Ellis cashes in on his second chance

Cricket

ELLIS HELIRE made the most of his chance as Saddleworth A moved to the top of the Saddleworth League under-13s table.

In the battle of two undefeated teams, Moorside dropped Helire in the first over and he went on to make 24 as Saddleworth totalled 85 for eight (Ben Fullard three for 12).

Helire also took three for 13 as Moorside made 73 for seven.

Shaw’s Lawrie Hughes retired on 30 (out of 92 for five) and 10-year-old Bryan Blencowe took two for nought as they beat Uppermill (62 all out).

Glodwick produced their best bowling and fielding display to dismiss Bamford for 67. However, their batting was abysmal as they were shot out for 17.

Tom Fleming retired on 32 in Saddleworth B’s total of 96 for six (Kasim 3-12) and also took three for 21 as Heyside were bowled out for 95 (James Howard 19).

Droylsden piled up 104 for four against Hollinwood, George Kay retiring on 30 and Kieron Hamilton getting a cheer for a huge straight six. Hollinwood were dismissed for 39.

There was no play in the Royton v Austerlands match.

This weekend’s fixtures are –

Droylsden v Heyside, Hollinwood v Shaw, Moorside v Uppermill, Saddleworth A v Bamford, Royton v Glodwick, Austerlands v Saddleworth B.

In the under-15s league, Heyside A restricted Staley to 27 for five thanks to James Lord 3-1-5-2 and Matthew Robinson 2-1-2-2 and eased past the total without losing any wickets in reaching 28-0.

Shaw A maintained their lead at the top of the table with a close victory over Austerlands. Batting firrst, Austerlands reached a formidable score of 133 for five thanks to Luke De Feu’ s 52 (ret).

In response Shaw A scored 137 for four with three balls to go thanks to 50 (ret) from Tom Rowlands, supported by Elliott Birtwistle 33.

At Glodwick, opponents Moorside could only manage 23 with Janzib (JJ) Rigby taking six wickets for two runs. Glodwick replied with 25 for one.

Saddleworth B, helped by 27 from James Howard, scored 69 - restricted by Jordan Whyatt’s figures of 5-0-19-3. He then scored 25 not out as Heyside B scored 72 for four in reply.

Up at Saddleworth, the A team scored 133-5 thanks to Brad Hadfield 51 (ret) and, following the loss of early wickets, Shaw B were always up against it despite a resilient performance from Tom Needham, who carried his bat for the 20 overs, scoring and unbeaten 22 out of 72 for five.

The Leicester Shield first round saw Shaw A make progress at the expense of their B team.

They made 116-8 thanks to Graham Sinclair and Ryan Maudsley 29 each. Shaw B only managed to reach 51 in reply.


Oldham look for form

SCHOOLS CRICKET

OLDHAM under-13s are looking to bounce back from a seven-wicket reverse against Bury in their opening Lancashire Schools’ Merit League match, with victory against Rochdale in the same competition at Littleborough CC on Friday.

The Merit League competitions are organised by Lancashire Schools’ Cricket Association at under-11, under-13 and under-15 age groups, with Merit Cup Finals taking place for the districts who take the top two places in each league.

In addition, Lancashire Schools’ Cricket Association will again be organising the under-15 Ainsworth Trophy and under-13 Hacking Cup.