Senior Cricket Round-Up - July 2025
Senior Round-Up
The 1st XI sit 2nd in the GMCL Championship after a marvellous May and June.
May saw 4 wins on the spin which started with an assured display away to Droylsden where the hosts were skittled out for 109. Ismail Iqbal’s 3/31 and Sub-Pro Geeth Kumara’s 5/32 ran through the hosts, with Mottram chasing it down for the loss of 1 wicket.
A week later Glodwick set a more competitive 258 from their 50 overs, but also found themselves defeated by 8 wickets. With Ismail (2/37) and Jacques Snyman (3/53) doing the damage with the ball, it was the sub-pro Snyman and Andrew Metcalfe who did the heavy lifting with the bat. It’s not often A. Metcalfe’s 65 off 61 would look pedestrian, but it looked positively glacial next to Snyman’s 152* plundered from 105 balls and containing 18 4’s and 8 6’s.
A week later Hadfield found themselves undone by a Ryan Fitton 5fer as the 1st won by 6 wickets. A comprehensive defeat of Friarmere (65 AO) ended the month on a positive note, with Ryan’s 58* and Mo’s 5/31 ensuring a comfortable afternoon.
June started in a less upbeat manner with league leaders Heywood running out comprehensive winners in a rain reduced top of the table clash.
From there there was a comfortable 8 wicket victory over Edenfield (Metcalfe 25*, Ryan 3/39) and an agonising 2 wicket defeat at Moorside where the hosts snuck over the line by 2 wickets, despite Jacques Snyman bagging 4fer and scoring 60.
June finished with the 1s brushing Woodhouses aside by 9 wickets. Looking to set a total, our visitors had no answer to Ryan Fitton who took 6/50 and had them back in the shed for 189. In response, a brutal Jacques Snyman 133* made short work of the chase, getting MCC to 190 in 23 overs.
For the 2nd XI, May was tough going as collapses left us short in a number of crucial fixtures. Austerlands ran out winners at the MCG on the 10th May despite a well made 49 from Matt Fazackerley and 5fer for PGM.
At Saddleworth, our 122 looked well below a competitive total and despite fine work from Bailey Russell (3/26) and Alice Dyson (2/14), Saddleworth overcame a late wobble to get there 7 down.
Against Milnrow a fine bowling effort from openers Charlie Stafford (3/39) and Michael Scott (5/50, his 25th 5 wicket haul for MCC) restricted the visiting side to 159.
At 40 for 0, with Ayrton and Sean rotating the strike well, that felt eminently chasable. Once both were removed LBW, the middle order found it tough going and Milnrow won by 62 runs. Entering June, Week 1 saw Droylsden with by 4 wickets at the MCG.
Week 2 saw the 2s bowl well at Alexandra Park but overpowered when batting. That left the next two games feeling extremely must win. The visit of Royton saw the 2s deliver exactly as required. Bailey, Alice and PGM all bagging 3fers as the visitors were restricted to 127 AO. James Collinson started the chase at a rapid rate of knots to get us to 40 before his demise. From there a classy Matt Faz 50 and a fluent 30 from Sean saw us home.
Moorside away was the final assignment of June and the 2s made it back to back wins, significantly closing the gap to those immediately above us. Openers Bailey Russell (3/25) and Michael Scott (4/30) tore through the Moorside top order before a late-order salvo saw them recover to an eventual total of 167. That was no match for the in-form Matt Fazackerley who’s 74* saw us home with 11 overs to spare.
On Sundays, the 3rd XI has been a tale of encouraging individual performances and flashes of potential from the juniors, but falling short of victories.
Against Shaw in the cup on 18th May, Shaw’s 233 looked a tall order but an admirable 70* from Thomas Norris (his first senior 50) and a late Farrell Kilbane display of brutish hitting (30* off 21) had Shaw panicking before they ultimately restricted us to 197 from our 40 overs.
Back in the league v Ashton followed a similar pattern too, with the added twist of rain and DLS. Ashton set off like a steam train and were looking ominous at 132 for 0 before Sam Smith (4/60) and Michael Beech (3/57) slowed their momentum. 213 their final score.
In response, Sam Smith opened the innings with a simply magnificent 91 off 53 which put MCC in a strong position DLS wise when the first rain break game.
From there though as Ashton turned to spin, the game turned in their favour. Smithy holed out and Dave Green was trapped LBW. Young guns Thomas Norris and Patrick Hannon battled hard to overturn a DLS deficit but the rain came again with Ashton in front.
June saw just 2 games for the 3s. At Milnrow, a fine performance with the ball by James Starr (2/35) saw Milnrow restricted to 62/4 from the overs that rain allowed. Mottram’s chase of 82 from 20 looked a breeze at 30 for 0 but the fall of James Collinson preceded middle order carnage. Michael Beech (15*) and Mark Hannon (10) went for the drop and run approach and took it deep, but we fell 2 short.
2 weeks later, Saddleworth hosted the 3s and Sam Fazackerley hit a trademark 87 full of brute power and big backlifts. He took us to a competitive looking 220 before it smashed it down and brought everything to a premature end.
In the DCCL, the 4th XI sit in mid-table. Having lost their opener against Dinting, they bounced back well to win by 8 wickets at Stalybridge. Another proud day for MCC’s juniors as Lucas Fletcher got 2/38, Niamh Bradburn got 1/16 on debut and Callum Gardiner marked his 1st start with 1/23. Stalybridge reaching 142.
In response, Power Couple Alice Dyson (38*) and Bailey Russell (37) got us over the line.
On Bank Holiday Monday, the game v Newton was ruined by rain whilst intriguingly poised. Mottram’s 146 was built on Sam Bennett’s 41 and Dan Crudden’s 23. A snorter from Lucas had Newton 25 for 1 when the heavens opened.
Three more league games followed in June. First up, Old Glossop were beaten on the road by 5 wickets. Bowling first, MCC dismissed the hosts for 138 with Youngters Dan Marsden (3/26) and Jack Heaps (2/34) leading the way.
With the bat, the calming presence of Mitch Wood (34) and Sean O’Mara (37) gave us an excellent platform. Patrick Hannon’s studious 18 saw us through a tricky middle over spell before CGB got us over the line with 8 overs to spare.
A week later, Tintwistle were comfortable winners at the MCG, with their 218 proving a bridge too far. Andrew Willerton’s classy 50* of graceful flicks and Callum’s superb 23* saw us to a respectable 149 from our 35 overs.
To round out the month, came an close defeat to Stalybridge. The visitors batted first, scoring 163 from their overs. 2/25 from Jack and a controlled spell from Callum saw Stalybridge reach 163 from their 35 overs. Another classy knock from Andrew Willerton (44) gave us a good platform. From there, Patrick (29) anchored the innings, to allow CGB (24 from 32) and Oliver Bambroffe (27 from 14) to hunt down the target. They took us to within 20 but the openers returned and ran through the lower order to give the visitors the win.
The Women’s 1st Team find themselves 4th in Division 1, whilst the 2nd Team completed their first ever fixtures.
Now competing in Division 1, The Women’s 1st Team faced off v Dinting first up.
Dinting won the toss and asked Mottram to have a bat. Careful accumulation was the name of the game for pairs 1 to 3, before Aimee (12*) and Annie (14) accelerated nicely to get Mottram to 275 off their 16.
The Dinting response started nicely for Mottram with Imogen and Cheryl both striking early to increase the difficulty of the chase. Dinting rode that early set back well and kept up with the strike rate throughout. Needing 4 from the last over to win, they took 9 to win by 5.
The tables turned a week later though with Mottram coming out on the right side of a Barest Of All Margins thriller. Old Glossop were asked to have a bat by Skipper Crudden who saw her bowlers repay her faith, with wickets falling at regular intervals courtesy of Imogen, Aimee, Cheryl and the Skipper herself. 276 the target set.
Mottram’s chase was disciplined with only two wickets lost as they looked to hunt down the OG score. Julie scored 10 off 11 in Pair 2 and Annie dished out a bruising in Pair 3. That left Aimee (13*) and Sarah (8*) with 27 to chase from their 4 overs. After three of those overs the equation stood at 7 needed from 6. Sarah nurdling a single from the final ball saw MCC home.
Enter June and the Women’s 1st Team got off to a cracking start, easing past Charlesworth by 34 runs. Batting first, Sharon’s 14* spearheaded our 277. Imogen’s 3/17 and a tidy 1/13 from LGB ensured Charlesworth were always behind the game with the bat.
That was followed by a 39 defeat to Romiley, who despite a tidy 1/8 for the Skipper JC, overpowered us to run out clear winners.
Closing out June was a trip to Dinting where a nerve-wrecker of a chase ultimately ended with MCC 9 short. With the ball
2fers for Imogen and Sharon plus a fine LGB run-out kept Dinting to what felt a chaseable 262.
MCC batted tidily but the run-rate crept up throughout the first 12 overs, leaving Sisters Joanne and Amy needing north of 30. A tasty mix of glorious cover drives and aggressive running kept Dinting nervous for all 4 of their overs, but we fell 8 short.
In a proud moment for the Women’s Set-up, we now also have a 2nd Women's XI, competing in Division 3. They’ve completed three games to date and sit 7th in Division 3.
First up under the MCC banner, they played Dinting. A tidy 12* from 12 from Jemima Woolstencroft helped us set 289. Amanda Hastie (1/29) and Gemma Simpson (1/8) enabled us to keep chipping away at Dinting but their late order batting power saw them win by 30.
The Women’s 2nd XI have since beaten Mobberley on the road with Annie 33* and Imogen’s 3fer doing the main damage. Closer to home, they got over the line v Newton too. Stephanie Morton’s 20 and Jemima’s 13 the basis for our 304.
2fer for Skipper Diane, 1 for Jemima and 1 for Jordan did the trick as we defended the scope with room to spare.
