Thirsk bowler Barry Petty claimed 5-43 in a 25-over stint at Pocklington last Saturday, but it wasn't enough to secure victory for his side.

Des Wyrill returned to the top of the Thirsk order and made 27, while his son Darren added 34 and Keogan Luiters 43. But the important innings came from Dave Greenlay, whose unbeaten 55 took Thirsk to 197-4.

In reply, bottom-placed Pocklington made 139-9, with Phil Priestley (27) and Kev Hinch (48) working hard to stave off defeat. But the draw was much more beneficial to Thirsk, who have now opened up a 25-point gap over 11th-placed Sheriff Hutton Bridge.

Dunnington are marching serenely towards their second successive championship. They have a lead of 56 points after beating Easingwold by eight wickets in a preview of the Premier League cup final, which will be held at Woodhouse Grange on Sunday, August 18.

Batting first, Easingwold were indebted to Martin Robinson (33), Paul Skilbeck (36) and Paul Redshaw (25), who made early runs before Keith Hollinrake, making one of his far too rare appearances, made an unbeaten 31.

Despite the efforts of this quartet, their side were only able to reach 153-8 as David Kitching produced his premier division best figures of 5-37. When Dunnington replied, Simon Kellett made 43 and Hamed Khan 32, which paved the way for a match-winning stand between skipper Collis King (36no) and youngster Chris Burgess, who was unbeaten with 39.

Division One

There was disappointment for a number of top teams in division one when their games were called off because of waterlogged pitches, with the chief casualty being the clash between leaders Ripon and second-placed Carlton Towers.

Two other promotion-chasing sides suffered the same fate when the game between Sessay and Whitkirk was also called off without a ball being bowled.

Hull Zingari eased their relegation fears with a three-wicket victory at Duncombe Park, which was a setback for the home side's dreams of gaining promotion to the premier division.

Kevin Deighton made inroads into the Helmsley side's batting line-up as he captured 4-64. Brian Leckenby made 28 and Peter Kent 27, but Park found themselves in deep trouble at 74-7.

Their fortunes were partially revived by Colin Humpleby (20) and overseas player Justin Lewis (22no), the pair adding 44 for the eighth wicket and helping Park reach a modicum of respectability at 129-8.

Peter Richardson then grabbed early wickets, including that of Alistair Markham, to reduce the Hull side to 7-3. Peter Shally survived two comfortable chances early in his innings and thrived on the let-offs to produce a match-winning knock of 76 not out.

Only Jacques Strydom (11) of the remaining Zingari batsmen reached double figures as Richardson took 3-37, but Shally's knock was decisive.

Crayke confirmed their mid-table status with a good win over a York II side who were dismissed for 119 by Mark Hutchinson, who had splendid figures of 6-41, and Dave Allitt, who provided good backing with 3-25. Hutchinson then followed up with an unbeaten 25 and, with Graeme Dawson making 32, Crayke got home with six wickets in hand.

Bottom-placed Stillington paid the price for not utilising their full quota of overs when Goole Town reached their victory target in the 47th over.

No Stillington batsman was able to impress as Dave England captured 5-34 and 17-year-old Alec Johnson 3-16 and the innings ended at 104 in the 40th over.

Matthew Coulson then produced one of his better bowling performances of the season, gaining 3-19 in 15 overs to keep Goole in check. But Steve Foster had reached an unbeaten 45 when Goole secured a five-wicket victory with three overs to spare.

Division Two

Clifton Alliance's woeful season continued with a ten-wicket thrashing at the hands of Studley Royal.

Youngster Alistair Wray showed his high promise by making 37 out of a total of 85 all out as Andrew Cairns took 3-20. Andy Mackle then hit an unbeaten 50 as Studley Royal gained victory without losing a wicket.

Division Four

Mark Worrall, the winner of the July monthly batting award, gave another impressive performance to steer second-placed Bolton Percy to a 32-run victory over Huby.

Worrall first hit 49 as he and Howard Hall (27no) helped Bolton reach 146-9, despite the efforts of Paul Moore (4-47) and Tim Little (3-22). The Colton-based player then grabbed 5-39 and, despite Little's 28, his efforts had Huby all out for 114.

Easingwold kept in touch with the leaders when they overcame promotion outsiders Dunnington by 27 runs. Trevor Smith made 30 and Graham Sanders 27 for Easingwold, who were restricted to a fairly modest 126-6.

Smith was again in action after the break in a supportive role as he claimed 3-10 to augment a decisive 6-27 in 16 overs from Adrian Leckenby which rolled Dunnington over for only 99.

Division Five

Thirsk are virtually certain to maintain their fifth division ranking after getting the better of a draw with Carlton Towers. Jim McKendrie made 26 for Thirsk and a number of other batsmen chipped in with valuable runs to help them to a total of 150-9. Andrew Young then claimed 4-19 as Carlton closed on 105-8.

Division Six

The result of the re-election encounter between Cawood and Stillington has not been received