Audlem Cricket Report

Another clean sweep for Audlem's cricketers over the weekend with victories over Church Eaton, Cheadle & Springhill CC.

Both Saturday league elevens were playing teams rooted to the bottom of their respective divisions but with a number of players unavailable due to injuries, holidays & other commitments nothing was taken for granted as both Church Eaton and Cheadle were very capable of getting a result on the day. With the club's resources stretched to the limit, the last thing the second X1 skipper needs on the eve of a long distance away game is a cry off.. But that is what goes with the job. – a genuine transport issue from the player but nonetheless a few telephone calls have to be made at the eleventh hour. Being the recipient of such a call late on a Friday evening with' W' the first letter of my surname I realised that I was probably not  exactly first choice replacement or considered to be a potential match winner.. But at least we had a full team.

As it turned out, the teams had relatively comfortable victories with both elevens recording 5 wicket triumphs. The seconds returned home from the Staffordshire Moorlands with maximum points after the home team elected to bat first on another hot sunny afternoon. The decision was welcomed by the visitors as the bowling attack made the most on an unpredictable bouncy track and wickets soon began to fall with Conor Howard once again leading the way taking the first three scalps and only conceding 27 runs in his allotted 9 overs. Young Harry Measures was again on fine form with the ball claiming 2 wickets for 2 runs with both batsmen clean bowled but undoubtably the man of the moment was Annapal  in decimating the middle order to finish on 5 for 32 as the hosts were all out for 91 in only the 25th over of the innings.  With the wicket playing all kind of tricks, Audlem realized that nothing could be taken for granted as the hosts opened up with a couple of decent bowlers that were able to make the most of the surface. Fortunately for the visitors they had in the ranks the best opening batsman in the division with Tom Measures. Tom was never in danger as he played each ball on its merits to guide his team home with a superb innings of 36 not out as they crossed the finish line in the 26th over. Hamish Howard was the only other batsman to reach double figures with a fine 16.

The first X1 also had a 5 wicket win at home to Church Eaton after asking the visitors to bat first. A comfortable victory didn't look the likely outcome at the formative stage of the contest as Church Eaton made their way to 171 for 3 with still plenty of overs left to set a large total but once the 114 third wicket partnership between A. Melbourne ( 43 ) and J. Talbot ( 70 ) was broken the wheels came off as they subsided to 193 all out. Bertie Hardy led the fight back with a great spell of bowling in his six overs costing 23 runs and claiming 4 wickets in the process. Simon Swift and Pranay both had a brace with N. Challa & Abijith claiming 1 each. Audlem were disappointed with their fielding performance as some catches were put down and a few misfields gave the score a competitive look about it but ultimately, they need not have worried as the batting was on top form with Bertie ( 35 ) and Pranay ( 65 ) sharing the player of the match honors for their all-round performances in the victory as they crossed the line in the 40th over of the reply. Irfan Shaik ( 16 not out ) , Ben Salisbury ( 23 not out ) , Charles Birkin ( 11 ) & Jake Topping with 28 were the other batsmen to contribute

The following day it was again the turn of the Sunday X1 to complete the hat trick, and they didn't disappoint with a convincing 57 run win over Springhill CC from Wolverhampton.

This time Audlem won the toss and elected to bat on another hot sunny day at The Gorse Croft. Against a decent bowling attack, the home batsmen didn't hang about and kept the scoring rate at about a run a ball throughout the innings with valuable contributions coming from Alfie Hardy ( 29 ) , Steve Ellsmore ( 14 ) , Matthew Furber ( 28 ) , Bertie Hardy ( 14 ) . Richard Irvine ( 12 ) . Jake Topping ( 48 ) , & Ryan Anderton ( 45 ). Adrian Riley was the pick of the Springhill bowlers with an impressive 2 for 13 off his 4 overs. After tea the opening pair of bowlers soon had the batsmen in trouble with miserly Conor Howard  ( 4 overs 13 /0 ) shutting off the supply of runs from the road end whilst Richard Irvine  ( 7 overs 41 / 3 ) striking out their first three batsmen to put them on the back foot from the start. Father & Son , Tom & Harry Measures bowled in tandem and kept the pressure on as the required run rate started to climb. Dave Parkinson claimed 3 wickets , Ryan ( 2 ) and Bertie one as the visitors tried in vain to accelerate to the target. They did make a brave attempt but ultimately fell short in the 39th over to give Audlem victory by 57 runs.

Next Saturday, the first X1 travel to Ashcombe Park whilst the Second X1 play host to Church Eaton. The following day, the Sunday X1 make the short trip to Calverhall with all games scheduled for a 1.00pm start.