​Bashley (Rydal) are on the brink of a historic treble title triumph.
Already confirmed as ECB Southern Premier League and Division 3 winners, they could also be parading the Hampshire League County Division 3 (South) trophy around the streets (okay, country lanes) of the New Forest village if their third team wins its final match at relegation threatened Hythe & Dibden on Saturday.
They go to Jones Lane with a 16-point advantage over second placed Shanklin, who host demoted Ventnor at Westhill.
While Bashley’s first team was being crowned Premier Division champions at Bournemouth, Patrick Lewis’s side clinched the SPL3 crown with a 60-run victory over Purbrook.
A century by Arno Hattingh (112) and a blistering 82 by Sam Stroud, who according to local folklore “isn’t on the field to make friends”, pointed Bashley to a formidable 261-7.
Purbrook, whose final home match against Portsmouth & Southsea on Saturday (1230) will be key to the outcome of the relegation scrap, came back with 201, half of which skipper Josh McCoy (101) made before Stroud weighed in with 5-27. 

South Wilts II had slumped into the relegation places in Southern Premier League Division 2 following debilitating consecutive defeats but a resounding win over promotion prospects St Cross Symondians seconds has left them with a great chance of avoiding the drop.
South Wilts' batting has held them back all season and here again at the Green Jackets ground they were in early trouble as three wickets fell early (Matt Haworth 2-32) to leave them 39-3, but Joe Cranch [left] and Luke Hansford took the game to the hosts. 
The pair put on 110 before a flurry of lbw's (James Allen 3-53) led to a slump to 185-7. Cranch hit 76 and Hansford 60 but with both gone, a potential 250 plus score was suddenly looking more like 200. Steve Booth hit a crucial 34 and Oxford University bound Ben Fisher 19 not out as South Wilts at least reached maximum points at 225-8.
Matt Burton and James Wade tore into the home batting unit. Burton picked up two early wickets and Wade had two difficult chances go begging, but from 17-2 St Cross started to rebuild.
The innings turned on a sensational catch off Booth by James Wade. Left hander Jack Middleton was looking good and at 42-2 the innings was beginning to take shape, but as he drilled an on-drive through mid-on, Wade ran and dived full length to his left to make a stunning grab. South Wilts were sparked into life, St Cross slumped visibly. Booth and Burton (3-32) ripped through the innings to leave the home side 46-6. 
St Cross dug in but a fourth wicket for Booth (4-20), thanks to s smart catch from keeper Sam Pittman, and another excellent catch by Hansford off Rob Pittman left them dead and buried at 85-8.  St Cross, through keeper Robbie Hadfield (36) focussed on gaining batting points and a bit of a stalemate ensued against spinners Tom Pearce and Pittman, but the return of seam saw the final wickets fall. 
Wade took a deserved wicket (1-18) thanks to another fine catch, this time from Cranch and Fisher wrapped things up at 132 all out in the 44th over. Catches win matches they say and certainly the hosts will reflect on a number of chances that went begging when South Wilts claimed much more difficult opportunities.
This has been a strange division where any side can get beat another on a given date, as South Wilts have proved themselves. They need a maximum of seven points to guarantee safety on the final day and the fact that South Wilts host already relegated Langley Manor and Basingstoke & North Hants II face already promoted Totton means very little! Fair Oak (at home to St Cross Symondians) sit just one point ahead of South Wilts so they too could still be relegated.
Basingstoke, meanwhile, dropped into the bottom two after an 89-run defeat against Paultons, for whom three batsmen – Australian George Condon (63), Sam Metcalfe (53) and Robbie Pike (51 not out) - made fifties.
Despite a miserly new-ball spell of 2-8 by Mitch Stokes, Paultons’ made 221-8 – way beyond Basingstoke, who were dismissed for 132 (Josh May 36), Rob O’Brien and James Metcalfe sharing six of the wickets.
Fair Oak are far too close to the drop zone for their own liking and a 39-run defeat by Waterlooville (140) didn’t help their cause.
Charlie Gwynn, who has been linked with a move to a Premier Division club in 2020, took 4-5 off ten overs and top scored with 24 while Jon Hudson (3-18), Max Goddard (3-19) and Ash Silva (3-20) took nine Oaks wickets.
Already relegated Langley Manor fell to 139 all out (Nick Doubell 54) and a 78-run defeat by Liphook & Ripsley, whose tidy 217-8 included a half-century by Harry Munt (55).

Totton​ & Eling have lost four of their last six matches – but are still hot favourites to land the Southern Premier League Division 2 title !
They go into Saturday’s final match at relegation threatened Basingstoke & North Hants II with a 12-point lead over St Cross Symondians II, whose run-in form has mirrored their own.
Realistically, only a Totton defeat at May’s Bounty – and St Cross hammering Fair Oak – will enable the top two positions to be swapped.
Scott Baldwin was the star of the show as Hartley Wintney inflicted a six-wicket defeat on the season-long leaders.
He took 6-38 (and Anthony Parson 3-19) as Totton were dismissed for 135 (Billy Lightfoot 32) and then rattled off 68.
Fortunately for Totton, St Cross Symondians crashed to an 83-run defeat against relegation battlers South Wilts II (see separate story).

​Calmore Sports and Old Tauntonians & Romsey have each won three of their last five Southern Premier League Division 2 matches – without so far being able to shake off the very real threat of relegation.
Survival Saturday lies ahead for the pair this weekend, with Calmore Sports probably favourites to stave off the drop.
They take a nine-point lead over OTs & Romsey into their home match with New Milton at Loperwood Park, while little more than six miles away OTs face the unenviable task of beating newly acclaimed champions Hook & Newnham Basics, who have won all bar two of their 15 matches this summer.  Hook, though, may be tempted to bolster their second team in a final push for a Hampshire League County 1 promotion place.
Calmore had prominent former South Wilts all-rounder James Hibberd aiding their cause against Sarisbury Athletic – and he certainly did his bit towards achieving a notable eight-wicket win, taking 3-35 with ball and later scoring 49 not out in a comfortable run chase.
Sam Floyd (63) and Ricky Rawlins (58) underpinned Sarisbury’s 192, while Ben Johns bashed 63 of the first 83 Calmore needed before Matty Taylor (36) was joined by Hibberd for an unbroken 89-run stand that got the Totton club home with 14 balls to spare.
OTs & Romsey have simply got to beat Hook & Newnham Basics to stay up, otherwise its curtains.
They certainly piled on the runs at Fernhill, where an 88-run opening stand between KES all-rounder Jovan Dhariwal (pictured) (69) and Joe Vaughan (36) pointed the way towards a hefty 269-5.
Hampshire’s Chris Wood (49) and Charlie King (39) added more runs before Harry Tulk slapped four sixes in a breezy 40.
New Milton were 49-5 (Campbell Golding 31) before Ryan Beck whacked an unbeaten 106 to give their final 190-8 (Jody Brown 3-37) a creditable edge.

Teenage spin all-rounder Ollie Baker has put his name firmly in the frame to be named Rowledge’s Player of the Year.
He celebrated his maiden SPL half-century and, in scoring 70 in the thumping 265-run win over relegated Ventnor, took his tally beyond the 300-mark in league matches.  He has also taken 23 wickets with his left-arm spin.
Ironically, Rowledge lost Ricky Yates and Aussie Fraser Wilson (suffering a Headingley hangover) for ducks to George Willis (3-62) before the Church Road hosts embarked on a 312-run fest against their ten-man island visitors.
Sam Plater (59) and Baker (70) each struck ten fours during their 115-run stand, which Salesian College head boy designate Jonty Sebborn (25) later enhanced.
But the real fireworks were provided by Joe Randall, who blazed two sixes and nine fours in a 44-ball 68 not out.
The season’s end can’t come quick enough for Ben Woodhouse and his beleaguered Ventnor troops, who should be commended for completing their fixtures in such trying circumstances.  Yates and Randall shared six of the wickets as Ventnor fell to 47 all out.

​Sparsholt, last season’s Southern Premier League Division 2 champions, look set to finish runners-up to Hook & Newnham Basics in their debut summer back in Division 1.
They all but mathematically clinched second place with a four-wicket win over Portsmouth at St Helen’s – a game in which skipper Jeremy Frith enhanced his prospects of winning the SPL1 bowling prize with a 5-17 return.
Frith took his season’s haul to 35 by cleaning out Portsmouth’s middle and lower order after Ben Duggan (57) and Fraser Hay (31) had made runs during a fragmented start. 
Unsettled by a three-wicket spell by Dave Banks (3-29), Portsmouth creaked at 55-4 and only when Duggan was joined by Alex Hammond (21) did matters improve.  But the last six wickets fell for 15 runs – five of them to Frith – as Portsmouth plunged to 139 all out.
Michael Haworth (35) and Frith (34) gave Sparsholt a 60-run platform before three wickets fell for 17 runs. At 100-3, another three fell for three runs.  Sparsholt 103-6. Game in balance.
Teenager Liam Doran, with an unbeaten 35, and Hampshire Seniors’ star Andy Worth (18 not out) alleviated Sparsholt fears with an unbroken 39-run partnership which won the game.

The standard of umpiring seems to be falling, and this is not to say that umpires are less competent.
The changing nature of cricket means that correct decisions are harder to make. The MCC, as guardians of the Laws, must take action... again, writes Charles Randall in the August Club Cricket Conference newsletter.
The MCC are to review the Laws as a matter of course in September, and the subject of bats really should be revisited. Thanks to technology these pieces of wood have become lethal weapons, more than simply upsetting the balance between bat and ball. Restrictions in size made two years ago have not gone far enough.
So how does this affect umpiring? Umpire associations are requiring the bowler's umpire  to stand four paces behind the stumps for safety reasons in club and professional cricket. The square-leg umpire is expected to retreat to a safe distance, which seems to be at least 30 yards.  Unfortunately, with due respect, adjudicating lbw accurately is much more difficult from where the umpire now stands, and snicks are less likely to be detected from such a distance.  Health and safety is now mitigating against  good decision-making. The art of batting itself cannot be responsible for this - it is the advent of beast bats that is the culprit.  
                                                                                      Sympathy
Though the umpire, four paces back, can just about check the bowler's foot for no-balls, the striker, now some 25 yards away,  becomes more two-dimensional for lbw decisions. Can the umpire see where the batsman is standing in relation to the crease? Judging by the ECB county championship highlights, umpires are giving more lbws on the front foot that look dubious, to say the least. The umpires are probably making more mistakes, and one wonders if this is happening at club level. Anecdotally this seems to be the case.
After the first Test in the Ashes series at Edgbaston the media reported that umpire Joel Wilson "equalled the record" for the most overturned decisions in a game - a bone-headed expression, as though the Trinidadian was attempting a record...  Nevertheless Wilson had eight decisions corrected, but nothing was mentioned about the difficulty caused by the umpire's position back from the stumps. All umpires deserve much sympathy.
Then came the hysteria surrounding the lbw appeal against Ben Stokes in the third Test when England were still one run short of Australia's total at Headingley. Wilson gave 'not out' to a ball by off-spinner Nathan Lyon, delivered round the wicket and very wide in the crease. The ball pitched in line with the stumps, but did it straighten enough to hit the wicket after beating the left-hander's sweep shot? Wilson could not be sure and gave not out, as most umpires would have done.
The barrage of criticism in the media was ridiculous. Glenn McGrath on Test Match Special called it a "bad" decision, and newspaper pundits, but not all, seemed to agree it was a "wrong" decision. Jim White concluded a good article in the Daily Telegraph about Jack Leach and sportsmen in glasses by describing Stokes as "absolutely plumb" - which is absolutely rubbish.
                                                                                       Replays
Umpires can only give what they see, even from 25 yards away, and replays showed that the ball deviated off Stokes's front pad before striking his back pad. This slight deflection was not picked up by the DRS system. The ball had not straightened as much as it appeared - though it would probably have hit at least half the leg stump. There was enough doubt about this for the appeal to be turned down. The point is that a review might have succeeded, but Wilson's decision itself was in no way "bad" or "wrong" and Stokes was by no means "plumb".
But back to safety. Before new bat size restrictions were introduced in 2017, umpires in England complained to the ECB's umpiring director Chris Kelly about the risks of injury.  Umpire Rob Bailey said: "A lot of people are in danger. Bats are massive now and are only going to become more powerful and the ball is pinging off them."
The MCC took action to limit the thickness of bats, but almost certainly their law-makers did not go far enough. Law 6 limits edges to 40mm, still almost three times thicker than an orthodox bat in the 1960s. Bat overall thickness is limited to 60mm, still a great deal thicker than the older measure of about 45mm. Dry willow and light pressing allows a light pick-up for a huge bat, which generates enormous power.   
At the time in 2017 the MCC felt they had made the right decision. "The bat size issue has been heavily scrutinised and discussed in recent years," the head of cricket John Stephenson said in a statement. "We believe the maximum dimensions we have set will help redress the balance between bat and ball, while still allowing the explosive, big hitting we all enjoy."
                                                                                              Commonplace
This was a disappointing and disingenuous comment, apparently ignoring 95 per cent of cricket played. It seemed to brush away concerns about safety of umpires, fielders, spectators, passers-by, gardens and cars. In any case, the big-hit sixes that "we all enjoy" became commonplace in the World Cup and merely devalued the six-hit. At club level, safety would be the concern rather than cheap sixes.
The recent death of umpire John Williams, 80, in Wales underlined the inherent dangers in club cricket. Standing at the bowler's end he was struck on the head by a drive in a Pembrokeshire league game. In 2014 an umpire died after being hit by a drive in a club league match in Israel. An umpire in Sydney grade cricket was hit in the face in 2001 and lost five teeth.
While serious damage is still very rare, umpires are being injured by violent hitting, not to mention near misses. Bruce Oxenford, the Australian umpire, used a polycarbonate shield strapped to his left arm for some matches in 2016, though this method of staying safe did not catch on. The only safety avenue left is reducing the thickness of bats so that umpires can stand in the best place near the stumps for doing their job.

​Bashley (Rydal) broke open the celebratory champagne after Tom Friend’s powerful and unbeaten 84 set up a five-wicket victory over Bournemouth to clinch a maiden ECB Southern Premier League title.
Runners-up two seasons ago, Bashley got home with eight balls to spare, having slipped from 96-1 to 144-5 in pursuit of Bournemouth’s competitive 238-5.
That’s when Friend, the former Ventnor all-rounder, rose to the fore to sweep Bashley back on their championship course with an unbroken 96-run partnership with George Wilson (35 not out) playing a key support role.
The run chase had begun positively with skipper Michael Porter (32) sharing useful stands with Tom Jacques (25) and Ben Walker (30), but Bashley lost four wickets for 48 runs to put the game back in the balance.  Spinner Robbie Pack returned a tidy 2-22.
Friend announced his intentions by firing a straight six high and deep over the Chapel Gate sightscreen and dominated from there.

Bournemouth tried unsuccessfully to stem Friend’s assault by ‘softening’ the ball by bouncing it around the 30-yard circle on its way back to the bowler – a tactic the panel umpires didn’t appear to spot.
​Friend and Wilson carried on regardless by carrying Bashley over the physiological 200-run barrier and onwards to the victory target.
Friend struck the ball powerfully, hitting eight fours in addition to his three sixes, the last of which sailed high over the practice nets and into the car park.  That effectively clinched it.
Wilson played his part too and has proved a useful addition to deepen Bashley’s batting line up.
Bournemouth captain Chris Park admitted Bashley were “deservedly champions” – they won 14 of their 16 games - but his side made them work for the victory they needed to secure an unassailable lead over 2018 winners St Cross Symondians at the top of the table
Park said: “We can be proud that twice this year we have competed with Bashley, who are deservedly champions, but for 95 per cent of the time I thought we were going to win.
“We had them five down but Tom Friend batted lovely for 30 overs, took it right to the end and hit a couple of big boundaries right when the pressure was mounting.”
Lions earlier reached 105 before losing opener Nick Park (47). Tom Robinson (52) and Adam Davies (3) then also fell to the left-arm spin bowling of Ross Grierson (3-33) before Luke Matthews (73) and Simon Woodruff (40) helped propel Bournemouth to 238-5. ​

​Cape Town all-rounder Hilio de Abreu chalked up his fifth half-century of the season and took his ECB Southern Premier Division run aggregate to 643 as Burridge pulled off a 29-run win over a weakened Hampshire Academy at Botley Road.
De Abreu [pictured] made an important 73 [out of a Burridge total of 173] after Hartley Wintney teenager Harry Broderick (3-20) had removed the top three and Ropley youngster Huw Wheeler had taken 4-34. 
Sully White (3-18) hit back for Burridge as the Academy, weakened by the absence of seven regulars who had been playing in the ECB Under-17 Super 4s at Loughborough, dropped to 20-3.
Scott Currie (47) led an Academy fightback, which faltered against De Abreu, whose 3-34 return included his 29th SPL victim of the season.

Former South Wilts and Sarisbury Athletic spin all-rounder Ryan Burl is one of the players affected following Zimbabwe Cricket’s suspension by the ICC, their accounts frozen and their teams banned from events. 
The 25-year old, who spent three formative seasons playing in the Southern Premier League, is living in cricketing purgatory, stuck alongside his Zimbabwean teammates; he knows neither one thing nor another, only that his professional career is effectively on hold, at the mercy of administrators.
He is experiencing one of sport’s brutal quirks – the playing staff punished for the actions of those beyond the pitch. As he talks, there is an audible puff of the cheeks – an emotional sigh that is feeling the effects of a week of turmoil.
“It’s hard to respond, to be honest,” admits Burl. “We’re quite speechless. We don’t know what’s happening.
“Nobody dreams of having their careers shortened because of corruption. Nobody even plans for that because it’s not even a realistic idea that you have in your mind.”
Following a meeting in London, Zimbabwe’s ICC membership has been suspended due to alleged external influence and meddling in the country’s cricketing affairs.
It is a charge denied by Kirsty Coventry, the former Olympic medal-winning swimmer who now chairs the nation’s Athletes Commission in the International Olympic Committee. “There has been no government interference,” she tweeted when the judgement was made.
                                                                                            Board disbanded
The issue appears to centre around the involvement of the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), a body independent of the government, which oversees the running of Zimbabwe’s sporting associations to prevent poor governance.
As part of its brief, the SRC took the decision to disband the entire Zimbabwe Cricket Board. The ICC has now demanded that the previous board is reinstated by October 8 in order for the game’s global governing body to review the case at a meeting four days later.
For Burl, however, beyond the administrative chaos around which this suspension has been based, lies a human story which risks being overlooked. There are livelihoods at stake, families to look after, jobs on the line.
“It feels like sometimes we are political pawns in their chess game,” he confesses of a period that has left him and his colleagues angry, anguished and confused.
It has been more than two months since Burl, who made his Test debut against South Africa in December 2017 , was last paid any of his salary; he believes it is nearing half a year since he received a match fee.
“It’s extremely worrying because about 90 percent of cricketers in the country are relying primarily on the income of Zimbabwe Cricket,” he says.
“It’s not a pleasant thing to hear that you’re not going to get paid for all the work that you have been doing and the time that you’ve sacrificed.
“It’s not just us that we’ve got to look after; everyone’s got a wife or a child or their mum and dad. There’s a lot of dependence on that salary. It falls on more than just you or the 100 or so cricketers in the country – there are a lot of mouths that need to be fed.”
At 25 years of age, Burl is among the new generation of Zimbabwean cricketers. He is spending his summer at Haslingden in the Lancashire League, while he represented his country during their recent tours of Ireland and the Netherlands.

Recent results have been poor; the tourists lost all five ODIs across those two trips. That, however, pales into relative insignificance when faced with the uncertainty at play here.
In amongst an experienced line-up, including Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine (ex-Lymington) and Sikandar Raza Butt, Burl’s concern is of the future, of what happens next should the worst come to fruition, of where he will go, of what he will do, of what will lie ahead for a proud cricketing nation.
A community that can lay claim to Andy and Grant Flower, to Heath Streak, to Henry Olonga, to Dave Houghton and so many others.
“It’s unbelievable,” he reflects. “The way I see it is that if we get expelled now, Zimbabwe Cricket is screwed for at least four years. That’s us done.
“It’s worrying because it’s affecting the guys that are coming through the ranks – the guys who are 17, 18, 19 are going to miss out.
“They wouldn’t be able to pursue cricket in Zimbabwe and they’ll just fall off the radar and it’s upsetting because it could just skip a whole generation.
“Even though, as it stands, there are quite a lot of guys in our squad that probably only have a few years left at the top, these guys like Brendan and Sikandar want to leave Zimbabwe Cricket in a better place, but they have been unable to do so because it’s out of their hands.
“It’s not the way it should be; we should just be here playing cricket, which is what we’re good at. We’re not good at politics – that’s not our job.
“The whole cricket side of it is being taken away from us, so we can’t even do what we’re good at or what we were born to do. It’s frustrating because at the moment it’s just politics and politics.”
​*This article appears courtesy of The Cricketer magazine.

Three batsmen hit half-centuries as Lymington posted a season’s best 261-8 against Alton and end a run of five successive ECB Southern Premier League defeats.
Gareth Schreuder, Terry Crabb and Harry Fisher all made fifty-plus scores to set up a 93-run win for Lymington, who are guaranteed a fourth placed finish.
Lymington took control from the start with Ben Rogers (26) punching six boundaries off 17 deliveries. 
For once, they built on that launch pad with Terry Crabb’s quick fire 54 (containing a pulled six and eight fours) taking the score intro treble figures.
A double breakthrough by Ryan Covey (2-27) caused a wobble and some uncertainty at 124-4, but teenage duo Gareth Schreuder (62) and Harry Fisher (51) reaffirmed Lymington’s position with a timely near century stand.
Schreuder, looking more comfortable at five in the order, produced his best knock for some months, hitting one huge six over the Sports Ground clubhouse before being trapped leg before attempting an over-ambitious switch hit off spinner Julian Ballinger (2-45).
The pair added 93 before Fisher became the second of three victims for Max Bacon (3-60), but by then Lymington were well on the way to a match winnings total.
Alton lost two early wickets and were 45-4 (Dan Harris 26) shortly after.  Only Alex Hammond (52) and Mark Heffernan (35) made much impression as they slid to 168 all out, teenage off-spinner Ben Attrill taking an SPL best 4-48.

Havant hit the highest 50-over ‘white ball’ score of the season when they racked up 318-4 against beleaguered Basingstoke at May’s Bounty.
The eventual 144-run victory lifted the seven-times champions out of the ECB Southern Premier Division’s bottom two and left their hosts contemplating life in Division One next summer.
Stuart Ransley (pictured) led the way with 113 (one six and 13 fours) to become Havant’s sole centurion of the season, sharing significant partnerships with Harry Gadd (72) and Richard Hindley (84) as Basingstoke (having won the toss) were batted out of the contest.
In a much-changed batting line-up, the Bountymen were soon in trouble as openers Max Harsham and Hampshire Over-50s star Andy Giles departed with just five scored.   Chris Froud (27) and David Griffiths (18) were the only players in the top six to get into double figures as spin duo Chris Morgan (3-46) and teenager Freddie Gadd (3-24), back from a nasty knee injury, wheeled away successfully.
It was left to Ashley Neal (25) and top scorer Greg Donaldson, whose 59 included seven sixes, to make sure the home side made it into three figures.  The pair added 67 for the seventh wicket, but after that Basingstoke lost their remaining three wickets for seven runs being bowled out for 174.

St Cross Symondians clinched the runners-up spot in the ECB Southern Premier League by beating South Wilts by five wickets at Bemerton.
Half centuries by Hampshire’s Felix Organ and Billy Mead enabled St Cross to ease home with 14 balls to spare.
Seven points ahead of the Salisbury club, St Cross will win the 50-over ‘white ball’ pennant if they beat Burridge at the Green Jackets Ground on Saturday
Long time leaders Bashley (Rydal), who host South Wilts in the final round of fixtures, clinched the overall championship with a five-wicket victory at Bournemouth.
It was the dismissal of Morton (for a typically forceful 33) – the first of five victims (he now has 30 for the season) for gloveman Ed Ellis – that triggered a top order South Wilts wobble against St Cross, who seized the initiative after their hosts had progressed to 78-1.
James Hayward and Ben Draper fell to the Ellis/Jack Bransgrove (3-38) combination as South Wilts lurched to 105-4.
Arthur Godsal (56) glued the innings together before he too fell (to Harry Came) leaving SW 128-5.
                                                                                       Consolidating
The developing Raff Hussey (37) and Australian Peter Rowe (30) shared a half-century stand as South Wilts nudged just beyond the 200-run mark, before Harry Foyle (4-37) returned to bowl the final overs and have ‘tail-waggers’ Tom Berzins and Luke Evans caught in the deep in the 50th as the Bemerton side closed at an under-par 233 all out.
St Cross lost Tom Foyle at 22, but Billy Mead (56) and Came (23) consolidated by adding 80 to put the visitors firmly in the driving seat.
Skippering the side in his second season, Mead has been in good form recently for the MCC YCs – and St Cross themselves.
Ironically, the pair were both trapped leg before wicket in quick succession to give South Wilts a chink of renewed hope.
It proved a false dawn as former Clevedon man Max Curtis (41) and Felix Organ, with an unbeaten 50, effectively secured the St Cross victory with their subsequent 83-run fourth-wicket partnership.
Ed Ellis added 23 as St Cross tidied their victory with time to spare.

What a weekend its been for Hook & Newnham Basics !  Crowned Southern Premier League Division One champions after a two-wicket win over Andover (they actually had the title wrapped up after taking four Andover wickets to secure the two bonus points they needed), their second team defeated Oakley by 25 runs to win the Cyril Thompson T20 Memorial Trophy at May's Bounty.

Kevin Light holds the Cyril Thompson T20 Cup - named in memory of the much cherished Cyril, who ran the Guy Jewell competition for over 50 years - after Hook & Newnham Basics B defeated Oakley in a high scoring final at May's Bounty.
Hook's winning 167 run total was based around Alex Brown (52) and Ben Allnutt (51), who picked up the thread from 88-3.  Oakley rallied from 103-8 to reach 142 all out, Haig Franklin being named Man of the Match after taking 4-27.
Hook's next mission comes on Saturday when they host Ropley, needing a win and a decent points haul to maintain a slender advantage over Gosport Borough in the chase for the second County Division One promotion slot.

The ECB Southern Premier Division championship alongside the Division 1 and 3 titles were decided this weekend – it’s been a unique double for Bashley (Rydal) and a memorable one for Hook & Newnham Basics – but Division 2 remains undecided as leaders Totton & Eling and St Cross Symondians II both lost.
But there’s still plenty to play for, as Stephen ‘Statto’ Jones (who once represented his Oxford college on Bamber Gascoigne’s University Challenge tv show) explains -
Premier Division
Bashley (Rydal) are champions for the first time, with 2018 winners St Cross Symondians runners-up.
Basingstoke & North Hants are bottom.
St Cross Symondians (home to Burridge) and Bashley (Rydal) (home to South Wilts) vie for the 50-over ‘white ball’ pennant, with St Cross currently 7 points ahead.
Division 1
Hook & Newnham Basics are champions, with Sparsholt second.
Ventnor are relegated. At the bottom, OTs & Romsey are 9 points behind Calmore Sports, and realistically need to beat Hook & Newnham Basics (at Romsey) and Calmore Sports to lose to be safe. New Milton (who play Calmore) need 1 point to be safe even if OTs get maximum points.
Division 2
Totton & Eling are 12/13 points ahead of St Cross Symondians IIs II, so need 9 points to be Division 2 champions, even if St Cross get full points. Realistically, St Cross need to beat Fair Oak (at Lapstone Park) and T & E lose (away to Basingstoke & North Hants) to change positions. St Cross Symondians II need 4 points to secure promotion, otherwise the winner of Paultons v Liphook & Ripsley could be in the mix.
Basingstoke & North Hants II are 15/16 points behind both Fair Oak and South Wilts II. These latter teams each need 7 points to be safe. South Wilts host relegated Langley Manor.
Division 3
Bashley (Rydal) II are confirmed as champions.
Fawley are a ‘confusing’ 10/13 points ahead of Hambledon due to a very different number of games played. If Hambledon get maximum (22) points (v Tichborne Park) then Fawley need 12 for promotion, but if Fawley get 0 points then Hambledon need 13 for promotion. If Hythe & Dibden beat Fawley comfortably then they are not out of the running, depending on Hambledon’s result.
Any of the 4 teams in 6th-9th could be relegated, depending on results.  Fareham & Crofton (8) host champions Bashley (Rydal) and Purbrook receive Portsmouth & Southsea (9). Fareham are 4 points clear of P & S.  Trojans visit relegated Lymington II.
Hampshire League
Leaders Parley are effectively 6 points ahead of Hook & Newnham Basics II and 7 from Gosport Borough going into the final round of matches.  Parley are at St Cross Symondians III, Hook host Ropley and Gosport Borough go to relegated Shrewton.
 

Hartley Wintney soak up the Bank Holiday sunshine after crushing Basingstoke & North Hants by eight wickets in a one-sided Guy Jewell T20 Cup final.
Already deflated after finishing bottom of the ECB Southern Premier Division and being on the receiving end of a 318-run mauling from Havant the previous day, Basingstoke struggled directly Academy prospect George Metzger was caught at slip off only the second ball.  They managed to make only 112-8 and were beaten with almost seven overs to spare.  Will Kerr (22) and teenager Harry Broderick (20) gave Hartley a promising start, which man-of-the-match Scott Baldwin (36 not out) and Jason Knibbs (33 not out) extended. 
It was only the second time in ten seasons Hartley Wintney had lifted the 67-year old Guy Jewell Cup.

ECB SOUTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE
RESULTS – ROUND 17 – AUGUST 24 2019

ECB PREMIER DIVISION

Havant 318-4 (S Ransley 115, Hindley 84, H Gadd 72)
Basingstoke & North Hants 174 (Donaldson 59, Froud 27, A Neal 25, F Gadd 3-24, Morgan 3-46)
Havant won by 144 runs.

Bournemouth 238-5 (Matthews 73, Robinson 52, N Park 47, Woodruff 40, Grierson 3-33)
Bashley (Rydal) 240-5 (Friend 84*, Wilson 35*, Porter 32, Walker 30, Jacques 25)
Bashley (Rydal) won by five wickets. 

Burridge 173 (De Abreu 73, Chowdhury 28, Wheeler 4-40)
Hampshire Academy 144 (S Currie 47, White 3-18) 25)
Burridge won by 29 runs.

Lymington 261-8 (Schreuder 62, Crabb 54, Fisher 51, Rogers 26, Bacon 3-60)
Alton 168 (A Hammond 52, Heffernan 35, Harris 26, Attrill 4-48)
Lymington won by 93 runs.

South Wilts 233 (Godsal 56, Hussey 37, Morton 33, Rowe 30, H Foyle 4-37, Bransgrove 3-38)
St Cross Symondians 234-5 (Mead 56, Organ 50, Curtis 41)
St Cross Symondians won by five wickets.

DIVISION 1

Andover 168 (Treagus 57, A Ayers 48, Divecha 5-21)
Hook & Newnham Basics 169-8 (Thomson 52, Franklin 30)
Hook & Newnham Basics won by two wickets

Old Tauntonians & Romsey 269-5 (Dhariwal 69, Wood 49, Tulk 40, King 39, Vaughan 36)
New Milton 190-8 (R Beck 106*, Golding 31, Watts 25, Brown 3-37)
Old Tauntonians & Romsey won by 79 runs.

Rowledge 312-6 (Baker 70, Randall 68, Plater 59)
Ventnor 47 (Snell 20, Yates 3-2, Randall 3-25)
Rowledge won by 165 runs.

Portsmouth 139 (Duggan 57, Hay 31, Frith 5-17, Banks 3-29)
Sparsholt 142-6 (Doran 35*, Haworth 35, Frith 34)
Sparsholt won by four wickets.

Sarisbury Athletic 192 (Floyd 63, Rawlins 58, Hibberd 3-35)
Calmore Sports 195-2 (Johns 63, Hibberd 49*, Taylor 36)
Calmore Sports won by eight wickets.

DIVISION 2

Totton & Eling 135 (Lightfoot 32, Baldwin 6-38, Parson 3-19)
Hartley Wintney 137-4 (Baldwin 68, H Hammond 27, W Kerr 23)
Hartley Wintney won by six wickets.

Liphook & Ripsley 217-8 (Munt 55, Neave 33, Pryce 28, Morgan 3-19)
Langley Manor 139 (Doubell 54, Burton 4-31)
Liphook & Ripsley won by 78 runs.

Paultons 221-8 (Condon 63, Metcalfe 53, Pike 51*)
Basingstoke & North Hants II 132 (May 36, O’Brien 3-24, J Metcalfe 3-29)
Paultons won by 89 runs.

South Wilts 225-8 (Cranch 76, Hansford 60, Booth 34, Allen 3-53)
St Cross Symondians II 132 (Hadfield 36, Booth 4-20, Burton 3-32)
South Wilts II won by 83 runs.

Waterlooville 140 (Birch 38, Hillman 23, Gwynn 4-5)
Fair Oak 101 (Gwynn 24, Hudson 3-18, Goddard 3-19, Silva 3-20)
Waterlooville won by 39 runs.

DIVISION 3

Bashley (Rydal) II 261-7 (Hattingh 112, Stroud 82, Vaughan 29)
Purbrook 201 (McCoy 101, Mengham 41, Spiers 30, Stroud 5-27)
Bashley (Rydal) II won by 60 runs.

Fawley 219 (Lush 53, Kadyan 39, Munir 25, S Le Clerq 6-55)
Hambledon 220-5 (Marshall 89, Thistlethwayte 37, S Le Clerq 33, Smith 3-54)
Hambledon won by five wickets.

Hythe & Dibden 308-4 (Gates 113, Millar 67, Young 47)
Lymington II 165 (Phillips 40, Whyte 25, Wakely 3-45, Royan 3-51)
Hythe & Dibden won by 143 runs.

Trojans 188-9 (Le Bas 74, Manjra 49, Turrell 4-32)
Portsmouth & Southsea 148 (Kanavan 25, Willey 24, Longman 4-33)
Trojans won by 41 runs.

Tichborne Park 96 (Jess 19, Anscombe 5-9)
Fareham & Crofton 88 (Headon 21, Allam 6-29, Jess 3-18)
Tichborne Park won by eight runs.

Bashley (Rydal) have completed a unique Southern Premier League double by winning both the ECB Premier Division and the Division 3 championship in the same season.
They clinched a celebrated double with wins over Bournemouth (to win the Premier Division) and Purbrook to become Division 3 winners.
Tom Friend hit an unbeaten 84 as Bashley chased down Bournemouth's competitive 238-5 to win by five wickets with eight balls to spare, while at the BCG, Arno Hattingh hit 112 before Sam Stroud hit 82 and later took 5-27 in the second team's 60-run victory over Purbrook, for whom Josh McCoy scored 101.

BASHLEY [RYDAL] second team, Southern Premier League Division 3 champions.
Standing (from left) Richard King (scorer), Sam Kennett, Tim Taylor, Sean Read, Arno Hattinge, Neil Taylor, James Turner.  Seated: Sam Stroud, Phil Morris, Patrick Lewis (captain), Patrick Holly, Tom Saunders.
Picture: Terry Nash.

Were they at the wrong ground ? Two different badelynges appeared at Hursley Park’s delightful Quarters ground yesterday when perhaps they should have been 230 miles north at the Headingley Test.
Above the ducks head off to the practice nets and below check out Chris Westbrook’s square before they toss to decide whether to bat or cool down in a nearby pond.   

Basingstoke & North Hants will be without South African all-rounder Brad Porteous when they face Hartley Wintney in Sunday’s Finch Group Guy Jewell T20 Cup final at May’s Bounty, 2pm.
​Porteous took 24 wickets in addition to scoring 291 Southern Premier League runs this season has returned to his native South Africa to join the KZ Natal provincial squad for pre-season training.
But Bounty-raised Academy teenage wicketkeeper/batsman George Metzger is set to play after returning from the ECB Under-17 Super 4s tournament at Loughborough.
With the weather set fair and admission free, Basingstoke anticipate a bumper crowd for a T20 finals day double, which begins at 10am, with Oakley taking on Hook & Newnham Basics B for the Cyril Thompson Shield.
Basingstoke, who leaked 318-4 against Havant yesterday, have finished last in the Premier Division and will be relegated if Hook & Newnham’s King George V Ground is accredited.
Having won their last four games, Hartley Wintney are chasing a top three Division 2 finish and will be at full strength.
Hartley Wintney: Will Kerr, Harry Broderick, Hugo Hammond, Scott Baldwin, Jason Knibbs, Roy Cockram, Jamie Teale, Jonny Kerr, Will Ross, Anthony Parson, Dan Reynaldo.
Basingstoke skipper David Griffiths said: “After the season we have had it would be nice to win a trophy and we really played well (against cup holders Hook & Newnham Basics) in the semi-final. I hope we can repeat this.”
On Monday, Basingstoke U19 T20 Warriors are in action against Sway/Lymington in the Hampshire Vitality T20 finals day at May’s Bounty.

Sparsholt all-rounders David Banks [left] and Jeremy Frith [right] will be on their guard when they are batting together in the club’s final Southern Premier League Division 1 matches of the season.
With just eight runs between them in the contest to be SPL1’s top batsman – Banks has 629 runs and Frith 621 – running between the wickets during a partnership could be crucial and the proverbial “yes, no, sorry” scenario taboo.  
On the eve of the penultimate round of fixtures and with overseas players ineligible, Bashley’s Bradley Currie remains two victims behind Matt Metcalfe for the Premier Division bowling prize.
Tom Friend and Scott Myers are pursuing Tom Morton for the main batting award.
* Denotes overseas player ineligible for awards.
Premier Division
Batting: * Hilio de Abreu (Burridge) 570, Tom Morton (South Wilts) 527, Tom Friend (Bashley Rydal) 501, Scott Myers (Alton) 490, Michael Porter (Bashley Rydal) 481, Peter Hopson (Havant) 464, Tom Prest (Academy) 456.
Bowling: Matt Metcalfe (Lymington) 44, Bradley Currie (Bashley Rydal) 42, * Marvin Williams (St Cross Symondians) 38, * Matt Bacon (Alton) 35.
Wicketkeeping: Jez Bulled (Havant) 29, Chris Park (Bournemouth) 24, George Metzger (Academy) 23, Ed Ellis (St Cross Symondians) 22, Tom Morton (South Wilts) 21.
Division 1
Batting: David Banks (Sparsholt) 629, Jeremy Frith (Sparsholt) 621, * Fraser Hay (Portsmouth) 604, Ben Duggan (Portsmouth) 520, Ben Johns (Calmore Sports) 486, * Sam O’Brien (Sparsholt) 482.
Bowling: * Fraser Hay (Portsmouth) 38, Jeremy Frith (Sparsholt) 30, Martyn James (Hook & Newnham Basics) 29, Mark Lavelle (Calmore Sports) 29, Charlie Ayers (Andover) 28, Aniket Divecha (Hook & Newnham Basics) 27.
Wicketkeeping: Josh Buckingham (Hook & Newnham Basics) 27, Ben Wish (Rowledge) 21, Alex Hammond (Portsmouth) 18.
Division 2
Batting: * Jason Knibbs (Hartley Wintney) 540, Will Kerr (Hartley Wintney) 471, James Taylor (Totton & Eling) 443, Jason Laney (St Cross Symondians II) 420, Steve Harris (Langley Manor) 409, Suman Ganguly (Liphook & Ripsley) 405.
Bowling: Dave Orchard (St Cross Symondians II) 40, Charlie Gwynn (Fair Oak) 28, Keith Harris (Basingstoke & North Hants II) 27, Chris Chandler (Basingstoke & North Hants II) 27, Scott Dawes (Paultons) 26.
Wicketkeeping: Josh May (Basingstoke & North II) 21, Sam Pittman (South Wilts II) 19, Oli Thomas (Totton & Eling) 17, Dan Birch (Waterlooville) 17.
Division 3
Batting: Sufian Munir (Fawley) 710, Dan Wimble (Fareham & Crofton) 517, Jack Davies (Portsmouth & Southsea) 487, Zac Millar (Hythe & Dibden) 455, Matt Benfield (P & S) 435.
Bowling: Jake Peach (P & S) 33, Syed Agha (Trojans) 31, Sam Stroud (Bashley Rydal II) 31, * Luke Barber (Hambledon) 30, Wayne Smith (Fawley) 27, Jamie Donaldson (Trojans) 27, Ben White (Fareham & Crofton) 27.
Wicketkeeping: Nigel le Bas (Trojans) 21, Kieran Earl (Fawley) 19, Tom Kent (Fareham & Crofton) 17.
 
 * Sparsholt pictures above courtesy of Bob Selly.

Bashley (Rydal) seconds clinched promotion from Southern Premier League Division 3 with a crushing nine-wicket win over Trojans, who plunged into the two-down relegation zone on the back of a fifth defeat in six matches.
Tim Taylor (6-27) wreaked havoc as Trojans lost eight wickets for 48 runs, plunging from 39-2 to 87 all out.
Ed Boyd (30) held Bashley at bay for a long while after Sam Stroud (2-8) had taken two early wickets, but became a second of six victims for Taylor at 66-6 as Trojans imploded.
Jamie Donaldson took the sole Bashley wicket, after which James Turner (37) and Patrick Lewis (35) steered their side to victory – and promotion !
Bashley require 17 points from Saturday’s visit of Purbrook to the BCG to clinch the title.
Trojans, meanwhile, face a potential ‘loser loses all’ relegation showdown with Portsmouth & Southsea at St James’s Park.
They go into the lunchtime crunchtime showdown trailing P & S by five points.  Defeat would be catastrophic for the Stoneham club, who were relegated from SPL2 last season.
Despite their recent encouraging run, Fareham & Crofton aren’t out of the woods, with nine points separating them from Trojans in second from bottom position.
They lost by 69 runs to a Sufian Munir inspired Fawley, who will clinch the runners-up spot if they beat Hambledon at Holbury on Saturday.
Fawley were in a spot of bother (27-2) after two early strikes by Dan Wimble, but once Munir [left] found his range Fareham were in trouble themselves.
Nine sixes and ten fours later, Munir had posted 124 (94 in boundaries) and dominated a 141-run stand with Elliot Earl (55 not out) as Fawley powered on to 248-4.
Wimble blasted 74 back for Fareham, but his dismissal at 140-3 (Tom Kent 36) prompted Bailey Parratt (4-51) and Wayne Smith to take the last seven wickets for 39 runs. Fareham, away to Tichborne Park on Saturday, were dismissed for 179.
Matches at Hambledon (v Hythe & Dibden), Lymington II (P & S) and Purbrook (Tichborne Park) were cancelled after heavy overnight rain.

St Cross Symondians seconds require only 11 points from their remaining two matches against South Wilts II and Fair Oak to clinch promotion from Southern Premier League Division 2.
But they were taken to the wire in a late season thriller at Ripsley Park, where they eventually beat Liphook & Ripsley by nine runs in a match reduced to 41 overs per side due to tea-time rain. 
St Cross were reduced to 22-4 by Charles Janczur (4-35) and Suman Ganguly (a miserly 2-11 off ten overs), with only Jack Middleton of the top order still at the crease.
The left-hander, pictured in action, was initially accompanied in the rescue act by Blair Brown (31), then with wicket-keeper Robbie Hadfield added 82 before Middleton was caught (by Ganguly) went for an invaluable 65.  
Hadfield then stepped on the gas with his trademark sweeps, and with good support from the tail Symondians added 52 off the last five overs to reach 203 for 9 in 50 overs, Hadfield notching 51.  Rain reduced the Liphook target to 185 from 41 overs, and they made a good start, getting to 65 without loss through Chris Martin (40) and Rob Nicklin (30). 
From this point the St Cross bowlers made inroads, chipping away with regular wickets whilst keeping the run rate in check.  Dave Orchard bowled in typically miserly fashion, going for just 25 off his 10 overs, and picking up his 40th wicket of a fruitful season.  
Ganguly was Liphook’s main man, and whilst he remained at the crease they looked favourites, but the run rate pressure told when he attempted a sharp single and was run out by a smart bit of work by Hadfield for 63 at 159-7 in the 36th over.  
Liphook kept going, and in the penultimate over needing 14 to win Charles Janczur smashed the ball seemingly over the mid-wicket boundary, only for Matt Haworth to produce a flying leap and fantastic one-handed catch.  
Six balls later Alex Woolvine (4-21) sealed a precious victory with his fourth wicket in a great spell of leg spin and St Cross were home by 8 runs, Liphook being dismissed for 176. 
* Totton & Eling's scheduled derby match with Paultons was called off after heavy overnight left Southern Gardens unfit.
* Video footage from the Liphook & Ripsley v St Cross Symondians match is available courtesy of sandersteadcctv@gmail.com - https://youtu.be/LlzGm5AOaZM

​Hartley consolidated third place in Southern Premier Division Two with a two-wicket win over Fair Oak at Lapstone Park.
Openers Tom Hockenhull (32) and Will Hughes (25) gave Oaks a solid start with 67, but Jamie Teale (3-19) removed both of them and also skipper Ed Kemp with only four more runs added.  Fair Oak’s score soon became 80-5, as Jason Knibbs (3-36) dismissed both Craig Buttle and Rhys Oxley. 
Road named Charlie Gwynn (30) and Rufus Bullough (12) managed to get Fair Oak into three figures, before Knibbs struck again removing Bullough.  Just four more runs had been added, before Dan Reynaldo got out Max Watson and then Roy Cockram (2-14) took the wickets of Asad Abbas and Gwynn. 
Fair Oak’s final pair Andrew Mash (16 not out) and Ross Stewart managed to make sure the home side saw out their 50 overs as they finished on 146-9. 
Hartley’s reply did not get off to a good start, as they lost 540-run Knibbs, centurion against South Wilts II, for only four. 
However, skipper Will Kerr (55) and Harry Broderick (43) repaired the damage and moved the score to 95.  At this point the captain departed, but Broderick and Hugo Hammond (10) added another 27 runs. 
Teenager Broderick remained the main stay of the innings and when he was the fifth man out, only 16 was needed for victory.  However, the visitors still lost three more wickets getting over the finish line with five overs to spare.