Monday 19th June – Heaton Mersey U13 123 all out (17.0) beat Didsbury U13 95/5 (20) by 28 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
Didsbury won the toss and put in Heaton Mersey, who started a little shakily, falling to 14/2. However, William Wall came in at four and provided the innings with some impetus, scoring 30 off 14 balls, including four fours and a six. However, the good work was threatened to be undone by a mid-innings collapse, from 51/2 to 68/6. Akash Prabharan and Ellie Pagan then came together, both scoring freely and retiring out on 28 and 25 respectively, as 46 was put on for the 7th wicket. They eventually reached 123 before running out of batters (either out or retired out).
Didsbury’s batters, meanwhile, went for steady accumulation but allowed the required run rate to build. So, despite two of their opening four batsmen retiring out on 25, the middle order was left with far too much to do in the face of tight Mersey bowling, and they lost wickets in the chase. In the end, they only made it to 95, despite having more batters to come. A special mention goes to Ben Aspinall, for figures of 2-3 off his two overs, with wickets also for Corbin Wilkinson, Isaac Browne and Ellie Pagan. A strong win.
Tuesday 20th June – Heaton Mersey U12 69 all out (14.5) lost to Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge U13 71/4 (9.4) by 6 wickets – High Peak league (Scorecard)
Another glorious evening at Heaton Mersey Village and the boys faced a stern test against Ladybridge. Heaton Mersey batted first and lost some early wickets. George Sinclair (15) came in and steadied the innings, helped by good batting by Matt Dansey (15) and Luke Connor (10), to steer Mersey to 69 all out.
Mersey then bowled really well to take 4 quick wickets, with valuable contributions from Harry Webley (2 for 12), Jimmy Healey (1 for 2) and George Sinclar (1 for 4). There were also valuable contributions in the field with 2 great catches from Ethan Green.
Unfortunately, the score was never enough and Ladybridge comfortably got home.
Thursday 22nd June – Heaton Mersey U12 78/9 (20) lost to Timperley U12 81/2 (8.2) by 8 wickets – U12 John North Cup quarter-final (Scorecard)
The Heaton Mersey U12s found themselves in the quarter-finals of the John North Cup having received a bye in the first round and benefited from Stockport Trinity conceding in the second round. However, they were up against tough opposition in the form of Timperley. The home side won the toss and chose to bat first, but soon found themselves in trouble at 6-2 (as one of their opening bowlers took three wickets in three overs in all). Harry Webley and Adan Sli stabilised things, putting on 31 for the third wicket, but then a mini-collapse left them on 40-5. Lewis Pettifer and Aayan Muneer both scored 12 in the face of some strong bowling, but they could only get to 78 off the full 20 overs.
Charlie Kempton and Zac Finnegan made some inroads into the Timperley batting order, with a wicket each, but their opener scored 26 at greater than a run-a-ball and their number four smashed 20 off just 12 balls, with byes also doing well on 17, as Timperley met the target inside 9 overs. Still, it freed up some of the evening at least! A chastening match but a good experience nevertheless.
Friday 23rd June – Heaton Mersey U13 88 all out (17.0) lost to Cheadle 121/6 (20) by 33 runs – South Manchester league (Scorecard)
Cheadle won the toss and chose to bat first. Heaton Mersey never let their opposition get away, with the 6 wickets shared around the bowlers, but one of the Cheadle’s openers hit 30 which helped them to a challenging total of 121, boosted by 36 extras, including 21 wides.
Heaton Mersey made a bad start, falling to 6-2, crucially losing William Wall for 0, run out without facing. The Cheadle bowlers bowled well, giving the Mersey batters very little, and took wickets regularly. Akash Prabaharan (16) and Isaac Browne (17) gave the score some much-needed respectability, before the last three wickets were lost for no runs, and Mersey were all out for 88.
Sunday 25th June – Heaton Mersey U13 127 all out (19.1) lost to Timperley 137 all out (19.3) by 10 runs – Cheshire league (Scorecard)
Heaton Mersey won the toss and put Timperley in, starting well with the ball as Timperley fell to 5/1. However, their number three and five batted well, both retiring out at 35 and scoring at faster than a run a ball. Having moved from 40/3 to 92/3, Mersey then took regular wickets to pull things back, but Timperley still managed to post 137. Zac Finnegan took two wickets, and there were wickets for Adan Ali, Corbin Wilkinson, Matthew Noble, Luke Connor, George Sinclair and Lewis Pettifer.
Mersey lost an early wicket in response, but Matthew Noble (14) and George Sinclair (15) got the response on track, before falling to 62/5. However, a blazing 30 off just 15 balls from Adan Ali gave the home side hope, helped by 14 from Zac Finnegan, but losing further wickets proved crucial, and they fell just 10 runs short with 5 balls of the innings left. An exciting game.
