It’s the business end of the season (before the summer cups start) and it’s big match after big match, with one semi-final and two finals. High drama. (Well, in one final anyway.)
Tuesday 14th July 2026: High Peak U13s league T20 (Semi-final)
Heaton Mersey Phoenix 148/4 (20) beat Heaton Mersey Magic 112 all out (18.2) by 36 runs (Scorecard)
It was a fixture steeped in history, due to the success of the two age groups. The first all-Heaton Mersey fixture was in the High Peak summer cup final of 2022, between the Under 9 and Under 9B teams, the result for which remains undocumented online.
Then, in 2024, Magic and Phoenix (a relatively even mixture of U10s and U11s) met in the High Peak main competition semi-finals. The top U11 players were rested for this fixture on both sides, and Magic shaded it, going on to beat Lindow in the final.
In 2025, a group fixture in the High Peak league between the two ended in a comfortable victory for Phoenix, who went on to win the competition, beating Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge in the final and remaining unbeaten throughout.
And so we come to 2026, in a situation mirroring the 2024 match-up. Again, the Phoenix and Magic splits were broadly even, but both sides were missing a number of key players and (more-or-less) fielded the only players available. Phoenix looked to have the edge on paper but it would be an interesting match-up.
After a long spell of sunshine with little rain, the pitch and outfield were baked brown, with the former playing reasonably true and the latter acting like glass. Phoenix won the toss and elected to bat. The on-field chat was targeted but playful, as generally the better U13 players lined up against each other at the top of the order, each player eager to secure bragging rights.
Isaac bowled an accurate spell (including one which pinned Billy in front, which I gave a warning for but did not give LBW, in line with typical High Peak practice), at least until Evan carved him for two fours to the point boundary in his second over, but George struck in his first (the second overall) as Shawaiz top edged a full toss high in the air, giving George time to sprint and dive, taking a fine catch off his own bowling not far from where the batter was still standing.
Evan continued to step away and play through the offside to good effect, while Billy favoured bludgeoning to the legside. Anything well-hit generally disappeared for four due to the rapid outfield, as Younus, a vocal captain, attentively managed the field to have his quicker fielders in the most active positions.
Scoring was very solid but not spectacular, as Phoenix reached 37/1 after 5 overs. Younus then bowled a heavy ball, which bounced on Evan and he could only fend it to Isaac at short cover. Stan’s first ball was hit for four as he settled into his innings well, although one shot was tipped over the bar by Isaac as he just couldn’t hold on. Arjo bowled a tight spell while Finn was a bit more inconsistent despite finding sharp turn.
Billy soon retired, hitting his last ball for four to retire on 28 off 25 balls, then Will joined the party, exchanging fours with Stan, including a defensive shot from Will which raced away for four on the rapid outfield. A few expensive overs later and suddenly Phoenix were on a very competitive 95/2 after 12 overs.
Paddy came into the attack as I denied Younus’ regular pleas to bowl some of his stronger bowlers for a third over. Tom R chipped his first ball wide of Charlie, who couldn’t quite hold on. His second ball was attempted to be dispatched over square leg by Will, but he didn’t get all of it and Lloyd took a great catch over his head. Puneeth got into the act straight away, though, hitting two of his first three balls for four.
Harry kept it tight then Tom B found a yorker length to dismiss Tom R, but Ollie M and Puneeth kept the scoreboard ticking over to finish 20 not out off 18 and 18 not out off 19 respectively. The final total was 148/4 off the 20 overs, with a respectable 20 extras (with Charlie and Finn conceding only four byes between them). It looked a tough ask but it was a fast scoring pitch.
Magic needed to start well, but Stan found an excellent full length in the second over to bowl Isaac. Charlie, though, showed his intention by unfurling his midwicket smash, swiping Puneeth and then Will twice for four, before Liam C bowled him with a full length ball, his first delivery of the over. Arjo and Younus then consolidated well, pushing Magic up to 73/2 towards the end of the 11th over.
But Arjo retired with a classy 26 off 25 balls then Puneeth bowled Younus (for a well-made 18) as he tried to up the scoring rate (with Sam H, not playing in this match, asking him why he hadn’t hit a six). Things went worse as Tom B was sent back by George (the single didn’t really look on) but was short of his ground as Puneeth fielded well. George counter-attacked by slog sweeping Billy’s looping spinners for two fours, doing the same to one of Huzaifah’s deliveries in the next over.
But Huzaifah outfoxed the middle order, as Finn chipped him to Puneeth before he bowled Harry first ball. When Liam C bowled Liam H in the next over, it felt like the match might end soon. But George and Lloyd had other ideas, with George managing the partnership well, coaching Lloyd on batting position. They dug in and took the score from 88/7 to 112/7.
With Ollie M bowling spin in the penultimate over, George’s eyes lit up and he hit an enormous shot to midwicket, which was heading for a six before Puneeth reached up and plucked it out of the air. When Paddy was bowled first ball, that was the match. George had scored an excellent 19 off 16 balls while Lloyd finished unbeaten on 13. Liam C, Huzaifah and Ollie M all took two wickets for Phoenix.
The margin of victory was 36 runs, which was very respectable, and Phoenix marched onto the final to play Romiley (who beat Cheadle a couple of days later).
The match spirit between the two teams was great and there was lots of gentle banter where players who were normally teammates were going up against each other. It was a pleasure to umpire the whole 40 overs, and thanks to Gavin for watching the entire match from square leg. PA
Friday 17th July 2026: Cheshire Vitality T20 U13 Club Cup (Final)
Heaton Mersey 110 all out (19.4) lost to Oxton 143/6 (20) by 33 runs (Scorecard)
In a superb final at Green Lane, Mersey lost to a strong Oxton U13 side (containing 5 first choice Cheshire U13 players) by 33 runs.
On a hot and sunny evening in Heaton Moor, Oxton won the toss and decided to bat first on a new pitch which looked like it would be a true test of skills, with the ball expected to zip through with plenty of pace and carry. As the normal Friday evening chaos swirled around the game, Oxton batted at an unbelievable scoring rate as their openers made mincemeat of the home side’s bowling attack.
The away side hit multiple boundaries as they reached an imposing 77/0 after only 5 overs, with both of their opening (Cheshire) batters punishing any balls off line or length (one opener retired with 35 off just 15 balls – as of editing in mid-August, he has scored nearly 1,600 runs – staggering but a sign of what we were up against). But Mersey hit back as they showed plenty of fight. Adam bowled with magnificent pace and accuracy in one of the best displays of bowling that I have seen all season, restricting the scoring after the opening salvo.
Shawaiz struck first with a neat catch by Felix in the 9th over. Harrison bowled a splendid over before taking over the wicketkeeping duties from Sam. Felix took a well-deserved wicket in the 13th over before Arjo struck next with a beautifully flighted delivery, with Adam taking his customary catch at cover.
Adam took a well-deserved two wickets in the 18th over to peg back the visitors. Shazil then took the last wicket with an excellent, disguised slower ball. But Oxton finished strongly to reach an imposing 143/6 off their 20 overs.
The independent umpires generally took their time throughout the match, discussing things regularly and switching ends every over. Felix’s wicket was to a full toss which took some to decide it wasn’t a no-ball to our relief, but a possible run-out and caught behind were missed by the umpires, which cost Mersey (but were unlikely to have changed the result). The procrastination did mean that Mersey’s innings was pushed deeper into the evening.
Mersey started their batting innings steadily as the visitors’ pace attack restricted scoring opportunities. Wickets started to fall, however, as the home side tried to up the scoring rate, with Shazil and Harrison perishing in quick succession.
Adam and Shawaiz then hit some meaty boundaries before getting out to excellent bowling. Stan was run out attempting a tight single as Mersey looked to be running out of batters before the end of their 20 overs. Sam hit a glorious straight 6 off the Cheshire U13 spinner before falling to a catch behind the stumps; Zayaan perished in a similar fashion as they away side extracted extra bounce from the surface.
Younus joined Felix at the crease as Mersey had their best period of batting. Felix hitting a lovely drive before perishing to yet another caught behind. Younus then hit a powerful 6 as he and Arjo attempted push for runs in the last four overs in fading light (some top banter from Tim L from the boundary to remind the umpires of the fading light was to no avail though).
Younus was next out for 18 (off only 12 balls). Arjo and Naeem tried to up the tempo, but Arjo was last out, run out, for 15 (off 13 balls) as Mersey finished on a commendable 110 all out off just short of 20 overs.
A fighting performance from Mersey was not enough against a strong Oxton team who lived up to their billing as pre-match favourites.
The pink match ball was awarded by captain Stan / vice-captain Sam to Adam for his superb spell of fast bowling. Oxton were worthy winners and gracious opponents who played the game in the right spirit. The Oxton team manager was very complimentary about how Mersey played in this match, which is a credit to our team.
Areas for improvement – better field settings when the opposition batters are on top to restrict scoring opportunities.
Sunday 19th July 2026: High Peak U13s league T20 (Final)
Heaton Mersey Phoenix 79/6 (20 tied with Romiley Typhoon 79 all out (18.1) (Scorecard)
Another year, another High Peak final, and our Phoenix team were up against a strong Romiley side, who had laid waste to all in their path in the other division (except Magic: their match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch and the opposition had no appetite to reschedule it seemed), with a positive net run rate of 3.75.
The U13s final was being held at Bredbury’s ground, which we knew from a group stage match a week or two before was home to a pitch that was more akin to crazy paving than a traditional strip. Bredbury’s overseas player was the neutral main umpire for both innings, while the fielding umpire provided the square leg umpire. I normally enjoy away matches for the reason that we don’t need to help with the set-up, but I was soon mucking in by bringing the boundary rope in, as there were two matches being played (the U15s match was happening on the other pitch).
We had a strong team out, but were missing Adam H and Jake from the top of our batting order and as “hit the deck” bowlers. Romiley had three Cheshire district players in their numbers and, mildly against the High Peak way, there was agreement that captains were free to let bowlers bowl three overs if desired (our likely better depth was such that two overs each might have favoured us, but the Romiley coach preferred to leave it up to the captains).
Romiley won the toss and elected to bowl, rightfully seeing how we could handle the cracked pitch first. Our start was watchful and steady, reaching 8/0 off 3 overs, with Shazil finding the boundary, but otherwise eking out singles here and there. Shawaiz clipped a full ball for four but the next ball kissed the top of off stump, with the score then 12/1. In came Stan, who struggled to time the ball due to the uneven bounce and the propensity of the bowlers to bowl quite wide (without wides being given by the neutral umpire). Shazil, meanwhile, kept the scoreboard ticking over by finding the boundary every so often.
Stan was bowled in the 9th over with the score on 36, before a controversial moment in the 9th over. A high full toss outside off stump was hit well by Sam but straight to cover, who took it smartly, only for the square leg umpire (albeit stood at point for the left hander) to give it as a no-ball, the signal for which being slowly replicated by the main umpire. Sam, however, had already started to march off the pitch in disappointment, having initially started to complete the run.
Realising what was happening, he sprinted to the non-striker’s end, but not before the catching fielder threw down the stumps with a direct hit (a good shot from a distance). There was no evident shout of no-ball for Sam to react to so the consensus was that it was harsh not to award a dead ball, but the neutral umpire gave it out and that was that.
After not scoring off the rest of the over, Naeem attempted to inject some positivity by hitting a four in the next over, as well as surviving a dropped catch from a big top edge, with others dropping into gaps. Shazil hit yet another four to retire on a very classy 25 off 42 balls, bringing Billy to the crease, but Naeem was almost immediately bowled to leave us 57/4.
Puneeth started positively but second ball was the victim of a horrible grubber, which clung to the floor and crashed into the stumps. Billy was pleasingly unorthodox, moving around the crease, and he connected well with a short ball to clear the midwicket boundary (and nearly clearing the protective fence). Unfortunately, he fell two overs later attempting the same shot but was well caught on the run by deep midwicket (he had got he height but not the distance this time).
The innings was threatening to grind to a halt but, in the last over, Will hit a beautifully-timed cover drive while Ollie hit the last ball of the innings over midwicket for four, scraping us to 79/6 off the 20 overs, setting a target of 80. It wasn’t much of a target, but it was a target, especially on the minefield of a pitch.
We needed to bowl and field well, as we emphasized the need to bowl wicket to wicket and let the pitch do the work. Unfortunately, an early misfield gifted them a four, and there were other misfields throughout the game that we could do without in a low-scoring game.
Naeem, however, utilised the unpredictable bounce by digging one in and getting a steepling top edge from the tall opener, coolly caught by Shazil. That was 11/1. However, Romiley built well and did not seem particularly threatened, although any low bouncing deliveries would miss the stumps rather than hit them, as we so desperately needed, and made keeping treacherous.
In the 6th over, Will induced a mishit from their opener, but Shawaiz could not hold on to a relatively easy chance, then added injury to insult by attempting a run-out but succeeding only in throwing the ball at Will’s shin, who hopped around in pain. In the next over, Shawaiz got hit for two consecutive fours, but had his revenge by bowling the batter next ball. Some tight overs restricted the runs but they reached the 10-over stage at a comfortable 54/2, needing just 26 runs to win.
We suggested to captain Shawaiz that Stan should bowl first up on the change around given he was yet to bowl, although that backfired a bit when he was hit for two fours. Gregory was brought back for his second over and hit for four (another misfield – it should have been a single), but with the score on 69/2 and just 10 runs needed, the Cheshire district batter got a bit carried away, aimed a mow and missed, only to see his stumps dismantled. That was 69/3.
Stan then bowled an excellent maiden against their other Cheshire district batter (the opener), which set up Gregory’s full ball in the next over, against which he tried to play a bit more expansively but succeeded only in losing his leg stump. Another full straight delivery crashed into the stumps next ball and, whilst unfortunately there was no hat-trick, Gregory finished with figures of 3/9 off his 3 overs (the first time he had bowled 3 overs for quite some time and his best figures of the season), and there was a glimmer of hope.
The score was 70/5 and the fielding side’s decibels were increasing by the over. Stan came back and bowled a lovely wicket maiden, with one ball keeping very low to castle the scorer’s son. That made it 70/6.
With Gregory and Stan both effectively bowled out, Will came back into the attack and the batter clipped him airily through midwicket but crucially in the gap to find the boundary, reducing the runs required from 10 to 6, but he got his revenge by bowling the batter next ball. 74/7.
A leg bye got them to 75 but Sam H found an excellent length to bamboozle the batter with the first ball of his over. 75/8. The clatter of wickets was inducing panic in the opposition ranks, as shouts of “are you padded up?” went round. Sam got worked for a single, but then struck with the last ball of his over. 76/9. Four runs to win.
Realising that bowling full pace was high risk, Shazil came back into the attack, bowling from about five paces. The batsmen, however, managed to find singles off the first three balls of the over to level the scores at 79. The scorer sighed in relief, audibly noting that they could not lose. But they had not yet won.
Shazil kept it tight for the rest of the over, before captain Shawaiz brought himself back on. His first ball was chipped gently to Sam H at short cover, who caught it easily to secure the tie.
Mersey celebrated as Romiley were crestfallen at having let it slip through their grasp. They had lost 8 wickets for 10 runs. It was an excellent comeback from Mersey, and one that we are used to. (“Remember Stockport Trinity” had been the refrain from Jenny.)
Both teams were keen on a super over to decide the winner, but the coaches, mentally shattered and calmly pointing out that the rules did not allow for one, agreed to share the trophy so that both teams were winners. That means we have won the High Peak trophy an incredible 6 times in 5 years across this double age group. Gregory was awarded the match ball by Shawaiz for his three wickets that had triggered Romiley’s collapse. Time for a lie down! PA
Trophy time!
Authors denoted by the initials; all match reports (sub-)edited by PA.
