The Men’s 1st XI hosted Winnington Park on Saturday afternoon and with clear, sunny skies overhead, Craig Phelan lost the toss and the away side chose to field first. Openers James Norton and Matt Worsdale headed out to the middle and steadily built a partnership through the first powerplay, reaching 28 without loss after the first ten overs. The partnership reached 50 in the 15th over as the pair pressed the scoring on. The first wicket fell in the 17th over as Norton was trapped LBW for 21 with the score on 60. Josh Westwood came to the crease and kept the scoring ticking along nicely with the team reaching the half way stage without any further wickets lost. At 97/1 after 25 overs, the platform was well set for the second half of the innings. Shortly after the 100 was brought up, Worsdale (39) fell bringing Nick Verma to the crease. Another partnership began to grow quickly with both batters hitting regular boundaries. Westwood brought up his half century from 56 deliveries in the 37th over as the scoring rate continued to increase. The partnership pushed past 50 but was ended when Verma (26) was dismissed at the end of the 40th over. At 184/3, Westwood continued to accelerate, repeatedly finding the boundary and was joined by Craig Phelan in the 44th over. At the end of the 44th over, Westwood brought up his second century of the year, reaching three figures in just 79 balls. At 209/4 after 44 overs, the score continued to grow and following a second lusty blow for six, Westwood fell for 106. This brought Nathan Gee to the crease who struck a maximum off his first delivery but was stumped off his next. At 241/6, Phelan was joined by Matt Holland. The pair swung hard through the final three overs, pushing the score to 277/6 at the end of the innings with Phelan finishing on 34 from 22 deliveries and Holland 20 from 10 deliveries.

After a brilliant effort with the bat, the team looked to the bowlers to ensure victory. After an expensive first over, a few maidens began to apply the pressure in the early stages. The score ticked along until Worsdale claimed the first wicket at the start of the 9th over to make the score 34/1. The second wicket partnership began to slowly grow, but with a large score on the board the away side remained behind the required scoring rate. The introduction of Holland to the attack saw the second wicket fall to make the score 76/2 from 18 overs. Worsdale (2/44) picked up the third wicket in the next over, finishing a ten over spell, before Holland (2/6) picked up his second to make it three wickets in three overs. At 87/4 from 20 overs, a quiet period followed which saw only 6 runs scored from the next 5 overs. Westwood (1/4) picked up the fifth wicket shortly after the drinks break. With Benedict Verma (2/8) reintroduced to the attack, he took two wickets and Ethan Mackin took one as again three wickets fell in three overs which htook the score to 122/8 from 33 overs. Mackin (3/37) took the final two wickets to fall as the visitors finished 145 all out from 36.3 overs, giving Oakmere a 132-run victory.

Another superb all round performance brought the Men’s 1st XI their tenth victory of the season, placing them third in the league with five games left to play. The clinical win will look to be replicated next week as the side travel to Middlewich.

Port Sunlight 2nd XI (232 all out) vs Oakmere Men’s 2nd XI (180/9) – Port Sunlight won by 52 runs

The Men’s 2nd XI travelled to Port Sunlight on Saturday, electing to field first after winning the toss. Brandon Jones got Oakmere off to a great start, finding an edge with his first legitimate delivery to bring a wicket in the first over. A solid second wicket partnership followed for the hosts, pushing the score past fifty before 13 year old debutant Henri Shovelton deservedly claimed his first 2nd XI wicket following a nagging spell of consistent line and length. A good period for Oakmere followed with Sean McDonnell (2/38) striking twice and George Warburton (1/15) also claiming his maiden 2nd XI wicket as Port Sunlight were reduced to 105/5 at the half way stage. Port Sunlight staged a fightback with the sixth wicket partnership carving out 68 runs together before Shovelton (2/24) returned to take his second with a good low catch from McDonnell. Corey Lewis (1/48) beat the batter’s defences to make it 181/7 before Brandon Jones (4/42) returned to take the final three wickets to fall with good catches from Jack Paget, Corey Lewis and Jones himself as Port Sunlight were dismissed for 232.

An inexperienced opening pair of Sean McDonnell and George Warburton got Oakmere off to a solid start, playing out a testing opening spell from the hosts before Warburton (4) edged to the slips. McDonnell (13) struck a couple of nice boundaries but was caught at mid off soon after with the score on 43. The wicket brought the experienced duo of Ian Eaton and Paul Guilford together with the pair battling away well against a strong bowling attack and a rain delay. The pair shared 63 runs until Guilford (35) was caught trying to increase the scoring rate. Eaton struck a lovely maximum down the ground and brought up his half century soon after but was bowled by an excellent delivery for 52. As Oakmere tried to recover the required scoring rate, wickets continued to fall. Brandon Jones (20) and Mike Dodd (19) scored quick runs at the start of the last ten overs to give Oakmere a glimmer of hope, but the fading light made batting conditions difficult and Oakmere finished the innings on 180/9.

Another solid performance from a young Men’s 2nd XI against a strong side pushing for promotion which saw many positives including the aforementioned maiden wickets from a very inexperienced bowling attack.

Oakmere Men’s 3rd XI (160/9) vs Toft 3rd XI (185/7) – Toft won by 25 runs

The Men’s 3rd XI hosted Toft 3rd XI at Winsford on Saturday with the visitors pushing for promotion. Captain Ian Bett won the toss for Oakmere and elected to field first, with opening bowlers Nick Guest and Bett keeping runs to a minimum before Bett (1/43) made the breakthrough at the start of the sixth over. Guest bowled his ten overs in a single spell, conceding only 16 runs but was unable to claim the second wicket. This went to Harry Peters who took the next two wickets to fall before taking a superb catch off the bowling of Jack Pickering (1/25) to make it 61/4 from the first ball after the drinks break. A solid partnership followed with both Toft batters bringing up fifty in a 103-run partnership which Dan Gilbert was unlucky not to break. Roger Pickering (2/24) broke the partnership before Peters (3/37) returned to take his third wicket in the final over as Toft posted 185/7 from their 40 overs.

Oakmere began well with the bat through Jack Pickering and Adrian Watts before Jack was caught for 12. Olly Butkowski came in and supported Adrian well before being bowled for 1. Dan Gilbert then provided a solid base for the team before Adrian was caught for 21 before three quick wickets fell which saw Oakmere fall to 87/6. Dan Gilbert remained and was joined by Ian who worked well together before Dan was bowled for 23. Nick Guest then arrived at the crease and punished the bowlers for a quick fire 45 runs from 27 deliveries, putting on a partnership worth 60 runs with the captain. After Nick was bowled, Roger Pickering added 2 before also being bowled, leaving John Edwards (1*) and Bett (20*) to complete the innings.

Despite a 25 run loss, it was a very positive outing for the Men’s 3rd XI against a strong Toft outfit.

Oakmere Women’s 1st XI (120/0) vs Stockport Georgians 1st XI (119 all out) – Oakmere won by 10 wickets

The Women’s 1st XI hosted Stockport Georgians on Sunday with captain Kerry Hartnett winning the toss and electing to field first. Nat Lyons (2/10) and Sarah Worsdale (1/12) made great inroads to the Georgians batting line up in the early stages, reducing the visitors to 11/3. After a solid fourth wicket partnership it was Hartnett herself who made the breakthrough at 42/4. Kate Skelhorn (1/16) and Layla Dwyer (2/23) then entered the attack and also got amongst the wickets, seeing the visitors at 77/7. Georgians rallied hard at the back end of the innings, pushing the score into three figures before Thisumi Jayawarna (1/12) broke through. Hartnett (3/22) returned to close things out soon after as the visitors were bowled out for 119 to cap off a great all round team performance in the field.

Hartnett carried on where she left off with the ball as her and Phoebe Cottam shared an unbroken partnership which carried Oakmere home inside 32 overs. Hartnett finished on 60 and Cottam 43 to earn Oakmere a clinical victory that has seen them rise to third in the league table.

Oakmere Midweek XI (145/7) vs Wirral Midweek XI (179/3) – Wirral won by 34 runs

The Midweek XI stuck with their youth policy, hosting Wirral on Tuesday evening. Bowling first, a strong Wirral batting lineup put Oakmere’s young attack under pressure. Josh Westwood’s 2/21 and a run out were the only wickets to fall as Wirral posted 179/3 from their 20 overs.

Oakmere’s batters made a good effort at chasing the total down, but chasing a required run rate of nine per over in fading late was never going to be easy. James Lewis (11) and George Warburton (14) got Oakmere off to a solid start against some testing opening spells but struggled to keep up with the required run rate. Josh Westwood (30 from 23 deliveries) and Harry Poole (30 from 20 deliveries) did their best to bring Oakmere back into it, but Wirral stuck to their lines and lengths well, not giving away any cheap runs. Zach Howdle (32 from 25 deliveries) struck a couple of maximums to give Oakmere hope, but the target was just too much for the home side as they finished 145/7 off their 20 overs.

Lindow 1st XI (182 all out) vs Oakmere Women’s 1st XI (56 all out) – Lindow won by 126 runs

The Women’s 1st XI travelled to Lindow on Wednesday evening in the semi-final of the T20 knockout cup. The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first, but it was Sarah Worsdale who got Oakmere off to a fantastic start, bowling the Lindow number one with the first ball of the innings. 0/1 became 3/2 in the very next over as Annie Rashid (1/27) also struck. Lindow counterattacked impressively, scoring 66 runs in the next five overs until a stumping from Amy Jones off the bowling off Kerry Hartnett and a catch for Jones off the bowling off Thisumi Jayawarna slowed proceedings. It was the same combination that brought the fifth wicket with the score on 123 and Thisumi (2/25) striking again. Lindow continued with their attack, reaching 163 before the returning Sarah (2/46) took the sixth wicket to fall. Jessica Lewis (1/22) got her name in the scorebook before a run out a piece for Maddi Lawson and Annie, and a caught and bowled for Kerry (2/33) closed out the innings with Lindow scoring 182.

A tough chase became even more daunting when Lindow’s strong bowling lineup reduced Oakmere to 19/5 in the opening stages. Amy Jones’ 33 provided some resistance, but Oakmere were eventually bowled out for 56.

Mold Midweek XI (127/7) vs Oakmere Midweek XI (133/7) – Oakmere won by 6 runs

The Midweek XI were in action for the second consecutive evening, this time on their travels to Mold. Following the loss on Tuesday evening, the equation was clear for the side – win the game and win the league.

Batting first, Oakmere came up against a solid bowling attack. Josh Westwood’s 27 and Matt Holland’s unbeaten 49 anchored the innings, with contributions from youngsters Jimmy Sidebottom (11), George Warburton (7) and Tom Court (7) seeing Oakmere post 133/7 from their 20 overs.

Mold got off to a flying start in the chase, but Holland’s 3/17 saw the momentum stalled. Youngster Henri Shovelton’s 2/22 from his 4 overs applied more pressure and made for a tight finish. A Sean McDonnell run out added to the tension until it was left to young spinner Sidebottom to defend 11 runs off the final over. An excellent over saw only 5 runs conceded giving Oakmere a six run victory and securing them the Chester and District Midweek Cricket League Division 1 title.

The league title is a superb achievement for the Midweek XI which has been represented by a mixture of youth and experience all year against some very strong opposition. Congratulations go to co-captains Sean McDonnell, Zach Howdle and Harry Poole and everybody who has represented the side over the course of the season.