Cricket Report

Both of the club's teams played their final game of the season last weekend with the Saturday X1 falling to a narrow defeat at the hands of local rivals, Woore whilst their Sunday counterparts achieved a well earned victory against near neighbours from Aston CC.

Saturday's encounter was played in a more relaxed mode than the usual cut and thrust associated with league cricket as both teams had achieve their respective preseason aims prior to the contest with Woore ensuring their survival in the division the previous weekend and visiting Audlem were crowned champions on September 2nd .

Woore elected to bat first on a well prepared wicket but had to contend with the encumbrance of a very lush outfield which gave a limited reward for any conventional ground strokes. This obstacle didn't seem to faze the host's young opening bat, Matilda Atherton- Gater ( 65 ) who played a delightful innings which proved the difference between the two teams. She received valuable support from Charles Weaver ( 31 ) in a 71 second wicket stand and when she eventually perished with the score on 140 to the returning Simon Swift she had ensured her team held the upper hand. Simon was once again the premier bowler finishing his spell of 8 overs claiming 4 wickets whilst conceding 27 runs . Irfan Shaik managed to persuade skipper Shenton to let him turn his arm over and was rewarded with a couple of wickets at the cost of 22 runs. Woore closed their innings on 167 for 9 and were probably the happier of the two teams at the break given the very slow outfield conditions.

Skipper, Chris Shenton managed to rotate his batting order but the host's bowlers kept control throughout the innings with a regular fall of wickets before any meaningful partnerships could form. Dan Butler was top scorer on 24 with Ben Salisbury, Irfan Shaik, Sanimon Nair, Steve Blackhurst, Tom Measures and the captain himself reaching double figures as the innings subsided to 143 all out in the 38th over. Top bowler for Woore was young Bertie Hardy with 2 for 17 off his 8 overs ably supported by Lauren Kenvyn ( 2 for 27 ) and Andy Kenvyn ( 4 for 21 ).

A fine season for Audlem finishing the season as champions and Simon claiming the bowling averages for the division closely followed by his regular opening partner. Abhijith Jayan in second place. ( Simon actually was the leading wicket taker in the entire league this season . A great achievement . )

Sunday's game at a damp Gorse Croft was against neighbouring Aston who are resurrecting their Sunday X1 after a few seasons of inactivity. Young Jake Topping took charge of the captaincy in the absence of regular skipper Ollie Banfield and was asked to bat on a typical mid September wicket with a distinct lack of pace and bounce. This didn't seem to affect young Michael Burton as he constructed a fine 43 & prolific middle order batsman, Usman Ghani who once again compiled a half century finishing on 53 not out which formed the bulk of Audlem's total of 174 for 9 ( Irfan Shaik 18 ) Joe Hollins was the visitors most successful bowler with 3 for 38. Audlem's bowlers always managed to keep control of the situation as the run rate required steadily increased and the weather took a turn for the worse as Aston came up short. Young Bertie Hardy managed to claim the match ball for a hat trick and finishing with 5 for 13 in a fine individual performance.

The Sunday cricketers rounded off their evening with the traditional take away meal from Ayaans' enjoyed at the club. ( Thank you Taz and hope to see you with your whites on again next season instead of behind the counter ).

John Wainwright

Audlem Cricket Club