Down in the Dumps Marple Fall to Clinical Bowdon!
Bowdon 159 for 2 (45.4 overs) 20 points beat Marple 156 all out (45.3 overs) 2 points by 8 wickets.
Marple lost a fifth successive league game at Bowdon’s leafy South Downs Road venue last Saturday. They have slipped to tenth position in division one, and probably the only good news to come out of the day was the fact that the bottom two clubs, Alvanley and Urmston both also lost, still leaving Marple a cushion above the relegation places.
Jack Grundy won the toss, but only Charlie Hodgson of the visiting top order threatened a big score. He made 41, and added 32 with Evan Turner, who made a useful 18, but was unable to go on. After this, Mark Makin made 20, Grundy 14, and Eliot Young 13. The strong home seam quartet of Chapple, Bottomley, Bramhall and McCormick, kept things under control throughout. Bottomley had 3 for 30, Bramhall 2 for 36, McCormick 2 for 19 and Chapple 1 for 43. They were well backed up by the young, impressive leg-spin of O’Brien with 2 for 36.
Faced with a modest total, and with the boundaries surprisingly brought in on a large ground, Jack Tipton and Chapple were in no mood to give Marple much hope. Although Grundy picked up Gadsby in the first over for a duck, the second wicket pair added 110 largely untroubled runs before Nelson, 111, struck for Marple. Tipton 47, rock solid in defence, and Chapple 71 not out were initially unspectacular, but they had no need of any risk taking. Any early movement with the new ball was nullified, and although Marple’s change bowlers, especially Makin and Greenlees bowled tidily and accurately, there was little threat, until Tipton holed out off Greenlees. Sharma joined Chapple to add the remaining 48 runs with increasing fluency from both players.
The inevitable end came with more than four overs remaining, and the two lowly clubs swapped places in the league.
Marple have had a tough period lately, and confidence is low, especially with the bat. Bowdon’s template for this game was one Marple would do well to try and emulate. As few freebies as possible, keep the stumps in play and tight fielding on the singles. With the bat, not gifting easy and cheap wickets to the opposition, but make the bowlers get you out. Looking to rotate the strike early on in the innings is also a way of trying to keep the scoreboard ticking over and upsetting the bowlers’ lines and lengths should boundaries be scarce. Having said this, of course, there is no magic solution or guarantee that any formula will win a game. However, Marple have been convincingly defeated recently in one-sided matches. All eleven players selected need to take responsibility for the own performances. Next Saturday, the team are at home to Macclesfield, 12.00 start.
Marple seconds lost a third league game in four as Bowdon seconds won an entertaining fixture at the MHCG by 18 runs. The visitors totalled a very useful 225 for 9, Paul Higham 81, Kumar, 57 and Polisetty 40. George Bailey bowled beautifully with 4 for 23, with skipper Hirst weighing in with 2 for 54.
Despite the large total, Marple would have been confident of reaching the target on an excellent pitch and with a fast outfield. All of the top seven reached double figures, but only Matt Barrow, 27, and George Bailey 28 threatened to go on. The game looked up for Marple, but Ollie Hodgson, at number seven, made a beautiful 58 to give hope of a win. Unfortunately, Ollie was one of four late run outs that helped the visitors on their way. 207 all out was the final tally.
Marple seconds remain top of their league, and visit Hyde seconds next Saturday at Werneth Low. Just a reminder that next Sunday, 16th August, sees the Cheshire County League T20 finals day at Marple’s Bowden Lane venue. Widnes take on Cheadle in the first semi-final at 10.30 am, and Marple play Neston at 1.30pm. The final is scheduled for a 4.45pm start.
Marple/Compstall thirds lost a tight game at Langley against the home team’s second eleven by just two wickets. M/C made a solid 175, with steady contributions throughout, Tom Lloyd 31, Tom Bradbury 28, and Rich Hatley 25. Ben Nadin with 3 for 43, and Jenny Wallace 3 for 45 did well for Langley.
Either side had their moments to win, but Benny Simnett 42, Tony Clowes 38 and Jimmy Millward 33 grittily got their team home. Tommy Lloyd was M/C’s most successful bowler with 5 for 50.
Two terrific performances from M/C 4ths players were responsible for the win over Hawk Green seconds at Compstall’s ground. HG were dismissed for just 73 on an always tricky surface. Chris Lloyd had a fantastic 6 for 7, with Nish Wright-Prasad terrific in support with 3 for 3!
Despite the low target, HG looked on course for victory until former favourite son Craig Young came to M/C’s rescue. He hit 37 not out against his former club, with Ed Frost 16, the only other player into double figures in a two-wicket win. Jonny O’Reilly with 4 for 24, and Keiron Henderson 3 for 21, were both excellent for the Greens.
Mark Brook