Grundy Fires Up Marple!
Marple 149 for 9 (50 overs) 20 points beat Stockport Georgians 132 all out (41.2 overs) 5 points by 17 runs
In what turned out to be the final game of the season for Marple, a decisive and penetrative spell of 4 for 14 from 10 overs from Marple seamer Jack Grundy, woke the home side from its end of season stupor.
Earlier, Andrew Hall had elected to bat, as usual, on a fine, sunny mid September day. However, the pitch was sluggish, the ball did not come onto the bat, and fluent strokeplay eluded all batters of both sides. This was a surprise, as on inspection of the wicket at the end of the game, there was not a mark on it, and it was firm and even.
The joint top scorers in the game, both with hard earned totals of 25, were Conor Ramsay and Matt Barrow, the Marple openers. After that, it was a real struggle for the home side, with Max Fitzgerald, 24, and Rob Kingham, 20, being the only other scorers of note. The last two Marple wickets eked out 32 runs though, and these were to be vital. The Georgians’ spinners proved to be a real handful, and 38 of the 50 overs delivered came from a very useful quartet of visiting slow bowlers. Former Cheshire off spinner Simon Normanton had 2 for 18, and he was well backed up by Ollie Ormerod with 2 for 36, James Locke, 2 for 35, and Jordan Richards 3 for 17. With a tightly ringed field, runs were hard to garner, although despite having just 149 on the board, at least all the overs had been used up.
Although Dan Fielding and Ned Bailey found the boundary a few times early on against Rob Kingham, once Jack Grundy had found the right length to bowl at on the pitch, the runs also dried up for the visitors. Bailey was lbw for 13, and Duckworth bowled for a duck. The dangerous Yates also fell for a duck, and Grundy was in the middle of one of his magic spells. Once Zac Phair picked up Fielding, caught behind by Wild for 22, and then Grundy claimed Normanton at 48 for 5, the game looked up for Georgians. Keeper Staniforth did hold the fort with 19 from 53 deliveries though, and the tenth wicket added 34 gutsy runs, Friel 11 not out, and Locke 15. Mark Makin stepped up as Marple’s premier spinner with Joe Cash injured, and took 2 for 31 from his ten overs. Max Fitzgerald had a rare bowl with his leg spin, but took 2 for 20, his victims prey to balls that skidded through quicker than the batters’ anticipated.
Although the last pair had some “fun” with their last wicket stand, it ended up a comfortable win eventually, when Makin took the final catch to dismiss Locke off Zac Phair, who ended with a commendable 2 for 14 from 7.2 overs. It had been Grundy’s afternoon for Marple though, and he confirmed his position as one of the leading new ball bowlers in the league this season.
Persistent and heavy rain meant that the final game of the season against confirmed champions Brooklands, was abandoned without a ball being bowled. Marple thus ended the season in seventh position in division one. They would probably have accepted this spot after promotion in 2023, but after a terrific start of eight consecutive wins, the season fell way dramatically, with only three victories since the middle of June. The bowling and fielding generally held up pretty well, but the batting failed to fire as a unit for most of the season, totals being “cobbled together” with good contributions from the lower order.
The inclement weather of Sunday also assisted Marple seconds in their quest to remain in the second eleven division one. On Saturday, Marple struggled on another sluggish surface away at Heaton Mersey. The home side battled grimly to post a formidable score of 160 for 9, after Marple had gained the early initiative, Mersey slumping to 49 for 3. However, Damian Stringer, with 51, led a recovery, and he inspired the tail to wag and add 32 more priceless runs from 128 for 6. Tom Reeve had 3 for 37, George Clarke 3 for 41, James Hirst 2 for 33, and George Bailey 1 for 41.
When openers Dan Cox and Jamie Massey both fell for ducks in the reply, Marple were then heavily reliant on Mike Schofield and James Crisall. The former made a painstaking 15, and Crisall 30, but fluency proved elusive. After both were out at 51 for 4, only Cameron Reid with 15, and Tom Reeve, a lusty 26 not out, really troubled Mersey. 102 all out was well short of a demanding target, the home attack, steady and probing. Hassnain Shah had 3 for 15, Waqar Rashid 3 for 10, and Stringer 2 for 28.
Sunday’s rain then removed any relegation worries by washing out the entire programme in this division, and ensuring survival for Marple in what proved to be a very tight and challenging league.