|
Match Reports for 2008 Season
Match Reports for Week Ending 11/05/2008
ECB Cheshire Premier League
Alderley Edge 234-9 declared
Oulton Park 235-4
Oulton Park won by 6 wickets
This was a comprehensive win for the defending champions and put Edge’s own title ambitions in sharp perspective. After just four games of the season, it is already clear that any team finishing ahead of both Oulton Park and Bowdon in the 2008 ECB Cheshire Premier League will almost certainly be champions.
Edge lost a crucial toss last Saturday at Little Budworth on a pitch that looked as though the previous day’s rain would give help to the quicker bowlers for the first couple of hours. So it proved, with Alderley’s top four all getting starts but with nobody able to go on and get a big total. Openers Alan Day and Mark Currie both scored 36, Lancashire’s Simon Marshall top scored with 42, whilst last year’s Cheshire Premier league record run-scorer, Sohail Rauf made 25.
Oulton’s attack, led by Cheshire players Guy Emmett and Nathan Dumelow, made run scoring difficult by bowling a good line and length. Edge’s final total owed much to Jason Whittaker’s steady 25, and a belligerent 32 not out from Adam Wildig, finally declaring at 234-9 at half-way.
Oulton’s opening pair of Danny Leech and Jonny Kettle have been in good form all season and despite Edge’s best efforts, put on 153 for the first wicket. From this point on Edge were trying to maximise their points haul rather than having a genuine chance of winning the match. A couple of wickets for Jason Whittaker, taking his tally for the season to fifteen, helped give Alderley ten points from the match, but in truth they were well beaten on this occasion but have the consolation that they are still in the top three in the Premier League table.
Next week Edge are at home to local rivals Macclesfield in a game that they should win if they are to mount a credible title challenge this season.
|
