Lacklustre Marple No Match For League Leaders!

Chester Boughton Hall 136 for 2 (28.3 overs) 25 points beat Marple 134 all out (54 overs) 2 points by 8 wickets

This game was not a close contest, and Marple were on the back foot immediately, as skipper Jim Morgan and Andy Paulett were dismissed for golden ducks in Lloyd Aspin’s first over to leave the home side 1 for 2, and already looking down the barrel.

This precarious start came after Morgan had won the toss and elected to bat first after a week of some of the heaviest rainfall seen in the area in living memory. Remarkably, the Marple ground was in fair condition, as the new drainage system had left the outfield in fantastic shape. The ground staff had done an incredible job on the actual pitch, and whilst it was slow and had a green colour, it played pretty well, gradually easing throughout the afternoon. Morgan’s reasoning was fair enough, as sides have had the very devil of a job winning games batting second at Bowden Lane this season.

Not unnaturally after such a bad start, Paul Wood and Liam Brown played circumspectly for a period, and visiting skipper Rick Moore soon changed to a two pronged spin attack. First it was young and emerging slow left armer Charlie Fleet, and then the more experienced but still young leg spinner Jack Williams. It was Fleet who had a stranglehold on the Marple batting, and at one point he bowled six consecutive maidens. Wood and Brown showed good application though and added 49 runs for the third wicket. Wood has looked to be  Marple’s most secure batsman in recent weeks, and here he once again set a fine example, making a stubborn 41. Brown (24) gave good support, and the middle order of Makin and Schofield also weighed in with scores on the 20’s. Although they ensured that Marple batted almost the full quota of overs, no player was able to dominate the Chester spin twins. Fleet’s metronomic accuracy (he took 3 for 23 from 17 overs) was rewarded with the wickets of Wood, Brown and Makin, whilst Williams, although more expensive, bamboozled the tail to finish with 3 for 57 from 16 overs. 134 all out against the strongest batting line up in the league was way under par, even though Marple had defended a similar total against Alderley Edge a fortnight ago.

This time though, the bowling was not accurate enough. A mixed bag was served up, and with two of the county’s best at the top of the order in Moore and Goodwin, a rapid start ensued. It was not enough that some good deliveries were bowled, as there was always a get out delivery for the batsmen, with bowlers of all types erring in length and direction. A ten wicket win looked to be odds on, but Ed Saxelby, in his initial first eleven game this season, induced Moore, Marple’s nemesis once again with a hard hit 59, to play slightly too early and he was well caught by Paulett at mid on at 96 for 1. Saxelby ran in well for his 1 for 21, but Chester were in no mood to hang about. Although Greasley deceived and bowled Jamie Crawley for just 13 at 115 for 2, Goodwin with 46 not out and Alex Money 13 not out, brought up the inevitable win by eight wickets, plenty of overs remaining.

This was always likely to be a tough fixture for Marple, but they will be disappointed to not have competed as well as they would have liked, or indeed are capable of doing. It was far too comfortable a victory for Chester. Marple will hope that they can repeat the feat of bouncing back strongly after each of the heavy defeats they have suffered this season. They remain next to bottom in the league, and have a crucial away fixture next Saturday at fellow strugglers Oulton Park, 12.30pm start.

Marple seconds were defeated by seven wickets in their fixture at Chester Boughton Hall last Saturday. Marple totalled 162 all out, with Andy Wild top scoring with 39. Andy Massey hit 35 and Tim Radford 27. There were a number of other double figure scores, but no player made the necessary half century that could have seen a score around 200 posted.  Matt Brayne took 4 for 45 for Chester.

Chester seconds are also top of the second eleven premier division, and are a traditionally strong side. Matt Griffiths has first team premier league experience at the top of the order, and his 67 set Chester on course. Although wickets fell to Joel Greasley and Sam Stretton to leave the home side on 50 for 2, Griffiths, in company with Metcalf, 55 not out, took his side well past the hundred mark. After Griffiths fell to Andy Massey at 114 for 3, Wyatt with 22 not out saw that victory was achieved without further loss.

Dan Cox, 13 not out and Tom Headridge, 1 not out, ensured a draw for Marple thirds against Toft thirds on Sunday. Toft made a challenging 221 for 7, with openers Tom Maddock (68) and David Blackburn (70) adding 150 for the first wicket. A remarkable spell of 5 for 15 from fourth change bowler Lewis Braddock kept Toft at bay though, and Marple were in the game at the tea interval.  Wickets fell regularly in the reply though, although Braddock must have thought it was really going to be his day before he was unluckily run out for 21. Tom Travis hit a fine 43, but Marple never threatened to win the game, ending on 141 for 9, the two young players showing admirable character in not giving up their wickets.