Selby first team made it three wins in a row in Division Two but they were made to work hard for their 18 run win against Carlton Towers II at Sandhill Lane.

The visitors won the toss and asked Selby to bat first and the game started well for the home side as openers Matt Hoyle and Alex Bowden steadily took the total to 31 but Richard Ellam made the breakthrough when he bowled Bowden for 20. James Stephenson then had Jamie Pickles caught by Jake Dawson and when Ellam (2-54) bowled Matt Hoyle (14) Selby were reduced to 44-3. The innings struggled to get going with good bowling and fielding from the visitors as Charlie Baird and Matty Clark added 29 for the fourth wicket. Stephenson (4-46) ended the partnership when he had Clark (17) caught behind by Ben Copeland and he later bowled Baird (24) as the home side continued to find life difficult. Gareth Roberts batted solidly and he kept the scoreboard ticking over until Jake Dawson had him caught by Imaan Ahmad for an important 34. Lee Wild became another victim for Stephenson and when Tom Shepherd was bowled by Marcus Atkinson Selby were in real trouble at 128-8 but the experienced Darrell Guy staged a vital recovery. There was good support for Guy from Alex Langhan and they added a crucial 48 runs for the ninth wicket before Marcus Atkinson (2-55) had Guy caught by Stephenson for 52, which included ten boundaries. Jake Dawson (2-21) ended Langhan’s resistance as Selby were bowled out for 180 in the 40th over which gave them a reasonable total to defend.

Carlton openers Ben Copeland and Alex Hartley also made a solid enough start but there was another deadly accurate spell from Jamie Middleton who went on to concede just 24 runs from his twelve overs. Tom Shepherd made the breakthrough when he had Hartley caught behind by Darrell Guy with the total on 25 but Copeland and Thomas Haw then frustrated the Selby attack. A 48 run partnership for the second wicket was ended by Middleton when he had Haw (15) caught by Tom Shepherd. The visitors continued to threaten the Selby total when Will Sparks joined Copeland and they added 41 for the third wicket with Sparks hitting a brisk 25 before Gareth Roberts had him smartly caught by Alex Bowden. Copeland continued to bat impressively to keep the visitors in with a real chance but his fine knock of 69 was eventually ended by Roberts as the home just began to get on top. Lee Wild also joined the attack and wickets began to fall as the visitors fell behind the run rate despite a quick 15 from Jake Dawson. Roberts finished with the fine figures of 4-26 from his ten overs and Wild (4-49) took the last wicket to fall thanks to another stumping from Guy as the visitors were bowled out for 162 in the 44th over. The win keeps Selby in third place and Carlton’s good performance earned them 4 batting points. Thanks go to match ball sponsor Neil & Alison Romaniw and at the half way stage in the league Selby are now just 16 points behind second place Barwick in Elmet and they will be hoping to continue their winning run at home to Woodhouse Grange III on Saturday.

Yorkshire Premier League North Division Four (Ebor)

Scholes 222 Selby II 186-8

Selby second team travelled to East Leeds to play league newcomers Scholes and they went down to a 46 run defeat after being set a big total to chase.

The home side batted first on a blustery day and they made slow progress against some tight bowling from Luke Berzins and Caspar Gray and it was Berzins who took the first wicket when he had Adil Hussain caught by Oliver Steward with the total on 12. Seven runs later Gray had Fiaz Ahmed caught by Berzins but Rayhaan Khan Ahmed and Bilal Mahmood gradually increased the run rate. James Dugher (3-62) eventually had Ahmed (16) caught by Gray but the Scholes middle order began to score quickly with Mahmood (35), Mohsen Idris (37) and Jaspreet Singh (47) all batting powerfully. Zaref Mohammed (37) kept the home side on top but Caspar Gray (3-24) returned to the attack as the home side were bowled out for 222 in the 39th over.

Chasing the big total openers Graham Phillips and Tom Sherwood made a decent start but an opening partnership of 30 was ended by Shahbaz Hussain when he trapped Phillips (18) leg before. Sherwood (16) became another victim for Hussain (2-32) but Joe Bugg batted well to hold the innings together. Mark Hope (13) made a good start and Luke Berzins hit a classy 23 before he was caught and bowled by Jasprit Singh (4-71) but wickets fell at regular intervals as Selby tried to increase the run rate with only young batsman Joe Bugg getting on top of the bowling. Bugg fired six boundaries before Zaref Mohammed had him caught for a stylish 47 to leave Selby on 137-7. There was a late flurry of runs from Richard Waterton (20 n.o.) and James Dugher (24) and they lifted Selby to 186-8 at the close which earned then a couple of batting points. Selby remain in seventh place and they travel to Cawood on Saturday.

Selby third team return to action on Saturday in Division Three of the York Vale League when Church Fenton III are the visitors to Sandhill Lane and on Sunday they are at home to Clifton Alliance IV in the Scothern Construction Cup.