Weekend

The Weekend Report… A series of stop start matches for the seniors over the weekend as we were reminded that rain does fall during the English summer. The 1s produced one of their better performances of the season to overcome Haslington at the Beets. Winning the toss (in itself a rarity this season) allowed us to bowl first and Tai Khan rose to the occasion to deliver one of the best new ball spells seen at the Beets in many months. His 4 wicket haul broke the back of the visitors batting effort and with Zaheer Khan also taking 4, it looked like our guests were heading for a low score. But some late order hitting helped them reach a respectable total of 170 despite some fine fielding and catching by the Ashton XI. A reduced target of 145 after breaks in play was easily reached as Dave Patterson and James Lines got us off to a flyer, leaving it to Haris Yassin to take us over the line with a classy unbeaten 50. The win still leaves us at the foot of the table but the candle of hope still burns for those of us who dream! The 2s came up short on their trip to Haslington. Batting first Ashton delivered a consistent effort, with contributions from Sam Thozer, Ryan Carey, Suhan Shetty and Will Kane, but no-one could go on to build a decisive innings and the total of 179 felt a little below par. And so it proved as the home team got to their reduced target of 165 thanks to an unbeaten 66 from Will Dale. The result leaves the 2s in mid-table with still plenty to play for in the coming weeks. The 3s lost another rain interrupted game at Bowdon. The hosts batted first and despite 3 wickets for Steve Abell they topped the 200 mark thanks to 87 from Piyush Kumar and 54 from Sulaiman Anis. In reply Tom Stockton led the way but when he was run out for 33 we struggled to keep up with the run rate as wickets fell. The innings closed on 106-7 with the game once again giving our developing players more experience of life at this level.

Another disappointing Saturday for the 1s as the batting demons returned to haunt us on the road at Stockport. But we saw a fine display by the 2s who demolished Port Sunlight at The Beets. The 1s remain firmly rooted to the foot of the table after a day to forget at Stockport. Being asked to bat first, Haris Yassin and Fraser Hay seemed up to the task, shrugging off the early loss of two wickets to take us to 72-2. What then followed was a collapse of epic proportions as we lost the last 8 wickets for just 27 runs. Some lack of luck with decisions for sure, but not helped by 5 ducks and only 3 players reaching double figures, nor the fact that the innings only lasted 30 overs. Stockport strolled to the win for the loss of just three wickets, leaving us well off the pace in the relegation battle. The 2s brought much needed happiness as they stormed to a fine home win. Sam “run machine” Thoburn added to his tally for the season with a fine 82, Will Kain slapped a quickfire 50 and Joe “they should really bat me up the order” Middleton hit out at the end to allow us to post 223. Sunlight were never in the hunt as Joe “I can bowl a bit as well you know” Middleton and Max Lilly bagged 3 wickets each to wipe out our guests for 108. A fine win. A bit of a brutal one for the 3’s this week- replying to Heaton Mersey’s 209, Ashton collapsed to 62 all out despite spirited resistance from Joe Barlow and Zach Roberts in what was our most one sided defeat of the season, our young guns will be looking to bounce back against Romiley at the weekend.

Another mixed bag of results for the seniors over the weekend, with the 1s and three losing but the 2s posting a huge win. The 1s difficult season continued as they came up short at Cheadle Hulme. The top order batters all got starts but no-one was able to go on to build a match-defining score. Our total of 166 was always going to be a bit below par, and with Cheadle Hulme’s experienced skipper, Adam Wilde, taking control, the hosts got the runs with 9 balls to spare. The loss leaves us at the foot of the table with two massive games in the coming weeks against relegation rivals. The 2s brightened the mood with a demolition of Stockport at The Beets. Sam Thozer led from the front with the bat, hitting 85, with Finn Coburn providing fine support with a 40, as we posted 197. In reply Stockport wilted under our bowling attack as Rafay Qazi and Jo Middleton reduced our guests to 30-5 before handing over to young guns Zach Roberts (2-9) and Max Lilley (3-6) who blew away the tail, leaving Stockport all out for just 56. The 3s lost a close contest at Cheadle in a game where our younger players once again did the club proud against a largely adult team. Cheadle’s score of 175 -9 saw Finn Coburn follow up his batting exploits of the previous day with a 6 wicket haul off his 10 overs. Not content with that, Finn then hit a fine 50 as we remained on track until Fin’s unfortunate run out knocked the Ashton innings off course. Despite some spirited lower order batting, we were unlucky to fall just 15 short in a rather feisty innings marred by some rather unedifying sledging of our junior umpires. Another day which showed that our development plans are producing results – not least in Joe Barlow’s rapidly developing wicket keeping skills and well crafted 40 opening the batting. (Thanks to Alan Jenkinson for this week’s photos )