Marple stand-in skipper Jack Grundy won the toss and asked us to set a score. Danny Leech (28) started carefully after a few quick exits in the last couple of weeks and profited from some loose bowling early on with Andy Dufty, who unfortunately couldn’t repeat his recent performances as he was well held by Mark Makin in the 11th over off Jack Grundy (10/2/32/4), who trapped Frank Farrington LBW next ball. Jonny Litler (36) handled the hat-trick ball well and avoided 29/0 becoming 29/3. Grundy replaced opening partner Phair (10/0/52/1) with Joe Cash (10/2/22/1) who got Danny smartly stumped by Andrew Wild, with the score on 62 at the end of the 18th over. Adrian Lascu (8) tried restoring the innings with Jonny but was also caught by Makin off Hodgson (10/0/58/2) in the 23rd over. Enter Owen Williamson (39) who managed to get our innings going again with Jonny until he got caught by Samuel Stretton just inside the cow corner boundary in the 34th over, having added 51 for the 5th wicket. Nick Ball (60) picked up the proverbial baton and with Jonny put some pressure on the bowling, adding 80 for the 6th wicket when Jonny was bowled by Phair on the last ball of the 44th over, with the score now on 204/6. Nick was well held by Phair off Stretton 13 balls later, unfortunately, with the score now on 216/7. Peter Cook, Ed Roberts, George Moss and James Bell did really well to punish the bad ball when they could and keep the scoreboard ticking over and managed to get us to 238/9 off our 50 overs.

Perhaps not the most challenging total but certainly one we could defend. And James Bell (8/1/39/3) proved this with his second ball, getting Matthew Barrow to try and hole out to the square-leg boundary where George Moss watched the swirling ball well and held on to the ball – his first of three great catches today. Opening partner Jonny Litler (10/1/56/0) was replaced by Adrian Lascu (10/0/40/0) who ran in relentlessly to see batters hold back, avoid and narrowly miss. A brilliant effort and how he didn’t get rewarded no one knows, whether around the ground watching the match live or watching the live stream. The departure of Barrow brought Zac Phair (114*) together with James Crisall (55). Despite the bowling changes, excellent bowling, they put on 90 runs in 20 overs until Andrew Dufty (10/1/49/1) trapped the latter LBW. Conor Ramsay (27) then helped the visitors get to 149/3 at the end of the 35th over – brilliant catch by Frank Farrington off Nick Ball (5/0/22/3) who had just replaced Adrian from the Pinfold Lane end. Max Fitzgerald followed soon after – one of Mossy’s brilliant catches and with 13 overs to go, the visitors were 151/4. Experienced bat Mark Makin (27) ignored the pressure and together with match winner Phair put on 49 in 6 overs, getting the score to the 200-milestone. Samuel Stretton (8) fell to the Bell/Moss combination in the 47th over, followed by skipper Grundy next ball, but similar to the 1st innings, the hat-trick ball never happened and with the score on 221/7 and the required rate to 18 off 21 balls, the last 3 overs got everybody on the edge of their seats. A gutsy maximum for Phair followed by a 4 off Bell’s last over not only ruined Bell’s figures, it also meant the scores were now level. Cash then managed to get through the infield to win with a boundary and 4 balls to spare.

A great game of cricket and a great result for Marple and probably the neutral, not so much for Oulton Park and supporters. We did well to get to 238 by batting the overs and the Marple fielders supported their bowlers well to limit the damage from some loose balls. In our fielding innings, Adrian definitively deserved a wicket or two (or three), the bowling in general was disciplined, asking the right questions and there were some great catches on display; George once again doing a great job in the outfield. Phair played a magnificent innings but some excellent fielding was mixed with some lacklustre fielding displays, especially after the drinks break when Ramsay and Phair were able to add 49 in 10 overs, restoring the visitors’ innings and setting them up for a closely fought win.

We will be away to Bramhall this Saturday. From this Saturday until the last weekend, matches will start at 11.30.