Champions elect Alton II and Purbrook were set to put the finishing touches to their County Division 1 promotion campaigns this Saturday afternoon.
Alton needed one point from Ellingham’s visit to the Jubilee Ground, while Purbrook required four bonus points from their final game with Hook & Newnham Basics II to be assured of finishing runners-up.
With no accreditation issues, the pair will replace Ryde and either Hursley Park or Lymington II in Southern Premier League Division 3 next summer.
Heavy overnight rain and a soggy Bath Lane pitch denied Alton the chance to tie things up at Fareham & Crofton’s expense, but Purbrook cashed in with a whopping 313–run win over Burridge II.
Brad Mengham (93) and Alan Lee (63) set the tone for Purbrook with a 184-run start, which John Moller (86) and Sean Figgins (52) improved.
Having been hot for 381-7 (Nick Creal 4-79), Burridge’s day didn’t get any better – Kiwi Ben Michel taking 5-15 as they were bowled out for 68.
Ed Stennett was the unexpected hero of Ropley’s three-wicket win at OTs & Romsey, whose 249 owed much to Iain Woodall (68) and Shane Vider, who smashed a lively 52.
At 155-6, Ropley’s long unbeaten run was in peril, but Stennett’s unbeaten half-century steered the visitors home.
Fourth placed  Portsmouth & Southsea, having missed the promotion bus, powered to a ten-wicket win over weakened St Cross Symondians (174), with the evergreen Steve Clements hitting 80 not out.
South African Pierre Kriel hit 120 and Martin Blackman 61 as Ventnor piled up 294 to beat New Milton by 49 runs.
Josh Arnold hit 90 and Dale Wakefield an unbeaten 49, but by the time they came together at 114-4 the game had all but passed them by.
Despite ending a calamitous losing run with a 90-run victory over basement team Totton and Eling  II at Picket Post, Ellingham are still almost certain of relegation – even if, by a miracle, they beat the champions designate Alton II at the Jubilee Ground today.
For that to happen, Ellingham would have to win at Alton and hope Sarisbury Athletic lost heavily at Shrewton.
Chris Batten (55) prospered in a half-century start for Ellingham, which the returning Aaron Barker (34) improved, but it was many lusty blows from Jim Edwards that helped them reach 267.
Edwards, who made 83, hit five sixes, bringing up his half-century off 39 deliveries.
Never in contention, Totton replied with 177-8.
Itchen College’s Josh Stewart-Hall, with a 5-22 return and 45, was the hero of Sarisbury Athletic’s nail biting one-wicket win over United Services – a victory that should keep them up.
US posted 201, but after a handy knock by Dan Clouting (26), SA still needed 36 when last pair Dan Oliver and Tom Kitcher came together.
But they stayed in to secure a victory – and probably Sarisbury Athletic’s immediate CD1 future.

Never-say-die Old Tauntonians & Romsey pulled off an astonishing one-wicket County Division 1 win at Bishops Waltham, where their last pair shared a remarkable unbroken century partnership.
All appeared lost when the ninth OTs wicket fell at 194-9 as the visitors looked like falling well short in their bit to chase down Bishops Waltham’s 310-9.
But opener Paul Longland, who went on to carry his bat for 118, was 85 not out – but was far from left stranded as Joe Welch emerged from the Albany Road pavilion to smash OTs to victory.
The injury prone Welch would normally bat much higher and was only batting last because he injured himself bowling in his fifth over.
Anyone who has watched Welch convert penalty corners for Romsey’s hockey team will appreciate how hard he hits the ball – as Waltham found out to their cost.
Welch cracked four sixes and nine fours in an unbeaten 76, scored off only 33 balls.
He swept OTs to victory with eight overs to spare !
“Joe could hardly walk, so just stood in his crease and smashed the ball everywhere,” said bemused BW skipper Dan Wheeler.
“Time after time he cleared the ropes.  We had no way of stopping him.”
Season-long leaders Alton II needed only four points from today’s penultimate round visit to Fareham & Crofton to clinch promotion back to Southern Premier League Division 3 – exactly 12 months since they were relegated !
They ended Portsmouth & Southsea’s outside promotion hopes with an emphatic eight-wicket victory at the Jubilee Ground.
Alex Hughes (4-29) and skipper Stephen Ball (2-5), who nailed openers Mark Smith and Steve Clements in a miserly ten overs spell, were the pick of the Alton bowlers as P & S made 172-9 (Matt Benfield 41).
Howard Gadsby (76) and Joel Paul (36) shared a near century partnership before Richard Anthony (36 not out) completed the formalities.
Third-placed Purbrook were 21 points of Ropley going into today’s programme.
New Zealander Ben Michel enjoyed his best match yet, scoring 45 and later taking 5-41 with his left-arm spin as Purbrook (269-6) won by 167 runs at mid-table Shrewton.
George Hamson (56), Martin Lee (43) and Michel batted Purbrook into a winning position before the Shrews dropped to 132 all out (Dan Bingley 41).
Ropley are still not out of it after plundering 375-5 of the Sarisbury Athletic attack at Vicarage Lane, where visiting captain Colin Day won the toss !
Once again South African Tim Niemand led from the front, cracking 141, his third ton in four weeks.
Alex Stogden (84) and Alex Spencer (54) provided support before Sarisbury were dismissed for 145, Martin Peters grabbing a career-best 7-22 with his off-breaks.
Hook & Newnham Basics continue to produce promising young players and Hampshire U16 starlet Alex Brown (78) was the latest to show his skills in the narrow six-run win at United Services.
Hook defended 237-9 after Aussie Matt Rogers (63) had sparked the US reply.
New Milton II look set to finish in a healthy top half spot after chasing down a Burridge total of 210 to win by thee wickets.
Well placed at 121-2 through Dan Danley-Jones (77) and Jack Slaughter (56), Burridge dipped to 210 all out, with James Adams and Dale Wakefield taking three wickets each.
Raff Hussey (67) and Wakefield (46) led the Milton chase which was going well until Iain Hardcastle (3-33) nipped in.
But Mike Mortimer hit a key 23 to get the junior Green & Golds across the line.
St Cross Symondians III skipper Steve Berryman, left,  is a strong contender for the County Division 1 batting award after notching his fifth 50-plus score in the past six matches.
But his 83 against visiting Ventnor II, which lifted his run tally beyond the 550-mark, wasn’t enough to secure success over the islanders.
Ventnor simply breezed past their hosts’ 271, with Martin Blackman (72) and young Ben Attrill (73) sharing an unbroken 148-run third-wicket stand.
In the nether regions, Totton & Eling II trimmed a depleted Fareham & Crofton by four wickets after Hampshire U15 starlet Oli Southon had impressed with 86 of the visitors’ 228.
Andover II could be relegated – even though they’ve won five of their 13 games, which only mid-table Ventnor can better of them teams above them.
The Lions rattled up 303-6 against beleaguered Ellingham, with Patrick Case (92) and Harry Blackburn (55) to the fore.  Shaun Leadbetter (64) scored almost half of Ellingham’s 134 all out.

Veteran sport-alcoholic Denis Emery has stepped into the breach to become the Hampshire Cricket League’s new chairman.
The position has remained empty since March 2015 when Ian Millington stepped down.
A retired policeman, Emery is well known in local sport, having played cricket for many years as a seam bowler for Ampfield, alongside several other clubs in the Romsey area.
He has been a lead umpire for the past 21 years, officiating in Hampshire Second XI games, but more specifically in the Southern Premier League, where he is appointments secretary.
Equally active in soccer circles, Emery has been Sydenhams Football League Registration Secretary for the past 20 years.
Emery says: “My immediate aim is to work alongside the hard working Hampshire League Committee that has run the biggest weekend recreational league in the country (probably the world) and  give them as much help and support as they require, at the same time using my experience of many years being involved in sport and administration.
“I’m equally anxious to get more people interested in playing cricket - numbers are falling every year – and want to try and increase the number of competent club umpires for all the divisions as the games would be more enjoyable. 
“I had a lot of enjoyment playing HL cricket and I’m keen to give something back.

Is there to be a late twist in the Hampshire League County Division 1 title race ?
Alton’s first defeat of the season – an eyebrow raising 80 run loss on ‘foreign soil’ at Ventnor – cut the Brewers’ lead at the top to 18 points.
The result fuelled optimism in the respective dressing rooms of Portsmouth & Southsea, Purbrook and Ropley that the championship race might not be a foregone conclusion, writes Mike Vimpany.
Previously unbeaten Alton found themselves on the rack at Steephill when Mark Fletcher (61), Pierre Kriel (41) and Mark Price (39) guided the islanders to 150-2.
Although they fought back to dismiss Ventnor for 213, Alton were bowled out themselves for 133, with Hugh Calloway and Millfield-bound Marcus Horton sharing six of the wickets.
P & S visited Alton today SAT in a critical promotion crunch match and drove the A32 full of confidence after pounding beleaguered Totton & Eling II for 409-5 at St James’s Park.
Jack Davies led the way with a boundary strewn 156 – 41 runs more than the entire Totton team (115) managed between them.
Purbrook recovered from 118-5 through Ben Michel (45) and Alan Mengham (39) to post 220-9 and then bowl United Services out for 109.
South African Tim Niemand didn’t manage to score a third successive HL century; instead, James Forrest (76) took up the run scoring mantle as promotion outsiders Ropley totalled 238-9 at the KGV.
Hook hit back, with Dan Moore (67) and 15-year old Liam Doran (50) taking their response to 211all out.
Sam Gillott hit 97 as Shrewton piled up 316 before restricting visitors Burridge II to 202 (Cam White 65).
Left-hand pair Tom Kent (87) and Virat Sahu (55) shared an opening stand of 18 as youthful Fareham & Crofton rattled up 286-5 before Hampshire U15 prospect Ollie Southon (5-34) got amongst Andover II, dismissed 188-8.
Paul Longland hit a century as OTs & Romsey, two wickets down before they’d made a run, made 327 – Sam Costley hitting an invaluable 48 before tea,
Teenage left arm spinner Nico Newman, youngest of the siblings, took a personal best six-fer as relegation bound Ellingham were rolled for 117.
New Milton nicked a one-wicket win over St Cross Symondians (163-9), while Bishops Waltham brushed away any remaining relegation fears with a 73-run win at Sarisbury Athletic II.
With two matches left (after today), Ellingham and Andover II occupied the two relegation places above already sentenced Totton & Eling II.  

Are Ropley about to gatecrash the Hampshire League, County Division 1 promotion party ?
A spate of victories, coinciding with some unexpected slips ups by Purbrook and Portsmouth & Southsea, has left them fourth and only 12 points adrift of a potential promotion place.
Three games are left and Ropley, with South African import Tim Niemand ablaze with runs, might just burgle their way in. 
On the face of it, Ropley have a less demanding August than their two PO-postcode rivals.
Remaining games
Alton II: Portsmouth & Southsea (h), Fareham & Crofton (a), Ellingham (h).
Purbrook: Shrewton (a), Burridge II (h), Hook & Newnham Basics II (h).
P & S: Alton (a), St Cross Symondians (h), New Milton II (a).
Ropley: Sarisbury Athletic (h), OTs & Romsey (a), Andover II (h).
Niemand notched his second consecutive century and a third of the season, hitting an unbeaten 108 as Ropley surprised promotion favourites Purbrook with a six-wicket win.
They chased down the visitors’ 216-9 (Martin Lee 51) to leave Purbrook just above P & S in the log.
The result not only boosted Ropley’s growing prospects of Premier League cricket next summer – but established still unbeaten Alton II as nailed on championship favourites.
The Brewers’ 11th straight win – they beat New Milton (182) by five wickets – gave them a 33-point lead at the top going into today’s visit to Ventnor II.
The Benfield brothers, Matt (78) and Tom (45) were to the fore as rivals Portsmouth & Southsea comfortably accounted for Andover II, marooning the Lions in the drop zone.
Any faint hopes Hook & Newnham Basics II had of a top two place effectively ended when Bishops Waltham gained a much needed 27-run win over them.
Teenage due Harry Warner (98) and Rhodes Franklin (67) top scored in Hook’s 247-9 – but by then Andy Wymbs (75) and Henry McGhee (66) had already steered Waltham to 275-6.
It was Bishops Waltham’s first win in six and lifted them out of the immediate danger zone.
There’s a furious scrap going on beneath them, with seven clubs beneath the safety line.
Although they won for the first time in ten outings, beating Ventnor by 99 runs, Totton & Eling II are virtually doomed.
And Ellingham, still haunted by last month’s 7 all out debacle at United Services, are dropping like a stone.
They lost by 52 runs to visiting Sarisbury Athletic II, for whom Colin Day potted a 147 maximum.
The survival prospects of both Sarisbury and neighbours Burridge have improved in recent weeks.
The experienced Suji Wickramsinghe hit a match winning 132 as Burridge racked up a massive 339-8 to beat St Cross Symondians III (241) by 98 runs,
Fareham & Crofton have a fair sprinkling of Portsmouth football supporters in their ranks, so imagine their mood when ex-Saints star Jason Dodd pitched up and cracked 80 against them as OTs & Romsey piled up 265-9.
Fareham’s response didn’t get into top gear until the final ten overs when Angus Southon (55) and Luke Cornish came within eight runs of scoring the 100 they needed.

While their respective first teams press for title honours in the Southern Premier League, the second sides of Burridge and Sarisbury Athletic are fighting a furious battle for safety at the bottom of the Hampshire League.
Survival prospects for the pair have improved in recent weeks, with experienced duo Suji Wickramsinghe and Colin Day hitting match winning centuries at the weekend.
Wickramsinghe hit 132 as Burridge racked up a massive 339-8 to beat St Cross Symondians III (241) by 98 runs.
Hampshire Over-50s captain Colin Day made 147 as Sarisbury posted 286-5 to send beleaguered Ellingham into the three-down drop zone with a 52-run win at Picket Post.
Ropley’s Tim Niemand notched his second consecutive century and a third of the season, hitting an unbeaten 108 as Ropley surprised promotion favourites Purbrook.
The result not only boosted Ropley’s outside prospects of Premier League cricket next summer – but established still unbeaten Alton II as nailed on championship favourites.
The Brewers’ 11th straight win – they beat New Milton (182) by five wickets – gives them a 33-point lead at the top with four matches left to play.
Rivals Portsmouth & Southsea comfortably accounted for Andover II, marooning the Lions in the drop zone.
Former Saints footballer Jason Dodd, pictured, cracked 80 as OTs & Romsey (265-9) edged out Fareham & Crofton by eight runs.
Teenager Harry Warner (98) narrowly missed on a maiden HL century as Hook & Newnham Basics lost out to Bishops Waltham, whose first win in five games eased their relegation concerns.
Totton & Eling II celebrated their first win of the summer, beating Ventnor II by 98 runs.
County Division 2 pacemakers Longparish tumbled to their first defeat – improving Locks Heath ending their eight-match winning sequence at Warsash Road.
James Hughes, Jack Levy and Jack Paskins all hit half-centuries for the Heathens, while William de Cani hit a valiant 83 for Longparish.
Rowledge II are well behind, but a nine-wicket thrashing of Compton & Chandler’s Ford makes them firm favourites to finish at least runners-up.
Seasoned all-rounder Steve Green hit 59 and Australian Matt Chamberlayne (4-22) took a hat-trick, but neither was able to save Easton & Martyr Worthy (181) from a two-wicket defeat by Portchester.
Like Longparish, Parley lost their 100 per cent record – but they rescued a worrying situation to tie their Dorset derby with Ferndown Wayfarers.
Prospects didn’t look promising when Ferndown – having restricted Parley to 168-9 – moved to 101-3.
But their last seven wickets fell for 67 runs and the match was tied.
Parley are 31 points clear of second placed Mudeford, while Follands remain third after beating Cadnam by 15 runs.
Spectators who picnic alongside Burley’s picturesque ground in the New Forest enjoyed a run fest as visiting Ellingham chased down the hosts’ 295-5 to win by five wickets.

Longparish’s three-pronged Hampshire Cricket League promotion bid has been boosted by the announcement of a club sponsorship by Overton-based  Floatron “for all your swimming pool needs.”
Parish are currently top of County Division 2 and have both their second and third teams pushing for promotion in the Hampshire League's North regional divisions.
They are also through to the Winchester & District Cricket Association’s rain-delayed Tichborne Trophy final and, weather permitting, will play Tichborne Park at St Cross Symondians’ Green Jackets Ground on Thursday evening, 6pm.