FRENSHAM, the very early I’Anson Division One leaders, crushed struggling Wrecclesham by 186 runs at Hollowdene.

Sam Farncombe elected to bat and George Breddy and Alex Warren saw of the new ball with little trouble. Sam Greensit then bowled Warren, but Breddy carried on his imperious form of recent weeks and stroked the ball to all parts, eventually falling just eight short of back-to-back hundreds (it was his third successive fifty).

James Wood supported with 35 and then Jack Richards punished the tiring bowlers mercilessly with a quickfire 64, enabling Frensham to declare at 246-6 after 38 overs.

Wrecclesham got off to a dreadful start, with skipper Henry Bate nicking his first ball and Matt Parkinson soon following. Jordan Frost (3-9 in 7 overs) bowled another excellent spell, always causing problems, while Nick Cobbold deserved more than his one wicket. It was Tim Knight who brought the game to an abrupt conclusion, claiming 4-20 with his bag of tricks. Sharvin Fernando was the last man to go after a good show of resistance, making 39 out of a meagre 60 runs.

Alfold and Witley were both seeking their first points of the season and it was promoted Witley who gained a morale-boosting maximum haul, thanks largely to a century by Alex Cook. Kurt Lyall decided to bat first and his side enjoyed a run feast, piling up 242 in 42 overs for the loss of only two wickets.

Mark White (42) set the early pace in an opening partnership of 78 with Cook. Kieran and Greg Lyall then shared in stands of 74 and 90 as Cook advanced to a superb 119 not out off 136 balls, including 15 fours and three sixes.

Alfold needed a decent start after their mauling in the field, but Kurt Lyall and Ollie Hickman soon had them 16-2. Opener Clark Bannister held firm with 32 and Jeremy James put up some resistance, but Witley used seven bowlers to winkle out the batsmen and Alfold were dismissed for 78 in 35 overs, skipper Kurt finishing with 3-16 in 8.1 overs.

Dogmersfield lost to Tilford in a match that was all over by tea, the visitors winning by nine wickets. Electing to bat, Dogmersfield were immediately in trouble as Huw Town-Jones clattered the stumps twice in the first over and claimed a third wicket with the score at 17. Jason Stones had top scorer Khan stumped for 20 and then dismissed opposing skipper Imran Choudhary in his second over, leaving Dogmersfield 34-5.

Town-Jones trapped Raja leg before at 49, after which Nigel Martyn demolished the tail with 3-1 in ten balls. Dogmersfield were shot out for 55 in the 20th over, Town-Jones finishing with 4-19 in ten overs.

Dogmersfield managed to run out Town-Jones in the first over, but a partnership of 52 between newcomer Nathan Sprittles and Mark Ramesar completed the win in the 16th over without further alarm. Time for an early tea at 3.30pm.

Headley’s decision to bat first against Grayshott backfired as they toiled to 136-9 in the full 48 overs. After a loose start, Mark Richards and Rob Gregory extracted extra bounce and had the home side 41-3, with last week’s heroes, Harry Clarke and Gavin Arend, back in the pavilion. The accurate Danny Brown did further damage and it took a resilient rearguard action by Marc Hawtin, ably supported by Zac Benstead, to see up the 100. Hawtin completed his first 50 in Division One and gave his side something to bowl at.

Graham Badland gave Headley hope by bowling Andy Wheble with only seven on the board, but Grayshott progressed calmly to 58 before Neil Moseley was well taken by Callum Hawtin off Stuart Smith. Some dropped catches helped the visitors on their way and a controlled 53 not out by Nathan Phillimore, well supported by Gary Hunt (30 not out) in an unbroken stand of 51, saw them to a comfortable victory with seven overs to spare.

A flat wicket at The Heath yielded nearly 500 runs for the loss of just six wickets. It was tough work for the bowlers, but Blackheath fielded well and made Chiddingfold earn their runs. Dean Spencer made an excellent 111 not out for the visitors, sharing a century partnership with Matt Barnett who scored 63 at almost a run a ball. But Chiddingfold were forced to use the full 48 overs to post 242-3 and it was always going to be difficult to bowl Blackheath out in the remaining 42.

Josh Milton and Rob Parrott launched Blackheath’s run-chase and although Nick Harman broke through at 39, this only brought in I’Anson debutant Richard Young. The newcomer speedily put the game to bed with a classy 109 off only 87 balls, including 11 fours and four sixes. Harry Giles weighed in with 31 off just 19 balls, while Milton anchored the innings with 64 not out.

Alan Cope hit a straight six to finish the match with more than five overs to spare and clinch maximum points for the champions..

Tim Matthews and Henry Hind batted out seven overs to earn Grayswood a fighting draw against Puttenham. Deciding to bat, Puttenham were struggling at 49-3 when opener James Andrews found a tenacious partner in James Crouch and the two put on 52 before Andrews was caught superbly in the slips by David Soper for 62.

More wickets followed and the visitors were teetering at 123-7, but Ayoubi and keeper Seamus Leonard changed all that with an aggressive stand of 59 and Puttenham recovered to total 190 all out in the 48th over.

Grayswood were staring down the barrel at 62-5, with Aks Ilyas and Matty Hussain doing the early damage. Dave Handley joined Alex Tucker in a brisk stand of 54, but a further collapse followed and when the ninth wicket fell to A Ahmed (4-37), it was left to Matthews and Hind to save the day. The two held out with some gritty defence and earned their side two points.