Alderley Edge 1st XI's ambitions for the season came to an abrupt halt in the space of four days, losing two quarter finals (Red Insure T20 against Neston and Cheshire Cup against Macclesfield), with a further defeat in the league against Grappenhall sandwiched between the two.
The Thursday evening match at Neston saw Alderley set a daunting total of 186 from 20 overs but after a slow start, a swashbuckling 62 from Adam Worrall, with strong support from Calum Rowe and Charlie Reid, kept them in the hunt. However, the run rate proved just too much and Alderley finished 19 runs short, a disappointing result but a creditable effort.
The weekend, however, saw two very below par performances from the team at Moss Lane, in front of large crowds in the tropical weather conditions. On Saturday Alderley were shot out for a paltry 112 on a decent batting track by Grappenhall's seam bowlers, a total the visitors knocked off with the minimum of fuss in just over 20 overs.
Sunday's crucial cup match sadly brought little improvement, with bottom of the table Macclesfield being allowed to reach a score of 233 from 45 overs and Alderley's batsmen never mounting a serious challenge. The innings petering out to 153 all out in 39 overs.
Even the high-flying 2nd XI faltered slightly, being held to draw at Grappenhall, who ran up a massive 306 batting first. As unlikely a target as this seemed, Alderley's batsmen responded with great verve, and fine innings from Dave Leonard (92), Ollie Hall (74) and Tom Wildig (49) forced the home team to resort to ultra-defensive field placings despite their huge score, meaning that any decisive result proved impossible.
Match report by Richard Davis.
