MALVERN travelled to Cookley for their third league match of the week and came away with a maximum 24 points due almost entirely to an unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 150 between Rob Francis and Jeremy Lee.

COOKLEY v MALVERN

Cookley batted first and started slowly against Francis and Neil Thompson. Dixon and Snowball put together a useful stand for the second wicket, Harris added a decent 33 runs towards the end of the innings and Cookley finished on 171, a reasonable total.

Francis with a couple of impressive spells was the leading wicket taker, Thompson as economical as ever and Gordon Hawker bowled a fine spell of eight overs which included two vital wickets. David Arnold's performance behind the stumps was flawless.

Arnold started the Malvern innings in similarly excellent form but his dismissal triggered a collapse which left Malvern at 22-5, Steven Carter was unlucky to be adjudged lbw but the other dismissals were due to poor shot selection rather than brilliant bowling

At 22-5 most sides would be content to go for the losing draw but Malvern have batsmen who are capable of big scores all the way down the order.

Francis and Lee started sensibly, then once they had played themselves in, began to unleash their full repertoire of shots. Francis showed great maturity by pushing the singles and found the boundary nine times. Lee was in complete control all through his innings scoring six sumptuous boundaries in a seemingly effortless vein. Cookley rotated the bowling but to no avail, as Malvern ran out comfortable winners, a win that takes them to fourth in the table.

MALVERN II v COOKLEY II

MALVERN entertained Cookley in a first of a double league match weekend.

Malvern started well scoring at four an over for the first 22 overs. Dave Cox (41) looked in good form until a diving catch from Anderson. He was ably assisted by Richard Cullen (33) but the run rate dried.

A seventh wicket stand between Mark Cox and skipper Dan Besgrove accelerated the score to 197-6 off their 50 overs. Cox finished on 33 and Besgrove on 51no, on a day where quick singles were hard in the heat.

In reply Cartwright was clueless about a delivery from Mark Cox and Mudway bowled Brown, leaving the score on 16-2. Smith (86) was a cut above the rest and scored freely. Mudway continued to bowl well but Malvern's fielding let them down. However, an excellent throw from Cullen saw Pestridge run out. Cookley eventually came away winners after losing seven wickets from 47 overs.

MALVERN II v HEREFORD II

IN their second game in two days Malvern produced an excellent all round performance to come away victors from Hereford City.

Hereford batted first and after a quick turn around in bowling, Besgrove bowled Llewellyn first ball. On a flat track and short outfield, the ball raced for four between the gaps. Hooper bowled particularly well, confusing the batsmen with flight. 15-year-old Tom Poole produced excellent pace and bounce to pick up two wickets. Malvern's most economical bowler was Besgrove who went for 49 off 19 overs with six maidens.

Hereford's Mason top scored with 57no, leaving Malvern 206 to win.

Dave Cox and Walwyn started confidently until Price produced an excellent delivery to bowl Walwyn (17). Hooper looked good until he was needlessly run out. Cox (31) and Rashid (29) shared a good partnership before both fell together to Miller's annoying slow spin.

When Walker (15) departed at 150-5 all that was needed was a sensible head to pick off the runs. Cox hit two big shots but was trapped c&b by Mason. Mitchell, Bird and Poole all fell to Miller, leaving the last pair of Besgrove and Sumner to squeeze out a victory. Besgrove (26) hit the winning runs.