Battling hosts Whitby Cricket Club 1sts sunk by Great Ayton​

The hosts were always up against it after Ayton posted an excellent 278-6 declared, but Whitby made a proper fight of it thanks to fine knocks from skipper Kai Morris (48) and tail-ender Matthew Steyert (47no), after 26 apiece from openers Tom Steyert and Theo Clarke and Rhys Buck’s 28.

At 217-6 Whitby had a decent chance of chasing down the visitors’ total, but losing two wickets on 217 and the final two on 234 saw them condemned to yet another league loss.

Buck and Tom Steyert had earlier taken two wickets apiece as the home bowling attack faced a torrid time.

Morris said: “Again it was disappointing to have played some decent cricket but still come out on the wrong side of it, which has seemed to be a theme of our season so far.

"We stuck to the task pretty well during the first innings but couldn’t quite stop them from building partnerships. And as always at Whitby it’s tough tie stop teams from scoring once batters get going.

"Going into the second half we wanted to stick to have we’ve batted the last few weeks and we knew we were a chance of chasing it down.

"Tom and Theo played really and got us off to a flyer but unfortunately we lost three quick wickets that put us being the game a bit.

"Rhys batted nicely in the middle and then myself and Matty were able to put a partnership together that kept us in the game.

"Unfortunately I got out at a bad time and things kind of unravelled from there and we fell just short.

"Obviously it was disappointing again but really pleased with how we kept being positive and tried to win the the game all the way.

"Plenty of positives to take but as has been the case all season we need to turn these decent performances into wins.”

Whitby CC 2nds slumped to an eight-wicket loss on the road at Blackhall.

Oliver Lane top-scored with 35 as the away team were dismissed for 150, Michael then taking both wickets as the hosts eased to victory.

Whitby CC 3rds lost by seven runs at home to Saltburn 3rds on Sunday.