After 8 games the previous week, it was back to a more mundane week, featuring three wins and a washout.
Monday 29th June 2026: Cheshire Vitality T20 U13 Club Cup (Quarter final)
Heaton Mersey U13s 146/4 (20) beat Alderley Edge Wizards 36 all out (8.5) by 110 runs (Scorecard)
A fantastic win for the U13s last evening against a good Alderley Edge team who were quite simply blown away by Mersey’s skill, power and intensity. The away side won the toss and elected to bowl on a new pitch at Green Lane. Mersey started briskly with openers, Shawaiz and Shazil, batting with authority to put on an opening partnership of 35 runs before Shazil was bowled by the leg spinner.
Shawaiz was joined at the crease by Harrison and the pair batted confidently – they defended straight balls and punished anything wide. Shawaiz batted with composure and retired on 30 not out (off 28 balls) including 3 fours. Felix strode to the crease and immediately batted aggressively, hitting 3 fours in 5 deliveries to punish the away side’s bowlers.
In the 13th over, Felix hit a magnificent six to deep cover before holing out the next ball trying to repeat the shot. Sam’s visit was short-lived as he fell to an excellent arm ball from the right arm spinner after Harrison and Sam ran several twos to up the scoring rate. Stan was next batter in and defended solidly until Harrison retired on a classy 31 not out (off 30 balls), which included four 4’s.
Stan then upped the tempo with some excellent power hitting before being bowled by the 6ft Year 7 bowler. Isaac and Naeem finished the innings with a flourish, hitting three cracking fours, Mersey finishing on 146/4 off their 20 overs.
The pitch looked a good one to bat one but sometimes looks can be deceptive….(where’s the heavy roller?). After a refreshing 10 minutes break, the away side batted. Shazil thundered in and clean bowled the opening batter with a classic full delivery. Naeem then glided effortlessly in and struck with his first ball, another perfect and rapid full delivery to smash the wicket, with every ball challenging the batters and Alderley Edge reeling at 3/2.
Naeem splattered the wickets again with his fifth ball of the over as the pace cranked up even more. 5/3. The atmosphere on the field was electric as Mersey sensed blood and went for the kill. Shazil then got another wicket as Stan pocketed a neat catch at backward point. 9/4. Naeem then claimed his 3rd wicket with his quickest delivery of his spell. The bowling was ferocious and was overwhelming the visitors. 17/5.
Isaac was next up to bowl (after chatting to me constantly when I stood at square leg, ha ha) and struck with his final two balls of his first over, with Felix taking a catch at mid-off then another bowled victim. 21/7. Joe then continued the trend of picking up a wicket with the first ball of an over as the home side ruthlessly skewered the batters.
Stan got in on the act as Sam pouched his 2nd catch fielding at cover and Isacc polished off the innings with a 3rd wicket in the 9th over. Game over. It was a fabulous win for Mersey with a complete team effort and one of the best (if not THE best) performance that I have seen. The pink match ball was awarded by captain Stan / vice-captain Sam to Isaac.
Areas for improvement – just enjoy the win.
Thursday 2nd July 2026: High Peak U13s league T20 (Division Bollin)
Heaton Mersey Phoenix 154/4 (20) beat Cheadle Hulme U12s 60 all out (15) by 94 runs (Scorecard)
It was a straightforward win against inexperienced opposition who were also a player short, so perhaps not the most equitable matchup. The visitors won the toss and elected to bowl. Our openers didn’t take long to get going, with Jake batting like he had a train to catch and retiring on 25 off 13 balls in the 4th over. Shazil adopted his usual steadier but effective pace, rotating strike with Will and taking boundaries when on offer, retiring on 25 off 24 balls.
There was a minor wobble the next over when Will and Greg were both out to the visitor’s most effective bowler, who may or may not have bowled an outside of regulation 4 overs in the match. However, at this point a no-ball was missed by the part-time scorer, causing Play Cricket to have a breakdown not lining up ball-by-ball and the scorecard. Anyway, my helpful assistants assured me that the score was correct and “Paul will sort it out later”.
Back to the cricket, Adam S arrived at the crease with his sturdy defence, displaying all the qualities of Geoffrey Boycott opening a Test match. Meanwhile, at the other end, Billy (playing his second match straight that afternoon) overcame his frustration with some of the slower bowling and began to smash the ball to the ropes, eventually being bowled just one short of retirement on 24. This brought in Shawaiz, whose train must have been earlier than Jake’s as he sped to retirement off 10 balls via six 4s and a single. Ollie and Puneeth both enjoyed a cameo in the last couple of overs bringing our total to a healthy 154.
Play Cricket back on course, we took to the field. Their openers looked steady for the first 3 overs reaching 25 without loss, but in Will’s second over their defences were broken: a double wicket maiden (both clean bowled with some significant movement, according to the batter) sandwiching a smart run-out. Thereafter followed 3 further maidens (Jake, Puneeth and Shazil respectively) and another double wicket maiden, this time from Puneeth’s second over.
The visitors had lost 5 wickets for no runs in 5 overs. Their best batter then valiantly attempted to put up a fight, but the squeeze continued with few runs permitted and further wickets to Shazil, Shawaiz and Adam S apiece. When he retired in the 16th over, the victory was completed.
The match ball was awarded by captain Shazil and vice-captain Gregory to Tom Rubie for his outstanding keeping, conceding just 1 bye in the whole innings, despite the extreme pace of some of our bowlers.
Friday 3rd July 2026: South Manchester U13s league T20 (Division 1)
Heaton Mersey U13s 125/7 (20) beat Macclesfield 84 all out (17.5) (Scorecard)
It was a glorious warm evening at the ‘Village’ for what turned out to be a comfortable win for Mersey. After being put into bat, a strong Macclesfield opening bowling attack restricted runs in the initial ‘power play’. We made a steady start, laying the foundations for the innings. Shazil produced another very balanced and well-paced innings, building patiently before gathering momentum as the innings progressed (retired not out 30 off 29 balls).
Naeem (17) played some lovely shots, while valuable contributions from Stan (22) and Felix (22) helped keep the scoreboard moving. Arjo’s excellent running between the wickets at the death also added valuable late runs to the total.
Our bowling and fielding performance was probably our best of the season. We were energetic, vocal and encouraging throughout, with diving stops in the outfield and excellent boundary saving keeping the pressure on Macclesfield.
There were wickets for Naeem, Shawaiz, Albert, Isaac, Arjo and Reuben on debut. We also claimed four run-outs — either through sharp fielding and awareness, or perhaps Macclesfield were keen to get home in time for the football!
Harrison was excellent behind the stumps on a lively, bouncy pitch, especially with many of the bowlers steaming in. His sharp glovework and awareness played a key role in several of the run-outs.
Positives: Team spirit was outstanding, vocal in field, and welcoming of Reuben who was making his debut (lovely to see he always had a smile on his face!). Our fielding in the deep was excellent, with players throwing themselves around to save boundaries. With the bat, we built the innings well after a steady start and accelerated strongly later on.
Room for improvement: Running between the wickets remains a key area. Running the first run hard and then assessing whether a second is available could easily add another five+ runs to an innings, which may make the difference in tight games.
With the ball, we also need to keep our lengths fuller. Most of the runs conceded came from short balls that sat up on the artificial pitch and allowed the batters to swing.
Pink ball award: the match ball went to Arjo for his bowling contribution and excellent running at the death, adding valuable runs to the score.
Special mention: Felix deserves a special mention for a great team talk. He was encouraging, eloquent and showed a really good cricketing brain in understanding what was needed. Nothing for the ‘guest appearance coach’ to say or do! Finally, a big thank you to Will for scoring.
