Weekend Review: Greater Manchester Cricket League

After the previous weekend’s washout there was a full programme in the GMCL followed by the Derek Kay Cup Final on Sunday.

The rainfall in the week undoubtedly led to “slow and low” pitches with runs seemingly at a premium in a lot of games and the race for silverware and the fight to avoid the drop saw a series of results which will make the last 6 weekends full of interest. 

Derek Kay Cup Final 

Denton St Lawrence are chasing the league and cup double, and they got their hands on the first of these beating Royton in the final – a game held at Roe Green. Batting first Royton got off to a decent start and reached 53-1 off 14 overs when pro Chirag Khurana fell for 33. As on so many times this season the rest of the Royton line-up had little to offer and they added only a further 51. There were 3 wickets each for Scott Kirwin and Matt Sonczak. On paper a target like that should have posed little problem for a DSL line-up which has scored over 3,700 runs in 20 games so far. But Royton made them fight for it, reducing them to 72-5, (Khurana 3-31), before pro Neil Hornbuckle eased them over the line with an unbeaten 30. 

Denton SL 105-5 Royton 104ao 

Premier Division 

It wasn’t such a good day for DSL on Saturday. In the highest scoring game throughout the league they saw visiting Roe Green pick up a 3 run win in what was a thrilling finish. Roe Green posted an imposing 269-6, but an impressive reply left DSL on 230-5 with 8 overs left when Hornbuckle fell for 94. With 10 balls left and no further loss DSL looked clear favourites needing only 6 for the win. However a flurry of wickets saw them add only 2 more leaving last man Mark Selby requiring a boundary off the last ball. It wasn’t to be as he was dismissed. The result, (DSL’s 2nd loss of the season), and a win for Greenfield in a low scoring game at Stand closed the gap to 17 points. 4 wins from the 6 remaining games will see DSL complete the double. 

Egerton 114ao Flixton 198ao; Stand 79ao Greenfield 80-5; Clifton Monton 264-7; Woodbank 149ao Prestwich 231ao; Denton SL 266-9 Roe Green 269-6; Royton 119ao Woodhouses 109ao 

Division 1A 

Denton West still have a keen interest in the title race but might have feared the worst after managing what looked a below par 145ao at Glossop and were indebted to Liam Kilburn who contributed a hard hitting 36 after coming in at 90-6. Alex Coates picked up 4-36 for Glossop who were never really in the hunt after falling to 49-5, (Ben Lowndes starring with 5-32), and they eventually folded for 83. In a similar sort of game Flowery Field toiled for 129ao at Brooksbottom. Mike Finan has been a key player for them and after top scoring with 44 he got 4-24 and in partnership with pro Kurtlyn Mannikam, (5-24) restricted the hosts to 105ao. Flowery are now in 5th place, just 4 points adrift of the promotion places. Denton’s woes continued as they were well beaten by Uppermill and still need a couple of wins to assure themselves of Division 1 status next year. 

Brooksbottom 105ao Flowery Field 129ao; Denton 135ao Uppermill 137-2; Glossop 83ao Denton West 145ao; Swinton Moorside 88ao Moorside 89-5; Unsworth 75ao Heywood 77-1; Austerlands 69ao Glodwick 71-3 

Division 1B 

The local derby saw a 9 wicket win for Droylsden over Dukinfield and left them both on 25 points, 10 adrift of 9th placed Stayley. With Thornham as good as consigned to Division 2 next year it’s looking to be a straight fight between Dukinfield and Droylsden to avoid joining them and the win for the latter has given them a good start. 4 wickets each for Alex Jones and Donovan Aucamp were key to Dukinfield managing only a meagre 101ao, a total which Droylsden reached for the loss of only a single wicket, (Matt Halliday 52* and Ali Muzaffar 41*). Stayley had a decent win at Bury after totalling 179-6, (Munir Tanzil 58). A four man Stayley attack, with the wickets shared around, restricted Bury to 148, leaving Stayley the winners by 31 runs. 

Astley & Tyldesley 86-3 Thornham 82ao; Bury 148ao Stayley 179-6; Droylsden 102-1 Dukinfield 101ao; Edgworth 182ao Westleigh 183-7; Walshaw 209ao Greenmount 212-5; Whalley Range 137-8 Heyside 157ao 

Division 2A 

A thrilling game at Richmond Hill saw Micklehurst move to 5th in the table. They totalled 174 batting first. Stuart Chamley was the hero. Coming in at no. 9 with the score at 84-7 he hit 5 boundaries and 5 maximums in a 35 ball knock and finished with 59*. He then picked up 3 wickets in the East Lancs PM reply which ended with them finishing just 1 run short and undoubtedly rueing the fact that they were a man short. The win has all but secured Micklehurst’s place in Division 2 in 2020. There is little danger of being sucked into the relegation places but they are 27 points adrift of the promotion spots. 

Elton Vale 59ao Bury 2nd XI 180-8; Littleborough Lakeside 175-4 Werneth 169ao; Prestwich 2nd XI 57ao Shaw 99ao; Roe Green 2nd XI 138ao Glossop 2nd XI 150ao; Winton 89-7 Elton 86ao; Micklehurst 174ao East Lancs PM 173ao 

Division 2B 

Ashton had a crucial win, and in doing so did the double over Whalley Range 2nd XI. The usual batting collapse came after they reached 55-1, and added only 38 more. On a pitch with variable bounce after the week’s rains this was never going to be an easy chase for the visitors. Ryan Heap, making a welcome appearance in a season where work commitments have restricted availability, took the honours. His return of 5-26 saw Ashton to the win, although there was a scare as some late order resistance pushed the Rangers up from 50-8 to 76ao. 

Denton West 2nd XI 89ao Deane & Derby 90-2; Tottington St Johns 67ao Stretford 68-5; Wythenshawe 132-6 Oldham 128ao; Ashton 93ao Whalley Range 2nd XI 76ao; Greenfield 2nd XI 64ao SW Manchester 154ao; Friarmere 145ao Edenfield 151-7 

Division 3 East 

Dukinfield 2nd XI 149ao Stand 2nd XI 150-9; Flowery Field 2nd XI 73ao Denton 2nd XI 108ao; Heywood 2nd XI 111ao Unsworth 2nd XI 175-8; Glodwick 2nd XI 102ao Springhead 103-2; Werneth 2nd XI 113ao Saddleworth 205ao; Oldham 2nd XI 61ao Denton SL 2nd XI 198ao 

Division 4 East 

Ashton Ladysmith had a comfortable win at Woodhouses 2nd XI where they chased the hosts 133-9, (3 wickets each for Paul Reynolds and Michael Keil). Mitesh Patel with 46 provided the base for a 6 wicket win for Ladysmith. 

Thornham 2nd XI 73ao Friarmere 2nd XI 271-9; Woodhouses 2nd XI 133-9 Ashton Ladysmith 134-4; Newton Heath 69ao United Stars 82ao; Heyside 2nd XI 126ao Failsworth Macedonia 129-4; Stayley 2nd XI 222-5 Ashton 2nd XI 117ao; Moorside 2nd XI 213-5 Royton 2nd XI

by Martin Frost