It’s three defeats from four games for Stony Stratford after they were crushed by eight wickets on Saturday by Northampton Saints. Stony were outclassed from start to finish by a good Saints side and an inept batting display meant that they were always on the back foot from the very start.
Saints skipper Chris Park won the toss and opted to bowl first and his side took full advantage of this opportunity on what was actually a very good surface for batting at Ostlers Lane. It was tall paceman Mark Wolstenholme who did the damage early on for Saints, and after his opening spell of 4 for 26 the home side never recovered. Wolstenholme clean bowled three of his victims with yorkers, including Stony’s star batsman Dion Ebrahim for 3. Simon Myatt (9) and Nick Allen (0) both fell in the same way and with opener Steve Wharton only making 9 and Garth Davson 14, Stony looked like they were going to be humbled for well under a hundred at 56 for 6. With Saints two former England A spinners Richard Stemp and Michael Davies both wheeling away, life didn’t get any easier for Stony but a gutsy innings of 48 from Paul West ensured that his side would at least get over the hundred. With wickets tumbling around him, West had to try and make hay while he could and in the end holed out but it was a very impressive knock in difficult circumstances. In the end, Stony made 121 in 46 overs which was never likely to be enough against a strong Saints batting order.
Saints openers Alec Swann and Zak Harvey both had problems early on against Stony’s Steve Bellew and George Humphries but with 63 overs to get the runs, they looked to just weather the storm and take their time to get the runs. Once they got through the first ten overs, Saints pair began to accelerate before Harvey chipped a return catch back to Ebrahim to depart for 38. Swann remained calm despite losing new partner Andrew Reynoldson for 9 as he was bowled by Andrew Humphries. But this was to be as good as it got for a disappointing Stony and Saints cantered over the line with 31 overs to go to stay top of the table, leaving Stony second bottom and with a lot of improving to do in the coming weeks.
In contrast, Stony’s 2nd XI are enjoying a fantastic start to their season and with four wins from four games sit proudly on top of Division 3. Their latest win was an emphatic one in the local derby against Towcestrians. Stony were set a hefty 235 to win by the hosts who had Jack Parish’s 113 to thank for their impressive total. Chris Guy was impressive for Stony, claiming 5 for 46 with good support from James Canwell who claimed 4 for 47. Canwell had less luck with the bat, departing for one but this was to be Towcester’s only success as Steve Underdown (96*) and a fantastic unbeaten 106 from Richard Scott saw Stony home to an emphatic nine wicket win and a maximum thirty points.
Stony 3rds fell to only their 2nd defeat in two seasons away at Weldon. The home side set Stony 197 to win. Jamie Baxter was the most impressive of the Stony bowlers, taking 4 for 62 with his leg spin. Stony really struggled in reply, all out for 101 with Mark Rawson’s devastating spell of 5 for 15 doing the damage for the home side.