It was a big week for Heaton Mersey U10s and U11s, as top position in the two High Peak divisions and the Cheshire league were at stake. There were five games played, with one rained off.
Tuesday 2nd July 2024: Heaton Mersey Magic 323 (135/3 off 16) beat Cheadle Hulme ONE 264 (108/11 off 16) by 59 runs – High Peak league pairs (Scorecard)
A comfortable victory for Mersey in this High Peak League Pairs league game. The away side won the toss and decided to bowl on a cool, cloudy evening at Green Lane. Mersey’s scoring rate was initially slow on a damp pitch as extras kept the scoreboard ticking over. The scoring accelerated as Isaac G hit some beautiful back foot punches followed by a couple of glorious drives with him ending up as top scorer with 34 off 15 balls including 6 fours.
The bowlers bowled tight lines to restrict the home side’s score, but Mersey then pulled away in the last pair, as Shazil and Sam H put on a whopping 51 runs in the final four overs; Shazil hitting some meaty blows to finish on 21 (off 10 balls with 4 fours) and Sam with his customary belligerent stroke-play finishing on 29 (off 14 balls including 5 fours and a six). Mersey finished on 323 which looked more than enough for the victory.
The away side struggled during their first two pairs as Mersey bowled accurately. Cheadle Hulme’s final two pairs went for broke and scored some impressive boundaries, but the clatter of wickets ensured that they were never close to the target and finished on a net score of 264. There were some splendid run-outs from Mersey, especially Aahil with a direct hit from backstop over Tom H’s head hitting the top of middle stump – one for the ages that one.
Top bowling was from Aman, taking 2 for 17. A special mention to the two Toms: Tom H for not losing his wicket and keeping well in his 8 overs behind the stumps; and a superb performance from Tom B also not losing his wicket, batting sensibly, and taking 1 for 3 in his overs; bravo!! With the other Magic team also winning this evening, Mersey Magic finished top of this league group and have progressed to the quarter finals.
Tuesday 2nd July 2024: Heaton Mersey Magic 303 (127/6 off 16) beat Woodford 248 (120/18 off 16) by 55 runs – High Peak league pairs (Scorecard)
After the double header double combo last Thursday and Friday, the Green Lane pitch was again split into two for smaller boundaries, frenetic action and organisational mayhem. This was one of 10 games in 5 days for the Heaton Mersey combined U10s/U11s group and two games for Magic in one evening stretched the team selection. However, it was a testament to the strength and depth of the aggregate squad that they were able to field two very competitive teams.
They were up against Woodford, who were fresh from hammering Cheadle Hulme (coincidentally the other Magic opponents on the evening) to recover from their initial defeats. Harrison followed the classic script of winning the toss and batting first, with the intention to put together an imposing total to exert pressure on the chasing side. And we did exactly that.
The batting innings was characterised by strong running between the wickets throughout, with only one run-out to report (in contrast to the opposition – see later). Harrison and Dylan set the tone, raising the score to 233 after four overs. Gregory accumulated nicely, with a couple of fours (the latter of which broke his bat) whilst Caoimhin recovered from an initial setback to rotate the strike regularly. Billy and Zayaan gave the necessary end-of-innings acceleration, including 20 off the last over, helped by five wides, plus two fours and a six from Zayaan. Magic ended on 303.
Heaton Mersey never let Woodford get close, largely due to continually taking wickets throughout. There were sharp catches from behind the wicket from Harrison (down the legside) and Billy (amusingly coming after two optimistic appeals for caught behind), either side of the wicket from Gregory and Dylan on the run, and a simpler one for Billy, and a sharp return catch by Zayaan. Some of the Woodford batsmen were uncertain between the wickets and we pounced, with four run-outs (two throwdowns from Gregory, and another where Zayaan had time to outpace the batsman to the stumps).
And there was the bowling – generally accurate and strong. The pick was Cameron G, who exploited the uneven bounce brilliantly to take a stunning 4-2 (three bowled plus a caught behind), but he was well supported by Billy (who took three wickets with his spin), Caoimhin (taking an impressive brace) and Zayaan (two wickets), but Gregory, Dylan and Zane picked up a wicket each too.
The last batting pair were strong and got the scorecard moving. In fact, Woodford’s run total was only 7 runs off Heaton Mersey’s, but the 18 wickets vs 6 made a big difference and left them on 248, 55 runs adrift. The match was played in excellent spirit throughout and, as mentioned elsewhere, it put us top of the table (the evening’s win by Lindow U13 girls made our brace of wins necessary for that to happen, and also sufficient as their Monday game had been abandoned). Quarter-finals here we come!
Tuesday 2nd July 2024: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 284 (100/4 off 16) beat Macclesfield Blues 247 (87/10 off 16) by 37 runs – High Peak league pairs (Scorecard)
Quick write up of tonight’s match. Another great victory for the Phoenix on a surprisingly cold evening down at the HMV ground. Rick was on umpiring duties and quickly regretted wearing shorts! However, the cold didn’t affect the team as they stormed to a comfortable victory against Macclesfield.
Heaton Mersey won the toss and elected to bat first. Boundaries were hard to come by due to the pitch set up, but Jake, Matty, Max and Tommy (x2) all registered fours. Brave running between the wickets by all pairs ensured the Phoenix posted an excellent score. The team’s bowling and fielding was also strong.
Wickets came from Leo (x2), Harry, Finn (caught Max) and Matty. There were also 4 run-outs following excellent fielding from Jake (x2), Matty and Tom R, who was also impressive behind the stumps as wicket keeper. It was another fantastic team performance from the table topping Phoenix: bring on the quarter-finals.
Thursday 4th July 2024: Bramhall Beavers 302 (130/7 off 20) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 330 (154/6 off 20) by 28 runs – Cheshire league pairs (Scorecard)
Mersey beat Bramhall in a high quality affair to ensure that we topped the Cheshire table, with Bramhall finishing 8 points behind in 2nd. Put in to bat, a fantastic start was made by Stan and Isaac G, punishing the bad balls and looking for singles from the good. Sam H moved in to pair 2 and smashed a quick fire 27, whilst Zayaan with an excellent 19 made sure we had a par score, until Harrison and Felix, with excellent strokeplay and equally good running, finished with a bang and got us to an above-average score.
With boundaries set to U8 dimensions and Bramhall noted as being a batting team, a challenge still awaited Mersey. Joseph and Monty put pressure on with tight overs and a wicket each; however, the quality of their batting kept them in it. Step forward Leo G (an U8) with 2 for 6 bowling off spin to end any realistic chance for a Bramhall victory despite big hitting from their best 2 batters at the end.
Fielding was slightly below par, though it was freezing and late. So, a great win and a quarter final which was initially going to be against Chester Broughton Hall, who knocked us out in the semis 2 years ago, but ended up being Alvaney after they lost their last game to third-placed Neston.
Friday 5th July 2024: Hale Barns Green 56/7 (20.0) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 102/7 (20.0) by 46 runs – South Manchester league T20 (Scorecard)
[awaiting report]
High Peak league review
The High Peak U11s league is more of a developmental league, with 28 teams playing across three divisions: Sapphire, Emerald and Ruby. Heaton Mersey split their pool of U10s and U11s into two ring-fenced teams, Magic and Phoenix. In the Sapphire division, Magic finished narrowly top, ahead of two good sides, Lindow U13s girls and Macclesfield Silks.
Phoenix, meanwhile, had a slightly more comfortable gap at the top.
The top two finishers from each division plus the best two third-placed teams would then go through into the quarter-finals. Magic were drawn against Cheadle Hulme TWO whilst Phoenix were put up against Macclesfield Silks (the only team to beat Magic).
Cheshire league review
Meanwhile, in the generally higher quality Cheshire league, Heaton Mersey also performed well. It was nip and tuck for a while between three excellent sides, Heaton Mersey Phoenix, Bramhall Beavers and Brooklands, as they beat each other, but Heaton Mersey’s final victory against Bramhall secured them top spot and Brooklands’ position looked worst than it would have been due to unplayed games.
