Mears Ashby Cricket Club

Mears Ashby 1st XI Cruise to Victory Over Sharnbrook & Bromham CC
Mears Ashby 1st XI produced an excellent all-round performance to secure a convincing four-wicket victory over Sharnbrook & Bromham CC at Mears Ashby Cricket Field last Saturday.
After winning the toss, Sharnbrook & Bromham elected to bat first, but Mears Ashby's disciplined bowling attack kept the visitors under pressure throughout the innings. Despite a few useful partnerships, Sharnbrook were restricted to 199-9 from their 45 overs.
The wickets were shared around, with Jabram, Saram and Gregg Riess all claiming two wickets each. The standout bowling performance came from Raheel Bhatti, whose accurate off-spin proved difficult to score against. Bowling with excellent control, Bhatti returned outstanding figures of 1-30 from his 10 overs, helping to choke the run rate during the middle overs.
In reply, Mears Ashby made a blistering start thanks to openers Babar Khan and Kamran Mohammed, who raced to 60 without loss in quick time and laid the perfect platform for the chase.
Although a few wickets fell, the innings was expertly guided by the league's leading run scorer, who once again showed his class with a composed 25, before Saram took control with a superb 69, ensuring there were no late scares.
Mears Ashby reached their target comfortably, finishing on 200-6 in just 30 overs to record an impressive victory with 15 overs to spare.
The win keeps Mears Ashby in strong form ahead of next Saturday's important fixture against Wellingborough Town, a match that could prove crucial as the season enters its decisive stages.

2nd XI Fall Short Despite Druve's Century at Dunchurch

The 2nd XI made the trip to Dunchurch Sportsfield on another sunny Saturday in a match where both sides were chasing promotion. The 2nd XI side included Harrison Abbott for his first game of the season and Numan Munir for his Ashby debut.

Winning the toss Mears Ashby elected to bat but it wasn't the easiest of starts for the away side, with in form opener Imran Bhatti falling for 4 and Numan Munir and Jinto Alias also departing cheaply, leaving the visitors 49 for 3.

Step forward Druve Patel. Druve produced a superb innings of controlled aggression and energetic running, batting through to the close of the innings finish on 112 not out from 132 balls, with 19 fours. He found an excellent partner in Irfan Bhatti, who made a valuable 48 from 49 balls, as the pair put the innings back on track with a partnership of 120 runs.

Once Irfan was dismissed with the score on 169, Jishnu Jayan joined Druve and added some late impetus, smashing an unbeaten 30 from just 24 balls, including two fours and a six. Druve and JJ saw Mears Ashby through to 238 for 4 from their 40 overs, giving the home side a sizeable target to chase.

Unfortunately, the 238 wasn't quite enough as Dunchurch & Bilton reached 239 for 5 in 34.4 overs, winning by five wickets with 32 balls remaining. After a solid start from the home side, Chaaru Manjuraj Komala's unbeaten 84 from just 64 balls, including five fours and six sixes proved the difference.

Mears Ashby picked up five wickets in the chase, with Jinto Alias finishing with 2 for 53 and further wickets for Jishnu Jayan, Numan Munir and Imran Bhatti.

Despite the result, there were plenty of positives to take from the afternoon, career high scores, debut wickets, returning players and a lot of team spirit. On to next week where the 2nd XI welcome Sharnbrook & Bromham CC- 2nd XI to Mears Ashby.

The Mears Ashby CC Midweek XI got their season underway this month playing fixtures against Old and Great Doddington. Finishing the month with one win and one loss the club welcomed some new faces to the club along with some blasts from the past. Overall 16 players were used in two very enjoyable fixtures, thank you to our opposition.

Match 1, 21st July: Mears Ashby travelled to Old CC. Batting first, Ashby posted a strong total of 140-2 from their 20 overs. The innings was anchored by retired-not-out performances from Chris Beaton (31 off 23 balls) and Matthew Hobson (30 off 16 balls), alongside solid top-order runs from Mark Dunk (21) and Jonny Burdett (23 not out). In response, Old CC mounted a close chase but were held to 137-2 in their 20 overs, giving Mears Ashby a tight 3-run victory. Jabran Mehmood was the pick of the bowlers for Mears Ashby, taking both of the wickets to fall and finishing with figures of 2/22 off his 4 overs.

Match 2, 30th July: Mears Ashby hosted Great Doddington XI. Batting first, the Midweek XI compiled a total of 135-3 in their 20 overs. Chris Beaton continued his strong form by retiring not out on 28, supported well by Cian Shea (25 retired not out), Jim Boyd (22), and skipper Greg Reis (17 not out). However, our friend's from Great Doddington chased well, reaching 139-4 in just 16.1 overs to claim a 6-wicket victory.

Highlights:

Batting: Chris Beaton had an outstanding month at the crease, scoring 59 runs across both games without being dismissed (retiring not out in both matches).

Bowling: Jabran Mehmood recorded the team's best bowling figures of the month with his 2/22 against Old CC.

If any clubs or players are looking for midweek fixtures please get in contact.

Here's our playingXI for tonight's home mid-week friendly against Great Doddington CC.
📍 Home
🗓 Thursday 30th July
🕕 6:00 PM Start
Come down and support the lads as we continue our preparations. Best of luck to everyone selected!
💚💛 Come on Ashby!

Match Report: Long Buckby CC vs Mears Ashby CC
Mears Ashby CC continued their impressive form with a 32-run victory over Long Buckby CC after an entertaining, high-scoring encounter away from home.
Winning the toss, Mears Ashby elected to bat first on what proved to be an excellent batting surface. The decision paid off as the visitors produced a superb batting display, finishing on a commanding 335.
Openers Babar Khan and Kamran Muhammad provided the perfect platform. Kamran played an aggressive knock of 37 from just 29 balls, while Babar anchored the innings brilliantly with a superb 92 from 86 deliveries, narrowly missing out on a deserved century.
The innings was then taken to another level by Shoaib Yaqub, who produced a magnificent century. Batting at number three, he smashed 105 from just 86 balls, combining power with excellent shot selection to keep the scoreboard moving throughout.
Late in the innings, Mujtaba Khan added the finishing touches with an unbeaten 53 from only 32 balls, ensuring Mears Ashby posted an imposing total of 335.
Long Buckby's reply got off to a bad start thanks to an excellent opening spell from Kamran Muhammad, who removed three early wickets to leave the home side under pressure.
However, Long Buckby fought back admirably. David Holmes steadied the innings with a well-made 53, before Luke Church produced a superb 126, giving the home side genuine hope of pulling off an unlikely chase.
Despite their resistance, Mears Ashby kept their composure in the closing stages. Shoaib Yaqub produced a crucial spell with the ball, claiming 4 wickets, while Kamran finished with 3 wickets as Long Buckby closed on 303-9 from their 45 overs, leaving Mears Ashby victorious by 32 runs.
The result keeps Mears Ashby building momentum as they now look ahead to another important fixture this weekend when they welcome North Crawley CC to Mears Ashby for what promises to be another exciting contest.

🏏 Match Report | Mears Ashby CC 1st XI
A superb all-round team performance saw Mears Ashby secure an emphatic victory over Bugbrooke CC.

After losing the toss and being put into bat on a wicket that offered plenty for the seamers early on, Ashby found themselves in trouble at 16-3. However, an outstanding partnership between Mujtaba Khan (99) and Raj Shah (60) completely changed the game, adding around 150 runs for the fourth wicket. A quickfire 42 from Muhammad Saram provided the late momentum as Ashby posted a competitive 241-9 from 45 overs.
With the ball, Ashby were clinical from the outset, bowling Bugbrooke out for just 114. Muhammad Saram (3 wickets) and Jabran Mehmood (3 wickets) led the attack, backed up by a disciplined performance from the entire bowling unit.

Despite availability challenges, it was a complete team performance that sees Mears Ashby move back level on points with second-placed MK Air CC

Attention now turns to Long Buckby CC, where another tough challenge awaits next weekend.

Final Result:
Mears Ashby CC 241-9 (45 overs)
beat
Bugbrooke CC 114 all out

💚🏏

After securing victories for both our 1st XI and 2nd XI on Saturday, we're back in action tomorrow for a friendly away against Old CC. 💚🏏
Looking forward to another enjoyable evening of cricket. Good luck to all involved!

Here are tomorrows line ups. Good luck to both teams.

Here are our teams for tomorrows action. Its going to be hot one. Hydrate to dominate. Dont forget the sunscreen.