Wins elude 2nd X1

At the weekend the 2nd XI suffered two defeats to Mossley, both games they could possibly have won. In Saturday's league encounter, marathon stints from Dave Parry (6-50) and Roy Wild (1-84) restricted the visitors to 140-7 from their 48 overs. They were backed up by some excellent catches, the highlight of which was Steve Ellsmoor's imitation of a falling Fred Dibnah chimney.

Unfortunately the first five Audlem batsmen failed to make double figures, but nevertheless with 15 overs to go there was still a realistic chance of victory. The turning point was the run out of Dave Parry's (36) runner, Phil Backus, and the innings subsided to a disappointing 115.

Sunday's cup match on a damp Mossley wicket saw Audlem asked to bat first. Backus ( 16) and North (14) put on 34 for the first wicket but thereafter only Parry (14), Paul Thorburn (11) and Jake Rowe with a belligerent 21 not out were able to make any headway against a strong Mossley attack.

The home team's target of 107 was reached for the loss of 4 wickets, 3 of them to newcomer John Priest. Another 30 or 40 runs from Audlem could have provided an interesting finish
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The next two matches against top teams Stalybridge St. Pauls (A) and Wirral (H), will be a stiff test for the 2nd XI. This will then see the halfway point of a season in which Audlem have so far coped well with the additional challenges of a higher league (with the exception of 7 bizarre overs at Heaton Mersey).

John Wainwright has admirably led a disparate group of cricketers who can realistically aim at achieving a top half finish in the new league. The fielding has improved considerably but the fact that only two batsmen (Paul Thorburn and Dave Parry) have surpassed 40 in any one innings shows where there is further room for improvement in a team that on paper bats down to number 11.

Also. the fact that two bowlers (Parry and Wild) have taken almost 65% of opponents' wickets allows scope for the support bowlers to start showing their worth and wresting the plaudits from these two stalwarts.

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