Edge hung on for a draw last Saturday at Moss Lane against the spin bowling of the Didsbury attack and were thankful to get away with a points split of only 15 to 9 in Didsbury’s favour.
This was a match largely dominated by Didsbury’s captain Paul Sperring who not only scored an unorthodox 100 not out but went on to claim four wickets when Alderley batted after tea.
It is a worrying time for Edge with captain and talisman Jason Whittaker suffering a serious looking Achilles injury that both restricted his bowling and meant that he had to bat later in the match with a runner. Whittaker has been the mainstay of the Edge pace attack for the last 3 seasons and Alderley will be severely affected if he has to have any significant period out of the game.
Edge have matches coming up in the league, the Cheshire Cup, the National Knock Out and the County League 20/20 in a hectic schedule of matches that could see their season slip away in a relatively short period of time. It is now up to the other players to meet the challenges ahead without being able to rely on the regular 3 or 4 wickets that Whittaker seems to take in virtually every match.
Edge contributed to their own difficulties in this match by having two run outs, one of them the crucial wicket of in-form opener Mark Currie that turned this game in favour of the visitors.
Didsbury boast a very useful spin attack of Sperring and Cheshire left-arm spin bowler Jonny Fawcett and they took all 7 Edge wickets to fall other than the two run outs. Alderley were however indebted to a useful 33 from Jon Steele, off 43 balls that held the middle order together after Currie was run out for a classy 51.
Edge have now dropped to fifth in the league and there are relatively few points between second and eleventh in a very competitive league. Next Saturday Alderley face a difficult looking trip to Chester to face a team that scored well over 300 runs last Saturday for the loss of only three wickets.
Final score Cheshire County Premier League: Didsbury 228-5 Alderley Edge 180-9 Draw.
