Easton and Martyr Worthy travelled to Michelmersh and Timsbury in a third team clash on Saturday with both teams comfortably placed mid table in the league.

Easton won the toss and elected to field with U15 Spencer Lee opening the bowling with Pete Duff. Duff secured the first wicket with his first ball, keeper Will Wickham taking the catch off bat and helmet. However the other Michelmersh & Timsbury opening batsman, Cox, looked dangerous as he sought to take the attack to Easton at every opportunity.

At the end of 10 overs the home side were 24 for 1 and the spin of Tom Duff was introduced to the attack. Duff senior and junior combined well, bowling tightly as they sought to suffocate the run rate and thereby frustrate the batsmen. The policy paid dividends in the 17th over as M&T's Sharman skied an attempted sweep off Tom Duff to Will Upcraft with the total on 43.

Following the completion of Pete Duff's spell (1 for 23 off 10 overs), Upcraft joined Tom Duff and the U15 spin combination looked to capitalise. Duff remained accurate and secured a second wicket thanks to a stumping from keeper Wickham. As Michelmersh and Timsbury looked to accelerate the run rate they targeted anything wayward from the spinners. Will Upcraft matched Pete Duff in taking a wicket with his first ball and despite yielding runs was able to secure a further couple of wickets.

Cox had passed 50 and was proving to be the anchor of the M&T innings but wickets continued to fall at the other end. This included a run out from an excellent piece of fielding and accurate throw from Andrew Wickham to his grateful son behind the stumps.

Tom Duff having completed his 10 overs gave way to the returning Lee. Lee highlighted the benefit of rotating bowlers as he, like Pete Duff and Will Upcraft, took a wicket with his first ball - bowling the dangerous Cox for 76. Lee bowled accurately and with good variation to wrap up the innings, indeed his second spell of 4.3 overs yielded 3 wickets for just 12 runs. The home side innings closed on 161 off 40.3 overs.

In their reply Easton continued with the tried and tested opening partnership of senior Martin Hall and U15 opener Will Wickham. Hall looked at ease as he found the boundary but was unlucky to drag a ball from outside off on to his stumps in the sixth over, he had made 11 and Easton were 13 for 1.

Next man in Adrian Lee joined Wickham at the crease and together they laid the foundations for a professional and efficient Easton victory, sharing a 114 run partnership for the second wicket. Lee senior quickly picked up the pace of the pitch and looked for a boundary whenever possible, indeed he recorded 11 boundaries in his innings of 69.

At the other end Will Wickham recorded his maiden 50 in senior cricket, hitting 5 boundaries himself. Wickham brought his excellent U15 form to this match and his chanceless and patient innings of 58 not out proved to be critical in Easton's 8 wicket victory.

The departure of Adrian Lee, batting with his son as a runner in the latter stages of his innings, allowed Wickham's U15 opening partner Tom Duff to join him in the middle. Together they added a further 36 runs with Tom Duff recording the winning boundary and he finished unbeaten on 18.

The Easton youth policy once again bore fruit as the four U15 players in the team recorded 8 wickets and almost half the runs in this resounding Easton victory. Easton move fourth in the table with four matches remaining.