The 1st XI, visiting reigning champions Lindum, lost the toss and were asked to bat. Lindum used their medium pacers and slow bowlers effectively on a wicket providing plenty of assistance for them. Sleaford adopted a somewhat cavalier approach, not seen since the state school under 9’s championship – provisional rounds, and wickets tumbled at regular intervals. Sleaford was dismissed for a woeful 112 and failed to use 21 of their allotted 50 overs. Having seen the medium and slower bowlers’ success Sleaford opted to use pace(ish) and though successful in limiting the watchful Lindum batters scoring, did not prove at all penetrative. Lindum reached their target in the 29th over. The highlight for Sleaford was Andy Hibberd catching a ball that had hit the off stump when Lindum legend Will Wright was bowled by Cam Hall.
The 2nd XI welcomed Skegness 1st XI to London Road. Having won the toss, they inserted the opposition and soon got amongst the wickets. All of the bowlers bowled economically and they were able to dismiss Skegness for just 154 in 44 overs. Lambert picking up 3 wickets, with 2 each for Goddard and Nel and a wicket apiece for Makwana and Oliver Sneath. An opening partnership of 40 from veterans Nel and Sneath quelled any early nerves, although wickets were starting to fall as batters got starts but no one was going on to make a major contribution. Calm heads prevailed as Hutson and Glendinning put on 28 for the 7th wicket as the total was knocked off with time to spare. Sanders again top scoring with 39. The team now sit atop the SLB Championship with a 20 point gap over 2nd placed Moulton Harrox, but face a gap week next Saturday.
On Sunday, the 1st, 2nd and Women’s XI’s all faced Nettleham. The 1st XI was thankful to overseas player Daniel Smith for his 147 out of their total of 184, 85% of the runs scored from the bat as extras were the next top scorer with 12! In reply, the Sleaford attack made early inroads as Nettleham were reduced to 16/4, then 79/7 before a mini recovery took them to 138/8. The innings closing on 169 all out, to gift Sleaford the win by 15 runs. Hibberd capturing 3 wickets with a brace apiece for Bowlby, Sneath and Harbron.
The Sunday 2’s had a comfortable victory over Nettleham Academy. Asked to field first, a mixture of youth and experience restricted their opponents to 146 all out in just 30 overs. Lambert being the pick of the bowlers with 4/19, backed up by Phillips with 3 wickets and 1 each for Micah Young and Josh Nel. With the bat, Ben Glendinning completed a not out weekend with 93 from 98 deliveries, supported by a patient 28 from George Hix to give Sleaford the win by 9 wickets.
The Women’s fixture did not go as planned. Restricting Nettleham to 121/8 from their 35 overs seems a good effort on the face of it. Mel Jarvis and Millie Townend both picking up 2 victims, with 1 each for Holly Vaughan, Tamsin Henry and Evie Jarvis. The batting innings was a disaster as they were dismissed for just 55 in 26.2 overs with only Tamsin and Chloe Mulhall reaching double digits to record a loss by 66 runs. Possibly, the Women are a little undercooked this season having lost so much cricket to the elements.
It appears teams are unwilling or unable to bat their allotted overs. Fun fact, in the 5 senior games this weekend, with a total of 420 scheduled overs to be bowled or 2520 legal deliveries, only 1989 were required for 5 separate results, a deficit of 88.3 overs.
Results from the past week.
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | Result | |
| 1 June | Lindum CC 1st XI…. | Sleaford CC 1st XI…. | Lost by 7 wickets | Scorecard |
| Sleaford CC 2nd XI…. | Skegness CC 1st XI…. | Win by 4 wickets | Scorecard | |
| 2 June | Nettleham CC Sunday 1st XI…. | Sleaford CC Sunday 1st XI…. | Win by 15 runs | Scorecard |
| Sleaford CC Sunday 2nd XI…. | Nettleham CC Academy XI…. | Win by 9 wickets | Scorecard | |
| Nettleham CC Womens 1st XI…. | Sleaford CC Womens 1st XI…. | Lost by 66 runs | Scorecard |
Fixtures for the week ahead
| Date | Start Time | Home Team | Away Team |
| Monday 3 June | 18:00 | Sleaford CC Under 13 | Woodhall Spa CC Under 13 |
| Tuesday 4 June | 18:00 | Lindum CC Under 15 Gladiators | Sleaford CC Under 15 |
| Wednesday 5 June | 18:30 | Sleaford CC Women’s Super 8’s | Market Deeping CC Women’s Super 8’s |
| Saturday 8 June | 11:30 | Sleaford CC 1st XI | Long Sutton CC 1st XI |
| Sunday 9 June | 13:00 | Owmby CC Sunday XI | Sleaford CC Sunday 1st XI |
| 13:00 | Harlaxton CC Sunday 1st XI | Sleaford CC Sunday 2nd XI | |
| 13:00 | Sleaford CC Womens 1st XI | Woodhall Spa CC Womens 1st XI | |
| 13:00 | Keyworth CC Womens Soft Ball | Sleaford CC Women’s Soft Ball | |
| 15:00 | Caythorpe CC Women’s Softball | Sleaford CC Women’s Soft Ball |
League Tables can be located via these links
Leave a Reply