Weekend Review: Greater Manchester Cricket League

Three games of the season remain after the weekend’s action.

Locally with Ashton promoted and Flowery Field on the verge of going up attention is really at the wrong end of the tables.  Mottram; Dukinfield; Stayley and Denton are all involved in battles against the drop, and it certainly looks to be a tense end to the campaign.

Premier: 

Denton SL are still in contention for a Lancashire KO spot after beating relegation haunted Moorside who reached 200-9, pro Damitha Silva taking 5-34.  The DSL top order was in good form.  Both openers, Liam Parkinson and Dan Moriarty, got 40’s and were followed by Scott Kirwin, (50), as DSL cruised to a 6-wicket win.

Denton West’s season appears to be tailing off as they fell to a 51-run defeat at Edgworth who set them 176 for the win. Only Aaqib Uppal, (49), put up much resistance in the chase.  It has been a really disappointing second half of the season for West who were the early front runners, winning their opening 7 games.

Woodbank 162-3 Heyside 161ao; Clifton 81ao Prestwich 83-2; Roe Green 141ao Egerton 103ao; Denton SL 201-5 Moorside 200-9; Walshaw 190-8 Astley & Tyldesley 187ao; Edgworth 175ao Denton West 124ao

Premier 2: 

Heaton clinched a second successive promotion in trouncing Bury with Flowery Field, (2^nd), knowing that 2 wins from the last 3 games will see them in the Premier Division next year.  After the previous week’s stutter at Heywood, Flowery bounced back with a crucial win against Shaw who stood 3^rd going into the game. Flowery bowled well to restrict the high scoring visitors to 148ao, Alex Dolly featuring with 4-13.  The chase proved no problem despite the loss of 2 early wickets.  Dolly made it a great day personally.  He came in at 11-2 and was there at the end unbeaten on 88 as Flowery won by 6 wickets.

Glossop guaranteed themselves Premier 2 cricket with a 29-run win at Brooksbottom. The Glossop innings faltered to 132-8, but great resistance from Dan Senior, (53*) coming in at no.10, aided by Adam Hayes and James Eyre, saw another 102 added as they finished on 234-9. Brooksbottom were well in the hunt at 115-3 with 25 overs left but pro Matt Sonczak stepped up, taking 6-50, and giving the North Road team the victory.

Bradshaw 190-7 Glodwick 189ao; Flixton 127ao Stand 140ao; Heywood 59-4 Greenfield 58ao; Flowery Field 149-4 Shaw 148ao; Brooksbottom 205ao Glossop 234-9; Bury 51ao Heaton 52-2

Championship: 

Relegation fears haunt both Mottram and Dukinfield, with the latter falling into the drop zone after a 5^th loss in a row.  With Westleigh and Swinton Moorside looking doomed the last relegation place looks to be between the two local clubs and Whalley Range.

Mottram were never in the hunt after visitors Monton racked up 269-9.  They did reach 66-2 in reply, but the remaining 8 wickets fell for only 40. They will be looking for a win on Saturday when they face Swinton Moorside, probably the easier of their opponents in the run-in.

Dukinfield faced Stretford and would have been hopeful of winning points after dismissing them for 123ao, Syd de Silva, (5-18), starring with the ball. But they failed to find any form in the reply, ending up 36 short.  They now face a tough game against a Friarmere team which has won 7 of their last 8 games and forced their way into the promotion places.

Mottram 106ao Monton 269-9; Westleigh 125ao Friarmere 126-5; Woodhouses 74ao Elton 75-5; Whalley Range 84-3 Royton 82ao; Winton 190-9 Swinton Moorside 100ao; Dukinfield 87ao Stretford 123ao

Division 1: 

The race for the title lies between Saddleworth; Thornham and Edenfield, with the three separated by only 2 points, but all are now likely to feature in the Championship next year.

Hadfield are 4^th on the back of a comprehensive 99-run win over SW Manchester. Liam Doyle was in magnificent form, hitting 127, (taking him to 571 runs this season), and his knock formed the basis for Hadfield’s 240-9. He then featured with the ball, taking 3 wickets as SWM fell to 57-5.  There was to be no recovery from there with Cameron Ball and Louis van Zyl also picking up 3 wickets each.

Droylsden picked up a welcome win on the road at Austerlands. They totalled 188ao, Matt Halliday top scoring with 57.  15-year-old Joe Schofield opened the Droylsden attack and was hugely impressive finishing with 3-12 and with Hashan Gunathila, (5-38), running through the middle order Austerlands fell 42 adrift.

Stayley desperately need a win to avoid a 2^nd successive relegation but failed as they fell well short at Golborne who finished on 240-7.  They were never in the hunt in the reply and lost by 77 runs.  It is looking increasingly like the rearranged game between them an SW Manchester a week on Sunday will determine who survives and who heads for Division 2 cricket in 2023.  Oldham and Roe Green are already relegated.

Saddleworth 114ao Thornham 127ao; Edenfield 172-1 Uppermill 170ao; Hadfield SA 240-9 SW Manchester 141ao; Oldham 137-8 Roe Green 136ao; Golborne 240-7 Stayley 163-9; Austerlands 146ao Droylsden 188ao

Division 2A: 

Worsley 123-5 Radcliffe 120ao; Astley & Tyldesley 2^nd XI 139ao Deane & Derby 387-8; Prestwich 2^nd XI 113-2 East Lancs PM 108ao; United Stars 158ao Tottington 61ao; Heaton 2^nd XI 99ao Daisy Hill 100-5; Adlington 168-4 Darcy Lever 167ao

Division 2B: 

Denton gave themselves a fighting chance of beating the drop into regional cricket in 2023 with a bonus point win over Oldham. At the time of writing no details of the game were available but the win lifted them off the bottom of the table and they are now only 2 points adrift of local rivals Denton SL.  Their remaining games are against Littleborough Lakeside; Milnrow and Wythenshawe and they will go into those buoyed by wins in their last 2 matches.

Micklehurst sit 6^th after a defeat at Friarmere and probably need one more win to secure Division 2 status next year. They would have been disappointed to see the home team reach 234-9 after having them at 48-4.  Shamar Marshall took 5-34, (taking him to 57 wickets for the season), but there was little support from the other bowlers.  The Micklehurst reply never gained momentum and they fell 76 short.

Werneth and Milnrow look set for promotion and have yet to meet – a game which is likely to determine the destination of the title.

Glodwick 2^nd XI 187-7 Denton SL 2^nd XI 185ao; Denton beat Oldham 2^nd XI (no details available); Werneth 249-9 Littleborough Lakeside 164ao; Greenfield 2^nd XI 109ao Milnrow 110-1; Denton West 2^nd XI 153-5 Wythenshawe 152ao; Friarmere 2^nd XI 234-9 Micklehurst 158ao

Division 3E: 

Ashton preserved their 100% record with a 19^th win of the season defeating Dukinfield by 138 runs and are now just a single point away from clinching the title. When batting first his season they have averaged around 250 and they maintained this after Ruman Ahmed, with his first half-century in 6 weeks, top scored with 92 and got good support from Tom Rayson, (43), as they reached 260-9. Visitors Dukinfield could not match this and fell for 122ao after losing 3 early wickets to Rayson.

Ashton Ladysmith had an impressive win over 3^rd placed Werneth after dismissing them for 90ao with all 5 bowlers used getting among the wickets. The target proved no problem for Ladysmith who strolled to victory by 7 wickets with 17 overs to spare.

Heyside need one more win to join Ashton in being promoted after giving Mottram a torrid afternoon as they ran up 361-7.

Glossop 2^nd XI 158-0 Flowery Field 2^nd XI 152-8; Springhead 200-6 Heywood 2^nd XI 196ao; Royton 2^nd XI 158-4 Woodhouses 2^nd XI 157-9; Heyside 2^nd XI 361-7 Mottram 2^nd XI 109ao; Ashton 260-9 Dukinfield 2^nd XI 122ao; Ashton Ladysmith 93-3 Werneth 2^nd XI 90ao

Division 4E: 

Newton Heath 116ao Denton 2^nd XI 209-9; Droylsden 2^nd XI 199-8 Springhead 2^nd XI 247-8; Shaw 2^nd XI 283-6 Saddleworth 2^nd XI 199ao; Failsworth Macedonia 219ao Ashton 2^nd XI 249-9; Moorside 2^nd XI 213-8 Hadfield 2^nd XI 131ao; Stayley 2^nd XI 204-9 Austerlands 2^nd XI 141ao; Sunday: Milnrow 2^nd XI 216ao Shaw 2^nd XI 347-3

Picture by John Parkins