Double T20 loss at Bollington
ON Saturday, the Macclesfield 1st XI made the short journey to Bollington to play two Twenty20 fixtures in the penultimate weekend of the shortened season.
Bollington batted first with Tom Key and Paddy Turner taking the new ball.
The hosts looked to get off to a flier until Key dismissed Richard Hough and Calum Rowe.
Now at the crease, Jake Dickinson and James Heathcote batted steadily to add 25 to the total until a bullet run-out from Angus Thomson and a Jack Massey wicket brought the momentum towards Macclesfield. Further wickets fell before Tom Horsfield began to find the boundary regularly.
Supported well by Harri Dickinson, all-rounder Horsfield pushed on to eventually finish 42 not out in his side’s 127/6 from their 20 overs.
In response, captain James Cross led his side alongside Thomson but both fell in quick succession to the young spinner, Toby Phipps.
The nightmare continued as
start Julian
McGovern and Horsfield both took a wicket.
With the score now 28-4, Alex Griffiths looked to remain steady in starting some kind of rebuild.
Macclesfield continued to lose wickets, falling to 61/7 and with few overs remaining, Ben Curwen (finishing 21*) and Paddy Turner (finishing 16*) had to bat aggressively to try and chase the Bollington total.
Two sixes and two fours between them were not enough as Macclesfield finished 22 runs short, at 105/7.
In the second fixture, Bollington won the toss and elected to bat first again. Altering their batting line up, Calum Rowe opened with Jake Dickinson but the latter was swiftly removed by Jack Massey, bringing captain Richard Hough to the middle.
The duo then kicked on, finding the boundary regularly in a quickfire 51 partnership. Both batsmen then fell in successive overs to good catches from Miles Bradshaw and Curwen.
Macclesfield looked to take the upper hand as James Heathcote and Horsfield both lost their wickets first ball.
However, useful late contributions from Harri
Dickinson (finishing 22*) and Stuart Plant (finishing 12*) took Bollington to totalling 113/6.
The visitors opened with the same duo of Thomson and Cross but again it was Bollington who found early success.
The relentless bowling from the home side continued as McGovern, Phipps and Plant ripped through the top order cheaply.
Good catching from Bollington took the game strongly in their favour and brought Chris Moores and Curwen to the middle.
The younger batsmen Curwen began to find the boundary with excellent strikes over the bowler’s head as some hope was restored for Macclesfield. However the brilliant effort of 41 not out was not enough as Macclesfield were bowled out in the last over for 94.
After a disappointing day, Macclesfield travel to Urmston next week in a title decider. Urmston currently sit 1 point clear meaning that Macclesfield need to beat their hosts for the day twice to claim the Division 1 East glory.
The Macclesfield 2nd XI were in action at Victoria Road as they welcomed Alderley Edge in a 40 overs per side fixture. It was the visitors who won the toss and elected to field first.
James Coombes opened alongside Chris Flint but the duo got off to a poor start as Flint was caught without scoring. On a pitch that water had got onto under the covers, Macclesfield really struggled as conditions favoured the bowlers.
Brad Porter was next to the crease and started steadily before being bowled for 9.
The nightmare start continued when Rob Porter and Yash Jain both fell. Mitch Moores and Tom Radley both scored 11 before losing their wickets to David Johnson.
Coombes eventually was caught after making a steady 35 off 100 deliveries. Stuart Parks made 11 not out before Macclesfield were all out for 97 in the last over.
In reply, Alderley Edge opened with Henry Stevinson and Joey Chong and it was the latter who was first to fall for the visitors, to a Chris Flint catch off the bowling of Tom Radley.
A further two wickets fell as Macclesfield held some confidence of bowling in the same form as the visitors.
However, Andrew Kennedy joined Stevinson in the middle and batted steadily to take the game away from Macclesfield.
Some hope was restored when Will Jennings trapped opener Stevinson for a well made 35 but Kennedy was able to take his side over the line with 6 wickets remaining.
The 2nd XI host Cheadle on Saturday as their season comes to a close.
The 3rd XI beat Nantwich by 77 runs on Saturday. Ben Winrow returned to the side with an excellent 60 runs whilst Sam Hughes and Stephen Whittingham both took 3 wickets to seal the victory. The 3rd XI play against Lymm Oughtrington Park 2nd XI at home next Saturday.
The 4th XI lost on Sunday to Stockport Trinity. They will finish their season next Sunday away at Lindow.
The Under 19s have reached the Cup Final after beating Neston U19s at Chester Boughton Hall on Sunday.
Angus Thomson starred with the bat scoring 43 before Ethan Morris took 4-16 and Jack Massey took 3-9.
The final is yet to be arranged but Macclesfield will face either Cheadle or Brooklands; likely the weekend of 18th-20th September.