Cricket Report Sunday 5th May

The Sunday season eventually got underway with a home game against our old friends, Poppyfields from The West Midlands. After a prolonged dry spell the ground was able to recover enough to stage the fixture after the two previous matches against Macclesfield & Tattenhall had fallen foul to the weather.

With regular skipper, Ollie Banfield away on holiday young Jake Topping took the reigns, promptly lost the toss and was asked field. Audlem soon found themselves in the driving seat after reducing the visitors to 18 for 4 in the tenth over with Rahman Bhukari, Connor Howard & Steve Neil making the early strikes. Poppyfields fifth wicket pairing of I. Brotherton & B. Jeffries had other ideas though and took the fight to the hosts amassing a fine stand of 161 runs before Brotherton eventually became Connor's second victim in the 39th over. The visitors eventually closed on 173 for 5 which represented a fine recovery from their previous precarious position. The Bowling honours were shared between Connor ( 30 — 2 off 8 overs ), Rahman ( 5 — 2 off 4 overs ) & Steve ( 34 — 1 off 8 overs ).

Audlem's reply got off to a decent start with Michael Burton (14 ) & Adeel Mahmood ( 40 ) in fine form with an opening partnership of 39. Marcus Taylor (38 ) continued with his excellent form from last season to keep the hosts well in the game with plenty of batting to come. Usman Ghani ( 20 ) & Rahman ( 14 ) kept the momentum going but both were dismissed with plenty of work still to do. This left the 8th wicket paring of Bertie Hardy ( 8 not out ) & Dave Parkinson ( 19 not out ) to get Audlem over the line with 2 overs to spare.

Audlem welcomed 'old boy' Paul Thorburn back into the team who hadn't played for a number of seasons who will be a valuable member of the squad during the season. A special mention to young Jake Topping who skippered the team with aplomb in what is probably one of the most difficult positions within the club — having to strive for victory but at the same time ensuring that everyone in the team is given the opportunity to participate with either bat or ball.

With Poppyfields returning home happy having contributed their part in a fine game, Audlem now prepare for the visit next Sunday of Runcorn CC with a 1:00pm start at The Gorse Croft.