Audlem CC mixed fortunes

Saturday – a fine win

Audlem CC ,v, Crewe Vagrants CC

On Saturday Audlem were hosts to near neighbours Crewe Vagrants who were sitting just one place below the home team in the league rankings so a close encounter was anticipated.

Audlem were without star allrounder Dan Butler and middle order batsman Steve Blackhurst but were still able to put out a good quality starting eleven.

Crewe decided to take first strike on a decent looking batting surface and fast hard outfield with the weather set fair for the day. Openers Gay and Meakin were off to a decent start against the host's seam attack but were always kept in check against some tidy accurate bowling but it was the introduction of prolific off spinner, Neil Humphries that changed the game having Gay stumped with a tidy piece of work by keeper Dave Parkinson. The opening stand of 34 was as good as it got for The Vagrants as the bowlers took charge of proceedings, aided by a couple of run outs Crewe limped to a well under par total of 105 all out in 37 overs.

Neil finished his spell with fine figures of 3 wickets for 17 runs off his 8 overs, backed up by Atiq Hashmi and Andy Rothwell with two apiece with Simon Swift claiming the other victim.

The hosts were again able to experiment with their batting line up with skipper Shenton (33) reverting to his preferred role as opener and partnered by Callum McIlveen (29) who had only faced one ball all season prior to today's game. They proceeded to flay the bowling to all parts in a quickfire 66 run partnership before both departing in quick succession . Number 4 batsman, Howard Jones made sure the visitors were not allowed back into the game with a fine 27 not out and allrounder Andy Rothwell joining him to close the game for 10 not out. A comfortable victory by 6 wickets with half the overs remaining leaving the hosts still undefeated so far this season.

Sunday – back to earth

Audlem Sunday X1 .v. Fenns Bank & Iscoyd Park CC

Audlem's Sunday cricketers were up against it in their fixture with Fenns Bank & Iscoyd Park with the guests fielding a strong starting X1 . Home captain, Simon Swift had little hesitation on deciding to bat after winning the toss but openers Paddy Leese and Andy Burton were pegged back with some tidy bowling and were well behind the required run rate needed to set up a total to challenge the visitors. It was only when the prolific Dave Parkinson (75) came to the crease that some urgency was injected into the proceedings aided by two good partnerships with Ollie Banfield (16) and Phil Cottrell (17) which eventually took the total to a respectable 189 all out. Matthew Beardmore was the standout performer for the visitors with remarkable bowling figures of 4 wickets for only 2 runs.

Audlem knew they had to take early wickets against Fenns Bank's strong batting line up as the set total was well under par given the conditions but openers Paul Gresty (81) and Rhian Jones (25). made sure they took full advantage of the good batting surface to take the game away from the hosts. Ethan Gresty added an unbeaten 53 to ensure the visitors returned home with the spoils with 9 overs to spare and 5 wickets in hand. Simon Swift was the most successful bowler with 2 wickets for 15 runs.

Next week's fixtures

Saturday : Crewe Vagrants .v. Audlem CC (12:30pm )

Sunday : Audlem CC .v. M.P. Plumbing CC ( Chester ) ( 1:00pm )