Marple chase proves beyond Macc batsmen
MACCLESFIELD travelled to Marple on Saturday on match day four of the season with skipper James Cross returning after missing the previous week, winning the toss and asking the hosts to bat first.
That decision was looking good when Craig Melrose took the wicket of Marple opener Alex Pannell leaving the opposition 13 for 1.
Marple’s other opening batsman Andrew Hall wasn’t in the mood for making it easy for Macc though and hung around for a good 36 while his teammates faltered.
Macc had a good spell of bowling taking the wickets of Marple’s Makin, Noakes and then Hall and Saxenby leaving the home team 74-6 and under pressure.
Macclefield’s bowling continues to impress this season, in particular Craig Melrose who had his Skipper Cross and keeper Jack Mattson to thanks for taking catches from his excellent bowling.
Melrose took a total of four wickets giving him 14 already for the season.
Miles Bradshaw though, continues his attempts to keep up with Melrose and took two more of his own.
Marple weren’t for lying down though and mounted something of a comeback after being left at 86 for 7.
Max Fitzgerald in particular was excellent for his 46 runs and so contributed to Marple getting to 135 in total and giving them what would prove to be a very decent total on the day.
Macclesfield’s Bradley Porter contributed with a wicket from his two overs and there were run outs from captain Cross and veteran John Birchall.
Macclesfield would have had good cause for optimism given their decent start to the season but runs ended up being hard to find on a sunny day in Marple.
The most notable inning from Macclesfield came from their skipper Cross who did his best to get his team a win putting on a superb 57 whilst watching his teammates mostly fall by the wayside.
Only Jack Massey and Jack Mattsson putting on double figures with Mattsson grinding out 25 from 48 balls.
In the end the chase was too much for Macclesfield’s men who were all out for 112.
Back to Victoria Road this coming Saturday where Macclesfield will welcome Urmston and look to get their campaign back on track.
Macclesfield seconds’ match against Marple was an excellent demonstration of the importance of taking early wickets.
Batting first, Macclesfield slumped to 19-4 before skipper Isherwood began the recovery, batting well before being run out for 36.
A second flurry of wickets left Macclesfield in a dire position at 61-7 but a fine stand of 55 between Adam Sainter and Tom Radley helped the cause.
Radley fell for 16 and Sainter for an excellent 46 before Macc were bowled out for 128.
In order to be competitive, Macc needed early wickets but were denied by careful batting by the Marple openers (both of who were playing first team cricket the last time Macc and Marple met) and the absence of any luck, both Palmes and Curwen often beating the bat without finding the edge.
A breakthrough was eventually made by Palmes bowling Crisall for 14 with the score on 46 but Wild, with a fine 80 not out, and Barrow, with 28, batted sensibly to take Marple to a deserved 9 wicket win.
The 3rd XI travelled to Maritime Cricket Club in Wirrall hoping to not find themselves lost at sea. Captain Chris Flint won the toss and elected to field first. Early wickets from youngster James Ross and then Ben Farmer bowling with his Dad Robin Farmer catching gave hope for Macc.
But then Maritime bat Muhammad Qasim Khan put on a superb 119 not out with Amalraj and Saparamadu amongst their batters contributing to very good total of 228 by the end of their innings. Oliver Becroft got the team two wickets with Tony Moores also picking one up for Macclesfield.
Macc’s reply wasn’t looking good when the wickets of Macclesfield’s openers fell early on. But captain Flint took on the mantle of staging a recovery eventually reaching an excellent 62.
Robin Farmer was backing up the team well by contributing 22 but it was
Oliver Becroft who was the standout bat with a brilliant 73 not out but unfortunately none of the tail end was able to hang around to support him and go further.
Macclesfield giving it a good go but falling short in the end with 183.
Some positives though from a 3rd team fielding quite a few emerging youngsters alongside the veterans.
Macc’s fourths were at home on Parkside on a glorious day for cricket, batting first and taking on an experienced Holmes Chapel team who made them work hard for their runs in the Cheshire sunshine.
Only a handful of Macclesfield’s batsmen managed double figures with Skipper Matt Cunningham and George Ackerley both getting 15. Clement, and George got 13 a piece but Extras was the standout with 20 for a Macclesfield total of 100 all out
The experience of the Holmes Chapel team shone through with them making fairly light work of the total with their opener Noah Wasilewski getting nearly half the required runs with a very good 49. Holmes Chapel in the end reaching the 101 required for a win in just over 20 over.
Wickets for Miles Horner, George Ackerley and Noah Bourne. Macclesfield travel to Toft next week where they will hope to find their form.