Leycett Cricket Club

Results from the weekend.
We have just three weeks of the season left with both our Saturday teams looking to seal their promotions at the weekend. Our Sunday sides were also in action, so to get you through let’s get that kettle on find yourself a four fingered Kit Kat because nothing else will do and let’s see how we went on.

Our Under 11 Girls Team were involved in a tournament on Monday night so that report will come next week.

Saturday
1st XI Win/Lose 40 overs
Our 1st XI should’ve been at home to Porthill 2nd XI on Saturday. Unfortunately, some devastating news reached us early on Saturday morning which meant the fixture would not go ahead. Our, support, thoughts and prayers are with Jamie’s friends and family whose life was tragically cut short.

2nd XI. Win/Lose/Draw 40 overs
Our 2nd XI on Saturday were due to play Porthill 4th XI at Scot Hay but at the request of Porthill this was switched to Leycett, they won the toss and elected to bat. Porthill made a steady start with 52 on the board in the twenty second over, which is when we took our first wicket which fell to Matt Amison. We kept Porthill in check with some decent bowling and were rewarded with a second wicket in the thirty fourth which fell to Joe Tomkinson to make the score 95 for 2. Their innings finished on 130 for 2 on a tough track to bat on, was this a good score? We would soon see. In reply, we lost our first wicket with the score at 33 which was Tom Blackwood for 9. We then lost two further quick wickets before the score had reached 50 including Dave Speakman for 17. With the score on 66 and just before drinks we lost our fourth wicket and found ourselves in much need of a partnership to develop. James Mayor now joined Skipper Liam Bedson at the crease as the two of them looked to steady things. Merzo hit his second ball for six and after a steady couple of overs he hit a six and a four off consecutive balls as he started to get into his groove. Five overs later though in the thirtieth he was next to go for a valuable 41 off 39 including three sixes to make the score 120 for 5. Charlie Blackwood now joined Liam in the middle as they looked to get us over the line, which was helped by a nicely struck six from Charlie over long on and with the end in sight Liam having played cautiously, decided enough was enough and won the game in the thirty third over with a six over mid wicket to finish 17 not out off 41 balls.

This win secured promotion for the 2nd XI for the first time in over ten years after some near misses previously, and with two games to spare. Strong batting line up with a good mix of experience and youth in the squad has seen us finally get the job done. Congratulations to Liam and his team on their promotion to Division 4 and hopefully come Saturday night our 1st XI will have secured their promotion back to Prem B.

Sunday Win/Lose/Draw. 40 overs
Our Sunday 1st XI welcomed Sport Asia, who won the toss and batted. Fin Waterhouse and Ole Davies-Majer both bowled good opening spells and were rewarded with a wicket each to help restrict Sport Asia to 25 for 2 after ten overs. Charlie Griffiths now on for a bowl had his first wicket with his third ball to make the score 29 for 3 and a few overs later he had a second to make the score 45 for 4 in the eighteenth to put us in control. Liam Redfern made it five down in the final over of his spell which made the score 59 for 5 after twenty one. Matt Saive after a couple of overs picked up his first and then a second in his next over to make the score 105 for 7 in the thirty second to put us in a good position. Their number seven though was batting well and was finding the boundary. Ole and Charlie both returned for second spells and both picked up a wicket, but crucially not their number 7 as he took them to 158 for 9 at the close. Not a bad effort but maybe let them get a few more than they should. In reply we needed a strong start after recent troubles but that’s not what we got as we were reduced to 6 for 4, 15 for 5 and then 27 for 6. Dave Griffiths now joined Charlie Blackwood out in the middle and it was Charlie showing his team mates how to bat. He made 50 off 48 balls including six boundaries and two maximums before he was our seventh to fall with the score on 74. We lost two further quick wickets and then our final wicket with the score on 90 which was Griff for 24. Too easy for the opposition, batting needs to improve.

Our Sunday 2nd XI made the long journey to Holmes Chapel where we lost the toss and were asked to bowl. James Convey made the breakthrough in the fourth over to make the score 6 for 1 but we had to wait seventeen overs for our next wicket which fell to Rob Heath to make the score 82 for 2 after twenty one overs. Rob then took a wicket in each of his next three overs to make the score 96 for 5 in the twenty seventh to put us in charge. Dan Convey then made it six down for 109 and a few overs later Delwar Hossain made it 128 for 7. Runs continued to flow for the next few overs until Delwar took his second with the score at 152 and he had a third in his next over to put them nine down, and then the returning Kam Islam took the tenth wicket to see Holmes Chapel bowled out for 166. Rob finishing with 4 for 20 off his 10. Decent effort for the most part. In reply we needed a good start and got one through Euan Sheperd and Dan Convey as they added 44 in under nine overs. We then lost Dan for 17 off 19 balls followed soon after by Euan for a well played 35 in the fourteenth which made the score 72 for 2. Delwar was our third wicket to fall for 11 to make the score 82 for 3 and James Convey after an entertaining 17 off 12 was our fourth wicket to fall with the score at 94. This triggered a little collapse with four quick wickets going down to leave us 118 for 8. The experienced duo of Rob Heath and Dave Redfern were now at the crease as they moved the score along without much risk to 142 which is when Rob was adjudged LBW. The score had moved to 157 when Colin was trapped LBW which saw us bowled out with the end in sight. Good game, with no umpires played in the right spirit.

This week our Saturday 1st XI is away at Checkley 2nd XI while our 2nd XI are at home to Knypersley both 12:30 starts. On Sunday our 1st XI are at home to Little Stoke and our 2nd XI is away at Bagnall also both 12:30pm starts.

That’s it for another week.

Thanks for reading.
Goodbye.

Everyone at Leycett Cricket Club is shocked and saddened at the tragic and needless death of Jamie Evans, the son of Paul ‘Jisty’ Evans a former player and friend of the Club.

We offer our most sincere condolences, with everyone at Leycett thinking of Jamie’s family at this very sad time. RIP Jamie.

Teams are announced for the weekend.

Good luck to all our teams.

Results from the past week.

As we near the end of the season, the length of report should get shorter now the junior season has finished. The past week we had one junior game, two senior games, a Soft Ball Festival to report on from the other week, Summer Camp and our annual Super Sixes competition which despite a forecast of heavy rain for Sunday we managed to get fully in. So slightly later than usual due to Bank Holiday but lets just pretend its Monday, get that kettle on, grab a Nestle finest and let’s see how we went on.

Under 11 Girls Cup Final v Leek 8 a side/16 overs.
On Monday our Under 11 Girls made their first appearance in a cup final under lights at Meakins in their very first season as we faced Leek in the Mike Wood Cup, we lost the toss and were asked to bat. There were contributions from everyone but Alexis Franklin-Hall who fresh off a cruise made a solid 5 not out and she was assisted by Ashleigh McKinon with 3 not out, Orla Bacon who made 6 and Elsa Rhodes who made 8 as we finished on a net score of 245. In reply Ashleigh took an early wicket for us in the third over and then Beatrice Dalgarno had our second in the sixth over. Orla took our third wicket to fall in the fifteenth but that was as good as it got as Leek scored the required runs to get themselves in front and stay there as they finished with a net score of 290. Great effort from our girls in their first season.

Seniors
Ladies Soft Ball Festival at Rode Park.
8 overs per innings, two overs each batting in pairs.

Squad…Denise Shirley, Louise Mayor, Daisy Saive, Ellie Saive, Deb Warburton, Sue Morris, Vera McKinon, Lizzie Gething, Rachel Pillai (Beth McGowan was meant to play but pulled her back brushing her teeth. Surely, we’ve all been there, or not)

Game 1
Rode Park v Leycett Redbirds
Rode Park batted first and made 261 for 3 for a net score of 246, there were wickets taken by Lizzie with 1 for 7, Daisy 2 for 9 who was on a hat trick ball with some great bowling and fielding. Leycett went out to bat with Rach and Lizzie making 16 off their 2 overs, Rach hitting a lovely 6. Sue and Deb carried on with the runs with 9 off their 2 overs and in next came sisters Ellie and Daisy who continued with the runs scoring 20 off their 2 overs, Ellie hitting a 6 and a couple of 4's and Daisy with a 4 too. Last pair Louise and Denise kept the runs coming with 13 off their 2 overs with Denise hitting a lovely 4. We finished up 275 for 3 for a net score of 260 to give the Redbirds the win by 14 runs. Great stuff.

Game 2
Kidsgrove 2XI v Leycett Redbirds
Our next game saw us put Kidsgrove into bat first with some excellent fielding and bowling as we restricted them to 248 for 2 for a net score off 233, Ellie 1 for 2 and Rach 1 for 1 and Vera with her first wicket finishing with figures of 1 for 2. Redbirds went out to bat with the same batting order with Rach and Lizzie smashing 23 off 2 overs, Rach with a 4 and Lizzie with three consecutive 4's brilliant! Next came Deb and Vera who kept the runs coming with 18 off 2 overs, Deb hitting three lovely 4's and Vera picking up singles. In came the sister act with 10 off 2, Daisy swiping the ball for a nicely timed 4. Next came the last pair of Lou and Denise with 17 off their 2 overs which kept the runs coming with Denise hitting three consecutive 4’s to finish our innings at 289 for 2 for a net score of 279 and make it another win for the Redbirds by 46 runs.

Game 3
Redbirds v Rode Park
Rode Park went into bat with us on a roll now, we were very good in the field and the bowling was good too as they made 267 for 3 for a net score 252, Deb taking 1 for 8, Daisy again on hat-trick with figures of 2 for 1. Redbirds out to bat with Rach and Lizzie hitting 23 of their 2 overs with a couple of 4's and a 6 for Lizzie. Next in came Deb and Sue hitting 23 off their 2 overs with both ladies hitting a couple of 4's, Ellie and Daisy put on 20 off their 2 overs, Ellie with a 6 and 4 kept the runs coming, our final pair of Lou and Denise hit 10 off their 2 overs which saw us end up with 277 for 1 for a net score of 272. Another win for the Redbirds by 20 runs. Three from three.

Game 4
Redbirds v Kidsgrove 2XI
We put Kidsgrove into bat again with some great sharp bowling and fielding as they made 247 for 3 for a net score of 232, wickets for Daisy 1 for 0, Ellie 1 for 4 and Lizzie 1 for 0. Redbirds came out to bat with Rach and Lizzie putting on 22 off their 2 overs with Lizzie hitting a 6 and a couple of 4's and Rach with a 4. Next in came Deb and Vera hitting 13 off 2 overs, Deb again with a cheeky 4. In came the sisters putting on 19 runs with Ellie smashing 2 consecutive 6's and Daisy picking up the singles as we kept the runs coming. In came Lou and Denise putting on 9 from their 2 overs with Lou hitting a lovely 4 to see us to a total of 269 for 0, yet another win for the mighty Redbirds by 37 runs saw us as group winners and into the final we went.

The Final
Kidsgrove 1XI v Leycett Redbirds
Kidsgrove elected to bat which would be a test as they were also their group winners. We opened the bowling with Lizzie and Ellie restricting them to 8 off the first 2 overs for a great start, the next two overs were Sue and Deb with Sue taking 2 wickets for 4 runs. The next two bowlers were Rach and Denise with Rach taking 2 wickets for 5 runs and Denise with 2 runs off her over kept them to 7 off 2 overs with plenty of dot balls. Our last pair of bowlers were super wicket keeper Lou and super bowler of the tournament Daisy which saw Daisy take another wicket and Lou bowled well as we restricted them to 247 for 5 for a net score of 222.
The Redbirds went out to bat chasing 222 with our first pair of Rach and Lizzie putting on 13 runs facing Kidsgrove’s opening bowler who was quick, Lizzie hitting 2, 4's and Rach with a 4 well batted!! Next in came Deb and Sue who put on 7 runs and despite losing 2 wickets we kept going. In went pair three Ellie and Daisy who added 11 runs, Ellie hitting two great 4's and in came the final pair of Lou and Denise with the game in their hands. The first ball Denise faced she smashed for 6 and from then on they kept picking up the singles to frustrate the Kidsgrove fielders!! Last over came round and same again picking up a run a ball with the final ball Captain Denise faced, smashing the ball for a huge 6 to finish off the game with another win for the mighty Redbirds as we finished on 265 for 3 for a net score of 250 and the win by 43 runs in front of our supporters. What a fantastic day for the mighty Redbirds to finish our 2026 season as Rode Park festival winners to add to our Festival wins at Fordhouses and Little Stoke earlier in the season.
UP the Might Redbirds !!!!

1st XI Win/Lose 40 Overs
Our 1st XI made the trip to face Stafford where for a few hours they watched it rain and then the game was cancelled which wasn’t really a surprise based on the weather.

2nd XI Win/Lose/Draw 40 overs
Our 2nd XI on Saturday welcomed Whitmore 3rd XI and after much waiting around there was no break in the rain and so that game was off too. Only three games started in all of Staffordshire and Cheshire with all being abandoned soon after which just shows the amount of rain there was about on Saturday.

Sunday
Super Sixes 5 overs per innings, batters to retire at 25.

Our Annual Super Sixes Tournament in the lead up was in doubt due to the amount of rain forecast Saturday night and Sunday. Still, we proceeded and started that little bit earlier to try and get most of the tournament done by 2pm when heavy rain was due. We had thirteen sides competing this year to be crowned champions with some great team names and performances through the day. Some of the teams entered were The Mackwoods, Lou, Lizzie and the Four Mullets, The Misfits, The WaterMasons, 60s Band Adriel and the Five Conveys, The Dolly Droppers, Only here for Kits Kats, Team Dads, Chippy Chips, Bewildered, Something Fishy going on Griff and BacAmo.
Division 1 saw The Mackwoods dominate their group with five wins from five, and they were joined in the Semi-Finals by runners up Lou, Lizzie and the Four Mullets as they won 4 out of 5. In Division 2, BacAmo made it through as runners up as they won 4 out of 5 with group winners being Something Fishy going on Griff. The Semi-Finals saw The Mackwoods overcome BacAmo and The Mullets overcome Something Fishy to set up the final. The Mullets batted first and made 84 from their five overs, James Mayor retired with 25 supported by son Max with 25 and younger son Lenny a solid 4 not out. In reply Tom Blackwood made 25 retired and son Charlie also retired with 25 which included three successive sixes off professional Yugie, and Olly Mackintosh got them over the line with 12 not out. Fantastic day where the rain stayed away apart from a quick break of five mins where we had to come off. Some great moments through the day, parent Richard Fish having Yugie caught behind, Charlie’s successive sixes in the final but the highlight for a number of people was Ali Gething smashing his sister for successive boundaries before he was bowled next ball by Lizzie to send him on his way, and would you believe it the whole thing was caught on camera and played back to Ali on the big screen for the next couple of hours.

Thank you to everyone who took part, thanks to Claire Key for looking after the Bar, thanks to Louise Mayor for sorting food and helping do the BBQ and generally anything to assist me. She thankfully had assistance from hubby James Mayor, Paul Mackintosh and Jamie Lawton as well as others.
Thanks to our two umpires Colin Greenwood and The Wall Pete Hemmings. This all contributed to a great day, can’t wait for next year.

So that’s it for another week.

Thanks for reading.
Goodbye

Teams are announced for another weekend of cricket.

Good luck to both teams.

With the Junior Season now over our Junior Presentation Day has been confirmed.

Results from the week.
As we enter the final weeks of the season most of our juniors have now finished but there were two junior games to report on as well as our four senior games which saw us win two and lose four. Its brew and Kit Kat time so pull up a chair and let’s see how we went on.

Under 11 Bears 8 a side/16 overs
Our Under 11 Bears team were drawn away at Scot Hay to face Porthill in the next round of the Graham Cooper Trophy, where we lost the toss and were asked to bowl. Vedith Nanjaiah took our first wicket to fall in the third over and we had a second in the very next over thanks to Roshan Pillai. Max Mayor five overs later had our fourth and then took a second in his next over, with Kai Hartshorn then taking a wicket followed by a third for Max to put us in control. Porthills total though continued to climb with Kai adding a second before the close as Porthill finished with a net score of 277. Tough ask but gettable. In reply we lost two wickets in three balls during the second over and then a third in the next over to put us on the backfoot. We lost two more wickets in consecutive overs and then another in the ninth. Two more wickets were lost before over fourteen and then another in the sixteenth as we finished with a net score of 233. Good effort in both innings from us but it was not to be, still a good season for our Bears.

Under 11 Girls 8 a side/16 overs
Our Under Girls were meant to take on Rode Park in the Semi-Final of the Mike Wood Cup, but Rode Park had to concede which means we now face Leek in the Final on Monday 31st August at Meakins.

Saturday
1st XI. Win/Lose 40 overs
Our 1st XI on Saturday looked to edge that little bit closer to promotion with a home game to Cheadle 2nd XI, we won the toss and batted. Charlie Griffiths and Benj Shirley opened and put on 47 for the first wicket inside eleven overs when Benj was gone for a nicely played 33 off 40 balls. Dan Redfern now joined Charlie as they moved the score to 91 in the twenty first over when Dan was gone for 23, and with the score at 121 we lost our third wicket which was Gamindu Kanishka for 10. Our fourth wicket to fall soon after was Charlie for a determined 45 off 83 balls to make the score 130 for 4, and we then lost a fifth wicket in the thirty second over with the score 144 which was Chris Sheperd for 12. We needed a partnership to develop and quickly, thankfully Martin Bryan and Yohan Maddege were now at the crease as they pushed hard for late runs. Yugie scoring 14 off the thirty fourth over and then four of the last five overs saw double figures in each over, with 18 coming from the thirty ninth as we finished on 220 for 6. Yugie was the last wicket to fall just before the close for a valuable 57 off 33 balls which featured 10 boundaries and 2 maximums with Mart finishing an important 15 not out off 20. Good effort in the end, now for a bowl. Matt Johnson once again this week made the breakthrough with the ball in his first over and then five overs later Dan Gibbs had our second to make the score 19 for 2. MJ a couple of overs later took his second to make the score 32 for 3 in the ninth to make it a good start. Six overs now went by until Isaac McDonald with a nice spell of bowling took our fourth wicket followed in the next over by our fifth which fell to Yugie. Six overs later Yugie had his second to make the score 83 for 6 and then Isaac three overs later had our seventh. The twenty eighth over saw Yugie take his third and his very next over saw him take two in two balls to finish the innings off and bowl Cheadle out for 108. Yugie finishing with 5 for 29 from 8 overs to make it a great day for him and saw him as the top Cricket Exchange performer of the week. Top work Yugie and great result for the team.

2nd XI. Win/Lose/Draw. 40 overs
Our 2nd XI on Saturday made the trip to face Stone 3rd XI at Swynnerton as we also looked to edge ourselves closer to promotion, we lost the toss and were asked to bat. Two balls that didn’t bounce early on left us 7 for 2 which brought Fin Waterhouse out to join Tom Blackwood as the two of them looked to rebuild after that bad start. The score had reached 51 with Tom just getting into his groove when he was gone for 27 and that was followed by another quick wicket to leave us 62 for 4. With the score at 69 we lost Fin for nicely played 27 and then a sixth with the score 74. Our seventh wicket fell with the score 88 and Liam Bedson who had made 22 was our eighth wicket to fall with the score 104. We then lost our ninth with just one run added before some late runs from Ole Davies-Majer with 19 put us up to 122 all out. Not the best but something to defend. In reply Fin Waterhouse made the breakthrough in the tenth over and then Liam Redfern had our second in the very next over to make the score 42 for 2. Crucially though eight overs now went by with Stone’s run chase gaining momentum, but with the score at 97 we finally made the breakthrough thanks to Matt Amison. His following over saw him take two more wickets and then Liam Bedson with another to make it three wickets lost for one run to put the pressure on Stone. Liam then took two further wickets to put Stone eight down, but despite a good effort from us in the field Stone got themselves over the line without any further issues. Not at our best with the bat but still picked up some points which keeps us ahead of third by 49 points. On to next week.

Women’s Soft Ball Festival at Rode Park Sunday 16th August.
Still waiting on this report from what was another successful day for our Ladies at their Soft Ball Festival. Hopefully with you shortly.

Sunday 1st XI. Win/Lose/Draw. 40 overs.
Our Sunday 1st XI made the trip to face Stone, which is always a tough game, we won the toss and bowled. Liam Redfern made the breakthrough in the third over and ten overs later Ali Gething had our second to make the score 43 for 2. Ali took our third wicket to fall in the seventeenth, but we struggled to take another until eleven overs later. Dan Forrester was the one who ended the partnership and two balls later he had a second to make the score 128 for 5 in the twenty ninth. Charlie Griffiths a few overs later took our sixth wicket to fall and then the returning Liam took a wicket in each of his next two overs and then finished the innings off by taking the final two wickets in the thirty ninth over which saw him finish with excellent figures of 5 for 31 off just short of eight overs to bowl Stone out for 176. Good effort. In reply we made a bad start as we found ourselves 16 for 4 which brought Dave Griffiths out to join Charlie Blackwood as they tried to rebuild our innings. With the score at 42 we lost Charlie for 10 followed by another quick wicket to leave us six down for 43. Dave Griffiths was our next wicket to fall for 32 with the score 79 and we then lost our last three wickets without the score moving as we were all out for 79 inside twenty overs. Not great with only two batters making double figures. Only bright spot being the bowling of Liam who took his second five wicket haul for the club.

Sunday 2nd XI Win/Lose/Draw. 40 overs
Our Sunday 2nd XI was in action at home to Silverdale where we won the toss and bowled. Silverdale made a good start with 67 being on the board before we took our first wicket which fell to Rob Heath, but we had to wait till the score read 141 before we took a second which fell to Delwar Hossain. Ian Wright took our third wicket to fall with the score 157 and then Dan Convey with one stump to aim at ran out their number four with the score at 164. That though was all the wickets we took despite some good spells of bowling from a number of people in particular Ian Wright, Kam Islam and Max Berrisford who deserved more as Silverdale finished on 201 for 4. In reply Zac Hartshorn and Dan Convey gave us a great start as they added 70 inside eighteen overs but at this point, we lost Dan for 24 followed five overs later by a second wicket and then a third wicket the following over to make the score 86 for 3. Four runs later Zac was gone much to his frustration as he departed for a nicely played 43 and a few runs later, we were five down. Ian Wright played some nice shot as he made 16 but we then lost two wickets with the score on 107 which brought Kammy out to bat. Kammy hit 14 off the next over with a six and two fours followed by another six the next over as he raced to 27 not out off 15 balls. The next over though we lost our ninth wicket and the following over we were all out for 135. Frustrating for the second week running where we made a good start only for our innings to fall apart rather quickly.

This week we have our Under 11 Girls in Cup Final action next Monday at Meakins against Leek. On Saturday, our 1st XI is away at Stafford with our 2nd XI at home to Whitmore 3rd XI. Then on Sunday we will be holding our annual Super Sixes competition with thirteen teams battling it out to be crowned Champions. Bar open all day and BBQ on, just hope the weather changes from what it currently says.

So that’s it for another week.

Thanks for reading.
Goodbye.

Teams are in for the weekend.

Good luck to our teams.

Results from the week.

Another week has come and gone which saw three wins and four losses for our teams. Slightly later than usual sorry, but the kettle is on so I hope yours is too, grab a Nestle finest and let’s see how we went on.

Under 11s. 8 a side/16 overs
This week in our juniors we had the under 11s, 13s and 17s in cup action, so let’s start there with our under 11 Bears who were home to Rode Park, where we won the toss and elected to bowl. Max Mayor got things started with a wicket in his first over followed by a wicket a few hours later by Vedith Nanjaiah. Olly and Noah Mackintosh then took a wicket each in consecutive overs with a further wicket in the tenth over for Matthew Fish. Noah and Matthew both went on to pick up a second wicket each. The fourteenth over saw Fin Matthias pick up a wicket followed by two wickets in the same over for Kai Hartshorn, and there was still time in the final over for the returning Max Mayor to grab his second to see Rode Park restricted to a net score of 212. In reply our batting well and truly fired as Noah Podmore made 11 not out at the top of the innings, followed by Noah Mackintosh with 16, not out, Max 10 not out, Matthew 16 not out, Kai Hartshorn 19 not out and Finn Matthias 12 as we finished up 317 for the loss of just one wicket. An extremely dominant performance from our under 11 Bears and onto the next round we go.

Under 13s. 11 a side/20 overs
Our under 13s on Wednesday night with only nine players in the end made the short trip to Scot Hay to face Porthill in the cup, Porthill won the toss and elected to bowl. Max Mayor and Noah Podmore got us off to a good start before we lost our first wicket which brought Larry Turner to the cease to join Max. Larry was soon into his groove with consecutive boundaries, but it was Max Mayor who was to retire first with a nicely played 25 not out, followed a few overs later by Larry who made a well hit 26 not out. We lost a couple of quick wickets over the next few overs until Noah Mackintosh and Kai Hartshorn stuck around and moved us forward. Six overs later though we lost both in consecutive overs and with a couple of overs left it was left to Roshan Pillai making his debut and Callum McKinon to push for late runs as we finished on 108 for 5. Decent effort that. In reply Roshan Pillai had a debut wicket in his second over and there was a caught and bowled for Archie Wakelin in the next over. Nine overs though went by without a wicket until Noah Podmore ran two of their batters out within a few overs to give us hope. But despite a valiant effort from our nine players Porthill knocked off our score with just over two overs to go. Good effort by all.

Under 17s 11 a side & 100 competition
Our under 17s were at home to Stone in their cup match with the opposition winning the toss and batting. James Convey made the breakthrough in the fourth over followed a few overs later by a wicket for Lucas Bedson. Finn Cookson four overs later took our third wicket to fall, which then saw Stone put the foot down over the next few overs. The fifteenth over saw Charlie Blackwood with a run out followed by two wickets for Max Berrisford in consecutive overs. Towards the end of their innings we managed two final wickets through run outs from Fin Waterhouse and Charlie Blackwood as Stone finished on 160 all out. In reply we lost an early wicket before Charlie Blackwood joined Ole Davies-Majer in the middle as they moved the score along. Charlie retired soon after with 26 not out but we lost two further wickets including Ole for 10. Zac Hartshorn stuck around making 19 before there was some late hitting from Liam Redfern with two well hit maximums in a cameo of 15 as our innings finished on 106 all out. Tough night against a good team.

Saturday
1st XI. Win/Lose/Draw
Our 1st XI on Saturday made the journey to face Oakamoor who won the toss and batted. Matt Johnson made the breakthrough in the third over and he was involved in our second wicket taking a catch off the bowling of Yohan Maddege to make the score 40 for 2 in the 16th over. The start of the twenty eighth over saw Gamindu Kanishka strike with his first ball to make the score 78 for 3, but Oakamoor fought back for the next ten overs until Yugie made the breakthrough with two wickets in two balls to make the score 117 for 5 in the thirty ninth. Yugie a few overs later had his fourth and our sixth, and as overs ticked down Dan Gibbs bowled a tidy two over spell with 3 wickets for just 5 runs with Yugie finishing his spell earlier with 4 for 41 from eleven to help restrict Oakamoor to 161 for 9, which was a good effort. In reply we made a bad start of two wickets down with just 12 on the board, which brought the familiar partnership of Tom Warburton and Dan Redfern together. The two of them added 105 in just over 23 overs but the thirty fourth over saw us lose Warbs for 38 followed by another wicket next ball. Martin Bryan now joined Dan and just as he was starting to find his timing with three fours in five balls he was our next batter to go for 14 to make the score 134 for 5. Two further wickets followed soon after to leave us 140 for 7 with some fearing the worst, especially after we lost wicket number eight with the score on 149. Dan Redfern though stood firm, assisted by Matt Johnson at the other end who defended what he needed with a boundary thrown in to get us closer. The fourty fourth over came round and after four dot balls Dan scored the winning runs to finish a top knock of 88 not out for a massive win.

2nd XI. Win/Lose/Draw. 40 overs
Our 2nd XI on Saturday welcomed Newcastle 3s, where we won the toss and bowled.
Fin Waterhouse made the breakthrough in the fifth over and he was celebrating again in his next over with our second wicket. Ole Davies-Majer took our third wicket the very next over to make the score 9 for 3 and put us in control. Five overs later Adriel Felsinger was now on for a bowl and had their number five caught at slip by Dave Speakman to make it 24 for 4. Newcastle now developed a partnership which moved them along to 69 when we took our next wicket which fell to Matt Amison in the twenty third over. Ali Gething now on for a bowl at the other end soon had two wickets in his second over and then Amo had another in the next over as wickets tumbled regularly with the score now showing as 78 for 8. Ali G and Amo both took their third each over the next couple of overs to see Newcastle all out for 81 inside 29 overs. Job done first half. In reply Adriel and Tom Blackwood put on 70 for the first wicket inside ten overs but after Tom was gone for 25, Adriel finished with 46 not out to win the game in the twelfth over. Great stuff.

Sunday
Women’s Soft Ball Festival at Rode Park
The report has not been sent to me yet, so will have to follow.

Sunday 1st XI. Win/Lose/Draw. 40 overs.
Our Sunday 1st XI were at home to Newcastle where they won the toss and asked us to bat.
We lost a wicket in the third over and another wicket soon after to make the score 16 for 2 which soon became 38 for 5 which included the loss of Gavin Felsinger for 22. Fin Waterhouse and Liam Bedson now came together to rebuild and the score had reached 69 when we lost our sixth which was Liam for 14. Five overs later we were seven down and then we lost Fin for a battling 18 as our innings finished soon after that at 88 all out in the thirty fourth over. Would need something special with the ball. In reply after eight wicketless overs Adriel Felsinger made the breakthrough with the score at 24 and in his next over he took our second to make the score 37 for 2. Adriel took his third but the score now read 60 and despite there being a run out thanks to Ole Davies-Majer, Newcastle knocked off our score for the loss of no more wickets. Tough day.

Sunday 2nd XI Win/Lose/Draw. 40 overs
Our Sunday 2nd XI was at Kidsgrove where we won the toss and batted. We lost an early wicket which brought Arun Nair out to join Dan Convey. The two of them batted well after that early loss as they took the score to 31 when we lost Dan for 16 and with the score at 65 Arun was gone for 17. After sixteen overs we had reached 88 for 3 but then we lost our fourth wicket and after some nice shots from James Convey he was gone for 30 to make the score 101 for 5. We then lost two further quick wickets and with the score at 113 we lost our last three wickets to see us bowled out in just over twenty overs. Not great after where we were at after sixteen overs. In reply James Convey took an early wicket and then he had a second a few overs later to make the score 30 for 2. Crucially though we didn’t take another wicket until the score read 97 which fell to Dan Convey thanks to a stumping from James Hopkin. Soon after Kidsgrove scored the required runs to condemn us to a poor defeat.

This week in our juniors our Under Bears are in cup action against Porthill and our under 11 Girls are away at Rode Park.

In the seniors the Ladies team are at home to Sandyford in a friendly on Thursday and on Saturday our 1st XI is at home to Cheadle 2s and our 2nd XI are away at Stone. On Sunday our Sunday 1st XI team is away at Stone and our Sunday 2nd XI are at home to Silverdale.

So that’s it for another week.

Thanks for reading.
Goodbye