Full house of defeats for struggling Leamington

Leamington inserted Walmley and despite an early wicket for Matt Davison, opener George Hargrave and captain Tom Burton set about the bowling with relish.

The pair added 153 before keeper Hargrave fell to Nabeel Asghar for 44, the first of four wickets for the slow bowler.

Burton ploughed on remorselessly despite little support from the other end, stroking 12 fours and bludgeoning 12 maximums as all of Leamington’s bowlers suffered.

He finished unbeaten on 175 as Walmley careered to 313 for six in 55 overs.

Asghar took four for 60 in 12 overs with Davison’s two for 34 the only other figures of note.

Old failings returned for Spa as Walmley’s total was boosted by 43 extras.

Dispirited, Leamington showed little when their turn came to bat with only number nine Asghar (22) passing 20.

Spa simply capitulated as Walmley’s five-man attack all got on the board.

Sultan Afsal took three for 15, with two cheap wickets apiece for Kasir Shah and Shozair Ali as Leamington stumbled to 101 all out with more than 20 overs unused.

In the reverse fixture, Walmley again came out on top, though in a better contested match.

Walmley batted first and although a number of batsmen made solid starts, none reached 30 in the face of some accurate bowling.

Off-spinner Nick Couzens was the pick of the crop, earning fine figures of five for 53 in his 14.3 overs.

He was supported by Jason Butler and Muhammed Dogar who picked up a pair of wickets each as Walmley were bowled out for 178.

Leamington suffered an early setback as both openers were dismissed by Venkataraman without scoring.

Butler followed soon after, but Couzens was joined by Rob Williams and the pair set about rebuilding the innings.

However, once Williams (31) became the first of four victims for Jordan Hoffman, Walmley regained control.

Couzens was bowled by Hoffman for 60 and the remaining Leamington batsmen made little impression apart from a rapid 21 from Dogar.

Venkat returned to claim the last two wickets to end with four for eight from 5.2 overs as Leamington were bowled out for 156, criminally failing to use all of their overs.

A seriously depleted Leamington 3rds were swept away by an exuberant Alcester & Ragley Park in the Cotswold Hills Premier Division.

Alcester batted first and the visitors lost two early wickets to Dan McCarthy.

This brought Shuttleworth (79) in to join opener Pilkington (56) and the pair shared a 116-run partnership, with their lofted shots always finding an open space to the frustration of the Leamington attack.

After Pilkington eventually picked out a safe pair of hands, Shuttleworth worked with a succession of partners to ease the score to 221 for seven.

Leamington needed a good start if they were to mount a serious challenge but within six overs they had been reduced to 14 for four.

Thereafter, the innings limped along with only skipper David Lord (25) making any impact.

Richard Layton (3-28) and Tim Jackson (4-25) were Alcester’s leading bowlers as Spa were shot out for 76.

Leamington 4ths suffered a narrow defeat at picturesque Stanway to continue their topsy-turvy campaign.

Batting first, Leamington made 198 for four with captain Paul Wilson scoring 115 and Lee Credgington making 49.

However, it was not quite enough as the hosts got home with three wickets to spare.