Ben Howgrave-Graham (above left) blazed a boundary strewn 104 and Miles Kantolinna 93 as South Wilts III moved joint top of the HCB County C table with a five-wicket win over OTs & Romsey II at Bemerton.
Chasing OTs 211, were in trouble at 20-3, but Howgrave-Graham took complete control, the Bath rugby prospect smashing four huge sixes and 11 fours, his 104 coming off 88 deliveries.  
Kantolinna, who shared six of the OTs wickets with Jayden Atkinson, played a superb support role as South Wilts romped to victory.
Rightly proud of their colts set up, South Wilts turned out over 80 per cent of home grown players last weekend, winning all four SPL and HCB mini-league games.
The fourths bowled Shrewton out for 122 (Chris Newbury 42) and won by six wickets on the back of an unbroken fifth-wicket stand between Oli Hill (44) (top right) and Max Allen (41). Tom Morton tip toed back in action for the first time this season following surgery, but was caught for 11. His time will come ...

It’s all change at the top of the Winchester Clubs Championship with Compton & Chandler’s Ford taking full advantage of defeats for Fair Oak and Longparish to take a two-point lead going into this weekend’s seventh round of matches.
While 15-year old Kam Dhariwal was toasting his maiden century (115) against Hursley Park (see separate story), Fair Oak were suffering their first defeat of the season against Easton & MW and Longparish were being steamrollered by Alton.
At start of play on Saturday, Compton (18 points) lead the field from Fair Oak (16), Alton, Easton & Martyr Worthy and Longparish, all on 14 points.
Beach blonde Winchester College teen Wilf la Fontaine-Jackson was Easton’s star with the bat, anchoring his side’s innings with a steady 65 after early wickets for Freddie Eley (2-37) and James Gradwell (2-23)
Useful contributions from the Easton middle order took their 40-over total to 182-6, a good effort given the slow Lapstone Park outfield.
A lively third-wicket partnership between Harry Reed (30) and the consistent Charlie Kemp (47) gave Oaks hope, but scoring quickly was difficult against an accurate Easton attack.  
Three wickets each for pacemen Ethan Brackstone and Sky Mitchell put the hosts on the back foot.  A few big hits by Greig Stewart (16) were the nearest Oaks came to challenging the required rate, and they finished 17 runs short at 165-8.
Longparish suffered a crushing 162-run defeat by Alton, whose 236-6 was based around Michael Heffernan (56), Freddie Egleston (46) and Ryan Hale (42).  Parish rolled over for 74.
A solitary run separated St Cross Symondians’ 244-7 from the 243-8 IBM Hursley made in reply.
Brad Aldridge smashed three sixes and 11 fours in his 94, while Charlie Bowden (45) and Ben Foster (38) chipped in.  Max Cullen took 4-39 for IBM, Sri Raman hitting 62, but his side finished one run light.
RAM totalled 220-9 (Mahmood 67) and beat Sparsholt II by 16 runs, Jamie Skeoch hitting 62.
Compton & Chandler’s Ford moved alongside Hursley Park at the top of Division 2 after beating the overnight leaders by six wickets. They each have 18 points.
Hursley Park’s 159-7 was effectively blown away by a century second-wicket stand between Zac Williams (64) and Gary Scallen (55).
Fair Oak’s 3rd XI lost their 100 per cent record with a two-wicket defeat at Cockets Mead that was largely engineered by Easton & Martyr Worthy opener Spencer Lee.  
18-year-old Lee, who wintered as an overseas player in South Africa, opened both the bowling and the batting for his side and cracked an unbeaten 113 as his side inched past Oaks’ total of 195 with seven balls to spare.  
He got good support from Neil Rose (41) in the face of aggressive new ball bowling by Tom Merrill, whose return of 3 for 33 included clean bowling two batsmen with consecutive yorkers.  The economical Dave Nevin (2-23) and Shaun Buttle (2-45) also impressed with the ball.
Earlier,in-form 14-year-old Tom Clark had been the mainstay of the Fair Oak innings with 60 not out.  Buttle (28), Sam Reed (24) and Jake Salmon (30) also featured with the bat while ultra-slow spinner Sam Dickety took two wickets for Easton.
Jake Curtis (50), Alex Reidy (47) and Dan Watson (45) eased Twyford to 213-8 and into a winning position (by 135 runs) against Sparsholt III.
Evergreen Alan Whitman celebrated his first St Cross Symondians century in ten years as the Winchester club’s fourth team successfully chased down IBM Hursley’s 198-9 to win by six wickets.
Whitman hit six maximums and 12 boundaries in his 107 as St Cross won with four overs to spare.

Ben Baker was the undoubted man of the match as Ryde wrapped up the inaugural All Wight League title with a resounding 116-run win over Northwood – a victory that sparked scenes of jubilation on Ryde Pierhead, all along the Esplanade and into the King Lud.
Adjudicator George Wickens handed the award to Baker not only for top scoring with 81 for Ryde, and also taking 3-27 and a catch in his normal role as Northwood captain.
Miraculously, according to the scorecard on the www.play-cricket website, Baker even managed to catch himself out – off the bowling of Liam Roberts (2-37).
To confuse readers even more, it was Baker’s first game in Ryde’s colours .. according to the website that is !
Statistics reveal he initially lifted Ryde out of the doldrums of 20-3 in a productive fourth-wicket stand with Stuart Robertson (30) and was still batting near the end of the innings until 176-9 when he was dismissed (or caught by himself ?) for 81, a knock which included four sixes and six fours.
Given that Ben Baker (the Northwood one) took three of the last four Ryde wickets to fall and finished with 3-27 off five overs, there’s a fair chance the Baker boys were bowling to each other as the interval approached !
Ryde’s 212-9 was far too many for Northwood, who keeled over for 96, Robertson and Sam Rockley sharing six of the wickets.
And Ben Baker – how many did he get ?
Clearly exhausted from his endeavours in the afternoon session, he came in at 11 for Northwood – and got a second ball duck !
Just goes to prove that captains can’t do everything …  

FOR the second week running, Ventnor were left stunned by a fellow Isle of Wight club who play several leagues below them.
This time, it was Newport — last year’s Island champions — who caused an upset against the Southern Premier League Division 2 outfit, seven days after Ventnor were beaten by County Division 2 side Ryde, who remain unbeaten in the All Wight League.
Ventnor batted first at Steephill, with 14-year old Oscar Vandecasteele (30) and Martin Blackman (26) after which Ben Attrill (34), Ross Whyte (27 not out) and Rob Snell (19) all pitched in, with Newport bowler Aaron Hartup taking 3-35.
Newport hunted down Ventnor’s 167-7 with an over to spare – the SPL club reflecting on the 33 runs they conceded in extras.  Charlie Calloway (3-23) was the pick of the home bowlers. Newport won by three wickets and lie second in the six-team log behind Ryde.

The owners of properties around the quaint Goose Green cricket ground on the Isle of Wight were preparing to board up their front windows as St Helen's batsman  Mark Watson launched an astonishing six-hit attack on the Shanklin & Goldshill bowling.
Emerging from the pavilion with St Helen's score at 89-3, Watson cleared the boundary ten times as he raced to  an unbeaten 105 off 59 balls (striking two modest fours in between times) as St Helen's rattled up 247-6 (Lee Brown 53) in their All Wight League match.
Still reeling from the onslaught, Shanklin promptly lost Corey Sanderson and Mark Woodhouse for ducks to Oli Stubbings (2-8 off eight overs), but recovered for a while through Mark Ringer (33) and James Lucy (28).
St Helen's couldn't keep Watson out of the action as the all-rounder trapped Ringer lbw when he came on to bowl. Shanklin waved the white flag, reaching 104-8 by stumps, Harry Carkeet taking 3-21.

Fifteen-year old Paultons and Dorset YC’s batsman/wicketkeeper Ben Rogers had a weekend to remember after smashing consecutive centuries
First up was an unbeaten 102 against his former club Langley Manor as Paultons racked up 275-2 before celebrating a 111-run victory at Whitemoor Lane.  The young left-hander shared century partnerships with Lee Wateridge (58) and skipper Andrew Collins (62).
Rogers was back at the crease 24 hours later, this time hitting a boundary strewn 121 before Dorset U15s suffered a 33-run defeat against Wiltshire (242-5) for whom South Wilts batsman Ben Howgrove-Graham hit an unbeaten 78.

Fifteen-year old Kam Dhariwal had double cause for celebration after his maiden club century laid the foundations to Compton & Chandler’s Ford’s 65-run victory over Hursley Park at the Memorial Playing Fields.
The win put CCF in top spot in the Winchester Club Championship, two points clear of Fair Oak (who lost their unbeaten record to Easton & Martyr Worthy) and four ahead of Longparish, who crashed heavily to Alton.
Dhariwal, a King Edward VI School student, carried his bat for 112, hitting a six and 13 fours as Compton piled up 246-8.  He shared a third-wicket stand of 114 with Liam Palmer (55).
Hursley Park replied with 181-8, William Flynn hitting 52.

Teenage off-spinner Zac Allen belied his tender age to take 5-24 as Longparish successfully defended 149 to beat Winchester Club Championship rivals Easton & Martyr Worthy by one run.
Supported by Harry Martin (3-20), the 14-year old ripped through Easton, leaving Winchester College prospect Casper Byers (74) to fight a lone battle for the visitors, who were dismissed for 148 – one run short of the Parish total.
Will de Cani (45), making a welcome return to the Longparish side, praised Allen saying: “He bowls very energetic off-spin, spins it big but, most of all, thinks a lot about what he is doing.”
Michael Taplin (26) and Ben Gardner (28) helped Parish reach 149 all out.
The Southern Premier League Cup match between St Cross Symondians and the Hampshire Academy my was called off – but that didn’t deter the Winchester club’s third team from playing on the No 2 pitch.
It was worth their efforts as well – the rain trimmed 30-over affair against Alton II ending in a tie both sides making 217.
Left-hander James Burridge (63) and Charlie Preston (46) thrived in a second wicket stand, which Graham Barrett (27) and Charlie Bowden (39) subsequently enhanced.  217-4 was competitive.
Alton gave chase with Andy Postles (42) and Michael Heffernan (38), a position which Joe Paul (58) and Ryan Hale (41) consolidated.   Jaimie Cork’s 4-18 clawed St Cross back into it.
It came down to Alton requiring eight runs off the last over with Freddie Egleston and Toby Fuller at the crease. 
Alton’s Julian Ballinger takes up the story. “Fred scored one off the first ball, but Fuller then missed the next two deliveries.
“Fuller run out by the wicketkeeper (Burridge) off the next, which brought Gemma Porter to the crease.
“The next ball was a wide and they ran a bye, so five runs needed off the last two balls of the match. “Freddie clipped one into mid-wicket. They ran two and then got an overthrow, leaving us requiring two to win off the last ball.
“Gemma clipped it to mid-wicket, but too close to the fielder so we only got one run and finished 217-7 – a great game !”
IBM chased down RAM’s 185 to win by five wickets, leaving Fair Oak (16) top by two points from Compton & Chandler’s Ford and Longparish, both with 14.   The season ends on September 12.  

KEEP an eye out for the name Henry Amis – we could be hearing quite a bit about him on the cricket scene over the next few years...
The talented 13-year-old, who plays for his Hampshire junior age group side, underlined his potential when he smashed an unbeaten 123 as Liphook & Ripsley’s second team piled up 234-6 in the 125-run friendly match victory over against Portchester, who were dismissed for 109, Steve Saycell taking 4-13.
Henry, who starts at Winchester College next month, hit 18 fours in his unbeaten century.  He will be at Eaton Socon on Sunday supporting his spin bowling elder brother Oscar in Liphook & Ripsley’s Village Cup fifth round tie.

Ryde are on course to become the inaugural All Wight League champions after beating Ventnor – but, as the two-wicket margin of their victory suggests, it was a close run affair.
In fact, they owed everything to their captain Stuart Robertson, whose unbeaten 43 dragged Ryde across the line chasing Ventnor’s 121 all out.   Ryde were 22-4 (George Willis 1-14) when he arrived at the crease and in deeper trouble at 39-5 not long after.
But his patient knock, aid by several boundary hits by team-mates down the order, clawed Ryde closer to the target. His 20-odd run partnerships with Ollie and Tom Morgan were significant after Freddie Gurney (3-14) had made inroads for Ventnor.  Even then, there was work to do as Ben Gregory and Sam Rockley gave support.
Earlier, Ventnor appeared comfortably placed at 63-2 (Martin Blackman 27), but lost wickets at regular intervals to Gregory (3-25), Robertson (2-27), Ollie Morgan (2-37) and Rockley (2-3).
The other two All Wight League fixtures between Newport and St Helen’s and Northwood v Shanklin & Godshill were washed out.
Saturday’s fixtures (1.30): Northwood v Ryde, St Helen’s v Shanklin & Godshill, Ventnor v Newport.

Fourteen-year old Oscar Vandecstelle hit 60 opening for Ventnor in the thumping All Wight League victory over winless St Helen’s on The Green.
He underpinned a demanding total of 257-5 and shared early order partnerships with Martin Blackman (38) and Hugh Calloway (37) before Ben Attrill smashed a rapid 69 not out.
St Helen’s were rushed out for 91, Dan Cox taking 3-34 and Attrill (4-12) four of the last five wickets to fall.  Ventnor won by 164 runs.
Ben Baker (58) and Steve Tait (52) hit unbeaten half-centuries as Ryde thrashed Shanklin & Godshill by nine wickets at Westhill to secure back-to-back All Wight League victories.
Fresh from beating St Helen’s the previous week, Ryde bowled Shanklin out for 152 (Jack Powell 28), with Simon Wratten (4-20) infiltrating the lower-order.
Baker and Tait then shared an unbeaten century stand to sweep Ryde to victory – one they’ll hope to repeat in Saturday’s top showdown against Ventnor at Hardings Shute, 1.30.
Fingernails were being bitten at Victoria Park, where Newport scrambled past Northwood’s 127 with their last pair at the crease.
Chris Williams played an influential role for Northwood, scoring 26 and later creating inroads into Newport’s middle-order with a 4-31 return.
The roaming Josh Procter (26) helped Northwood’s cause, as did a late innings contribution from John Butt (40).
Procter (2-16) and Williams bowled the Cowes side into the box seat, but after Trevor Dye (32) had gone, Gareth Bricknell made 41 to set up a thrilling and nervy finish.

Fair Oaks’ second string maintained their 100 per cent win record in the Winchester & District Club Championship thanks to a consistent performance in the field and with the ball, capped by a nerveless unbeaten partnership between captain James Todd and tailender Toby Wolverson.
The Longparish batsmen had mixed powerful attack with suspect defence, Callum Giles (43) leading the way. Nick Bass took 4-37 and Freddie Eley and James Featherstone two apiece as the visitors were left to rue being bowled out for 150 with more than seven overs to spare.
After the break Oaks were reduced to 0 for 2 and then 57 for 7, Harry Martin (2-24) and Ben Gardner impressing with the new ball.  Spinner Nathan Smith (4-28) skittled the Oaks middle order, but the backup bowling let ‘Parish down by conceding 39 in wides, giving Todd and Bass (17) the chance to launch a recovery.
When the eighth wicket fell at 101 Fair Oak’s chances of victory looked slim, but Todd produced a real captain’s innings to finish the match 49 not out.  Wolverson (23no) mixed canny defence with some good stroke play as the hosts edged home in the 37th over.
Hampshire Under-15 starlet Wilf La Fontaine-Jackson hit an unbeaten 85 as Easton & Martyr Worthy chased down St Cross Symondians’ 175 (Graham Barrett 57) to win their derby by six wickets.

​Alton recovered from a dismal 17-3 to piled up 199-3 against RAM, with Joe Paul [pictured above] hitting 94 not out and Ellis Ballinger a best yet 68.  His father Julian then took 4-23 as RAM fell to 182 all out (Khan 63).
Will Robbins hit 61 and shared a key middle-order stand with Isaac Cowdrill (54) to ensure IBM came out on top in the cross-road derby with Hursley Park.  IBM’s 223-9 proved too many for the Park, who were dismissed for 187 (Sharma 56), Dan Rides taking 5-32.
Ash Lovell (5-37) also produced a ‘five-for’ as Compton & Chandler’s Ford (194) bowled Sparsholt out for 165 to win by 29 runs.

Red faces in the Fareham & Crofton selection camp as the club's fourth team beat the thirds by 33 runs in a run-strewn HCB mini-league match.  The 40-over affair produced 521 runs.
A maiden century by Bath University's Ben Thomas (105), aided by Sam Lindsay's 62, helped Fareham IVs post a formidable 277-7 (Martin 4-46).  Fareham hockey starlet Will Raymond responded with 84, Ryan Fitsell 53, and Peter Briggs 40, but the thirds could only manage 244-8 in reply.
Meanwhile, half-centuries by Dan Wimble (51) and Sam Stoddart (53) swept Fareham & Crofton first team to a seven-wicket win over Bedhampton Mariners (156-9).

Ryde, Shanklin & Godshill and Ventnor are off to winning starts in the All Wight League, beating St Helen’s, Newport and Northwood, respectively, all after chasing down targets.
St Helen’s were in dire straights after losing four wickets with the score on 79 (Hedley Carkett 30) against Ryde, but a half-century by Mike Parsons (55) enabled them to recover to 198 all out on the Green, where Tom Morgan pouched five victims behind the stumps.
Although Steven Tait (40) was prominent early on, Ollie Stubbings (4-55) rattled Ryde’s cage. Harry Wratten made 38, but it needed an unbeaten 32 from Ollie Morgan to get the visitors home.
James Lucy hit an unbeaten 96 and Mark Woodhouse 60 as Shanklin comfortably chased Newport’s 219-6 (R Young 85), skipper Ben White taking 3-25.
Dan Cox took 3-21 and later hit a key 39 as Ventnor overcame Northwood’s 110 at Steephill. Simon Goldsmith (3-21) made Ventnor work for their victory.
Saturday’s matches: Shanklin & Godshill v Ryde, St Helen’s v Ventnor, Newport v Northwood.

​Jack Levy smashed 72 not out and Tommy Trinder an unbeaten 41 as Longparish chased down St Cross Symondians’ 228-7 to win by six wickets and secure a second Winchester Club Championship victory.
Fair Oak are the embryo leaders, with Compton & Chandlers Ford also celebrating a second consecutive victory, despite Isaac Cowdrill’s 93 against them for IBM Hursley.
A dominant performance with the bat saw Oaks to a comfortable 100-run over Sparsholt at the Norman Edwards Ground.  
Will Hughes (59) shared in an opening stand of 73 with Monty McKenzie (34).  Later in the innings, James Gradwell (27) and James Todd (32) added another 70 in just seven overs as the visitors racked up an imposing total.  Dave Coyle (4-43) was the only home bowler to emerge with success as a consistent Fair Oak batting array made hay in the sunshine.
In reply most of the Sparsholt batsmen made starts, but none could go on to a match-winning contribution, tailender Mark Dodswell (22) eventually top-scoring. 
Gradwell (3-22) and fellow seamer James Featherstone (3-25) were the pick of the Oaks bowling, while spinners Jake Salmon (2-28) and Matt White (2-8) polished off the home tail still 100 runs short of their target.
Results –
Division 1
Compton & Chandler’s Ford 229-9 (Gorty 57, Rathos 41, Robbins 4-30, Rides 3-34) beat IBM Hursley 195-7 (Cowdrill 93, Robbins 41) by 34 runs.
Hursley Park 104-3 (T Flynn 40) beat Alton 103 (M Heffernan 39, Sharma 3-15, Kajendran 3-35) by seven wickets.
Easton & Martyr Worthy 192 (Stanbrook 72, Banks 39) beat RAM 84 (Mitchell 3-12, Firrell 3-17) by 108 runs.
Fair Oak 260-8 (Hughes 59, McKenzie 34, Todd 32, Gradwell 27, Coyle 4-43) beat Sparsholt 160 (Gradwell 3-22, Featherstone 3-25) by 100 runs.
Longparish 229-4 (Levy 72*, Trinder 41*, Bearpark 40) beat St Cross Symondians III 228-7 (Barrett 70, Figden 51, Clarke 40, Gardner 4-39) by six wickets.
Division 2
Hursley Park 167-3 (Tarr 76, Spink 63) beat Alton 164 (Mason 56, Doherty 4-15, Hammett 4-21) by seven wickets.
Easton & Martyr Worthy II 206-7 (Rose 75*, Burton 40) beat Twyford 98 (Simmonds 35, Lewis 3-23, Burnard 3-23) by 108 runs.
St Cross Symondians 220-9 (Whitman 59, Good 48) beat Longparish II 196-8 (P Blackmore 85, B Blackmore 43, Ahmed 4-42) by 24 runs.
Fair Oak 248-7 (Stewart 76, Goodyear 73, Freemantle 45) beat Sparsholt 113 (Nevin 4-13) by 135 runs.
Saturday’s fixtures
Division 1: Alton v RAM, Easton & Martyr Worthy v St Cross Symondians, Fair Oak v Longparish, IBM Hursley v Hursley Park, Sparsholt v Compton & Chandler’s Ford. Division 2: Compton & Chandler’s Ford v Sparsholt, Hursley Park v IBM Hursley, St Cross Symondians v Easton & Martyr Worthy, Twyford v Alton III.