Alderley Edge’s trip to the Wirral last Saturday ended in a frustrating draw but they had a major boost when the results from elsewhere in the Cheshire Premier League meant they moved closer to their rivals at the bottom of the table.
A very poor fielding performance by Edge meant that in the final analysis they were not able to take full advantage of their best batting performance of the season.
Edge won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that yielded some variable bounce particularly in the early stages of the match, and Edge did well to put on a 100 run partnership between Alan Day and Jon Steele for the second wicket.
Edge totalled 104 for 1 at half-way through their innings but it was from then on that Edge really pressed the accelerator.
Day scored 49, whilst Steele went on to record a magnificent, maiden first team hundred and he put on another century partnership for the third wicket with Adam Worrall.
Wicket-keeper Worrall scored an aggressive 70 off 88 balls with Steele making a more sedate 105 off 148 balls. Edge scored 87 off the last 10 overs with Adam Wildig contributing 19 off 7 balls in the final two overs as Edge declared on 272 for 3, easily their best batting performance of the season.
Oxton were up with Edge’s scoring rate for the first 40 overs of their innings but tailed off significantly after that as wickets tumbled. Oxton skipper Lee Dixon made 68 but he was helped by a series of dropped catches that cost Edge dear as they should have been bowling at the Oxton tail-enders much earlier than they were.
Slow left-armer Mark Warnes took 4 for 32 off 11 overs, and skipper Jason Whittaker 2 for 50 but Edge had only 3 overs at the last pair and were unable to take the final wicket which would have earned them another 8 points.
Over the last two weeks Edge have failed to press home their advantage in key games that could have earned them an extra 20 points. However, things are generally looking up with Edge almost moving off the bottom of the table having played their last three games away from home. Next Saturday Edge are at home to Urmston and looking to maintain their improved recent form.
Final score: Cheshire Premier League
Alderley Edge 272-3
Oxton 195-9
Draw
This is a member post by Mike Day.
