Bournemouth seconds have put a significant dent in Parley’s Division 1 championship defence - and the prospects of their near neighbours playing in the Southern Premier League next summer.
They beat the 2019 winners by 56 runs and so pile the pressure on Parley, who will probably have to win at both Havant (August 7) and at leaders Sway a fortnight later to fulfil their double dreams.
Bournemouth, now fourth in the log, batted consistently up top with fit-again Tom Robinson (39) building on the solid start by Sam Collins (35) and Martin Miller (24), and Sarang Urankar (42) chipping in later to ease Jonny Coombs’s lions to 180-5.
Turning out against his old Parley club, where he enjoyed a lot of past success, Collins was playing his first match since dislocating a finger.
Teenager Marcus Bragginton (29) caught the eye for Parley, but the evergreen Paul Garlick (3-20) and spinner Conor Smith (4-36) proved too much for the visitors, who slipped to 124 all out and a first defeat in eight.

Parley’s loss was compounded by Sway’s visit to Havant being called off, leaving the New Forest club with an unblemished ten-match winning record and a five-point lead at the top.
The remaining games for the top three, separated by 14 points, are –
Sway: Andover II (h), Winton (a), Alton II (a), Parley (h).
Havant II: Alton II (a), Parley (h), Longparish (h), Easton & Martyr Worthy (a).
Parley: Portsmouth II (h), Havant (a), Sway (a), Alton II (a).
Early season pace setters Old Basing continue to slide down the table, Compton & Chandlers Ford chasing down a reduced target to win by four wickets at the Memorial Ground.
Andy Gorty was MVP for CCF, following up his 4-25 return with the ball by making a key 34 with the willow.
Old Basing fell from 65-1 to 129 all out but then had Compton in a pickle.  Chasing a rain reduced target they plunged to 47-5 before Gorty and Scott Spearing got CCF home with 16 balls to spare.
Alton's Mike Salmon, with a miserly 3-8 off eight overs, and Nathan Vincent (3-22) shared six Portsmouth II wickets to leave the Southsea club wobbling at 110-7 before Paul Hungerford (36) gave the bowlers some defence.
Alton lost three for 21, but Michael Heffernan hit an unbeaten 74 and, aided by Ben Weatherall (25) and Salmon (25), secured the 21 point that lifted the Brewers to eighth place.
Lymington strengthened their second team with leading Premier League bowler Matt Metcalfe and left-hand opener Terry Crabb at bottom side Easton & Martyr Worthy.
The visitors made 162 – Liam McCrory (33 and Ollie Elliott (26) top scored – and dismissed Easton for 138 (Will Wickham 46), Crabb’s spin earning a 3-26 reward and Metcalfe 2-29.
The win inched Lymington out of the immediate danger zone, but Andover II are deep in it despite Thanura Watta Wadnge’s 70 against Winton, who chased down 187-7, with Joe May (46) adding the icing to earlier knocks by Sean Wienand (41) and former Bashley (Rydal) and Dorset spinner Sam Thomson (32), who earlier took 3-20. 
So, going into tomorrow’s round 13 matches, Andover and Easton & MW occupy the bottom two places, with Burridge II sitting precariously above them.
With Bedhampton’s place to be filled, three will go up from Division 2, where Bramshaw are currently undefeated, but (Ryde apart) still have Bishop’s Waltham, Ferndown Wayfarers and second placed Odiham & Greywell still to play.   Ryde are third with a posse of clubs in heir wake.

A rare event is scheduled for tomorrow - Fareham & Crofton playing a Hampshire League, Division 1 match .. for only the fourth time this season and only the second at Bath Lane !
That's assuming nothing untoward happens between now and Winton's scheduled visit.
Fareham have had EIGHT of their 11 matches this season wiped out, six through washouts and two others postponed due to covid issues. After two wins and a loss, they lie fifth in the log with a healthy 16.67 points per match average.
​Fareham & Crofton will join the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) celebrating Rainbow Laces alongside Stonewall this weekend. 
It's the fourth year the game has come together to celebrate LGBTQ+ inclusion in cricket, and this year the activity will take in the Royal London One-Day Cup and The Hundred - with The Hundred matches live on Sky Sports and the BBC.
ECB Chief Executive Officer Tom Harrison said: "I'm proud to see our game standing squarely behind inclusion.   We're driven by our desire to open up the game to as many people as possible. We want cricket to be a game for everyone and we want the LGBTQ+ community to both feel welcome and able to be themselves in our sport.
"The rainbow laces (which all Fareham teams will wear tomorrow) and the rainbow stumps are a powerful symbol of support, and it's good to see the players and the wider game reaffirming our desire to be a sport that everyone feels they can be involved in."

In July 2021, St Cross Symondians – and sport in Winchester generally – lost one of its great and much loved characters with the sad passing of Bill Postle, who played a lot of cricket and football in the city. He was 74, having bravely battled illness for some time.
It’s a little known fact that Bill, who joined St Cross in the 1970s, once took all ten opposition wickets in a match, playing a Sunday game for Bartley in the heart of the New Forest.   A rare feat indeed.
He opened the bowling for St Cross, playing alongside Alan Rowe for many summers in the Hampshire League. It was always lively and competitive, without fail ending up in the Queen, where the match would be ‘replayed’ over the odd glass of ale.
Cricketers played on Saturday’s and Sunday’s in Bill’s days and it would often be no surprise to find three Postles, all left-handers, playing in the same St Cross team.  Mum and dad would do the teas, making it a real family outing.
Keen on his soccer – he played for Hyde United in the Winchester & District League – he was an avid Winchester City supporter and followed the club home and away, seldom short of a joke and a smile on the sidelines.
Professionally, he left school to work for the Ordnance Survey, but scaled the heights at the BBC in London, where he worked for 18 years, finishing as a director.  He was responsible for the publication of the Radio Times, along other BBC reading material. St Cross Symondians have lost a much loved character.

Ellingham’s cricket ground alongside the main A31 trunk road at Picket Post, east of Ringwood, has been seriously damaged after a group of travellers set up camp on the square.
The group have since moved off the site but now damage has been caused to the pitch including holes being dug in the turf, litter being dropped, and damage to the ground where it appears “doughnuts” have been done around the square.
A game was planned to be played on the pitch last night, but now the Hampshire League Division 4 West club is being forced to look at other options and depending on the level of damage, may have to play away instead of at home until repairs can be made.  They are due to host near neighbours Burley this Saturday.

​Ellingham chairman Lee Penycate claimed the group broke the padlock on the gate to enter the ground and added: “It’s going to have a massive impact on our club.
“The outfield looks okay but the problem is they’ve moved our railings around the square and they’ve parked on the square. That’s the most important bit of the pitch.
“It’s the bit that we have railings around to protect it from animals in the forest, so we don’t really want hoof prints on there and the last thing we need is a bunch of caravans, quad bikes, kids, holes being dug up.”
“There’s a lot of work for the groundsman to do. It may take a few weeks to repair, it may be that there’s a couple of pitches that are untouched that can be used.”

Fareham & Crofton’s cricket starved players are almost dreading pulling back the curtains on Saturday morning as the threat of yet another postponement looms.
They have only completed THREE matches all season and, if tomorrow’s threatened thunderstorms and heavy rain materialize and Hursley Park is called off, they will chalk up a staggering EIGHTH unplayed Division 1 game.
It feels a long time ago (it was June 12) that Fareham last played and were heavily beaten by Sway. Since then, their visit to Parley was abandoned by rain and the last two games against Longparish and Compton & Chandler’s Ford were called off due to covid self-isolation in the opposition camps.
Fareham won two of the three games they have played, so boasted a healthy 16.67 points per match average since mid-June and lie fifth in the log.
They have trained religiously twice a week since early April, but seldom seem to put their whites on.
Realistically, it’s a three-way shoot-out between top two Parley and Sway and third placed Havant II for the two promotion places – the first of the three matches between the clubs set for the Park and Havant’s duel with Sway tomorrow, 12.30.
Parley recorded their seventh win on the trot when a double century stand between Shane Green (108) and Alex Nippard (72) pointed them towards 244-5 against a seriously weakened St Cross Symondians, who rolled over for 122.
Sway six hitter Dan Bailey smashed Portsmouth II to pieces (see separate story) while Faizan Tahsin (93) top scored in Havant’s 255-6 against Andover, who were dismissed for 183 (Max Souter 77).
If only he could play more regularly, Ollie Shrubsole (pictured above) might be knocking quietly on Chris Park’s door asking for a Bournemouth first team game.
Ollie’s made 62 and 77 in Bournemouth IIs last two HL matches, but has to combine cricket with selling exclusive homes at Sandbanks on the shores of Poole Harbour, which he does once every three weeks.  
Shrubsole, still tip-toeing back from serious knee surgery, and Tom West (69) top scored in lions’ 217 against Alton, who sank to 77-6 before Mike Salmon (39) and Dan Scott (32) added an air of respectability to their 148 all out.
Winton, who copped a 21-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player in a recent match, lost by four wickets to Hursley Park after being bowled out for 130 (Tom James 4-38).
Nick Willcock (89) raised his season’s run tally to 464 with top score in Old Basing’s 237-8, which proved too many for relegation threatened Easton & Martyr Worthy, who went under for 126.
It’s looking very dodgy for Easton and Lymington (beaten by seven wickets by a Will de Cani inspired Longparish) at the bottom, though Andover II have yet to win a game … 

A MAGNIFICENT 137 by Dan Bailey, which included 11 sixes, set up Sway for their 10th Division 1 win on the spin, with his astonishing hitting spree seeing him bludgeon 87 of his runs off his last 34 balls. 
Sway had set a platform at 130-5 when Oscar Marshall was out for 27 in the 31st over, and ‘skipper Tim Noble sent out Hugh Bernard to join Bailey – who by that time had brought up his fifty off 77 balls – with the instruction the two had to ‘get on with it’. 
What happened next was simply awesome as former England U19 international Bernard, who now works for the Hampshire Cricket Board, smacked four massive sixes in blazing his way to 37 off 14 balls before Bailey took apart the visiting Portsmouth attack, hammering 11 sixes – which included him hitting three maximums in a row three times. 
The pair brought up their 100 partnership in just 42 balls and by the end Bailey had players from both sides in awe before being out the last ball of the innings for 137 off 111 balls, as Sway posted an unassailable 267-5 off their 40 overs. That included an excellent early contribution from Will Crossley (24) as he stewarded Sway through an early difficult spell – the home side having been 4-2 at one stage. 
Grilled in the New Forest sunshine, Portsmouth sank to 15-3 – star man Jordan Palmer-Goddard was out for a second ball duck - to Steadman (2-20).  There was stubborn resistance from Dan Wallis and Indy Chakrabati, the pair batting nicely before Josh Bailey (2-35) got the latter and Nicky Wyatt for 25. 
As Sway searched for maximum points, Noble introduced Jon Grasham and his very fiery spell brought instant reward as he shot out Wallis for a good 48 on his way to returning an excellent 3-13, while Bernard (1-14) got a scalp.  
Fittingly, the final word of the day went to teenager Dan Bailey – who produced a terrific direct hit to claim the last wicket.  

A MATCH WINNING unbeaten 59 from Burley’s Alec Moorman ensured the hosts reclaimed the New Forest CA Stone Cup trophy with a five-wicket win over Sway. 
Moorman smacked a boundary to get Burley home with three balls of the 18-overs a side final to spare in what had been a see-saw contest that saw ball dominate bat for most parts, writes Jon Waller of the Lymington Times. 
Having been put in, Sway were soon in trouble, being reduced to 37-4 in the face of accurate bowling by Burley’s Dan Mepham (1-28) and Jim Burry, who claimed 2-8 off four overs. 
But Will Millard stood firm, striking a fine 41 off 35 balls, crushing five boundaries along the way. His steadying of the ship was helped by a handy contribution from Dan Stevenson (13) as Sway rallied on what was a tricky surface to post a competitive score. 
There was still time for nice cameos from Will Baughan with an unbeaten 15 and Dave Marshall (11) to help Sway to a relatively decent 110 off their 18 overs.  James Roberts (3-25) was the pick of the Burley bowlers, Mike Wetherall (1-12) and Jonny Blundell (1-33) also getting scalps. 
                                                                                    Dangerous
Needing wickets to pile the pressure on the hosts, Sway’s FJ Charton (1-16) and Freddie Pearson (2-13) obliged, the latter getting the dangerous Keiron Hudson early and Pete Stacey, before a superb catch from Steve How off Charton dismissed Alex Martin and left Burley in the mire at 13-3. 
Moorman, who survived a close lbw shout, bedded in against the tidy bowling of Sway’s Oscar Silva-Perez before opening out as the spinners came on and hitting eight boundaries in the process. But at the other end his partners struggled, Steve How (2-33) chipping away. 
With the game edging towards Sway, Moorman found a partner in James Roberts – who struck a vital 21 that included two huge sixes. Burlkey were now favourites, until Roberts holed out off How.
With Burley needing 11 off two overs Moorman struck a maximum to get that into single figures; but with nerves jangling on the boundary Moorman then skied the next ball to midwicket – where the catch was dropped as the batsman scrambled two.  
Adam Clark bowled the last over for Sway, and started with a dot, but a quick leg bye next ball saw Moorman return to the strike to land the crucial final blow.  
The NFCCA Presidents Cup final on July 30 will be between Fawley and either Bashley (Rydal) or New Milton, who play their delayed semi-final at the BCG on Monday evening.

The delayed Winchester & District CA Tichborne Trophy semi-final ties are being played this (Thursday) evening - within barely five miles of each other on the A32, south of Alton.
The quaint rustic East Tisted ground hosts Rotherfield Park v IBM Hursley, while just down the road Chawton entertain Pothwar Lions. Both T20 matches start at 6pm.
Fair Oak will play Wickham in the Igglesden Trophy final.

Last season's All-Wight double winners RYDE are all set to launch a bid for promotion back up to Hampshire League Division 1 from which they were relegated as the third from bottom placed club in 2019.
Four wins (and two defeats) from six matches has them fourth in the Division 2 log behind unbeaten leaders Bramshaw, and Odiham & Greywell and Ferndown Wayfarers whom they've beaten quite convincingly of late.  Ryde also beat sixth-placed East Woodhay, which means they've played the current 'top six' and have only the teams below them left to play.
Ben Shannon (75) shared a century stand with Ash Goldsmith (31) and enjoyed another useful partnership with Sam Rockley (31) as Ryde posted 200-9 against Odiham & Greywell, who were unbeaten until they crossed the high seas to Vectis isle. They were rushed out for 97, Goldsmith (2-14) producing a mean new ball spell and spinner Julion Jayerajah mopping up the mail with a 4-15 return.
SHANKLIN, meanwhile, lie bottom of Division 1 after only one win in seven outings, ironically over Bishop's Waltham, who beat Ryde !  They have taken some fearful beatings, including Bramshaw by 201 runs and Ferndown Wayfarers by a 142-run margin
Here's a selection of the photographs Dave Reynolds snapped at the Ryde match -

Fareham & Crofton chairman Charlie Stubbs admits everyone at the club is ‘really frustrated’ by one of the wettest summers in living memory.
The local cricket season, which started in early May, has been hit hard by continual wet weather.
And no club has suffered more than Fareham. Following on from last weekend’s cancellations, the club’s four Hampshire League teams have had more games called off between them than they have actually played.
In all, the four teams have only completed 16 matches - that’s an average of four each in a season which began on the second Saturday in May. Between them, the four teams have had 17 matches postponed due to wet weather and a further four abandoned after they had started.
The club’s 1st XI have only played three of their nine fixtures. Four were postponed due to bad weather, one was abandoned, and another - against Longparish - was cancelled due to positive Covid-19 Tests among their opponents.
Though the season began on May 8, Fareham’s 1st XI didn’t play a game until May 29 - their first three matches all being cancelled. Their last outing was a month ago, on June 12 when they beat Alton seconds.
The 2nd XI, which Stubbs captains, has played five games - just 50 per cent of their scheduled fixtures. Four have been cancelled and another was abandoned.
The 3rd XI have played four games, winning three of them, but seen another four cancelled and one abandoned.
The 4ths are another team who have only played 50 per cent of their games - playing four and having four cancelled.
                                                                                          Financial woes
Fortunately, Fareham firsts did manage to win two of their three games against Andover and Alton, losing heavily at Sway, where left-hand opening batsman and gloveman Tom Kent badly dislocated his left ring finger.
“Apart from the Parley game, where I did the scoring, I’ve not missed a single match, but hope to play against Compton & Chandler’s Ford at Bath Lane on Saturday,” he said.
Though rain is hardly a new problem for amateur cricketers, this season will certainly go down as one of the wettest in modern times.
And following on from last year’s truncated campaign - the local cricket season didn’t begin until mid-July due to the pandemic - the rain has created more financial woes for grassroots clubs.
‘All the members are really frustrated,’ said Stubbs. ‘After last season, everyone was raring to go, the restrictions had been lifted.
‘There’s nothing we can do about the weather, though.
‘It does have a financial impact. All our players pay £10 per game, so that’s £450 in match fees every weekend. Then you’ve got the bar revenue on top of that.
‘We’ve got lots of patio furniture, we get people who wander up, see there’s a game going on and have a drink as well.  I’d say, as a quick calculation, it costs the club around £600 every time there’s a wet weekend with no cricket.  It’s very frustrating.  We’ve got fantastic ground staff but there’s not much you can do when the weather hits.’
                                                                                           Immaculate
Groundsmen Mike Steel and Tony Tucker (now in his 52nd year with the club) have spent countless unpaid hours at Bath Lane preparing pitches that have seldom been used. The ground, though, looks immaculate, probably the best its ever been.
Even if the sun shines from now until the end of August, local clubs have already lost a sizeable portion of their fixtures.
‘We only play 17 league games a season,’ said Stubbs. ‘It’s not like football where you have 38/40 games and can rearrange those that are rained off.
‘We’ve only got four months - May, June, July and August - in which to fit our games in.’
Stubbs said the club’s ambition, prior to the start of this season, was for both the 1sts and 2nds to try and win promotion.
That would take the 1sts back into the Southern Premier League Division 3 and see the 2nds move up to Division 3 South - the third tier of the county league.

Elsewhere in local cricket, Portsmouth & Southsea 1sts have only played five of their scheduled 11 Southern Premier League Division 3 matches. Last weekend they suffered their fifth cancellation while a sixth match was abandoned.
In the same division, leaders Hambledon and Gosport Borough have also seen five matches cancelled.
Across the whole fourth tier of the SPL, a remarkable 18 matches have now been cancelled or abandoned due to wet weather - compared to just 16 having been played!
Welcome to an English summer ...
* In a complete turnaround, weathermen reckon mercury will top the 80f mark this weekend, so Fareham & Crofton and friends should get a game in ... that's provided covid doesn't interfere !

Defending champions Parley have made a perfect start to the rain dogged season, taking a maximum 132 points from the six Division One wins to date.
They maintained their 22 points per match average with an eight-wicket win over weakened Lymington II, whom they shot out for 64 – Spencer Savage taking 4-23 and Ollie Green 3-6 off his eight overs – before polishing off the target, with Tom Rose hitting 27 not out.
Encouragingly, the outfield at their West Parley base (previously a thorn in their accreditation bid), is looking much better due to the absence of soccer all last winter.
Composed innings from captain Tim Noble and former New Milton ace Will Crossley, from New Milton, saw second placed Sway to a comfortable victory against a depleted St Cross Symondians III’s outfit to record their ninth win on the bounce. 
Chasing 105 in a rain reduced 35-over a side game, Sway got home two wickets down, with Noble hitting an assured, unbeaten 40 and Crossley notching a handsome 31 before he was out with just five runs required.  
The falling rain had threatened to scupper the contest, but in the end Sway had it done by 6pm, with Dan Bailey clipping the winning runs off his legs. 
It came after the bowlers had set up the win; Dave Steadman (1-20) and Jon Waller (a miserly 2-7 off nine overs that was aided by a terrific, sharp stumping from Alex Hall) hitting their straps quickly and pinning the visitors down to 105-8 (Tom Moore 35) 
The going was slow throughout, with Hugh Bernard (1-15) getting a wicket thanks to a good catch from Dan Bailey, twin brother Josh Bailey grabbing another scalp amid a nice spell and Jon Grasham (2-14), looking very good. 
Third placed Havant IIs, whose games against the two top sides are going to be crucial, trimmed their Portsmouth counterparts by 97 runs – Andrew Galliers (72) and Oli Jones (62) sharing a century stand to set up their 225-6.
Indy Chakrabarti (37), who has moved to the Southsea club from SPL3 title chasers Hambledon, top scored in Portsmouth’s 128, Ali Gardner returning 4-19 and Mark Martin 3-27.
Fareham & Crofton and Winton had contrived to finish three games each by the mid-point of the season.
Covid issues in Longparish causing their trip to Bath Lane to be cancelled, while Winton played only five overs before rain washed out Compton & Chandler’s Ford's visit to Castle Meadows.
Near neighbours Bournemouth II, aided by Surang Urankar’s half-century, chalked up 193-7 (Jamie Elviss 39) before Andover rolled over for 108 (Roe 3-19).
Past Winchester College captain Freddie Egleston, who led Alton to the Hampshire Under-19 T20 title last season, scored 64 as the Brewers posted 175-5 against Burridge II, who fell to 152 all out against Toby Salmon 4-30 and left-armer Gemma Porter’s 3-13 spell.
Easton & Martyr Worthy remain bottom, although they boosted their hopes of surviving the two-down drop zone (remember Bedhampton withdrew pre-season) by beating fellow strugglers Hursley Park by six runs in a Quarters nail biter.
Top three Steve Poole (54), Jordon Banks (33) and Seb Byers (43) scored a large chunk of Easton’s 211-8.
Tom Flynn (65) and Paul Davies (38) platformed Hursley to 151-2 before the Banks brothers Jordon (4=52) and Jamie (3-59) reduced the hosts to 186-9.  Jai Solanki hit two sixes in a brisk 32, but could only manage to get Hursley’s reply to 205-9.