July 2026

Cheshire County Cricket League Division 3 Ashton on Mersey CC 1st XI 107 all out Lost to Hale Barns CC 1st XI 140 all out Ashton fell to a disappointing defeat at promotion rivals Hale Barns, on a day when the ball dominated the bat. Losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, Ashton took early control as some keen bowling and fine catching saw the hosts lose both openers cheaply. A fine 50 partnership between Matt Spells and Khurram Hussain seized back the initiative for Hale Barns but when Charlie Eaton removed both batters the rest of the home batting struggled to cope with the Ashton attack. At the halfway point Ashton looked in the box seat, having dismissed Hale Barns for 140m which looked well below par. But after a bright start in search of the target, the Ashton batting faltered. Some poor shot selection gifted wickets to the home attack and the middle order collapsed. A late flurry from Shasvat Kakkar and a typically gutsy effort from Mark Weighill gave a glimmer of hope but in the end Ashton fell 33 runs short of what looked to be a modest target. This was a poor performance from a team which is far better than the result suggests and they will be looking to get back on track next week when they travel to another title rival, Heaton Mersey. The 2nd XI recorded a fine victory at The Beets over Heaton Mersey, Ashton 231-8 ( Saeed Bhamjee 61, Finn Coburn 43) Heaton Mersey 169 all out Max Lilley 4-33) The 3rd XI continued their fine season with victory over Stockport Georgians. Ashton 212-6 (Chirag Tapal 54, Vivek Tharaken 51) Stockport Georgians 131 all out (Ashish Gupta 3-29) The 4th XI won a tight contest at home against Hale Barns. Ashton 247-9 (Tom Cutler 102) Hale Barns 236 all out (Junaid Iqbal 106) Pictured Dave Patterson appeals  Mark Weighill batssea