The Men’s 1st XI travelled to Hale Barns on Saturday. With rain around and overcast conditions, captain Craig Phelan won the toss and elected to bowl. The innings started strongly for Oakmere with the scoring rate kept in check. After 7 overs, with the score on 12/0, rain arrived and a long delay saw the game reduced to 38 overs a side. Returning from the break, the first breakthrough was made by Matt Howard (1/25) and the second to Benedict Verma (1/20), getting rewards for their early tight bowling. At 26/2, the new batters began to up the scoring rate. The third wicket partnership continued to grow through to and beyond the drinks break . With Matt Worsdale returning to the attack, he claimed the breakthrough with his first ball on return to make the score 145/3 at the start of the 29th over. Another partnership began to grow with expansive hitting as the home side entered the final 10 overs. Worsdale claimed the next wicket at 171/4. Finishing off the innings, Matt Holland (2/61) returned to the attack and claimed two quick wickets and Worsdale (3/46) picked up a further one to reduce the hosts from 205/4 to 207/7. A few boundaries in the final overs saw the score finish on 223/7 from the 38 overs. With the DLS adjustment from the delay, the required total for Oakmere was 231.

Oakmere’s response started steadily with some early boundaries getting the scoreboard moving. However, two quick wickets saw the side fall to 26/2. The second wicket brought Nick Verma to the crease to join Worsdale. A period of steady batting saw the required rate begin to climb and eventually Worsdale (13) was the next man to fall. Verma continued as two more wickets fell from the other end which saw Oakmere slip to 49/5. Phelan joined Verma and the pair pressed on to the half way point, but the growing partnership was halted when Phelan (11) was the next batter to be dismissed. Matt Holland came to the crease and steadily got into his work as Verma began to up the scoring rate before his innings came to an end for a well fought 29. At 93/9 Oakmere were in all sorts of strife, still requiring 138 runs. Holland unleashed some explosive hitting through the final overs, hitting five maximums as he swiftly moved past 50 and put on a 68 run partnership with the final batter Ethan Mackin (9). Holland finished unbeaten on 70 when Mackin was the last wicket to fall, with the pair having pushed the score on to 161 from 35 overs.

After a defeat on the road on a long, rainy Saturday, the Men’s 1st XI remain joint third in a close, competitive league. They will look to bounce back as they host Over Peover in their next fixture.

Oakmere Men’s 2nd XI (257/5) vs Oulton Park 2nd XI (155 all out) – Oakmere won by 102 runs

The Men’s 2nd XI hosted local neighbours Oulton Park at Overdale Lane, with Oakmere winning the toss and electing to bat first. Nathan Gee got the innings off to a typically destructive start, hitting four boundaries and two maximums in the early proceedings before being bowled for 32 by a delivery that kept low to make it 49.1. Dave Purcell joined Dan Faulkner at the crease, with the pair continuing the early good work, sharing a half century stand. Faulkner (31) edged to slip just after the score had ticked into three figures and Purcell (31) followed shortly after to make it 105/3. Ian Eaton and Aaron Court patiently rebuilt the innings, waiting for and capitalising on any rare loose deliveries. They had pushed the score to 174 when Court was caught for 36. With a platform set and eight and a half overs remaining, Mike Dodd joined Ian Eaton at the crease in a bid to increase the run rate. He hit two of his first 3 deliveries to the boundary and ended up scoring 26 from 22 deliveries, sharing a partnership of 55 in 42 balls as Eaton also kicked on. Eaton hit three consecutive boundaries down the ground to close the innings as he finished unbeaten on 77 from 83 deliveries with Oakmere posting 257/5.

Oulton Park got off to a flying start in the chase, scoring 38 from the first six overs, before Tom Court (2/37) found an edge twice in two deliveries with good catches being taken by Dan Faulkner and Ian Eaton. The visitors did not let this deter them, and the good scoring rate continued. The score reached 75 before Nathan Gee made the breakthrough. Gee (3/42) took the next two wickets to fall in a patient 11 over spell as Oulton Park were reduced to 104/5. Dave Purcell’s introduction to the attack sealed the game, as good catches from Jack Mackin, Tom Court and Faulkner helped Purcell to figures of 4/8 from 4 overs. Brandon Jones (1/15) finished proceedings with Oulton Park on 155 to give Oakmere a 102 run victory.

Malpas 2nd XI (167/7) vs Oakmere 3rd XI (166/8) – Malpas won by 3 wickets

The Men’s 3rd XI visited Malpas and were asked to bat first after losing the toss. Adrian Watts (14) and Jack Pickering (17) shared a steady opening partnership worth 27 runs before Adrian was trapped LBW and Jack was caught. Jimmy Sidebottom and Hamish Warburton then put together a solid partnership before Hamish was dismissed for 13. Joined by James Lewis, Jimmy and James began to increase the run rate before James was also trapped LBW for 26 to take the score to 96/4. Jimmy and captain Ian Bett continued the push for runs with the highest partnership of the innings, worth 39 runs, before both fell in quick succession with Ian scoring 19 and Jimmy 36. Corey Lewis (18) and Percy Bratherton (9) continued to add to the scoreboard, as Oakmere closed on 166/7 from their 40 overs.

Malpas started well in their chase, with Corey Lewis and Henri Shovelton applying early pressure without any reward. The first wicket came when Sean McDonnell (1/19) claimed an LBW. Pete Giles bowled a testing spell before Bett and Sidebottom continued their partnership with the bat, bowling well in tandem to slow the scoring with Sidebottom (2/26) chipping in with a couple of wickets. An Ian Bett run out also helped to slow things down. Corey (1/26) and Percy (1/10) took a further two Malpas wickets but Malpas reached their target six wickets down with 22 balls to spare.

A good competitive outing for the Men’s 3rd XI with both senior and junior players contributing well.

Alvanley 1st XI (152/4) vs Oakmere Women’s 2nd XI (83/5) – Alvanley won by 28 runs (DLS)

The Women’s 2nd XI were in action at Alvanley on Sunday where the hosts won the toss and elected to bat first. Emily Faulkner (1/14), Rachel Tidd (1/21) and Maddi Lawson (1/15) took early wickets for Oakmere but a solid fourth wicket partnership put Alvanley into a solid position. Jane Tarpey (1/24) got the breakthrough courtesy of a Jackie Faulkner stumping but there were no further wickets to fall as the hosts finished on 152/4 from their 30 overs.

Oakmere’s response got off to a shaky start with four wickets lost early in the reply. Rachel Tidd (47*) and Jen Lamidey (16) rebuilt nicely for Oakmere, but just as they were looking to kick on, rain arrived and curtailed the contest with Oakmere on 83/5, 28 runs shy of the DLS target at that point in the contest.

Chester Boughton Hall 2nd XI (80/6) vs Oakmere Women’s 2nd XI (51/7) – Chester Boughton Hall won by 29 runs

The Women’s 2nd XI played their penultimate league fixture of the season on Tuesday evening, on the road at Chester Boughton Hall. Oakmere won the toss and elected to bowl and put a good shift in. Carys Salomon (3/8 from 3 overs) was the pick of the bowlers, whilst there were also wickets for Jane Tarpey (1/11 from 4 overs), Kate Renshaw (1/15 from 2 overs) and Fearne Davison (1/3 from 1 over). A great effort in the field saw Chester restricted to 80/6 from their 20 overs.

Despite Emily Faulkner (14) getting Oakmere off to a good start to the chase, three run outs derailed the innings and it never got going again as Chester restricted Oakmere to 51/7 from their 20 overs to earn themselves a 29 run victory.

Oakmere Midweek XI (100/2) vs Saughall Midweek XI (99/6) – Oakmere won by 8 wickets

The Midweek XI were at home on Thursday evening, hosting Saughall. The visitors batted first and Oakmere got off to an excellent start with the ball as Ethan Mackin (1/15) struck with the second ball of the contest, with a catch being held by brother Jack. Saughall rallied, but two over spells from Tom Court and Matt Worsdale that only went for 1 and 5 runs respectively kept scoring low. Josh Westwood (1/16) made the breakthrough and Court followed this up with a run out to make it 40/3. Another partnership began to get going before Harry Poole broke it open, quickly followed by a wicket for Sean McDonnell (1/24). Runs began to flow towards the end of the innings, but Poole (2/12) returned to take his second as Saughall finished their 20 overs on 99/6.

Despite losing Nathan Gee (4) and Nick Verma (9) early, Zach Howdle found his rhythm early. He and Frank Herrington (20*) took the score from 39/2 to the winning target of 100 with Zach (51*) hitting the winning runs and reaching his half century at the same time with 29 deliveries to spare.