A Saturday with some of the oddest weather patterns I can recall affected our three teams in three different ways. I was with the 1s who, after making an okay start against Brooklands, were delayed by some 2½ hours after a downpour of semi-biblical proportions flooded considerable parts of the outfield, the astro, and left the square thoroughly sodden. It seemed utterly fanciful to imagine play resuming at any stage, but while I was wondering how on earth they were still playing in the Cheadle v Bramhall match just down the road, and also were relatively unscathed at Heaton Mersey, the team were doing a brilliant job mopping up. So much so that after some discussion with the umps and I rechecking the regs, we all agreed there was enough time for a total of 66 overs – Dids having had almost 10 already meant they would have to get a move on.

But the proposition of getting a move on seems to bring the best out of Nick’s side, even when in a spot of bother, as they were at 129-5 in the 22nd. James G joined King of cool Charlie, and the pair hit and ran wonderfully as they plundered 93 from the remaining 11 without anyone realising, it seemed. It was careful, sensible, at first but with their hitting ability things suddenly accelerated, James G seizing the moment when Brooklands chose to give Todd Walker a bowl.

His first ball was hit like a kicking horse into the business park - 15 off the over in total - which gave JG and Charlie the impetus to crash a further 45 off the last 4, Charlie 81* in another brilliant knock, while James added another fabulous contribution (47*) to go with 76* last time out. He’s really in a great groove and long may it last – the four he slammed to deep midwicket in the last over that was nonchalantly stopped on the bounce, one-handed, and thrown back on in one movement by a passing David Young drew appreciative gasps and a ripple of applause!

Horse was then about his work with the ball and produced a sharp opening spell that yielded four big wkts and left Brooklands taking a standing count, a deserved victory not too long in coming as the rain stayed away and a satisfied Nick rightly pleased afterwards.

He was even more satisfied on Sunday after a stellar batting display in the National KO had secured safe passage to R2. Neston were far from at full strength but even so, they had the 1s in some trouble at 28-3, and with Steve G joining Nick at 61-4 it meant two players who haven’t had much batting this season – and no runs to speak of when they have had a hit – had work to do. They proceeded cautiously to drinks at 93-4, but what followed was simply incredible. The second 20 overs yielded 201-1 as a barrage of strokeplay sent the scoring rate into orbit, Steve – having taken 26 bs to make his first 12 – suddenly blossomed and went into overdrive, hitting 88 runs off his next 45 to reach a wonderful hundred, loudly cheered and applauded by the healthy-sized crowd. He did have a life on 72 but that’s the game, and he certainly made the most of it.

Nick had already powered his way to another brutal ton for his collection, a sixth six taking him to three figures as he oversaw the recovery job, and the applause he received when he was finally dismissed for 107 (106 bs) was thoroughly deserved. He smashed 32 off the last 6 balls he received in a consummate display of innings-building. Neston were never going to get close, didn’t, and it was a thoroughly convincing way to progress. The only downside was for Will Street's parents who came to watch and saw their son neither bowl or bat! But they had an entertaining game - and some warmth from the sun at times - to enjoy.

The 1s have a big set of games coming up – our old rivals Hyde are here next Sat, then the WLD section of fixtures begins away at Lindow, before Nantwich are here on May 30th. The day after the team will go to Halesowen for the next National KO round, before beginning their defence of the Cheshire Cup the Sunday after and embarking on their T20 campaign on Thursday 4th June! Here’s hoping availability is good.

Back to Saturday, and while we were watching the rain at Dids, over at Mere the2As had (reportedly) not a drop (while the 1st XI game at Toft was being abandoned!) but Rehmani might have preferred the downpours as he watched his side turn in a horror show with the bat, creaking to 32-9 after visitors Maritime had posted 166. There was the tiniest crumb of comfort as Jack H (42, to go with 4-45 earlier) put on 49 for the last with Aaron but it was one to forget for the 2As, who will hope to get back to winning ways at Marple on Sat.

The 2s had a short rain delay at Brooklands on what became one of their worst days in recent memory, as they crashed to a 120-run defeat. I asked Adam S to summarise the 2s display in three words. He said that only one word was needed, which I am unable to reproduce here, but suffice to say it rhymes with the name of the singer of “My First, My Last, My Everything” and “The Trouble With Me”. The trouble for the 2s was that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, and it was their heaviest loss in quite some time – but we can forgive them that, I am sure, as it’s such a rarity. They’ll have to bounce back quickly, however, as their next assignment takes them to Toft, another of the early front-runners in the Prem.

Hopefully they can draw inspiration from the 3s who were at Booths Park on Sunday and produced another dominant display which resulted in another thumping win. Corbs set off like a man with a train to catch, departing for 44 in the 16th over with 119 already on the board, and opening partner Ibrahim continued on in the same vein. The misjudgement that resulted in him being run out just 8 shy of a maiden Dids senior ton was a pain felt throughout the whole team, but his 91-ball stay was a brilliant effort nonetheless and at 15 yrs old the youngster can be immensely proud. With 267 piled up (good contributions throughout, including E.X.Tra batting at 12) the game was also another reminder of why the W/L format is a good thing on Sundays, as Toft finished miles back on 196-6, Dids deserving the 20 pts. They entertain Brooklands next time out.

The 4s had a bit of a deja-vu experience as they again went down in the last over, this time against Elworth at Cheadle Hulme school. But unlike last week Jack had no qualms with the result as such, just a bit of residual disappointment that once again the 4s hadn’t been able to defend a decent total in the circumstances. Despite five ducks, they got to 181, with Isaac Jones’ 43 the highest score. Moeed made a dogged 37 and 35 extras also helped. A stand of 87 for Elworth’s 4th got them to 153-4 but despite inducing a wobble (Usman 10-5-11-3 a big factor), Elworth held off the best efforts of the side to win with three balls remaining - a good game. A certain Uber could be doing good business next Sunday as it’s down Kingsway for the 4s to take on Cheadle.

Speaking of which, our o40s are at the same ground on Wednesday, having opened up their 2026 Central Div. 2 campaign with an excellent 6 wkt win over a decent Alderley Edge side last week. James Dyer and Dipesh V put on a super 83 to lay the base for a successful chase of 123, Muhammad Khan’s 10-ball 23 adding a splash of colour.

Back to Sunday, and the 5s made it two from two with a 4 wkt win at Trinity that was about as tidy as a teenagers bedroom after a sleepover with five mates. Super bowling from Harry Shaw and Sean Bosworth (10-4-16-5) had the hosts an embarrassing 24-7, from where they rallied to 50 before losing the last three without addition. All was going swimmingly in reply before Ringo got out, the first victim of a hat-trick for the Trinity bowler, but after lurching to 44-6 the 5s got over the line without further ado, Simon able to get back to enjoy the 1s play and enjoy what looked like several pints of celebratory ale with Mr Daniel, who was recounting to me how he managed to injure himself umpiring during the run chase, clearly the subject of much hilarity at the time.

No fixture for the Wanderers in Div 3 East, while in Div 4 the Knights lost by 48 runs at Hale Barns, who they bowled out for 176. Considering HB were 175-5, that represented a fine recovery, but the damage had been done by an HB batter whacking 87 off 68 bs, which proved too much to overhaul, especially after the first over of the Knights reply when the board showed 0-2. The Knights try again at Heaton Mersey on Sun.

We will finish on a high, looking at a generally successful week for our womens teams. The 3s lost out narrowly at Stockport on Thursday night, going down by 4 runs in a reduced overs chase, but they remain top of Div 4 East after beating Lymm OP 1st XI by 15 runs on Sunday in a low scoring game. Indeed, the Lymm card reads like a telephone number, and were it not for our girls giving away 34 extras the victory margin would have been even bigger. A great effort though.

Mind you, that extras count paled into insignificance next to the 56 donated by Lindow’s bowlers as their decision to stick Rosh’s side in at Woodford on Sunday came badly unstuck. The 1s batted excellently, Isabelle Hevican leading the way with 70 (94 bs) and Rosie Ackerley smashing a damaging 53* (41 bs) as the board showed 240-6 – by no means out of the question for Lindow, but certainly many, many more than they would want to be chasing. Having been dismissed by Heidi Cheadle, Rosh had the satisfaction of dismissing the Lindow ace in return for just 16, and the 1s remained in complete control - Hannah Jones virtually unplayable, Sasha T claiming 3-20 and all eight bowlers doing a fantastic job to dismiss Lindow for 96.

Despite a few good pics to choose from this w/e, it felt right to enjoy sharing the evident and understandable joy of the womens 1s after such a satisfying win. FYI: Standing (L-R) Sasha, Hannah, Gillian, Isabelle, Rosie, Zoe; Front (L-R) Holly, Maya, Jessye, Rosh, Sarah.