Audlem Cricket Report

Cheadle ( Staffs ) v Audlem Saturday July 27

Audlem made their way to the Staffordshire Moorlands to take on mid table Cheadle on Saturday in a bid to retain their lead at the top of the division.

Cheadle won the toss and elected to bat first on a green wicket. After finding themselves on 41 for 3 the home team rallied with young B. Mellor completing a 34 ball half century in his 58 but on his dismissal a flurry of wickets reduced the hosts to 92 for 8. The last two wickets managed to add valuable runs as Cheadle closed on 148 all out in the 38th over. Vijian Rahul was the pick of the bowling claiming four of the wickets to fall for 31 runs well backed up by Abijith Jayan ( 2 for 28 ), Sanimon Nair ( 1 for 21 ) & Dave Parkinson ( 1 for 25 ).

In the reply Audlem soon found themselves in trouble, slipping to 47 for 5 before opener Jack Allman ( 70 ) found a resolute partner in Dave Parkinson ( 45 not out ) in a valuable sixth wicket stand of 76. A run-a-ball 20 off Vijian brought the game to it s conclusion in the 35th over as Audlem ran out winners by 4 wickets, closing on 154 for 6.

Barrow ( Chester ) v Audlem Sunday July 28

Audlem Sunday X1 travelled in the opposite direction to their Saturday counterparts to the picturesque ground at Great Barrow near Chester. Skipper Ollie Banfield lost the toss and was asked to field first on a scorching hot day. Young Alfie Hardy ( 2 for 28 )bowled beautifully in his opening spell claiming a couple of wickets alongside the miserly Connor Howard ( 2 for 15 ) as the home team struggled for runs. Seasoned campaigner, Steve Neale was the star man with the ball claiming 3 wickets for 16 runs off his 8 overs including 3 maidens. Young Alfie took two excellent catches to back up his bowling exploits as Barrow closed on 165 for 9 off their overs.

Audlem found the going tough against a decent bowling attack losing their first 3 wickets with 33 runs on the board. A fine 41 run partnership between Andy Jackson ( 51 not out ) & Marcus Taylor ( 23 ) got the visitors back into the game and another 61 run partnership between Andy and Dave Parkinson ( 25 ) got Audlem within striking distance of their hosts but Barrow managed to hold on as the visitors finished just short on 160 for 9

Next weekend the Saturday team are at home to Sandyford and the Sunday X1 travel to Shropshire to take on Wellingtonwith both games scheduled for a 1.00pm start