Checkley CC v Audlem CC (23rd Sept 2018)

Audlem's cricketers wound up their 2018 campaign with a hard fought draw at a blustery Checkley (Uttoxeter) last Sunday.

Skipper Simon Swift performed a minor miracle to end up with eleven players taking to the field on the afternoon of the game. Regular team members were unavailable for various reasons which left Simon the task of drafting in replacements to fill the void. Eventually on Saturday evening a squad was assembled on paper only to wake up the next morning to the news that two of his star men had to pull out due to consuming a dodgy Lamb Tikka takeaway the previous night. Regular scorer Jordan Harding was put on alert and asked to pack his kit whilst the word was put out far and wide for anyone who could hold a bat, turn their arm over or just fill a gap in the field.

Great credit must go to Simon for all his hard work as the umpires walked out for the start of the game Audlem had eleven players on the field of play and Jordan perched aloft in the impressive digital score-box alongside the home scorer.

Audlem struggled manfully to restrict the flow of runs from the free flowing and stylish home batsmen and the cause wasn't helped by a strong cool wind blowing across the ground which made bowling at one end extremely challenging. The visitors stuck to their task and managed to contain the eventual score to 214 for 5 off the full allocation of overs. Not a bad performance considering Checkley broke the 300 barrier the previous week. Simon Swift was the pick of the attack, bowling his 13 overs taking 3 for 51 which was a fine return given the strength of the opposition.

With the knowledge that the host's bowling attack was not on the same level as their batting Audlem were never in danger of losing the game after 4 overs were lost to a rain break but a run chase was out of the question with so many of the key men missing but the prolific Atiq Hashmi was again the visitor's top scorer with 47 out of the eventual total of 119 for 7.

Another successful season for the club with the Saturday team promoted to Division 3 of The Cheshire Cricket League after finishing runners up to the eventual winners, Knutsford and the Sunday eleven still in second place in The Stone League ( South A division ) with some games still to play this coming weekend ( Audlem have completed their fixtures ).

The club are keen to recruit new playing and none playing members for next season from the village and surrounding area. With the cricket ground situated out of the confines of the village centre probably many people are not even aware of our existence especially in the new developments being built. Everyone is most welcome to come and join us in whatever capacity.

Our website is audlem.play-cricket.com where the scorecard for Sunday's game can be seen and all the other information concerning us can be viewed.

John Wainwright

Audlem CC

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.