There were big wins in the latest round of fixtures in the Herts Cricket League.

Ickleford got their third success on the trot in Division Three A, convincingly beating Allenburys & County Hall. 

Starting on a damp pitch, the Ickleford top order had the worst of the conditions, and at 27-3 were in difficulty.

Eswar Krishnamurthy (39) steadied the ship slightly before more wickets took the score on to 98-6.

It was then that a partnership of 58 between George Crouch (30) and Sam Draper (45) took Ickleford to a competitive 188 and allowed the visiting bowlers to be merciless from the off.

Axel Morris bowled opener Stark through the gate in the first over, and then Krishnamurthy struck in his first over. 

The pair ripped through the Allenburys line up reducing them to 14-6 after nine overs and then 27-8 after 14.

Morris returned 5-32 and Krishnamurthy 3-13, both from nine overs each.

A 55-run partnership held up matters for the best part of an hour, but Nadeem Akhtar and Draper finished things off to win by over 100 runs. 

The seconds and thirds both lost though.

The twos went down by four wickets at home to Hertingfordbury, posting 128 when batting first in muggy and overcast conditions.

Sam Giggle (37) and Mark Schumann (17) put on to a hard fought 51-run partnership, with 21 coming from Richard Peareth too.

Defending a low total was always going to be a challenge but Ickleford did make an early breakthrough courtesy of a hostile opening spell from Michael Day.

And in the end Hertingfordbury were six wickets down when they reached the target but the result was rarely in doubt.

Day finished on 2-23 while there was a strong showing from Matteo Peareth with the same figures.

The threes were much improved as they went down to Knebworth Park, taking the game into the final few overs.

An opening partnership of 35 between Jayden Lidder (37) and Bharath Puttur (14) was followed by a sublime 57 from David Baker to take Ickleford to 139-5.

Some resolute resistance saw Knebworth Park home to win by four wickets but they had to recover from 17-3.

There were two wickets for Will Moore and Dalrymple.

Ickleford's Sunday team gained a comfortable victory at Pirton with Baker once again the star of the show.

He followed his half-century with an unbeaten 100 that guided Ickleford to an impressive 190-5 in their 40 overs.

Andy Chalmers provided good support with 42.

Pirton added 63 for the first wicket but then fell away to 123 all out.

Leo Chan took 3-36 and Matteo Peareth 3-21. Joshua Schumann bowled tidily for his 2-13 from six overs.

Also in the division was a loss for Datchworth against neighbours Tewin.

The visitors batted first and after an opening stand of 44 between Luke Bennett (23) and Michael Nash (27), Tewin got on top, with a 23 from Chris Bonser being the only other Datchworth score in double figures.

That was as good as it got as despite taking five wickets, Tewin got home on the first ball of the 25th over.

Letchworth meanwhile scored their first win of the Championship season in a relegation scrap with St Albans.

The 82-run success moves the garden city club above their hosts but still 33 points from safety.

Choosing to bat first, Letchworth made 209-8 in their 60 overs at Clarence Park.

Most of the top order made solid, if unspectacular contributions, the top score coming from David Sprittles and Tom Manning, both hitting 42 with David facing 99 balls and Tom 91.

Skipper Harry Aitkenhead chipped in with 38.

And the reply saw the away bowlers on top, leaving St Albans on 86-9 at one point.

A bit of last-wicket resistance took the home side up to 127 and briefly threatened to snatch a draw, before they were all out after 54 overs

Preston meanwhile are eighth and 41 points above Letchworth after falling to another loss

They went down by seven wickets to Broxbourne.

Winning the toss and batting first, Preston made a decent start with a solid 53 from Ed Wharton, supported by 26 for Omar Faleel.

However, wickets fell all too regularly from there and left them all out for 166, with Broxbourne reaching their target in the 46th over.

The seconds also lost to Broxbourne, six wickets the winning margin there.

Preston were under par with the bat as Broxborune bowled and fielded well and made scoring tough.

Lachie Turner chalked up a gritty 51 and Skipper Fleckney made a determined and unbeaten 40 but Preston could only get to 148-5.

Preston's usually reliant bowling department also struggled and Broxbourne ended on 149-5 after 27 overs. 

And the losses continued with the thirds beaten by three wickets against Redbourn.

Preston's Skirrow made a good start (29) and young Will McIntosh made a very promising 21 before being run out but Preston were 141 all out in the 40th over.

Redbourn reached 142-7 in the 40th over with Tom Murrell taking 4-25 in a tidy spell for Preston.

The fourths lost by 57 runs to Letchworth and the Sunday side continued the misery with an eight-wicket defeat to Harrold.

However, the doom and gloom did not spread to the youngsters as an enjoyable development game versus FM Arthurs saw several younger members of the club have their first adult match.

And a busy week across the junior club saw more success, with wins against Weston in the U12s, against Letchworth and Hitchin in the U13s and then against Pirton in the U10s and U12s too.

Knebworth Park came within a whisker of winning a thriller at home to Hertford in Division Two B, losing by one wicket.

In a game reduced to 44 overs aside after a rain break Knebworth had to work hard for runs against an excellent bowling attack and only managed 158-9.

Louis Champion's run out for 15 was an early setback, followed quickly by two more wickets.

Kobie Richmond struck a quickfire 26 and Archie Stephens (30), Rob Morley (15), Dave Roberts (24*) and Gareth Jones led something of a recovery.

The Park's bowlers soon had Hertford's batsmen struggling too. Kobie Richmond (3-27) struck early removing both openers cheaply andJones took another as they slipped to 37-4.

Hertford battled back under the pressure but wickets continued to fall, Charlie Randall took three helped by two terrific catches by Richmond.

It all left Hertford nine down and still needing 19 to win, however 30 not out from Cameron Braans snuffed out Knebworth's hopes in a tense finish.

The seconds were beaten by 105 runs at Eaton Bray, the home side racing to 109-1 in the first 15 overs before finishing on 301-8.

Adam Sergeant took 4-42 in his 10 overs and then hit 16 in a steady start with Mark Woods (25).

The third wicket fell at 74 when Ryan Sheldon-Green was out, also on 25, and at the 29th over the score had only reached 98-6.

During this period James Bedford remained at the crease and with assistance from John Inman (16) brought the score to 167 when he was out for 58.

A last wicket stand of 29 with Shivakumar ending 24 not out raised the score to 196 all out. 

The thirds win over Ickleford saw Trent Hildebrandt and skipper Miles Baron lead the fightback with 35 apiece.

Then Ian Hildebrandt (27*) and Tom Matthews (11*) quickly took them home to 143-6.

Earlier the Park's seamers bowled economically with making much inroads into the visitors batting before young spinners Finn Hobbs and Trent Hildebrandt snarled two apiece, while a lively spell from Harry Byron took 1-11.

The fourths went down by 117 runs away to Ware.

It was a case of what might have been for Knebworth as several catches were dropped, allowing Ware openers Patterson (56) and Compton (105) to amass a challenging score of 243.

Knebworth made a slow start and were soon well behind the run rate.

Mark Chapelhow was highest scorer with a tidy 42, while Nick Banks (12), Archie Lowrie (16) and Mark Heath (19) also reached double figures as Knebworth were eventually all out for 126.

Stevenage won by 35 runs against Northwood in Division Two A.

Moses Anil got 35 and Kawalpreet Singh 33 as they reached 164-9 but it was a stunning late spell of bowling that sealed the win.

Northwood had been 120-3 but finished all out for 129, Singh taking the last three wickets in four balls as he finished with figures of 5-35.

Mike Philpotts claimed 3-7 in five overs as Stevenage moved up to sixth.