ASHTON-on-Mersey struggled to a fighting draw at Port Sunlight to maintain their unbeaten start to the Cheshire Cricket League Division One season.

Losing the toss and being asked to bowl, Ashton’s miserly opening attack of Craig Stow and Josh Knowles kept runs in short supply in the opening overs.

On a slow pitch batting was hard work but the home batsmen knew the conditions and eventually began to take control.

With a surface where stroke-playing was difficult, Port Sunlight adopted a successful mix of nudging and hitting as the Ashton bowlers struggled to find the right length to bowl in the conditions.

Wayne Greve compiled a painstaking 70 to provide the backbone of an above-par total of 189-5.

Ashton’s outfield cricket fell below the high standards of the previous week and they will have been disappointed with a number of dropped catches which might have turned the game.

In reply, the Ashton innings struggled to find momentum, as their normally fluent top order found it hard to find a way to play on a surface where the ball seldom came on to the bat.

Ed Faulkner threatened to mount a challenge but when he fell for a hard-earned 54 the attempts of the middle order to keep up the run rate led to a rattle of wickets and Ashton were indebted to the tailenders who saw out the draw with a total of 130-9.

Ashton will be disappointed with the result and will be looking to recapture their spark when they welcome Congleton to The Beets this week.

The second XI fell to defeat in a low-scoring game against Stockport.

Restricting Stockport to 145 all out (Dan Higgins 4-63) Ashton’s batting failed to spark, being bowled out for 68.

The third XI provided the highlight of the weekend with a 10-wicket demolition of Hyde.

Bowling the visitors out for 65 (Ollie Chow 3-20) Ashton openers Lee Griffiths and Graham Parker knocked off the runs inside 12 overs.