The Owzat-Cricket Notts Premier League season is now well underway and, in both their Premier Division, and Division Two, there’s a pair of clubs who’ve began with three wins apiece after Saturday’s games.
Both Cuckney CC and Kimberley Institute CC are locked on 24 points atop of the Premier Division, whilst it’s Collingham & District CC and Mansfield Hosiery Mills CC with the same in Division Two with, on the main at least, plenty of runs being registered.
Cuckney have opened the new season with victories over Welbeck CC (a), Plumtree CC (h), and Attenborough CC (a), with the usual suspects of Nicholas Keast and Nick Langford amongst the early run-getters.
Keast (63) and Langford (30 n/o) featured as Cuckney defeated Welbeck by seven wickets in their season opener, whilst on matchday two, in a low-scoring game with Plumtree CC, Tom Rowe (34 n/o) top-scored.
Saturday though would see Cuckney at their best in the crease, registering 303/6 as they put hosts Attenborough CC very much to the sword, Cuckney then proceeding to dismiss their hosts for just 112, to win by 191 runs.
Evan Laughton (82 n/o) and Nick Langford (81) both passed the eighty-mark, with Tom Rowe (57) also adding a half-century for added measure, Lucas Stentiford 39 n/o in reply.
Second-placed Kimberley opened with a seven-wicket success over West Bridgfordians CC, for whom Ben Martindale hit an impressive 65, however, nobody else reached double figures; in reply Ximus du Plooy hit 46 and Akhil Patel 23 n/o to help the hosts home.
On matchday two Kimberley saw off hosts Radcliffe-on-Trent CC by nine wickets, bowling them for 130 before replying with 131/1 as Ryan Buckley (61), and unbeaten knocks from George Bacon (30 n/o) and Jack Nightingale (28 n/o) saw them home.
It was a tighter affair on Saturday though, Kimberley defeating visitors Papplewick & Linby CC by just seven runs, both sides knocking over 200 runs; Ximus du Plooy (91 n/o) and Harry Ratcliffe (43) for the hosts, Freddie McCann (73) and Ben Bhabra (64) replying for the visitors.
Other results on Saturday saw Cavaliers & Carrington CC defeat West Bridgfordians by eight wickets in a low-scoring game, Wollaton CC edged hosts Notts & Arnold CC by one wicket, Hucknall CC defeated hosts Radcliffe by eight wickets in a game which saw only forty runs apiece registered, and Plumtree defeated hosts Welbeck by eight wickets also.
In Division Two, Collingham opened with victories against Notts Unity CC (h, 66 runs), Gedling Colliery CC (a, 10 wickets), and Clipstone CC (h, 51 runs), whilst Mansfield Hosiery Mills, who join Collingham on-top, have registered successes against Caythorpe CC (h, 2 wickets), Cavaliers & Carrington CC IIs (a, 99 runs; Mark Smallwood 101 and Charana Nanayakkara 75), and Balderton CC (h, 21 runs).
Elsewhere on Saturday Clifton Village CC defeat Cavs & Carrington IIs by seven wickets, Gedling Sherwood CC won by 87 runs against Notts Unity, and Gedling Colliery CC defeated Thoresby Colliery CC by seven wickets.
League newcomers Anston CC (4) and Gedling Colliery CC (6) are sat in the top six after the opening three games of the season, the former having won one, away to Gedling & Sherwood, and had two cancelled already, whilst the latter have a 1-1-1 record thus far (one win, one loss, one cancelled), the victory coming against Thoresby Colliery, whilst the loss was a ten-wicket hammering off the early leaders.
Still to win this season are that of Attenborough (three losses) and Radcliffe (two losses, one cancelled) in the Premier Division, and Thoresby Colliery (three losses) in Division Two.
*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).
*Main image @NottsPrem Jake Wright in action for Hucknall v Radcliffe on Trent.
