On a mild day in the lovely hills of Cheshire, the 2s arrived at Alvanley with a positive attitude and the will to win. Results from early weeks of the season gave us an understanding that we were up against a tough opponent. The wicket as usual was a batting paradise with the outfield adding to the dream. As a captain one of the things that made me proud today was the togetherness of the lads, warming up sessions, stretches and a professional attitude which put the opponents on the back foot from the get go.

A few throw downs at the legendary Colin Norbury got his bearings, after which the skipper met the hosting captain David Summers in the middle for the toss. A good record with the coin the skipper won the toss and played to his strengths, with the belief we can chase any total, put the opponent in to bat. A team talk and high spirits we went ahead to open the 1st innings.

The opening pair were unchanged in the form of Ali Shah and Joe Glare, opening from the Frodsham lane end the skipper led from the front. A peach to welcome the run machine (A. Brummit) which began on leg and took the top of off, sent him on the long walk to the pavilion with a golden duck to take home. The perfect start required the team to capitalise and everyone answered the call, with tight bowling from both ends, the opening pair left the home side with a run rate of just over 2 an over at the end of the 14th. The opening platform was used by the incoming bowlers, with tight bowling from Gurdit and wicket in his first over from Cheema who then continued to bowl an exception spell. A surprisingly negative approach to the game from the batting side and some excellent bowling and fielding from the visitors made for an interesting end to the first innings, boundaries now hard to come by as well as wickets, Akeel stuck to the plan with a tight spell and helped Cheema see the innings out.
The home side ended their innings on 138-5 from the allotted 50. Bowling figures dominated the first half; Ali Shah – 10-2-15-1, J. Glare – 7-2-16-0, G. Singh 10-1-29-0, Cheema – 15-3-39-3 and last but not least Akeel with a tidy spell and a run out to his name – 8-1-25-0. A special mention to our stand in keeper Shabaz Shafiq who made life difficult from behind the stumps for the opponents both vocally and with his gloves and has now successfully undertaken every part of the game at HMCC, so deserves the title of “Mr Cricket”.

The second innings began with some bad news for the Saleem brothers, who lost a family member in an accident, our thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family. However, this didn’t stop Zeb from taking the responsibility to open the batting with his partner Asim Shah. The first over set the tone again as it was clear Zeb was going to clear his head out in the middle, dispatching the bowlers to all ends of the ground. A repeat of last week’s performance from the opening pair showed the quality in this Mersey batting line up, Zeb with his power hitting and Asim with his classy show meant the first 10 overs racked up 41 for the loss of one. Zeb was then stumped in the 15th over, after a mesmerising display with the bat, to bring the pair of pharmacists to the crease. A partnership that blossomed as the game developed, Abbas Shah holding an end and rotating strike while Cheema showed why he is one of the classiest, most elegant and consistent batsmen in the Cheshire league with glorious drives all around the ground. A good battle commenced with the home team chirping at Abbas who decided to silence them with a few boundaries of his own including a beautiful leg glance. Cheema did his calculations and got the strike and with a glorious pull shot he brought up his 50 and took us home with 23 overs and 8 wickets to spare.

This week showed the quality of this Mersey 2nd XI, a week where everybody involved deserves an accolade.

However, there has to be one Man of the Match, in a week full of brilliant performances including the bowling from start to finish and Zeb’s blistering batting performance, there was one outstanding performer. This week’s Man of the Match goes to the ever so deserving, Ayaz “Professor cricket” Cheema for his wonderful performance both with the ball (15-3-39-3) and the bat (52 not out).

The competition heats up as we are 1 point clear at the top of the league and go up against a fierce rival in the form of Romiley away.