Author name: Ian Roberts

Cheshire County Cricket League Division 3 Ashton on Mersey CC 1st XI 200-7 Beat Middlewich CC 1st XI 198 all out Ashton on Mersey remained top of the table after a hard-fought win against a battling Middlewich side at The Beets. Losing the toss and being asked to bowl first on a sweltering day, Ashton found their guests in a belligerent mood with the bat, as the early overs saw numerous boundaries being hit. But there was an element of luck in this approach and wickets soon began to fall. At 97-5 the innings could have imploded, but George Oakes produced a fine knock of 81 to steer the Middlewich ship through a tricky period. The innings could have grown further but Charlie Eaton stepped up to destroy the rest of the batting with a five wicket haul including a rare all bowled hat-trick. Eaton finished with figures of 5-40 as Middlewich were bowled out for 198, somewhat below par on a fine batting surface with a lightning quick outfield. In reply Ashton started well with opening partners Tom Scott and Saeed Bhamjee putting on 46 before Bhamjee fell. Another fine partnership between Scott and Harris Yassin took the score to 122, with Ashton looking in full control. But when Yassin went it heralded a clatter of wickets, reducing Ashton to 136-6. With nerves jangling, skipper James Marshall steadied matters with a calm knock, and despite losing Scott for an excellent 83, Marshall and Dave Patterson brought home the win by three wickets with 6 overs to spare. The win was hard won and Ashton will need to cut out some of the errors which made this one tighter than it should have been, as they welcome Warrington to The Beets next week. Ashton’s 2nd team recorded a fine win away at Haslington. Ashton 296-7 (Mike Roberts 124, Sam Thozer 85) Haslington 142 all out (Ryan Carey 5-27) The Ashton 3rd XI continued their excellent season with a 106 run win away at Davenham. Ashton 229-4 (Nitin Kakulde 61, Mohit Gupta 56) Davenham 123 all out. The Ashton 4th Team made it a clean sweep on weekend wins as they got home in a high scoring game at home against Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge. Ashton 235-8 (Finn Coburn 102, Steve Mckinney 59) Cheadle Hulme Ladybridge 179 all out (Ian Lawlor 81, Keon Taleb 5-22, Jack McHugh 4-17)  Pictured Tom Scott bats Charlie Eaton takes one of his hat-trick wickets 

Cheshire County Cricket League Division 3 Ashton on Mersey CC 1st XI 205-6 Beat Heaton Mersey CC 1st XI 200 all out Ashton returned to the head of the Division after they came out on top of a titanic, nerve shredding clash at Heaton Mersey. Batting first Ashton started well, with the new opening partnership of Tom Scott and Saeed Bhamjee seeing off the new ball. Harris Yassin kept up the batting momentum and at 135-3 Ashton looked poised to post a substantial score. But the home side fought back to take three quick wickets as the Ashton effort stalled. It was left to skipper James Marshall and keeper James Newton to put together an unbeaten 62 run partnership which allowed Ashton to set a target of 205. The Heaton reply began in dramatic fashion as Charles Erasmus took two wickets in his first over. A spilled catch prevented an even better start for Ashton and Heaton rebuilt thanks to Daniel Ahmed and the ever-threatening Ibrar Latif. The pair cruised to a 50 partnership before Marshall beat Latif’s defence to trap him lbw for 37. Any hopes of a batting collapse faded as Ahmed, Muhammad Ali and Nachiket Verlekar batted sensibly to bring the target within range. At 181-6 with overs to spare, the home side looked firm favourites, but Ashton dug deep to battle back into the match. A brilliant boundary catch by Charlie Eaton and some fine bowling from Charles Erasmus left the home side needing 7 runs to win when the 9th wicket fell. A run later, Kris Green burst through the defence of last man Daniel Heasley to leave the hosts stunned as Ashton claimed the win. Erasmus took the bowling honours with 4-40. This was a great game of cricket which saw Ashton at their best. A team in the truest sense of the word, they are now well placed to push on with their promotion bid in the second half of the season. Ashton’s 2nd team fell to a heavy defeat at home to Urmston. Urmston 264-5 (Ishaan Devaramani 74 not out) Ashton 107-9 (Craig Wilson 5-29) Ashton’s 3rd team continued their great season with a demolition of Christleton at The Beets. Ashton 274-4 (Mo Shadaan 113, Vivek Tharaken 103) Christleton 28 all out. Ashton’s 4th XI went down to a heavy defeat at Heaton Mersey. Ashton 91 all out, Heaton Mersey 93-4. Pictured James Newton Bats  Charles Erasmus bowls

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