Jamaican Association demolished Ernst & Young by eight wickets to keep Commercial Cricket League leaders Forties firmly in their sights as the pair put more daylight between themselves and fellow title challengers North Village and Spring Garden Cavaliers.

The Jamaicans trail Forties by six points but have a game in hand as clubs take a Cup Match break this weekend, apart from a League Cup Twenty/20 playoff between Jamaican Association and BC Allrounders.

Forties eased past BC Allrounders by four wickets on Sunday, thanks to a six-wicket haul by Granville Bennett and unbeaten half-century by Justin Barritt, while Cavaliers narrowly had the better of a low-scoring draw against Village.

Meanwhile, Hamilton Parish's future in the league hangs by a thread after their scheduled match against St. David's at Southampton Oval turned into a no-show by both teams.

Parish were given a reprieve by the league after defaulting their two previous matches and their fate will be decided at a league meeting early next month.

Last Friday, Ricky Hill said he had been assured by his team captain Irving Burgess that Parish would play on Sunday.

St. David's spokesman Otis Minors said: "Our guys weren't sure Parish would go, so we didn't turn up."

Medium pacer Junior Lindo claimed five for 26 from 8.3 overs as the Jamaicans skittled out Ernst & Young for 75 in 25.3 overs after the clubs switched their fixture from T.N.Tatem Middle School to vacant Southampton Oval.

Stephen Connors made 22 but Ernst & Young's hopes of posting a more respectable total received a setback when skipper Karunakar Kaushik was forced to retire hurt on seven after being struck a nasty blow on the chin by a Kevin Abrahams bouncer. Shaken-up Kaushik was taken by ambulance to hospital, where he had five stitches to close the wound.

Abrahams finished with two for eight from five overs while David Gibbs chipped in with two for one from four.

The Jamaicans then hurried to victory inside ten overs as Michael Campbell clouted 11 fours in his 48, putting on 65 for the first wicket with Presley Millwood (21 not out). Jason Wakeford picked up two for six from two.

An unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 67 by Barritt and Randy Simmons (12 not out) swept Forties to victory over BC Allrounders at Warren Simmons Community Field, where both sides played one short, Barritt's unbeaten 56 including six fours and three sixes.

BC Allrounders' 38-over total of 154 was dominated by opener Dano Outerbridge's classy 77 before he was unluckily run out. Outerbridge, a former Young Men's Social Club player, struck four sixes and three fours, and gave his side a flying start by rattling up 71 without loss with Franklyn Simons (20) by the first water break. Daniel Hill made 22.

Slow bowlers gradually reined BC Allrounders in, with Bennett claiming six for 59 from 13 overs and Randy Simmons two for 34 from 13.

Harold Minors made 21 in Forties' 155 for five from 32 overs with Worrell Bean taking three for 52 from 13 and Andre Smith two for 67 from 14.

While Village's title hopes were dented by taking only three points from their losing draw against Cavaliers at Garrison Field, their appeal against St. David's using first team player Landro Minors in a recent match, which the East Enders won, is still to be heard by the league.

An extra ten points could get Village back into contention if Forties, who have one match against Cavaliers left, and Jamaican Association slip up on the run-in.

Jamaicans have a make-up match against St. David's on August 10 and face Village in their final fixture the following week.

Long grass made scoring difficult but Cavaliers skipper Barry Richards admitted afterwards he thought his side's 137 would prove inadequate.

"I didn't think we had enough runs. But both sides bowled really well," said Richards.

With the match trimmed to –40 overs a side, Cavaliers were dismissed with seven balls remaining. Opener Patrick Hamlett topscored with 47, which included two sixes and a four, and extras accounted for 32 of the runs.

Medium pacer Rudy Smith was the pick of the Village attack with four for 51 from 12.5 overs. Kevin Mallory claimed three for eight from three and Samitha Ranaweera took two for 38 from ten.

Village, who had 41 overs at their disposal, closed on 125 for nine, Ranaweera making 26. Slow bowler Boobalan Kannan bagged four for 47 from nine and Jerry Callender two for 29 from 14 for Cavaliers.

Said Village skipper Reggie Benjamin: "We really needed to win this match but we batted poorly."