Well, we’ve at least a Test Match, or at least almost half of a Test Match, to enjoy since last week’s round-up, but the warm sunny weather on view at Lords might as well have been on another planet compared to the seemingly endless gloom and varying amounts of water cascading from the skies onto our cricket grounds. I was umpiring at Marple on Saturday and have never stood at a day game where it went so dark! No sunglasses needed – although I did once hear of an umpire who took the players off for bad light forgetting that he was still wearing his sunglasses and that conditions were perfectly playable!

Our 3s were at the same ground 24 hours later and weren’t troubled by any weather incursions as they wrapped up another comfortable win. Captain Battersby commented “winning the toss in bowling conditions can be handy but a wet ball can also be a proper pain to control. Not so for our young pace attack who ripped through the top of the M&C order. Special mention to Ben Lowe for getting their two most dangerous batsmen out for very little. M&C battled hard and we fell short of the 8th wicket and two bonus points we craved. 120 was never enough, though, and Tom Beresford showed what a class act he is with a serene 50. Helpful runs from Saad and Simon Lord cruising us to victory by 6 wickets in the end. Sale losing has just opened the door for the chasing pack and momentum is with Didsbury 3s who haven’t lost a game since 2nd June.”

Indeed so. 26 points off the leaders at the start of June, the 3s are now just 10 pts behind, Sale’s turn to pick up zero pts in their loss at Timperley making things very interesting.

Speaking of interesting, the 4s splendid week has seen them go joint top of Div 1 after beating Heaton Mersey, Harri Aggarwal bagging 4-24, Madhukar Mekhala hammering 60 off 34 balls, and young Zohaib Ahmad 36* off 21, all of which viewed with pleasure from the non-strikers end by captain Renison M, who will, along with Jack, be hoping for good availability especially on Aug 4, when the 4s meet current co-leaders Ashley.

Madhukar was also very much to the fore (see what I did there?) in the 4s fantastic T20 Q/F win at Premier Div Grappenhall last Tuesday, clouting 26 off 12 and then taking 3-21 as the 4s ran out pretty comfortable victors by 35 runs. Some terrific knocks by Kush Patel (41 off 36) Zohaib (38* off 27) and Nikash Hinduja (33 off 22) all went towards an impressive 177-7 and the team will rightly be looking forward to Finals Day.

It was high fives for Simon’s 5s after another win, one which pushed them to second in Div 2, their 6 wkt win over Urmston comfortable enough. Shabih Shah made 39 as Urmston’s 95 was overhauled with plenty of overs in hand. Unbeaten leaders Metrovicks are some 30 pts distant, however, but if the 5s can keep this sort of form going it will make for an intriguing battle.

Unfortunately, the Wanderers lost for a second week in a row, traveling all the way to Kerridge (if I have understood things right) to take on Stockport Georgians 4s. Jamie Helsby made 43, skipper Paul and young James Coventry 29 apiece and Aaron Creighton 25 as Wanderers 159-8 seemed ok, but SG batted well to reach their target in the 34th over.

Better news for the Knights in Div 4 as they beat Stockport. Skipper Chris described how things panned out. “Chose to bowl first at Stockport. Abby Nicholson and I opened the bowling, keeping it really tight, reducing them to not very many for 4 wickets. Calum Isbister's first ever over for the Knights was a double wicket maiden, we also saw debuts for the Knights (in the league) for Joe Baird and Alex Calver. Abby came back on to clean up their tail, taking the final wicket and completing her 5 fer! Chasing 99, the Knights quickly fell to 7-3 due to some poor shots and poor running. However, Zain and Anthony rebuilt, slowly at first and then after drinks really cracked on, Anthony very strong on the on side, Zain hitting all around the pitch. Zain brought up his 50, his first in senior cricket, and not long after scored the winning the runs as both carried their bats. Knight in shining armour was shared between Abby and Zain for their contributions with ball and bat respectively. Knights win by 7 wickets.”

The womens 1s had a second meeting in successive weeks with Georgians, coming out on top again despite Hannah Marshall being unsually wicketless. Pooja Singh (4-0-8-3) stepped up as did the other four bowlers used who each took wickets. Rosh made a steady 34* to steer the ship home after another handy contribution from Kashmira Shinde (28). The 1s are upto 5th with two games in hand on leaders Leigh.

The womens 3s also played their equivalents at Georgians, a decent T20 that swung one way then t’other as Georgians sneaked home by 1 wkt, Dids unable to really build on a great opening stand of 48 (Sophie Davies 30 ret, Katya 24) as they finished with 87-6. SG were 40-3, then 42-6, then 76-8, but they held on for the win, Sorcha Box’s 3-18 the standout of a creditable bowling display.

Back we go to Saturday, where Rehmani, fresh from the glory of leading the over 40s to another win on Weds (by 30 runs over Warrington, our lads up to 4th), had the pleasurable task of overseeing a bonging 112 run 2As win at Heaton Mersey. Sean Reilly cracked an excellent 75 before OG senior weighed in with 4x6 in his 30-ball 38, Dids 204-9 and in control. A control that Rehmani himself pressed home with 10-5-21-3 before OG junior cleaned up, 10.3-3-18-5 a fabulous return as Mersey had no answers, 92 all out. After such a poor start, the 2As have pulled 28 pts clear of the drop zone. Far from out of the woods just yet of course but going in the right direction.

It was even easier for Ryan’s 2s against Bowdon, so far bottom of the table they are already 78 pts from safety! Their hammering on Sat will have done Bowdonian morale no good whatsoever, Dids streets ahead as Raza and Ed each took 3-16, Stu Stoneman and James Bidder two wkts each, and Bowdon’s grinding 89 (43 overs) overtaken in barely an hour’s batting. Dids remain 8 pts behind leaders Chester, so next week’s trip west to Boughton Hall is the epitome of a big game. And I shall be there!

(Bonus supplementary 2s question posed by T.Bidder to me: “the keeper missed the ball today, hit his helmet, then went for four. Is that 9 runs or 5?” Answers on a WhatsApp please!)

Dids and Chester BH may well also lock horns on T20 Finals Day as they both secured safe passage during the week, Dids easily beating Sale after Evan (62 off 45) and Alex (54 off 39) added a sprightly 113 together, Dids 162-6 before Raza’s 5-17 meant a spluttering Sale mustered just 118-8. The 2s have won the trophy for the last three seasons and will be confident of defending that excellent record.

And so finally to the 1s who have had a second tough week in succession, sadly. “Can’t think of a worse 8 days for the 1s in recent memory” was how Nick put it to me, reflecting on their exit from the T20 and successive league defeats after a soggy encounter at Bowdon. Nick said “we went into the T20 wanting to reach finals day for the first time since 2017. Despite a positive last minute change to playing at home (with thanks to the under 17s and Jack) we never really got going with the bat. We got to 153 thanks largely to Tim’s 48* and an explosive cameo from Steve, including 32 off an over. Lindow critically gave us nothing, no byes, wides or no balls keeping the pressure on. Sadly all of our bowlers were guilty of offering some sundries, the four extra overs hurting us as we went down with an over to spare. Not a bad effort, but a real shame to miss out.”

As for Saturday, Nick said “another difficult result. Following heavy overnight rain Bowdon can only be described as a mess. It was a nice reminder of how lucky we are, in that the outfield and square were the worst I have seen in Premier League cricket, and the changing room wasn’t much better. The electronic scoreboard was broken as well! To put the tin lid on it we lost the toss sadly and were inserted on a wet wicket. We did well to get 133 in 36 overs, the pitch improving all the time. As it was we could only eke out 4 wickets as Bowdon won comfortably.”

The one crumb of comfort from Saturday was that other results meant our loss wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but it’s never ideal to be losing momentum at this stage. Next weekend we have Chester BH visiting twice in two days, with the repeatedly-delayed Cheshire Cup match on Sunday after Saturday’s league clash – which will be third playing fourth. Let’s hope for some better weather and better fortune for the 1s, who have played some great cricket thus far this season. In Nick’s words, “onwards and upwards”.