Weather Continues to Impact Senior Season

Another week of unseasonal weather saw only half of the weekend’s senior fixtures completed. It meant disappointment for the 1s and 2s who suffered third consecutive abandonments to keep them lodged in midtable, whilst the 3s missed out on a valuable opportunity for victory. Better news arrived on Sunday with a first league win for the 4thXI thanks to a star turn from one of the club's promising juniors.

1stXI v Tattenhall

Match abandoned

Heaton Mersey Village v 2ndXI

Match abandoned

Appleton v 3rdXI

The 3rdXI dodged the weather but missed out on a valuable 25pts that would have catapulted them into the upper echelons of the league as dropped catches cost them dearly at Appleton. The Jets batting effort was an odd affair, sprinkled with aggressive innings which promised much but delivered no score higher than Elliot Ashton-Bryant’s enterprising 27. As a result they were ultimately dismissed for 118 which would still have been defendable with a stronger effort in the field.

The league’s leading wicket-taker Chris Taylor (4-28) was again in ebullient form as seven of Appleton’s top eight were dismissed for single figures in reply. However, North East crucially dropped skipper Paul White on four occasions and his eventual 66 single-handedly decided the game. It was a harsh but valuable lesson for the 3rdXI who are left with an even record of two wins, two losses and two abandonments after 6 weeks.

4thXI v Bredbury

The highlight of the weekend came on Sunday where U15s offspinner Ed Parkinson produced a match-winning performance with a maiden senior five-for. Seven overs of flight and guile returned the superb figures of 5-15 to help dismiss visiting Bredbury for 76 on a slow deck after the week’s rain. Fellow spinner Adam Burgess (2-15) also impressed but a simple chase was no guarantee, especially when the returning Sam Waller was pinned LBW third ball of the reply.

The Jets chipped away with useful contributions from Harrison Waddington, Matt Mullany and Rob Bowden in the face of a fine spell from Bredbury’s 1stXI bowler Josh Ireton (4-19). Fellow new ball bowler James Guy also chipped in with a brace of wickets to mean it was fittingly left to Parkinson (10*) and Burgess (5*) to take the 4thXI to a first league victory of the season after their first-innings efforts.