Alsager rip up the form book to end winless NSSCL Premier A run.
Their impressive turnaround has certainly stirred interest and brought positive results to teams across North Staffs and South Cheshire.
CREDIT: Chris Travers Deputy Sports Editor/Cricket Writer @ Stoke Sentinel
Alsager shock Audley in North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier A, while there are wins for Checkley, Leek, Hem Heath, Bagnall Norton and Meakins
Alsager ended a run of six straight defeat to secure a surprise victory over Audley in NSSCL Premier A.
Audley had started the day joint-top of the table with Leek, but ended it in third after a three-wicket loss.
But they ripped up the form book on Saturday to bank the points and even though they remain bottom, confidence will have soared in their ranks.
Anuk Fernando was the Alsager hero as he compiled an unbeaten century to complete a successful chase for the home side.
Alsager were set 204 for victory and saw Aqeel Ahmed (17), Sean Price (15) and Greg Phillips (13) make starts.
Fernando was taking centre stage, however, but even he needed another willing ally after Alsager were reduced to 158-7.
Manraj Johal kept him company with 23 not out, although it really was Fernando’s day.
He walked off unbeaten on 115, hitting 13 fours and four sixes, to steer Alsager to the winning the line in the 48th over.
Ed Jones picked up 3-48 for Audley, while there were double strikes from Steve Stolk and Rob Hemmings.
Johal and Fernando had earlier starred with the ball, taking 5-38 and 3-48 respectively, in Audley’s 203-9 from their 55 overs.
Stolk top-scored for the visitors with 69, which featured six fours and two sixes, with Freddie Doorbar (33), Jones (22no), Jack Redman (19) and Archie Doorbar (18) also making contributions.
Meakins are second-from-bottom, but produced an excellent display to beat struggling Porthill Park.
Meakins, who had won at the Old County Ground on Friday night in the T20 Cup, completed a quickfire double over their rivals by banking the league spoils.
The visitors took first use and managed to pile up 266-9 from their 55 overs.
Experienced campaigner Pete Wilshaw fronted the Meakins batting bid with 73, which included nine fours and one six, with Karl High’s 46 not out and 39 from Jalat Khan helping them to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Ben Holt, John Hancock, Craig Barker and Yohan Maddege all claimed two wickets for the home side.
Oliver Shirley (28), Will Kilgariff (20), Hancock (19), Tom Steele (18) and Holt (14) all made starts in reply.
But Porthill Park were soon picking the bones out of a fifth defeat in eight outings as they were dismissed for 134.
Seamer High completed a fine individual day with 5-11, while Oliver Tucker scooped 3-31 and the other two scalps were taken by Khan.
Leek are now 10 points clear at the summit following their home success against Stone SP.
Visitors Stone SP took first use and managed to stick 185 all out on the board at Highfield.
William Hobson struck 10 boundaries in his 78, with Jack Batchelor (39) and James Cope (21) also in decent nick.
Tom Moulton captured 3-26 for Leek, with double strikes coming from Matthew Campbell and Lewis Moulton.
Leek had plenty of solid efforts to thank for seeing them to a three-wicket triumph after the interval.
Sam Slater and Alex Mellor compiled 36 and 34 respectively, with Tom Moulton and Rory Haydon chipping in with 28 apiece and Hamaiz Mahmood making 23.
Ed Batchelor, James Green and Joey Sharp shared six of the wickets to fall.
Checkley are up to second in the standings after winning at home against Longton.
Half-centuries from Michael Allen and Tom Carrigan powered Checkley to 231 all out in the formative stages of the contest.
Michael Allen made 77 for Checkley in their North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier A win against Longton. (Image: Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)
Allen’s 77 featured 10 fours and one six, with Carrigan hitting 14 fours in his 71.
Nils Priestley weighed in with 24, while Lee Ridgway (3-21) and Tom Hope (3-41) took the bowling plaudits for Longton.
Nipun Lamahewage also took a couple of wickets for the visitors.
Opener Alex Thorley looked to provide firm foundations in reply with 55, which contained four fours and two sixes.
Matheesha Perera, Luke Woodward and Ridgway all made 15, but Longton were eventually bowled out for 164.
Priestley’s left-arm spin yielded figures of 3-23 and there were two wickets apiece for Charlie Lewis and Jack Farrington.
Hem Heath had a fine day on the road as they returned from Moddershall & Oulton with the points.
Liam Banks (38), Matthew Hodson (35), Alec Price (31), EJ Laverty (26no) and Zephryn Hunte (21) all played their part in leading Hem Heath to 197-7 at the halfway point.
Danushka Sandaruwan (3-48) was the star turn with the ball for the Modd men and Staffordshire seam duo Sam Atkinson and Jacob Garlick grabbed a couple of victims apiece.
Moddershall & Oulton looked to be in handy position in reply after Arjun Annamalai (35) and Callum Hawkins (26) led them to 87-3.
But they then crumbled to 101-9 to leave the writing on the wall.
Dan Richardson (21no) and Oliver Palmer (18) delayed the inevitable before the Modd men were bowled out for 135.
Tom Hodson (3-16) and Greg Prime (3-20) did the bulk of the damage, with Banks striking twice.
Bagnall Norton secured a five-wicket success on their visit to Newcastle & Hartshill.
Newcastle & Hartshill elected to bat, but might have been regretting that decision as they slumped to 50-7.
However, Harry Bailey and Andy Whitehead forged a much-needed alliance of 75 for the eighth wicket to put the brakes on their slide.
Bailey made 45 and Whitehead chipped in with 44 before Joe Thorne added 21.
And those contributions meant that Castle found their way to 164 all out.
Morgan Murray-Williams and Andrew Whitehurst took three wickets apiece, with figures of 3-18 and 3-28, with the other four being shared by Scott Winnington and Greg Willott.
Sachithra Perera (3-42) impressed with the ball on the resumption, but Bagnall Norton had enough in the tank to see them over the line.
Jurie Snyman led the way with 74, which contained 12 fours and two sixes, with Murray-Williams (36) and Matthew Arnold (26) also in fine fettle.
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PREMIER B
McGuire’s mammoth ton leads Wood Lane to another NSSCL Premier B win
Cheadle, Burslem and Eccleshall are also winners in North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier B, while Hem Heath 2nd XI and Elworth and Norton in Hales and Knypersley share the spoils
Ben McGuire plundered a ton as NSSCL Premier B leaders Wood Lane beat Leycett to secure a seventh win in eight outings.
McGuire was in big-hitting form with the bat as he made 136 – featuring 16 fours and five sixes – as Wood Lane amassed 287-4 declared at Megacre.
Ben McGuire made 136 in Wood Lane’s North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier B victory over Leycett. (Image: Malcolm Hart www.mhartpics.com)
Jake Thompson was also in the mood for runs with 69, hitting 11 boundaries and one six in the process, while skipper Danny Brierley (42) also joined in the fun. Matt Johnson took a couple of wickets for Leycett.
In reply, Jaidel Richardson (38), 34 apiece from Reece White and Richard Walker, 21 from Ben Shirley and Tom Warburton’s 20 were the Leycett batting highlights.
But there wasn’t a significant score to challenge Wood Lane’s huge total and they were eventually dismissed for 168.
Richard Hassall (4-34) and Zaighum Abbas (4-40) were the main men with the ball for Wood Lane.
Burslem are 17 points behind the leaders in second place after winning at home against Whitmore.
It was a case of every little helps for Whitmore when they took first use on their trip to Festival Heights.
Piers Copeland top-scored with 27, Logan Follows made 25 not out, Caleb Mierkalns and Aaqil Mohideen made 20 each, while Bilal Hussain (18no), Danyal Hussain (17) and Joe Harrison (16) were also in the runs.
That enabled Whitmore to post 197-8 from their 55 overs, in which Matthew Morris picked up 4-62.
Staffordshire’s Morris was then at the forefront of Burslem’s successful chase after the interval.
He put on an opening stand of 138 with Shoaib Akhtar, who departed for 49.
But Morris saw the job through with an unbeaten 90, which contained 14 fours, as Burslem won by six wickets.
Matt McAll and Danyal Hussain shared the wickets to fall.
Cheadle are lurking in third place following their comfortable success at Bignall End.
Cheadle put themselves in a commanding position after reaching 250-7 from their allocation at Boon Hill.
Ali Khan’s 48 was backed up by Sam Cliffe (40), Alfie Bonehill (37), Craig Smith (35), Matthew Goodwin (28) and Matthew Sellers (26no) in a productive first half for the Moorlanders. Aunn Shah grabbed 4-50.
Ahsam Zaroof made 46 for Bignall End after tea, but the home side slipped to 75-9.
Will Dobbie helped himself to 4-29 for Cheadle, with James Sellers, Goodwin and Jack Hassall sharing the remaining wickets.
Eccleshall made home advantage count to defeat Ashcombe Park.
Jack Knapper’s 68, which featured 10 fours, formed the backbone of Eccleshall’s 182 all out early on.
Andrew Calvert lent support with 36, while Ejaz Nawaz chipped in with 19 late in the day.
Nathan Ball, Aidan Derbyshire, Anis Raza and Riecko Parker-Cole all took two wickets for the visitors.
Ashcombe Park laid some decent foundations in reply as Phil Clowes’ 25 helped them to 62-2.
But the innings took a nightmare turn form an Ashcombe Park perspective from that point on.
They collapsed to 80 all out as Calvert picked up 5-14 and Nawaz maintained the pressure with 3-12.
Norton in Hales and Knypersley played out a tense draw in their meeting.
Knypersley were set 165 for victory, but couldn’t quite manage to knock off the runs as they drew stumps on 163-9 in their chase.
Daniyal Hussain Rajput top-scored for Knypersley with 57, which included five fours and two sixes.
Liam Hopkins weighed in with 40, while Aaron Thomason (4-26) and Jack Furnival (4-45) impressed with the ball for Norton in Hales.
The equation boiled down to Knypersley needing four off the last over with final pair Jacob Cumberbatch and Toby Hollingsworth at the crease.
However, home bowler Ant Sheeran only conceded two runs to leave the match as a draw.
Earlier in the day, Rameez Alam (38), Isaac Foster (29), Charlie Belfield (24no) and James Pringle (20) had led Norton in Hales to 164 all out.
Paul Goodwin captured 3-4 and there were double strikes from Cumberbatch, Rajput and Ahmed Abbasi.
Hem Heath seconds and Elworth drew their meeting at Trentham Lakes.
Visitors Elworth took first use and posted 221-7 from their allocation.
Harry Newton hit nine fours in his unbeaten 64, with Ed Parrish (39), Joe Stephenson (34no), Jarrod McKay (23) and Alex Banks (21) also impressing. Shailesh Khune claimed 3-36.
Hem Heath then had to face 60 overs in reply as Elworth raced through their bowling.
But it was honours even at the close as Hem Heath drew stumps on 196-7.
Yohan Liyanage compiled 103 not out, featuring 15 fours and one six, while Newton and Chris Winter captured 3-35 and 3-40 respectively.
CREDIT: Chris Travers Deputy Sports Editor/Cricket Writer @ Stoke Sentinel
