The Park Road outfit remain top of the Middlesex County Premier Division after a draw at Teddington on Saturday

Joel Hughes praised North Middlesex after a dominant display away to title rivals Teddington in the Middlesex County Premier Division last weekend.

The leaders remain top after a winning-draw at Bushy Park where Joe Cracknell (93) and Evan Flowers (80) caught the eye with impressive fifties.

In the field, North Middlesex got Teddington eight down in the field, but had to settle for five points.

After a defeat to Stanmore in the Middlesex 45-over cup the Sunday before, skipper Hughes was encouraged by his team's response.

The North Middlesex captain said: "It was extremely hard-fought and on a very, very hot day.

"After our loss in the cup, we had to rally the troops a bit and I was extremely pleased with how we responded as a team.

"We showed a lot of skill and character on Saturday against a strong Teddington team so I think to get the better of the fixture was a good result for us."

The early dismissal of Luke Hollman saw Cracknell and Flowers join forces and they put on a stunning 166 for the second wicket.

Neither could go on to register three figures, but for the experienced Flowers, it was his highest score of the campaign to date.

It saw North Middlesex get up to 289 with James Parslow (25), Alex MacQueen (26) and the captain (30) contributing.

"Evan has been batting well all year, he has had three 38s and he batted beautifully on Saturday," Hughes said.

"It was a very high quality partnership between him and Joe and Joe is in good nick at the moment and a dam good player.

"That was probably the best wicket we have played on this year as well so it was great they both cashed in."

Hollman showed his class again with the ball, taking 2-51 and Tom Nicoll picked up 2-40, but Teddington held on to finish on 231-8 from 60 overs.

MacQueen (1-59) and Hughes (1-31) also picked up wickets during long, economical spells to ensure North Middlesex stay at the summit by four points ahead of Ealing.

He added: "We have only ever won at Teddington once in my time, so it's not easy and it's very different to the normal wickets we play on, but I was more pleased with the way we played and to get five points was obviously good."