My mate Keith duly arrived with the offer of some transportation, so camera and notebook at the ready, we headed off to find the best of the County League action.

A quick trip up the M1, and we were back in the "frozen north" and re-tracing our steps to Clowne where we were last week. This week, the ice had melted and the ground was looking fine in the warm April sunshine.

First call, as is usual on my trips out, was the bar. Armed with a Carling, we took our seats outside and awaited the start of the game. Clowne were taking on Belper Amateurs in the first competitive game of the season in division 4N.

Prior to the start, I got the chance of meeting Clowne webmaster and first team skipper Ben Holmes (pictured right) whose warm welcome is typical of the club. A friendly place to visit and one that I would recommend.

More from Clowne Town here.

When the game eventually got underway, Clowne batted first and were soon in trouble on a bowler friendly pitch. Openers Holmes and Andrew Smalley started slowly and had inched their way to 22 when the first wicket fell. Smalley was the unlucky batsman being judged leg before to Amateurs Darren Griffiths in the eighth over. Two more wickets fell in quick succession, both to Chris Durcan, to leave Clowne struggling at 30 for 3 when we left.

Belper Amateurs Chris Durcan no balls on the way to figures of 3 for 48

Scores:
Clowne Town (27) 201 all out (N Spencer 88, Linacre 48, P Spencer 4-57, Durcan 3-48) beat Belper Amateurs (5) 49 all out (Swannack 3-15, Kinsey 4-20) by 152 runs

Back through Clowne and onto the Chesterfield road for the short journey down to Staveley. I hadn't visited the ground before, but I was tempted to call in to view these fantastic teas that everyone on the site are always praising.

Staveley were taking on Selston, a team that many are predicting to struggle this season, and struggle they did. The Selston lads got themselves into an awful tangle as wickets fell in rapid succession. We arrived with the score on 77 for 4 after 30 overs, but they were rapidly dismissed for just 101 soon after.

Selston in trouble against Staveley Welfare

The Camm brothers did all the damage, with Peter coming off top with excellent figures of 6 for 25. He then went on to score a fine unbeaten 57 as Staveley cruised home with seven wickets to spare.

Scores:
Staveley Welfare (22) 102-3 (P Camm 57*) beat Selston Town (2) 101 all out (P Camm 6-25, M Camm 3-22) by 7 wickets

On to those famous Staveley teas. Impressive they certainly are. A fine assortment of open cobs with roast beef, cheese, ham and salmon, all served up with chips and endless cups of tea. An excellent selection of cakes for afters and I have to admit I was very tempted to nick a cob or two as I returned from a visit to the gents.

As soon as Selston's ninth wicket had fallen, the locals were queueing up to help themselves to this fine feast, served, as is customary, from the pool table. All excellent stuff and congratulations to Staveley's tea ladies. I must go back there later in the season and do a piece on them - they deserve some credit.

For those of you who haven't been to the ground before, it is an impressive place. Of course, they have a big advantage being a Welfare ground and having the services of a full time groundsman and steward for the bar. Taking this into consideration, it is still a great place to watch cricket - if only the main road wasn't there.

Supping our lagers, we left for the journey over to Morton for another Division 1 game. Visitors were Shipley Hall, who many feel will be in the running for the championship and promotion to the Premier come September.

Morton have an exciting Australian pace bowler in Matthew Meagher and he was attracting the attentions of Derbyshire's Steve Stubbings when we arrived.

A quick chat with Stubbo confirmed that Meagher was a playing colleague in Australia and the Derbyshire batsman was checking his mate's first appearance in the County League.

Stubbo is pictured (above) on sightscreen duty at Morton.

Meagher looked pretty useful and should make his mark in the league this season. We didn't see him bat, put Stubbo told us that he can bat a bit as well. Morton had scored a meagre 152 for 8, with Adrian Elks carrying his bat for 62. This was nowhere near enough for the home team to defend and Shipley were cruising when we left. They won the game easily, with Stefan Gamble top scoring with an unbeaten 76.

Don't write Morton off on this performance - they will do better.

Morton overseas Matthew Meagher in action

Scores:
Morton Colliery (4) 152-8 (A Elks 62*, Ahmed 3-50, Hickinbotham 3-11) lost to Shipley Hall (22) 153-2 (Gamble 76*) by 8 wickets

Next stop was South Wingfield, whose seconds were hosting Langley Mill. How will the Millers fare following the demise of their first team during the close season? Well, on this evidence, not very well. The game was over before tea and the players were leaving the ground as we arrived.

Apparently the Millers are a poor bunch and general opinion was that they will struggle - even at their new lower level in 5N. Surely a team with such a fine history as the Millers deserve better than this!

Scores:
South Wingfield (22) 83-2 (S Jelley 32, Maltby 34*) beat Langley Mill Utd (1) 82 all out (R Hardwick 4-24, Coxhead 3-22) by 8 wickets

Off to Alfreton Park for the final match of the day. The Alfreton seconds were playing Staveley Welfare seconds and the home side were already well on the way to defeat when we got there. The locals were optimistic of their first team's prospects in Division 2 and were delighted to hear that their overseas Rajesh Ramesh had bagged a 5-for in his club debut at Aston.

Scores:
Aston-on-Trent (6) 172-9 (Ashfaq 62, Yussean 30, Ramesh 5-45) lost to Alfreton (22) 173-6 (Mt Lineker 41, Gwatkin 37, Aspinall 32) by 4 wickets

Alfreton (5) 118 all out (K Danby 54, Mosley 5-20, Smedley 4-51) lost to Staveley Welfare (27) 245-9 (P May 33, Russell 113, Kay 45, Simmons 3-58, Fenn 4-51) by 127 runs

It's always a pleasure to visit Alfreton. Although the facilities don't match the Staveley's of this world, they are a really friendly bunch of lads and always make you welcome. They have built a new patio area in front of the pavilion, and this will be a great place to watch the action when the sun comes out. Let me know when you're getting the barby out lads and I will pay you a visit.

For all Saturday's scores from the official league site, click here.

On the way home, I had the opportunity of looking through the 2003 handbooks - thanks Chris. If you haven't got a copy of these excellent publications, beg, steal or borrow a copy now. A lot of hard work goes in to the publication of these books and they contain a mine of information. I will have these books with me throughout the season as I find them invaluable. Well done to all involved.

To view images from the day's action, click here.

Well what a day. Five grounds covered at all levels from one to five. A chance to meet up with a few site regulars and the opportunity to catch up on the gossip. Next week, I will probably take a look at the Premier, with a trip up to Chesterfield to see Chris Lewis in action for Clifton being a strong possibility.