Cricket News

Cheshire County Cricket League Division 2 Ashton on Mersey CC 1st XI 149 Lost to Ashley CC 1st XI 175 Ashton on Mersey’s difficult season continued as they fell to defeat at Ashley. Losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, the Ashton attack had little luck in the opening overs, as the home batters took advantage of anything loose. Wickets failed to stem the run rate and with mishits falling safe and hard chances not being taken, the score mounted.  The Ashton bowlers stuck to the task and with James Marshall taking out the middle order, Ashton restricted the Ashley total to 175. Marshall finished with fine figures of 4-33. In reply Ashton lost two early wickets to the impressive Pierz Cyster, but Hugh Gibbons and James Lines looked at ease as they built the reply. But with when Gibbons was run out when Cyster kicked the ball onto his stumps, the pressure came back onto the Ashton batting.  Lines looked to anchor the innings, and with support from Charlie Eaton hope remained. But with the pitch providing increasing help for the Ashley spinners, both Lines and Eaton departed and despite some hitting from Marshall the Ashton effort fell 26 runs short. This was a better performance from Ashton although there is still much work to do to reach the level which the players are capable of delivering. The Ashton 2nd XI had a comfortable win against Oakmere at The Beets. Ashton 265-8 (Sam Thoburn 87 not out ) Oakmere 142 all out. Ashton’s 3rd XI lost in a rain reduced game against Elworth. Ashton 100 all out (Aarish Aarish 5-21) Elworth 89-6 (Zach Roberts 5-17) Elworth won by reaching a revised target. Pictured Fraser Hay Bowls James Lines bats

Cheshire County Cricket League Division 2 Ashton on Mersey CC 1st XI 77 all out Lost to Christleton CC 1st XI 237-8 Ashton on Mersey’s challenging season continued as they fell to a heavy defeat against Christleton at The Beets. Losing the toss and being asked to bowl first, Ashton’s opening attack failed to make the most of the early help that the pitch offered. The Christleton batters played steadily whilst making the most of the far too frequent poor balls bowled by the home team. Only spinners Zaheer Khan and Mark Weighill showed any sort of control, with the pair getting reward for their efforts, taking five wickets between them. Darcy Graham was the batting star with a well-made 66, although in common with his teammates he benefited from several dropped catches as the Ashton fielding effort fell below the standard they set in the previous weeks. The Christleton total of 237 looked slightly above par although with a strong batting lineup on paper, Ashton would have been looking forward to the run chase. But the game is not played on paper, and what followed was another crumbling batting display. After a reasonable start, Ashton collapsed from 37-2 to 77 all out, with a mixture of cavalier shots, good bowling and fine out-cricket proving the undoing of the home side. This result leaves Ashton at the foot of the table and they can have no complaints given their inability to bat to the required standard over the past few weeks. The 2nd XI also lost, although they put up a good fight against a strong Alderley Edge side. Ashton 186-9 (Tom Scott 85) Alderley Edge 190-4 (Johnathan Steele 53) The 3rd team made it an unfortunate triple as they were beaten at Hyde. Ashton 96 all out (Yousuf Bhamjee 44) Hyde 100-5. Pictured Hugh Gibbons bats Mark Weighill executes a run out