Junior Cricket Round-Up - July 2025
Junior Round-Up
The U9s have been in good form with 5 victories from 8 games across away trips to Glossop, Micklehurst and Hadfield.
On 27th May, the 9s entered Winners Lounge twice with two wins built upon a 40 partnership then 50 partnership between Lyra and Thea.
Two weeks later on the 11th June, it was 1 win and 1 defeat away at Hadfield. Saul R was the pick of the bowlers bagging 3 wickets with his leg-spin, including a tidy caught and bowled. Erin and Grace K dropping and running helping us set competitive totals.
To round out June, there was a trip to Woodley, where we faced off v Hadfield and won by the barest of margins. 1 wicket apiece for C-Fletch and Ben kept things tight, and Saul and Thea did the job with the bat to see us win by 8.
For the 11s softball, May and June has seen clear improvement as the games have gone on. Mid-May saw Greenfield visit the MCG and win by 36 runs. Earla’s 24* and Sophia’s 3 fours helped set a defendable total. Oliver K’s 1/1 was the pick of the bowling spells as we stayed in it throughout the 16 overs before Greenfield got over the line.
The visit of Stand was a tough one as they ran out winners by 100, but a much improved performance 7 days later meant Worsley needed the rain to rescue them. Alec’s 18 and Oliver’s 11* got us to 152. Worsley’s chase was flagging thanks to C Fletch (1/11), Thea (1/4) and Maisie (1/5) making early inroads. Pair 4 though could give it a right whack and needed a further 20 from 18 before the rain brought things to a premature end.
Dukinfield were comfortable winners at the MCG despite tidy cameos of 13 and 11 from Dolly and Lyra respectively. Hadfield were overcome by 21 runs, Oscar’s spell of 1 for 2 making the difference. It was soon 2 wins on the bounce as Lydia's 19* and Oliver K's unplayable 4fer saw them topple Saddleworth.
For the 11s Hardball side, May saw us secure the Regional League title, winning all of our group games. It all came down to a thrilling chase versus Micklehurst, where needing 286 to win, Benedict (20*), William (10*) and Max (11*) saw us over the line.
Since then, it’s all been about the Performance League which started with 3 wins from 3. Denton West were swept aside courtesy of 20* from William and 2fers for Megan, Leo and Eggsy.
Against Glossop and Saddleworth the 11s were arguably below par with the bat but ran out winners thanks to fantastic displays with the ball. Versus Glossop, defending 265, a majestic 3fer for Alec and 2 apiece for Leo and Thea ensured we never allowed the hosts to get going. Versus Saddleworth, defending 256, it was 2 wickets for Thea and fine death bowling from William and Kiki (1/10) that got us to the win.
That was followed by tough looking outings v DSL and Royton. Against DSL, the 11s ran riot with the ball. Eggsy (2/10), Megan (3/13) and Iris (4/6) completely removing the stuffing from the DSL batting as they reached 227. With the bat, we decided to make it more interesting than it needed to be with a middle overs collapse but Eggsy (19), Kiki (10) and Max (14) saw us home with wiggle room.
Royton however did finally end our unbeaten league run. Eggsy (17*) and Megan (10*) fought hard with the bat but our 215 never looked enough. Max’s 3fer added late gloss but we were well beaten.
The 13s have largely found themselves playing DCCL Monday games to date, with a mixture of weather and opponent availability issues thwarting the momentum of our Sunday Morning GMCL league campaign.
There was only 1 Sunday AM GMCL game in May, a nervy win away to Stayley. MCC won the toss and elected to have a chuck.
William and Niamh had Stayley 7 for 2 and Patrick’s fine caught and bowled made it 27 for 3. From there a 50 partnership got Stayley back in the game before Haris 1/6 off 2 removed the dangerman. After that the run rate dropped and Stayley got 93 off their 20. Our response saw us get home with 11 balls to spare. Patrick reached 33* retired, with valuable support from Niamh (17) before she was pinned LBW. No nerves for Eggsy (9*) though as he guided us home with help from James W (9 off 7).
GMCL campaign finally got back underway three weeks later in Alexandra Park, with the 13s timing their chase to perfection. Playing on a full-length adult track, the 13s did a brilliant job of restricting runs, with Isaac’s 2/8 the pick of a good bunch. Friends scored 85.
An opening partnership of 51 between Patrick and Isaac laid the perfect foundations for William, Eggsy and LGB to nurdle us home with 4 balls to spare.
Glossop hosted the 13s next on Sundays. A Patrick H hat-trick (3/8) and a quickfire Oliver C double (2/20) ran through their middle order but a late 28 from their #8 boosted their score to a high looking 128.
Patrick (30*), Isaac (10) and William (22) did a fantastic job to get us to 70 for 2 before it went downhill rather quickly. 93 AO. GMCL Sundays in June finish with us 5th in Performance League 1. The month ended with a tough shift at Shaw where despite 2fer from Isaac opening up their batting firepower was too much for us as they scored 170, which proved a touch too much for us.
There’s been slightly more luck getting games in on Monday evenings in the DCCL 13s. Our first Monday victory came at home v Old Glossop, 43 runs the difference. George and Haris both took 2/6 as OG set 239. A nervy start meant the visitors sniffed a chance of victory but 20* from Tom Fox and 11 from James Willis ensured we ran out winners.
A week later saw Broadbottom win a nervy thriller by 6 runs as we couldn’t quite chase down their 280. William and Isaac put on 30 for the last wicket (William 17*) but it wasn’t enough to overhaul the Broady score.
In June it was 1-1 between our 13s and Newton. In the first game, Newton won by 23 runs as our below par 259 proved too difficult to defend. Harry M’s 17 the only score of note as we toiled with the bat. 2/13 for George put the cat amongst the pigeons but Newton got home.
A week later, we were much more solid with the bat, this time setting 283. Skipper Dan M’s 15 set the tone and Harry M’s 11 was another wonderful cameo.
William (1/3) and Isaac (1/12) did a fine job setting the early tone, before T Fletch’s 3 for 4 turned the game decisively in our favour. George, James and Dan all deserved their wickets before debutant Oliver stole the show with a fine 2/2 at Pair 5.
The next two weeks saw games v Tintwistle and Charlesworth. Tintwistle was a batting horror show where our 233 never looked enough. Things perked up a week later though as we overhauled Charlesworth’s 270 by 33 runs. Brodie did a cracking job in Pair 2 to score a valuable 11. Eggsy then took the Pair 4 bowlers for 21 off 15 to get us ahead. William and Isaac adding a further 25 in Pair 5 ensured a comfortable win.
For the 15s, May and June saw them secure a place in Division 2 of the Performance League. In the last regional league game, against Hyde the mission was bat the 20 overs and MCC did so courtesy of Patrick’s 27* and Eesa’s 14 as we reached 59/4.
Hyde’s chase got off to a wobbly start as Jack (1/4) and Thomas (1/4) removed the #2 and #3 but the remaining opener and #4 settled well to guide them home after 13 overs.
The next outing was a tough shift at Woodley. 47 from our 20 overs showed grit and battle but was well short of competitive. With rain coming, Woodley went hard at the total and got their quickly.
The final game in June saw the 15s come out on the wrong side of a low-scoring thriller v Dukinfield. Two early wickets left Tom N (41*) and Patrick (31*) with a rescue job on their hands. They steered us to 93 from our 20.
Dukinfield initially made light work of things, reaching 57-1 when the first wicket saw them get a serious wobble on. Two for the Skipper Tom, a Woodsy rocket and an LGB hooper ripped through the middle order but Dukinfield ultimately snuck home.
For the 18s, the Performance League brought a first 1st win of the season away at Littleborough. Dan C’s 50* and Dan D’s 37 enabled us to reach 111 from our 20 overs. Any worries that was a touch short were removed pretty quickly as Henry (2/7) and Lucas (3/3) ran rampant and dismantled the top order. James (1/12), Jude (1/7) and Harry (1/5) all got in on the act as Littleborough fell 64 short.
Having won by 64 at Littleborough, we then lost by 63 to Woodhouses. Chasing 135, Charlie got 17 opening up and Patrick batted nicely to get 26 off 42 in the middle order. 72 scored from our 20.
Stalybridge away saw Skipper Dan (39) and Opener Ethan (50) help us to set a solid looking 146. Stalybridge’s Opener got to 50 to give them a good start in the chase, before Callum and Harry dismantled the middle order. A rapid 41 from the Bridge Keeper kept things exciting but U15 Jack H popped up with a timely 2fer to take the sting out of their chase. Mottram win by 8 runs. The 18s finish June nestled in 2nd in the Performance League table .
For the Girls Team, it’s been 2 wins and 2 defeats as our first U13s softball league campaign continues.
Away to Marple, Niamh took 4/2 and Evelyn 3/7 as the hosts set a score of 243 from 16 overs. We made hard work of the chase initially, but Niamh and Kiki motored their way to a 40 partnership as we ran out winner by 39 runs.
Away to Woodford, early wickets for Maisie (1/12) and Earsla (1/7) restricted the hosts run-scoring. Kiki bowled a jaffa to take 1/3 but some late order hitting got the hosts to 289. It looked, and proved, a tall order as Maisie (10) was MCC’s top scorer in a total of 254.
Hayfield overpowered an inexperienced side a few days later despite an inspired direct hit from Megan and 15 from Iris. The Girls closed out the month with another trip to Marple where we ran out winners by 28 runs. 2fers for Dolly, Evelyn and Lucy were the result of great tight lines with the ball. Chasing 282, each pair chipped away before Lucy and Iris (20) put their foot down in Pair 4 to complete the Marple double.
