Leighton Buzzard were without 12 players this weekend and it showed as they collapsed against Oxford 2nds as they lost by seven wickets.
With just three weeks to go, it’s still all to play for down at the bottom of Division One, with the bottom six teams separated by just 25 points.
Light on numbers coming into the game, Leighton had to take a lot of players from their 2nd string to ensure their Division One game could go ahead and while the replacements did well, Oxford, who are battling it out for third place, showed no mercy.
Leighton won the toss and elected to bat in the cold, damp conditions as the grey ceiling hovered above, ever threatening.
But there would only be one delay caused by the rain, and it didn’t cause much of an impact on proceedings.
Leighton never really got going with the bat and found themselves facing an uphill challenge to get much from the game.
There were plenty of starts for Leighton, but no-one could take the game by the scruff of the neck and drag a competitive score out of the visitors.
Jack Kempster top scored with 34, while Chris Thompson added 29, and Sam Janes was unbeaten on 23, but Leighton fell with just 149 on the board.
They took 47 overs though, giving their opposition just five more to play with, though ultimately, they wouldn’t need even half of their allocation to wrap up proceedings.
Town made a great start when Alan Priestley took a wicket with his first ball but Oxford threw caution to the wind and swung the bat at every opportunity.
Graham Carr took two wickets but a number of dropped catches due to cold hands did not help Leighton’s cause.
The home side coasted to a comfortable victory losing just the wickets in the process. Carr took 2-53 and Priestley 1-25.
Leighton have two more home games and one road trip before the end of the season, and will feel victory in at least one of those should keep them safe from danger.
Next week, they play host to Banbury 2nds who too could get dragged into the dog fight at the end of the season.
They’ll then travel to Oxford Downs - a game Leighton will feel confident in taking a good points haul from, before taking on high-flying Thame Town in the final game of the season.
Great Brickhill’s Jekyll and Hyde season continues, but a shortened innings because of the rain saved them from defeat in their match against bottom club Twyford.
The home side looked in fine form with the bat as they set about setting a huge total for Brickhill to follow.
Doug Aris took 3-86 but Brickhill’s bowlers found it hard to find a good line and length as Twyford dispatched the bad balls to the boundary.
Twyford batted positively to make 212-7 off of 42 overs, having lost 11 due to rain. Further light rainfall continued leaving Brickhill 37 overs to chase the total but the Twyford bowlers started accurately and soon reduced Brickhill to 50-5 at which point batting for a losing draw was the only option left.
The stubborn lower order held firm as Brickhill gave up scoring, intent on holding out to the end, which they did with the score reading 85-5 from their 37 overs.
The result though sees Great Brickhill slip back into the bottom two, with tough games against Buckingham, Oxford 2nds and Banbury still to come.
Division Three
Cublington’s rain interrupted match against Banbury 3rds meant they slipped to third in Division Three.
Bill Burton’s brilliant 115 not out set Cubs on their way as they set a good looking 249-4 from their innings.
The response only lasted 22 overs though, with Banbury on 73-1 when the heavens opened, ending the match early.
Picking up just nine points from the game meant Cubs fall behind Horspath 2nds in the race for promotion.
Long Marston still lead the way.
Division Five
Great Brickhill 2nds remain top of Division Five despite both they and Leighton Buzzard 2nds dropping points in the race for the title.
Brickhill were at home to Oxford 3rds and bowling first.
Oxford batted very well posting 269-3 off 49 overs.
Knowing it would be tough to overturn, Brickhill went from 50-0 to 65-8, leaving Jimmy Aldridge (33*) and Paul Little no option but to hold on for the losing draw, finishing on 122-9.
Their two points looked almost certain not to be enough as Leighton Buzzard 2nds lurked just behind them in the table.
But Leighton found themselves were struggling against Cumnor 2nds after losing a lot of their regular stars drafted into the under-strength 1st team.
The visitors won the toss and batted. Town turned in an excellent effort in the field with some tidy fielding and throwing.
Gareth Benger was in particularly good form and took 6-43 in an excellent spell.
Yogesh Mistry offered good support taking 2-13 runs from 10 overs and Leighton were delighted to bowl Cumnor out for 133 runs.
However the visiting skipper Dane Bailey was in superb form with the ball and tore the home innings apart with 7-21 in 14 overs.
Only Mistry withstood the attack for any length of time ending on 33 not out. Greg Cooper made 16 and Benger 12 as Leighton were shot out for just 84 runs.
They picked up five points for their efforts, reducing the gap at the top of the league to just four points.
four counties
Division One
Eaton Bray’s first innings declaration turned out to be the wrong choice as Milton Keynes beat them by two wickets.
Wes Hosking looked in great shape with the bat, firing 12 boundary fours and three maximums on his way to an unbeaten 86.
But with the threat of rain in the air, Bray opted to cut short their innings on 229-6 and give themselves as long as possible to bowl at Milton Keynes. Nimesh Chavda took 4-51 for the visitors.
And it looked initially like the declaration was a good decision as Gary Ellerton and James Flecknell took care of the top order cheaply.
But they weren’t expecting a match-winning partnership between number six bat Daniel Ramsell and number nine Joe Fairbrother.
Ramsell showed off his skills with the bat to knock 90, while Fairbrother made an unbeaten 65 as MK (230-8) rescued the win.
Division Two
Eggington Foresters have played a game more than title rivals Biddenham to sit first in Division Two, but risk losing out on top spot after a winning draw against Stoke Hammond.
A brilliant partnership between Adeel Raja Anjum (80) and Shamas Mehmood (70 not out) set Foresters in motion as they reached 273-5 in 43 overs.
But despite taking two top order wickets, opener Nick Mead hit 92 with Dan Hulbert adding another 33 as Stoke Hammond resisted.
Despite two wickets apiece from Sardar Naveed Ahmed and Sohail Habib, Stoke Hammond (215-6) held on for the draw.
Milton Bryan were on the wrong end of the result against Aspley Guise, losing by four wickets.
Peter Young hit 58 for Milton Bryan as they ended on 186-9.
But despite three early wickets for Peter Shearn (3-27), Chris Beales’ 89 not out put Aspley Guise (187-6) back on course to win.
Division Three
Ivinghoe & Pitstone thrashed Shenley Church End by seven wickets on Saturday.
Only Richard Fletcher, who hit 77 not out, rescued Shenley as they struggled to get runs.
Two wickets each from Philip Badrick, John Lowe and Darren Badrick restricted Shenley to 143-8.
Paul Culley’s 63 at the top of the order immediately put Ivinghoe (147-3) on the front foot as they cruised to a seven wicket win.
Eggington Foresters 2nds (197-7) lost by two wickets to Caddington (199-8) but stay fourth in the table.
Division Four
Eaton Bray 2nds’ miserable season continued against Printers on Saturday as they were bowled out for just 61 on their way to a 149 run defeat.
Sam Scott (4-41) and Paul Harris (3-67) looked in good nick as they took wickets at the right times to hold Printers to 210-8 declared.
But only Bailey Roberts (20) made double figures for Bray as they were skittled for just 61, 149 runs shy of the mark.
Milton Bryan suffered a similar fate, going down by 156 runs to Drayton Parslow.
Faisal Anwar took 4-54 as Drayton Parslow ended on 243-8.
But his 32 with the bat, although top scoring, wasn’t to be enough as Milton Bryan fell for just 87. They’re still well in the hunt for third place though.
Division Five
Great Brickhill 3rds remain in the promotion race with a six wicket win over North Crawley 3rds.
Bowling first, Ali Graham (4-19) and G Phillips (4-16) did the damage to bowl North Crawley out for 84 in 24 overs.
In reply, Prasad (25 not out) and Harry Kearns (15 not out) settled an early batting wobble to ensure a six wicket victory. Brickhill are second in the table, but have a game in hand over current leaders Olney.
Wing with Wingrave dropped points in the promotion chase after a losing draw against Milton Keynes City 2nds.
Holding City to 154-7, Wing couldn’t meet the run rate but held on to score 139-8.
Division Seven
Cublington 3rds are just one win away from lifting the Division Seven title after a hard-fought six wicket win over Aspley Guise 2nds guaranteed promotion.
Alec Howe picked up an early caught and bowled and Jack Reekes again bowled superbly without much luck. Kevin Woodward (34) rode his luck as he was dropped twice and Cubs plan looked a bit optimistic.
That was until the introduction of Declan Carroll, who bowled his box of tricks to great effect, dismissing Woodward bat and the next three batsmen, aided by some smart catching.
Aspley fought hard for runs in their middle order and were heading for respectability, when a great throw from Alex Inglis ran their skipper out with a direct hit.
Young Jack Rodnight then tore into the tail and returned figures of 4-9 to wrap the innings up for 112.
Captains had agreed 15 overs before taking tea, and Cublington were anxiously watching the clouds accumulate and the wind blowing them ever nearer.
At 50-2 at tea, Cubs looked reasonably comfortable, but the early dismissal of Chris Baines caused a few flutters until Alex Inglis set about the Aspley bowlers, flaying them to all parts of the ground.
When he fell to a grubber, having scored his maiden senior half century (62), Cubs still needed 10 to win.
Adam Farr and James Reekes saw them over the finishing line before the rain arrived, for a six wicket win within 28 overs.
With other results going their way, Cubs celebrated their promotion in style, and know one win from their remaining games will see them lift the championship title.
Ivinghoe & Pitstone 2nds were on the wrong end of a five wicket defeat to Edlesborough.
Batting first, Ivinghoe were skittled for 180. Edlesborough made it home with overs to spare on 184-5.