Tuesday 23rd May – Heaton Mersey U13 89/9 (20) lost to North East Cheshire U13 102/6 (20) by 13 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
North East Cheshire batted first, relying mainly on their number 3 and 6 batsmen to both get over 20, with extras also doing so. Pick of the bowlers was Thomas Claridge getting 2-9, and there also wickets for Ronan Eddie, Angus Mcvey, Tomek Kinder and Farhad Ahmed. They ended up on 102/6 off their 20 overs.
Mersey’s innings started shakily, with an early run out, falling to 17-4, 36-6 and 66-8. Some late order runs (22) off Farhad Ahmed. Unfortunately, they ultimately fell short, reaching 89/9 off their 20 overs, losing by 13 runs.
Thursday 25th May – North East Cheshire U13 79/9 (17.1) lost to Heaton Mersey U12 80/2 (10.3) by 8 wickets – High Peak league (Scorecard)
Heaton Mersey travelled to play the unbeaten North East Cheshire U13 side on Thursday 25th May. NECC won the toss and elected to bat. They got off to a good start but Mersey soon struck back and 2 wickets each for Josh Jackson, Rajan Dillon and Oliver Hyde, as well as wickets for Matthew Dansey, Harry Webley and Lewis Pettiffer, helped bowl out NEC for 79 in just over 17 overs.
The result never looked in doubt as Ben France and Lewis Pettiffer got Mersey off to a great start. Charlie Kempton, George Sinclair and Oliver Hyde then saw the boys home with a comfortable 80-2 off 10.3 overs.
There were also impressive performances by Ethan Green (bowling and wicketkeeping) and Hamza Mallik (bowling and fielding). A great team performance.
Friday 26th May – Heaton Mersey U13 108/7 (20) lost to Ashton-on-Mersey U13 111/4 (13.3) by 6 wickets – South Manchester league (Scorecard)
Heaton Mersey lost the toss and were put into bat by Ashton-on-Mersey. Will (31 not out) and Jack (16) opened the batting and scored quickly off the opening overs. Runs from Ben (17) and Ellie (10) helped Mersey finish on 108/7 after 20 overs. Ashton-on-Mersey batted well and despite losing two early wickets reached the target in just under 14 overs.
Sunday 28th May – North East Cheshire U13 vs Heaton Mersey U13 conceded – Cheshire league (Scorecard)
Heaton Mersey conceded this match to North East Cheshire.
Monday 29th May – Heaton Mersey U13 108/7 (20) lost to Macclesfield U13 209/1 (20) by 101 runs – Cheshire Vitality T20 U13 Club Cup – Round 1 (Scorecard)
On a warm bank holiday evening, Heaton Mersey U13s faced a full-strength Macclesfield side in the Cheshire Vitality T20 U13 Club Cup. Mersey won the toss and elected to bowl first. Ellie and Jack opened the bowling and faced a barrage of attacking shots from the Macclesfield openers. This trend continued throughout Macclesfield’s innings and, although it was dispiriting at times for the Mersey players, they all stuck at it well.
Macclesfield lost one wicket in their innings, which was a smart catch by Farhad off Jacob’s bowling. Ben and Dan both bowled two really good overs each and were economical considering the attacking nature of the batting. Macclesfield posted 209 runs in their innings.
In response, Mersey batted really well and I was super proud of everyone’s approach to their individual performance. The Mersey batters weren’t phased by the close fielding and fast bowling of the Macclesfield team. Matthew opened and scored a quick 13 runs off 13 balls and was only out to a fortunate catch at midwicket. John scored 9 runs off 13 balls and he really took the game to Macclesfield with his attacking hitting.
Farhad came in and looked impressive with a couple of legside boundaries before being unfortunately run out. The innings accelerated when Ellie and Jack came to the crease with Ellie hitting 14 runs off 11 balls and Jack hitting 20 runs off 27 balls including a lovely six towards the tennis court boundary.
Ra’id batted really well, hitting a six towards the clubhouse which nearly wiped out the Mersey team watching on. Finally, Akash and Dylan came into bat with Akash hitting an excellent 16 runs off 15 balls and Dylan playing well to get 8 runs off 8 balls. Mersey closed the innings on 108 off 20 overs.
All in all, it was a super impressive performance with the bat from the Mersey team and I was really impressed with the team’s attitude. The result is just a record of the game, and is arguably the least important aspect of a junior cricket game. For me, the learning and experience gained by the team playing high quality opposition is more important, along with playing the game in the right way, the “Mersey” way. Onwards and upwards to the next game and long may the glorious weather continue.
Thursday 1st June – Romiley U13 75/9 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey U13 85 all out (15.5) by 10 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
Heaton Mersey batted first, with Akash Prabaharan a major contributor in the early stages of the innings, retiring with a well-made 25 off 26 balls. Ellie Pagan was the next highest scorer with 19 off 30 balls, with Mersey reaching 85 all out (since the retired batter can’t come back in).
It wasn’t a huge total but Romiley’s response showed that the pitch was tricky to bat on, emphasised by great bowling by Heaton Mersey. The star bowler was Jack Taylor, with 3-5 off 3 overs, but there were also wickets for Farhad Ahmed, Ben Aspinall, Jayden Cheetham, Raid Khan and Dylan Parry, but there was tight bowling throughout. Romiley struggled to 75/9 off 20 overs, losing by 10 runs. Great defending of a low-ish total by Heaton Mersey.
Friday 2nd June – Mellor U13 118/5 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey U12 119/4 (19.5) by 6 wickets – High Peak league (Scorecard)
On Friday 2nd June, the team travelled to previously unbeaten Mellor. It was a gorgeous, hot evening with ideal batting conditions.
Mellor won the toss and elected to bat and despite some excellent bowling, with 2 wickets for Josh Jackson (2 overs, 2 wickets for 4 runs) and wickets for Matt Dansey and Zac Finnegan plus an excellent run out by George Sinclair, they made 118 for 5. There was also an excellent bowling spell from Adan Ali (2 overs for 6 runs) and great catches by Jimmy Healey and Matt Dansey, along with some great fielding by Hamza Malik.
Mersey then attempted to chase down the runs and excellent batting from Tom Sinclair (23), Ben France (25) and Adan Ali (25) put them in a great position. It all went down to the final ball of the match, and Luke Conner and Aidan Fuller held their nerve to see the team home (with a score of 119-4).
Friday 2nd June – Heaton Mersey U13 vs Hale Barns U13 – opposition conceded – South Manchester league (Scorecard)
Hale Barns conceded this match.
Sunday 4th June – Heaton Mersey U12 vs Stockport Trinity U12 – opposition conceded – U12 John North Cup – Round 2 (Scorecard)
After receiving a bye in the first round, Heaton Mersey benefited from a Stockport Trinity confession in the second round to advance to the quarter-finals without playing a game.
Sunday 4th June – Sale U13 98/8 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey U13 99/6 (14.3) by 4 wickets – Cheshire league (Scorecard)
Sale batted first, scoring 98/8 off their full allocation. Isaac Browne struck early with two wickets, as well as securing a run-out. Sale then put on 46 for the 4th wicket, before Matthew Noble struck twice, ending up with great figures of 2-5 off two overs. Ellie Pagan then picked up the wicket of the second top scorer before Adan Ali picked up Mersey’s third brace of the innings.
Heaton Mersey’s response did not start well, as they fell to 6/3, but George Sinclair (22 off 23 balls) and Zac Finnegan (28 off 21 balls) steadied the ship, putting on 55 for the 4th wicket. A clatter of wickets put the result in doubt once more, as Mersey fell to 76/6, but John Buckley-Lowe and Charlie Kempson put on an unbeaten partnership of 23 for the 7th wicket, securing a comfortable win in the end with over five overs to spare.
Pic: U13s celebrate a win
