Macclesfield lose out in derby clash
ON Saturday the Macclesfield 1st XI made the short trip to Bollington to face their local rivals at the Recreation ground.
After winning the toss, captain Rob Porter elected to field first and test Bollington with the ball.
Returning to a former club, Jack Ward opened the bowling alongside vice captain Craig Melrose and looked to challenge the home team skipper Ric Hough and Australian Caleb Ziebell.
In just the first over, Craig found the outside edge of Hough’s bat but the catch fell just short of Khalid Sawas in the slip cordon.
A good early sign for Macclesfield but Bollington started steadily, seeing off the opening spell of bowling. Otis Palmes came into the attack but after struggling with an achilles injury could only bowl two overs.
Still wicketless, Ziebell brought up his half century with the score just under triple figures.
After a strong start, Bollington progressed after drinks with positive cricket.
Hough reached his own half century with the score in excess of 150 as Macclesfield struggled to take wickets with bowling changes bringing Porter
and Jack Massey into the attack. Hough eventually fell to good bowling by the younger of the spinners, Massey, caught behind the stumps by Jim Melrose for a well made 63.
The opening stand of 182 was broken but not before Ziebell could bring up his century in 123 deliveries. Looking to post a very big score, Bollington altered the batting order to allow the faster scoring batsmen to assist Ziebell.
This was restricted by Porter who took the wickets of both Dickinson brothers before finally bowling Ziebell for a wellmade 125.
Returning to the attack, Ward took two wickets for himself as Bollington eventually finished on 264-6 from their 50 over allocation.
In reply to the challenging total, Macclesfield opened the batting with Justin Galeotti and Porter. The reply stuttered when Ziebell trapped Galeotti LBW in the 2nd over and then found the same result against Sawas.
Looking shaky, Macclesfield found bad luck when Jack Ward was dismissed by a surprising LBW decision giving Horsfield a wicket at the other end.
Continuing the disappointing start, Oli Marsden was caught in the slips and the visitors were now in danger of complete embarrassment.
With James Cross and Melrose at the crease, Bollington knew they had an excellent chance of a very convincing win. The duo batted sensibly and saw off the dangerous opening bowlers. After their steady start, some caution was thrown to the wind as Cross in particular played some big shots against his former club.
Toby Phipps joined Stuart Plant in the attack as the Macclesfield pair took a liking to Harri Dickinson with their regular boundary finding.
In the highlight of the Macclesfield innings, Cross reached his own half century with yet another boundary before young Phipps had him caught for 51.
Phipps then took his 2nd to dismiss Craig Melrose for 28. Jack Massey and then Jim Melrose were dismissed by Plant leaving Palmes and Chris Moores to get out the game what they could.
A useful 16 from Palmes took Macclesfield to just 115 before being bowled out.
A poor performance from Macclesfield left Bolly deservedly with the local bragging rights. Next week the 1st XI travel to top of the league Bramhall.
Back at home at the Victoria Road ground, the Macclesfield 2nd XI welcomed Stockport Georgians and looked to continue their fine form at the top of the Division 1 table. Captain Stuart Parks won the toss and elected to bowl, opening with Tom Key and Harry Massey.
Tight bowling from this pair made it tough for the visiting openers as they tried to see off the early attack. This was until Massey bowled Duckworth for 9. Key also found success soon after when he had captain Barrow caught.
Radley replaced Massey in the attack after tight bowling to only go for 7 runs in 5 overs and this form was followed up as he bowled a number of maidens to keep the pressure on the visitors. The Georgians fought back through Kibble and Flemming before Radley took the wicket of the latter to a good catch by Chris France.
Joining the attack, France then took his first wicket of the day when he had Kibble stumped for 32. More tight bowling was rewarded as France continued to take the wickets of the visitors middle order cheaply. Only Jones looked to rebuild the innings making 39. The excellent performance of France, taking 6- 36 that left the first innings on a below par 152 as Parks claimed the final wicket.
After tea, Macclesfield opened with Dan Isherwood and Coombes. The duo looked steady as they worked to see off the opening attack from Morgan and Hardman. Successfully negating the first spell, the pair looked to progress as Jameel and Hawkings came on to bowl. Isherwood brought up his half century within 20 overs and Coombes followed him in upping the scoring rate, including hitting a six, before being caught for 33.
Hawkins then took his second wicket to dismiss Bradshaw for 1 as Alex Griffiths joined Isherwood in the middle.
The pair batted sensibly to ensure Macclesfield were within touching distance of the win before Griffiths successfully blocked out to ensure that Isherwood could score all the runs required to reach his own 100 mark and take his side to the win.
The impressive century from Isherwood and important innings’ from Coombes and Griffiths took Macclesfield to the victory, just two wickets down and with 14 overs to spare.
Retaining the top spot in the standings, the 2nd XI welcome Bramhall the Victoria Road next week.
Elsewhere, the Macclesfield 3rd XI successfully survived a collapse to scramble to win away at Wilmslow. Bowling first, Wilmslow were all out for 142 with Stephen Whittingham and Tony Moores taking three wickets each.
In response, Ian Kenny’s 38 got Macclesfield off to a strong start but following the collapse, the 10th wicket partnership of Ben Winrow (17*) and Tony Moores (13*) took the 3rd XI home with a 1 wicket win.
On Sunday, the Macclesfield 4th XI were narrowly beaten by Woodley as their first innings total of 199 was successfully chased down on the final ball.
Macclesfield batted well with Nick Moss scoring 73 and Harry Massey 60. Woodley won the tie by four wickets against all efforts by the youthful 4th XI.