Westgate 290 for 4 (7pts) v Arnside 126 for 6 (1 pt.) Westgate visited Arnside for a top of the table clash in a game sponsored by Readers. Rain reduced the match to 40 over per side & Westgate were inserted after losing the toss. After 4 overs the score stood at 42 for with No. 3 Peter Wilson stroking the ball everywhere with a personal tally of 34 off his first 10 balls. He then featured in a 3rd wicket stand of 117 in 21 overs with Dave Hannigan (33) and then in a stand of 128 in 12 overs with Khan Puffett(48 n.o). Wilson’s personal stats saw his 50 off 40 balls, his 100 off 78 balls, his 150 off 127 balls and he finished on 189 not out off 144 balls, smashing the individual league record for Division 1 in the process, which had stood for 31 years. In is innings he hit 27 fours and five maximums giving him 138 runs in boundaries alone.

The team score of 290 was just two behind the biggest first division team score and but for the late start this would also have been surpassed.

The early loss of Mark Brockbank and Nobby Lee saw Kevin ‘ton’ Howarth join Adam Richardson at the crease in the Arnside reply. Tight bowling by Danny Wilkinson (1-21) and man of the moment Wilson (4-48) left the home team hanging in for the draw. Richardson (58no) held the innings together as they comfortably clung on for a losing draw.

Warton 137-5, Shireshead 136-7 Warton strengthened their lead at the top, despite yet another below-par performce.

The threat of losing overs meant that this was always going to be an important toss to win but more rain at 1pm meant that the start was going to be delayed.

The outfield was roped expertly by Ideson and Gould, wet areas on the square were covered by Rafferty, the square Water-Hogged by Crowther and Barrow, an early tea was prepared.

A 3pm inspection gave us hope of a 3.30 start, umpires Hulse and Walker saying that the wicket was dry under the covers. When they were eventually taken off, however, there was leakage on a length and the start had to be delayed until 4pm and reduced effectively to a 30/30 cup tie. An early and delicious tea was taken.

For the 8th time out of 10 Crowther won the toss and put Shireshead in. Rafferty and Gould began the attack but again struggled to make an early impact - a combination of wides, no-balls, the odd 'smash me for 4' delivery and lacklustre fielding helping Singh and Shah establish a solid base at 3 an over.

The breakthrough came in the 14th over as Gould beat the bat and Sayer smartly stumped Singh for 21. Rafferty, having reduced his run-up, struck twice soon after. Firstly Jennings (1) became Sayer's second stumping and with the next delivery Rafferty bowled Jacques for a duck to leave Shireshead on 56/3 off 17.

Rafferty claimed his third wicket when Yates tried to smack him for a straight 6 but he clearly underestimated the athletic prowess of Crowther who raced round from Long On to gather the ball into his paunch.

Oliver joined Shah at the crease and immediately the pair began to increase the tempo, with Ideson replacing Gould at the Railway End. When Gould (1/26) dropped Oliver off Ideson and Shah reached his 50 the next ball there were a few discernible tuts from Warton veterans patrolling the perimeter.

Tuts turned to applause in the next over when Oliver tried to pull Rafferty (4/64) through deep square leg only for Tugman to race round and take an excellent catch. Excellent fielding from Dixon in the same over ought to have seen Shah run out, only for the ball to hit some mysterious air-pocket as it bounced into Sayer's hands, making it impossible for the keeper to take cleanly, and thus avoiding a fine.

With atmospheric conditions back to normal in the next over, Dixon again fired a sharp throw above the stumps and this time Sayer collected cleanly and ran Shah out for 56.

A few quickly-scored twos helped the Shireshead total before Ideson (1/42) bowled Jack for 27 in the final over, leaving the visitors on 136/7 off 30.

Warton seem to have established an opening pairing of Barrow and Rafferty, with both players capable of adapting their play to the demands of the situation.

The score ticked over nicely with both players finding the gaps for singles before Rafferty hit an excellent slip-drive for 4 off Jennings. A pull off the front foot for 4 by Rafferty and a solid cover drive by Barrow's controlled aggression saw Warton race to 36 off 6 overs.

Oliver was bowling well from the Railway End and eventually had Barrow caught at slip by Jacques for 24 with the score on 55. This brought "Bill Beaver" Bovis to the crease but the dismissal of Rafferty (28) gave the Shireshead bowlers a fresh determination with Warton 56/2 off 15.

Not for the first time this season, the Warton middle-order failed to make an impact. The run-rate slowed drastically. Oliver continued to bowl tightly and managed to bowl Ideson for 3. Shortly after, Bovis failed to notice that Gould was in traction and using a Zimmerframe with a respirator attached, called for a quick single - Gould run out for 8.

Dixon's dismissal for 0 brought Crowther to the crease to partner Bovis and the pair set about repairing the damage. The skipper was fresh from the fact that he had done nothing all day - no bowling, no misfields - and he set about proving that he deserved Sayer's No. 4 spot. And then Bovis came in to his own ... creaming Oliver for a massive 6 onto the railway at cow, then clipping another 6 off his leg with perfect timing.

A straight 4 from Crowther (21NO) secured the victory with an over to spare, leaving Bovis on 46 not out.

A win is a win, and with Westgate dropping points we should be pleased, but there was a bit of lethargy and carelessness about the performance today. We cannot afford that next week.

Games at Sedgwick and Kirkby Lonsdale were abandoned due to rain.

Sedgwick 121-9, Burneside 122-6 The previous day’s rain had softened the wicket which as expected made this a low scoring affair. On winning the toss Burneside elected to bowl but that decision looked a questionable one as a poor first over from Oates resulted in 15 on the board for the home side.

Dixon kept the scoring in check with some excellent swing bowling as he removed Bracken to a difficult swirling catch at mid off. Nick Dalzell at 3 looked to be positive from ball 1 but some tennis ball bounce made back foot shots difficult as he accumulated rather than accelerated. Dixon finished his 5 over spell for 1-10 but with 45 from the other end Sedgwick were well placed after 10 overs with 58 on the board.

The introduction of leg spinner Aiden Caswell changed the game and couple with some miserly bowling from Stewart they picked off the middle order including the prize wicket of N Dalzell for a well made 30. Brother Jason Dalzell finished with 25. Some scrambled running coupled with a few lusty blows late in the innings gave Sedgwick a total of 121-9. Caswell 3-19 & Stewart 2-13 the pick of the bowlers.

In reply Burneside got off to a disastrous start with Shepherd run out for 1 and Cooper caught and bowled for a duck. At 1-2 Sedgwick stood favourites but a spirited fight back from Oates (25) and Huck (23) took the score to 50 – 2 after 14.

However both perished after a couple of tight overs and with the game back in the balance a partnership was required with 70 needed from 11 overs remaining. Batty and Duckett were up for the challenge as some good running between the stumps along with much needed boundaries reduced the equation to 20 off 3. With 4 required from the last over, Duckett (19) lost his middle stump and a couple of dot balls got the nerves jangling but Batty saw the job done finishing on a match winning 31no with 2 balls remaining.

Pick of the bowlers for the home side were Willacy 2-13 (including 3 maidens) and N Dalzell 2 -19.

Burneside now progress to a semi final clash with Milnthorpe in search of a record breaking third consecutive H&L triumph.

* Reports unaltered, see this week's Gazette for league round up.