ANOTHER lost toss condemned Chester County Officers to a hot afternoon in the field and they had only nine points to show for it in a draw against lowly Wilmslow Wayfarers.

An early breakthrough when overseas player Shahid was caught round the corner by Alan Smith, off Steve Johnson's bowling, was not followed up as Kulkarni and Shah added 81 before Shah was pinned lbw by John Gilbody for 51.

The introduction of John Coppock's slowies bore immediate reward when Kulkarni smashed the ball straight back to the bowler, out for 35 with the score on 110.

With a solid foundation, the remaining batsmen all contributed as Gilbody (5-50) wheeled away for an epic 17 overs, finishing Wilmslow off for 189 and completing his third five-wicket haul of the season. Coppock (3-52) gave good support at the other end and the final total looked gettable.

After tea, with the sun still powering down, Ian Barlow opened up with a flourish, a succession of fours boding well for the chase. Then a cruel lbw decision terminated his innings on 21.

Tony Hattersley was struggling to come to terms with the bowling after his wicket-keeping duties and edged behind for three. Mike Rowlands played across a straight one for eight and Smith followed suit for five to leave the score 60-4 at the halfway stage.

Tony Collard, batting at number three, was well set and found a willing ally in skipper Johnson as a determined attempt was made to chase the total, with Wilmslow deploying their fielders round the boundary.

However, after they had added 62 in 10 overs together, Collard played a tired shot and was bowled for 47.

The run-chase foundered with the return of youngster Bennett, who dispatched Johnson for a well-struck 33, and two more wickets reduced Officers to 140-8 with four overs left.

Gilbody secured the draw with 21no in the company of the stalwart Mike Clarke, and honours ended even after an enjoyable match.

Kingsley couldn't make it three wins in a row as the opposition's Australian skipper, Western, put in an inspired performance at Chelford.

In glorious sunshine, but on a wicket still suffering from the effects of midweek downpours, Neil Rowlands (58) and Mark Butcher (42) shared in a century stand for Kingsley after the early departure of both openers. Kieron Ollier (30) also made it to double figures, but he and the tail succumbed to Western (4-54) and Spanton (3-32) as the away team narrowly missed maximum batting points, limping to 173.

Chelford, with relegation virtually guaranteed, played with a carefree spirit until Alderman (3-30) entered the attack to remove Sheills (41) and the rest of the top order.

Skipper Western then strode to the crease to play a contemptuous and masterful innings of 74no and see his young side to victory with five overs to spare.

A vastly depleted Saughall were on the wrong end of a sound thrashing by league new-boys Grange. After winning the toss, Grange elected to bat and racked up 307 runs on a flat wicket and a tight ground with small boundaries.

Their opener McCue smashed 163no, including some massive sixes that threatened those on the bowling green next to the pitch, while Turner notched a more textbook century as Saughall toiled in the scorching sunshine.

Going in to the match, Saughall had a selection crisis with no fewer than seven regular first-team players unavailable. It meant that their batting order had an unfamiliar look to it and early wickets immediately put the visitors on the back foot. Former Durham player Turner followed up his earlier century with five wickets as his extra height extracted bounce from the pitch and his outswing proved the downfall for numerous Saughall batsmen. Ian Jenkins (18), James Huxley (15) and Pete Tunnicliffe (14) got starts but were unable to capitalise, while three debutants also had a chance out in the middle with Graham Johnson staking his claim as a new tail-end cult figure with an entertaining cameo of seven runs.

Another debutant, youngster Mark Elliott, scored six runs as 10-man Saughall were bowled out for just 88.

Captain Huxley wasn't too demoralised after the match: 'Grange are a class above anyone else in this league and other teams will be on the wrong end of a big defeat against them,' he said.

'At one point I wondered whether we would be able to raise a team at all, so it was pleasing that we managed to and the three debutants did really well.

'The young lads, Mark Elliott and Lewis Nicholls, performed really well and Graham Johnson provided the highlight of the day when he hit the former Durham bowler for a boundary off his first ball.'

Certainly luck deserted the Chester team as McCue enjoyed some luck early on off the bowling of James Huxley (0-87) and was dropped twice later on in his innings. Mike Andrews was the pick of the bowlers, claiming one wicket and going for just five runs an over.