Rich Stoney, Nick Locker, Jake Heath, Jason Britton, Alex Walley, Jo Woodward, Nick Hubble, Billy Locker, Grant Heath, Dale Heath, Chris Guest, Jon Britton, Tahir Raza, Phil Stephens
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"Road victories continue as Nicky Locks down win....."
There are a few things that have emerged as absolute fact within the last 8 days at MHCC. Firstly our opening batters are capable of carrying their bats and delivering a performance that helps the team to emerge victorious. Secondly we have a team spirit that cannot be matched anywhere else in this league. Lastly we now have confirmation that Sid Conner can eat his own bodyweight in fish and chips !
On arriving late at Kidsgrove on Saturday the editor was met with a surprisingly picturesque setting in which to watch a game of cricket. Meir Heath were bowling the last few overs of their innings and the Kidsgrove batsmen were taking advantage of the very short boundary at one side of the pitch ! In closing on 206 after 55 overs it seemed a tall order for the visitors to overhaul such a total. It turned out that it was a target that would prove far too small.
While taking tea, you couldn’t help being impressed by the bar area and clubhouse, KCC have spent their grant money well and the club must be a goldmine throughout the summer and winter months.
During the tea interval the heavens opened and we had a good 35 minutes of very hard rain, the sky was nearly black at one point and the prospects of further play looked bleak. We were lucky though as due to some “encouragement” from some of the visiting players the covers were soon on the wicket and the outfield was that dry in simply sucked up the rain like a dyson.
When the rain stopped we were informed by the umpires that Meir Heath would now have 39 overs in which to meet their victory target, 144 being the figure to ensure we came away with a winning draw.
As the sun began to shine down upon us our fortunes blossomed as we had 4 byes off the first ball of the day to set the tone for the innings. The home sides pro was taking such a long run up it started in a different postcode and the wicket keeper was twice the size of our own Jake Heath, so he had trouble moving his somewhat rotund frame quickly enough to stop the ball effectively.
Richard was first to go to a rather debatable decision, the ball struck him and spun up in the air and the pro took a diving catch. He definitely took the ball in the air but the contact was the controversy. It appeared not to have struck any part of Stoney’s willow but the umpire, after a few moments hesitation gave our captain out.
The undisputed winner of the “Shakie, his glove took the bail off” prize for the most outrageous decision of the day went to poor Jo Woodward, he received a ball on his pads which might have hit middle stump, on another set of wickets ! How the umpire came to the outcome he did is anyone’s guess but he gave Jo out and we looked in a spot of trouble.
Luke Heath came in and tried to reach a ball and clip it over the slip corden, he only succeeded in giving up his wicket to a fine one handed catch. Shakie looked in good nick, playing some great shots before letting his eagerness to score quickly get the better of him and he was out on the last ball of an over in which he had already scored 8 runs !
At the other end throughout all these proceedings was Nicky Locker. Now Nicky’s biggest critic is Nicky himself but even he could surely find little of the negative in the innings he played on Saturday. He was faultless from start to finish and delivered an innings that both delighted his proud parents but had the rest of the visiting masses enthusing long into the night. Jake joined him at the crease with us averaging around 4.5 per over. The pair of batsmen the proceeded to blast the home sides attack all over the park, such was their dominance and high scoring rate, young Harry in the scorebox had smoke coming from his pencil !
As we closed in on our victory target it was pleasing to see all the good guys together till the end, a true team.
As the winning runs sailed to the boundary, The 2 unbeaten batsmen came off to a great ovation from players and club members alike. We had achieved the win within 38 overs, no mean feat.
A quick note to Nicky and Jake, your partnership today was one of the best we have seen at the club in recent history. You did yourselves, your team and club proud. All the team should feel very good about themselves at the moment.
10 games to go, how long can this run continue ? If this potential is played to every week we could still be in the shake up at the end of the season !
Cheadle v MHCC 27.06.09
“Meir Heath Grate Cheese as Stonier’s Boys Bring Home Bacon !!”
In recent issues of the Cheadle and Tean Times, Cheadle captain Simon “Cheese” Plant has stated momentum could guide the Tean Road outfit to promotion. Well any momentum that had been built by Cheadle was not just stopped, but derailed totally by a dominant Meir Heath side on Saturday. Sticky misty weather greeted the editor as he arrived at the ground but you sensed then that the sun was just waiting to appear and so it did ! Much has been made of recent MHCC performances, some comments justified, some not. What we saw at Cheadle on Saturday and to a lesser extent against Norton the previous Saturday, proved that we have a fine team of talented individuals who are fast learning to play together as a team. It seemed that we would be up against it right from the start as we feared Guesty would not be able to play due to a nasty bite on his foot but despite major swelling that would have put Stoney’s head to shame, our likeable pro buckled up and prepared to rip through the Cheadle batting. Richard won the toss and put Cheadle in, a great toss to win. Progress was made at a steady early rate. Skippy bowled very well in his opening spell for no reward, he was to persevere though and ample gratification would come in his second spell. Chris Guest really is bowling well over the last few weeks. His form yielded 4 wickets to go with his nap hand last week. He really does look likely to strike with every ball at the moment, well done Chris. Twinny came back for a second spell and claimed 4 wickets, Stoney took a super catch off Nicky Locker and that pretty much was that. Cheadle were never allowed to push on with the score and Meir Heath always seemed in control of the innings. A welcome bonus was that we would have an extra 6 overs in which to reach our target of 172 to win. Tea was taken by the editor and team in the soon to be demolished Cheadle club house and after several sandwiches and a can of Tizer, everything was set fair for 3 hours of the “Good Guys” taking the shine off the home sides balls. Nicky got a good ball from the likeable Shaun Rashid and was bowled but that was as good as it got for him as Joe Woodward came in and proceeded to dispatch Rashid to the boundary on several occasions. He didn’t spare the other bowlers either however, on his way to a sublime 57. The innings was worth the gate money alone, well done to you Joe, it’s great to have you back !. Anchoring the innings was Richard Stonier who all week had reiterated the fighting spirit that was so evident all day on Saturday. He rode his luck a couple of times (without giving a real chance I might add) but also played some classy and sometimes belligerent shots on his way to an unbeaten 78. A real captains innings from Rich and hopefully the sign of things to come from our captain. Shakie came and went in bizzare circumstances, while attempting a quick single he was well short of his ground when the wickets were broken, the controversy was what were the wickets broken with ? From my view it appeared the wicket keepers glove took the bails off. The square leg umpire was also not sure so deferred the decision to Mr Hopkin at the bowlers end who gave the unlucky Shakie out. It seemed a really harsh ruling but to his credit Shakie took it and walked off the field. Leaving his comrades to steal the glory from him later down the order. Special mention here to Billy Locker who came in and scored a quick fire 21 and played the kind of innings we all know he can to bring the side to the brink of victory. Stoney struck the winning runs, hitting a beleaguered Cheadle bowler for 4 and as he waved his bat in delight and celebrated you could sense sheer relief and joy from all connected with the club. The dressing room was particularly buoyant and rightly so. The players have taken some knocks this season and rightly now should take plaudits. Fair play too to the Cheadle team, although well beaten on the day, they are good sports. We look forward to welcoming you to Willow Lane for the return fixture later in the season. A visit to out of sorts Kidsgrove next Saturday awaits us. If the boys play with the same resolve and talent then we could soon be looking up the table instead of down !.
Whitmore v MHCC 25.04.09
Victory Whit-More than welcoming for early pacesetters !!
Meir Heath began their away program in division one with a trip to newly promoted Whitmore CC. Having picked a up a new vehicle earlier in the day, the editor was somewhat waylaid in his efforts to reach the field for the starting time of 1PM.
When he did arrive he was greeted with a lovely setting in which to watch cricket. The sun was shining and chances of a full days play seemed really promising. The home side were 55 for 2 with Yasir the stand in pro, hitting the ball rather well.
He went on to reach a score of 41, the top score of the home teams innings. Early support was given by Whitehead (33) who played well before hitting the rejuvenated Jason Britton in the field who took the sharp catch. The visitors bowled and fielded rather well, Nicky Locker in particular grafted hard for no reward. He also took a ball firmly on the knee causing him to limp around for the rest of the innings. Not ideal when chasing balls in the deep. Joe Woodward again looked very focussed and accurate and finished with figures of 4-59 from 21 over’s. This was the first opportunity I had to see our new pro Chris Guest in action. I must say he looked sharp with the ball with 3 for 43 from 16 over’s. Supported by Alex “big show” Whalley at the start and end of the innings and, as mentioned the efforts of Nick, which yielded only 14 runs from 11 anaemic over’s, the home side reached a tally of 183 all out from 57 over’s.
With tea being taken in the pavilion the Mile House fish bar was the desired choice of dynamic duo DDA and Smithy, word filtered back that the fish and chips had scored maximum 10 out of 10, Smithy had eaten the pattern off his plate and the peas were first class ! All that was now needed was for us to take care of business and get the runs needed to extend our perfect start to 2 wins from 2 fixtures played. I was thinking to myself at the tea interval that the total seemed a few light. The outfield was quick as lightening and if you beat the man it was a boundary 90% of the time.
Things could not have got off to a better start. 7 runs were scored from the first over and scoring continued at a favourable rate until Ricky Stonier got a delivery that sat up and as he was trying to get out of the way, he gloved one to the young Whitmore keeper who took the first of 2 fine catches well above head height. It was such a shame for the Meir Heath captain who had looked in fine form before his dismissal for 19.
A word of praise for Jason Britton who opened up with Richard. He played very patiently at the start of his innings, got himself in and went on to contribute 48 well hit runs to the total. There was some confusion among the visiting contingent as some thought he had struck a fifty but 48 was the correct recorded score.
Joe Woodward came into bat and played some sublime shots on the way to 31, Jake Heath added 10 before falling to catch he himself would have been proud to have taken behind the wicket. To be fair to Jake he got a tough ball to play at and was quite unlucky to fall to such a good catch.
Then came the steady influence in the middle of the order we seemed to lack last season. With 65 or so runs still needed to be added, Nicky Locker and Christ Guest found themselves at the wicket. The latter seemingly suffering from a very sore back. Some superb batting both attacking and in defence saw the visitors home despite some confusion at the very end of the scoring. The result was in no doubt at that point. A word of thanks to the folk from Whitmore who were really friendly to all the visiting entourage. A big well done and I wish you every success in the future.
Hearty congratulations were meted out after the game as Rich led the team into the warm down and well deserved they were too. This was a game we would have drawn or probably lost last season. We are taking advantage of some favourable early season weather to rack up some early points and now already hold a healthy 7 point lead in the embryonic division one table. This lead will be tested to the full no doubt when Crewe visit Willow Lane on the 2nd May but if we show the same skill and spirit so evident in the first two matches there is no reason why we should not extend our winning run even further. A big well done to all concerned !. DTM Lubbock
