Following the postponement of the opening fixture due to a local storm, the team travelled to the plains of Cheshire to face Ashley for its opening fixture. Under blue skies and conditions akin to those at Newlands when the “Cape Doctor” blows, Didsbury were put into bat. McCall astute and fair in team selection grafted together a blend of youth and experience. The opening pair of Alfie and Harry Wyatt soon built a solid foundation. Zac and Sam made good progress with the former peppering the boundary on a regular basis, taking the total to just over 250 at the half-way point. Tight bowling by the home side then restricted progress, however, the final pairs; debutants Seb and Owen along with Harry Poole and Thomas managed to get Didsbury’s total up to a respectable 283 by the close. Zac opened the bowling running up the slope and into a headwind but returning fine figures of 2-0-8-0. Ashley’s big upper order hitters replied strongly, however, putting them ahead of Didsbury at the half way point. From this point on though the complexion of the game changed. Through a combination of tight bowling and fielding which, would have made Hanse Cronje’s South African sides proud of, Didsbury slowly strangled the home sides batting efforts. Bowling in tandem, Thomas and Harry Poole drove Ashley’s batsmen into the doldrums, Thomas returning figures of 2-0-3-0. Alfie and Harry Wyatt thwarted any counter attack as Alfie took 2 wickets leaving Ashley 14 runs adrift at the close.

Steve Turner