd XI. The seconds lost by about 40 runs to Barton 2nd XI - but, they are getting stronger and stronger - the next win isn't too far away.

Thanks from MARK DOBINSON for his send off on Saturday night - he really appreciated the fantastic turn out from club members.

It is with regret I have to inform you that Craig Rennie's Dad passed away this week - our thoughts are with Craig and his family at this sad time.

Cup matches - 2nds lost in the League cup semi final to Aldbrough St John 2nds and the 1sts lost to Catterick in the Murragh Wilson cup

WEEK 8

Two heavy defeats this week - 1sts lose by 9 wickets to Brompton and 2nds lose by about 50 runs to Ingleton II team. Reports to follow soon [hopefully!!]

2nd team match report [am I going to get 1st team report?]

UPSIDE DOWN BATTING ORDER GAINS UNLIKELY BATTING POINT

On a glorious sunny day Craig won the toss and surprisingly elected to field in the hot conditions, Fez and Craig Rennie opened the bowling and did not cause too many problems early on, Dave spilling the only half chance a fierce drive just slipping out of his right hand but he saved 4 runs, on what became a typical day the fielding improved significantly and throws were hitting the stumps but always when the batsmen were safe. Ingleton were starting to build a useful score and Craig changed things with the bowling, debutant Matthew Carnally came on to bowl and initially stated off well and Shanny came on the other end and as is becoming typical took a wicket with a bad ball, Carnelly running round at breathtaking speed to cling onto the ball for a very good catch, 2 overs later a more routine catch from another bad ball was taken at point by Carnelly and Haughton seemed to be back in the game, Nezzy came on to bowl and was unlucky to see one ball drop inches short of a diving Dave but all it did was bounce and hit him in the head though I’m not sure it knocked any sense into him because the next ball he was diving round like a fat Jonty Rhodes denying more runs. Johnny Sturg came on to bowl and he too bowled tightly conceding just 14 runs from his 4 overs, Dave took a fine catch in the deep in the penultimate over but an expensive last over saw Ingleton post a very daunting total of 169 – 3 in the allocated 35 overs.

Tea once again was enjoyed by all though the drunken spectator was causing much amusement during and after the interval and even got the crowd doing the Mexican wave.

Haughton started the run chase with a changed opening partnership of Paul and Dave. They survived the opening few overs and resisted their normal swinging game to try and get the team off to a solid start but in the 5th over Paul got tempted and was caught at Mid on for 4, Craig Day followed and started off well hitting a number of fine shots for runs in his first few deliveries, in the next over Dave hit 2 fine boundaries but when he got tempted again was caught again on the boundary for 12. Craig was next out, caught at point for 4 and wickets started to follow with Ritchie and Andrew out cheaply. Fez and Craig got the board moving and the Ingleton bowling were trying to tempt Fez into a big he-ho and it worked when he was bowled for 12, Craig carried on the fight hitting a huge six but was finally out for 16, it was then left to Nezzy and Carnelly to rescue what appeared to be a very unlikely batting point as they added 34 for the 9th wicket before Nezzy was out for a very well played 18, Johnny was last in with instructions to get to the 100 total, he did and more getting 8 off the last over to leave us on 105-9 in our 35 overs, Carnelly unbeaten on 18.

A promising performance with many bowlers given the chance, Nezzy looked useful and with a little more practice Carnelly will develop with his bowling, both of these batted very well at the end. The holiday season is starting to kick in know which n doubt means lots of team changes.

Batting MOM Daniel Nezbitt
Bowling MOM Adam Shann
Fielding MOM Matthew Carnelly



Second team progress through to the semi final of league cup with a great victory over league leader King James - Lunny excelled with 7 for 17


WEEK 7

1st XI suffer a heavy defeat at Witton le Wear

2nd XI match was disappointingly conceded by Eryholme 2nd XI

Report to follow soon:-

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2nd XI C DIVISION CUP MATCH v KING JAMES - MATCH ABANDONED DUE TO RAIN - REPLAY DATE WEDNESDAY 4th JUNE



The 1st XI lost in the B Division cup to Barningham 2nds by "approximately" 14 runs - give or take a couple.






WEEK 6


The day started on a sad note with the announcement of the passing away of Craig’s Grandad – the second team wore black armbands to show their respect and held a minute's silence.

Our thoughts are with Craig and all his family at this sad time.


Match reports :-

GARY SHINES WITH THE BAT AFTER MORE BOWLING HEROICS FROM LUNNY

Haughton 1st XI v Spennymoor


A near full strength 1st team took the trip north to Spennymoor on a bright cool day, Spennymoor batted first in the bright conditions.

The hosts got off to a bright start with 39 runs coming from the first 8 overs, Lunny spat his dummy out after getting taken off after 4 overs but it was only so that he could change ends, Neil replaced him and in what is coming club tradition took a wicket with his first 8 ball over (his dad has been coaching him on how to bowl wides), a well taken catch by Steve Allanby. Brownie came off after his spell and again bowled well without reward and then Lunny came back on clearly pumped up, after a maiden over took two wickets in an over with the score on 73, Neil carried on from the other end and continued to show early season rust as the extras figure crept up and was eventually replaced by Butch with his spinners and he too took a wicket with his first over, an easy caught and bowled, Lunny now had his tail up and wickets were falling from both ends, with Stevie taking an easy catch and Butch picked up another wicket, he could have had another had he of taken a very sharp caught and bowled but either way it is another entry into the Lurpak trophy, Danny also dropped a dolly but it was left to Lunny to mop up the tail which included a great piece of keeping by Mark to get the last wicket to finish the innings off, Lunny’s very impressive career best bowling figures of 7-34 from 13.2 overs left Spennymoor all out for 117 in the 32nd over.

After a pleasant tea was taken Stevie and particularly Butch turned their attention to the competitive score, it was Steve’s turn to find runs difficult to get, he was the first man out for 3 when the score had reached 31 and Butch’s run rate continued, Danny was out for a duck, unluckily playing on to his stumps as the ball spun into them Mark then followed him to the pavilion with the score on 7 and suddenly things started to look a bit shaky and when Butch was adjudged LBW for 35 it was left to Gary to steady the innings and marshal the tail to the target, Keith after getting off the mark with a boundary was out for 9 and Brownie run out for a duck but Gary stuck in there hitting some useful boundaries and Neil stuck with him until he was dismissed when the score was 88 and it was left to Lunny to stay there whilst Gary got the runs, it was clearly going to be another tight finish and when Gary finally perished in the 34th over all looked over, he was dismissed for a very good 38 including 5 boundaries, the equation was simple, 8 runs from 10 balls with 2 wickets remaining, a scampered single by Shanny followed by 3 dot balls left it to be 7 runs off the last over but disaster struck when Shanny was bowled off the first ball of the over, Sam got off the mark first ball then Lunny creamed the next to the fence, 2 runs to win, 3 balls remaining, a single by Michael left the scores tied and off the penultimate ball Sam gave the home team some catching practice but unbelievably the fielder dropped it twice and the boys scampered home for a 1 wicket win, a great tense match again.

Batting MOM Gary McGuire
Bowling MOM Michael Lunn
Fielding MOM Mark Dobinson.



IMPROVED BATTING NOT ENOUGH AS COCKERTON GET HANDED VICTORY

Haughton 2nds V Cockerton 2nds

Craig finally won the toss and after last weeks poor batting performance asked Cockerton to bat, Martin and Fez opened the bowling, Fez suffered from Brand new Ball Phobia as his first two overs were a combination of full tosses, wides and boundaries and was taken off after a ten ball over to be replaced by Skipper Craig, they both slowed down the run rate and in the 10th over some lazy running and good fielding by Martin led to the breakthrough with a good run out, Martin then picked up to more wickets, both clean bowled to bring Haughton back into the game and then Craig got in on the act picking up 2 wickets, one of which was a very good caught and bowled (it hit him in the stomach and stuck) to leave Cockerton on 83-5 at the drinks interval. Shannon served the paint stripper (I mean juice) and this had an adverse effect on Nezzy when he dropped an easy catch running in from the boundary, this drop was to prove expensive because the batsman then went on to hit 44 with a mixture of slogs to cow corner and slogs to cow corner, Johnny came on to bowl his first overs of the season and after a maiden first over Cockerton went on the attack with a 50 run partnership in just 7 overs before their top scorer was finally dismissed, bowled by Craig, the end result was a very good score of 173-7 and due to some sloppy bowling and fielding this included 39 extra’s

Tea was served and wow what a selection of buffet food served, there was enough food to feed the two cup matches next week such was the spread, a huge thank you to everyone again (especially Jan’s Catering).

Paul and Andrew again opened the batting and made a steady start, Paul as is usual hitting a couple of meaty boundaries before he played all round one to be dismissed for 10, Phil came in next and looked comfortable in the middle and then Andrew was well caught for 6, Phil was next out, again well caught for 14 including a very good maximum, Dave joined Ritchie but his experience of “Mark’s wild swishes” in the first team proved to be his undoing as he went for a really ugly shot to be clean bowled for just 2, Adam hit a good four but he too perished to another excellent catch for 6, Martin was caught behind for a duck, Craig Rennie played a defensive shot but also played his big shots including a huge six but was dismissed for 12, Ritchie was tying an end up and creaming some lovely shots through to the boundary and was joined by an unlikely hero in Nezzy and together they added 22 useful runs with Nezzy hitting 9, Ritchie and Reidy then got the score up over the 120 mark for an extra batting point, Reidy nearly got Martin to pay up with his promise of a pint if he it a boundary, the ball stopping 3 millimetres from the fence, Ritchie not surprisingly top scored with 44 not out including 6 boundaries but the deficit was 50 runs. An improved batting performance but the bowling and fielding still need some work done to it.

MOM Batting Ritchie Barker
MOM Bowling Craig Rennie
MOM Fielding Martin Whitfield







WEEK 5


Oh dear!! 2nd XI lose heavily to Lands 2nds by 10 wickets

Great win for the 1st XI by 2 runs

Reports to follow [maybe not for the seconds!!!]

LUNN’S LATE STRIKES SEAL UNLIKELY VICTORY


Haughton 1st XI v Barningham 2nd XI

A more experienced 1st team took the trip to North Yorkshire to take on newly promoted Barningham 2nd XI in wet cold conditions, the start was delayed to allow the little drizzle in the area to move away, a move much appreciated by most of both teams whose mind seemed to be 78 mile away in “Coronation Street land”, Rochdale and with the outcome of that game finally settled the teams took to the pitch, Sam had earlier lost the toss and we were asked to bat first.

Steve and Butch again opened and looked comfortable in the early overs, boundaries particularly hard to get, Steve was out first, caught for 6 and Butch soon followed in similar circumstances for 12, this brought Sam and Danny together for the first time since Sam ran Danny out an thankfully the running between the wickets was better than last time, runs started to flow and surprisingly it was Danny that outscored Sam (AKA Fishy) with some fine strikes including 6 fours and 2 very sweetly struck sixes, not to be outdone Sam got in on the action with some sweet boundaries, they had added a very good partnership of 83, Sam was the man out for a very well played 37, Danny continued his innings and passed his fifty with 3 fours and was finally out in the penultimate over for a superb innings of 58, Dave joined Mark on his favourite batting ground and middle his first ball to the deep mid wicket boundary (the long one) but was superbly caught on the boundary for a “hairy duck”, Mark and Keith then batted out the last few balls not before Mark hit the ball over the huge wall for a maximum and he innings closed with him bowled off the last ball, the final score being 140-5 in the allocated 30 overs.

A nice tea with loads of cakes, Meringues and biscuits was served which pleased the younger members of the team (all of them except Dave an Keith).

Brownie opened the bowling down the slope and should of got an early wicket when the opening batsmen gave Steve Allanby catching practice only for him to drop the dolly and another ball that just evaded Dave in his next over, runs came steadily and the breakthrough was proving difficult, Brownie swung the ball too much and got called for a number of wides (and a 10 ball over) and with Sam running out of ideas it was decided to that the bowlers switch ends, Danny bowled the over to make this happen and too the breakthrough, a good catch from Keith, with Lunny now bowling down the hill and Keith bowling runs still came reasonably easy until Sam tossed the ball to Butch with instructions to tie up an end, this worked and Lunny stated to make inroads into the innings, taking 2 wickets in an over, one a good low catch by Fishy behind the stumps. Butch too should of picked up a wicket in his second over, the ball hit hard and high and at first Dave didn’t realise the ball would reach him but reacted quick enough to go for the catch but over ran it to drop the ball much to the amusement of Mark and disgust of Butch, his frustration was clear as he booted is cap straight over that huge wall!!!!!!!. Lunny took his 3rd wicket and with overs running out the run rate rose, 11 were needed off the last 2 overs but Lunny once again picked up a wicket and conceded just 1 run leaving 10 to level off the last Butch over, with the field spread 3 singles off the first 3 balls then disaster, a leg side wide combined with a bye was followed b a dot ball, 5 needed to win off the last bal, everyone on the boundary, thankfully the ball went straight to Gary who made sure only 2 run were taken for a 2 run victory.

MOM batting Danny McGuire
Bowling Michael Lunn
Fielding Sam Newton (though his mum will not of been impressed with his dirty whites!!!!!

Earlier contender for blooper of the season – Steve Allanby




WEEK 4


TWO NEW REPORTS:-

Haughton 1st XI v Cliffe


A slightly weakened 1st team took the trip to North Yorkshire to take on fierce rivals Cliffe sunny mild conditions, Dave acting as skipper unfortunately lost the toss and what was a soft wicket was asked to bat first.

Steven Allanby and Adam (Butch) Fenwick opened with instructions to stay there and try and bat the full 35 overs, they couldn’t quite stick to the task though when Steven was caught sleeping on his bat at the non strikers end and was run out for 2, Danny and Butch then steadied the innings with Butch getting singles and Danny boundaries including one big six off a high full toss. They got the score up to 39 before Danny was undone by some good spin bowling and given out plumb LBW for a very good 22, Mark came to the wicket and the innings gained momentum, quick singles, big boundaries and 3 runs (how do you do that) got the score moving rapidly with Butch finally finding the boundary with 3 fours and a 6. Mark was finally out for a very good 30 including 4 boundaries when his indecision saw him caught and bowled and when Colin tripped running an easy single to be run out things started to look wobbly again but Gary settled the innings with plenty of singles to keep the scoreboard moving until he was stumped trying to re-enact a dance move that Mark Ramprakash did on “Strictly come Dancing” a year earlier given out with a smile on his face by his brother Danny. Jamie came up the order and hit a few meaty blows but was out for 12 and Butch carried his bat for an excellent innings of 47 with 29 of those coming in singles. The score ended on 134-6

. As is the norm at Cliffe a very nice tea was served though it’s not a patch on Jan Sturgeons catering of which Dave is getting withdrawal symptoms.

Colin opened the bowling with Steve Allenby and they kept runs pretty tight, especially Colin who bowled 3 maidens in his first 4 overs. He also picked up a wicket, a neat catch behind taken by Mark. The bowling change worked a treat though with Danny coming on to slow down the pace of the ball and taking 2 wickets, one another catch behind. The turning point of the match soon followed, with the team struggling to tie an end up and runs coming quite easily the Cliffe batsmen when for 2 runs to Sam Newton, his bullet throw to mark always had the batsmen struggling and when mark took the bails off the umpire gave him out, Mark then held his hands up and admitted to the umpire that he had not taken the ball cleanly and dropped it before breaking the wickets, a fantastic piece of sportsmanship acknowledged by both teams at the end, Steve did come back on and take a wicket and Jamie bowled 3 overs for the first time in a while 2 good ones but Cliffe finally knocked the runs off in 33 overs.

A good effort from the team but about 20 runs short, Butch finally has the grips of slower wickets in our league and Mark knows how to put away the bad ball. The man of the match awards went to Butch for his innings, Danny for his 2 wickets and Mark for taking 2 catches behind the stumps as well as only 1 bye from some wayward bowling, (even Colin bowled his 2nd wide of the season) and his unbelievable sportsmanship was awarded the fielders man of the match, only 2 dropped catches, both very difficult by Jamie and little Nezzy.

Haughton 2nds against Richmond IV’s
C Division Cup preliminary Round

A strong 2nd team made the short trip to Middleton Tyas to play league newcomers Richmond IV’s in the preliminary round of the C Division cup. Craig lost the toss and Richmond decided to bat, Brownie and Fez opened the bowling and continued were they left off on Saturday with Brownie taking a wicket in his first over and Fez 2 wickets, good catches by Craig and Brownie left the host on 1-3 off the 1st 2 overs, unfortunately for Fez his bowling then went a bit mad with boundaries clattered about the place, wides, full tosses and a missed difficult caught and bowled (though he did stop 4 runs), but it was Fez that got the wickets, Dave taking a skier at backward point then Fez clean bowling the batsman with the worst ball of the season, he was taken off with what looks like pretty impressive figures of 4-23 off 4 overs but in truth he did not merit the Man of the match award for his bowling. Lunny and Martin then came on and continued the momentum taking wickets regularly with Lunny looking pretty quick and Andrew taking a well judged catch and then trying to stop the ball after it clipped the top of off stump and went straight through the fence. Lunny finished with impressive figures of 5.3 - 3 –5 - 3 and Martin picket up another 2 wickets as Richmond were bowled out for 61 off 19.3 overs.

Brownie and Paul opened and what a shock to the system, first Brownie then Jamie were cleaned bowled first ball to leave us at 0-2 in the first over, Andrew Joined Paul and it proved to be a useful team, Paul with his aggression and Andrew quick running soon had the scoreboard moving rapidly, Paul continuing from his only other innings of the season played some great shots until he lost the ball in the sunlight and was bowled for 23 which included 4 boundaries, Ritchie too batted with aggression slapping a couple of wide short deliveries to the 3rd man area until he was unluckily run out for 8, Dave joined Andrew and he too played some really good CRICKET shots, one which nearly took out Dave Lee on the full and another lovely drive but it was left to Andrew to get the winning run in the 12th over for a very comfortable 6 wicket win. Dave finished unbeaten on 11 and Andrew 6. Paul was again given the batting MON, Matthew the bowling award though it was a close call with Lunny but Fez was rightly not even considered, and Craig’s fielding with a good catch and diving around was awarded the fielding MOM. Haughton now play early League leaders King James on Wednesday 28th May at Great Burdon, support as always would be greatly appreciated.



1st XI lost to Crathorne in the Fenwick cup - 1sts lost to Cliffe in the league, but the 2nds got a victory against Cliffe II. Reports to follow:-

2nd XI v Cliffe II

For the second week running the sun shone brightly on Great Burdon ahead of the 2nds game against Cliffe II.
Unlike last week Captain Craig lost the toss and was asked to Bat on a grassy sun baked wicket. Michael Brown and Andrew Sturgeon opened the batting and made a confident start. Andrew was seeing the ball well and dispatched Cliffe’s opener over square leg for 6. Both openers fell in quick succession with the score on 11, Andrew (6) just failing to keep out a Yorker and Browny (5) sent a high leading edge to point.
Craig Day and Phil were the two new batsmen at the crease and they set about steadying the ship. Boundaries were hard to come by on the lush green outfield but Big Phil did succeed in “paddle reverse square flicking” a couple of boundaries down to wide fine leg in his very “individual” way. Both kept the score ticking over steadily before Craig (10) was undone by a delivery that did a little of the pitch with the score on 33, Phil (20) was soon to follow after chipping a catch to cover to leave the score on 48/4. Although the Haughton’s score progressed steadily wickets fell at regular intervals Ritchie (4), Martin (3), and Reidy (3).
Captain Craig anchored the tail and succeeded in smashing the Cliffe bowler back over his head for 6 on his way to a good 15. However the highlight of the Haughton lower order was Johnny Sturgeon’s first boundary of the season, it may even be the first of his career!! Johnny dispatched the high full toss to the deep square leg boundary; the shot was met with rapturous applause by the bumper crowd although Captain Craig did have to restrain him from doing a lap of honour. Haughton’s innings came to an end in the 33rd over and Cliffe were faced with a challenging total of 91 to win the game.
Once again Jan Sturgeon Catering Ltd did the seconds proud with another fine teatime spread, rumour has it Dave Hamer has developed the shakes as a result of missing out on chicken wraps for a 3rd week running!!!
Haughton took to the field looking for their first win of the season defending what was at best a par total. The job of taking vital early wickets was given to Browny and Fez who set about their task well ably assisted by the usual warm noisy welcome for the Cliffe opening batsmen. Browny made the vital break through in the 3rd over, bowling the Cliffe opener for 1. Fez soon got in on the act having the Cliffe No. 3 caught at 1st slip. After 6 over’s, 3 maidens from Browny (one a wicket maiden) had left Cliffe teetering on 4/2. Things should have been even better for Haughton when in the 7th over Martin threw down the non strikers stumps leaving the “wandering” non striker apparently short of his ground. The umpire, awoken from his sunshine slumber gave the decision of not out to leave the home team fielders bemused.
Haughton’s tight bowling continued and Browny took his second wicket in the 11th over. The Cliffe opener trying to run the ball of an open face through the slips picked out Craig Day who took a very good sharp catch. A double bowling change brought to an end a fantastic opening spell from Fez and Browny. There combined figures were 4 for 20. It was now the job of Captain Craig and Martin to continue the good work and Craig did just that, taking a wicket in his first over. The delivery was a little wide and short given the batsman a chance to play an aggressive cut shot. The ball flew to gully off the outside edge and seemed to be going over Martin’s head, he managed to “leap” with one hand, palm the ball up before taking it one handed at the second attempt….a definite catch of the season contender (no author’s bias involved!!!!).
After twenty over’s the scored had moved along to 42/4. It was then Martin’s turn to get amongst them, taking two wickets in consecutive over’s, both cleaned bowled. Captain Craig also added another wicket to his tally, Richie Barker taking a well judged catch at mid-off. Some good late resistance from the Cliffe captain briefly gave the away team hope before he was caught well by Craig Day at cover off the bowling of Martin. It was then left to Adam Weatherburn to have final say, clean bowling Cliffe’s 11th man leaving Haughton victorious by 26 runs.
It was a really good all round team performance by the 2nd team to earn their first win of the season. Every single batsman scored runs with Phil McMahon (20) and Craig Rennie (15) top scoring. The team effort and enthusiasm in the field was fantastic and all the bowlers performed well. Special mention must go to Browny and Fez who set a great platform for defending the total. The whole team fielded well with Craig Day taking 3 good catches….although he did have two drops as well. The 2nd team are back in cup action on Wednesday away to Richmond IV (all support welcome), before a league home game against Lands II on Saturday.



Fenwick Cup report

Haughton 1st XI v Crathorne
Fenwick Cup Preliminary Round


A mixed team young team with every player under 21 again except Dave took the trip to North Yorkshire to play Crathorne in the Preliminary Round of the Fenwick Cup. Sam lost the toss and we were asked to bat first.

Experimental openers Gary and Phil opened the batting and got off to a reasonable start, both scoring boundaries, Phil rode his luck and was dropped twice to easy catches, with the nature of the game Gary started to swing the willow more and was bowled for 11 and he was quickly followed back into the pavilion by Phil caught for 15, Sam and Danny then made the mother of all run out cock ups, the ball beat the keeper and was running down to the boundary as they ambled a run, they then assumed the ball had crossed the boundary and were stranded mid wicket, Sam was quicker to realise that some one was going to be run out so went back to his crease sending a cheesed off Danny back to the Pavilion without scoring. Dave came to the wicket and instantly started swinging, the bowling, especially from the pavilion end was very tight and in one over Sam dug out 3 Yorkers to survive, after finding the boundary Dave was then very well caught at Mid Off from the fielder who had dropped 2 dollies from Phil earlier, Adam came in with 2 overs to go with instructions to have a go, he did this hitting a few lustful blows before he was out for 9 off only 6 balls, Sam found the middle of the bat in the last over with 2 well struck boundaries and at the end was unbeaten on 26 in a score of 77-5.

Lunny and Fez opened the bowling and kept it tight earlier with the home team deciding to take the aerial route to get there runs with Dave the oldest fielder having to do all the running in the long grass when the ball didn’t cross the boundary. Fez finally got the breakthrough when he got one to swing into the opener and clean bowled him and Lunny followed it up the next over with a plumb LBW, had Sam taken his batting form into the field he would of taken a low catch off Lunny but took another step towards the “LURPAK” with another spill, Lunny’s bowling was causing all sorts of problems and on another day he could of taken 4 wickets, finding the edge that didn’t quite carry to Gary in the slips and numerous balls just missing the stumps. Sam came on to replace Fez and he too was unlucky with 2 bottom edges in one over but took some punishment from the batsmen as the home team reached their total in the 17th over. A defeat but not embarrassing and a good effort all round.

MOM Batting Sam Bainbridge
MOM Bowling Michael Lunn
MOM Fielding Dave Hamer (he needed oxygen when he got home!!!!!


WEEK 3



Great win for the first XI - seconds did not play again, this time due to a very wet pitch at Aldbrough St John

Haughton 1st XI v Dales


A much changed 1st team with every player under 21 except Dave hosted early league leaders Dales in cloudy but warm conditions, Sam in his first game of the season won the toss and what was a softish wicket asked the visitors to bat first.

Neil opened the bowling in his 1st game of the season, he started off quite wayward and went for 15 runs off his 1st two overs, Lunny bowling from the other end took a wicket in his 1st over when their opener dragged on, he then took 2 more wickets in his next over, the first a juggling catch by Shanny the 2nd another bowled on one that kept low. Both bowlers then bowled really well, conceding just 16 more runs in their next 16 overs, Neil finally getting rewards for his excellent improved bowling by getting one to nip back and clip the bails and the next ball good fielding by Brownie saw a good run out the new batsman. Danny held a good catch and Lunny picked up his 5th wicket with a plumb LBW. Brownie replaced Neil and picked up 2 cheap wickets to finish the innings off with Dales all out for 37.

After a brief interval for Tea Sam opened with Gary and in a torrid first over which included a close LBW shout Sam was bowled for a duck, Danny joined Gary (both playing their first games of the season) Danny looked comfortable and when Gary edged to the slips Mark joined Danny. Both batsmen played cautiously and started to chip away at the small total, Mark toe-ended one for 6 and Danny hit a sweet 4 but boundaries were difficult to get. Despite a few ugly swishes by Mark he showed that he is starting to get used to the slower wickets of Haughton and it was fitting that he should hit the winning run in the 22nd over. A comfortable victory, which keeps the team at the right end of the division. Midweek cup matches start this week with a hard match against Crathorne on Friday evening away.

Batting MOM Mark Dobinson
Bowling MOM Michael Lunn
Fielding MOM Matthew Brown



WEEK 2



A great win for the firsts and a narrow defeat for the seconds - reports to follow soon [I hope!!]

1st XI report

Haughton 1st XI v Catterick Village


A much depleted and inexperienced 1st team took the trip to North Yorkshire to take on newly promoted Catterick Village in cloudy but mild conditions, Dave acting as skipper unfortunately lost the toss and what was a soft wicket was asked to bat first.

Steven Allanby and Adam (Butch) Fenwick opened with instructions to stay there and try and bat the full 35 overs, they stuck to the task well against some tight bowling and sometimes sloppy fielding before Butch played an ugly shot and was bowled for 12, Andrew Sturgeon came in at 3 and looked reasonably comfortable until he popped one up to be caught for 7 and the next over Steven was out after skiing a delivery for a well batted 25, old stagers Colin and Keith then settled the innings down until Keith was caught and bowled and 2 balls later Reidy was dismissed in the same fashion. Dave came in at 7 and together with Colin got the score towards 100 with 3 boundaries before he was out caught at mid wicket, Sam Newton and Colin then got the score up to a very respectable 109-6 at the end of 35 overs with Colin unbeaten on 31.

A nice tea was served and it must of proved an omen because Colin won a raffle prize, Catterick started their innings off very well despite Colin bowling 3 maidens in a row, unfortunately Andrew missed a ball and it hit his helmet costing us 5 runs thankfully it didn’t prove too costly in the end, Steven was bowling a bit short so Keith came on at the other end and once he found his line and length proved very difficult to get runs off, that said Catterick were moving on nicely until Sam Newton came on to bowl for a tired Colin, (Colin also bowled a wide!!!) he got his length right and with his worst ball made the breakthrough, a superb catch by Phil, yes Phil (the ball hit him in the mid-rift and he clung onto it, Sam bowled 6 overs for 16 before Steven came back on and could of picked up a wicket when Dave flung himself through the air like a gazelle but couldn’t quite take what would have been an early contender for catch of the season. With Catterick looking comfortable on 85-1 in the 26th over Colin came back on to bowl and together him and Keith put the squeeze on Catterick, wickets started to fall regularly with Keith taking 2 wickets and Colin the other 5 as the overs ran out leaving Haughton victorious by 4 runs.

A mention must go to Keith for his gargantuous efforts with the ball, after 9 overs he wanted to come off but stayed on the bowl 14 overs taking 2-34, Colin’s figures of 5-22 was also special but all 11 players should get a mention for their fielding, enthusiasm and energy when we looked beaten.



2nd XI report v Raby Castle II's

Finally….after a week of wet weather, numerous pullouts and more roller trouble than you could shake a huge stick at the 2nd team season got underway at home to Raby Castle.
Craig Rennie, making his debut as captain, won the toss and elected to field on a muggy and overcast day. A late pull out had meant that only 10 players took to the field including “little” Nezzy making his Haughton debut. Michael Lunn and Craig Rennie opened the bowling and started very well with only 4 runs coming from the first 4 over’s. In the 5th over Lunny made the breakthrough with on 6 runs on the board….the batsman attempting to pull a delivery that was short of a length but only deflected the ball onto his own stumps. The good tight bowling continued with the Raby batsmen slowly rebuilding. The Raby no. 3 was given an early life when he was dropped by Richie Barker attempting a lofted drive through mid-off. Haughton didn’t have to wait much longer for a wicket though when Craig Rennie trapped the opener plumb lbw with the score on 20. Craig then went on to take another wicket in his next over, this time Lunny holding onto a fingertip catch at 2nd slip. Haughton had making a very bright start restricting Raby to 26 for 1 after 15 over’s.

Raby pushed their score along steadily, riding their luck at times with a number of aerial shots. A couple of very tough chances came and went and after 20 over’s the score had moved onto 32/3. After replacing Lunny at the pavilion end Martin Whitfield made the breakthrough in the 23rd over. The batsman attempting to cut a ball short of a length succeeded in edging to Mark Dobinson behind the stumps. Due to Martin’s “rapid” pace Mark had time to jump….land….and then jump again to take to catch a one handed catch high to his right. The wicket brought the infamous Ian “Whacker” Walker to the crease. After an over or two of his Strictly Come Dancing footwork he was clean bowled by Martin having only made 2!!! (Thanks to Peter Whitfield’s “patella stop” on the boundary). Raby continued to slowly build their total and finished on 88/6 off their 35 overs. In a good fielding display only 3 bowlers were used, Lunny 26/1 off 13, Craig Rennie 15/2 off 11 and Martin 36/3 off 11. A good all round fielding effort with special mention for “Young” Nezzie and Ian Burgess who subbed for more than 20 over’s.

After 7 long cold winter months, the wait was over, the Sturgeon wraps returned!!! Once again a fab teatime effort from the Sturgeon household and everyone in the 2nd team….there was even smoked Salmon, which must make Haughton 2nds teas the classiest in the Darlington & District League.

Mark and Paul Dobinson opened the Haughton reply and they started positively. Mark became a little too positive and was unlucky to be caught at mid off attempting the aerial approach for only 2. Craig Day joined Paul at the crease and both looked in good nick with Paul adopting the role of the aggressor. The score had progressed onto 35/1 when pivotal point in the game arrived. Craig day playing an aggressive shot to the Raby spinner was adjudged stumped by the square leg umpire when it was suggested the Keeper broke the stumps without the ball in his hands. Haughton’s bad luck continued when a delivery to Paul Dobinson shot along the floor to leave him plumb LBW for 28. Haughton’s score had gone from 39/2 to 49/4. Lunny’s departure at lunch had meant only 9 Haughton batsmen remained. Peter Whitfield could also class himself a little unlucky after middling a drive, the Raby fielder took it at his boot laces. It fell to Richie “the wall” Barker to anchor the innings. With 10 over’s remaining Haughton required 27 runs with 4 wickets remaining. Not so ably assisted by Martin Whitfield, Richie pounced on anything loose and pushed the Haughton score along. With the score on 70 both Richie (28) and Martin (0) attempted to pull rank long hops but both holed out to leave the score on 70/6. Johnny Sturgeon quickly followed, and it was left to Captain Craig and Little Nezzie to bring Haughton home. Despite the sledging Nezzie managed to keep Raby at bay and even scored his first runs for the club.

Unfortunately on the last ball of the 32nd over Captain Craig was run out attempting to keep the strike leaving Haughton all out for 79…just 8 runs shy of their target. The innings was carried well by Paul (28) and Richie (22) but ultimately the shortened batting order did for Haughton. Onwards and upwards and hopefully a first league win against Aldbrough next Saturday.


WEEK 1



What a start to the season!! - the second team match was cancelled on Friday night and the decision to call off the first team match was delayed until Saturday morning - 2 points to each team