Alderley Edge travelled last Saturday to face reigning champions Oulton Park, ECB Cheshire County Premier League winners for four of the last five years in fact, and against whom they have a terrible record, but having had a good start to the season, Alderley were in reasonably confident mood.
The fact that they emerged triumphant, with an emphatic victory, must make them surprise outsiders to take the title in a season which looks like it is wide open with all the teams capable of beating each other.
Edge batted first and got off to a good start with openers Alan Day and Mark Currie making a steady start against a hostile Oulton attack. They put on an excellent 92 for the opening wicket, with Day making a fine 50 and Currie eventually out for 60 as he continued his impressive run of form, having scored in excess of fifty in three of his four innings this season.
The game looked evenly poised with Edge on 163 for 4 in the 39th over when wicket-keeper Adam Worrall and skipper Jason Whittaker came together. They put on an unbeaten 90 plus run partnership for the fifth wicket with Worrall making an aggressive 54 in 44 balls and Whittaker 48, with Edge declaring on 255 for 4 at half-way. Cheshire spinner Nathan Dumelow was the most successful Oulton bowler with 2 for 59 off 16 overs.
Oulton’s pitch is a notoriously quick scoring ground, with small boundaries and the home side has an impressive list of Cheshire minor county players including two Derbyshire ex-professionals and still looked strong favourites to win the match at tea. However, an explosive opening spell of pace and swing from Edge’s Richard Wilkinson turned the match on its head as Wilkinson took 5 for 5 for 51 off 15 overs as he simply blew away Oulton’s top order, reducing the home side to 87 for 6.
Alderley’s slow left-arm spinner Mark Warnes then wrapped up the tail with 3 for 5 in only 3 overs as Oulton subsided to 122 all out off just 36 overs. Oulton’s Ben Gough scored 37 but all the other batsmen struggled to cope after Wilkinson’s remarkable Man-of-the-Match performance.
The points total of 25 to Edge with only 3 to Oulton Park must make this one of Edge’s most outstanding performances in their last decade of league cricket. As far as Alderley is concerned, they will be taking nothing for granted and will try to continue their fine form at home against Bowdon next Saturday.
Cheshire County Cricket Premier League. Final Score: Alderley Edge 255 for 4 Oulton Park 122 all out Alderley Edge won by 133 runs.
Photo by Kelvin Briggs.
