Rain beats cricketers. 1st XI top with one game to go.

Yesterday's rain beat both Audlem teams as the 2008 Cheshire Cricket Alliance season draws to its end. The 1st XI were due to play at Glazebury in their penultimate game of the season, whilst the 2nd XI were set to play their final game against Norbury. As all the games in Divisions 3 and 5 were cancelled, there was no change to the tables.

Next Saturday's 1st XI game is a promotion decider at third-placed Kerridge. Audlem go into the final game 12 points clear of Mossley and 20 points above Kerridge. Mossley will be favourites to win their home encounter with eighth-placed Ellesmere Port. With a maximum 25 points available if a team bats first and wins (20 points for a win batting second), it means that if Audlem win at Kerridge they will be crowned Division 3 champions. If Audlem don't win, it will then be down to the number of bonus points gained. As long as they don't lose, or gain at least 6 points, they will be promoted and 13 points would make them champions. The rules on gaining points are complex and I do not intend to bore you explaining them here.

The 2nd XI's Division 5 campaign has finished disappointingly with three of the last four games (against three of the bottom four teams) being beaten by the weather. Having been in a strong position for promotion at the beginning of July, they failed to win any of their last nine games. In the end, they finished eighth in the division, but only missed out on promotion by about 50 points.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.