EARBY were the only side to taste victory on a dismal "double header" weekend for Craven clubs in the Ribblesdale League.

The sole victory came on the Sunday at Edenfield, when Earby restricted the home side to 111 for nine thanks to a solid all round team effort.

Earby never looked back after Andrew Rushton removed both openers for a combined total of three and Steve Hipgrave chipped in with three more wickets for 27 runs.

The Craven side were never in much real danger, despite losing their pro Jonathan Harvey for 23. Mick Plant clearly did not want to hang around as he hit 50 in 45 minutes off 57 balls and was still there at the finish as Earby wrapped up the win after 27 overs.

The previous day Earby had knocked up a useful 173 for eight against Great Harwood but it proved to be insufficient as the visitors knocked off the runs for the loss of five wickets with two overs to spare.

Steve Pickles held Earby's innings together until he was run out on 63. Thereafter, while plenty got into double figures, no-one was able to reach 20. Rushton again had most success with the ball, taking four wickets for 58.

Settle suffered the agony of a last ball defeat as Blackburn Northern professional Rehman did the damage. Electing to bat after winning the toss, Settle were held together by Bhave, who scored 72 before falling an lbw victim.

Mark Verden and David Jolleys also made useful contributions but Rehman's impressive bowling (five for 60) restricted them to 147 for nine.

Things looked to be going well for Settle as Blackburn were struggling at 54 for five but a crucial stand of 53 in which Rehman dominated turned the match. Things were still tense, however and Jolleys claimed the wicket of Rehman in his figures of six for 56 but Northern just had enough in hand to claim the victory.

It was not quite so close in the second match of the weekend as Read batted first and, after being 17 for two, saw former Australian Test player Peter Sleep smash a chanceless 128no as they set a target of 201 for four, 38 coming off the last two overs.

Settle made a good stab at reaching it and, with six overs to go they still had a chance with the score on 158 for eight but they could not match their opponents' late charge.

With Bhave and Verden at the crease and starting to open up, an unlikely victory looked possible. Bhave was the first to go and Verden's 68 runs were quite outstanding against ultra-defensive field placings. Sleep polished off the last few wickets as Settle were all out for 165.

No joy for Barnoldswick either in two home matches as they went down to Clitheroe and Baxenden.

The hard work of the summer on the wicket is beginning to bear fruit as both sides complimented Barlick on the best wicket at Victory Park for some years. While some of the bounce was a little low, as the summer goes on the lesson is that bowlers have to keep a tight line.

Batting first, Barlick's pro Mark Temple began to show signs of getting into his stride. He struck 31 before becoming the second wicket to fall. After that Barlick's hopes suffered a severe blow when Paul Beech was run out by Michael Scothern, the latter owning up to making a wrong call as they chased runs in the face of some tight bowling by Mick Dewhurst. The innings petered out on 122.

Barlick needed to make quick inroads into the Clitheroe attack and while they got rid of the visiting pro cheaply enough, Andrew Burns was fortunate not to be given out caught behind on 15. He went on to make a match-winning 48, significantly having scored them in a total of just 60-odd which included 10 no-balls. From then on it was plain sailing.

There's something about the Barlick attack which Baxenden's David Usher seems to like and once again he was in command, hitting an unbeaten 87. Barlick pro Temple had no luck, Ian Scothern missing a couple of stumpings and a couple of dropped catches also proving costly as Baxenden reached 186 for three.

Barlick were never really in the hunt. Gavin Farrar hit his highest first team score of 25, including one quality six. With 13 overs to go and an asking rate of six an over they had a bit of a chance but that disappeared when Ian Scothern was out and the opening Baxenden bowlers returned to keep things tight.

Sid Sharaz also had his best score for Barlick, hitting a quick 31 off the same number of deliveries but when the innings closed at 155 for five, it was clear that Barlick simply had not taken enough risks.

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