Peel and St John’s extended their unbeaten run at the top of the Premiership to four matches when they beat Ramsey by ten wickets on Sunday.

Batting first Ramsey were in contention with the score at 44 for 2, but were then blown away by Nick White. He had Grant Atchison caught by Phil Littlejohns for a resolute 20 and then ripped through the rest of the team. Seven wickets fell for 33 runs and White finished with the impressive figures of 5-10 from five overs. Needing just 78 runs to win, the Saints cruised to victory in eight overs without losing a wicket. Chris Hawke starred with 52 from only 26 balls while Ollie Webster ended on 17 not out.

Second placed Cronkbourne kept the pressure on the leaders when they defeated Crosby by 126 runs. An opening stand of 91 by Jaco Jansen and Alex Stokoe got the Tromode side off to a good start. Stokoe had made 28 when he was caught by Kevin Kniveton off the bowling of Jack Telford. Kniveton took another catch to dismiss Jansen for an excellent 59, but the Cronkbourne batsmen steadily carried on. Skipper Max Stokoe was in good form with 51 and the team ended on an imposing 212 for 6.

There was very tight bowling from Ross Berry whose eight overs cost only 12 runs. Dave Picken took 3 -24 to become the Island’s leading wicket taker with 20 victims at an average of just over ten. In reply the Crosby batsmen struggled against a good attack and only Chris Langford with 30 made it into double figures. Matty Ansell claimed three wickets for five runs and Sam Mills had 2 -9 from six overs. The Marown side were dismissed for 86 and were left ruing a missed opportunity. If they had won this match, then it would have been Crosby and not Cronkbourne who would have been second in the league.

Castletown were celebrating after a tight home win over the Schools Eleven. The Scholars made a useful start with George Burrows and Eddie Beard putting on 68 before George Burrows fell to Tom Burrows for 17. Wickets then began to fall and the Town were well on top when Beard went to Tom Kennaugh for 46. Mark Williams came to the rescue, blasting 35 from 37 balls. This helped the Schools to end their 40 overs on a respectable 178 for 9. Kennaugh was the best bowler with 4 -29

Castletown soon found themselves in trouble at 40 for 3, but were saved by two aggressive innings from Dan Laughlin and Paul Fleming. Laughlin smashed 54 from 48 balls, including 8 fours and 1 six. Fleming hit 40 from 25 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes. The Town romped home in 31 overs to win by seven wickets. Eddie Beard and Stuart Mellors took two wickets each.

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The MCC are making their Annual Tour this week. Today (Monday) they play an Island Select, the next day King Williams College and on Friday the game is against the Isle of Man.

The Select Eleven for Wednesday is :- Phil Littlejohns (Peel) (capt), Sam Mills, Eddie Beard, Nathan Knights, Jack Gerard, Adam Kiley (Cronkbourne), Tom Burrows, Jack Newbery (Castletown), Ryan Windell (Crosby), Akkie van den Berg, Nick White (Peel). The match is at King Williams College.