Peel and St John’s have started the defence of their Isle of Man Premiership title with a convincing win over the Schools Eleven.

Batting first, the Mullen-e-Cloie side scored 254 for 8 against an enthusiastic young team. Peter Lewis hit 53, Nick White 42, Alex Williamson 41 while skipper Ollie Webster made 45 from 50 balls.

Dan Hawke then struck with two quick wickets and the Schools were in trouble at 34 for 3. They were rescued by a fine stand of 109 between George Burrows and Stuart Mellors. The innings closed on 148 for 4 with Burrows hitting 62 and Mellors 33 not out.

Crosby got their league season off to a good start with a nine wicket win over Castletown. The southerners were bowled out for 108, despite an excellent 36 from Garreth Roome and 22 by opener Sam Aneteney-Hoare.

Crosby got the runs for the loss of only one wicket. Tom Burrows bowled Martyn Oates for 22, but Ricky Kniveton (30) and Danny Kniveton (29) guided the Marown side to victory in 20 overs.

Ramsey made a disastrous start against Cronkbourne when their top four batsmen were dismissed without scoring. Sam Mills claimed three of these scalps and ended his eight over spell with 4 -26.

The northern middle order fought back with James Harrison (15) and Dom Howard (12) moving the score along. However, when Phil Richardson struck to make the total 73 for 9, the Tromode club appeared to be cruising to an easy win.

Brian Arnold then came to the crease and, with Ben Bloch, put on 30 for the last wicket. Arnold cracked four boundaries in making 18 before the side were dismissed for 103.

Ramsey immediately had more success when Tom Moffatt took a wicket off the first ball of the Douglas reply. Another wicket fell to a run out and at 7 for 2 it was game on.

Opener Jaco Jansen and Carl Matthews went on the attack. They put on an unbroken stand of 97 in just 88 balls to win the game. Jansen ended on 45 not out, which included 9 fours while Mellors gave valuable support with 38 not out.