Stone Cricket Club hosted near neighbours Little Stoke in the 2nd round of the Talbot Cup on Sunday – and it turned out to be a compelling encounter.
On a slow wicket the Little Stoke batsmen found it difficult to gather any momentum, and as they stuttered to 85-7 the signs looked ominous. However the arrival of Scott Winnington to the crease gave the innings some stability and energy and a cleanly struck half century lifted the Little Stoke total to a competitive 159 all out. Steve Morgan, Adam Pursell and George Hawbrook all claimed a brace of wickets for the home side.
Stone’s run chase was progressing steadily and the home side were closing in on the target with John Cheadle and Matt Coxon sharing a 57-run partnership for the 4th wicket. However, the reintroduction of Little Stoke’s South African paceman Gurshwin Rabie saw Stone’s middle order dismantled and from 98-3 Stone were soon reeling on 123-8. However, an excellent 9th wicket partnership between Sam Graham (28*) and Pursell (12*) saw the home side to a nervous victory and into the draw for the third round.
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Stone 1st X1 travelled to Porthill filled with confidence following back to back home wins in the Premier League.
Having lost the toss Stone were invited to bat on a wicket offering plenty of assistance for the new ball. Luke Cheadle decided attack was the best form of defence and blitzed his way to a quickfire 60 off just 56 balls. However the fall of Cheadle’s wicket sparked a flurry of activity and when the Champions found themselves on 108 for 5 there was rebuilding to be done.
Matt Coxon (53) continued his impressive early season form and together with skipper Richard Harvey (38) the pair rebuilt the innings with a 6th wicket partnership of 82. Porthill’s overseas pro bowled an impressive spell at the end of the Stone innings, with the batting side losing their final wickets at regular intervals. Nevertheless a closing total of 229 was a challenging target and with Coxon again impressing with the new ball Porthill were soon reeling on 67 – 5 with the loss of early wickets.
A rear guard action ensued for the home side and the defiant Matt Rogalski (64), who was caught at the wicket off a no ball early in his innings, steered the Porthill batting line up toward safety. Rogalski found an able ally in youngster Dan Gibbs (30) and Stone were unable to break through the pairs defences. With the home team closing their innings on 184 – 8, Coxon and Steve Morgan taking 3 wickets a piece, Stone had to settle for the winning draw and brought home 13 points for their efforts.
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Little Stoke CC 1st XI v Newcastle & Hartshill CC 1st XI (23rd May)
League: North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier Division A – 2015
Little Stoke 1st XI welcomed fellow strugglers Newcastle & Hartshill to the Sid Jenkins Ground in a ‘must-win’ fixture for both teams. Winning the toss, the hosts elected to bowl first and wickets for Dan Richardson and two for Gurshwin Rabie soon reduced the visitors to 28-3. Andy Elliot top scored for Newcastle and Harstshill with 24 but was caught from the bowling of 17 year old Scott Winnington. James Ecclestone claimed the wicket of James Collett caught behind for 11 as the visitors slipped to 74-7. The impressive Rabie (5-18 from 11 overs) and Winnington (3-6 from 7 overs) swept up the Newcastle & Hartshill tail as their last 5 batsmen could only muster 1 run between them and were all out for just 77 in the 35th over.
Little Stoke set about the run chase amidst a nervous start as they stumbled to 31-4 as Gamaal Hussain claimed 3-22. However, an impressive unbeaten partnership from Andrew Frost (38 n.o.) and Dan Richardson (29 n.o.) they ran out comfortable winners reaching 78-4 from just 21 overs to climb off the bottom of the table.
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Stafford CC 2nd XI v Little Stoke CC 2nd XI (23rd May)
League: North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier Division B – 2015
Little Stoke were sent in to bat by Stafford and made a solid start, racing to 184-3 thanks to Jack Leese (29), Andrew Hurd (63) and a splendid 104 from Josh Renshaw including 14 boundaries. With further contributions from Harvey Collins (20) and Jack Phillips (18) the visitors declared on 259-4 after 47 overs. Sean Connolly returned the best bowling figure for Stafford with 3-65 from 14 overs.
Stafford began their reply brightly and with Steve Abbot (31) and Lee Farrington (56) making valuable runs, the match was finely balanced. However, the Little Stoke bowling attack rose to the challenge and with some smart work from skipper Andy Hodson behind the stumps, the hosts faded, slumping to 139 all out from 44 overs. Little Stoke’s top bowling came from promising 15-year-old Ed Gaffney with 5-30 from his 12 overs and 3-24 from Greg Whalley.
