Ickleford kept up their promotion charge with a crushing home victory over Northwood Town seconds. The visitors opted to bat on a flat, benign pitch and made early headway, reaching 49 without loss. But once the initial breakthrough had been made, Icklefo

Ickleford kept up their promotion charge with a crushing home victory over Northwood Town seconds.

The visitors opted to bat on a flat, benign pitch and made early headway, reaching 49 without loss. But once the initial breakthrough had been made, Ickleford made steady progress.

The bowling attack was spearheaded by Heath Wheatley, who bowled with pace and aggression on his debut to return figures of 4-31 from 11 overs.

All-rounder James Robinson was as tidy as ever in picking up 3-36 from 10.

The pair ripped out six middle order wickets in just 12 runs on the way to wrapping up the Northwood innings for 109.

The Ickleford top order made light work of chasing the total down, Tom Reilly (50no) and Robinson (34no) securing an eight-wicket win from 24 overs.

Baldock ended their win drought by securing a much-needed victory against highly placed Old Owens.

Opening bowlers Alistair Jones and James Peacock were rewarded with a wicket each to leave the hosts 40-2.

Tanner and overseas player Kumar batted fluently against a wilting seam attack and seemed to be laying a platform for a big total.

The introduction of Tim Dean stemmed the flow and after Giles Naylor had removed Tanner for 58 with a perfect slower ball, Dean got to work.

He bowled beautifully for 16 overs and it was only the dashing Kumar with a flashy 83 who was able to score freely until Dean had him caught on the boundary. Owens were finally bowled out for 187 off 50 overs with Dean taking 5-40.

Baldock's reply saw Peacock take control against a lively opening attack.

Peacock (47) was caught on the boundary and then the usual wobble occurred as two more wickets fell cheaply to leave Baldock 72-3.

An excellent fourth wicket partnership between skipper Rob Cant (27) and Graham Letford (35) against some testing spin bowling kept Baldock going.

When they were both dismissed, fine aggressive batting from Naylor (31no) and a measured 19no from Andrew Taylor saw Baldock home by five wickets with two overs to spare.

The seconds crushed local rivals Ickleford 2nds by eight wickets.

Ickleford were 45-4 off 26 overs before posting a respectable 200-9 in 53 overs, Trevor Izzard top scoring with 33.

The response saw Paul Gentle (67) score his maiden fifty for Baldock. Skipper Phil Lucy (40no) and Glen Orsman (28no) saw Baldock home with five overs to spare.

Ickleford Cricketers blitzed Stevenage's third team by nine wickets in Division Nine.

They won the toss and inserted Stevenage who were soon in trouble on a slow wicket.

Jon Hare (6-31 in 11 overs) and Dave Allen (3-30 in his 11 overs) saw Stevenage collapse to a poor 61 all out, Paul Berry attacking the bowling for his top score of just 18.

Cricketers skipper Dave Pursey (18) and then Sean Sehmby (30no) and Kevin Shinner (13no) carried the attack to the bowlers and eased to victory in only 8.2 overs.

Bragbury's winning run came to an end in Division 10 with a draw against Cockfosters 3rds.

Losing the toss, Bragbury were made to suffer as Cockfosters chalked up 249 runs in 53 overs.

In reply Bragbury lost early wickets and decided that a run chase was not on the cards. From 58-4, Bragbury saw out the draw with 184-6 off 47 overs.

Graham Clarke (59) scored his fourth fifty of the season and was well supported by Mark Lengthorn, Craig Braine and Sam Gittings who all scored 20 each.