Wedgwood’s 1st XI won on the road against Alsager’s 2nd XI by 58 runs.
Wedgwood won the toss and elected to bat. They made 226/6 from the 40-over allocation. Ben Dixon and Marvin Kitamirike added 65 for the 3rd wicket as Wedgwood built towards their large total. Dixon made 61 off 49 balls, including seven 4s and a 6. Kitamirike was steadier, his 46 coming off 83 balls as he supported Dixon. Ade Lello added a run-a-ball 40 to add late impetus to the innings.
Alsager’s chase began poorly when they were reduced to 11/2, but the experienced Hassan Haleem made 56 from 85 balls. He received little support from his teammates, though, and only an eye-watering 41 extras from the Wedgwood bowlers allowed Alsager to make it to 168 before they were bowled all out. Ade Lello and Ash Tymczuk both took 3 wickets each to swing the game in Wedgwood’s favour.
Audley’s 2nd XI defeated Betley’s 1st XI by 1 wicket in a thrilling clash at Betley.
Betley won the toss and elected to bat. They looked on course for a big score, having reached 159/2 with Lewis Bacon making 46 from 42 and Lewis Clarke making a run-a-ball 56, but when Clarke was removed, it sparked a dramatic collapse where the last 8 wickets went down for just 27 runs, leaving Betley 186 all out with 6.2 overs unbowled. Paul Harris finished with 3/5 as he cleaned up the lower order.
Richard Holloway anchored the Audley chase; he made an impressive 76 from 79 balls, which contained seven 4s and three 6s. When he was dismissed, Audley were 128/4 and looked to be well on the way to victory. A valuable 25 from captain Andrew Johnson edged Audley closer to victory, but they lost 4 late wickets for only 10 runs as they slipped to 176/9. It was left to Harris and last man, Luke Jordan, to get Audley across the finishing line as they added 12 runs for the last wicket. Betley were left to rue being bowled out well short of the allocation and also bowling 26 wides in Audley’s innings, but take nothing away from Audley, who thoroughly deserved the victory.
Blythe’s 1st XI defeated Longton’s 2nd XI at home by 36 runs.
Blythe were asked to bat first and made the most of home conditions. Craig Grimley struck a sublime century; he made 109 from 103 balls, containing twelve 4s and four 6s as he peppered the Blythe boundaries regularly. He didn’t receive great support from his teammates, but with 26 extras from Longton, it was enough to get Blythe up to a very competitive 222/7 from their allocation.
Abdul Basit made 66 at the top of the order for Longton. He was supported by Anas Muhammad, who made 31 as Longton threatened a shock. When Basit and Muhammad fell in quick succession, the wheels came off the Longton innings, and they just couldn’t get another threatening partnership going; they were eventually bowled all out for 186. Chris Gask did the bulk of the damage with the ball; he took 4/40 from 8 overs as Blythe secured the victory.
Church Eaton’s 1st XI beat Oakamoor’s 2nd XI by 42 runs.
Church Eaton batted first and were bowled out for 157 off the final delivery of the innings. Jonathon Arnold made 43 at the top of the order, getting the home side off to a fast start, but they had slipped to 84/6 before middle order batter Farrin added 35 valuable runs to get the innings back on track. Harry Eccles took 3/13 as he put the brakes on for Oakamoor in the middle overs.
Freddie Wood and Michael Dale looked to get Oakamoor into a strong position when they added 55 for the 2nd wicket. But things unravelled from this position as Talbot brought himself into the attack, and he completely ripped the heart out of the Oakamoor middle order as he finished with figures of 6/32, bowling his side to victory in the process, as Oakamoor were bowled out for 115.
Eccleshall 2nd XI beat Bignall End 2nd XI by 10 wickets.
Bignall End won the toss and elected to bat, but only Tom Perkin could get going with the bat. He made 23 as Bignall End were bowled all out for 80 by a very strong Eccleshall attack. Zak Mosam bowled an economical spell to finish with 2/10 from 6 overs, and Jordan Beasley knocked over the tail to finish with 4/6 from 4 overs. The only thing Eccleshall could be disappointed in was the 20 extras they conceded.
Rhys Owens 33* and Dave Ecclestone 23* needed no further help in chasing the runs down in the 2nd innings as Eccleshall completed a very comfortable victory in only 12 overs after the tea break.
Endon 2nd XI defeated Barlaston 2nd XI by 3 wickets in a close finish at Endon.
Barlaston won the toss and elected to bat first. Sam Taylor and Leigh Matthews added 64 for the first wicket as Barlaston looked to build a big total. Taylor would go on to make 50 from 78 balls before he was dismissed. Sam Plant added 36 in the middle order, but Barlaston were strangled in the middle overs by some disciplined bowling from Endon and could only finish 166/7 from their allocation. Steve Smith finished with an impressive 4/11 from his 8 overs.
Barlaston hit back straight after tea. Mason Bromley took 3 early wickets to reduce Endon to 17/3. He took a further 2 wickets as Endon were on the ropes at 85/6 when he finished his 8-over spell with figures of 5/17, including an amazing 5 maidens as the Endon batters could not get him away.
Endon captain Daniel Bailey attempted to wrestle back some momentum for his side as he added 59 for the 7th wicket with Tom Colclough before he was dismissed for 50, leaving his team 24 short of victory. Robbie Jones then joined Colclough, and Jones struck an unbeaten 20 from only 11 balls as he got Endon over the line with 5 balls to spare in an exciting finish.
Burslem’s 1st XI thrashed Onneley’s 1st XI by 176 at the Onneley Oval.
Burslem were asked to bat first and were in some trouble at 2/2 before experienced hand Michael Brown played a gem of an innings. He made 119 off only 100 balls as he batted his side into a commanding position. Brown struck ten 4s and seven 6s as he put the home side’s bowling to the sword, and they just had no answers. Craig Lancaster added a run-a-ball 32 as he shared a stand of 78 with Brown for the 7th wicket as Burslem began to build a huge total. Onneley were not helped by bowling 31 wides and then conceding 36 penalty runs for a slow over rate that eventually boosted the Burslem total to 292/9 off the allocation.
Unsurprisingly, Onneleys’ chase never got going after the tea break. Jorell Christian claimed 3/26 from 5 as Onneley slumped to 116 all out in just 23 overs, their score was aided by 37 extras from the Burslem bowling attack to save them from an even bigger defeat.
Porthill’s 2nd XI defeated Caverswall’s 1st XI by 7 wickets at the old county ground.
Caverswall were asked to bat first, but only captain Lewis Wright could make any impression against the Porthill bowling attack. He made a composed 50 from 74 balls, containing five 4s and two 6s, but he received very little support, and when he was dismissed with the score on 91/5, the innings quickly subsided as Caverswall were bowled all out for 106 with 6.5 overs unused. Tom Mason claimed the bowling honours with terrific figures of 6/19 from his 8 overs.
Porthill had no issues chasing the runs down after the tea break. Bridgewater 26, Mahmood 27 and Mohamed 26* took Porthill to victory with over 20 overs to spare. Wright did claim 2 wickets in the Porthill innings to at least give them something to shout about.
Leek’s 2nd XI defeated Sandyford’s 1st XI by 38 runs.
Leek were asked to bat first and got off to a solid start when openers Regan Clowes and Rory Corden added 118 for the opening wicket. Clowes made 46 and Corden 41. Ethan Bates claimed 3 wickets to get Sandyford back into the game during the middle overs; he finished with figures of 3/32 from 7 overs.
Josh Woodcock added 24 and Brad Grindey 25* as Leek made their way to 213/6 from the allocation. There was some indiscipline from the Sandyford bowlers as they conceded 45 extras, which included 12 no-balls and 16 wides.
Sandyford began strongly with Theo Sharman, who made 34, and Mitchell Underwood added 51 for the first wicket. When they were parted, the Sandyford innings began to stall as the Leek bowlers swung the game back in their favour. Rory Corden claimed 3/28 from 6 overs as the game began to slip away from Sandyford. Bates made an aggressive 37 at number ten, but the game was up for Sandyford as they were bowled out for 175.
Leycett’s 2nd XI defeated Silverdale’s 2nd XI by 111 runs.
Leycett were asked to bat first, and after the early wicket of Blackwood, Finley Waterhouse and Chris Shepard added 113 for the 2nd wicket. Waterhouse made a steady 47 from 90 balls whilst Shepard pushed the scoring along with 54 from 60 balls, including nine 4s. Matthew Amison added a run a ball 34 late on to push Leycett’s score to 193/6 from their allocation. Silverdale conceded 32 extras, which did not help their cause.
Silverdale’s chase never got going after tea, Waterhouse showing his all-round skills as he claimed 3/8 to put his team in a strong position. Only George Hickman, who made 27, showed any resistance as Silverdale were bundled all out for just 82 with 15 overs being unused.
Cheadle’s 2nd XI swept aside Whitmore’s 2nd XI by 7 wickets at the Gemini ground.
Having elected to bat first, Whitmore were bundled all out for just 89, Louie Welford doing most of the damage with 5/14 from his 8 overs, only Hassan Javed offered any resistance, making an unbeaten 29 to at least give his side something to bowl at.
Cheadle had little problem chasing the runs down after the tea break. Noah Shaw made a run a ball 39 at the top of the order. Paul Shaw added an unbeaten 25 to get Cheadle over the line in just 12.5 overs.
Woore’s 1st XI defeated Wistaston Village’s 2nd XI by 7 wickets.
Wistaston won the toss and elected to bat first, but only Edwards made any impression against the Woore bowlers. He made 25 as Wistaston were bowled all out for 120. Woore will be disappointed that they conceded 41 extras.
Woore eased their way to the target after the tea break, Dan Manning making 56 from 63 balls, including nine 4s, and Morris adding another 37 off 27 balls, taking them to the brink of victory as they added 87 for the second wicket. Woore completed the victory soon after the pair departed.
Little Stoke’s 1st XI defeated Wood Lane’s 2nd XI by 7 wickets at the MCG.
Wood Lane won the toss and elected to bat first. Louis Kidd made 38, and Ashley Guest 35 as Wood Lane made a strong start. Skipper Leigh then added 59* off 58 balls to push the Wood Lane total up to 207/4 off their allocation.
Little Stoke made a blistering start to the chase with Nikita Sayer blasting 64 from just 24 balls, including five 4s and six 6s as he blitzed the new ball bowlers to all parts in the opening powerplay. He was supported by Tim Twigg as they added 85 for the 1st wicket at a breakneck speed. Twigg continued after Sayer departed; he made 45, sharing a stand of 55 with Karl Harvey, who made his own unbeaten 50 from just 35 balls as Little Stoke closed in on victory. Captain James Ecclestone joined Harvey to secure the victory; he ended 29* from just 19 balls as Little Stoke won with 19 overs to spare.
