THE column wandered down to Middleton St. George Cricket Club on Saturday, August 4, writes John Phelan.

Arriving at 3.30pm we found Witton-Le-Wear. batting, and once more motoring towards the 200 mark, with opener Peter Brown, still without a century, going well. Could he hit three figures today?

"Peter's got seventy odd," shouted someone. A few minutes later Andy Johnson pitched one short on the leg side. Peter swivelled and cracked it high and hard - 'six penneth' - out of the ground.

Now on 83 Peter attempts another big hit off skipper Andy Johnson but doesn't get a good connection, and the ball spoons up to J.Kirkland for an easy catch. I'm just as frustrated as he is, "What happened there?" I asked. "I ran out of gas, simple as that, I did a lot of running early on with some younger lads and it took its toll." said PeteR. Witton close on 217-9 with Peter 83, James Harris 32 and Adam Nelson 45. For St George, M.Hall returned 2-44, J.Kirkland 2-49 and Andy Johnson 2-24.

Peter remember is 50 years of age and he opened with James Harris who is just 14 years of age. James is a good prospect because he can bat, scored 32 runs on Saturday, but also bowlS leg spin which is a difficult art to master. He has a relaxed run to the wicket, a nice high arm action, and mixes them up a bit. He took three wickets in the Middleton St George innings, with one wicket, that of 13 year old Lewis Binks, being caught by his dad Wayne Harris, known as 'Sat Nav' because of his habit of losing his way to opponents' grounds.

Middleton St George also played a couple of youngsters, besides Lewis Binks there was 13 year old Ben Pogue, which is good to see and both showed they could handle a bat in that standard of cricket. Middleton St George closed on 102 all out with M.Hall 22 and R.Marquis 20 their top scorers. Andy Corcoran, one of the two 'villagers' in the Witton side, along with George Hall, landlord of the The Victoria pub in Witton- Le-Wear, was again on form with the ball taking 5-18. James Harris returned 3-19 and Adam Nelson 2-19.

Andy Johnson, captain of the Second team at Middleton St George, said, "Thirty youngsters come down here one night a week to practice their cricket, while Dave Glew and Martin Hall do a good job on the ground. We have some real legends, players like Stephen Rogers who hit 94 not out against Etherley in the Howell Trophy final on Wednesday July 25th, Steve once hit 232 not out off 91 balls against Gilling West with eighteen 4's and nineteen 6's and we made 380. Alan Heath and Len Green, who played for Darlington FC when they beat Chelsea in the FA Cup in the 50's, were good openers which meant that Robin Howe, a good bat at three, had limited opportunities. Steve Balmer was a real fast bowler while Gary Jemison must go down as the greatest all-rounder. Both he and his son played against Etherley in the cup final. It was my dad, Albert Holdsworth,Harry Smith, Wilf Day and Jack Legg who initiated the move to the current ground."

Keith Oldfield would like to remind former players and anyone connected to Bishop Auckland Cricket Club that there is a re-union on Bank Holiday Monday August 27th, 1pm - 8pm, with a stand being dedicated to Keith Hopper. Anyone who knew, or played with Keith Hopper is welcome to attend. Keith Oldfield is on 01388 450205 or mobile 0774827295. Paul Furby is on 07976569912. Please ring as numbers attending would be helpful.

On the bus to Alston Stan Scarlett recalls Crook beating Hitchin 10-0 in the Amateur Cup. "Jimmy McMillan flew past them down the left wing, stopped at the corner flag and went back to beat them again. If we hadn't showboated we'd have scored 20. Hitchin thought they would win the cup that year, they had 25 coaches in Crook market place while an engine called 'Quicksilver' brought hundreds more by rail."

Stan asks, "How many times did Lester Piggott ride Red Rum?"