Spin twins weave another win for 2nd XI

The 2nd XI welcomed Appleton 4th XI to the Gorse Croft for the Cheshire Cricket Alliance Division 4 fixture and won comfortably by 83 runs to continue their climb up the table.

Skipper, John Wainwright, won the toss and elected to bat first hoping to take advantage of a fast outfield and friendly batting conditions. Steve Broomfield and Zar Ahmed opened the batting for Audlem and they put on 28 until Broomfield was caught at midwicket off Aamir Aslam for 14. Twelve runs later, Aslam produced two magnificent deliveries in consecutive balls to bowl Danny Thorburn and Leo North. The ball to North was an unplayable delivery which pitched outside off and swung in at a good pace to take the leg stump. Ahmed was by now starting to play well and finding the boundary regularly, until he was given out lbw for 34, making the score 58 for 4. When Jake Rowe was out with the score on 73 for 5, Appleton were clearly on top.

However, the pendulum swung the home team's way when Paul Thorburn joined Dave Parry at the crease. The pair shared a magnificent stand of 80 to put Audlem firmly back in the driving seat. Thorburn was at his ebullient best and took the attack to Appleton. When he was dismissed for a swashbuckling 40, the score was a healthy 153 for 7. At the other end, Parry continued his superb recent form and looked impregnable. Lyndon Woodcock and Wainwright were then dismissed cheaply before Roy Wild and Parry added a useful 22 for the last wicket, when Parry was dismissed just two runs short of his half-century, ending Audlem's innings on 194. For Appleton, 17 year old Aslam took 6 for 38 with a quality spell of medium pace swing bowling.

When the visitors began their reply, Wainwright opted to open the bowling with spinners Wild and Woodcock. Both bowlers settled immediately into a probing line and took a wicket each to dismiss the openers to leave Appleton on 31 for 2. Kevin Lomas then went on the attack and was looking composed and extremely dangerous until, with the score on 60, he was comprehensively bowled for 27 by Wild. From that moment on, Woodcock and Wild demolished the opposition in their varying styles of spin. The only resistance from Appleton came from a fighting last wicket stand, which ended when the visitors were all out for 111. Wild and Woodcock bowled unchanged, Wild taking 5 for 52 and Woodcock 5 for 56.

Audlem gained 25 points to move up to fifth in the table and Appleton 7.

On Saturday the 2nd XI travel to Stockport to play next-to-bottom Heaton Mersey Village, hoping to make it three wins in a row. Update: HMV's result from last Saturday's match wasn't included in the last league tables – they are actually seventh.

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