It was a strong start to the season, with four wins and a tie out of the five matches played in five separate leagues across four competitions.
Monday 20th April 2026: Cheshire U13s league T20 (Zone 1)
Heaton Mersey U13s 127/7 (20) beat Sale U13s 35 all out (13.2) by 92 runs (Scorecard)
Mersey started the Cheshire campaign with a resounding win over Sale at Green Lane. After winning the toss, captain Sam elected to bat on a cool evening. The away side bowled well initially, reducing the home side to 8 for 2 bowling straight on a pitch offering assistance for bowlers. Billy and Sam then put on a partnership of 42 to solidify the innings. After Sam departed, Stan joined Billy and the scoring rate accelerated, interlacing stylish off drives with well-timed pulls.
Billy retired on 30 off 40 balls, a great start to his season. Stan continued batted with elan and partnered by Naeem then Thomas pushed the scoring to 107 until he was out trying to up the scoring rate. Younus and Zayaan came in and hit a flurry of boundaries, utilising their power so that Mersey finished on an imposing 127/7.
Mersey then bowled, with Shazil immediately causing the batters problems, and the team took two wickets in his 2nd over, including an excellent run-out by Joe and an instinctive catch by Sam at 1st slip. Joe then got the prize batting scalp of Sale, caught by Adam with a superb low catch, and the away side did not recover. Wickets then fell to Zayaan (another excellent catch, this time by Stan), Naeem with a rapid full-length delivery, then Gregory took centre stage.
He bowled with variable length but, after a couple of full tosses, a short ball stopped in the pitch and the batter could only lob it to Adam, before the bowler hit middle stump with a superb full ball. Thomas then got a run out with a direct hit, and Sam took a wicket with his first ball, a great stumping by Billy. Naeem then took the final wicket to complete the victory with a ricochet one-handed catch by Thomas when the ball seemed to have gone past him after Billy had palmed the edge.
The team were a pleasure to umpire and it was a true team effort, boding very well for the season, with the highlight being the sensational catching. Sam/Joe awarded Thomas the pink match ball for his all-round display. Thanks to everyone who came and supported the team, and a big thanks to Mike/Paul for scoring.
Areas for improvement – running between the wickets.
Wednesday 22nd April 2026: High Peak U13s league T20 (Division Dean)
Sale U13s 79 all out (20) lost to Heaton Mersey Magic 81/6 (15.4) by 4 wickets (Scorecard)
It was the first match of the season for the High Peak Magic squad, away to Sale. This was the first outing for most of the players and for myself as umpire so there was a little bit of nervous apprehension circulating, with a subtle note of something else, knowing that Mersey have often done well against Sale in the past. Sale won the toss and elected to bat.
As has been said Mersey, is usually more of a bowling side and they stuck to that. After a couple of overthrows (they haunt my dreams!!), they pulled themselves together and kept it tight in the field. Sales opening batter retired on 30, but we managed to keep the team to 79 runs, getting them all out on the last ball. Monty took two lovely wickets including a caught and bowled, with wickets following from Thomas C, Tom B, Arjo and Harry. This included some great catches and run outs and a great team effort all round.
With 80 being an achievable total to chase, the team entered their batting innings with a spring in their step! We finished on 81 for 6 after 15.4 overs with great performances from Leo retiring at 30, and Zayaan hitting 16. Finally a lovely 4 from newbie Liam with his first shot for us, being the last ball of the game sweeping for a beautiful 4!
Well done Magic! Sale were great hosts & it was a lovely way to start the season!!
Thursday 23rd April 2026: High Peak U13s league T20 (Division Bollin)
Heaton Mersey Phoenix 87/6 (15.3) beat Didsbury Bears 86 all out (13.5) by 4 wickets (Scorecard)
On a pleasant, sunny evening at Green Lane, Mersey Phoenix started their league campaign in fine style, with a win over our close neighbours, Didsbury. The away side decided to bat after winning the toss. Archie struck in the 2nd over with a great delivery to clean bowl one of the openers. Didsbury upped the scoring rate, but regular wickets ensured that the home side stayed in touch. Wickets were shared by Archie (2 for 15), Shawaiz (1 for 12), Will (1 for 0), Puneeth (1 for 3) and Oliver M (1 for 5). Finn K took 1 for 13, with a wicket in his second over that also included two run outs, to bowl the visitors out for 86 off only 13.5 overs, having been 85-6. Solid fielding and keeping by Tom R & Oliver M helped to limit the scoring.
Mersey started cautiously in their innings against accurate spin/slow bowling. Jake was bowled by a superb delivery after hitting a couple of lovely off drives for four. Archie came in at 3 and batted with real intent. Will fell to an unfortunate run-out, but Archie continued to score quickly falling for 21 off 12 balls.
The home side kept ahead of the required run rate, but lost wickets regularly, and it could have been more as Didsbury dropped a couple of easy catches. Tom R arrived at the cease and, after a shaky start, he propelled the home side to victory with some excellent legside flicks for four with Joey then Liam C defending stoutly at the other end; Tom finishing on a career-best 20 not out.
The match was played in an excellent spirit and it was a pleasure to umpire. Captain Jake and vice-captain Will awarded the pink match ball to Finn K for excellent bowling on his U13 debut. Thanks to everyone who came and supported the team and thanks to Jenny for scoring.
Areas for improvement – calling & running between the wickets.
Friday 24th April 2026: South Manchester U12s league
South West Manchester U12s 102/5 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey U12s 105/5 (18.5) by 5 wickets (Scorecard)
The week’s sunny weather had gradually been matched by increasing temperatures, and so it was a very pleasant Friday evening that greeted us at a hidden away ground in Chorlton. (Evidently many commuters had been enticed by finishing earlier for beer garden action as the traffic was not too bad.) It was their first game of the season and they had a mix of Y5, Y6 and Y7 players, so they were perfectly happy to play with a fairly relaxed mentality. It was our fourth but spread across a much larger squad and there were several players playing for the first time this season (with Lloyd making his debut).
Captain Will won the toss and, after some debate, elected to field first. The desire to get into the game via fielding overrode the potential for batting in poorer light. The opposition’s openers, though, showed great application and technique, repelling tight opening overs from Will and Gregory, then gradually getting into the game. They reached 51-0 after 8 overs, and we were lethargic and (understandably) rusty in the field.
Then Zane came into the attack. A questionable (I thought) decision was made to post George at slip (I suppose we were in need of wickets). Zane got some bounce, which the batter top-edged… and it looped up straight to slip (so what do I know?). Later in the over, the new batter nicked down the leg side to be excellently taken by Sam behind the stumps. Huzaifah then struck in the tenth over, again inducing the batter to top edge to slip. But 64/3 at the halfway stage was a good base for the batting side to build on.
Ian instilled some urgency into the fielding side in the second half of the innings, after a switch of ends (so that we were bowling uphill in the second half of the innings), and it was a much-improved performance. Their opener remained in, and was steadily accumulating whilst also upping the urgency of the running between the wickets. That came at the cost of their number five, as George swooped into to throw to Sam who took off the bails. It should be noted that, whilst the fielding could have been sharper at times, there were great diving boundary saves made by Tom and Lloyd.
The bowling remained relatively tight, with Charlie in particular coming back strongly from a wayward first over to force a nick which Sam ricocheted to Zane at slip who couldn’t unfortunately hold on before getting the batsman to lob in the air for Huzaifah to catch well in the last over. The second half of the innings yielded only another 38 runs, as the home side finished on 102/5. It was a challenging target but it could have been worse.
Our response did not start well, with their talented opening bowler hitting the stumps of George and then Will, but Charlie and Finn steadied the ship with a partnership of 33. They were feeling their way at times, but a couple of well-timed fours from Charlie started to pick the run rate up. Finlay was then out to bring in Harvey, who added a further 13 with Charlie before being bowled by one which died and bounced twice, but was deemed to have bounced the second time after the crease.
In came Sam, who immediately found his timing, clipping a ball effortlessly to the legside boundary. Shortly afterwards, he absolutely smoked a shot to square leg but it was almost too well-timed, and their fielder ran a few steps and caught a flat missile brilliantly. Sam was too incredulous to be upset.
In marched Gregory, which was part of the pre-match plan to have a “finisher” down the order. We had referred to having some big guns down there, although Gregory preferred “medium pistol” as a more accurate description. He struggled for timing, but brought some urgency, and gelled well with Charlie in terms of running between the wicket, apart from one incident when he was sent back and was adjudged by Ian to have only marginally made his ground.
But ultimately we were 52/5, needing 51 to win off 7 overs, and the light was beginning to fade. Charlie found some timing, hitting a four, and whilst we were always below the required run rate, we stayed in touch. Timing wasn’t always there, but then Charlie played a lovely drive for four to retire on an excellent 31 off 52 balls, but with 15 runs still required. Then Huzaifah came in and played a lovely flick off his pads for four, bringing the required rate under a run a ball.
It also provided some sort of inspiration for Gregory as, after accumulating some singles and benefiting from a wide, he pounced on some short legside bowling to hit two consecutive fours, winning the game with 7 balls to spare, finishing on 18 off 19 balls. It wasn’t quite Karachi 2001, but I was struggling to pick up the ball on a number of occasions, so it was an impressive run chase.
We were not at our best, which is to be expected given that some were playing for the first time and some hadn’t had a training session yet. So there is lots to improve on, but a morale-boosting win ahead of some tough games against Urmston and Whalley Range in the experimental U12s South Manchester league is always welcome.
Friday 24th April 2026: South Manchester U13s league (Zone 2)
Heaton Mersey U13s 90/9 (20) tied with Macclesfield U13s 90/6 (20) (Scorecard)
On a warm, sunny evening at the Mersey Village ground, the first match of the South Manchester season started. The away side lost the toss and Mersey decided to bat first on the artificial surface, albeit with long grass on the outfield (the lawnmower had broken done earlier that day). Adam and Jake started well, hitting crisp shots and finding gaps almost exclusively on the offside until the away side struck twice in succession removing both openers.
Wickets continued to tumble, leaving Mersey reeling at 28/5. After a short drinks’ break, Mersey dug in through sensible batting and the nerves seemed to disappear. Shazil and Younus batted nicely together and Naeem hit some lovely shots as the home side finished on 90 for 9. Top scorers wer Shazil 14 runs of 27 balls, Adam 13 off 12, Younus 13 off 13 and Naeem 10 off 7.
Macclesfield started their innings slowly and were respectful of Mersey’s bowling, which was rapid and accurate. Naeem struck first with a superb inswinging yorker to clean bowl one of the away side’s openers. The away side then started to accelerate around the mid-innings point and looked set for victory until two wickets fell quickly through Younus and Thomas (one a smart catch by Billy behind the stumps).
The match then ebbed and flowed as the sun started to set as both sides fought hard for victory. With two overs to go, 20 were required and the away side attacked aided by a six by their best player (who has played for a senior team). Thomas then produced a fantastic throw to get a run out with a direct hit to the stumps.
Three runs were required off three balls, then two off the last ball for the away side to win. The final ball was skied high behind keeper Billy the wicketkeeper; the catch was dropped but quick thinking by Jake got a run out and the match was tied as Macclesfield scored one run before the run out. Phew!!!
This was a highly competitive match with both sides trying their best; there were moments of great skill and a few errors which ramped up the tension at the end. Captain Sam and vice-captain Adam awarded the pink match ball to Naeem for a superb all-round display. Thanks to everyone supporting the team and thanks a lot to Anna for solo scoring in this dramatic encounter.
Areas for improvement – players to be vocal when running and try and turn singles into twos.
