Clifton form bowler, Adam Shepherd

League leaders Clifton host Belvoir’s first visit to the Clifton Oval in the Premier League this coming Saturday; the home side will want to pick up on their outstanding thread of form prior to their rained-off match last weekend at Mansfield Hosiery Mills. Prior to that game, they had won five of the their last six with only Cuckney hanging on for a draw to spoil the sequence. James Taylor has been their batting star of late with 86 against Kiveton and unbeaten 79 against Wollaton, both away from home so he will be looking forward to batting at the Oval; Adam Shepherd and Tom Lungley have been the form bowlers. Belvoir’s season will be defined by their struggle to stay up but their form in recent weeks suggests that they may still succeed as they have discovered the ability to draw, rather than lose games. Since the defeat to bottom-side Kiveton in June, they have not lost. Darren Bicknell now lies fourth in the league batting stats with 555 runs at nearly 80 per innings, underling his immense value to the side.

Fellow strugglers Kiveton travel to Langwith Lane to take on a Cuckney side that are struggling to string together a number of wins. When they dodged the storms last week to win at Wollaton, it was their first win in six games. They will hope to score a season double against Kiveton who they beat by 153 runs in their first meeting earlier this term, when Elliot Hind, Adam Burgess, Will Butler and Richard Stroh all passed 50 on the way to a total of 315 for 3 in 45 overs. The visitors are looking to secure a second victory of the season; their bowling still seems to be their weakness while Matthew Cartwright has caught the eye with his batting with one century and three fifties.

The Nottinghamshire Academy lie in fifth position, but the closeness of the league this season means that they are only 11 points away from second spot; this weekend they welcome Caythorpe to Lady Bay as they look to continue an excellent campaign. They will still be without three of their players playing in the England U19 side currently taking on South Africa and will want to improve on the first game between these sides this season when they were outplayed and hung on for a draw when eight wickets down. Caythorpe are another side looking for consistency and will be delighted to have Josh Mierkalns playing regularly again, especially after his knock of 78 in the loss to Clifton when he was the only batsman to make double figures in a total of 143.

Papplewick are still flirting with the relegation zone, standing in tenth place, just 22 points ahead of Belvoir; this weekend they host Kimberley, going well in fourth position in the table. The home side have only won twice this term, against the two side below them and will want revenge for the 7 wicket loss to Kimberley earlier in the season when Jon Terry and Sam Ogrizovic both scored half centuries. Jim Rhodes and Husnain Riaz are leading the bowling attack for Papplewick with 21 and 19 wickets respectively.

West Indian Cavaliers will be trying to keep the pressure on leaders Clifton when they welcome Mansfield Hosiery Mills to Birchover Park. The Cavs have won all four completed matches since losing to the leaders in early June and will want to do the season double over the Millers, following their rapid 7 wicket win at The Fieldings earlier in the season, when they raced to their target of 156 in just 32 overs, when Mortaza Ali smashed 59 from 38 balls. The Mansfield side are going through a tough transition season and they are looking for their first win since 28^th May when they overcame Cuckney at home. Their key batters this year have been Gareth Curtis (624 league runs) and Sudesh Fernando (515); but it is their bowling that has struggled the most with their Fernando also heading the wicket-taking stats for the club with only 12 wickets.

The final game of the weekend sees ninth-placed Wollaton host a Welbeck side looking for their first win since early June; the early-season pacesetters were crushed by the Cavaliers at Birchover Park on 11^th June and have drawn each subsequent game. When these two side met in round four of matches earlier this year, the Colliers were flying and Matt Higgins (91) and Luke Waterhouse (5-44) starred in a 59 run victory. Wollaton have lost their last four games after rallying from a poor start to the season and will now be looking nervously over their shoulders at three sides below them.