Match Reports

Cheshire County Cricket League Division 2 Ashton on Mersey CC 1st XI 168-9 Lost to Alvanley CC 1st XI 170-3 Top image: Macca Hooton bats Ashton on Mersey fell to defeat on the road at promotion chasing Alvanley, on a day when news of Ashton’s safety from relegation tempered the impact of the loss. Asked to bat first on a pitch which offered early help for the seamers, Ashton battled to cope with some accurate home bowling. Ashton’s season-long history of being on the wrong side of marginal decisions continued but with contributions from Macca Hooton, Fraser Hay, Jack Cumersdale and Dave Patterson, Ashton managed to post a respectable, if under par, total of 168-9. In reply Alvanley got off to a flyer as Jono Whitely attacked the bowling from the start. With Ashton hampered by injuries to their seam attack, it fell to the spinners to pull things back, and Zaheer Khan and Yousuf Bhamjee delivered. Bowling tightly and taking a wicket apiece, the spinners reduced Alvanley to 59-3 with runs drying up. But Alex Reid and Simon Gee played sensible cricket to ride out the storm and move the home side to within sight of victory. The pair saw the task through as Gee completed a fine half century in an unbeaten 111 run partnership which saw Alvanley keep up their promotion push. Ashton have been ill treated by the cricket Gods this year and it would have been harsh had they been relegated on the back of their efforts. With safety confirmed they look forward to enjoying the final weekend of the season. The 2nd XI just fell short in a run chase at The Beets against Maritime. Maritime 186 all out (Dhanura Kananke Ge 57, Max Lilley 4-37) Ashton 169 all out (Bilal Anwar 4-23) Ashton’s 3rd XI finished their season with a loss at Cheadle. Ashton 185 all out (Tom Stockton 48) Cheadle 187-4 ( Sairam Subbiah 67) Zaheer Khan bowls

Cheshire County Cricket League Div 2 Ashton on Mersey CC 1st XI 83 all out Lost to Maritime CC 1st XI 294 all out Kris Green Bowling Ashton on Mersey fell to a heavy defeat to an impressive Maritime side at The Beets. Choosing to bat first, Maritime shrugged off the loss of an early wicket to attack the Ashton bowling at every opportunity. Batting with a freedom based on the confidence their League form had earned, the Maritime top order struck the ball cleanly and ran purposefully to keep the scoreboard ticking. The strength of the Maritime side was their depth of batting, proven by the fact that whilst no player scored more than 43, seven players recorded scores in the 20s, 30s and 40s, all at a high strike rate. The only Ashton bowlers who kept a lid on things were Zaheer Khan (2-37) and Kris Green (3-38) but even they could not stop the Maritime juggernaut racking up a mammoth 294. In reply, Ashton found the Maritime bowling and fielding of a similar high standard. A shell shocked Ashton lineup had no response to the excellence of the Maritime side, the innings crumbling to 83 all out. Maritime are by far the best side faced by Ashton this season and whilst the defeat leaves them in deep trouble in the League, there was little they could do on the day but applaud their title chasing opponents. Ashton’s 2nd XI also lost, away at Congleton. Congleton 152 all-out (Max Lilley 5-13) Ashton 117 all out. The Ashton 3rd XI could not lighten the gloom as they lost at Ashley. Ashley 189 ( Mohammed Zaman 57) Ashton 157 all out. Zaheer Khan bowl

Cheshire County Cricket League Division 2 Ashton on Mersey CC 1st XI 151 all out Lost to Congleton CC 1st XI 158 all out Yousuf Bhamjee bowls For the second week in a row Ashton on Mersey fell agonisingly short in their run chase, this time away at Congleton. Choosing to bowl first on a poor batting surface with huge variable bounce, Ashton found the hosts in dogged mood as the top order batters ground out runs in the opening overs. Only the excellent Meet Solanki seemed at home at the crease but even he struggled to bat fluently. Ashton’s spinners worked through the Congleton middle order with Yousuf Bhamjee being the pick of the crop. Only some long handled hitting from tail-enders Guy Baxendale and Sean Cardell saw the total move towards respectability, and this last wicket partnership of 28 proved crucial to the game’s outcome. Bhamjee finished with 3-26 with Ed Faulkner backing him up with 3-43. In reply the Ashton batters struggled to come to terms with the conditions, finding themselves in deep trouble at 62-6. Dave Patterson and James Marshall steadied the ship with a grafting partnership of 48, but when Patterson was run out the game was in the balance. Marshall worked hard to bring the target within sight but when he was adjudged lbw with the score on 138 the task looked beyond the visitors. But a fine last wicket effort from Kris Green and Zaheer Khan took the total to within 9 runs of victory before a final ball kept low to dismiss Green. Ashton can be proud of their efforts over the past few weeks with several decisions not going their way. They will be looking to show how good a side they are in the final weeks of the season. Ashton’s 2nd XI kept their good run going with a fine win over Stockport at The Beets Ashton 228 all out (Ryan Carey 75, Suhan Shetty 68) Stockport 68 all out (Sam Thoburn 4-36). The 3rd XI lost at home to Bramhall. Bramhall 244-6 (James Day 88) Ashton 109 all out (Abid Noor 4-21) James Marshall bats