This fortnight started with a crucial High Peak pairs final, but then swiftly descended into an end-of-term, summer holiday vibe. We secured another three wins but one chastening defeat. One of the matches played had been postponed from the previous weekend due to a lack of numbers, whilst a torrential downpour led to another match being cancelled while everyone was en route.
Sunday 20th July 2025: Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge 236 (64/7 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 267 (83/4 off 16) by 31 runs – High Peak play-off final (Scorecard)
Having beaten the winners of the Lyme Division, we were drawn against the best second-placed team, also from that division. They had lost to Bollington earlier in the season but had comfortably beaten Lindow (who were unbeaten) in the other semi-final. We picked the same team as from the semi-final as all were available and it would have been unfair to leave anyone out.
Ominously, the rain, which was forecast for later, started coming down as we drove there. It didn’t particularly relent as we all stood around with umbrellas and coats (well, all except Jeffers). The kids improvised a game in the net, and Thomas had basically called it as being off. We said we would give it five more minutes, taking us up to the official start time of 10am, and then, magically, the rain relented.
Mersey had won the toss and naturally chose to bowl, with the formula well-rehearsed. Use our strength, our bowling, to try to restrict the opposition to a low score and then play sensibly to get past the target.
We stuck to our plan. Their opening pair managed just 13 runs, for the loss of one wicket – by Emmet. Harvey bowled one of their second pair with a nice full length before George started against the third pair with two wickets in two balls. We never let them get away and the last few overs were characterised by very few runs being scored. The Phoenix attack only conceded four boundaries in 16 overs, with just 3 wides and 1 no-ball.
The figures reflect this, with five of the seven bowlers conceding no more than six runs off their two or three overs, with the other two taking three wickets between them. The pick was George with 2-5 off three overs, with Harvey also claiming two wickets, and one each for Emmet, Thomas and Leo. George also took a tidy catch at mid-on, which the scorer commented was never in doubt.
Their score of 236 was clearly chaseable. We just had to bat sensibly. However, their attack was fast, bouncy and strong, and Emmet and George, opening for Phoenix, struggled to get bat on ball and both were gotten out. Having got us off to an excellent platform in the semi-final, we were on just 202 after the first pair this time.
Leo then took advantage of some drag-downs to hit five fours, peppering the legside boundary from fine leg to midwicket. The bowler’s overs went for 11 apiece, thanks to Leo’s hitting, and those 22 runs were crucial in breaking the back of the chase. Suddenly, at the halfway stage, we were at 229. It was worth noting, however, that their score tracked very similarly to ours at the same stage.
Back came their quick bowlers, bowling Gregory with one that perhaps skidded on a little, but Will found some lovely touch, using the pace to clip the ball through the legside in particular, but he also hit a lovely cover drive. He hit three fours in a valuable 13 runs.
Our finishers, Thomas and Sam, marched in with our score around 8 runs ahead and a clear defensive mindset. While Sam held up an end, Thomas scored a bit more freely, like Will finding nice touch through the legside, ultimately hitting four fours and scoring 20 runs. It quickly became clear that the title was ours and in the end the 31-run win margin was quite comfortable, but it was not always so.
So, we were champions once more, winning all 12 High Peak games that we played, mostly by a very comfortable margin, with the Stockport game being easily the tightest. It was a great performance with all squad members contributing, and meant that this age group had effectively won three years on the trot (and an incredible five times in four years across this year and the year above).
Friday 25th July 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 295 (115/5 off 16) beat North East Cheshire Typhoons 216 (44/7 off 16) by 79 runs – High Peak pairs summer competition (Scorecard)
There was very much, in every sense, and end-of-term feel to this Friday match, the first of the High Peak summer competition. We knew in advance that we would be up against a team of under-9s, evidently giving them some practice ahead of their first full hardball season next year, which added a slightly anti-climactic feel to the match.
Gregory as captain won the toss and elected to bowl (standard approach). The opposition batted solidly, only getting out to bowlers six times, with two wickets to the legspin of Alec (one of our U10s), one to Jimmy (another U10s player, albeit he is an U9), plus wickets to Paddy, Arno and Archie, the latter of which pinging down the stumps with a direct hit to run out one of their players.
Their total of 216 was clearly under par, but we didn’t start the most convincingly. Whilst Archie hit two powerful fours, we lost three wickets in the first two pairs and we were only 9 runs ahead after the first two pairs (clearly on the way to win but a bit behind where might have been expected given the opposition). The motivation levels seemed pretty low, particularly from our more experienced players.
Harvey and Jimmy then hit three fours between them to put clearer daylight between the two teams’ scores before Gregory put the result well beyond doubt, hitting five fours in the first over of his pair. Alec then joined the party, hitting four fours, while Gregory added two more to finish on 33 runs off just 14 balls. We ended up on a decent enough net total of 295, with a winning margin of 79 runs.
Sunday 27th July 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 51 all out (17.0) lost to Urmston 137/4 (20) by 86 runs – South Manchester T20 summer cup (Scorecard)
The team struggled against a well-coached and experienced side, with us missing a lot of our more experienced players. We put on a great bowling display but struggled in the field with lots of byes and boundaries through the fielders’ legs, and Urmston posted a challenging total of 137/4 off their 20 overs. We just couldn’t face their super-fast bowlers, but it meant everyone had a chance to bat and bowl and gives us a lot to work on in the field. Zane top-scored with 11.
Tuesday 29th July 2025: Stretford 91/7 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 94/5 (16.3) by 5 wickets – South Manchester T20 summer cup (Scorecard)
Mersey produced a good performance to defeat Stretford, in a game where both sides fielded summer holiday teams. Zane won the toss for Mersey, and he elected to field first, confident in his team’s ability to chase down any target.
Stretford’s side was a mix of strong and less experienced players. One of their openers played very nicely for 28 retired, but in general their batting was restricted by solid Mersey bowling. Archie, Huzaifah and Oliver all recorded good figures. Bowling and fielding were tricky, with the drizzly conditions causing the ball to be slippy, but Mersey stuck at it throughout, pulling off two run-outs and catching well (Zane, Huzaifah and Alec).
Mersey got off to a sticky start with the bat, as Stretford’s star batters also performed well with the ball. The game was in the balance after 10 overs, but Mersey managed to start putting away the bowling, and eased to victory.
Thanks to the members of the U10s for stepping into the team for this game. Reuben and Alec both hit great boundaries and bowled well, Louis had remarkable figures of 2-1-1-2 and retired on 25, and Evan bowled beautifully and scored the winning runs to reach his 25!
Thanks to everyone for an excellent game, played in the right spirit.
We'll finish with a shot of Phoenix lifting the High Peak trophy.
