Alderley Edge enjoyed a hugely successful long weekend with 5 wins out of 5 between Saturday and Monday.
The 1st XI took on Oxton at home in the Cheshire County League Premier Division, and, batting first, were soon in some trouble at 44-5. At that point, with good support from Tom Foreman (42), wicket keeper Adam Worrall played one of the innings of his life, smashing 134 not out and seeing Alderley to a total of 231. Tight and consistent bowling always had Oxton in check, and the visitors were bowled out for 128 to bring another 25 points and move Alderley into 3rd place in the table.
On Sunday Alderley won a thrilling Cheshire Cup Round 2 match at Wallasey, whose 45-over total of 220 was overhauled for the loss of 8 wickets with only three balls remaining. This was much to the dismay of a large and vocal home crowd who clearly thought they were home and dry when Alderley needed 14 from the final over with just 2 wickets remaining! After useful contributions from Mark Currie (39) and Calum Rowe (38), Charlie Reid guided the team home with a well-crafted 40 not out.
The 2nd XI also had a 100% record with convincing victories at Macclesfield in the league on Saturday and at home to Marple in the T20 Knock-out on Monday evening. Dan Fesmer blasted out the first 8 Macclesfield batsman in a sustained spell of accurate and hostile fast bowling, and the home team's score of 180 was easily overhauled, with Marc Chan and Tom Wildig rattling up a century opening stand at better than a run a ball. In the Cup match, powerful half centuries from Ollie Hall and Oliver Wildig helped Alderley run up a big total of 182 from 20 overs, one that Marple never really threatened to reach as they finished 25 runs short.
To complete the nap hand, the 3rd XI made it two wins out of two on Sunday, beating Bowdon Vale by a resounding 132 runs, bowling their opponents out for 70 after amassing 202-8, with highly promising 14-year-old Sam Perry making a classy 70 and Angus Muir 44 not out on his seasonal debut.
Match report by Rick Davis.
