Tuesday 25th July: Heaton Mersey U10 55 all out (16.1) beat Ashley U11 53/5 (20.0) – South Manchester cup (Scorecard)
The kids celebrated the end of term with a nerve-shredding victory over Ashley in our first game in the South Manchester Cup. It was a new experience for a lot of the boys playing T20 cricket and one which will equip them well for next season. The pitch was really slow and low, and the boys struggled to score against accurate bowling. Harrison and Stan both top scored with 8, and Joseph made 7, as everyone found it tough.
With only 55 to defend, the boys knew they hadn't done themselves justice with the bat and had to be faultless in the field to win this one: they were. The fielding was immaculate with a stunning catch from Joseph. All the boys bowled tight on the stumps with special mentions to Harrison with 2 wickets and Monty with 1. Sam bowled 2 maidens and claimed a wicket and Felix would have had 2 LBWs (were he playing in a couple of years).
We were always ahead but their final batters went for it, and Karam and Aahil kept their nerve to get us over the line. Massive well done to Aman who kept wicket so well having never done it before. He even got a run out from the last ball of the innings to secure the points. Also, Isaac and Joseph pulled off great diving stops on the boundary, saving 2 runs each time which ultimately was the difference.
Sunday 30th July: Cheadle U11 101/6 (20) beat Heaton Mersey U11 74/9 (15.2) by 27 runs – South Manchester cup (Scorecard)
Heaton Mersey won the toss and elected to field first. Cheadle batted solidly, putting on 33 for the first wicket and reaching 70-2 at one point. However, three wickets for Stanley Shaw, as well as wickets apiece for Fionn McKillion and Ahmed Imran pegged the opposition back somewhat, to a beatable 101/6 off their allocation of 20 overs. It could have been better, however, as extras top scored with 28.
In response, Mersey were quickly reduced to 14-3, with a devastating spell from one of the Cheadle opening bowlers, and never really recovered. Ishmail Sheikh top scored with 10 as opener, ignoring 32 in the extras column and Heaton Mersey ran out of steam at 74/9 off their 15.2 overs.
Tuesday 1st August: North East Cheshire U11 210 (62/13 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey U10 244 (68/6 off 16) by 24 runs – High Peak summer competition (Scorecard)
On a damp evening at Disley, Mersey won comfortably against NEC’s U11 team. Ibby won the toss and decided to bowl first in conditions helping the bowlers. In a sensational start, Felix produced two superb full deliveries to clean bowl NEC’s opener in the first two balls. This excellent bowling continued with Zayaan picking up a wicket in his first over. Harrison and Arjo then continued to bowl with great accuracy and pinned down the next batting pair to restrict the scoring. Arjo picked up three wickets with perfect bowling for the conditions and Harrison picked up a deserved wicket with the last ball of his spell.
Monty then bowled sensibly (off a long run-up) and got a wicket with his first ball, whilst Karam also bowled well with the home side struggling to get to a positive score. Ibby continued the excellent bowling as he bowled straight and got a wicket in his first over. Sam then bowled last with his left-arm off spin and got four wickets in quick succession (including a run out and a superb stumping by Harrison) as the last batting pair struggled to read his deliveries. It was not a perfect fielding display though as four catches were put down and numerous run out chances slipped by, but the team were truly magnificent in the field otherwise. Moreover, the conditions underfoot were very slippy and players were sliding everywhere on the wettest pitch and outfield that we have ever played on.
As the target score of 211 runs was a low one, the team were instructed to bat sensibly (opposite of Bazball? [that’s Ozball – Ed]) especially given the conditions. Felix and Ibby batted first and, despite Ibby struggling, they started well with Felix striking a boundary. Harrison and Arjo then batted superbly with no wickets lost, finding the gaps in the field to surpass the target at the midway point. The last two pairs just needed to defend well and get singles where possible. Karam and Monty then batted next, with Karan defending with great technique and Monty finding runs including a boundary. The lead was substantial, enabling Sam and Zayaan to bat in accordance with the conditions despite Zayan losing a couple of wickets including an unlucky run-out where he slipped and injured himself.
All in all, an excellent victory with superb bowling and ground fielding augmented by sensible batting. The pitch and outfield were sodden and made life difficult for both teams.
Thursday 3rd August: Heaton Mersey U10 52/3 (13.2) beat Timperley 51 all out (19.3) by 7 wickets – South Manchester cup (Scorecard)
A tough game was expected against last year's Cheshire champions; however, a comfortable win achieved. In the best bowling I've seen from us, Timperley were restricted to just 51 in their 20 overs. Stan, with 2 for 2, was the pick, but Tom, Isaac, Harrison, Albert, Dylan and Felix all took wickets. The fielding has improved remarkably in the last few games, with Eli the star, long barriers at mid-on and good throws every time. Tom S, as always, batted the situation perfectly whilst opening, making a steady 24 and guaranteeing we'd get the target. Harrison, as always, was the perfect foil for him with 16 not out. We still had almost 7 overs to bat when the game ended which meant a lot of boys didn't bat, which is something they'll have to get used to.
Thursday 3rd August: Lindow U9 vs Heaton Mersey U9 abandoned – High Peak summer competition (Scorecard)
A waterlogged pitch meant that this match was called off at 10.30am on the day of the match.
Friday 4th August: Lindow U11 Gold 110/2 (20) beat Heaton Mersey U10 85/6 (20) by 25 runs – South Manchester cup (Scorecard)
The weather was clear, sunny, and cool at the Lindow ground just south of Wilmslow for this cup clash. Mersey topped the group after an impressive victory over Timperley but knew that this would be a tougher assignment against Lindow’s strongest U11 team.
Mersey won the toss and captain Felix chose to bowl first. The home team batted intelligently and scored at a steady rate and, although Mersey’s bowlers bowled well, they could not make the vital breakthrough. The runs continued to be accumulated during the middle overs and Lindow looked set for a big total, but towards the end of their innings Zayaan bowled his best two of his overs of the season and got 2 for 5 with two amazing full-length deliveries, some reward for this efforts and bad luck this season. Lindow finished on 110/2 off 20 overs, but Mersey’s ground fielding was excellent and restricted the boundaries (the opposition coach was very complimentary about Mersey’s fielding).
Mersey knew that this would be a tough challenge, but they were determined to give it their best shot. For the first time this season, Arjo and Sam opened the batting as the light faded and the pitch started to show variable bounce. For the first four overs, the openers batted steadily, but scoring proved to be a challenge with the fielders in close proximity. Sam, after a crisp four and looking set, then Arjo were out in quick succession, and Felix and Eli then batted. Eli was out after looking solid bringing Harrison to the crease.
An excellent partnership between Felix and Harrison then accumulated the runs with Felix retiring on 26 after a superb knock. Albert was then unfortunately given out stumped first ball; Harrison tried to up the scoring tempo but was bowled for an impressive 14. Joesph and Adam then faced the final balls and, despite a six from Adam, Mersey fell 25 runs short of the target with Adam being run out off the last ball.
Despite the loss, the team played well and did not let their heads drop despite not taking any wickets until late in the Lindow innings. Mersey batted the conditions well for most of the game and the team will learn a lot from competing at this level.
Sunday 6th August: Ashley U11 82/4 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey U10 99/3 (20) by 17 runs – South Manchester cup (Scorecard)
The boys remained on top of the table in the South Manchester Cup with a hard-fought win over Ashley. Put in to bat, Stan and Isaac made a steady start, putting on 15 and seeing off the new ball bowlers before Harrison came in. Isaac and Harrison both batted beautifully and intelligently. The good balls were defended and pushed for singles, with superb running between the wickets and the occasional bad ball slapped to the boundary for 4. Both boys managed to retire for the first time which was great to see.
The rest of the batters just had to come in and try and get us up to the 100 mark, which we missed by just 1 run. 99 was a good score but the new strip at Heaton Mersey Village was excellent to bat on and a close game was still expected. The bowling was on point as usual. Wickets were hard to find and they had three powerful batters at the top of the order who kept up with the run rate. Sam took the big wicket with a bowled to put us slightly on top and, from then on, we were always in control. Zayaan and Isaac bowled rapid accurate spells and took a wicket each too, whilst Zayaan also got another of his direct hit run-outs.
Eli and Joseph bowled maidens and Stan, bowling at the death with Ashley going for it, managed 2 overs for just 2 runs. Big thanks to the U9 players, Finlay and Jesse, for stepping up for their first hard ball match and guaranteeing we won the match with sharp fielding and bowling. Well done.
Sunday 6th August: Heaton Mersey U11 vs Wythenshawe U11 abandoned – South Manchester cup (Scorecard)
Another match abandoned due to rain.
Thursday 10th August: Heaton Mersey U9 vs Bredbury St Marks U9 – High Peak summer competition (Scorecard)
And another.
Sunday 13th August: Didsbury U11 152/2 (20) beat Heaton Mersey U11 1/0 (0.1) match conceded – South Manchester cup (Scorecard)
In what was a fairly typical struggle for players in August, Heaton Mersey could only muster 7 players, with Didsbury donating two plus a further two in the field. Didsbury batted very well, with four of their players retiring out, and they reached 152 off their 20 overs for the loss of just two wickets. Heaton Mersey’s innings had just started when the heavens opened, and conceded the match given they had not been able to field anywhere near a full team.
Sunday 13th August: Heaton Mersey U10 10/3 (3.1) vs Lindow U11 Gold 92/8 (20) abandoned – South Manchester cup (Scorecard)
The return match between these two teams took place at Harwood Road with a much-changed Mersey taking on Lindow’s strongest U11 team. Captain Harrison won the toss & chose to bowl first on the artificial surface. The home team started superbly with Zayaan clean bowling one of Lindow openers for a duck. The bowling continued to be challenging with several false shots by Lindow’s top order which resulted in six dropped catches (although the ball was damp making catching the slippy ball difficult).
Despite these setbacks, Mersey continued to take regular wickets: wickets for Sam 2 for 6, Harrison 1 for 6, Ibby 1 for 8, Karam 1 for 9, Zayaan 1 for 14, and U9 debutant, Joe, 1 for 14. There was also an excellent run-out from Monty. Isaac E performed admirably behind the stumps for the whole match, and the other U9 debutants, Gregory, and George, bowled accurately & skilfully with no luck as they both beat the bat on several occasions. The ground fielding was good overall except for conceding fourteen byes. Lindow finished on 88/8, which compared to 110/2 when the teams last met two weeks ago; a huge improvement by Mersey.
Harrison and Sam started solidly against Lindow’s opening pace attack, with Harrison clipping a boundary to third man and Sam defending with ease. But the heavens opened & after 10 minutes the match was abandoned due to heavy rain and a sodden pitch/outfield.
Mersey were excellent today, captained well by Harrison, and a special well done to the U9’s (Joe, George, and Gregory).
Pic: The scorecard from the win against Ashley by the U10s...
