YORK Cricket Club are the cream of the county.

Two wins over the weekend sent them flying to the top of the Oxbridge Yorkshire ECB County Premier League.

They beat Appleby Frodingham and Sheffield United, both by eight wickets at Clifton Park, to leapfrog North Yorkshire rivals Harrogate, who are now five points adrift of Marcus Wood's men.

Although much of the Hunters The Estate Agent York and District Senior League programme was washed out by rain on Saturday, local cricket fans still have plenty to celebrate.

The league is guaranteed a side in the semi-finals of the National Village Knockout competition after Sheriff Hutton Bridge marched into the quarter-finals of the competition yesterday thanks to a magnificent 16-run win over Scottish side Freuchie.

They will now face league rivals Sessay at Bridge's Moor Farm ground on Sunday with the winners just one step away from a Lord's final.

Having been rained off at home last week, Bridge made the 500-mile round trip north of the border.

After losing the toss, Bridge were were put into bat. Openers Mike Smith, and captain Paul Oldfield made a solid start before Oldfield was run out for 22. Smith made 18 and Pete Crowder 20 with the big hitting of Paul Scaling, who made 29, and his brother Nick keeping the scoreboard ticking over at a good rate.

When Nick Scaling was bowled for 32 it was Dave Gilbertson who took over the mantle, top scoring with 35 despite the travelling side losing late wickets on their way to a competitive 171 all out in the final over.

In reply, the Freuchie batsmen started brightly, but first change bowler Danny Snowball made the breakthrough with his first delivery.

When opener R Birrell was dismissed for 23 by Mike Smith, Bridge seized the initiative with the combined spin bowling efforts of Snowball and Oldfield.

The Fife side lost wickets regularly to the dismay of their boisterous supporters, as Snowball finished with the impressive figures of 3-21 off his nine overs and Oldfield claimed 2-35.

However, Freuchie stayed right in the game, with C Hepplethwaite's 32 and a last- wicket stand of 28 making sure of a tense climax. The game was eventually assured by a run out in the penultimate over, Freuchie being dismissed for 155.

Sessay had a narrow quarter-final victory last week over Northumberland-based Warkworth.

Oxbridge Yorkshire ECB League

P W L T A Pts

York 17 11 3 1 2 92

Harrogate 17 11 3 0 3 87

Sheffield Collegiate 17 10 3 0 4 86

Cleethorpes 15 8 3 0 4 69

Scarborough 17 7 5 0 5 67

Driffield 16 9 5 0 2 66

Yorkshire Academy 16 7 6 0 3 65

Barnsley 16 6 4 1 5 62

Doncaster Town 15 8 4 0 3 61

Castleford 17 5 10 0 2 48

Sheffield United 16 4 10 0 2 43

Rotherham Town 15 2 10 0 3 27

Appleby Frodingham 15 2 12 0 1 23

Hull 17 2 14 0 1 20

Updated: 11:03 Monday, July 19, 2004