Cam 1st XI 167-3 beat Poulton 1st XI 164-10 by 7 wickets.

After a washout on the opening day of the season last weekend, Cam 1st XI made an ideal start to their league campaign with a seven wicket victory away to Poulton.

Having opted to bowl first, Cam’s new ball pair of Alex Atkinson and George Dolling made early inroads as Atkinson picked up a wicket caught behind by Craig Mills in his opening over before a catch by Atkinson gave Dolling his first wicket to see off the other opening batsman.

Cam’s spin pairing of Jake Dolbear and Jonny Hayward kept things tight through the middle overs with Dolbear picking up a sharp caught and bowled before claiming his second though a Dolling boundary catch as Poulton fell to 69-4.

A partnership between Curley (21) and Newman (55) saw Poulton stage a recovery before Alex Ballard made the breakthrough as he bowled Poulton’s number 5.

Chris Browning then had the dangerous Newman caught by Dolbear on the boundary before Ballard (3-32) weighed in with two more wickets as the home side’s innings faltered once again.

Dolling (3-29) returned to the attack and soon finishing things off with a couple of wickets as Cam bowled their opponents out for 164 in the 42nd over.

With a modest total to chase, Cam’s opening pairing of Ryan Malpass and Stuart Newman took their time in the initial exchanges as they weathered the new ball spell before starting to find the boundaries.

Newman fell for 16 but Malpass, now joined by Dolbear, was able to accelerate the score and hit 8 boundaries before he was trapped LBW for 42.

Dolbear was able to keep the scoreboard ticking over nicely and, with the powerful Ed Paddock at the other end, the pair were able to push towards the target without much alarm.

Paddock crashed 3 sixes in his unbeaten 47 and, despite losing Dolbear who was caught behind for 38 with just 4 required, took the away side to victory for the loss of just 3 wickets with more than 11 overs remaining.