Macca Hooton bats
Cheshire County Cricket League Div 2
Ashton on Mersey CC 1st XI 267-9
Drew with
Bollington CC 1st XI 250-9
Ashton on Mersey continued their recovery from a poor start to the season, having the better of a high scoring draw with Bollington at The Beets.
Losing the toss and being asked to bat first on a surface which had a touch of green, Ashton were soon in trouble as the opening bowlers reduced the home side to 16-3.
But Macca Hooton stayed firm to lead Ashton’s counterattack. Supported by a sensible innings from Noman Ghous, Hooton played with freedom to take the total beyond 100 before Ghous departed.
Hooton was joined by Akash Patel and between them they unleashed an assault on the Bollington bowling which saw Hooton cruise to a splendid century as the pair posted a 93-run partnership.
Hooton finally fell for a superb 121, leaving Patel to lead the push for runs with the lower order.
Patel eventually went for a well-made 72, after which the tail wagged to take the final Ashton score to an impressive 267.
The bowling honours went to Toby Phipps, who finished with 5-79
In reply, Bollington’s opening bats started confidently with Harri Dickinson and Ross Duncan putting on a century partnership for the first wicket.
The match turning moment came with the introduction of spinner Sam Thorburn, who removed both Dickinson and Duncan before troubling all the Bollington middle order.
The visitors kept in the hunt with Theo Johnson hitting out at anything loose, but Ashton continued to chip away at the batting line up, with Mark Weighill grabbing 3 wickets with his spin.
Ashton pushed for victory as the ninth wicket fell but on a pitch which had dried out into a fine batting surface, Bollington held on the prevent the home side from recording maximum points.
Sam Thoburn bowls
Thoburn was the clear star performer with the ball, finishing with 5-66.
Ashton will be disappointed not to have grabbed the win, but they will have been satisfied to see a continued improvement to their performance, which they will hope to repeat when they welcome Hale Barns to the Beets in the next round of league matches.
The Ashton 2nd XI stormed to a huge victory at Davenham. Ashton 244-3 dec (Farhan Ghous 100, Charlie Eaton 53 no, Asim Khan 50), Davenham 78 all out (Lee Heap 3-15, Yousuf Bhamjee 3-16).
The Ashton 3rd XI made it a fine weekend by defeating Didsbury. Didsbury 195-9 (Will Wood 45, Mike Renison 41, Ben Brazendale 3-46) Ashton 197-6 (Saad Alam 71, Jack Prince 5-61).
