Stone on top against spirited young Moddershall side

Moddershall Cricket Club’s 1st XI entertained the current Premier League champions at Barnfields and slipped to a four-wicket defeat. Having been asked to bat first, Moddershall started slowly and were reduced to 35-3 by a fine opening spell by Matthew Coxon, who single-handedly took the first four wickets. The innings was steadied by professional Usman Salahuddin who hit 11 fours in his watchful 66. He received some lower order support from Mitchell Spencer (27) as Moddershall reached 201-9 off their 55 overs, a below-par score on a good batting wicket.

In reply, Stone suffered the loss of an early wicket but a fine 89-run partnership between Luke Cheadle (65) and Phil Cheadle (53) put Stone in a strong position, despite captain Kelsall trying various bowlers. Only himself (2-25) and Matt Goodwin (2-33_ had any real success as Stone cruised to a victory with four wickets and five overs to spare, with Coxon turning in a man of the match performance in finishing 37 not out to add to his bowling figures of 4-80 off 21 overs.

It was a spirited performance from a young Moddershall side against a Stone team that are looking a strong bet already to retain their title.

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And here’s the rest of the Moddershall Cricket Club action…

2nd Team v Wood Lane – Lost by 10 wickets

The 2nd team visited Wood Lane and were completely outplayed as they suffered a humiliating defeat. Winning the toss and batting First, Moddershall were soon in trouble at 24-4 and despite 21, from Mitchell Kelsall, they were bowled out for only 58 in 23 overs. In reply Wood Lane made very light work of the job in hand and scored the required runs in only 10.2 overs without loss.

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‘A’ 1st Team v Wedgwood – Lost by 6 wickets

The A team travelled to Wedgwood and suffered a heavy loss to leave them rooted at the bottom of the league. Moddershall won the toss and batted first however, things did not go to plane for Captain Scott Oliver, despite his battling 42 and Dan Grounds(31), they were bowled out for a paltry 116 in 43 overs. In reply, it was always going to be a difficult target to defend and despite some fine bowling from youngster Harry Chell 2-38 off 12 overs, Wegwood achieved the target with 12 overs to spare and for the loss of only 4 wickets. Back to the drawing board for Olivers ‘A’ Team.

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‘A’ 2nd Team v Crewe – Lost by 10 runs

‘A’ 2nds welcomed Crewe to Wrekin View and in a tense low scoring affair, where they too suffered a loss. Batting first Crewe, started steady before losing their 1st wicket with 41 on the board, and then progressed to 105 before losing the next. The introduction of Dean Tooth proved their undoing as he ripped through the Crewe batting to reduce them to 140 all out; he finished with figures off 13 overs, 7 for 38. A brilliant performance. Moddershall then began their reply in a positive manner reaching 59 before the loss of James Mason for 31, fellow opener Stanley Basraj continued to take the fight to Crewe but received little support until he was 7th out having scored 59 with the game delicately poised with Moddershall requiring a further 23, however Crewe quickly wrapped the innings up leaving Moddershall 10 runs short of victory.

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Phoenix V Newcastle & Hartshill 3rd – Won by 116 Runs

The Phoenix had continued their relentless pursuit of the Stone League Premier title with an emphatic victory over Newcastle, but not without an early scare. Having been asked to bat the Phoenix were reduced to 10-3, but opener Jayawardene (81) stuck to the task and received support from the middle order in the form of Ganegoda (50), Weerasinghe (44) and Tennakoon (22) as Phoenix were eventually dismissed for a healthy 257 in 42nd over. In reply, Newcastle, despite a gallant 51 from opener Such, were always struggling against a disciplined attack and were reduced to 141 all out, pick of the bowlers being Nilesh Setunga taking 4-25. This leaves Phoenix with a 9 point lead at the top of the table and still with a 100% record in all competitions.

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ACADEMY

U17 V Woore – Won by 7 Wickets

U17’s playing only their 2nd game of the season made light work of Woore in dismissing them for 164 in 30 overs, Elliot Colclough taking 4-18. In reply they batted positively and got the required runs in only 19 overs, with Irfan Khan 60, Tom Hope 65 making light work of the job in hand. Moddershall lie in 3rd place with 2 games in hand and looking strong

U15 V Little Stoke (League) – Won by 68 Runs

U15’S having removed Stone SP from top of the table last week, entertained 3rd placed Little Stoke and won easily by 68 runs, batting first Moddershall scored 145-3, Dan Grounds (35) retired not out, Greg Clark (29), Harry Bailey(27) and James Clark (24 not out). In reply Little stoke struggled against yet another superb Moddershall bowling display only mustering 77-8 Ted Downs 3-7 and James Clark 3-13. Moddershall sit proudly at the top of the pile having won 5 of their 6 games.

U13 Reds V U13 Blues (Cup) – Blues Won by 15 Runs

Unfortunately Moddershall Reds and Blues were drawn against each other in the Dave Kettle Memorial Cup Quarter-Final A good game between was contested between 2 evenly matched sides with the Blues running out narrow victors, Blues scored 73-0 (net 273) – Liam Raby 13no & 3 overs 13 runs 2 wickets. In reply the Reds were 83-5 (net 258) Josh Crump 18no, Harry Owens 15 out once. Reds progress to the semi-final against Cheadle

U11 Cobras V Stone SP – Won by 33 Runs

Cobras visited Stone SP and kept their 100% record intact and remain top of the league. Cobras batted first and scored 96-5 (net 271) Owen Snelson 18 out once, Alec Price 11no, in reply the fielded and bowled well restricting Stone to 83-9 (net 238) Danuka Tenakoon – 3 overs 14 runs 2wkts

U10 Cobras v Cannock (Staffs youth Cup) – Won by 14 runs

Cobras visited Cannock and progressed to the Semi-Final in a closely fought game. U10 scored 45-2 (net 235) Jamie Evans 9no, Jack Darlington 7no Cannock 36-3 (net 221) Ellie Crump 3 overs 9 runs 1 wicket

U9 Panthers v Blythe – Won by 157 runs

Panthers visited Blythe and achieved a truly remarkable victory by winning by a record margin of 157 runs. Blythe batted first and in their 2 innings scored a combined 30-10 (net 380) Sam Oliver with unbelievable figures of 6 wickets for 1 run, Panthers scored 147-2 (Net 537) in their 2 innings with Joe HAWKINS scoring a marvellous 50 not out.

U9 Pumas v Porthill Belles – Lost by 33 runs

Pumas visited Porthill and suffered a 33 run defeat. Moddershall scored 65-5 (Net 440) Tom Shackerley 15 out 2 times, Porthill Belles 78-1 (net 473) with William Price taking the only wicket.

U9 Cobras v Meir Heath – Won by 23 Runs

Cobras visited Meir Heath and came out on top. Batting first Cobras scored a respectable 147 for 8 (Net 461) with Adam Wright 28 not out, in reply Meir Heath mustered 83-9 (net 438) with a fine bowling display from the Cobras, excelling were Joe Hawkins 2 for 14, Elliot Harris 2 for 2 Kieran Longmore 3 for 9, Adam Wright 3 for 10. This win keeps Moddershall top of the league after 5 games with maximum points.