Solid Macc show on T20 finals day
VERY wet weather and conclusive forecast saw most of the cricket around Cheshire cancelled at the weekend and this was no different at Macclesfield CC.
The 1st, 2nd and 4th
XI’s fixtures were all cancelled on Saturday morning leaving only the 3rd XI to travel to the Wirral to face fellow promotion contenders Oxton.
To the surprise of many, the ground was fit to play and it wasn’t actually raining!
With this the game got going with Macclesfield winning the toss and electing to bowl.
The hosts got off to a strong start through their openers David Burrows and Ollie Jones, both surpassing 30 before being dismissed. Macclesfield then fought back with two quick wickets for Stephen Whittingham.
Changes in the bowling restricted Oxton but the 3rd XI dropped many catches which would have left them a much lower total to chase.
Useful runs for Eddie Filer (41) and Dave Wightman (26) meant that Oxton posted 166 before Matt Cunningham took three late wickets.
In reply, Macclesfield got off to a bad start losing Yash Jain early on, bringing academy head coach Paul Hughes to join Ian Kenny in the middle. The pair batted steadily against a strong bowling attack and began to find regular boundaries.
Kenny was next to be dismissed when he was caught by bowler Filer for a very nice 43. Chris Flint joined Hughes and continued in the form of Kenny, contributing an important 18 runs before being caught on the boundary.
Hughes was next to fall when he was bowled for 38. At the other end, Whittingham was gaining traction as Macclesfield looks favourite to take the win before the 3rd XI lost their numbers 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 for minimal runs leaving debutant George Ackerley just one delivery to not get out and allow Whittingham to score three more from the final over.
Ackerley did just that as he received a full toss, getting his body in the way and gloving the ball down safely to the relief of the prior Macclesfield tail order. Whittingham (47*) sealed the win with a boundary and keeps the 3rd XI in contention of gaining promotion with just three fixtures remaining.
The Sunday XI also saw their fixture cancelled as Oulton Park dropped out of the league the week before.
This wasn’t the end of the cricket for the weekend, however.
The 3rd XI were in action again as they had previously fought through the Twenty20 competition through to finals day at Bramhall CC. Prior to the 3rd XI’s arrival, Didsbury awaited Macclesfield or Grappenhall after winning their semi-final against Bramhall.
Macclesfield faced Grappenhall and after losing the toss were asked to bat first in a delayed fixture shortened to 15 overs per side. The 3rd XI started well in finding early boundaries before losing Ian Kenny for 7.
Flint then joined Robin Farmer and the pair ran well together at well over a run a ball before Farmer was dismissed for a quick-fire innings of 32.
Andy Moores was next to fall without scoring before Flint was stumped for 12. Mitch Moores and Whittingham added stability in both scoring 9 before a final flurry from Alistair Knight and Steve Moores meant that Macclesfield posted 88 from the 15 overs.
In reply, Grappenhall got off to a steady start in batting nicely through the powerplay before Miles Horner had opener Richard Wiles caught for 11. Spinners Steve Moores and Whittingham then kept it tight with Moores starring with three wickets in as many overs.
With the game in the balance, Grappenhall batsmen David Seed (19) and Stanley Pennington (27) took the game away from Macclesfield before a final few runs meant that Grappenhall reached the final; winning by 3 wickets with just six deliveries remaining.
The 3rd XI reaching the finals of the competition is a real highlight of the season for the cricket club – a great effort considering the strength of teams in the county and the common struggles of availability in 3rd team cricket. Our victors Grappenhall came up short as they were beaten by Didsbury in the grand final.
Congratulations to Didsbury on winning the trophy.