Bletchley Town put in an excellent performance away at Banbury, only to be denied their chance of victory by the rain in their Division One clash.

Following two dismal performances in the last fortnight, the visitors were keen to improve on recent displays, and were unlucky not to win.

Bletchley lost the toss for the fifth week in succession and were unsurprisingly put to bat on a greenish looking track.

Things started badly when Alex Kilbey feathered a Khalid delivery to the wicketkeeper in the second over for a duck.

Kenroy Hollis came in and alongside Graham Simpson batted steadily against the home attack. With both batsmen set, Hollis in particular opened his shoulders playing some blistering shots to all parts on his way to a magnificent 75.

The pair hit 108 for the second wicket until Simpson was harshly adjudged lbw for an excellent 40.

Town were set for a good score until they lost Hollis and Sprittles in a matter of overs. This precipitated a mini collapse as Bletchley stumbled from 143-3 to 151-7.

Stuart Cooper came in at number eight to hit an unbeaten 32 in an innings high in invention, and he steered the visitors to a total of 196-9 at the end of their 53 overs.

Town were confident that their total would prove to be challenging and this was backed up by Sprittles who quickly removed both openers to leave the hosts on 10-2. Ghufran Mohammed then struck with two wickets in two balls to leave the hosts at 30-4.

With the rain clouds looming, Simpson removed the dangerous Pearson who was caught behind by Alex Kilbey.

Shortly afterwards, a rain break of 40 minutes reduced the overs remaining and meant that Bletchley had just 15 overs to claim a victory.

Upon resumption both Clark and Grant looked at ease until the introduction of James Clark accounted for his namesake who was well caught by Ian Smith for 28. Clark then bowled Thomas two balls later to leave Banbury teetering on 96-7.

Mohammed was re-introduced into the attack and claimed the wicket of Soppett for a duck. When he removed Grant for a patient 22, Mohammed had five balls to win the match.

But Steve Hart held firm and Town had to settle for the draw with the home side at 104-9 in 39 overs.

Bletchley remain third from bottom of the table with one win in eight games.

Wolves return to second

Wolverton traveled to Dinton 2nds and picked up a five-wicket victory to move second in Division Three.

Under the hot sun the visitors won the toss and elected to field first in the hope of securing back-to-back wins following last weekend's victory against Bledlow.

It took Andrew Gosling just five overs before he struck, removing number two batsman Kelloway and his fellow opener two overs later as the visitors made the perfect start to the game.

Ali tried to steady the innings with a solid 54 off 49 deliveries, but wickets kept falling around him on a regular basis as the home side struggled with the Wolves attack.

Only Law, who came in at number seven, offered some resistence with his 41 before Jamil Raja took him lbw while returning good figures of 3-23 off 10 overs.

Gosling added to a fine season's tally to date with 3-53, while Atif Akhlaq finished the home side's innings with the first ball of his opening and they closed on 211 all out.

Wolverton went out to chase down the target but had an early set back as James Bell departed for a duck in the second over of the innings.
But Charlie Maw on 52 and Jake Yeo (58) made a stand off 117 to put their side in the driving seat.

Sean Potter with 23 and Kabir Arif with 37 not out then guided Wolverton to victory as they reached 214-5 in 48 overs.

The Dinton bowlers had a difficult afternoon with Scott returning figures of 2-65 off 14 overs while the other three wickets were shared around.

The win moves Wolves back to second place and leaves them four points behind early pace-setters Twyford.

>> Wolverton 2nds are struggling in Division Six after going down to their fourth defeat this term as high-flying Horspath 2nds left with the points.

Wolves opened with a disappointing 121 all out before Horspath battled their way to a four-wicket victory on 125-6. The loss means Wolves sit seventh in the table.

Brickhill draw but Tubb wins plaudits

Great Brickhill travelled to Princes Risborough and kept their unbeaten start to the season going with a winning draw.

On a hot day Brickhill lost the toss and were put into bat on what looked to be a good wicket.

An early wicket fell but Andy Ward and Shannon Tubb both looked in good touch as they scored freely all over the ground.

Ward was eventually out after an excellent 62, while Tubb continued to find the boundary with ease. Andy Higgs made a breezy 35 as Tubb went on to record a deserved century.

In the search for quick runs and a declaration, Tubb began to smash the ball to all parts of the ground, finishing on an amazing 181 not out as the visitors declared on 315-4.

In reply the hosts looked to bat out the overs on what proved to be a very flat track. Wickets were hard to come by and after 40 overs Risborough were 100-2.

Brickhill started to rattle through the overs and the spin of Tubb started to make headway. However, the Risborough batsmen continued to block out the overs finishing on 171-6, Tubb adding to his runs with four wickets.

The draw leaves Brickhill second in the table behind leaders Oxford Downs 2nds who beat Banbury.

>> Brickhill 2nds also maintained their unbeaten start by beating Banbury by 65 runs.

Brickhill lost the toss and posted a modest total of 202 all out. Mick Sibley hit another half century with good support from Alaistair Bowden (44).

In reply Banbury fell to 137 all out, Glen Burrows taking 7-44 which included a remarkable five wickets in five balls, all in one over.

The win sees Brickhill joint top of Division Eight with Aston Rowant 3rds.