NSSCCL mid-season round-up.

As we’ve reached the halfway stage of the season, I thought I’d have a look at the standings and give some stats from Premier A down to Division 2. I’ll look at the top and bottom of each division then give a rundown on the top run scorers, top wicket takers and the players with the safest hands.

Premier A.

1. Checkley – 194 points.
2. Meakins – 177 points.
3. Hem Heath – 176 points.
4. Stone – 175 points.
5. Moddershall – 174 points.

Checkley hold a 17-point lead at the top and are closely followed by 4 other teams separated by only 4 points. Apart from the teams at the bottom of the league, which we’ll get to shortly, it’s been a very competitive league where anybody can beat anybody. No team is running away with it this year, and the second half of the season is going to be fascinating, in my opinion.

10. Porthill – 118 points.
11. Whitmore – 81 points.
12. Longton – 75 points.

Porthill sit 37 points above the bottom two and beat Whitmore two weeks ago in the red-ball format to give themselves some breathing room. Whitmore and Longton have only registered one win each so far. Whitmore beat Longton when they recovered from a perilous position during their fixture on May 30th, but they couldn’t kick on and have lost every game since. Longton defeated fellow strugglers Porthill on May 9th, but have lost every fixture since and are now 44 points away from safety. Unless something remarkable happens, it looks like Longton and Whitmore will be the two teams to fall through the trap door at the end of the season.

Leading run scorers.

1. James Kettleborough (Checkley) 522 runs @ 52.2 with Three 50s & One 100 HS 145 vs Longton.
2. Jalat Khan (Meakins) 475 runs @ 47.5 with Three 50s & One 100 HS 104 vs Eccleshall.
3. Warrick Fynn (Stone) 456 runs @ 50.67 with Five 50s HS 59 vs Leek.
4. Muaaz Ahmed (Moddershall) 360 runs @ 36 with Two 50s & One 100 HS 103 vs Stone.
5. Alex Mellor (Leek) 358 runs @ 71.6 with Five 50s HS 84 vs Checkley.

*Bryce Parsons scored 360 for Checkley in 3 matches earlier this season, with two hundreds and a highest score of 220 vs Meakins, but I’m excluding him from this list as he only played 3 games.

Leading wicket takers.

1. Matt Coxon (Porthill) 30 wickets @ 13.87 with one five-wicket haul, BB 5/43 vs Hem Heath.
2. Danushka Sandaruwan (Moddershall) 29 wickets @ 8.38 BB 4/20 vs Porthill.
3. EJ Laverty (Checkley) 27 wickets @ 11.15 with two five-wicket hauls, BB 6/14 vs Hem Heath.
4. Eranga Dissanagge (Eccleshall) 24 wickets @ 13.42 BB 4/18 vs Checkley.
5. Jalat Khan (Meakins) 24 wickets @ 11.88 BB 4/7 vs Newcastle & Hartshill.
6. Joe Thorne (Newcastle & Hartshill) 24 wickets @ 13.58 with two five-wicket hauls BB 5/19 vs Audley.

Top Keepers.

1. Alex Mellor (Leek) 20 victims. 15 catches & 5 stumpings.
2. Daniel Lunn (Stone) 19 victims. 14 catches & 5 stumpings.
3. Ryan Hassett (Newcastle & Hartshill) 16 victims. 13 catches & 3 stumpings.
4. Callum Hawkins (Moddershall) 16 victims. 12 catches & 4 stumpings.
5. Matthew Hodson (Hem Heath) 16 victims. 15 catches & 1 stumping.

Premier B.

1. Bagnall Norton – 218 points.
2. Elworth – 202 points.
3. Cheadle – 192 points.

Bagnall Norton lead the way by 16 points and have amassed an impressive 10 wins so far this season as they look for an immediate return to Premier A following their relegation last season. They’ve looked a cut above the rest, and if their impressive record continues, they’ll seal promotion sooner rather than later. Elworth sit in the 2nd promotion spot, 10 points above Cheadle with 9 wins as they look to return to the Premier A for the first time since 2023. It could prove to be an interesting second half of the summer with Cheadle hot on their heels with 8 wins as they look to return to the top division for the first time since 2024. In my opinion, it will be these 3 teams that will battle it out for the two promotion spots.

8. Stone 2nd XI – 124 points.
9. Hem Heath 2nd XI – 123 points.
10. Barlaston 1st XI – 122 points.
11. Wood Lane 1st XI – 122 points.
12. Rode Park & Lawton 1st XI – 99 points.

Rode Park have only registered one victory so far this summer and are in danger of an immediate return to Division 1 if they don’t turn things around quickly. The second relegation spot is going to be hotly contested between 4 teams that are only separated by 2 points at this stage. They all have 3 wins, and it could go down to the wire to see who drops into Division 1.

Leading run scorers.

1. Ashan Hafeez Bhatti (Knypersley) 707 runs @ 78.56 with Four 50s & Three 100’s HS 122* vs Cheadle.
2. Salman Khan (Norton-In-Hales) 526 runs @ 58.44 with Three 100s HS 171 vs Rode Park & Lawton.
3. Jack Furnival (Norton-In-Hales) 480 runs @ 60 with Two 50s & Two 100s HS 114* vs Ashcombe Park.
4. Shoaib Akhtar (Knypersley) 397 runs @ 36.09 with Four 50s HS 94 vs Hem Heath 2nd XI.
5. Muzammil Nizam (Alsager) 371 runs @ 74.2 with One 50 & One 100 HS 101* v Elworth.

Leading wicket takers.

1. Alex Banks (Elworth) 25 wickets @ 15.12 BB 4/30 vs Barlaston.
2. William Dobbie (Cheadle) 25 wickets @ 11.6 with one five-wicket haul, BB 5/31 vs Alsager.
3. Martin Dawson (Wood Lane) 22 wickets @ 12.32 with two five-wicket hauls, BB 7/30 vs Stone 2nd XI.
4. James Sellers (Cheadle) 22 wickets @ 15.95 with two five-wicket hauls, BB 6/24 vs Wood Lane.
5. Hafiz Suleman (Bagnall Norton) 22 wickets @ 11.14 BB 3/11 vs Wood Lane.

Top Keepers & Fielders.

1. Charles Worthington (Bagnall Norton) 15 catches.
2. Phil Clowes (Ashcombe Park) 14 victims. 13 catches & 1 stumping.
3. James MacGillivray (Rode Park & Lawton) 13 victims. 9 catches, 1 stumping and 3 run outs.
4. Harry Newton (Elworth) 12 outfield catches & 1 run out.

Division 1.

1. Leycett – 207 points.
2. Endon – 200 points.
3. Bignall End – 192 points.

It’s tight at the top with only 7 points separating the top 2. Leycett and Endon both have identical records with 9 wins and 2 defeats as they seem to be battling it out at the top to see who will be champions. Bignall End are hot on their heels but they have played a game more than everybody else. They have 6 wins, 3 losses and 3 draws as they look to return to Premier B at the first time of asking. It’s looking like it may be a three horse race as the rest of the pack are almost a win behind the top 3 at this stage. Things may change as the season progress though.

10. Crewe – 100 points.
11. Checkley 2nd XI – 93 points.
12. Cheadle 2nd XI – 81 points.

Crewe sit just above the bottom two with only 2 wins to their name so far. Checkley remarkably are winless but have secured 2 draws and picked up 89 bonus points throughout the first half of the summer. They have played a game more than the teams around which could be crucial come the end of the season. Cheadle have won 2 games but have only accrued 37 bonus points as remain 20 points from safety. Again it looks like its going to be a 3 horse race to see who goes down as Oakamoor sit 40 points above Crewe. Both Checkley and Cheadle could also suffer as their 1st XI’s are chasing championship’s too this season.

Leading run scorers.

1. Ahmad Khan (Oakamoor) 478 runs @ 47.8 with One 50 & One 100 HS 123* vs Cheadle 2nd XI.
2. Bilal Abbas (Endon) 455 runs @ 56.88 with Five 50s HS 79 vs Silverdale.
3. Josh Cartledge (Silverdale) 454 runs @ 45.4 with Three 50s & One 100 HS 109 vs Checkley 2nd XI.
4. Gamindu Kanishka (Leycett) 448 runs @ 56 with Two 50’s & Two 100’s HS 112* vs Porthill 2nd XI.
5. Daniel Redfern (Leycett) 438 runs @ 39.82 with Four 50’s & One 100 HS 123 vs Checkley 2nd XI.

Leading wicket takers.

1. Yohan Maddege (Leycett) 34 wickets @ 8.06 with two five-wicket hauls, BB 5/12 vs Crewe.
2. Jack Chell (Endon) 25 wickets @ 11.56 with 3 five-wicket hauls, BB 7/31 vs Oakamoor.
3. Matthew Turner (Stafford) 25 wickets @ 12.92 with one five-wicket haul, BB 5/28 vs Sandyford.
4. Liam Hassett (Bignall End) 24 wickets @ 15.54 BB 4/46 vs Silverdale.
5. Kasun Abeysinghe (Silverdale) 23 wickets @ 10.83 with one five-wicket haul, BB 5/32 vs Oakamoor.

Top Keepers and Fielders.

1. Leo Francisco (Bignall End) 15 victims. 7 catches (2 of which came in the outfield), 6 stumpings and 2 run outs.
2. Joe Smith (Silverdale) 15 victims. 13 catches and 2 stumpings.
3. Connor Uren (Porthill 2nd XI) 15 victims. 14 catches and 1 stumping.

Division 2.

1. Little Stoke – 192 points.
2. Betley – 187 points.
3. Moddershall – 2nd XI 177 points.
4. Eccleshall – 2nd XI 170 points.

Another division where its tight at the top. Little Stoke lead the way by 5 points from Betley. They both have 8 wins but crucially for Little Stoke, Betley had their game against Elworth 2’s abandoned last week when they had a chance of victory. Moddershall and Eccleshall 2’s are lurking just behind them with 7 and 6 wins respectively as they look for any slip ups from the leading two. This could well turn into a 4-way scrap from promotion as the season continues.

9. Wedgwood – 141 points.
10. Meakins 2nd XI – 141 points.
11. Meir Heath 121 – points.
12. Blythe – 85 points.

Blythe are struggling at the bottom with only a solitary victory to their name so far and it will take an almighty effort from them to avoid dropping into Division 3 come the seasons end. Meir Heath sit 20 points away from safety with 3 victories as they look to catch the teams above them. They will know they can’t afford many slip-ups in the second half of the season as a few wins for the teams above them could take them away from the bottom and towards the top as the middle of the table is very congested with only 29 points separating 9th from 4th at the half way stage.

Leading run scorers.

1. Ryan Nolan (Meakins 2nd XI) 396 runs @ 36 with Two 50s & One 100 HS 127 vs Meir Heath.
2. Aqeel Ahmed (Hanford) 380 runs @ 47.5 with Three 50s HS 96* vs Meir Heath.
3. Matthew Yardley (Elworth 2nd XI) 351 runs @ 43.88 with Two 50s & One 100 HS 100 vs Meakins 2nd XI.
4. Gareth Lennon (Sandbach) 350 runs @ 43.75 with Four 50s HS 80 vs Blythe.
5. Lewis Bacon (Betley) 344 runs @ 49.14 with Two 50s & One 100 HS 102* vs Meakins 2nd XI.

Leading wicket takers.

1. Tas Hussain (Meakins 2nd XI) 26 wickets @ 13.62 with one five-wicket haul, BB 5/28 vs Wedgwood.
2. Wallace Mubayiwa (Elworth 2nd XI) 25 wickets @ 10.48 with two five-wicket hauls, BB 5/21 vs Little Stoke.
3. James Ecclestone (Little Stoke) 24 wickets @ 12.96 with two five wicket hauls, BB 5/13 vs Wedgwood.
4. Abid Hussain 24 (Hanford) 24 wickets @ 16.13 with two five-wicket hauls, BB 5/48 vs Moddershall 2nd XI.
5. Jimmy Jinks (Betley) 23 wickets @ at 11.91 with one five-wicket haul, BB 6/15 vs Moddershall 2nd XI.

Top Keepers & Fielders.

1. Thenuka Angoda (Newcastle & Hartshill 2nd XI) 13 victims. 10 catches, 2 stumpings and a run out.
2. Jack Collett (Sandbach) 12 victims. 10 outfield catches and 2 run outs.
3. Russell Cope (Elworth 2nd XI) 12 catches.
4. Charlie Price (Moddershall 2nd XI) 12 victims. 11 catches and 1 stumping.

I understand that this is a long round-up, but if anybody would like one for Divisions 3 to 6 I’ll happily do another one.