Jack’s the lad for Macc!
THE Macclesfield 1st XI welcomed Marple to a very cold and wet Victoria Road to play two Twenty20 fixtures on Saturday.
With the ground under water just days before the game, groundsmen Jimmy and Paulo worked tirelessly to get the game on.
Visiting captain James Morgan won the toss and elected to field first, bringing Angus Thomson to bat alongside James Cross. Due to the preceding week’s weather, the outfield was very wet and the pitch itself had taken some impact of the wind and rain so batting would be difficult for both teams.
The opening duo looked to wait for a bad ball to find the boundary until Jack Grundy had Thomson caught at second slip. The same result came for Grundy as he had Khalid Sawas and John Birchall both caught.
Andy Wylie took his first wicket of the day as Macclesfield fell to 24-4 bringing Jack Massey and Alex Griffiths to the middle.
Changes in the bowling attack helped Macclesfield and Massey in particular as the 16-year-old began to bat aggressively, finding the boundary regularly. However, when he then hit a short ball straight to the fielder after scoring a well made 32, Fin McCance joined Griffiths at the crease. This duo remain steady initially, before scoring at around a run a ball. McCance finished 30 not out in the 46 partnership which concluded the Macclesfield innings totalling 109-5 from the 20 overs.
In reply, Paddy Turner took the new ball alongside Tom Key and it was the latter who made the early breakthrough, taking a wicket in his second over. Key struck again shortly after to remove the other opener with the score now 21-2. Marple looked to rebuild as the next three batsmen reached double figures but junior duo Ben Curwen and Jack Massey shared their wickets in the middle overs. The Marple lower order then struggled as John Birchall and Chris Moores took a wicket each before Angus Thomson took two in the final over as Marple finished 74-9. Winning by 35 runs, Jack Massey was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2-9.
The second Twenty20 fixture was later abandoned due to rain after
Marple had batted, scoring 129-5 from their 20 overs. Tom Key took three wickets and James Morgan scored 51 not out for the visitors. The three points gained on the day keep Macclesfield three points clear of Bramhall at the top of the Division 1 East, going into next week’s away fixture to Bollington.
In the reverse fixture, the Macclesfield 2nd XI travelled to Marple in which captain Chris France won the toss and elected to field in the first of two Twenty20s. The bowling attack for the day was useful, with only Rob Porter over the age of 19. Macclesfield opened with Henry Mitchell and Will Jennings but they could not find the early breakthrough as Muhammed Sanif batted aggressively.
After the opening spells, father and son duo Rob and Brad Porter came on to bowl and immediately found success.
It was Brad who took the wickets of both opening batsmen reducing the score to 38-2.
Not to be outdone, Rob then took two wickets of his own. Marple captain Greg Marsland had some resistance to the Macclesfield bowling as he made 23 in the later overs as his side finished up on 93-5 from their 20 overs.
In reply, Chris France opened alongside James Coombes but it was the captain France who was first to fall, caught in the ring off the bowling of James Reeve.
In difficult batting conditions Macclesfield looked to steadily rebuild as Rob Porter came to the crease.
The partnership took Macclesfield past halfway in the chase before Porter was caught for 14.
Reeve then took his second wicket to remove Adam Longshaw for 8. However Chris Flint joined Coombes in the middle and were able to take Macclesfield over the line with just 5 balls remaining, winning by 7 wickets. Coombes top scoring with 39 not out.
In the second of the two fixtures, the Marple captain again won the toss, choosing to field first this time.
The duo that took Macclesfield over the line in the first game kept their pads on and came out to open.
In a good opening partnership, Chris Flint was first to fall, making 20 before being stumped. However, the momentum swung in the host’s favour, as three wickets fell cheaply. Rob Porter then joined Coombes in the middle and began an important partnership. After starting steadily, the duo began to find the boundary regularly. Porter bringing up his individual half century, well supported by Coombes who went on to finish 43 not out. Porter was also not out scoring 57 in Macclesfield’s total of 134-4 from the 20 overs.
In reply, Marple opened with the same pair but got off to a much better start this time round.
Sanif and Matthew Barrow scored at around a run a ball scoring 43 and 30 respectively before falling to good deliveries from Henry Mitchell and Rob Porter. Alec Terry then took two wickets of his own to bring the fixture back into contention, before an important partnership between Joshua Kirk and Marsland meant that Marple just about had enough to chase the Macclesfield total with just 2 balls remaining.
The 2nd XI welcome Alderley Edge on Saturday to Victoria Road.
The 3rd XI just about were unsuccessful in chasing the 184-8 posted by Warrington as they finished 182-9, resulting in a losing draw. Tony Moores took 5 wickets before Steve Whittingham made 55 and Alistair Knight made 48.
Meanwhile, the 4th XI lost on Sunday to Brooklands by 6 wickets after posting 142-9.