Alderley Edge’s season of woe continued last Saturday at home to local rivals Toft with another defeat after winning the toss and electing to bat first.
After the difficulty in actually getting to the ground, as Alderley’s May Fair parade set off from the Festival Hall just as the players were due to arrive at Moss Lane, the afternoon got worse as Edge failed again to post a score that would challenge the opposition.
Edge looked to be in reasonable shape at 80 for 1 after 17 overs, and in line to post a total that would give them a fair chance of victory and certainly maximum batting bonus points for the first time this season. Jon Steele was then out for a useful 26, and Alan Day followed a few runs later, very unlucky to be given run out at the non-strikers end for a fluent 43.
After this things went from bad to worse for Edge as wickets fell steadily. Adam Wildig contributed a stubborn 29 off 56 balls and was next to the last wicket to fall. However, Alderley’s problems this season could be summed up in a nutshell after being 173 for 8 and just two runs away from claiming an important two extra batting bonus points. Two wickets then fell without any addition to the score, which left Edge’s total well below par and put Toft in the driving seat.
When Toft batted after tea, Edge seamer Tom Atkinson had Toft captain Toby Drummond out, bowled in only the third over, and gave Edge a glimmer of hope. However, decisive knocks from Toft’s overseas player Aaron Sayers, and number three bat, Adam Carolan, meant that Toft were able to coast home with plenty of overs in hand.
For Edge, slow left-armer Mark Warnes bowled well with two wickets, and Tom Atkinson bowled a marathon spell of 21 overs and only conceded 46 runs. Edge managed 8 points from the fixture but remain firmly routed to the foot of the table after five games and in danger of being cast adrift at the bottom of the Cheshire Premier League table.
Next week Edge are away on the Wirral against Neston in a fixture that is very rarely lost to the weather hoping for an improvement in both luck and results.
Final score in Cheshire Premier League:
Alderley Edge 173 all out
Toft 174-4
Toft won by 6 wickets.
This is a member post by Mike Day.
Comments
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It is not possible for me to attend all the local sport matches to write reports, or employ a sports reporter to do so, therefore with the local match reports we are reliant upon the local clubs, such as Alderley Edge Cricket Club, to provide the reports.
If somebody from the Over 40's team could provide match reports then we would be delighted to publish them and share them with the local community.