Northumberland leagues review
Jul 14 2008 The Journal
WITH the weather wiping out nine of the 12 games in the top two divisions of the Wellstream Northumberland and Tyneside Senior League, the undoubted star of the day was Percy Main’s popular professional Mohtashim Ali.
Even though his side couldn’t overcome opponents Alnwick in a game eventually abandoned because of the rain, Ali still managed to score the runs necessary to take him past the 1,000 mark in just his 11th innings. A measure of his achievement is the fact that no-one else in Division A2 has breached the 500-run barrier yet.
Going into the match needing 132 to reach the landmark, Ali crashed 134 as Main posted a total of 253-5. When the game ended with Alnwick on 80-2 the home side pocketed 11 points to increase their lead at the top.
The only other game played in the division saw Seaton Burn’s struggles near the foot of the table continue as Whickham secured a convincing eight-wicket home win.
Robin Moor (3-37 in 13 overs) and Ryan Thornber (3-18 in five overs) had the visitors toiling and Seaton could only scrape together a score of 110. Matthew Parr (53) and James Pearce (41no) then shared in a second-wicket stand of 86 that effectively burnt off Seaton’s resistance. Parr’s innings included six fours and one six and Pearce stroked eight boundaries in his knock.
Annfield Plain took full advantage of other teams’ inactivity in the top flight to soar up to third in the table with a seven-wicket win over relegation-threatened Backworth. Alan Robson (32) did his best for the visitors but with Saqib Khan (4-32 in 11 overs) bowling as well as ever, the eventual total of 140-9 appeared vulnerable.
And so it proved as Graham Carr quickly took the game away from Backworth with an undefeated innings of 86 – and amazingly 80 of that total came in boundaries as Carr crashed eight fours and seven sixes. With Andrew Donnelly (34) lending solid support the Plain won in just 25 overs.
A win for Warkworth, a hammering for Corbridge and a waterlogging for Bedlington combined to provide an intriguing twist to the championship race in the Three Counties Northumberland League.
The Terriers’ game at Blyth was an early victim of the previous day’s downpours which left countless games in the region unable to start, and armed with this knowledge Corbridge had a golden opportunity to take over the leadership of the division. But their dreams faded as Blue Flames scorched to a seven-wicket success. Abid Zia (4-21 in 13 overs) and Shaun Collins (3-11 in 13) were impressive as the Corbridge innings went up in smoke for just 78, a total that was passed with ease by the home team.
Meanwhile, Alnmouth’s Andrew Hodgson (52) was doing his best to scupper Warkworth’s ambitions. His runs were the main inspiration behind his side’s useful-looking score of 195-9. The home side’s Billy Pringle (3-23) and Martin Clark (3-44) had kept things in reasonable check.
Despite the stretching target, a century second-wicket partnership between Michael Sewell (58) and Adam Hall (65) set the hosts up for a tilt at glory. And even though Robin Tudor (4-43) did his best to halt the free-flowing Warkworth batsmen his efforts were in vain as the home team romped to victory with five wickets to spare – a win that took them to the top of the league.
CHRIS WEST
