Monday 26th June: Romiley U9 303 (115/4 off 16) beat Heaton Mersey U8 216 (49/11 off 16) by 87 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
Our second match against Romiley and, although we lost again, the team’s improvement in all areas was evident and commented on by their coach. There was some strong bowling (Seb and Oscar stood out), and lots of enthusiasm and encouragement to each other in the field.
When batting, there was some really good calling but the lads and girl need to remember to physically follow this up! Shout-outs go to Alfie for his first wicket, Finn for his superb throwing, and Jimmy and Oscar’s partnership – great calling and running. Jimmy had an all-round outstanding game with a superb catch and a wicket too.
Thanks as ever to Steve for organising and umpiring with what turned out to be chilly evening, Rob L for scoring, and Rob and Andy L for warming the team up providing the snacks.
Monday 26th June: Heaton Mersey U10 271 (116/9 off 20) beat Timperley Thunder U11 263 (103/8 off 20) by 8 runs – Cheshire league: quarter-final play-off (Scorecard)
In a nerve-shredding quarter-final game of the Cheshire U11 league, Mersey prevailed at the Harwood Road ground to reach the semi-final. The visitors won the toss and decided to put the home team, captained by Stan, in to bat in cool and windy conditions. Mersey started slowly with Tom S and Isaac coping well with a fast-paced attack. Sam and Eli then batted together and put on 32 runs to lift the scoring rate. The visitors then switched to a spin/slow-bowling attack and curtailed Mersey’s scoring rate with clever bowling and started to take regular wickets. Stan and Dylan played nicely though, and Felix/Adam finished off well to post a total of 271. This seemed a touch below a par score due to too many wickets lost, but with Mersey’s excellent bowling to come, a close finish was expected.
Tom S and Isaac then bowled magnificently and took early wickets to stop Timperley getting off to a flier. Eli bowled well once more with nice variations in his slow bowling. At the halfway point, Timperley were well behind the rate at 216 (net) runs scored. But the visitors hit back with their second last pair who batted with aggression and put Timperley back on track to win the game. Some sloppy fielding by Mersey did not help matters – damn those overthrows!
As the tensions grew and the spectators became more excited, the last pair started batting well and, despite Harrison and Joseph taking a wicket each, 9 runs were required off the last over. Stan then produced his best ball of the day and bowled out one of the batters to cement the victory and we all started breathing normally again.
The wicketkeeping was again good throughout the match by Stan and Tom S on a difficult track to keep on. There was an excellent catch by Sam and an absolute worldy of a catch by Harrison. All-in-all, it was a tremendous victory from Mersey, superbly captained by Stan, over the winner of last year’s U9 Cheshire League. Roll-on the semi-final.
Tuesday 27th June: Cheadle Hulme U9 280 (101/7 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey U9 291 (109/6 off 16) by 11 runs – Cheshire league (Scorecard)
Yet another fixture threatened by the weather during the day was played under threatening skies, and delivered a cracking game of cricket. Mersey batted first and got off to a magnificent start, with Finlay hitting three beautiful boundaries through the off side. Mersey then batted steadily for the remaining overs, struggling to get away some tight, and at times, quick bowling. George, Gillespie and Jake each hit a boundary to accelerate the scoring rate. Mersey finished on an above-par score of 291, benefitting, to the tune of 12 runs, as the hosts did not employ a back stop to a short boundary. This was to prove crucial to the result.
Mersey never looked in danger of losing the game, particularly after the opening 4 overs went for a net total of zero runs. A wicket for Finlay and 2 wickets for Harvey were complemented by tight overs from both Ben and Jesse. A total of 7 wickets fell to 6 bowlers during the innings. Despite the hosts’ third pair rallying to put on 37 in 4 overs, Mersey ran out winners by 11 runs, with the hosts finishing on 280. The extra byes conceded in the first innings and the extra wicket taken by Mersey proved hugely significant. A great win to keep Mersey’s faint title hopes alive in the U9s Cheshire league Zone 1.
Thursday 29th June: Heaton Mersey U9 vs Stockport Trinity U9 – opposition conceded – High Peak league (Scorecard)
As we got to the business end of the High Peak league, Stockport Trinity conceded their fixture with us.
Sunday 2nd July: Heaton Mersey U11 90/2 (16.3) beat Ashley U11 88/2 (20) by 8 wickets – South Manchester league (Scorecard)
It was a great win from the boys today: a near flawless display with just a couple of wobbles as we comfortably beat Ashley. It started with a really tight new ball spell from Ismail, Harry and Lewis, which kept Ashley from scoring. Then Fionn and Stan came on and took the only wickets of the innings. Fielding and bowling remained sharp until the last few overs when a few overthrows and attacking shots meant Ashley set a competitive 88.
Two early wickets put them on top but a superb 50 partnership with Sam retiring on a run-a-ball 28 and Lewis making a sensible 21 not out. Stan came in and hit a quick 15 not out to make sure there were no late dramas and a solid win was achieved to put us joint top of the table. Well done.
Sunday 2nd July: Stockport U9 296 (102/2 off 16) beat Heaton Mersey U8 279 (103/8 off 16) by 17 runs – High Peak league (Scorecard)
The U8s team suffered a close defeat away at Stockport in the High Peak league. They actually scored more runs than Stockport, thanks largely to an amazing 45 off 16 balls by Leo, with Louis (16) and Alfie (11) also contributing. However, the difference was the loss of 8 wickets vs 2, and that is what cost them. There was still some good, tight bowling, not letting any of the Stockport batsmen get over 13. In the end, Heaton Mersey lost by 17 runs, one of the narrowest defeats of the season.
Pic: The U10s victorious in the Cheshire league quarter-final against Timperley...
