With the holiday season in full swing, Edge faced a crucial game against visitors Neston without several key players last Saturday and their opponents having posted a Premier League opening batting partnership record stand the previous week.
Edge fielded one of their youngest ever bowling attacks with the average age below 20, hoping they could still take sufficient points from the game to keep out of the relegation zone.
Edge batted first on a green looking wicket but were quickly into their stride as opener Alan Day was joined by Jon Steele. A second wicket partnership of 183 was the result as Edge gathered momentum after a steady start before both batsmen opened fire on the Neston attack.
In an extraordinary sequence, first Neston’s best batsman, opener Jack Smith, pulled a hamstring fielding and took no further part in the game, then their best bowler, Chris Finegan, broke down whilst bowling his 17th over of the Edge innings and could not bowl again.
To make matters worse for the visitors, both Day and Steele went on to score superb centuries for the home side with Day making 101 in 149 balls, and Steele 118 in 135 balls.
Edge were able to make a declaration at half-way of 267 for 4, a well above par total that looked as though it would be too much for Neston with two players potentially unable to bat.
This was the way it proved with the Edge youngsters taking crucial wickets early on when Ben Davis and Tom Foreman impressively opened the Edge attack. With three wickets later on for Charlie Reid, two for Jason Roodt and one for Ethan Harding, Edge were able to complete an easy victory by the massive margin of 184 runs, taking 25 points to Neston’s 2.
With Smith an absentee from the Neston batting, not even able to bat with a runner, just about everything that could go wrong for Neston in this match did.
Edge are now in a 5-way relegation battle with Didsbury, Neston, Oulton Park and Grappenhall with just 5 games left to play. Next Saturday Edge face a trip to bottom of the table Oulton Park in a key game in the relegation struggle.
Final score Cheshire Premier League
Alderley Edge 267-4
Neston 83 all out
Alderley Edge won by 184 runs
This is a member post by Mike Day.
