Market Deeping were the visitors to London Road this Saturday as Sleaford 1st XI continued in their pursuit of the Lincs ECB Premier League title. Winning the toss and electing to bat, Sleaford developed several middling partnerships with many of the batters getting in, but not going on to get the big score to set a daunting total. Nevertheless, with Cooper 48, Shorthouse 40 , Hibberd 36 and a quickfire undefeated 26 from Cameron Hall the team would have been confident of defending 231 despite not batting out their overs being all-out with 14 deliveries unused. Deeping who Sleaford had hammered in their T20 fixture a few weeks earlier started unimpressively with both openers dismissed with just 5 runs on the board. A 57 run partnership was built which was ended by a fine one-handed grab at slip by Hibberd followed by another with his other hand leaving the opposition 72-4 and Sleaford seemingly heading towards another win. However, with Malton joining Sargeant at the crease Deeping had other ideas putting on 74 runs for the 5th wicket and then 59 runs for the 6th to break the back of the run chase but not before Hibberd had taken his 3rd one hander at slip. The game looked to be slipping away but the 46th over from Shorthouse gave Sleaford a glimmer of hope with a double wicket maiden, but the hope was soon extinguished as Deeping got over the line with 2 overs to spare. A below par total with the bat and some erratic seam bowling combined for a bad day at the office and Sleaford slipping to their first ‘legitimate’ defeat of the 2023 premier league campaign. Shorthouse finishing with excellent figures of 4-23 but did not get the support he needed from the rest of the attack, 17 wides and 5 no balls not helping the cause. The team are still top of the table with an 8 point gap over nearest rivals Grantham and will look to bounce back away at Grimsby next Saturday.
The 2nd XI was off to Jubilee Park against Woodhall Spa. Electing to bat, only captain Hutson and Thomas Stephan managed to get into the 20s as a strengthened Woodhall dismissed Sleaford for a below par 147. Despite the efforts of veteran Goddard taking out 3 of their top 4 in his excellent opening spell of 9-2-21-3, there was very little else to cheer about as Woodhall reached the target without further loss and with 15 overs to spare.
Onto Sunday and the 2nd XI hosted Heighington. Sleaford chose to bat and despite losing the openers early on youngsters George Hix and Tom Sanders moved the scoring along nicely with Hix making 39 before being dismissed. Will Glendinning had a short stay at the crease before being replaced by his older sibling Ben who alongside Sanders batted superbly in a partnership of 152. Tom, who batted aggressively in his opening 50 runs with some risk involved seemed to find something in the orange squash at the halfway mark as he stroked the ball mainly along the ground to secure his maiden club 100, before finally being dismissed for 129 in the 37th over. Glendinning finishing undefeated on 69 as Sleaford amassed 277-6. Heighington were never in the hunt as batters were dismissed at regular intervals with wickets shared between Dylan Chessum, 2 each for George Tanner and Riley Pickwell and old-timer Ian Shorthouse burgling 4 victims to dismiss the opposition for just 122 giving Sleaford a huge margin of victory by 145 runs.
The Women’s 1st XI hosted Blyth at Nocton facing the top team in their EMWCL Division 2 North fixture. Inserting the opposition Sleaford were up against it as Blyth managed 185-7 in their 35 overs with a wicket apiece for Millie Bell, Daisy Schofield and Evie Jarvis and a brace for Libby Naylor. This was a bridge too far for the young Sleaford XI who could only muster 61 with 2 former Sleaford players claiming 8 wickets between them. Evie Jarvis top scoring with 13 in a defeat by 124 runs.
And so, onto Bank Holiday Monday as Sleaford hosted the Winkworth T20 Finals where our 1st XI faced Woodhall Spa in the 1st semi-final with the winners progressing to the final where they would take on either Bourne or Scunthorpe. Woodhall were undercooked for the day with several of the normal 1st XI not available and only 10 players turning up as they desperately tried to find an 11th man who was eligible. With Sleaford winning the toss it was an easy decision to bat first as Cooper and Shorthouse opened the batting. Shorthouse fell in the powerplay for just 14, but Cooper was on a mission and dispatched the bowling to all parts in a brutal display making an incredible 125 from just 66 balls. Aayush Patel also batted brilliantly in his 72 off 43 balls to see Sleaford post an imposing total of 227 for 3. Despite 47 from Jaywardene in response no other Woodhall batter managed double figures as Sleaford ran out comfortable winners by 139 runs with the impressive Kieran Harbron taking 5-17 from his 4 overs.
The 2nd semi-final followed a similar pattern with Bourne batting first and Pete Morgan smashing 111 in quick time, although a total of 181 was perhaps 30 short of where they would have wanted to be at the halfway mark. This mattered little as they blew away Scunthorpe for just 74 to set up a repeat of the 2022 final.
Onto the final, this time Bourne won the toss and chose to bat. Again, Morgan put the bowling to the sword with a quickfire 54 in an opening partnership of 81 before Kieran again struck and dismissed both the openers. Despite this Bourne were again on target for a score in excess of 200 but steady bowling from Cooper with 3-20 and receiving good support from Shorthouse and both Harbron brothers meant a total of 176-7 was posted leaving Sleaford being the happier dressing room at the hallway point. Cooper and Shorthouse again opened the innings and a fast start ensued as the 50 partnership was brought up at the end of the 5th over. The run rate slowed a little with Cooper out in the next over having reached 43 from just 23 deliveries. Patel and Drew Harbron went in quick succession as Hibberd joined the skipper in the middle. Shorthouse in the meantime reaching his half century in quick fashion before a mix-up saw the skipper run out by a direct hit to leave the Sleaford faithful on the edge of their seats, with the game in the balance at 127-4 in the 13th and the home side still requiring 50 to win from the remaining 7 overs. Enter Cameron Hall who had had a torrid time with the ball earlier in the match who clubbed 3 huge sixes in the 15th over to break the back of the run chase and ease the nerves. Another twist followed with Hall being run out via another direct hit, but Hibberd alongside Wing saw Sleaford over the line, winning by 5 wickets with 10 balls to spare. Sleaford retain their title and the first trophy of the season is in the bag. We await news of who our opponents are in the next round of the ECB National Club T20.
Junior Cricket
SCC U15s vs Hartsholme – Monday 22nd May
Sleaford U15s followed up their convincing 138 run opening win of the league campaign with victory away at Hartsholme. Having won the toss, Sleaford elected to bowl on a sunny evening at Ashby Avenue. On a good pitch that offer some pace and bounce, Hartsholme got off to a steady start despite some good bowling from Dan Adams and the luckless Dylan Chessum. However, the scoring rate soon slowed and wickets for Matty Eaton (1-24) Olivia Cepelak (1-3) and leading wicket taker Charlie Foran (1-5) restricted Hartsholme to 85-4 from their 18 overs. Sleaford set about chasing down the total in aggressive fashion with Tom Sanders (32 retired) and George Hix (17) playing shots all around the wicket. Oliver Sneath (7 not out) & Dylan Chessum (20 not out) saw Sleaford home to a 9 wicket win in just 10.3 overs. Two wins from the opening two games sees a positive start to the league campaign for the U15s, with the next match at home on Monday 5th June vs Lindum. Report by Phil Sneath
Summary of all Sleaford CC results from the past week
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | Result |
| 22 May | Hartsholme CC Under 15 85/4 | Sleaford CC Under 15 86/1 | Win by 9 wickets Scorecard |
| 23 May | Sleaford CC Under 13 70/1 | Boston CC Under 13 66/5 | Win by 9 wickets Scorecard |
| 26 May | Hartsholme CC Under 13 115/5 | Sleaford CC Under 13 109/2 | Loss 6 runs Scorecard |
| 27 May | Sleaford CC 1st XI 231 | Market Deeping 1st XI 234/8 | Loss by 2 wickets Scorecard |
| Woodhall Spa CC 2nd XI 151/3 | Sleaford CC 2nd XI 147 | Loss by 7 wickets Scorecard | |
| 28 May | Sleaford CC Sunday 2nd XI 277/6 | Heighington CC 1st XI 132 | Win by 54 runs Scorecard |
| 29 May | Sleaford CC 1st XI 227/3 | Woodhall Spa CC 1st XI 88 | Win by 139 runs Scorecard |
| Sleaford CC 1st XI 177/5 | Bourne CC 1st XI 176/7 | Win by 5 wickets Scorecard |
This week’s fixtures
| Date | Start Time | Home Team | Away Team |
| Tuesday 30 May | 18:00 | Sleaford CC Under 13 | Caythorpe CC Under 13 |
| Wednesday 31 May | 18:00 | Caythorpe CC Under 11 | Sleaford CC Under 11 |
| Saturday 3 June | 11:30 | Grimsby Town CC 1st XI | Sleaford CC 1st XI |
| 13:00 | Sleaford CC 2nd XI | Boston CC 1st XI | |
| Sunday 4 June | 13:00 | Caythorpe CC, Lincs Sunday 1st XI | Sleaford CC Sunday 1st XI |
| 11:00 | Sleaford CC Women’s Super 8s | Caythorpe CC, Notts Women’s Super 8s | |
| 13:00 | Sleaford CC Women’s Super 8s | Caythorpe CC, Notts Women’s Super 8s | |
| 17:00 | Sleaford CC Women’s Super 8s | Kirkby Portland CC Women’s Super 8s |
The bar will be open for all fixtures and supporters are more than welcome to come and spectate.
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