Match Reports
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Oakmere CC v's Northwich CC - 03/09/11
Following another tough week for the selection committee, Oakmere introduced 2 further debutant's to the 2011 season with a full 1st cap for Craig Pinnington and a timely recall to the squad for last season's 1st XI captain, Craig Phelan.
Looking for a change of fortune, Oakmere skipper Pete Hutch decided to bat first following a couple of weeks of disappointing run chases. With vice skip and opening batsmen Paul Yearsley on holiday, Paul Hutchinson (4) and Nick Guest
(21) led the way before both batsmen fell to Northwich Aussie Readett, angling the ball across both batsmen to be caught behind. The main stay in the Oakmere middle order can from Ian Eaton (42) who at times hit the ball too well, no more so when a well timed straight drive left Sam Catling (5) stranded out of his crease to be run out by a deflection from the Northwich bowler, Walker. With an earlier dismissal of Ric Lyons (4) and then the crucial wicket of Eats, who was well caught on the boundary by Phillips, Oakmere were in trouble at 96/5. A partnership of 30 between Phil Nelson (22) and Craig Phelan (14) gave Oakmere early batting points for the innings before both fell in quick succession. Alex Hodges (11) chipped in with vital runs near the close with Craig Pinnington (2) caught at mid off when looking for big boundaries. Skipper Pete Hutch (23*) took his team passed the 170 mark thanks to some much needed boundaries and a big 6 onto the A49. Mike Cushion helping out with the usual bludgeoned blow for 4.
After tea, the rains came, making bowling and fielding with the wet bowl difficult to do. The turning point of the game came when stand in wicketkeeper, Pete Hutch missed a stumping chance to remove Walker in the second over. When Cushy (1/38) bowled Hughes and Sam (1/49) caught Cherian LBW, the game was evenly balanced at 30/2. Walker however used every ounce of his experience and took his team past 100 runs with Aussie Readett. Phil Nelly (1/31) finally induced a snick from Readett (23) for a simple catch to Pete Hutch. As Oakmere threw the ball around, Craig Phelan (1/35) bowled Sefton to leave Northwich on 127/4, who crucially still had Walker in the middle. Nick Guest (0/21) helped restrict the flow of runs, however Walker found a key partner in Hayes who supported and led well to score 27 valuable runs. As Northwich closed in on their target, Walker deservadly passed his personal milestone, scoring his 2nd successive 100 at Oakmere's Overdale Lane ground.
"We were beaten by a magnificent individual innings today and battled with the bat and ball right until the end of each innings respectively"
"With so many players missing from week to week, it's great to see majority of the squad sticking together through the difficult times"
Oakmere close the season with 2 away games, firstly at Hale Barns and then Ashley.
"We'll be looking to consolidate our position at 4th in the league and build on
that for the 2012 season"
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Oakmere CC v's Weaverham CC - 20/08/11
Oakmere welcomed neighbours Weaverham to Overdale Lane on Saturday with both teams missing key players to the holiday season.
Given the continued miserable spell of weather, the track was actually very good leaving a tricky decision for Oakmere skipper Pete Hutch upon winning the toss. He was to stick with the principle that bowling teams out cheaply had been his squads strength for most the season including the reverse fixture at WCC earlier this season.
On a cold, windy and wet day more suitable for Winter, kites and ducks (more of them later!) Oakmere's strike bowler Mike Cushion (2/52) struggled to get to grips with the strong head wind and even picked up an early wicket with an in-swinging ball to bowl Nash for the 1st duck of the day. Lewis joined Ashley at the crease and took the score to 45 when not content with hitting Cush for 12 off one over, Ashley tried another big shot and was caught a mid off by Paul Hutch for 22. Showing his partner how it's done, Lewis went on to score 98 fantastic runs before disappointingly chipped the ball to Yozza at mid wicket. Sam Catling (0/26) produced a very economical display of bowling from his 13 overs before the debutant Matt Norton (2/57) was introduced to 1st team cricket and despite being hit for 8 from his first 3 balls, very nearly picked up the wicket of Lewis as a high, mis-timed pull shot just sneaked through the fingers of the diving Woody at midwicket.
As the wind continued to howl straight down the ground, Paul Hutchinson (2/55) replaced Cush before a driving shower brought the first ever spell from a bowler bowling with his eyes shut! The umpires rightly took the players off for a brief spell, losing only 2 overs from the game.
As the match resumed, Norton picked up his first senior wicket bowling Woods for 5, which was closely followed by his second as Lightfoot edged to JO behind the stumps.
The skippers generosity then shone through as he allowed Crellin a runner before discovering his injury had taken place before the game. This may have cost his side 30/40 runs as Crellin scored 34 runs at the close of the innings to see his side finish on 196/7.
Confident of chasing down their opponents score, Oakmere's innings got off to the worst possible start as both Yozza (0) and Eats (0) fell looking for quick early runs leaving the score at 0/2 from the first 3 overs. That soon became
13/3 as Paul Hutch (5) edged to Lightfoot at 2nd slip, all 3 wickets going to the Aussie Hicks. Playing only his second game of the season, Paul Guilford
(48) and Sam Catling (44) patiently put together a partnership of 91. Both batsmen were surprised to see Weaverham field 4 men on the boundary for the majority of the partnership, happy to only give Gilly and Sam 1's and 2's instead of the boundaries that would have taken them closer to their opponents score. That looked to be a costly decision when regulation snicks through 1st or 2nd slip from both batsmen weren't seized upon by the Weaverham fielders. As Weaverham tried to buy wicket, a juicy full toss from Ashley tempted Sam to go big, only to see his well timed shot go straight to Robertson at mid on. 2 balls later a simply terrible LBW decision saw Woody (0) on his way before Gilly fell to a more convincing LBW appeal. In another attempt to buy a wicket, Lewis had a bowl and with finally some pressure around the bat from the Weaverham fielders, both Pete Hutch (0) and Matt Norton (0) fell to the part time off spinner. That left Alex Hodges (0*) and Cush (0*) to see out the final over and disappointingly see Oakmere close on 115/8.
"Today wasn't a good day - after a superb effort in the field we let ourselves down with the bat. We're still in 4th place, which for a team who have yet to field the same XI from one week to the next is something we can all be proud of"
Man of the match - has to be between Gilly and Sam - probably swings in Sam's favour as he bowled very well early doors with the ball.
Oakmere travel to Prestbury on Saturday hoping to consolidate their position in 4th spot and improve on the 7 point gap between the 2 teams.
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Runcorn CC v's Oakmere CC - 13/08/11
Saturday's visit to Runcorn ended in a disappointing draw for Oakmere who lost further ground against 2nd place Davenham in their push for a return to the County League. The draw leaves Oakmere with the small mountain of 42 points to gain on Davenham with just 5 games left of the season.
In once again bowler friendly conditions, Oakmere won the toss and immediately asked their opponents to have a bat.
With Oakmere's in form opening bowling attack in full swing, it wasn't long before the 1st wicket fell as Booth chipped to Ric Lyons at cover point for Sam Catling's (1/33) only wicket of the day. The first controversial moment of the day took place soon after as a thick outside edge from Whitfield fell into the hands of Pete Hutch via a deflection from wicketkeeper John Owen. As the batsmen stood his ground the umpire gave the decision not out much to the disbelief of all players on the pitch! Cush (1/57) soon had his man however as the clueless Whitfield played all round a Cushy in-swinger! At 30/2, Oakmere looked well in control until a 3rd wicket partnership from Ollrenshaw (67) and Cahill (48) took the score to 108/3 before Nick Guest removed both batsmen thanks to catches from JO and Paul Hutch.
A horrific incident then followed as the Runcorn captain Iain Williams attempted a slog sweep off Paul Hutch only to top edge the ball into his left eye socket. Wearing no helmet, Iain took the full force of the ball and immediately left the field requiring hospital treatment. All at OCC wish Iain a speedy recovery and hope to see him back in the middle shortly.
As the overs ticked by, Guesty (3/38) and Paul Hutchinson (2/33) restricted the Runcorn tail until Sheaky unleashed some lusty blows to see his side home to
191/7 from their 45 overs.
As Oakmere began their innings, Runcorn's Sheaky continued his fine form for the day producing an immaculate opening spell of 5 wickets for 20 runs. With Guesty, Woody, Paul Hutch and Ric all getting excellent balls and Yoz bitterly disappointed to be given out LBW after the ball pitched outside his leg stump, Oakmere had only reached 24 runs for the loss of 5 Sheaky wickets. A few inventive blows from Percy (11) took Oakmere to 45/6 followed by the wicket of Hodges to an excellent Wignall catch at short extra cover. The turning point of the Oakmere innings came for the 8th wicket as Sam Catling (27) and a determined skipper Pete Hutch (48*) contributed a partnership of 45 runs before a simply dreadful LBW decision ended Sam's innings after Sam chopped the ball with his bat into his pads. With 3 decisions going against Oakmere throughout the day, it seemed they were finally dealt some luck when with 3 overs left, Pete Hutch was given not out against a very convincing caught behind from Ollrenshaw. As a final flurry from Sheaky came and went, Oakmere were delighted to take the additional points from the draw as well as collect some much needed batting points when it appeared all had been lost. Closing on 131/8 from their 45 overs Oakmere collected 7 points against Runcorn's 13.
"We badly missed some key players today and came up against the best spell of bowling we've seen this year. It was good to see the lower order show some character - it was just a shame the game was overlooked by the terrible injury to Iain"
Man of the match - probably the skippers innings - not to please the crowd's but one for his team.
Oakmere entertain a Northwich derby this Saturday as Weaverham are welcomed to Overdale Lane.
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Oakmere CC v's Birkenhead Park CC - 06/08/11
Oakmere returned to winning ways with a convincing 6 wicket win against visitors, Birkenhead Park thanks to a miserly spell of bowling from Mike Cushion and a century opening partnership of 100 between Paul Yearsley and Nick Guest.
Opting to bowl first on possibly a rare batsmen friendly day, Mike Cushion (3/20 from 17 overs) gave the Birkenhead Park batsmen absolutely nothing to hit in a spell that included 10 maiden overs! It was fellow opening partner Sam Catling (1/75) who struck first in what would be another frustrating afternoon for the Oakmere pace bowler. 3 smart catches from Percy, Woody and Guesty and an LBW
from Cush had BHP on the ropes at 90/6 before a 70 run partnership from Stenhouse and Smith took BHP to exactly 170/6 and full batting points. Nick Guest returning figures of 2/39 as the BHP batsmen looked for big last minute runs.
As returning Oakmere opening batsman Dan Wood had injured his ankle during the BHP innings, Guesty offered his services straight away to join Yozza at the top of the Oakmere batting line up. The pair who we think have not opened the batting together before put together a superb opening stand of exactly 100 runs before Yozza (58) was run out from a moment of yes no yes no sorry! Not put off by the incident, Guesty carried on to progress towards the target losing 2 further partners in Ric Lyons (1) and Nick Ball (5) both unlucky to firstly receive a poor decision and the second a ball that shot along the deck. After an excellent, hard working 78 runs from Guesty, a tired drive finally led to an edge, which the BHP slip clung onto to end a magnificent innings in just his
second game back for the club. That left the simple task for Tom Cristofani (7*) and the hobbling Dan Wood (19*) to score the winning runs but only after a well timed pull shot from Woody had taken out Bally at square leg (who wasrunning for Woody). Possibly the first time the runner has needed a runner to continue?!?
The win brought Oakmere 20 much needed points and closed the gap behind 2nd placed Davenham to 37 points.
"After a disappointing couple of weeks with the bat, it was great to see the batsmen dominating a good bowling attack and knocking off the target with little error"
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Alvanley CC v's Oakmere CC - 30/07/11
Oakmere's second half of the season seems to be following a very similar pattern to that from the 1st half in that since the turn around, Oakmere have lost to Davenham, defeated Ashton on Mersey and now lost to Alvanley. This sequence of results copies those from the 1st 3 games of the season, which Oakmere will look to continue following several consecutive victories after their loss to Alvanley!
On a glorious day, Oakmere expected nothing other than a wonderful Alvanley track and weren't surprised to be asked to bowl first following an unsuccessful toss by skipper Pete Hutch.
Alvanley's Captain Andy Bennion had obviously done his homework on the Oakmere bowlers and immediately took Cushy (4/71) out of the game following an explosive start from the Alvanley batsmen. Losing his 40 wicket man so early gave Nick Ball an excellent chance to enjoy the new ball conditions, however his spell of 0/19 from 5 failed to break through a determined opening partnership. That job was then left to Sam Catling (2/42) who fought through the pain barrier from a heavy drinking session with John Jo Roberts the night before! Sam firstly removed Szymura through a snick to JO and then Jones to give the returning Nick Guest a welcome catch at point. At 40/2, Hayhurst brought some experience to join Bennion and the pair took the score to 90 before the returning Mike Cushion picked up Hayhurst (21) LBW in his 1st come-back over. Nick Guest replaced Sam after 11 hard overs in the sun and pegged back the free flowing Bennion before catching his edge, superbly held onto by JO who would take 3 catches throughout the day. Speakman (38*) proved to be the rock in the Alvanley middle order as his partners looked to cash in from the final 15 overs of the innings. However a tight spell from Cush and Guesty restricted Alvanley to 160 from 40 overs.
The real turning point of the game came in the following 5 overs as crucially, Oakmere lost key batsmen, Ian Eaton who split his webbing open on his left hand and had to leave the field for hospital treatment. A good diving catch from Pete Hutch and two further Cush wickets brought Ainsworth to the crease who took one look at Cush and duly deposited him for 3 huge sixes in one over to lift the momentum and take Alvanley to 213/8 from their 45 overs.
After much debating over who should fill in for Eats, Oakmere got off to the worst possible start losing opening bat Paul Hutch in the 1st over for no score. Young Tom Cristofani was eventually promoted to 3 and found life tough going before chipping the ball to mid off to also depart for 0. At the other end, Paul Yearsley (16) was going about his business nicely, with some powerful shots to the boundary. However, it was Alvanley who continued to mount the pressure, which led to a miss timed drive from Yoz to be snaffled by Charles in the gully. On the back of 3/4 disappointing innings, Nick Ball (53) counter attacked the Alvanley bowlers to lift Oakmere from 1/2 to 108/6. Bally's wicket falling in somewhat controversial circumstances, but it depends which captain you speak to to which answer you'd get! Guesty (5), Sam (9) and Percy (12) all looked comfortable before falling, although a mutual agreement was later met that Guesty had not hit his in a caught behind appeal. As the sun set and all looked lost, in the distance came the cavalry, riding down the dusty Alvanley driveway! Eats, with has super glued hand was back, hungry (for food!) and also for runs! At 111/7, it was too little too late for any substantial impact to be made, however Eats (25) helped Oakmere pick up valuable batting points before he became the final wicket to Shrewing to end Oakmere's innings on 140 all out. Notable credit goes to JO who provided valuable support to Eats in the closing stages and even unleashed a few blows himself!
"The last 5 overs of the Alvanley innings proved to be the match turning point with 50 runs added and the loss of Eats from our attack"
The loss leaves Oakmere 42 points behind 2nd place Davenham.
"We've no pressure on us now to perform and no longer look over our shoulders to see who's catching us up. We'll enjoy the rest of our cricket this season and who knows, it could be Davenham looking over their shoulder to see us closing the gap"
Man of the match goes to a brilliant individual batting performance by Nick Ball scoring 53 runs from 61 balls when all around him were failing. It was great to see Bally back in the runs.
Oakmere welcome Birkenhead Park to Overdale Lane on Saturday, hoping to get back into the winning stride.
Click here for detailed Results
Oakmere CC v's Ashton on Mersey - 23/07/11
Following last weeks washed out fixture at Trafford, Oakmere were glad to get back to business with what eventually turned out to be a comfortable win!
After winning the toss and deciding to have a bowl, the poor weather conditions would once again suit a seam attack and in the shape of Mike Cushion, Oakmere had just the man for the job! Partnering Cush, Sam Catling charged in with the breeze and for the second time this season, came away un-rewarded against Ashton with figures of 0/34 from 14 overs. A tremendous spell that deserved so much more. Cush however, couldn't understand what the fuss was about, claiming the 1st 3 wickets of the innings thanks to to JO catches and one from Paul Hutch at mid off. At 30/3, Ashton's Anthony Roscoe somewhat rescued the situation with a timely innings of 32 before Nick Ball swooped well to run out Roscoe's partner and then fired in a throw from the boundary to run out Roscoe himself coming back for a second run. A 6th wicket stand of 35 took the score from 50/5 to 85/6, which soon became 90 all out as Cush (5/35 from 17) collected his 4th and 5th wicket of the game, Steve Percival (1/14) and Nick Ball (2/0) wrapped up the tail. Cush's 5 for was his 3rd for the season and hopefully not the last!
In reply, Oakmere made a real mess of chasing down the low score, losing wickets at regular intervals. Only Eats (17) passing double figures in the top 4 batsmen left Oakmere struggling at 31/5. A patient innings from Tom Cristofani
(10) stopped the flow of wickets with the resolute Sam Catling in company determined to give as many of his wickets away as he took with the ball! When TC fell at 43/6 it was a "cometh the hour cometh the man" scenario as Steve Percival strobe purposefully to the crease. As Sam nudged and nurdled the ball around, Percy unleashed some hefty swings of the bat, which included a huge six over extra cover! Collecting 37 runs from 34 balls (including four 4's and two
6's) Percy carried his team home hitting 4 runs as the score was tied to see Oakmere close on 94/6. Not the most convincing but 20 points in the bag.
Man of the match - has to be Percy given the situation but a close call with Cush and possibly Sam who closed on 11* and bowled very well.
Oakmere travel to run away leaders Alvanley this Saturday.
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Oakmere CC v's Ashley CC - 02/07/11
Oakmere continued their dominant form through Saturday's victory over the visiting Ashley and finally made up some ground over leaders Alvanley who were left hanging on to their last wicket in their draw against Weaverham.
As summer finally arrived, so did the batsmen friendly conditions and when skipper Pete Hutchinson lost the toss and was asked to bowl, it looked like a long hard slog in the warm sun was in store for his bowling attack. Once againhowever, the Oakmere bowlers proved be to too strong for the Ashley batsmen as Sam Catling (4/57) ripped through the top order helped with sharp catches from
Pete Hutch, Yozza and himself in the field. Mike Cushion (1/33), Phil Nelson (1/21) and Steve Percival (1/7) chipping in with the odd wicket in support. Had it not been for some lusty Woods blows in the final Ashley over including two huge sixes off Sam, Ashley's final total of 148/9 would have been somewhat considerably less and somewhat flattered their total.
In reply, Oakmere were dealt an early blow losing Dan Wood (0) in the 1st over as he played onto his own stumps. Two experienced contributions from ex-captains Paul Yearsley (43) and Ian Eaton (75) took the score to a match winning position of 102/1 before Yozza caught a leading edge which fell nicely back to the bowler Woods to claim. This brought a mini collapse as Bally (5) Ric (8) and Percy (1) all came and went leaving Paul Hutchinson (11*) and Sam Catling (4*) to see Oakmere home at 151/6 and another 25 points. Earlier, Eat's had brought up his first half century of an out of sorts season, much to the delight of his team mates and supporters at the ground before falling to a
superb catch by Horn at point.
"This week brought the first real selection dilemma of the season having all players available. We went for strength in batting, which paid off having experienced batsmen at 7/8 to see us home"
This Saturday's game brings the mid season point where 3rd placed Davenham travel to Overdale Lane looking to improve on the 19 point gap between the 2 sides.
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Oakmere CC v's Hale Barns CC - 25/06/11
Oakmere made it 7 wins in 10 games with a comfortable 6 wicket victory over Hale Barns from Saturday's match at Overdale Lane. After losing the toss, Oakmere skipper Pete Hutchinson was delighted to be asked to bowl first with all his bowlers in excellent form in bowler friendly conditions.
Things didn't start well for Oakmere however as Hale Barns opening batsmen Filson took a shine to Mike Cushion's gentle pace, dispatching him for 3 straight sixes in Cushy's first 2 overs. At 38/0 after 4 overs, Cush was removed from the attack with Bally taking over the reigns. The change brought immediate reward with Filson pulling Baly straight to Square leg where ironically, Cush was stood to end their own personal feud. With Filson gone, Pete Hutch immediately brought Cush back into the attack who after going for 0/30 from his first 2 overs, then picked up 4/8 from his next 7 overs! Two catches by the Oakmere skipper helping Cush along the way. Amongst the intense, early action, Sam Catling was quietly going about his business collecting 3/33 from his 14 over spell. From reaching 38/0, Oakmere had Hale Barns on the ropes at 58/8 before a 40 run partnership from Saddington and Dodd somewhat rescued the innings helping their team pass the 3 figure mark. Steve Percival proved the key partnership breaker picking up the final 2 wickets with his slow right arm off spin.
Chasing just 103 runs to win, Oakmere got off to the worst possible start losing opener Dan Wood and Ric Lyons (both no score) in the opening few overs. At 1/2, Oakmere called on the experience of Paul Yearsley (32) and the youthful flair of Nick Ball (39) to produce a 77 run partnership. The capture of both oakmere wickets in consecutive overs may have raised a few heart rates in the Oakmere dressing room, however the calm headed Sam (16*) and Phil Nelson (8*) saw Oakmere comfortably home at 105/4 after 26 overs.
Man of the match went to Nick Ball who firstly picked up the wicket of the destructive Filson and then lead his team from a precarious 1/2 to a match winning situation.
"The game could have been very different had we seen an extra 10 overs of Filson. After the top order have played so well all season, it was good to see the middle order come good after limited opportunities in the middle"
Oakmere have now opened up a 21 point gap between themselves and 3rd placed Davenham whom they entertain in 2 weeks. Oakmere welcome Ashley to Overdale Lane this Saturday.
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Northwich CC v's Oakmere CC - 18/06/11
Oakmere lost ground on leaders Alvanley not through defeat against Northwich on Saturday, but to the British Summer weather!
After a heavy down-poor Saturday morning, the game surprisingly got away on schedule as Oakmere won the toss and decided to have a bowl, hoping the bowlers would carry on their good form. Following several key departures this season (that sounds familiar!) Northwich would be heavily reliant on the their Captain, Mark Walker to lead the way to posting a competitive total. A patient Walker innings brought reward with 50 runs from 123 balls as Mike Cushion bowled 17 miserly overs for just 22 runs! The main hindrance for Walker came from his partners who all came and went thanks to catches from Bally, JO, Eats and oneclean bowled all off the bowling of Mike Cushion (4/22), who lets face it, dreams of wet, green tracks all week! With neither Sam or Bally able to break through, skipper Pete Hutch turned to Steve Percival's slow off spin. Despite the odd rain shower, Percy (2/38) showed excellent control at a time when Northwich were looking to accelerate their run rate and joined Cushy in frustrating the Northwich batsmen. Enough proved enough for Walker who's first real shot in anger left him stranded down the track for JO to dislodge his bails
for a simple stumping. As Cushy finally made way, a semi fit Phil Nelson (1/28) came into the attack claiming a steep, high catch from his own bowling and then running out Hayes again from his own bowling. Northwich scampered well during their final few overs to set Oakmere a below par 136 to win on a track that actually played very well.
In search of their 5th straight successive win, Paul Yearsley (6) and Dan Wood (9*) lead the Oakmere chase with the firey Lightburn charging in for Northwich. When chasing small totals, Yozza's approach is generally to attack, which this time proved his downfall as he chopped onto his own stumps looking to pull a short Lightburn delivery. Eats (9*) joining Woody and just looked to be opening
his shoulders when the rain came once again taking the payers from the field of play with the score on 25/1 from 11 overs. With time passing and over after over being lost, the rain finally ceased allowing the players to attempt to mop up the square and get the game on once again. With the square in particular looking in a bad way, both skippers remained optimistic that a result could be
obtained from the game. However, just as play was about to resume, the final nail in the coffin came from a torrential down-poor leaving both teams no option but to shake hands and accept the 7 points for an abandoned game. News that Alvanley had beaten B'Park was disappointing as twice Oakmere have now seen the rain ruin a run chase they were capable of easily reaching.
"We were still confident of scoring the remaining 110 runs from 14 overs - but there's nothing you can do about the weather!"
The next 3 weeks will be crucial for Oakmere as the fixtures have handed them 3 home games on the bounce, which could prove vital to Oakmere's promotion chase.First up are the struggling Hale Barns on Saturday.
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Oakmere CC v's Prestbury CC - 11/06/11
Saturday's home fixture against Prestbury was once again dominated by the in form Oakmere bowling attack as Oakmere ripped through the Prestbury batsmen who could only manage a combined score of just 57 runs.
As the British Summer once again proves to be elusive, stand in skipper Paul Yearsley asked Prestbury to bat in the bowler friendly conditions allowing Cushy, Sam and Bally to carry on from last weeks demolition of Weaverham.
However it wasn't to be Cushy troubling the top order this week, after a frustrating wicket-less spell against Weaverham, Sam ripped through the first 4 Prestbury batsmen including their Australian overseas player for a 1st ball duck! In an attempt to somewhat recover from 19/4, the Prestbury middle order offered a solid defence without being able to break free from the Cushy and Sam shackles and score many runs. A sharp catch at Slip for the returning Eats off Cushy ended a spirited innings of 21 from Birchenhall, which was soon followed by Cushy's second wicket to end a Batterbee innings of just 6 runs from 64 balls! As Sam's 5th wicket refused to arise, Yoz introduced Bally to the attack who bowled full and straight at good pace, which lead to a thin edge to JO and 2 final Prestbury wickets clean bowled. With the average topping Phil Nelly missing from the attack, the Oakmere bowlers are looking in great form with Sam's figures of 4/29, Cushy 3/18 (14 overs) and Bally 3/9.
Chasing down the small total of just 58 to win, Yozza (32*), Woody (11) and Eats
(15*) took just 10 overs with 44 of the 59 runs scored coming in boundaries. The track was fine, outfield excellent, so the Oakmere batsmen felt somewhat upset to see their side win so convincingly without individual opportunities to contribute.
20 points for the victory lift Oakmere above Davenham into second place and had it (possibly) not been for the rain against table toppers Alvanley, Oakmere could be riding high at the top of the league. Oakmere travel to Northwich next week hoping for their 5th win on the bounce.
Man of the match is Sam who had the Prestbury top order in all kinds of trouble.. Just a real shame he couldn't find that 5th wicket..
The absent skipper Pete Hutchinson commented..
"To sit back on the sidelines you can see just how well we are playing as a team with no individual stars or overseas professional"
"The bowlers are doing a fantastic job with the ball and when required to do so, the batsmen are all contributing when chasing or setting competitive targets"
"With the ground looking immaculate, it really is a pleasure to be part of what has been a fantastic season to date for OCC"
Oakmere continued to receive good news this week as the first set of results were announced for the MBCCL fair play league. After a disappointing result from last season, the club were delighted to see that Oakmere were joint top of the league averaging 4.5 points per game from a possible 5.
"It just shows what playing cricket at OCC is all about. We play good, hard, competitive cricket but always within the ECB guidelines and the spirit of cricket. We hope to continue with the excellent attitude on the pitch from all our players throughout the rest of the season"
Click here for detailed Results
Weaverham CC v's Oakmere CC - 04/06/11
Oakmere completely dominated Saturday's derby clash with Weaverham as the Overdale Lane side picked up their 3rd stright consecutive maximum points win.
On a greener/grassier Weaverham track than usual, skipper Pete Hutchinson was more than happy to be asked to bowl first at a team who had previously been 15/6 the week before. Despite missing 2 key players, a strong Weaverham team took to the field to compete with the returning Sam Catling, Phil Nelson and Ric Lyons for Oakmere.
After Sam started the game with a tight maiden over, Cushy had the honours at the other end, bowling to Weaverham's overseas player Hicks, who took one look at Cushy's medium paced style and smashed his first ball through square leg for 4 followed by his second ball through mid on for 4. Very impressive stuff.. However Cushy's 30+ years of niggling out batsmen soon had Hick's figured out.
Dropping his length and pace (if possible) had Hick's flashing outside his off stump, which caught a thick edge that just carried to a diving Woody at deep gully. Soon to follow was the Weaverham stand in skipper Dave Ashley who nervously prodded to a Cushy outswinger to again find an edge this time to be caught in the slips by fellow skipper Pete Hutch, 11/2 soon became 19/3 as Lewis fell in identical fashion to Hick's handing Woody a second diving catch of the game. Cushy was completely dominating the game, which I'm sure he'll agree was helped by Sam's spell of bowling which consisted of 11 overs, 5 maidens, 0 wickets for just 9 runs! The next batsmen to fall to Cush was the dangerous Crellin, who played over a Cushy yorker and hand Oakmere their 4th wicket with the score on just 26. The following 10/11 overs saw very little action from the Weaverham batsmen who somehow had to stop to flow of wickets yet set Oakmere a competitive score and what was a fairly decent wicket. Bunby (3 off 34) and Turley (11 of 89 balls) occupied yet failed to profit, which soon changed as Bally replaced Sam and immediately removed Bunby LBW - asking Sam what all the
problem was about?!? Standing in at short notice, Jamie Allen couldn't keep out a Bally yorker for his second of the game before a tired Cush finally collected his 5th wicket of the match trapping Beckett LBW. With the score on 30/7, wicketkeeper Nash partnered the static Turley and showed the rest of his team mates how to bat, scoring 30 well made runs. As 94% of Cushy's muscles packed in, he was replaced by Phil Nelson who finally removed Turley who must have batted for the best part of 38 overs for 11 runs! This actually turned against Oakmere as Nash and Ollier both cashed in from the final overs. Late wickets from Nelly and Bally saw all 10 wickets fall for just 114 runs. Cushy 5/31,
Bally 3/35 and Nelly 2/32 starring with the ball for Oakmere.
Click here for detailed Results
Oakmere CC v's Runcorn CC - 28/05/11
Oakmere's remarkable season continues to pick up momentum as despite losing 4 key players from last weeks victory at Birkenhead, the Overdale Lane men collected another 25 points against a hard working Runcorn side. Key to the victory was Oakmere's veteran bowler/pinch-hitter, Mike Cushion.
After being asked to bowl, Cush rolled back the years with a frugal spell of 18 overs 4 wickets for 42 runs. Had his legs, arms, hamstrings, calf's etc held up that little longer, there's no doubt Cush would have picked up his maiden 5 wicket haul for the season. With support from Henry Sanderson (1/26) the returning Nick Ball (1/25) and two excellent spells from Steve Percival (1/40) and the also returning Paul Hutchinson (0/22), Oakmere looked well on top at 125/6 before a 50 run stand for the 7th wicket between Booth and Magee took Runcorn to maximum batting points and a respectable score of 181/7.
In reply, Oakmere were dealt a double early blow with Paul Yearsley and Nick Ball back in the shed with just 5 runs on the board. A 4th wicket stand between Callum Rigby and Dan Wood of 80 proved to vital in Oakmere's chase as their two inform batsmen steadied the ship somewhat to 85/2, before Woody (33) edged one behind and then Cal somehow manged to pick out the only fielder within 100 yards of anyone else who to be fair, took a belting catch! On his last game before travelling around the US and moving to London, Cal scored 54 fantastic runs and will be truly missed for the remaining games of the season. That left Paul Hutchinson, batting for the 1st time this season to take over the batten and carry Oakmere from 99/5 to 145/7 with a useful partnership with young Alex Hodges (16). Hutchinson's wicket (29) perhaps swung the game back in Runcorn's favour as a weary Cush dragged his tired body to the middle, with Oakmere needing 35 runs off the final 5 overs. Barely able to stand on his own 2 feet, Cush went about his business in only a way that Cush knows how to and that was to make a strong base and try to hit the ball hard, very hard! To be fair to Cush, we actually saw some lovely stroke play, through point, the covers and square leg. However, the shot that will live long in the memory came in the 44th over, as a tight Ollerenshaw over left Oakmere needing 10 runs to win from 9 balls. I'm not sure what went through Wignall's mind as he approached to bowl but I'm pretty sure the plan wasn't to bowl length to Cush, on his legs, with the short boundary?! But he did, and Cush duly obliged to dispatch the ball for miles over the clubhouse - "no lads its gone waaaaaaaaaay over!" 2 further runs from Cush left skipper Pate Hutchinson (6*) the job of getting Cush back on strike to allow the man of the match to smash the ball through the covers to collect his 27th run (from just 14 balls) and 25 points for his team.
"Two successive victories in the final over show we've got a great fight to the end spirit at the club"
"I don't know how Cush manages to bowl 18 overs and then smash the Runcorn bowlers to all parts of the ground - but I'm glad he did!"
Oakmere strengthened their position in 4th place before welcoming neighbours, Weaverham, who currently sit in 2nd place.
Click here for detailed Results
1st XI Captain's blog - May 2011
Over the past few years, May has been a month of sunshine with hard tracks, fast
outfields and runs galore. May 2011 however has been a month of rain, wind and
cold temperatures, working groundsmen across the Country hard to produce
anything resembling a cricket wicket.
Leaving Oakmere in the pouring rain to head to Ashton looked like a waste of
every ones time, however once the rains finally ceased, Cushy and Nelly
destroyed the Ashton batsmen picking up 4 wickets a piece as we dismissed them
for 60 and knocked them off for 0.
In another rain affected game, we were somewhat unlucky to lose critical overs
at a key stage in the game during our only loss of the month to Alvanley, who
are early pace setters at the top of division 1. Sam bowled beautifully to
collect 6 wickets as Alvanley recovered from 90/7 to post a moderate total of
155. Falling 11 runs short, we should firstly have batted out the final over
and secondly rue the lost 7 overs, which would have made the run chase so much
easier.
2 cracking games followed that were both decided in the very last over of the
game.
A visit to Birkenhead saw Woody come agonisingly close to making his senior
first century falling just 4 runs short in a brilliant 96. A strong Birkenhead
batting line up looked in complete control before pressure caused silly run outs
to hand Oakmere a narrow 4 run victory.
Newly promoted Runcorn showed plenty of depth with the bat posting a real team
total of 182 with runs spread throughout. 4 wickets from Cush the highlight for
OCC with the ball. An 80 run partnership from Woody and Callum lead the chase
before Paul and a bludgeoning Cush sneaked Oakmere home in the final over.
In all, played 4, won 3, lost 1 - 83 points collected from a possible 100.
Captain's player of the month..
In 3rd place for the 2nd month on the trot is Sam Catling collecting 9 wickets
for the month and picking up 31* in the only innings required from him.
In 2nd place is Cush with 10 wickets for the month and 2 innings with the bat
that nearly took us to victory against Alvanley and did so against Runcorn,
which given most months would be enough for 1st place!
In 1st place however is Dan Wood who despite having a constant bad back picked
up 185 runs for the month at an average of 62 runs. A double wicket maiden at
Ashton with his first over adding further weight to the decision. Well done
Woody..
Birkenhead Park CC v's Oakmere CC - 21/05/11
A strong Oakmere 1st XI made the trip (for some via the Mersey Tunnel!) to Birkenhead looking to bounce back from the narrow defeat against Alvanley. Whereas last weeks final over game went against the Overdale Lane side, this weeks last over result would send Oakmere back up the table to 4th spot.
Batting first, Oakmere were delt an early blow when Yozza lost his off stump for just 4 runs. Eats fought hard to overcome so uncharacteristic loss of form before snicking a Stenhouse delivery to the keeper for 17 runs. That brought together the partnership of Woody and Cal who took the score from a tricky 48-2 to 157-3 with some fluent shots and lusty blows. Had it not been for a slow outfield, both batsmen would have scored more freely and were frustrated with the frequent 2's and 3's that had to be run. Cal finally fell on 42 before a shattered Woody followed for a magnificent 96 runs, his PB for the 1st XI. I final swing of the bat from Ric (4), Sam (10*) and the muscles from Middlewich, Nelly (9*) took Oakmere to 201/5 from their 45 overs.
After passing 150 for the loss of 1 wicket, Oakmere soon know they had a fight on their hands as regular partnerships of 40/50 took BHP to 150/5. Sam and Cushy only managing 1 wicket between them before the mid session drinks interval. The introduction of Nelly brought a wicket in his first over taking a smart catch from his own bowling. Then followed a somewhat bizzare session of cricket as some kamakazi running from the BHP batsmen saw the loss of 3 further wickets, including a moment of magic from Henners who had an expert plan to throw the ball wildly from one end the pitch to the other, enticing the batsmen to take an extra run, only to know that Cal would collect and with a bullet arm, run out the poor batsmen who probably had 40 yards to make his ground after running beyond the wickets during his second run. Sam was brought back into the attack with immediate effect, bowling 2 BHP batsmen in quick succession. A brave return from Crofton (who had previously left the pitch with a cut eye) would be the key between win and loss, even more so when smart work from JO removed wicket number 9, stumped from Nelly's bowling.
Entering the final over, BHP required 5 runs for victory, Oakmere 1 wicket. With Croften on strike, Oakmere spread the field allowing a single but not a second run. An edge from Sam took the ball to 3rd man where Nelly flew in and in one smooth action, returned the ball above the stumps for a jubilent JO to run out Crofton returning for the 2nd run. Oakmere collecting the victory for just 5 crucial runs and 25 points! Two superb spells from Sam (3/62) and Nelly
(3/45) turned the game by either taking wickets or creating pressure to generate the run outs.
'It was a superb batting performance from the guys and a great shame Woody couldn't make his 1st 100 for the club. The guys stuck at it in the field and showed a never say die attitude'
Man of the match for the 2nd time in 3 weeks is Woody for a brilliant 96 runs that if played at OCC would easily have been 120+. Woody (and Yozza) have now passed the 200 run mark after just 5 games, both averaging 50+.
Oakmere entertain Runcorn next Saturday hoping to carry on the good form.
Click here for detailed Results
Click here for some Photographs
Oakmere CC v's Alvanley CC 14/05/11
After 2 successive comfortable victories, Oakmere welcomed Alvanley to Overdale Lane who with 2 wins and a draw, had also started the season well.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl, Oakmere began a real roller-coaster of emotions day well with Sam Catling and Mike Cushion ripping through the Alvanley top order. At 57/6, Oakmere looked in complete control with tight, disciplined bowling backed with excellent support from colleagues in the field and in-particular Ian Eaton, with a superb one handed diving catch at 1st slip. As those fell around him, Alvanley batsmen Nick Geddis calmly went about his business and finally found partnerships in Fisher and Fletcher who took the score to 93/7 and 133/8.
After birthday celebrations and a night in the hot tub, Henry Sanderson (0/17) gave Sam a well earned break with Pete Hutchinson (1/33) relieving Cush who again bowled beautifully for his 2/30. With a final flourish, Geddis reached his half century and took Alvanley to a respectable 155/9 in their 45 overs. Sam returned excellent figures once again of 6/60 which takes his wicket count for home matches this season to 11 in just 2 games.
After a brief spell of rain during the interval, Paul Yearsley and Dan Wood carried on from where they'd left off last week racing to their 3rd consecutive 50 partnership before 50/0 soon became 50/2 as both Woody (33) and Yozza (15) fell to LBW decisions. Further rain frustrated both teams as 7 overs of the innings were lost, leaving Oakmere to score the required 156 runs in 38 overs. The game swung dramatically in Alvanley's favour with the wickets of Ian Eaton
(9) and Callum Rigby (13) with both batsmen being dismissed offering no shot, Eats trying to pull his bat away edging the ball onto his stumps and Cal mis judging an arm ball from Fisher.
Making his first trip to the crease for the 1st XI, Alex Hodges grafted and chipped well to add 13 vital runs before his wicket and the loss of Pete Hutchinson and Henry Sanderson in 2 balls brought Cush to the wicket to partner an impressive looking Sam, also making his debut with the bat for the club. As Sam calmly went about his business, Cush on the other hand fancied his chances and after dispatching Roberts for 15 off one over looked to have swung the game back in Oakmere's favour. However it was Roberts who would have the last laugh, picking up Cush caught behind for 22 (off 17 balls). With just one wicket remaining and 8 balls of the match left, the skipper felt enough was enough and the gamble to continue for victory was just too far. With just 6 balls of the match to go, a bizarre decision from JO and Sam to take a single and expose JO to the pumped up Roberts proved a huge mistake as JO scooped the ball to square leg and was easily caught by Shrewing. Oakmere finished just 11 runs short of their target, which they may have easily passed had it not been for the 7 overs lost to the earlier rain.
'I was delighted with the lads performance today. To restrict just 1 Alvanley batsmen to more than 22 runs is an excellent achievement'
'Having 2 quality spinners amongst their ranks slowed us down at a crucial part of the innings. Things could have been very different had we had the full 45 overs to knock the runs off'
Man of the match with no hesitation was Sam with a superb display with both bat and ball. With so much change at the club this year, Sam has been a real positive and we're delighted to have him as a member of the squad.
Oakmere travel to Birkenhead Park on Saturday who had a comfortable victory over Hale Barns last weekend.
Click here for detailed Results
Oakmere CC V's Ashton on Mersey - 07/05/11
Leaving behind a wet and windy Overdale Lane, Oakmere 1st XI firstly had to overcome the weather and then an Ashton on Mersey team, fresh from a season in the Cheshire County League.
Once the rain had passed and the covers pushed off, skipper Pete Hutch had the toughest decision of the day to make in wether to bat or bowl on what looked a dry, hard track. Thankfully, that decision was taken out of his hands as the home skipper won the toss and decided to bat.
Sam Catling and Mike Cushion once again led the Oakmere attack with Cush finding a friend at Mid Off in Yozza who greatfully accepted 3 catches in Cush's opening spell. A further Tom Cristofani catch from Cush left Ashton in real trouble at 37/4. Sam toiled for 11 overs with no luck to finish with figures of 0/15 before an inspired bolwing change from Pete Hutch to bring Dan Wood into the attack immediately paid off with a double wicket maiden in Woody's first over! As an Ashton batsman finally found some form, a second inspirational bowling change from Pete Hutch came in the form of Phil Nelson who's figures of
4/2 in 3 overs finsihed Ashton off for just 61 runs all out. A debut catch from Alex Hodges helping Nelly to his 12th wicket of the season.
Some fortunate news of a delay with the tea then came Oakmere's way with the storm clouds closing in. Both captain's decided to change straight around and take tea after the game's conculsion. Yozza and Woody continued their fine form from the previous week with both batsmen scoring at ease, wondering what all the fuss was about?! A heavy shower soon fell with just 15 runs required, which prompted some IPL style batting from Yozza and Woody to see Oakmere home on 62/0 in just 12 overs, collecting 25 points for the second consecutive week. The decision to delay the tea break possibly playing a crucial role in the outcome of the game. Yozza finsihed on 33* with all but one of his scoring shots resulting in 4 runs and Woody 25*. Both batsmen have had 2 excellent weeks and look set to continue as Oakmere welcome Alvanley to Overdale Lane next week.
This weeks man of the match would have been a close call with Cushy taking 4 wickets, Nelly 4 wickets, Yozza 3 catches and 33* - but with a double wicket maiden and 25* - it has to be Woody.. And here's a photo of Woody in action!
"It was great toss to lose given the weather and tricky pitch to read"
"The lads took some great catches and never let Ashton off the hook"
"Yozza and Woody look in great form and can hopefully help maintain our position in the top 4 going forward through May"
Click here for detailed Results
1st XI's Captain's blog - April 2011
After a winter of much change at the club on and off the pitch, I was finally
delighted to get on the with the cricket with April fixtures to our local
neighbour Davenham and a home fixture against Trafford.
With Percy's injury in the warm up, a late call up for Chris Nelly (and his
pumps) left us apparently "shorn of our key man" (how much did you pay him to
write that Percy?!) I was delighted with our performance on the field with the
ball as the returning Phil Nelly bowled beautifully for his 5 wickets. An
inspired catch by Yozza helped restrict a much improved Davenham batting line up
to 154/9.
After a solid start to the innings, we lost 10 wickets for 60 runs to end
disappointingly on 83 all out and collect 5 points for our bowling efforts.
A tough net session on Tuesday night followed for the key 1st XI batsmen on the
wonderful looking Overdale Lane square - and boy did it pay off!
I'm not sure what Yozza had for his tea on Friday night but what ever it was,
can he serve up 11 portions for next Friday please!
The track, square and outfield were simply stunning on a bright but breezy day.
Value for runs certainly on the mind of the batsmen, the bolwers not so sure!
Yoz and Woody (48) just fell short of the 100 partnership, Callum (70) made his
first senior half century for the club before Yoz finished just short of Eats'
1st XI club record on 142. Awesome! 262-3 possibly the highest 1st XI team
score in the clubs history.
An equally superb debut performance from Sam Catling with the ball (5/43) saw us
home with a slight wobble in an 8th wicket stand of 73 as Trafford closed on 153
all out. My first victory and 25 points as Captain of OCC.
May brings the students back to Uni following their Easter break (they must work
so hard!) and the chance to pick up more points at Ashton & Birkenhead whilst
entertaining Alvanley and Runcorn.
I regular feature of the blog will be a Captain's player of the month.. With
only a few games gone, April has seen some already outstanding performances..
In 3rd Place is Sam Catling - Unfortunately missed the Davenham game (what a
difference that could have made!) but made up for it with 5 wickets on debut
against Trafford on a batting paradise.
In 2nd Place is Phil Nelly - Following a couple of years away from the game,
Nelly returned with 5 wickets at Davenham and 3 to follow against Trafford.
Won't mention the duck at Davenham though!
In 1st Place Is Yozza - Took a stunning catch at Davenham and looked in good
tough with the bat (18) before destroying Trafford scoring 142 runs in a
breathtaking innings which included his final 42 runs from just 11 balls! Well
done Miami Vice..
Oakmere CC v's Trafford MV - 30/04/11
On a bright yet breezy Saturday afternoon, Oakmere welcomed Trafford MV to Overdale Lane.
The generous seasonal weather had contributed to produce a beautiful batting surface which combined
with an electric outfield set the seen perfectly for a day dominated by the batsmen.
Winning his first toss as OCC skipper, Pete Hutch had no hesitation in batting first, restoring the forming opening partnership of Yozza and Woody. From the very first ball, it would be fair to say it just wasn't Trafford's day, as 4 over throws helped ease any pre-match nerves from the previous week. Runs flowed freely for the first 20 overs as Yozz and Woody easily passed the hundred partnership. However 2 runs short of his 50, Woody played over a full toss from the Trafford skipper Law and was bowled for 48 excellent runs. Eats joined Yozza at the crease only to yet again fall LBW without troubling the scores. There's no doubt Eats is storing his runs for a big innings and his season will kick on from Saturday's game at Ashton on Mersey. Cal joined Yozza in the middle and continued the run fest with a partnership of 159 runs between the pair. Yozza's 50 came from just 60 balls, his 100 from 101. However after passing his milestone, Yozza kicked on to destroy the Trafford bolwing to all parts of the ground, scoring a further 42 runs from just 11 balls! In support, Cal put together a cracking little innings with some lovely cuts and drives to end 61 not out from just 54 balls. As Yozza closed in on the 1st XI record score of 144 by Eats, he fell to a simple Warner catch from a tired batsmen's shot! Yozza received a standing ovation from all present at the ground in one of the highlights of the season I'm sure. Upon Yozza's departure, skipper Pete Hutch declared straight away with a record 1st XI score of 262/3.
Oakmere then unleashed their major winter signing Sam Catling, who despite bowling in batsmen friendly conditions, produced an immaculate first spell for his new club of 4/23 collecting the 1st 4 wickets of the innings. Mike Cushion (1/46) forced to change ends due to the troubling winds struggled to get his legs in gear but chipped in with a key wicket of Abbas thanks to a smart catch at slip by Eats. Phil Nelly on the back of an excellent display at Davenham returned with 3/27 with some key middle order wickets. With Trafford on the ropes at 75/7, the game looked all but over. However a 73 run partnership for the 8th wicket between Gallagher and Searle frustrated the Oakmere bowlers, showing just how easy it was to score runs and quickly. As Pete Hutch (1/37) mixed up his bowling options, he returned himself for a second spell and finally removed Searle for 19. As Gallagher continued to search for runs, Pete Hutch called on his strike bowler Sam to wrap things up, which he duly obliged with first ball removing Gallagher who chipped the ball to a grateful Oakmere skipper at deep point who held onto the catch. Sam making his mark on the club and the MBCCL with a 5 wicket hall (5/43) on debut and showing promise of taking the league by storm.
Trafford finished on a creditable 153 all out with Gallagher finishing on 73. Trafford collected 5 points with Oakmere the maximum 25.
'If the track and outfield play as well as it did on Saturday, we'll see some high scores posted throughout the season. Yozza's innings was simply breathtaking as he dominated from the very first ball. I was delighted to see Woody and Cal both score runs and what a start from Sam to pick up 5 wickets on debut'
Oakmere travel to Trafford's neighbours Ashton on Mersey next week looking to continue from where they left off on Saturday.
Click here for detailed Results
Oakmere's other main signing of the season made his debut on Saturday after a big money move from Disney Land, USA.. Donald will be awarded to the days outstanding duck of the day. Hopefully there won't be many (we'd have needed 5 last week!) but this week it goes to Eats for back to back Donald's, which lets be fair doesn't happen very often so we'll make the most of it! I'm sure Sophie and Lauren will enjoy it anyway!
Oakmere CC 2nd XI v's Alvanley CC 2nd XI - 14/05/11
The second away day of the season for the men from Overdale Lane brought about
the captain Pete Jones 4th consecutive lost toss, as Oakmere were asked to bowl
first on a cloudy and blustery afternoon in Alvanley. The tricky conditions and
left/right hand partnership may have contributed to the home side’s confident
start from both Farmer and S. Charles. Eventually the breakthrough came however,
as Tom Elliott forced S. Charles (19) to lob a simple chance to Robert Edge, who
didn’t make a mistake. Wickets 2 and 3 soon followed as Andy Bushell forced the
mistake that led to I. Charles being caught out for a mere 5 runs. Farmer (26)
was run out by Keeper Lylyk, and Oakmere’s fielding standards left little to be
desired as all 11 pulled off textbook stops and saves, keeping the pressure on
the Alvanley batsmen. Hayhurst and Ainsworth however managed eventually to find
the gaps, and notched up a quick 50 partnership to put Alvanley back in the
driving seat at drinks. Matt Norton and James Williams were thrown the ball and
were unfortunate to meet Hayhurst who appeared to be seeing the ball well at
this point, and soon accelerated to his half century, ably assisted by Ainsworth
(25) and later McNamara (27), before they were dismissed, again through catches,
by youngster Williams and the vastly experienced Gibson respectively. After an
uncharacteristic expensive spell from Matt Norton (58-1) Elliott returned to
restrict the Alvanley batsmen, partnered by Gibson at the other end. A long
batting line up for Alvanley helped them to pile on the runs, with starts scored
by all. Hayhurst (62) finally fell to another catch by skipper Peter Jones from
the bowling of Elliott, but Alvanley ended with a very respectable 192 for 8 at
the interval. Elliott was perhaps the pick of the Oakmere attack, with figures
of 3 for 36 from his 11 overs.
The rain held off long enough for Alvanley to begin their attempt to bowl out
Oakmere, which started off very well for the hosts as young James Norton (1) was
caught and bowled by Ainsworth. Just as Norton had found his way back the
pavilion however, the heavens opened, and rain delayed play for around an hour,
cutting short their time to collect full points. When play resumed with
Cristofani and captain Jones at the crease, Alvanley had renewed determination
to get a quick wicket and the momentum for the 9 wickets needed. They soon got
another breakthrough as Jones nicked a good ball from Bragg to S. Charles. The
in-form James Williams was in at 4 with a good bowling attack in full flow. He
stuck in for a good while before finally being removed for 2 by Leadbetter.
Wickets tumbled consistently at the opposite end to Tom Cristofani, who made a
half century midweek and didn’t seem to be phased by the high pressure
situation, playing a variety of solid defensive and classy attacking strokes.
Pinnington came in at 5 for Oakmere and looked to take the attack back to the
Alvanley bowling, which worked for a period nicking a ball from Hayhurst, again
to S. Charles who looked at home in the slip cordon. Oakmere then had a mini
collapse, with M Norton, Lylyk and edge falling in quick succession and not
making too much of a dint in the 192 posted by Alvanley. It soon became a matter
of seeing out the rest of the time before the 7:45 cut-off point for Oakmere and
as long as Cristofani remained at the crease, they had a chance. Despite the
energetic change rounds from Alvanley between overs, new batsmen Andy Bushell
managed to block his way through the tense few overs remaining. Cristofani still
kept his cool with only 2 men left in the hutch for the visitors, and punished
the bad balls all the way to a spectacular 59* for his side, which in the
context of the innings was probably worth double on any other Saturday. In the
37 overs of the Oakmere innings, Alvanley must be commended for the depth and
quality of their bowlers who never gave up the fight, Leadbetter arguably the
best with his 43 for 3 from 10 overs. Oakmere’s losing draw probably felt more
like a win though, with too many poor innings in succession before this game.
Cristofani managed to team his new found form with a new haircut to revive his
sides spirits ahead of next Saturdays clash with Birkenhead park.
Oakmere CC 2nd XI v's Stretton CC 2nd XI - 07/05/11
After a more than successful opening game at home to Barnton last week, there
were positive thoughts ahead of another local derby at the other end of the A49
at Stretton. Another lost toss for skipper Pete Jones saw Stretton elect to bat
on what appeared to be a dry and reasonably hard track.
The youthful opening attack of Tom Elliott and Matt Norton got things underway,
both bowling a very successful line and length throughout their opening spells
on a track that actually had very little bounce and pace. Tom had both batsmen
playing risks, with shots going up in the air while Matt kept it tight from the
other end with 3 maidens to start off his day. Just as the Stretton openers
looked to be getting their eye in, Tom struck with the first dismissal of Hughes
for just 6, thanks to a great 1 handed catch at cover from Alex Hodges. A second
Tom and Alex combination followed to dismiss Jones for 3 soon after. Matt
Norton’s superb opening spell finally paid off when he struck to take the wicket
of Talbot for no score, with a little help from Matt’s brother, James, with a
good catch at mid on. After Matt and Tom’s allotted overs, a bowling change at
each end was enforced and Lewis Newall and Henry Sanderson were thrown the ball.
Henry delivered a very economical spell of 7 overs for just 11 runs, but to no
avail in the wickets column. Lewis at the other end also bowled a solid line and
length but the Stretton batsmen appeared to enjoy the lesser pace. Lewis managed
to restrict the runs towards the end of his spell and obtain the well earned
wicket of Stevenson for 23 to end his day on 1 for 41 off 7 overs, thanks to a
good catch from skipper Pete Jones. With the opening bat, Mullins Snr, still
going strong at the crease and starting to find the boundary rope with ease, Tom
Elliott re-entered the bowling attack and finally managed to get his man for 37
due to a very loose shot and another catch from Pete. Matt also returned and
again bowled a very nice spell while Eddie Gibson had 5 overs at the end of the
innings to pick up 2 for 29 off 5 overs, with the wicket of Mullins Jnr for 13
with a fine caught and bowled, showing that Ed himself still had an element of
junior about him. He also picked up the wicket of Flower with the last ball of
the innings for 47, who left Ashraf standing with 11 not out seeing Stretton
post a score of 147-7. Tom and Matt ended with figures of 3 for 30 off 11 and 1
for 35 off 15 respectively.
After a good opening half in the field, OCC felt confident that they had the
ability to knock off the runs, but knew it would be tough on a much slower pitch
than anticipated. A couple of boundaries gave the innings a powerful and quick
start, but it all got much slower from here as the wicket of young James Norton
for 2 (caught behind off Ashraf), and soon after Tom Cristofani for 5 (bowled
Jones), and soon after that Pete Jones for 9 (bowled Ashraf), had Oakmere
struggling at 17-3. Not often does Tom Elliott find himself finishing his much
loved umpiring spell inside 6 overs to get ready to pad up. Rob Edge looked like
he would carry on from last week’s unbeaten half century with an early boundary,
but Ashraf proved too strong for yet another when Redgie fell for 6. Craig
Pinnington (28) and Hodges (19) provided some stability in the middle order with
numerous boundaries, but once Hodges was caught off the bowling of Ashraf and
Pinno was bowled by Smythe, all looked bleak for OCC. Smythe also managed to
pick up the wickets of Henry, Tom and Ed, for only 1 run between them, while
Weissenbourg picked up the 9th wicket of Lewis. Matt Norton offered a small tail
wag but was left stranded on 8 and Oakmere had crashed to 82 all out.
Hopefully a similar bowling performance along with a stronger batting
performance next week at home to Ashton-On-Mersey will get the start of the
season back on track.
Oakmere CC 2nd XI v's Barnton CC 2nd XI - 30/04/11
The first game of the year saw Barnton cc visit overdale lane, with some
unusually hot weather for an april game. The oakmere 2nds team boasted a mix of
youth, and old timers. With their being three players making their full senior
debut for oakmere, in the form of Andy Bushell, James Norton and Matt Norton.
Having lost the toss oakmere were put into the field. Opening up were Tom
Elliot, who ended with great figures of 7 overs, for just 15 runs, the only
thing missing, was what would have been, a well deserved wicket and Andy Bushell
finishing with 4 for 30 off 9, not bad for a lad, in his first competitive game
for over 20 years. At one point the opening pair made three maidens in a row.
Next on was youngster James Williams, who was partnered at the other end by the
experience of Ian Newall. James ended with taking two wickets and Ian with one.
James was then replaced by Matt Norton, who bowled with impressive pace and
ended up taking a wicket himself. In general the fielding was good for a first
game and Jonny Owen was at his usual great standard of wicket keeping.
The bowler’s had done their part and ended up restricting Banrton to 159-8. Now
the job of finishing the match off was for the batsmen.
Pete Jones (28) and debutant James Norton (32) made a good start of over 60,
then Pete Jones in a rather comical fashion, was triggered LBW by James Williams
who was umpiring for the first time, had to give his skipper out on his first
ball. Then Alex Hodges came to the crease and went, caught for 12 from a leading
edge. Then came the vice captain Rob Edge, who throughout last season came close
to scoring his first senior 50, made a magnificent knock of 58 not out, but
early on in his innings did the impressive James Norton go, who played a great
senior maiden innings. Jonny Owen came to the crease who also finished with a
not out, but Rob Edge showed the batsmen how to do it, with at one point the
game looking like it was going to be a close finish, he took away any chance of
Barnton seeing the game out, and deservedly hit the winning runs. Oakmere ended
the day with only losing 3 wickets.
A mention as well for Lewis Newall, who came in for the absent bill Crank and
did well in the field.
Next week the seconds go to stretton, this fixture last year was rained off and
so are looking for a second win of the season.