A flurry of five matches in five days in week 10 provided fluctuating fortunes. Getting ever closer to a successful run chase in the South Manchester league gave way to the Magic show. After a crushing win they had two thrilling finishes, which went either way, while Marple got double-teamed by Phoenix and Magic on successive evenings. Phew!
Sunday 29th June 2025: Timperley 110/7 (20) beat Heaton Mersey Phoenix 98 all out (20) by 12 runs – South Manchester T20 league (Scorecard)
On a humid, cloudy Sunday morning, we arrived Timperley hopeful of breaking our duck in what has been a tough division 1. We won the toss and elected to bowl (what else? Let’s not go there…). George bowled their opener for a duck, but otherwise the hosts got off to a quick start, reaching 22-1 off 3 overs, before a Thomas triple ripped through their batters.
First, Thomas L had their number three well caught by George, making plenty of ground to snatch it above the turf. Then Thomas C, our U10 representative for the day, forced a mistake from the batter, who lobbed it high in the air to mid-off, where Will took it comfortably. Finally, Thomas L, squeezing in a second over before he picked up the gloves, bowled the left hander with one that jagged back from round the wicket (much as he did against Brooklands).
That left the opposition at 38-4, which became 41-5 when Ollie Murphy snatched a one-handed grab to give Archie a well-deserved first wicket of the season (Ian described it as the catch of the season). Ollie then claimed a wicket to put the score at 54-6, with their opener having retired. That unfortunately (it turned out) brought in one of their better batters, as their middle order had ground to a halt, with numbers 8 and 9 scoring 0 runs off 40 balls between them.
Will did bowl him out after he had hit a few fours, but then that brought in another good batter, who hogged the strike, including a bruising last over which went for 21 runs and lifted them up to a challenging target of 110 when for much of the innings it looked like a target of more like 90.
In response, Charlie and Gregory played solidly, protecting their wicket well. Urged to up the scoring rate, Gregory was well caught in the covers for 9 and Thomas got a beauty, which jagged away to take out his off stump second ball. In marched George to play some great cricket shots, never overhitting it, and he was soon retiring with 25 off 20 balls, including four fours, as Charlie did well to eke out 16 at the other end before he was bowled.
Our middle order kept the scoreboard ticking and, with our run rate increasing, we were broadly on target. However, we lost a few wickets at a crucial time and that put us in a tricky position. That didn’t bother Harvey, however, as he timed the ball beautifully, smearing three fours through square leg, past his father who was umpiring from there. In the end, we just ran out of steam, in an echo of the Brooklands run chase, but it was another great effort against a strong side.
Ian called it our most complete performance of the season and shows we can compete with the best at this level. That left us bottom of Division 1 with no wins and just the rain-affected draw. It was a steep learning curve but great experience for the rest of the season and the future.
Monday 30th June 2025: North East Cheshire Hurricanes 254 (86/8 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Magic 307 (119/3 off 16) by 53 runs – High Peak pairs league (Scorecard)
Victory for Mersey Magic!!! On a hot summer’s evening at Green Lane, the Magic boys pulled off a fantastic all-round performance!!
NECCC won the toss and opted to bat but Finn made them regret that decision, instantly getting 2 wickets in the first over. Arno bowled next and continued the pressure with some beautiful bowling, including a wicket. More wickets followed with a run-out (Finn), Zane & Max both picking up a caught and bowled, plus Joey & Huzaifah getting their rewards for some tight bowling. Everyone fielded well and there was lots of encouragement in the field which was great to see. NECCC set Magic an achievable target of 254.
Finn & Arno started the inning well, with Finn hitting 4 lovely fours to the exact same leg side spot, putting them well ahead of the run rate (23 runs, 1 wicket). In came Joey & Adam to push along the score with some great running and controlled hitting (26 runs, 1 wicket).
Zane & Paddy took over and pressed on, taking advantage of some loose bowling. Paddy defended well and Zane hit a couple of textbook 4s (23 runs 0 wickets). Max and Huzaifah finished off the innings in style, including Huzaifah hitting 2 HUGE sixes and Max running well between the wickets (47 runs 1 wicket).
Mersey Magic cruised to victory with a score of 307 after only losing 3 wickets. A much-improved performance from everyone and a confidence booster ahead of upcoming fixtures this / next week. Well done everyone!
Tuesday 1st July 2025: Lindow Girls Under 13s Originals 313 (137/6 off 16) beat Heaton Mersey Magic 310 (118/2 off 16) by 3 runs – High Peak pairs league (Scorecard)
By all accounts, preparation for the Lindow game began earlier in the day between Huzaifah and Zane regarding team tactics. Unfortunately, the traffic-laden drive to Wilmslow scuppered those plans, leading to a fairly disjointed match.
Personally, I like the boys to make decisions and take ownership of their game. However, a quick scramble was required to determine who would bridge the player shortages gap. The pre-match agreement with Lindow was not to give our extra batters additional overs to bowl.
From a batting perspective, Zane scored heavily, and Arno was smart in deflecting a couple of 4s to the short-sided boundary. Late on, Charlie and Huzaifah entered the field for the second time, whereupon each continued their fine batting, with both scoring plenty more spectacular boundaries.
Lindow U13 Girls performed fantastically in their batting and scored boundaries aplenty, which quickly quietened the Magic into concentration. All boys bowled to their usual individual ability; however, keeping to the pre-agreed conditions did not allow us to utilise our strengths, resulting in a hard-to-stomach loss of only 3 runs.
Wednesday 2nd July 2025: Marple 233 (73/10 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 316 (164/12 off 16) by 83 runs – High Peak pairs league (Scorecard)
There was a bit of confusion as a few of our team went to the wrong ground (they had the wrong postcode). I was late because Gregory had a school event and that meant I could learn from the mistakes of others! In the end, I missed very little as Marple won the toss and elected to field.
Emmet and Will put them to the sword in the opening overs, scoring 46 runs for the loss of 1 wicket towards the end. Emmet in particular hit some lovely flicks off his pads, one nearly for six and one all the way, his first such score in cricket (he said afterwards). George and Matty were the next pair, with the latter’s too-large pads providing some entertainment, which George cut through by smashing three fours and a six off consecutive balls. This led to another crazy run-fest (49 runs) but this time for the loss of 3 wickets.
The theme of scoring heavily while losing wickets continued, with another 8 wickets lost and 12 in all (by far our most this season), but we had put 164 on the board, so that gave us a net score of 316. They had a stand-out bowler who got an amazing 5-18, although he did bowl three overs (that said, he had got 6-9 off two overs earlier in the season).
Their coach wasn’t happy with his team’s performance, including their attitude by questioning of one of umpire Phil’s decisions. He saw his team’s batting innings as a chance to prove themselves. However, our bowlers simply did not let them. Emmet struck twice and Will once in the opening pair before Gregory bowled their star player and his partner in successive balls from round the wicket (I’m not generally a fan but couldn’t argue with the result).
That put them way behind the run chase. Whilst they rallied, George returned to bowl some effective spin, taking a wicket, and they ended up on 73/10, or a net score of 233, losing by 83 runs. That’s 8 wins out of 8 with a crazy net run rate of over 4.
Thursday 3rd July 2025: Marple 255 (91/9 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Magic 261 (85/6 off 16) by 6 runs – High Peak pairs league (Scorecard)
Magic made it two victories in a week with a close-fought match at Marple’s picturesque and slopey Compstall Ground.
Marple won the toss and put Magic into bat first. Finn and Zane opened - after a slow start, Zane smashed three fours off the last over to get the score moving forward. Charlie and Paddy faced some wild and unpredictable bowling, but managed to keep the score ticking over. Joey and Tom were in next and, with some great running between the wickets, added lots of hard-fought singles. The final pair of Max and Harry finished strongly, with Max hitting three fours off the last over.
Magic ended on 85/6, a net score 261. With the slopey pitch and long boundaries, this was a good total to defend.
Magic quickly got to grips with bowling down the hill, with Zane picking up a wicket in the second over. Charlie added another wicket in the fourth over, caught behind by Max. In the sixth over, Charlie took another 2 wickets in consecutive balls, giving him a hat-trick ball. The batter edged the next ball, but unfortunately it didn’t carry to the Max behind the stumps.
At the halfway point of Marple’s innings, they were slightly ahead on run rate. However, Mersey dug in and, with 2 wickets each from Joey and Tom (one caught by Max), they stunted Marple’s progress.
Some great bowling from Max resulted in another wicket in the 15th over. Marple started the 16th over needing 12 to win. Harry stepped up to bowl the last over. He kept cool, calm and collected to bowl an excellent last over, restricting Marple’s eager batters to just 6 runs. Marple ended on 91/9 (a net score of 255).
This was another great performance from the Magic team. They showed great resilience, grit and determination to hold off Marple at the end and deliver a superb victory. Massive thanks to Darren for scoring and everyone’s support from the sidelines.
