Urmston 1st XV v

Upton 1st XV

UPTON won the toss and batted first but Urmston bowled very tightly, restricting the opposition to around 25 runs after 24 overs.

Kurt Edgington and Robert Tootell both returned outstanding figures.

Kurt Edgington was unlucky not to get a wicket.

Wickets fell on a regular basis due to more excellent bowling from Steve Cartwright, Gavin Dean (2 wickets for 29 runs off 7 overs), and Ian Grindley (2 wickets for 23 runs off 9 overs).

Upton were finally held to 133 for 8 from 55 overs with 4 of Urmston 's 5 bowlers getting 2 wickets each.

Needing 134 to win, Urmston had a dreadful start and were 35/5 after 14 overs.

Stuart Higginbottom and Charles Heathcote (30 runs) then took the score to 77/6.

Robert Tootell then scored an unbeaten 42 in a stand of 58 with Stuart Higginbottom (29 n.o.) to win the match.

Despite an adverse weather forecast, Urmston 2nd XI turned up to play Grappenhall 2nd XI in glorious sunhine on Saturday. Spurred on by victories in the previous three games, Urmston stretched their winning run to four, thanks mainly to an innings of 44 by Andy Newton and some excellent by Paul Swann and Steve Vose (7-18.

Having lost the toss, Urmston were asked to bat on a very low and difficult pitch. They got off to a steady start thanks to openeders Steve Dartnell and Nathan Ridings. With the score on 34, Ridings was unluckily given out lbw for 27, havbing just played a magnificent lofted cover drive for six the ball before.

Vose came to the crease and couldn't match his match-winning century from the previous week, falling quickly forb two. Dartnell was joined by Swann and progress was slow on the soft wicket, with Swann eventually out for 11. This brought Andy Newton to the crease and careful shot selection and clever running between the wickets increased the run rate considerably. He eventually departed for 44 excellent runs, the eighth man out, with the other dismissals including Dartnell (22), John Pollard (11), Jon Marshall (0) and Matt Atkinson (one).

Unfortunately, there was no wag in Urmston's tail with Dave Fielding (0) and Paul Turner (2) also struggling, leaving John Gilmore unbeaten uon five and the total on 139.

Grappenhall's reply was looking good at 40-0 when Atkinson finally made the breakthrough to get rid of Sisson, caught at mid wicket by Pollard. After that, wickets tumbled at regular intervals. While Swann tied up one end, making runs very hard to come by, Steve Vose picked up the wickets at the other end, finishing with 7-18 off 11 overs. Swann earned a well earned rest after his 17 overs cost only 38 runs, with only one wicket as reward, allowing Pollard to bowl a few overs and pick up the last wicket.

Urmston bowled out Grappenhall for 105 for a 34 run victory and a fourth successive win. Urmston now have two consecutive home games, starting with this Saturday against Upton, when another victory could lift Urmston to 2nd in the 2nd XI Premier League.

Chester Boughton Hall (CBH) provided the opposition for Urmston 3rd XI, and, having won the toss, batted first on a dry wicket.

After taking two early wickets, Urmston failed to stop CBH middle order pushing through the gaps to reach 163 for 7 after 53 overs.

Jimmy Jones took two for six overs in his first spell which included four maiden overs, two of which were single wicket maidens.

He finished on three for 29 runs off 10 overs.

Graham Fildes took two wickets for 44 runs off 13 overs, and Andy Fildes failed to take wickets but bowled six maiden overs in his first 12 over spell for only 12 runs.

Urmston were slow to start and CBH consistently interrupted any partnerships that formed.

Graham Fildes had the high score of 23 and Urmston's remaining middle order faltered to finish on 85 all out.

E Mitchell for CBH took three for one in his four over spell.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.