Hornsey 146 Stanmore 147-9

Middlesex County Division One

Hornsey's Park Road ground was under water on Saturday and, after consultation between the umpires, it was agreed that this match should be switched to the Shenley Centre where Stanmore all-rounder Glucka Wijesuriya is the licence-holder.

However, after Stanmore scored an exciting victory, the league's executive were upset because permission for the move had not been sought, and are to hold an inquiry.

Stanmore skipper Alastair Fraser said: 'The umpires decided that because the outfield was flooded the ground was not fit for play.

ñAfter consulting with Hornsey, we made a quick phone call to Shenley, where there was a pitch available, and off we went.

'Unfortunately in the rush to Shenley to get the game under way, we forgot to obtain permission from the league. However, I am sure that the executive will appreciate that for the game to go ahead on an alternative pitch was preferable to a situation whereby everybody involved wasted their time through a postponement.'

After Fraser won the toss and put Hornsey in, Luke O'Reilly grabbed two early wickets.

A fine stint by off-spinner Dave Dunn (6-48), backed by Mukesh Bhatt, as each bowled 15 overs unchanged, had Hornsey struggling, and they were deeply indebted to Jason Molins (81) for their modest total of 146 off 46 overs.

Stanmore openers Wijesuriya (33) and Jeff Hurrell (32) shared a half-century stand, and with Anthony Rule (24) and Fraser (22) making useful contributions, victory looked a formality.

When Fraser was run-out by his partner Jamie Hollebone, at 117-4 only 30 runs were needed.

But Stanmore crashed to 130-9 (Brad Cox 5-27) before hero Dunn (20 not out) completed an excellent all-round performance by hitting the winning runs.

Stanmore are at home to Wembley in the league on Saturday (11.30am).

Stanmore II 133-9 dec., Hornsey II 133-9. Eastcote III 258-8 dec., Stanmore III 259-5 (Geoff Tyler 119 no)