Premier League - 2nd XI (H) v Macclesfield, Saturday 28 June 2014

Chester suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of Macclesfield.

A wet morning greeted the teams and patience was required to wait for the rain to depart. Some mopping up and cover shifting unearthed a perfectly dry, if a little green, pitch. The coin came down in favour of Chester and Keggy and Sam took the new ball. Some fantastic bowling, tight fielding and the kind of on field encouragement that maintained the spirit of cricket saw Macc 38 for 3 off 19 overs. At 37 overs Macc had managed to plunder 161 for 9. Too many. Keggy took 3 and so did Francis - who bowled well again - but their hitters hit with success.

A good tea then two things. Firstly some excellent bowling from Ikin and Melrose was too good for the top order. Secondly a torrent of abuse from one Macc player in particular annoyed, riled and befuddled all the Chester players. Unnecessary. Undignified. Unwanted. Christian Pain batted superbly to not get out initially and then score a majestic 86 but when he was finally out, Chester lost. 6 points, fabulous bowling but once again an unpleasant experience playing against Macc.

Onwards to Neston