Tuesday 27th June: Heaton Mersey U12 109/8 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey U13 153/3 (20) by 44 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
This was far more than an intersquad. Rather confusingly Heaton Mersey U13 High Peak team played the Heaton Mersey U13B team in a High peak league match. What that actually meant was that the U13B team was a team of actual 13-year-olds and the U13 High Peak team was made up of U12s. Clear as mud.
The older team won the toss and elected to bat. Angus Reid and Isaac Browne faced some hostile early bowling, in particular from Charlie Kempson who was getting wicked bounce out of the firm pitch. Once in, both openers batted beautifully, retiring with the team over 60 for none. The younger guys got just reward for good bowling and Ethan Green took a couple of excellent wickets.
Enter Farhad Ahmed, who belligerently hit 28 off 12 balls, including 3 enormous 6s. It was wonderful to watch and very much a ‘I was there moment’. Matt Noble, who’d come in at 3 kept the other end ticking over and he also retired, 25 not out. The scoreboard passed 100 in no time. Ollie Walton and Ellie Pagan both scored freely with some excellent shots, meaning the older team passed 150. Special mention goes to Aaron Armstrong, who got his wicket with some fine spin bowing.
The chase was always going to be tough, but in Ben France the U12s have a fine opener who calmly guided his way to retiring 25 not out. Aaron Armstrong and Lewis Pettifer both contributed well, making 20 runs each and giving the U12s a sniff. Two wickets for Angus and fine bowling from Ellie and Issac finished any hopes of a shock, giving the U13s a 44-run win. It was a great match to watch and it is clear the younger team has some great talent for the future.
Thursday 29th June: Romiley U13 109 all out (20) beat Heaton Mersey U12 95 all out (19.5) by 14 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
Romiley won the toss and elected to bat, and made a good start, putting on 37 for the first wicket, with one of their openers retiring on 25 off 21 balls, then getting up to 92/2, but then Heaton Mersey came roaring back with Matthew Dansey and Luke Connor taking a wicket each, Lewis Pettifer running out the new batsman, then Oliver Hyde taking a wicket to reduce Romiley to 93/6, losing four wickets for just one run. They then put on a partnership of 16 before Mersey struck back again to reduce them from 109/6 to 109/9 (and effectively all out because of the retired-out batsman), with George Sinclair picking up a brace (both bowled) and Oliver Hyde securing a run-out. The fielding side really pulled it back with some accurate bowling and gave themselves something to chase.
Heaton Mersey started promisingly, with Oliver Hyde (20) and Zac Finnegan (21) putting on 27 for the second wicket, then Lewis Pettifer (16) and Charlie Kempson (13) putting on 37 for the fourth wicket, taking the visiting side to 85-3. However, mirroring Romiley’s stark batting decline, Mersey then lost the last 7 wickets for just 10 runs, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. A dramatic match.
Friday 30th June: Ashley U13 103/4 (16.2) beat Heaton Mersey U13 102 all out (18) by 6 wickets – South Manchester league (Scorecard)
HMCC U13s travelled to Ashley Cricket Club on a dreich evening for cricket. Batting first, HMCC contrived to offer away their wickets but J Taylor held concentration nicely to make 6 boundaries in his 31 retired not out. He was accompanied by H Stackhouse-Pepper (13), before B Aspinall (15) and A Prabaharan (18 not out) used their last wicket partnership of 25 runs to reach an almost respectable 102.
The constant drizzle made conditions trickier for bowling and slippery in the field. Tight bowling from J Haynes and T Claridge alongside wickets from F Ahmad, H Stackhouse-Pepper and B Aspinall could not halt Ashley making steady progress to reach our total in 16.2 overs. Good catches from R Khan and F Ahmad, fielding support from D Booth and absolute commitment as ever from L Capewell behind the stumps in very difficult conditions for keeping. The wicket resembled a rugby pitch by the end but Ashley were the deserving winners and HMCC will go again next week.
Sunday 2nd July: Heaton Mersey U13 202/4 (20) beat Romiley 103/8 (20) by 99 runs – Cheshire league (Scorecard)
Intermittent showers and a chilly breeze welcomed Romiley U13s to Green Lane for a Cheshire County Cricket League U13 Plate match. Mersey were put into bat and responded with an onslaught of runs from W Wall (30 runs off18 balls), I Browne (30 runs off 26 balls) and A Prabaharan (32 runs off 25 balls), each retired not out. Some good catches in the field pegged Mersey back, until J Haynes (31 runs off 11 balls retired not out), A Reid (25 runs off 14 balls not out) and R Eddie (13 runs off 11 balls not out) pummelled the score up to 202 for 4 wickets off 20 overs.
Romiley openers started very well to reach 50 for the loss of no wickets, despite some accurate fast bowling from J Cheetham and A Ali. R Eddie made the breakthrough and finished with great figures of 3 wickets for 6 runs off 2 overs. M Noble (1 wicket for 10 runs off 2 overs), J Taylor (1 wicket for 5 runs off 2 overs), I Browne (2 wickets for 4 runs off 2 overs) and W Wall (1 wicket for 3 runs off 2 overs) reduced the middle order with good catches from L Pettifer, R Eddie, J Haynes and M Noble (x2).
Romiley reached 103 runs for 8 wickets off 20 overs for another good win built on solid batting, tight fielding and accurate bowling. Thank you to Ian Browne and his scorer’s marquee which also provided shelter to some players and parents from the squally showers.
Sunday 2nd July: Marple U13 101/4 (20) beat Heaton Mersey U12 92/4 (20) by 9 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
On a Sunday visit to Marple, Heaton Mersey won the toss and chose to put the opposition in. Wickets for Harry Webley, Matthew Dansey and Zac Finnegan reduced Marple to 33-3, but that brought in Marple’s strong middle order, with their number four batsman scoring 26 off 20 balls and retiring out. George Sinclair stopped the other main contributor from reaching 25, but only just, but they had already made 99 and eventually got to 101/4 off the full 20 overs. It was, however, a chaseable target.
Heaton Mersey made a good start, keeping their wickets intact, albeit perhaps not scoring quickly enough due to some tight bowling. Charlie Kempson retired out on an impressive 27, with Harry Webley, George Sinclair and Luke Connor all getting into double figures (the latter finishing not out). Unfortunately, Mersey fell just 9 runs short of Marple’s total. A case of so near but so far.
Pic: Ian Brown and his scorer's marquee during the U13 match vs Romiley
