ALCESTER & Ragley closed to within a point of Division One leaders Wellesbourne following their six-wicket victory over visitors Ebrington.

And it was the in-form Mark Fawthrop who guided them home with an excellent unbeaten knock that saw his side home with 18 overs to spare.

With Ragley skipper Ben Lee unavailable, Gary Strain took on the captaincy and put the visitors in to bat.

The Ebrington openers made a solid start until both were bowled by superb deliveries from Julian Reader and Steve Capron respectively.

With the openers out of the way, Alcester's bowlers took a stranglehold on the game and despite some minor resistance at the end, the visitors were eventually bowled out for 149, a score that always looked below par on a decent wicket.

All the bowlers returned excellent figures, Reader 1-33, Capron 1-36, Marc Woolley 2-23, Shaun Quirke 3-30 and Lewis Clark 2-16.

Ragley stuttered in reply with the early loss of Michael Coombs but this brought Fawthrop to the crease and he built a 48-run partnership with Strain (17).

Paul Dipple (23) again added another useful contribution but it was Fawthrop (78no) who starred as his side cruised to victory.

Division One rivals Bidford suffered their third straight defeat as visitors Norton Lindsey won by six wickets.

The home side were dismissed for 163 and Norton had little trouble in reaching 164-4 to maintain their title hopes.

There was also disappointment for Exhall & Wixford, who suffered their first league defeat of the season at home to Overbury in the Premier Division.

And with title rivals Bretforton romping to a six-wicket win against lowly Wellesbourne, it means the pressure is back on Simon Hollands' side if they are to retain their league crown.

Overbury batted first and, despite losing their opener for a duck, put on a challenging 253-4 from their 45 overs, the wickets being shared around the Exhall bowlers.

In reply, openers Matt Gwynn (4) and Hollands (15) fell cheaply before Charlie Mulraine (32) and Leon Gates (65) steadied the innings.

Chris Pierson (36) and Lee Chambers (35) injected some runs midway through but the home side could not maintain their momentum and fell short of their target with 217-9.

There was disappointment in Division Three where Great Alne and Temple Grafton lost to Wellesbourne II and Woodbourne respectively, Grafton suffering their first defeat in four games.

And Cookhill relinquished top spot in Division Five despite recording a seven-wicket victory at Henley II.

Having reduced their hosts to 9-4 off 11 overs, the Henley batsmen dug in and ground their way to 137-5, Simon Edmunds (4-17) the pick of the bowlers.

The visitors were steered to victory by an unbeaten 57 from skipper Billy Harris and Cookhill reached their target with 15 overs to spare.

With rivals Blockley taking three points from their game, Cookhill drop to second but still look certain to be promoted as they are 51 points clear of third-placed Henley II.

WYTHALL'S miserable season continued as they slumped to the foot of the Division Three table following a five-wicket defeat at Bulkington.

The Silver Street side were dismissed for a meagre 87 and their hosts took the honours after reaching 89-5.

Five Ways OEs, back at their Hopwood home for the first time since fire gutted the pavilion, secured a winning draw against visitors Erdington Court.

Rashid Aziz struck 56 for the home side on their way to 209 all out and he then did the business with the ball, taking all the Erdington wickets (8-81) as they reached 185-8 in reply.