U12s / U13s - a look ahead to the 2026 season

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 10:43:00 +0000

Well, this is the season that it all gets real (for the U12s anyway – it was already so for the U13s), as all matches will be Twenty20, i.

The U12s (as U11s) won the High Peak pairs league last season, continuing the trend (I think that makes it five times in four years across these two age groups), getting into Division 1 of the South Manchester league (by virtue of finishing top of their group), where they struggled but improved, and the semi-final of the High Peak summer competition, where they met a very strong team.

The U13s (as U12s), meanwhile, started slowly but then won 9 matches on the trot, before a combination of fixture weariness and strong opposition brought that to a close.

The plan for this season is going to largely mirror what we did two years ago, which is to split the two-year group into two broadly similar strength High Peak league squads (

The U12s have two competitions of their very own – a small, new-for-this-year

Intro

Just me sorry.

Recap of the season

We’ve had a great season this year.

We entered two teams into the High Peak pairs league and one team into the South Manchester T20 league, then played in the summer cup equivalents.

The South Manchester league was good exposure to proper Twenty20, if-you’re-out-you’re-out cricket as that’s all we will play next season.

That put us into Division 1 and there we found our match – unfortunately, we didn’t manage to win a game.

Talking of the High Peak, we decided at the start to enter two teams into the main league - unfortunately they were put into the same division.

Phoenix meanwhile were fearsome, winning all 12 matches they played, often by some very convincing margins.

In the summer cups, we were mid-table in the South Manchester cup and got to the semi-finals of the High Peak cup, losing against a very strong team after a couple of exciting live team draws.

Over the course of the full season, we won 25 games and lost 14, so a really good win rate (64%!

Players’ player award

This is the one that all the players would like to win, the award voted for by their teammates.

Coaches’ player award

This is the one awarded by the coaches, i.

Spirit of cricket award

This is a new award this year, brought in to reward the player who plays the game in the right spirit, hard but always fair.

Most improved award

This is the award we give to the player who has really developed since last year, through dedication and perseverance.

Best fielder award

There have been many great fielding moments this season.

There have been countless run-outs, perhaps the most dramatic of which was Gregory’s run-out as bowler, throwing the stumps down whilst on his knees and knocking a wobbly tooth out at the same time.

There have been numerous players trying their hand behind the stumps.

A Brooklands bowler climbed into a ball from Harry, lacing it for what seemed like a certain four, but this player casually dived to the left, goalkeeper-style, and took it in two hands.

Best batter award

We now move on to the more stats-based award – first up, best batter.

To illustrate this, last year we had three players getting above 100 runs (and not much more than 100).

Picking out some of those players, we had:

Sam battling hard and finishing top scorer with 20 against Whalley Range having been hit on the helmet early on, getting over 150 runs in the season.
Thomas setting the tone in our first match of the season, retiring on 26 not out against Didsbury, also retiring against Brooklands, and scoring 170 runs.
Jake smashing it effortlessly to the boundary in many a pairs game, and brilliantly closing out the game against Stockport, scoring 213 runs.
Charlie gamely opening the batting in T20 on a number of occasions and doing well, also scoring 20+ on numerous occasions including a top score of 32 in a pairs game.
Will, who twice retired in T20 matches, and scored crucial runs in the semi-final with 24 against Bollington and 13 against Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge.
Leo, who retired 4 times in T20, including an incredible 31 not out in an U13s match plus two other scores of over 20.
Gregory, who retired in his first two matches, at one point had the highest T20 average at the whole club and retired a further time later in the season.
But the winner this season… He scored the most runs (381) but it was also the manner in which they were scored, taking attacks apart, often against U12s and U13s (he played 10 games at that level, always offering himself up).

Best bowler award

The final award now is for best bowler, which is closely contested as we have such a great bunch of bowlers at Mersey.

We had 8 bowlers taking over 10 wickets this season, compared to 3 last year, again showing the improvement.

We had two hat-tricks during the season (according to my records – I was umpire for both of them – just saying).

Thomas also took one in a T20 game, separated by about 9 overs because of bowler rotation.

We also heard about Finlay earlier, who actually took three wickets in four balls in that first match, and got 13 wickets at 10.

Leo took 18 wickets at 8.

Harvey took 16 wickets at just over 8 runs each, always accurate and bowling full.

George took the most wickets, 23, in an incredible 29 matches (I said he was keen!

However, the winner, and I had no say in this for the record, with 21 wickets at just 6.

Awards

Players’ player: Will

Coaches’ player: Adam

Spirit of cricket: Thomas

Most improved: Finlay

Fielder: Jake

Batter: George

Bowler: Gregory

Picture from the presentation evening:

The Ashton-on-Mersey T20 match was postponed from the Sunday to the Friday while the following Sunday’s match against Whalley Range was conceded due to a lack of numbers.

Monday 4^th August 2025: Lindow Spitfires 232 (84/13 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 315 (131/4 off 16) by 83 runs – High Peak pairs summer competition (
As usual, we had wanted to bowl first but Lindow won the toss and put us in to bat.

Jake hit 18 for the first pair, with four fours, then Archie top-scored in the second pair with 29, including one six and five fours, partnered by Huzaifah, who hit an exquisite cover drive for four.

That led to an imposing score of 131/4 off the 16 overs, equivalent to a net score of 315, a typical total for Phoenix in the High Peak and one that was well above par.

The hosts lost wickets regularly throughout the innings, 13 in total, which hampered their scoring efforts, as the Mersey bowlers kept it relatively tight.

In the field, Mersey were generally sharp, and there were two direct hit run-outs, one from Archie and one from Huzaifah (there was a third run-out to add to the mix).

Tuesday 5^th August 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 283 (111/7 off 16) beat Bramhall Bees 246 (74/7 off 16) by 37 runs – High Peak pairs summer competition (

As was the case the previous night, the opposition won the toss and put us in.

It was still unconvincing as Jeffers’ pre-match team talk requesting no run outs or being bowled, with being caught out going for shots noted as more acceptable, was taken a little too literally as batter after batter played early on the shots and chipped the ball to fielders.

Ultimately, the runs flowed steadily enough and we got above 100 gross runs (111 in total), with the 7 wickets taking us below 300, to 283.

The opening pair of Harvey and Finn kept it tight, picking up a wicket apiece, but one of their second pair batters hit 24, putting them right on track.

Archie got another direct hit run-out, identical to the previous night (from midwicket), while Gregory through the stumps down after fielding off his own bowling, somehow dislodging a loose tooth in the process.

Friday 8^th August 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 109/1 (20) beat Ashton-on-Mersey 103/5 (20) by 6 runs – South Manchester T20 summer cup (

Another lost toss meant batting first (putting the opposition in seems to be the done thing, although it wasn’t deterring us).

There were two well-constructed 25 retired from Thomas C, opening for the first time, and Will laid the foundation for Sam and particularly Harvey to accelerate at the end of the innings with a flurry of boundaries.

Ashton’s innings followed a similar pattern as the batsmen were kept quiet in the first ten overs, only scoring 38 runs but crucially losing more wickets than Mersey, mainly thanks to 2 in 2 from Harvey.

The game was on a knife edge entering the last over, to be bowled by Paddy.

Only a 6 would do if Ashton were to steal it off the last ball.

Tuesday 12^th August 2025: Lindow U13 Girls 42/1 (9.

Our last Twenty20 game of the season took us to the Wilmslow Phoenix Sports Club.

The girls put us into bat and Charlie, fresh back from a holiday, played a lovely, if airy, cover drive for four.

The girls were bowling straight and full, from well behind the crease to help their length, and it was a challenge.

Emmet batted sensibly at one end, finishing on 4 not out, but it was a procession at the other end.

I watched the four wickets in the last two overs in some form of horror from behind the stumps as umpire.

One of their openers showed us how it should be done, playing very patiently against our strong opening attack of Gregory, Will and Evan, putting them 7-0 after 3 overs.

But once again they played exactly as they needed to (given the required run rate was less than two an over at the start of the innings).


Monday 18^th August 2025: Macclesfield Blues 261 (73/3 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 281 (93/3 off 16) by 20 runs – High Peak pairs summer competition (

Mersey made the journey over to Macclesfield for a must win away game in the summer competition.
It was a relatively chilly evening, and with a 6pm start a swift pace of play was required to avoid closing the game in darkness.
The U11s team, with the squad depleted due to the August holiday season, was bolstered with the support of four excellent U10s.
Mersey Captain, Charlie, won the toss and elected to bat.
Charlie and Olly opened the batting.
Then came the excellent U10s, Evan and James progressed the score with 15 runs for Evan and 6 for James, for no wicket.
The Mersey innings closed at 93/3, with a respectable 281 to defend.
A short break, and out came Macclesfield to bat.
Charlie and Olly’s bowling frustrated the Macclesfield openers, with a wicket each, and just 7 runs scored.
At the halfway point in the innings, it looked out of reach for Macclesfield, but their third and fourth batting pairs put up a fight.
There was a late flourish to come though from the final Macclesfield batting pair.
As Alec and Seb finished their overs, the Macclesfield batting resistance petered out, and Mersey won the game by 20 runs.
A good win, to stay top of the table with 18 points.

With our match against Marple cancelled due to the weather (I think), we finished top of the table, narrowly ahead of Marple on net run rate.


Friday 5^th September 2025: Bramhall Bisons 336 (152/4 off 16) beat Heaton Mersey Phoenix 245 (77/8 off 16) – High Peak pairs summer competition semi-final (

Most of the excitement for this fixture came from the team selection.

We won the toss and elected to bat, but we struggled against their opening bowlers (the second took three wickets in an over, leaving us on 6 gross runs for the loss of 4 wickets, although the pair eventually got to 17 for the loss of no more wickets).

In return, our bowlers struggled to contain their batters, although Harvey bowled well (a clear man of the match), with figures of 2-9 off his brace of overs, while Charlie took a great catch.

U11s - weeks 13 & 14 - match summaries

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 16:41:00 +0000

This fortnight started with a crucial High Peak pairs final, but then swiftly descended into an end-of-term, summer holiday vibe.



Sunday 20^th July 2025: Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge 236 (64/7 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 267 (83/4 off 16) by 31 runs – High Peak play-off final (

Having beaten the winners of the Lyme Division, we were drawn against the best second-placed team, also from that division.

Ominously, the rain, which was forecast for later, started coming down as we drove there.

Mersey had won the toss and naturally chose to bowl, with the formula well-rehearsed.

We stuck to our plan.

The figures reflect this, with five of the seven bowlers conceding no more than six runs off their two or three overs, with the other two taking three wickets between them.

Their score of 236 was clearly chaseable.

Leo then took advantage of some drag-downs to hit five fours, peppering the legside boundary from fine leg to midwicket.

Back came their quick bowlers, bowling Gregory with one that perhaps skidded on a little, but Will found some lovely touch, using the pace to clip the ball through the legside in particular, but he also hit a lovely cover drive.

Our finishers, Thomas and Sam, marched in with our score around 8 runs ahead and a clear defensive mindset.

So, we were champions once more, winning all 12 High Peak games that we played, mostly by a very comfortable margin, with the Stockport game being easily the tightest.



Friday 25^th July 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 295 (115/5 off 16) beat North East Cheshire Typhoons 216 (44/7 off 16) by 79 runs – High Peak pairs summer competition (

There was very much, in every sense, and end-of-term feel to this Friday match, the first of the High Peak summer competition.

Gregory as captain won the toss and elected to bowl (standard approach).

Their total of 216 was clearly under par, but we didn’t start the most convincingly.

Harvey and Jimmy then hit three fours between them to put clearer daylight between the two teams’ scores before Gregory put the result well beyond doubt, hitting five fours in the first over of his pair.



Sunday 27^th July 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 51 all out (17.

The team struggled against a well-coached and experienced side, with us missing a lot of our more experienced players.



Tuesday 29^th July 2025: Stretford 91/7 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 94/5 (16.

Mersey produced a good performance to defeat Stretford, in a game where both sides fielded summer holiday teams.

Stretford’s side was a mix of strong and less experienced players.

Mersey got off to a sticky start with the bat, as Stretford’s star batters also performed well with the ball.

Thanks to the members of the U10s for stepping into the team for this game.

Thanks to everyone for an excellent game, played in the right spirit.


We'll finish with a shot of Phoenix lifting the High Peak trophy.
The very much back-end loaded High Peak season was rapidly reaching a denouement, with four group games in five days (which would have been five games had Romiley not conceded to Magic).


Tuesday 8^th July 2025: Romiley Wyverns 237 (65/7 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 307 (127/5 off 16) by 70 runs – High Peak pairs league (

Romiley batted first on a (yet another) sunny evening (after captain Leo won the toss, I think), with Leo and Will opening the bowling, with Leo striking in his first over with a run-out following shortly afterwards.

The batting response was strong albeit mixed in with some cross-batted swipes, slightly ropey running between the wickets (although we avoided any run-outs) and chipping the ball in the air.

Mersey got up to 307, winning by 70 runs and maintaining their unbeaten record.



Tuesday 8^th July 2025: Stockport Blues 284 (92/2 off 16) beat Heaton Mersey Magic 239 (75/9 off 16) by 45 runs – High Peak pairs league (

The evening started in comedy fashion, with both teams waiting at their home grounds awaiting the arrival of the opposition!

Magic only had 6 players for their batting innings but Charlie bolstered the bowling attack after arriving later, straight from his Y6 production.

Mersey Magic (75 runs for 9 wickets: net score 239)

A combination of tight Stockport bowling, a bouncy astroturf wicket and a slow outfield meant that runs were hard to come by for Magic, but a flurry of boundaries from Huzaifah at the end made the score defendable.

Stockport CC (92 runs for 2 wickets: net score 284)

Magic bowled well and at times looked like we may defend the target but a couple of stronger Stockport batters pushed them ahead of the required run rate and Stockport ended up with reasonably comfortable 45-run victory.

Thanks to Tom for scoring and to Stockport for lending us a “fielder”!



Wednesday 9^th July 2025: Heaton Mersey Magic 226 (70/11 off 16) lost to Alderley Edge 267 (91/6 off 16) by 41 runs – High Peak pairs league (

It was another battling performance from Heaton Mersey Magic against a quality Alderley Edge team.

Magic went into bat confident of chasing down Alderley Edge’s total.

Another great team performance to end the Magic High Peak campaign against the team who finished 2nd in the league.



Friday 11^th July 2025: Stockport Blues 267 (95/7 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 273 (101/7 off 16) Magic 226 (70/11 off 16) by 6 runs – High Peak pairs league (

Having had Stockport insist this fixture was swapped from the Thursday to the Friday, we only managed to get 7 players together, with Anna stuck in heavy traffic with two of them close to the start of play.

Their middle order put on some decent runs, helped by our lack of numbers in the field (as well as hand injuries and a nosebleed), and at one point they were heading for a target of perhaps around 290, but Thomas, determined after getting knocked around a little bit in his first two overs, struck twice in an over.

The second of these involved the batter walking into stumps after taking evasive action to a ball on the legside, the first case of hit wicket I have seen at this level.

George and Jake got Mersey off to a great start, putting us on 236 after the first pair.

Matty played out a maiden before their best bowler bowled Matty and Jake in successive balls to leave us behind, at 264.

That left us winning by 6 runs against a tough opposition (easily our toughest so far in this division) and a good test ahead of the semi-final against Bollington on Monday.



Monday 14^th July 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 308 (140/8) beat Bollington 239 (83/11) by 69 runs – High Peak play-off semi-final (

The High Peak draw had been made in advance, so once we knew we had guaranteed top spot (almost certainly when Stockport beat Alderley Edge but confirmed when we defeated Romiley), Anna started the arduous process of agreeing the date of the semi-final fixture with Bollington, for which we had been drawn at home.

We arrived on a largely sunny evening in dribs and drabs, having grappled with the inevitable traffic to get there, and Gregory was chosen as captain mostly because he was one of the few to have arrived in time for the toss.

I had selected pairs for batting (with some input), but these would not necessarily translate into the bowling pairs as we tried to get better matches up given Bollington’s potentially formidable batting line-up.

Ian, umpiring and selecting the bowlers perfectly, went with Thomas in the third over before Emmet bowled a second, all of the bowlers keeping it tight.

Leo’s opening ball against one of their second pair was elegantly dispatched down the ground, prompting an immediate field change, and Leo recovered well to bowl the same batsman attempting the shot later in the opener.

Our shock and awe tactics were working well, as the ball often fizzed through with plenty of carry to Sam, our keeper, with some variable bounce.

Bollington’s third pair doubled down on the dodgy running, twice getting run out, while Will and Harvey picked up wickets, and they edged up to just 225 after 12 overs.

In response, whilst Emmet was bowled in the second over, both batters hit a number of fours.

When George followed up the next over with an even bigger hit, which clattered back off the fence in front of the stream, Will cheekily shouted “was that a four?

Leo and Harvey scored some good runs, both hitting a pair of fours, although three lost wickets kept is in check.

Will, meanwhile, hit a flurry of boundaries in the last over to take his score to 24, which coupled with two wickets led to Ian giving him the man-of-the-match award.

U11s – week 10 – match summaries

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 19:57:00 +0000

A flurry of five matches in five days in week 10 provided fluctuating fortunes.



Sunday 29^th June 2025: Timperley 110/7 (20) beat Heaton Mersey Phoenix 98 all out (20) by 12 runs – South Manchester T20 league (

On a humid, cloudy Sunday morning, we arrived Timperley hopeful of breaking our duck in what has been a tough division 1.

First, Thomas L had their number three well caught by George, making plenty of ground to snatch it above the turf.

That left the opposition at 38-4, which became 41-5 when Ollie Murphy snatched a one-handed grab to give Archie a well-deserved first wicket of the season (Ian described it as the catch of the season).

Will did bowl him out after he had hit a few fours, but then that brought in another good batter, who hogged the strike, including a bruising last over which went for 21 runs and lifted them up to a challenging target of 110 when for much of the innings it looked like a target of more like 90.

In response, Charlie and Gregory played solidly, protecting their wicket well.

Our middle order kept the scoreboard ticking and, with our run rate increasing, we were broadly on target.

Ian called it our most complete performance of the season and shows we can compete with the best at this level.



Monday 30^th June 2025: North East Cheshire Hurricanes 254 (86/8 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Magic 307 (119/3 off 16) by 53 runs – High Peak pairs league (

Victory for Mersey Magic!

NECCC won the toss and opted to bat but Finn made them regret that decision, instantly getting 2 wickets in the first over.

Finn & Arno started the inning well, with Finn hitting 4 lovely fours to the exact same leg side spot, putting them well ahead of the run rate (23 runs, 1 wicket).

Zane & Paddy took over and pressed on, taking advantage of some loose bowling.

Mersey Magic cruised to victory with a score of 307 after only losing 3 wickets.



Tuesday 1^st July 2025: Lindow Girls Under 13s Originals 313 (137/6 off 16) beat Heaton Mersey Magic 310 (118/2 off 16) by 3 runs – High Peak pairs league (

By all accounts, preparation for the Lindow game began earlier in the day between Huzaifah and Zane regarding team tactics.

Personally, I like the boys to make decisions and take ownership of their game.

From a batting perspective, Zane scored heavily, and Arno was smart in deflecting a couple of 4s to the short-sided boundary.

Lindow U13 Girls performed fantastically in their batting and scored boundaries aplenty, which quickly quietened the Magic into concentration.



Wednesday 2^nd July 2025: Marple 233 (73/10 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 316 (164/12 off 16) by 83 runs – High Peak pairs league (

There was a bit of confusion as a few of our team went to the wrong ground (they had the wrong postcode).

Emmet and Will put them to the sword in the opening overs, scoring 46 runs for the loss of 1 wicket towards the end.

The theme of scoring heavily while losing wickets continued, with another 8 wickets lost and 12 in all (by far our most this season), but we had put 164 on the board, so that gave us a net score of 316.

Their coach wasn’t happy with his team’s performance, including their attitude by questioning of one of umpire Phil’s decisions.

That put them way behind the run chase.


Thursday 3^rd July 2025: Marple 255 (91/9 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Magic 261 (85/6 off 16) by 6 runs – High Peak pairs league (

Magic made it two victories in a week with a close-fought match at Marple’s picturesque and slopey Compstall Ground.

Marple won the toss and put Magic into bat first.

Magic ended on 85/6, a net score 261.

Magic quickly got to grips with bowling down the hill, with Zane picking up a wicket in the second over.

At the halfway point of Marple’s innings, they were slightly ahead on run rate.

Some great bowling from Max resulted in another wicket in the 15th over.

After the frenetic week of fixtures in week 7, things calmed down somewhat for the following three weeks, partly due to a couple of concessions (two matches on the same Friday night left Mersey unable to play a South Manchester match, focusing on the High Peak league given the need to secure a semi-final berth, while South West Manchester could not get a team) and an abandoned match (rain came down just before the start of the match against Ashton-on-Mersey with not a ball being bowled).

Nevertheless, progress to the High Peak and John North U12s Cup semi-finals was secured.



Sunday 15^th June 2025: Marple Hawks 110/8 (20) beat Heaton Mersey Phoenix 109 all out (20) – High Peak T20 league (

A controversial loss for Mersey versus the hosts, Marple today.

A bucolic setting greeted us at the Compstall ground in Marple for this penultimate league game.

New player, Moez, then bowled a superb over to peg back the home side, and Ibrahim also got a wicket.

Mersey would have to bat well to gain the win.

Moreover, the 2nd wicket was due to an appalling umpiring decision from the home umpire; Adam being given run out when he was clearly in his crease.

Naeem batted with Stan and the pair battled hard against good bowling.

This was a very hard defeat to take, but credit to the Mersey team who stayed on after the match and had some fun in the sun.



Friday 20^th June 2025: Lindow Originals 97/7 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 141/6 (20) by 44 tuns – High Peak T20 league (

A comfortable win for Mersey this evening against Lindow.

On the hottest day of the year, Mersey won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that was concrete-hard, but green.

Sam came to the wicket and the runs continued to flow.

Lindow took two wickets in over 15, but Mersey wrested back the initiative as Zayaan reached the crease and batted aggressively resulting in 39 runs being plundered off 25 balls.

Mersey finished on 141/6 as the home side wilted in the heat.

Lindow started batting and Felix struck in his first over as the home side struggled to hit the ball off the square.

Albert came into the attack and bowled a superb maiden, pitching the ball on a full length and getting some late movement to deceive the batters.

This was an excellent win for Mersey, capping off a very good performance in this league section, winning 7 out of 8 games.



Tuesday 1^st July 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 98/3 (15.

On a cloudy and damp evening Brooklands won the toss and elected to bat.

Brooklands included an opener who had scored 50 against Yorkshire only a month before; however, Shazil’s pace and accuracy was too much for him as the stumps were splattered in the first over (an outcome that had evidently been planned for).

Fielding was generally good with Adam “safe hands” Hayes taking two catches and Billy taking one behind the stumps.

A couple of early wickets fell in Mersey’s response, which brought Adam and Sam to the crease.

U11s - weeks 8 & 9 - match summaries

Sun, 06 Jul 2025 20:06:00 +0000

Our established pattern continued: getting beaten on a Sunday morning in the South Manchester T20 Division 1 but bouncing back in the High Peak pairs games on weekday evenings.



Sunday 15^th June 2025: Urmston 106/4 (20) beat Heaton Mersey Phoenix 71/9 (16.

Mersey won the toss and elected to field on a day where overhead conditions varied by the minute from scorching sun to muggy cloud.

Thomas, Jake and Leo took a further wicket a piece, with Jake taking a catch for Thomas’ wicket and Sam executing a very smart stumping from behind the stumps for Leo’s.

In the batting, we opened at a good rate, but despite several players getting a start against high quality bowling, lost wickets at a steady pace.


Monday 16^th June 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 305 (117/3 off 16) beat Bredbury St Marks 201 (53/13 off 16) by 104 runs – High Peak pairs league (

I arrived early to set up the pitch and an U9 was the first of the opposition to turn up.

Captain Harvey won the toss (first one won for a while!

Our sole spinner, Leo, then stepped up and kept the bowlers guessing with his spin, bowling two off the pads and grabbing a caught and bowled just inches off the pitch.

All the while, the fielding was very sharp, albeit taking advantage of some questionable running, with four run-outs (Emmet scoring a direct hit at the striker’s end from backstop, with George doing similar but pinging down the stumps at the non-striker’s end, being the two most notable).

Jake and George struggled initially to find their timing, but Jake hit a nice square drive for four while George connected with a big six over midwicket.
Leo then blasted 37 runs, taking advantage of some buffet bowling, although his eyes lit up once too often as he danced down the wicket and was bowled, following Harley being bowled to have another hat-trick ball, which was kept out by Harley.

That put Mersey on 117/3, or a net score of 305, winning by 104 runs and putting them back to the top of the table.



Sunday 22^nd June 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 127/5 (20) lost to Brooklands 138/7 (20) by 11 runs – South Manchester T20 league (

Changeable weather conditions greeted us on a first Sunday morning visit to Heaton Mersey Village, in a rematch of our final group game (which was a close, low-scoring match) against Brooklands.

We pegged them back early, with Gregory striking in the second over, a low full toss being well caught by George at mid-off (just before the ball was bowled, Thomas had run all the way from backstop to urge Gregory to pitch it up).

They reached 62 in the 10^th over but then Harry struck.

Harvey then claimed a wicket, well caught by Finn K at point, before Thomas returned, hitting the stumps for a third time, securing a hat-trick, with the second and third wickets separated by 9 overs.

Phil said to me that he thought it was chaseable, but it’s fair to say that I did not quite share that view!

Thomas soon found his rhythm, hitting five fours and retiring on 27 off 19 balls.

We got to 112-2 (although in reality for five given the retirements) off 16 overs, needing 27 to win off 24 balls, but the opposition bowled tightly and overs spare from some of their better bowlers, whilst we lacked a bit of firepower to keep up the required run rate, although Finn K (an U10) dug in for a solid 8 not out.



Wednesday 25^th June 2025: Heaton Mersey Magic 190 (58/17 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 286 (102/4 off 16) by 96 runs – High Peak pairs league (

A sunny evening greeted us for the Heaton Mersey derby, as both teams warmed up by messing around together with an incrediball and the parents’ eyes lit up at the sight of the bar being open.

Magic’s bowling and fielding was strong throughout, never letting the Phoenix batsmen get away.

In keeping Phoenix to that total, Magic had done better than other opposing teams, showing the strength and depth across the Mersey U11s squad.

In response, Magic’s batting was solid but ultimately what cost them was the running between the wickets, as Phoenix were predatory in the field, with rocket arms (although sometimes too rocket – a spell of a few balls saw both a 5 and a 6 recorded due to overthrows), including Gregory throwing down the stumps from backstop twice whilst on his knees.

Archie top scored in the match with 19, playing some great shots, while Joey played two elegant cover drives for four, including one which cleared cover completely, and Finn played some fine defensive shots in the face of fast bowling when opening the innings.

Thanks to Paul and Rick for umpiring, and Tom for grappling with the scoring app (it messed up the Phoenix batting scorecard for some reason, but I have edited it).


Friday 27^th June 2025: Woodford 203 (39/9 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 325 (141/4 off 16) by 122 runs – High Peak pairs league (

Another great team performance from Phoenix, from top to bottom, securing a 122 run win and making it 7 wins out of 7.

There was some sloppiness towards the end because it was perhaps getting a bit too easy and they got a bit bored/complacent.

However, they were once again soooo positive in the field, with lots of fun and energy.

The batting was really strong again (Jake top scored with 24, after hitting his final three balls for four, while George was next with 22) and I would love to see some of that in the T20 matches!

Phoenix are such a strong team and there are some great things to come for them, as long as they get challenged!

Highlights for me were Gregory & Jake’s bowling (it was relentless – Gregory took 3 wickets for no runs conceded off the bat, while Jake took 1-5), Sam’s keeping (he was everywhere he needed to be, with only 4 byes conceded) and Miles (who says he can’t bat but hit two excellently placed 4s).

U11s - weeks 5 to 7 - match summaries

Wed, 18 Jun 2025 21:06:00 +0000

After a very strong opening month, we started to come up against better sides (having qualified for the first division in the South Manchester Twenty20 league), which proved our undoing (not helped by having weakened sides due to the two-week Stockport half-term break).

It was also time for the arrival of questionable weather, with matches against Romiley and NEC postponed due to rain and a waterlogged pitch respectively, with games against Marple and Stockport also postponed due to half-term availability issues.



Sunday 25^th May 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 57/8 (20) lost to Brooklands 59/7 (11.

The last match of the first South Manchester league phase was a top of the table dead rubber, with Heaton Mersey already assured of qualification.

In reality, the decision at the toss should not have made a big difference.

The lack of preparation showed as Leo was adjudged to be caught behind while George was stuck on nought for 10 balls before being bowled.

Harvey and Charlie steadied the ship, with a partnership of 14 (not much but nearly doubling our score), before Harvey, trying to up the run rate, was caught well in the deep.

We crept up to 57-8, easily our lowest total of the season so far.

The visitors had raced to 20 inside 3 overs before Harley bowled a beauty to hit the top of off stump and give Mersey some much-needed cheer.

A dropped catch by Thomas, a tricky one on the run, didn’t cause too much damage as the next batsman lobbed Harvey up to a waiting Evan (in a similar position square of the wicket but with less running to do).

Huzaifah then came on, bowling loopy left-arm spinners, for his first over of the season.

The opposition batters were in a bit of disarray and were clearly struggling with the pace of our bowlers, with the sharp bounce of the pitch not helping their confidence.

If only we had shown more composure with the bat and added another 10 to 20 runs, we could have won the match.

The defeat, which mattered little in the context of the South Manchester league – we still finished top of the division on net run rate due largely to the convincing nature of our previous victories – was nevertheless perhaps a useful warning shot across the bow.

In future, we will be requesting that players get to South Manchester matches half an hour before for some warm-up action.



Sunday 1^st June 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 76 all out (18.

It was another tense morning at Green Lane!

Unfortunately, this was 20 to 25 runs short as Bowdon batted conservatively at the start of their innings, keeping wickets in hand.

If we are able to bat more circumspectly then we can compete with teams at this level.



Sunday 8^th June 2025: Whalley Range Lions Heaton Mersey Phoenix 77/6 (18.

The final result today was match abandoned after the third stoppage for rain left the outfield too treacherous.

Whalley Range were 34-1 after 6 overs (compared to our 32-1 at the same point) so 2 points each seems a fair result.


Tuesday 10^th June 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 304 (112/2 off 16) beat Bramhall Bees 220 (56/9 off 16) by 84 runs – High Peak pair league (

This was a comfortable win again where we outclassed the competition.

Bramhall won the toss and put Mersey in to bat on a sunny evening but on a pitch that was still suffering the after-effects of yesterday’s rain.

After a week 5 break for half-term, it was (initially) back to winning ways for the U12s side, winning five matches (including an extremely dramatic finish) with one abandoned, but the fortnight ended with two defeats as the schedule came back with a vengeance.



Wednesday 4^th June 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 89/6 (16.

Another victory this evening for Mersey against the Bramhall Bees.

After losing another toss, the away side decided to bat first on a green-looking pitch.

Seven bowlers took wickets as Mersey put in a good all-round performance in the field, despite three dropped catches.

The home side batted well initially against a pacy opening attack reaching 33 before the first wicket fell.

Thanks to everyone who helped during this evening’s match and for the families who supported the team.



Friday 6^th June 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 8/2 (2.

Highlights for me tonight were Harrison on a hat-trick and Arjo's direct hit run out.

Boys did really well tonight, dug in on the bowling against a good batting team and had plenty of good batters left for the chase in poor conditions.



Monday 9^th June 2025: Stockport Trinity Topcats 81/9 (16.

A slender win for the Mersey team this evening against the Stockport Trinity Topcats.

The home team won the toss and put Mersey into bat on a lush, green wicket with plenty of moisture about.

Harrison then continued to bat the conditions well, retiring on 25*; at this point Mersey were 55/3 and looking at a solid score of 90-100 on a tricky pitch.

The home side batted confidently to begin with as they accumulated runs at an excellent rate and, despite losing one of their openers to Sam, looked set for a comfortable victory.

Harrison then cleaned bowled two more batters in a superb over (replicating his 2nd over v Brooklands last Friday).

Harrison was magnificent throughout game and Will’s bowling in the final and crucial over was superb.



Tuesday 10^th June 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 111/3 (20) beat Bramhall Bulldogs 68 all out (18.

An excellent win for Mersey against a talented young team from Bramhall.

The away team lost the toss and new captain, Shazil, decided to bat first on the artificial pitch at the Harwood Road.

Despite losing Felix before he got himself in, Younus and Isaac then plundered the attack and with Isaac running and calling exceptionally well (and talking a lot to me).

After a quick break, Shazil decided to put himself on first and immediately took a wicket in his first over, causing the batters lots of problems with his slippery pace and movement.

There was excellent bowling all round, with tight fielding, and great vocal support from all.

The best bowling was from George with a sparkling 3 for 6 off two overs, and there wickets for Shazil, Felix, Zayaan and Puneeth.

A fine all-round performance in the field against a particularly good young Bramhall team (one to watch in the future).


Wednesday 11^th June 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 92/5 (20) beat Didsbury Bears 70 all out (20) by 22 runs – High Peak T20 league (

Another convincing win to move us 12 points clear in our High Peak league and within touching distance of another semi-final.

We didn't lose a wicket until we were on 68 as the boys tried to press on and get us up to 100.

A superb yorker from Gregory took out the dangerous opener, and from then, superb bowling, fielding, and encouragement meant Didsbury was always off the pace.



Thursday 12^th June 2025: Middlewich lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 168/2 (20) by x runs – U12 John North Cup Round 2 (

This was a resounding win for Mersey in this 2nd round U12 cup game away to Middlewich.

At the picturesque Middlewich ground, captain Sam won the toss and decided to bat on a good-looking pitch with a large outfield.

Harrison looked comfortable and the rapid scoring rate continued as Sam came in and the superb running and calling continued as the pair made batting look easy.

Adam, who had been itching to get on, then came in and looked good from the off, reprising his great early season form.

The pair put on 61 off 6.

This was a near faultless batting performance from Mersey as they finished in 168/2 off their 20 overs.

The home side then started their batting innings and Joe produced a scintillating first over as he took two wickets with accurate, quick bowling as every ball posed a threat to the batters.

The home side then dug in until Harrison produced a trademark delivery, hitting the top of off stump, leaving the score at 17/6.

A wonderful performance from Mersey and it is the quarter final up next (opponents and date TBC).



Friday 13^th June 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 120 all out (18.

A tough defeat for a relatively inexperienced Mersey side against a strong Toft 11.

The season was in full swing now, with the weather remaining lovely throughout.
Sunday 11^th May 2025: Wythenshawe 53/5 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 137/6 (20) by 84 runs – South Manchester T20 league (

Another Sunday, another gloriously sunny morning (the exact opposite of the start to last season), and another strong Mersey performance.

Leo and Oliver M opened, our third completely different opening partnership in three matches.

In came Gregory, who could easily have been run out on at least one occasion as the running between the wickets turned circus-like.

After an early four from Gregory, there followed a difficult passage of play for Mersey as Wythenshawe rotated in some stronger bowlers, either pace or leg spin, and Will in particular did very well in fending off the threats, playing very correctly.

Will was unlucky not to be able to capitalise on his hard-fought 8, being bowled by one that kept a bit low (his sensible backfoot play proving his undoing on this occasion).

The visitors struggled to up the scoring against some solid bowling, with Harvey and Evan falling in the 16^th over with the score on 103.

In response, Mersey bowled with metronomic accuracy, giving the home side nothing to hit and bowling very few extras.

They crept along at Test match pace, with Will taking his second (2-1 off his two overs), smartly caught by Gregory at a deepish mid-off, which put them on 20-4 in the 12^th over and an astronomical required rate.

In the end, a comfortable 84-run victory to put us top of the table, but with two trickier fixtures remaining.



Monday 12^th May 2025: Lindow Girls U13s Originals 230 (74/11 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 342 (166/6 off 16) by 112 runs – High Peak pairs league (

The day after the Wythenshawe game in the South Manchester Twenty20 league, Phoenix were immediately playing Lindow’s U13 girls’ team, who we played last season and who were right in the mix (although doubtless some of their U13s last year are now U14s and thus ineligible for U11s boys’ cricket (still with me?

Anyway, we made sure we had a strong team for this rematch and, unfortunately, it turned out that they were relatively inexperienced, but nevertheless they gave it a good go.

Lindow won the toss and elected to field, and George immediately put them under the sword, hitting 7 fours in his innings, including 6 in one over.

Mersey Phoenix finished on a massive 166/6, a net score of 342.

The opposition batted gamely in response, but all the Phoenix bowlers took a wicket, with Emmet taking two.

The bowlers conceded just 13 extras, most of which were byes, so an impressive performance.



Thursday 15^th May 2025: Heaton Mersey Magic 290 (118/7 off 16) lost to Bredbury St Marks 299 (123/6 off 16) by 9 runs – High Peak pairs league (

What a fantastic performance from the Heaton Mersey Magic team tonight.

It was a high scoring and eventful match.

Tom then took a ball to the face when it bounced up high off the hard ground following a potential runout throw.

Bredbury ended on 299, a challenging total for any team.

The Magic team remained confident and there was a great team spirit on the sidelines with lots of encouragement for each batting pair.

Archie and Adam made a great start, with Archie smashing 3 fours and Adam racking up lots of singles.

With a fat lip, the super brave Tom stepped out with Zane in the last pair.



Sunday 18^th May 2025: Bowdon Vale 98/1 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 99/0 (10.

The team out classed the opposition once again.

We made the batting looking easy with George and Leo taking multiple 4s and George with a stunning 6, both retired, followed by Will and Gregory to finish them off.

We just looked slick and controlled and Captain Sam was on fire with their scorer even complementing the quality of our keeper.

Great game to watch even though they made it look far too easy!

After one win in the first four games, Heaton Mersey U12s upped their game in the second fortnight, winning the next four.
Friday 16^th May 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 130/7 (20) beat Ashton-on-Mersey 106/8 by 24 runs –South Manchester T20 league (

A much needed win against another strong team last night.

Conditions were perfect for batting, and Ashton came out firing.



Tuesday 20^th May 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 122/6 (17.

What a result for Mersey this evening.

Captain Stan won the toss and elected to field.

Shazil’s opening two overs were laser beam accurate.

But after the first wicket fell (a safe catch by Shazil off the bowling of Zayaan), the big hitters arrived at the crease and Lindow’s scoring rate cranked up a notch.

A wicket for Younus, two for Zayaan (including a peach of an lbw), and another for Stan, along with some solid overs from Albert, Puneeth and James, made it 121-6 at the end of twenty overs.

Some negative onlookers from afar wondered whether 122 was really chaseable (Rich, I’m looking at you) but in the end the Phoenix made it look easy.

George played a key role, nonchalantly smashing it around the park for thirteen, before Younus and Puneeth came to the crease.

The winning run came from a wide which was a little anticlimactic, but the job was done.



Wednesday 21^st May 2025: Macclesfield 43 all out (12.

A comprehensive victory this evening for Mersey against a callow home team.

Captain Stan won the toss and elected to field in his customary fashion.

Younus then bowled his best-ever over, taking three wickets, all cleaned bowled, again with a fuller length.

Stan and Isaac then knocked off the modest target of 44 runs in double-quick time off only 5.

Two wins on consecutive days for the squad with improving performances and much better fielding, fuller and straighter bowling and canny batting.



Friday 23^rd May 2025: Sale 96/7 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 100/6 (14.

A solid victory this evening for Mersey away at Sale.

Mersey bowled well from the start with the opening pair of Joseph and Felix bowling a beautiful line and length making scoring difficult.

Our new recruit, Naeem, then bowled a superb couple of overs, conquering his nerves and was unlucky not to take wicket.

Mersey started their batting and from the outset scored at a healthy run-rate of 6 to 7 runs per over.

Top scorers: Sam with 18 off 11 balls, Isaac with 17 off 18 balls and Felix with 15 off 22 balls.

U13s vs Macclesfield in Vitality T20 national competition

Tue, 20 May 2025 19:11:00 +0000

Heaton Mersey U13s delivered an outstanding all-round performance in the first round of the Vitality T20 national competition, showcasing resilience and skill despite being down to 10 players.
The bowling attack was fierce, with Lewis and Seamus opening brilliantly and taking early wickets.
The moment of the match?
Every player played a crucial role, whether with the bat, ball, or in the field, making this a true team performance and a showcase of Heaton Mersey U13s at their best.

U11s - the first fortnight - match summaries

Sat, 17 May 2025 13:39:00 +0000

We were into action on with a Twenty20 match on the first Sunday, having managed to squeeze in one Friday training session beforehand.



Sunday 27^th April 2025: Didsbury Tigers 50/9 (20) lost to Heaton Mersey Phoenix 123/4 (20) by 73 runs – South Manchester league T20 (

A resounding victory for Mersey in the first game of the season.
The away side won the toss and captain Will decide to bat first on a pristine-looking pitch in glorious spring sunshine.

Some lovely strokeplay by Thomas in particular resulted in seven boundaries from the pair and put the home side on the back foot.

Top scorers were Gregory, with 26 not out (off 20 balls) including 4 fours, Thomas L, with 25 not out (off 30 balls) including 4 fours, and Charlie, with 21 not out (off 19 balls) with 2 boundaries.

The home side then batted and were immediately blitzed by Gregory’s fast and accurate bowling with two wickets in his first two overs (and in fact in two successive balls in his first over, securing two golden ducks).

A superb victory for Mersey against a traditionally formidable opponent (albeit it wasn’t their full-strength team) in this competition, which is considered the strongest in this age group.

Friday 2^nd May 2025: Woodford 235 (67/8 off 16) lost to Heaton Mersey Magic 256 (84/7 off 16) by 21 runs – High Peak league pairs (

A fantastic opening match of the season saw Mersey Magic U11 take a well-deserved away victory against Woodford on a beautiful Friday evening.

Winning the coin toss, Mersey elected to bowl first and what a fantastic first over by match captain Zane it was, bowling five dots and taking a wicket, helped by fearless wicket-keeping by Charlie, who allowed no bowls to pass his trusty hands.

Partnering Zane, debutant Paddy took a wicket which settled his nerves.

Harry and Tom partnered magnificently, taking three wickets as a pair and providing a maiden over.

To back up the solid bowling performance, Woodford were provided very few extras from Mersey with no overthrows and only a handful of byes.

It didn't take Mersey long to manufacture the glorious sound of knocking Willow, with plenty of entertainment provided to the travelling fans who in turn showed their support and encouragement in applause.

Mersey used their experience well and supplemented the batting by crafting runs from Woodford fielding errors.



Friday 2^nd May 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 300 (108/2 off 16) beat North East Cheshire Hurricanes 251 (83/8 off 16) by 49 runs – High Peak league pairs (

A classic chaotic Friday of softball cricket training waves, loud music blaring, and parents focusing on drinking while their kids run riot, having scant regard for the boundary of the hard ball game that Mersey Phoenix were playing.

Anyway, it was Phoenix’s first game of the High Peak league as we aim to defend our title (one of four teams we have trying for this across the two year groups).

The visitors’ second pair were more dominating, helped by four overthrows and a dropped catch (symptomatic of some sloppy fielding throughout by Phoenix), putting on 34 without losing a wicket.

That left NEC on 79/7 (boosted by their batsmen’s excellent running between the wickets), equivalent to a net score of 251.

There was only one other wicket lost (a run-out), with the standout being Jake’s 24 off just 11 balls, including 5 fours, with some sumptuous timing through midwicket in particular.


Sunday 4^th May 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 141/4 (20) beat Cheadle 43 all out (15.

A second convincing win and fantastic team performance in this league.

The away side were a player short but won the toss and elected to field.

In the field, Mersey were excellent, with great communication, stops and catches supporting the bowlers who all got through their overs incredibly economically.

A pleasure to watch, well done Mersey.


Tuesday 6^th May 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 330 (150/5 off 16) beat Alderley Edge 252 (96/11 off 16) by 78 runs – High Peak league pairs (

We gathered once more at Green Lane for the latest in the series of “starting off pleasant, ending up freezing” evenings.

A random 11-year-old called Sam, who had been practicing lacrosse, offered to be a spare fielder (he said he was a Cheshire player), and the opposition were fine with this.

Anyway, the actual action.

Gregory then bowled tightly and Matty a little erratically, but both picked up a wicket, before Thomas put on a star show for the final pairing.

But it needn’t have mattered as Thomas bowled with unerring accuracy, hitting the stumps three times in his first over and a fourth time in his second.

Whether it would be a challenging target was answered emphatically by George, who smashed an astonishing drive over cover off his first ball, and the second of the innings.

Leo continued the momentum, with a number of boundaries behind square (one inches away from reaching it on the full), using the bounce and pace of the bowlers.

Gregory partnered Matty and the running instantly became more entertaining, with Matty casually jogging runs or standing steadfast at one end.

Our own Sam (White) had turned up to watch and the opposition were perfectly happy for him to take the last pair with Thomas.

The opposition, it must be said, were a pleasure to play against, and were, as can be seen from the above, very accommodating throughout.



Wednesday 7^th May 2025: Heaton Mersey Magic 218 (70/13 off 16) lost to Bramhall Bees 273 (97/6 off 16) by 55 runs – High Peak league pairs (

Unfortunately, Magic lost to Bramhall tonight, with Magic scoring 70/13 (net score 218) and Bramhall 97/6 (273).

In contrast to last season, dry weather was prevalent in the first fortnight of the cricket season.



Friday 25^th April 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 65/6 (20) lost to Whalley Range Lions 155/2 (20) by 90 runs – South Manchester league T20 (

A heavy defeat in the 1st game of the season for Mersey Phoenix.

The home side lost the toss and the visitors decided to bat at the Harwood Road ground.

The home side then batted and Whalley Range’s pace attack was relentless as the scoring rate was slow despite solid defensive work by the opening pair Billy and Younus.

So, a comprehensive defeat for the home side against a superb Whalley Range side.



Friday 25^th April 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix vs Bramhall Bulldogs (conceded) – High Peak league T20 (

The opposition were unable to field a team and so they conceded this fixture.



Friday 2^nd May 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 90/5 (20) lost to Urmston Reds 110/5 (20) by 20 runs – South Manchester league T20 (

The home side lost the toss and the visitors decided to bat first.

The away side looked set for a score of under 100 but had a strong last over to reach 110/2 off their 20 overs.

Batting proved tricky for Mersey against a strong opening attack from Urmston.

A much-improved performance by Mersey compared to last Friday.



Thursday 8^th May 2025: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 122 all out (19.

Sale won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Sale CC started well despite a couple of quick wickets, one each to Issac and Stan.

One wicket each to Sam, Shazil, George and Zayaan, and two to Monty off consecutive balls, meant Sale got bowled out for 92 in 17.



Friday 9^th May 2025: Didsbury Bulls 101/7 (18.

The home side won the toss and decided to put Mersey in to bat on a bouncy track.

Didsbury started their batting with solid defence and well-timed square drives before Stan made the breakthrough in the 5th over.

The atmosphere changed during this period as the sun set with the crowd enjoying this epic contest.

Having joined forces with the year below last season, this year’s U12s will be back to being the younger group in their two-year age grouping, playing largely in U13s competitions.



2024 season recap

It was another successful season for the U12s (as U11s) last year (in combination with the U11s, who of course were then U10s – keeping up?

Whilst the High Peak victories above were generally secured by outstanding performance by the U12s, this was even more so in the Cheshire league, a tougher league, particularly in the knock-out stages.

Meanwhile, in the South Manchester league, proper Twenty20 cricket, Mersey finished mid-table in the first league, moving into the second division, which they then won.

For the summer competitions, the U11s finished top of the South Manchester summer cup division on net run rate, losing in the semi-final, and 3^rd in the High Peak summer competition.

For the end-of-year presentation, the awards were as follows:

Best batter: Sam

Best bowler: Stan

Players’ player: Zayaan

Coaches’ player: Felix

Best fielder: James

Spirit of cricket: Arjo



2025 season preview

Having joined forces with the year above last season, this year’s U11s will be the older group in their two-year age grouping, although there will no doubt be some crossover with the new U10s (last year’s U9s).



2024 season recap

It was another successful season for the U11s (as U10s) last year (in combination with the U12s, who of course were then U11s – keeping up?

In the Cheshire league, a tougher league, Mersey had more of the then-U11s playing in each match, but the then-U10s did provide some support, particularly in the league stages.

Meanwhile, in the South Manchester league, proper Twenty20 cricket, Mersey finished mid-table in the first league, moving into the second division, which they then won.

The summer competitions were a bit of an anti-climax, not helped by the weather.

For the presentation, the awards were as follows:

Best batter: Will

Best bowler: Gregory

Players’ player: George

Coaches’ player: Charlie

Best fielder: Sam W

Most improved: Harvey



2025 season preview

The U11s will be entering three teams into the leagues in 2025, two in the High Peak league (8-a-side pairs) and one in the South Manchester league (proper Twenty20, i.

U10s / U11s – a Magical mystery tour

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 19:55:00 +0000

It was an impressive season for both of the Heaton Mersey teams entered into the High Peak league, Magic and Phoenix.



Game 1:

9/5: Magic 324 (140/4 off 16.

We had a mixture of U10s and U11s to go with and early season anxiety led to us going with 5 U11s (boosted by a last-minute U10 drop-out).



Game 2:
5/6: Magic 254 (70/4 off 16) beat Alderley Edge 253 (81/7 off 16) by 1 run – High Peak league pairs (It was, however, far from comfortable in Magic’s next match again Alderley Edge.



Game 3:

19/6: Lindow Girls U13 Thunder 234 (78/11 off 16) lost to Magic 261 (85/6 off 16) by 27 runs – High Peak league pairs (

Steady batting throughout followed by three sixes from Sam H (including one which had people ducking for cover in the pavilion) gave a typically par score target for the U13 girls’ team from Lindow, who had also started well.


Game 4:

25/6: Mellor 219 (63/11 off 16) lost to Magic 287 (103/4 off 16) by 68 runs – High Peak league pairs (

This was a mismatch reminiscent of the Langley match, despite it being an even mix of U10s and U11s against an entirely U11s side.



Game 5:

27/6: Magic 234 (82/12 off 16) lost to Macclesfield Silks 310 (134/6 off 16) by 76 runs – High Peak league pairs (

Our sole defeat in the competition was another very one-sided affair.

Game 6:

28/6: Magic 287 (107/5 off 16) beat Stockport Trinity 260 (104/11 off 16) by 27 runs – High Peak league pairs (

Straight back on the, er, horse, we had another match the next day against Stockport Trinity.



Game 7:

2/7: Magic 323 (135/3 off 16) beat Cheadle Hulme ONE 264 (108/11 off 16) by 59 runs – High Peak league pairs (

The early season rain had back-end loaded our High Peak league season culminating in two matches in the same night, testing our strength in depth.



Game 8:

2/7: Magic 303 (127/6 off 16) beat Woodford 248 (120/18 off 16) by 55 runs – High Peak league pairs (

On the other side of the square, Magic faced Woodford and it was a similarly one-sided story that eased any nerves.

The two wins in the evening had secured Magic top place in the league and a (hopefully) more favourable quarter-final draw…



Quarter-final:

9/7: Magic 289 (97/2 off 16) beat Cheadle Hulme TWO 234 (82/12 off 16) by 55 runs – High Peak league pairs: quarter-final play-off (

We put a strong team forward for the quarter-finals, but still made sure to include three U10s.



Semi-final:

18/7: Magic 314 (138/6 off 16) beat Heaton Mersey Phoenix 279 (91/3 off 16) by 35 runs – High Peak league pairs: semi-final play-off (

With Phoenix getting through to the play-off matches, having also won their group, and won their quarter-final, then the Mersey sides would come up against each other in either the semis or the final (if they both won), and it turned out to be the semis, which was probably for the best to avoid an anti-climactic final.



Final:

21/7: Lindow Blue 270 (90/5 off 16) lost to Magic 320 (128/2 off 16) by 50 runs – High Peak league pairs: final play-off (

The final took us to Lindow for an effective away match, and the no-show of Shazil prompted the drafting of Charlie at the last minute, giving the 5:3 U11s to U10s split that had been favoured in the quarter-final.

And with that, we were champions for a third successive year.
With limited availability and no training, there were some “summer holiday performances” on show, and some opponent no-shows (Wythenshawe conceded and the match against Woodford was postponed).



Wednesday 31^st July 2024: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 266 (94/7 off 16) beat Cheadle 219 (59/10 off 16) by 47 runs – High Peak summer competition pairs (

Under blue skies and a warm July sun, it was a perfect evening for cricket.

Mersey lost the toss and were sent into the field.

All the boys bowled nicely with very few runs or extras conceded (only two wides and a single no ball in the whole innings).

Cheadle ended on a net score of 219 (259 gross).

You always fancied Mersey to chase this down, and they did so with ease.

What was especially nice to see was that all the boys kept cool heads in what proved to be a tempestuous second innings.



Friday 2^nd August 2024: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 229 (61/8 off 10.

The match against Bramhall was abandoned today after torrential rain cut short our chase, which was looking a little unlikely.


Friday 9^th August 2024: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 271 (99/7 off 16) lost to Didsbury Leopards 272 (92/5 off 16) by 1 run – High Peak summer competition pairs (

For the first 20 minutes of this one, nothing happened.

Eventually it was time to face the music.

Adam won the toss and decided we’d have a bat, presumably thinking that bowling second in the dark would be an advantage.

When three wickets fell in the first over, this decision looked to be backfiring, as the skiddy artificial track benefitted Didsbury’s opening bowler.

The final total of 99/7 could, and should, have been at least 10 runs higher if the boys had pushed harder to turn the singles into twos.

Didsbury’s response saw the scoreboard tick up, always at the required rate, but never getting too far ahead.

As the match entered the final 4 overs, Didsbury looked favourites after a solid performance from their third pair.

Overall, Didsbury probably did enough to edge it, but with a bit of running practice, and some slightly tighter fielding, it could have been a different story.



Friday 9^th August 2024: Lindow White 303 (119/4 off 16) beat Heaton Mersey Phoenix 273 (97/6 off 16) by 30 runs – High Peak summer competition pairs (

A 30 run defeat at Lindow effectively ends the summer cup for us.

Dropped catches, overthrows and many misfields meant several boys had figures that didn't reflect their efforts with the ball, though.



Sunday 11^th August: Bowdon 104/1 off 15.

We were well beaten by a much more experienced Bowdon side in the South Manchester Cup today.

Bowdon never looked in trouble with only one wicket falling to Stan, although there were good efforts behind the stumps from Jesse and Finlay.

Except that, by virtue of net run rate, having beaten Urmston more heavily than we lost to Bowdon, we ended up topping the group and making it to the T20 finals day, lining up against Didsbury.
We also received a trophy for winning the With limited availability and no training, there were some “summer holiday performances” on show, and some opponent no-shows (Wythenshawe conceded and the match against Woodford was postponed).



Wednesday 31^st July 2024: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 266 (94/7 off 16) beat Cheadle 219 (59/10 off 16) by 47 runs – High Peak summer competition pairs (

Under blue skies and a warm July sun, it was a perfect evening for cricket.

Mersey lost the toss and were sent into the field.

All the boys bowled nicely with very few runs or extras conceded (only two wides and a single no ball in the whole innings).

Cheadle ended on a net score of 219 (259 gross).

You always fancied Mersey to chase this down, and they did so with ease.

What was especially nice to see was that all the boys kept cool heads in what proved to be a tempestuous second innings.



Friday 2^nd August 2024: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 229 (61/8 off 10.

The match against Bramhall was abandoned today after torrential rain cut short our chase, which was looking a little unlikely.


Friday 9^th August 2024: Heaton Mersey Phoenix 271 (99/7 off 16) lost to Didsbury Leopards 272 (92/5 off 16) by 1 run – High Peak summer competition pairs (

For the first 20 minutes of this one, nothing happened.

Eventually it was time to face the music.

Adam won the toss and decided we’d have a bat, presumably thinking that bowling second in the dark would be an advantage.

When three wickets fell in the first over, this decision looked to be backfiring, as the skiddy artificial track benefitted Didsbury’s opening bowler.

The final total of 99/7 could, and should, have been at least 10 runs higher if the boys had pushed harder to turn the singles into twos.

Didsbury’s response saw the scoreboard tick up, always at the required rate, but never getting too far ahead.

As the match entered the final 4 overs, Didsbury looked favourites after a solid performance from their third pair.

Overall, Didsbury probably did enough to edge it, but with a bit of running practice, and some slightly tighter fielding, it could have been a different story.



Friday 9^th August 2024: Lindow White 303 (119/4 off 16) beat Heaton Mersey Phoenix 273 (97/6 off 16) by 30 runs – High Peak summer competition pairs (

A 30 run defeat at Lindow effectively ends the summer cup for us.

Dropped catches, overthrows and many misfields meant several boys had figures that didn't reflect their efforts with the ball, though.



Sunday 11^th August: Bowdon 104/1 off 15.

We were well beaten by a much more experienced Bowdon side in the South Manchester Cup today.

Bowdon never looked in trouble with only one wicket falling to Stan, although there were good efforts behind the stumps from Jesse and Finlay.
We also received a trophy for winning the

Heaton Mersey Cricket Club

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U11s - weeks 8 & 9 - match summaries

U11s - weeks 5 to 7 - match summaries

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U11s - the first fortnight - match summaries

U10s / U11s – a Magical mystery tour