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A much improved performance gave Stony Stratford sight of their first win of the season on Saturday at home to Rushden. However, they had to settle for a winning draw in the end in what ended up a very tight game against strong opposition.

Steve Bellew, won the toss for the home side and on a worn wicket and decided to give his batsman first use on a surface that would get harder to bat on as the day went on. They were indebted to a fine knock from Dion Ebrahim, who’s 80 was the bedrock upon which Stony posted a reasonably competitive 185 for 9 on a tricky surface.

Opener Garth Davson went lbw to left armer Jake Higginbottom who swung the ball back in regularly and bowled a fine opening spell of 15 overs for just 40 runs. Fellow opening batsman, Mihir Choksi, looked assured and hit some fine looking shots all around the wicket and looked set for a big score until he followed a wide ball from Aqab Ahmed and nicked it to slip for 34.

There wasn’t much more joy for any of the other Stony batsman other than Ebrahim, who cruised to 50 with a trademark flick of his legs and looked well and truly back to his imperious best. Chris Bolton (14), Jarrod Pretorius (17) and Simon Myatt (11) all got starts but couldn’t go on  any further as Stony struggled to 152 for 6 from 48 overs. Ebrahim was by now running out of partners and began to take a few risks in his attempt to push the score on late in the innings. He reversed swept Mudasser Hussain a number of times but in the end found Tom Russell behind the corner to fall for 80. Last pair Chris Guy (5*) and Andy Humphries (5*) both made sure the home side batted out their overs and reached 185 for 9. Gareth Griffiths occasional off spin was rewarded with figures of 3 for 23 and it capped a good bowling performance from Rushden.

Against a powerful batting side, Stony needed to pull out their best bowling and fielding performance of the season and that’s exactly what they did particularly in the first 30 overs.

Habib Ullah started things off for Stony, bowling with good pace and movement and his extra pace surprised opener Tom Russell as he gloved a catch behind to Pretorius to depart for 10. The same bowler accounted for fellow opener Tom West for 10 and the wickets began to tumble. Stony’s fielding was exemplary early on and with the wicket getting slower, catches in front of the wicket rather than behind were always more likely. And so it was as Chris Guy benefitted from two athletic catches from skipper Bellew at short cover.

First, the confident Jasper Davies drove a full ball to Bellew’s right, only for the Stony skipper to fling himself full length to his right and take a one handed catch to spark big celebrations from vibrant Stony. Danger man Mohammed Hussain, was next to go, in almost identical fashion this time Bellew getting both hands to another diving effort as Rushden slumped to 53 for 4.

When Bellew replaced Ullah things got even better for Stony as he trapped Sam Fowler and Mudasser lbw for ducks to leave the visitors reeling on 58 f0r 6. But, if Stony thought they had the game wrapped up, they were wrong as Rushden skipper Griffiths and all rounder Higginbottom had other ideas. The pair put on a fine stand of 89 to take the score to 147 with ten overs still remaining.

At this point, the game had turned on it’s head and Stony looked as if they were going to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. However, when Bellew came back on and immediately had Higginbottom caught by Chris Bolton for an excellent 59, the game was in the balance again. Simon Myatt then produced an excellent spell of left arm spin, taking 2 for 30 from 11 overs.

Aqab is always dangerous down the order but perished to a simple catch by Choksi at cover off Myatt, who then had Tom Firm caught at mid off by Richard Scott for 5. At this point, Griffiths, still unbeaten decided to shut up shop with 16 needed from two overs and the last pair survived a couple of hairy moments to claim a share of the spoils in what was a great game of cricket.

Senior Burton Latimer batsman, Matthew Bell, feels that his side need to make the most of the home advantage tomorrow in their crucial fixture against Stony Stratford.

Burton Latimer, are currently bottom of the table with 21 points and Stony Stratford are marginally above them with 24 points, making this a must win game for both sides.

Bell said, “I think playing at home will be a huge advantage for us, the wicket is really good for batting and that is where our strength is. It does mean we are ready to be really disciplined with our bowling also.”

Bell himself tops the batting table to date with 326 runs to his name, at a superb average of 54.33. He sets a great example for the rest of his young team-mates to follow.

He said, “We have been working really hard together, the spirit in the side is really good, it is more like a family than a team. The younger guys especially have been putting in the effort at training and we have all been pulling together ready for this big game.”

“I have been working really hard with David Shelford, who had had a hard time of it this year, but he is a talented cricketer and I think he will definitely come good as the season progresses.”

In their last encounter Burton Latimer were victorious over Stony Stratford at home, opening bowlers, Josh Scully and Chris O’Brien, set the game up for their side. They bowled Stony out for just 124, taking seven wickets between them.

“Josh is one of your key bowlers, he has been away at university but now he is back and is training hard like the rest of the team. I think he will obviously be really important for us tomorrow.”

Burton Latimer have played one more game than Stony, and they have lost all of their five games that they have played.

“This could be the game that gets the ball rolling for us, the boys are all pumped up and we are all up for the game.”

Out of the ten players seven players are 23 or under, which shows how well the youth in the county is coming along.  Burton Latimer’s, Matthew Bell,19, tops the table with an impressive 326 runs from six games, including 116* against Wollaston. Australian Clint Tomlinson, Finedon’s overseas has scored 306 runs in just four innings with a top score of 84 against Stony Stratford.

Andy Reynoldson, has had a superb start to the season, in his six innings he has been not out once and scored a massive 302 runs so far. His highest score of 111* came against struggling Rushden on the 1st May. With an average of 60.4 this could be a great year for Renyoldson, as he has just broken in to the Northamptonshire second XI.

Fellow Saints player, Zak Harvey, is not far behind Renoyldson with 296 runs to his name thus far. He is a strong opening batsman that has settled in to Saints strong ranks. At 19 he is a great prospect for firstly Saints and for Northamptonshire. He also is in his first year with the county second XI and he has already made his maiden century for them against Huntingdonshire.

David Murphy, Rushton’s newest recruit has had an immediate impact with the bat, he has scored 268 runs at an average of 67, including one century and one fifty from his five games. His fine form for both Rushton and Loughborough has earned him up a call up to the Northamptonshire ranks as Niall O’Brien has been forced to sit on the side lines due to injury. He made his list A debut in a one day game against the Netherlands last Monday, scoring 31* and keeping exceptionally well. He is unavailable for Rushton this week against Peterborough because of his county commitments.

Old Northamptonians batsman, Richard Kaufman is the second oldest player in the top ten at 29 years old. He has hit 233 runs from his five innings, including 110 from 140 balls against Burton Latimer. He has an impressive strike-rate of 80.34 that helps the ON’s off to great starts.

At seven and eight is the Wollaston duo of Liam Bates and Matthew Jones. 23-year-old Liam, played a superb knock of 105 against Stony Stratford to help his side to a winning draw. He currently sits on 225 runs going in to his sixth inning of the season this week against the Northamptonshire Academy.

Matthew Jones, is only just behind him with 207 runs to his name, he is the only player in the top ten to have two not-outs this gives him an average of 69. He made his highest score to date in the Premier League this season with 103* against Wellingborough Town.

The ever reliable Alec Swann is the third Saints player to be in the top ten  of the batting statistics. The fact that his top score for the season in the league so far is 52 shows the consistency he has produced for his side, this is vital for an opening batsman and he produces it with ease year after year.

Number ten on the list is opening batsman, Greg Evans, he has scored 203 runs so far in the season, from his five innings, including 103* against Wellingborough in the first game of the season. He averages 50.75 and has a respectable strike rate of 64.24 and he is a vital part of Finedon’s success.

Last year only four young players, finished in top ten of the batting table, including Clint Tomlinson, Reynoldson, Bendon and Rob Keogh. With players such as Connor Cunningham and Jimmy Hart already putting their hands up and scoring runs, this year could show how much young talent the Northamptonshire Premier League has.

Evans was the pick of the bowlers yesterday, as he claimed four wickets from his four overs, conceding 21 runs as Saints attempted to chase the target of 154.

Rushton, made a solid start to the innings, with David Murphy scoring 48 quickly before being run out after a mix up, to leave the home-side with 103 on the board and three wickets down.

Young John Carpenter,16, played a great knock of 33, rotating the strike well and hitting some lusty blows off Saints experienced bowling attack.

Alex Swann restricted Rushton to 159 from their 39 overs after a superb spell of bowling, where he removed the middle order of the home-side. He took four wickets for just nine runs from his three overs.

Due to the early rain intervention Saints would need to chase the total down from just 32 overs.

Saints started well with Zak Harvey taking toll on any sort of a bad ball, he made 20 quickly before being caught by a stunning catch from keeper Murphy off the bowling off captain Jackson.

Andy Renoyldson, played the lone hand of the innings playing superbly for his 51, including a huge six that crashed in to the site screen. However he was trapped LBW by Evans to give Rushton the upper hand.

Mark Wolstenholme, also chipped in with a valiant 24 however, he only managed to hole out going for the win, to give Marcus Steed his wicket for the innings.

Marcus bowled exceptionally well for little reward, beating the outside edge at regular intervals. He finished with figures of 12 overs, three maidens, one wicket for 39 runs. An outstanding effort in a close run chase.

Saints lost five wickets for 33 runs, a statistic that meant they fell well short of the Rushton target. Richard Stemp and Harry Bailey both finished on 0* to save the game for their side.

Rushton finished with 12 points to take them to fourth place and Saints claimed six points that ensured they remained at the top of the table with a total of 131 points from their six games.

Opening batsman Alex Swann feels that Saints victory over Finedon last week will give them an extra boost for the season.

Swann said, “That is the first time we have beaten Finedon in the league I think in about four years, it is a really good boost for us because Finedon have always had a bit of a thumb over us in the league games so excellent boost for us all round.”

Saints have both recruited and brought on some of their own youngsters to have a good blend of youth and experience in their ranks. Young opening batsman, Zak Harvey, has been in very good touch getting his side of to solid starts. He scored 89* in Saints rain affected winning draw against Wellingborough and last week he made a very good 52 from 62 deliveries, including 11 boundaries.

Harry Bailey is opening the bowling for the Saints this season after a brief spell with the first team last year. He has proved economical and his team mates are backing him to help them throughout the season.

“A couple of years ago we had a really strong side, but it was quite an old side. Now we have had some younger lads come in who are all playing reasonably well, it is a good blend really. The likes of Zak, Harry Bailey are great young players and Andy Renolydson has been a good signing and it is making a lot of difference. We are better in the field than we have been.”

Saints who top the league going in to this week’s clash against sixth place Rushton having dominated them in their last encounter. Rushton were reduced to 169 for 9, chasing 252, Alex Swann and Zak Harvey both made half centuries and put on an opening stand of 114 to get Saints off to a good start. In response only Kieran Pierce made a respectable score making 56.

Swann said, “We have always done quite well against Rushton, we have had some good tussells at their  place where we are playing at the weekend. They have signed a couple of good players, David Murphy and Evans, the lad from Glamorgan. They have always been a good side with good players, so I think they are going to be in the mixer.”

Veteran bowler, Pat Latham, will again be available for tomorrow, he is a fine performer and has always taken wickets on a regular basis in the premier league. He will take the place of Riaan Krynauw, who made 22, batting at four last week.

“We would like to have thought we would have been up there challenging at the start of the year, that is what we set our sights on doing. We thought we would be up there challenging with the likes of Finedon, Peterborough, the ON’s and the usual suspects. I am not surprised we are up there but I am encouraged by the way we have played.”