GRAPPENHALL maintained their superb start to the season with their fourth consecutive win in the Chapel Press Cheshire County League.
Travelling to Middlewich, Grappenhall skipper Steve Titchard won the toss and invited the home side to bat first.
But the opening attack was not at its best and with Middlewich on 81-1 it began to look as if it had not been a good decision. But the introduction of the consistent Luke McCoy into the attack brought a breakthrough and his 15 consecutive overs restricted the scoring and led to another wicket. Even so, Middlewich looked as if they would post a challenging total of around 250 until Titchard picked up two wickets and held them to 216-6.
McCoy finished with 2-40 and Titchard 2-39.
Grappenhall got off to a blistering start, with James McCoy hitting a superb 40, Adam Roylance 32 and Richard Green a fine 53.
Skipper Titchard hammered a rapid 63 not out, including 11 boundaries to take Grappers to their target in the 48th over with five wickets still in hand.
Grappenhall v Parkfield Liscard Sunday 9th May 2010 Cheshire Cup
On Sunday the 1st xi continued their winning ways, beating Parkfield Liscard by 4 wickets.
Grappenhall also progressed to the third round of the Cheshire Cup with a four wicket victory over Parkfield Liscard at Broad Lane.
Parkfield were asked to bat first and posted a target of 208 which looked testing. But after losing two early wickets, Mike Sambell, 22, was joined by the experienced Richard Green who hit a fine 73.
Will Sharp hit 43 not out and Liam Parkinson 24 not out saw Grappers home with seven overs to spare.
The Broad Lane outfit will now meet Premier League side Alderley Edge in the next round.
Grappenhall 2nd were denied victory against the Middlewich second string at Broad Lane when the visitors’ last pair held out.
Batting first, Grappenhall totalled 229, Mike Sambell hitting a superb 116 and Will Sharp 50. Former Lancashire and England star Neil Fairbrother made his 2nd XI debut but sustained a groin problem early on and had to have a runner. But he still managed a sparkling 22 off 24 balls.
The visitors were 168-9 at the close after Sam Guest had taken 6-57 and Neil Titchard 2-17.
Warrington were back to winning form when they took on Mobberley, who batted first and were dismissed for 182, Lewis Nunn taking 4-36, Brendan Morris 3-34 and Steve Heydon 2-47. Warrington replied with 185-6, Malcolm Agar hitting 43, Chris Kirby 31 and Morris completing a fine all round performance with 33 not out.
In the Cheshire Alliance, Appleton made it three wins out of three as they beat local rivals Rylands.
Tom Lomas, 48, Chris Grumley, 36 and Lee Stoll, 46 not out, saw Appleton to 205-7. Richard Buck took 3-65 and Adam Peters 2-73
Skipper Pete Worrall, 3-32 and Stoll, 3-5 sealed Rylands’ fate and they were bowled out for 140 – although only five balls remains at the close. Gary Moores top scored with 33.
Appleton 2nd’s home game against Haslington 2nd ended in a tie. Chris Tomlinson took 5-20 as Haslington were bowled out for 143. Appleton started well with Paul Dempster hitting an excellent 48. But then the side got bogged down and with seven required from the last over, Duane Jones hit a six to make the scores level but failed to get the winning run.
Appleton 3rd fell to a dismal defeat at the hands of Wilmslow Wayfarers 2nds. From 50-2 Appleton collapsed to 60 all out. Wayfarers eased past the Appleton total with only a handful of wickets down.
There was defeat also for Appleton 4th who could only set a target of 105 for Wirral 3rd. Aamir Rashid took 4-45, but Wirral reached their target with four wickets to spare.
Glazebury went down narrowly to Trinity.
Batting first, the Hurst Lane outfit were dismissed for a modest 128, Dave Mason, 32, Devesh Shete, 32 and Dean Lord, 29. Trinity found runs hard to get and reached victory with their last pair at the wicket. Sam Stanier bowled with great fire to take 3-34 and Rhys Marsh took 3-16.
Glazebury 2nd suffered a heavy defeat after being bowled out for 53, with only three men reaching double figures.
Harford 2nd replied with 54-4, although Dave Nicholson bowled well to take 3-20.
Women’s cricket
THE Warrington women’s team went down by seven wickets against Nottinghamshire-based Ransome and Marles. But it was a game were their spirit and commitment could not be faulted.
A squad weakened by departures and injuries held last year’s champions for most of the match and fell away only in the closing overs.
Jennie Kitzinger’s unbeaten 39 was comfortably the match top score, but the best innings of the day could not see her side to victory. Warrington’s total of 103-7 was never enough and although their bowlers kept things ultra-tight for the first 33 overs of the reply, the visitors finally took command and took the game away from Warrington.
Warrington’s Natalie Heap took 2-12 and Kate Skelhorn conceded only 12 runs in 10 overs. Natalie Lyons also had an encouraging Premier League debut.
Warrington may lack the squad depth to challenge for the Premier League North title, but on this evidence they will be tough opponents for many teams.
