OAKMERE were thwarted by the weather and by the umpire's interpretation of competition rule 14 in a rain-affected match against Stockport Georgians.

The weather caused problems in both innings, Stockport's was reduced to 40 overs from 45, and some late hitting in the last 10 overs saw them to 189-5. When Oakmere batted, they too suffered with the rain and rule 14 had to be applied setting a time limit of 8.15pm (unless the game is completed earlier).

Skipper Paul Yearsley (59) and Ian Eaton (93 not out) chased the runs like men possessed as the minutes ticked down. The last over started at 8.07pm with Eaton smacking the ball into the hedge for four. Five balls left and 10 runs were wanted but after one more ball the umpire called time despite Oakmere's protests that the last over should be completed since it had started well before 8.15pm.

Oakmere scored 180-2 in 32.2 overs and collected seven points, but they are to seek clarification of the rule with the League Umpires Association.

The 2nd XI game fared even worse at the hands of the weather. Stockport had reached 75-4 in 31 overs before conditions ruled out any possibility of further play.

WEAVERHAM'S 1st XI game at Mere was abandoned at 4pm because of a waterlogged pitch.

But the 2nd XI achieved a creditable draw against Cholmondeley despite fielding five Under 15s players.

Cholmondeley found batting easy as they amassed 218 in only 39 overs, stand-in skipper Ben Wingfield taking 2-42.

Youngsters Paul Barber and Ben Hancock bowled promising spells, each finishing with figures of 0-27.

The weather hindered Weaverham's reply but John Astles (31) and Rod Stitch (19) made sound contributions before Wingfield continued his exploits on the day, hitting 50 not out as Weaverham ended on 122-4. The deteriorating weather meant only 31 overs were available to Weaverhan in the time available.

Youngster Jonathan Turley, who made seven not out, looked steady and assured supporting his skipper at the end of the innings ensuring the draw was achieved.

DAVENHAM saw off the challenge of Malpas in an exciting conclusion to Saturday's clash, which avoided the worst of the weather.

In a tight game home side Malpas looked in control and reached 134-7 (R Harrison 38, A Cwiklinski 34, Andy Floyd 25) and then needed just seven runs with two wickets and eight overs in hand. Enter 17-year-old Ben Gough who took two wickets for three runs in the 36th over to win the match and 23 points for Davenham. D Holden 3-25 and Andy Floyd 2-28 also did the damage. The result saw Davenham move from second from bottom to seventh in the league.

There was more good news on Thursday when Davenham negotiated the Meller Brag-gins 1st XI KO Cup Preliminary round at Mere. The visitors made 137 (A Wright 44) and skittled the home team for 78 (B Gough 3-10, D Holden 3-16). Davenham now play Stretton in the first round proper tomorrow.

WINSFORD played in their first Twenty/20 match - the first round of the cup - in midweek, but were beaten by Holmes Chapel.

Chris Webb's 3-19 and tight bowling by Martin Barrett brought the Holmes Chapel innings under control and they finished on 116. Brian Smith scored 41 but Winsford could not keep the runs flowing and faded out at 107.

Saturday saw Winsford make the long trek to Pott Shrigley and they made a good solid start with 16 from Ant Ollier, 27 from Brian Smith and then the fireworks came from Barry Crellin 66 and another fine 50 from 15-year-old Michael Clarke continuing where he left off last week. They declared on 222-8 as the heavens opened and the rain came down.

The Pott innings started in explosive fashion with overseas star Rameez Tojaruppa scoring a quickfire 40 before falling caught behind to Crellin. This brought an end to their run chase and a patient 53 from Alday meant the game petered out with Potts eventual score on 162-5 after 29 overs - two wickets for Mark Dean and one for Mike Clarke - as the 8.15pm cut off arrived.

Winsford 2nd XI fell to their third league defeat in a row after a narrow loss to visitors Port Sunlight in a rain-affected game at Knights Grange. Losing the toss and batting first, Winsford got off to an unusually solid start with skipper Martin Barrett (19) the first to be dismissed with the score on 30. Winsford were then able to build a number of useful part-nerships around in-form batsman Paul Brown.

Graham Smout (12), Colin Dean (13) and Chris Webb (18) played the role of supporting cast to Brown who was eventually dismissed for a season-high 33. The second rain delay after 36 completed overs brought an early tea and an opportunity for skip-per Barrett to set Port Sunlight a target of 115 off a maximum of 35 overs following the home team's declaration at 114-6.

The Port Sunlight reply started slowly but a number of missed chances in the field cost Winsford dearly and their declaration proved a little premature in the end with the visitors hitting the winning runs in the second-to-last over.

BARNTON managed only seven overs on Saturday at Bowdon Vale before the rain came down decisively to wash out the afternoon's play.

But there was success on Thursday when they gave local rivals Weaverham a good hiding in the cup. Winning the toss Steve Yarwood chose to take advantage of an excellent Weaverham wicket to bat first. Returning to Weaverham, opener Mike Cross lasted just two balls and Paul Coot followed him back to the pavilion shortly after.

But Nick Yarwood and Chris Watkins were not so charitable as they destroyed the Weaverham attack plundering a 122-run partnership in 10 overs with Yarwood smashing 81 off 53 balls and Watkins 50 from 35 setting a daunting 188 for victory from 20 overs. Despite a couple of hard blows from Roberts and Douglas, Weaverham never looked like threatening and Barnton wrapped up victory in the 13th over dismissing their hosts for just 88. Phil Garner with 4-13 and Darren Falland 3-22 were the pick of the bowlers.