Nightmare Ashcombe batting collapse sparks a heavy defeat

BEN McGuire plundered a ton as NSSCL Premier B leaders Wood Lane beat Leycett to secure a seventh win in eight outings.

- By Chris Travers

McGuire was in big-hitting form with the bat as he made 136 - featuring 16 fours and five sixes - as Wood Lane amassed 287-4 declared at Megacre.

Jake Thompson was also in the mood for runs with 69, hitting 11 boundaries and one six in the process, while skipper Danny Brierley (42) also joined in the fun.

Matt Johnson took a couple of wickets for Leycett.

In reply, Jaidel Richardson (38), 34 apiece from Reece White and Richard Walker, 21 from Ben Shirley and Tom Warburton’s 20 were the Leycett batting highlights.

But there wasn’t a significant score to challenge Wood Lane’s huge total and they were eventually dismissed for 168.

Richard Hassall (4-34) and Zaighum Abbas (4-40) were the main men with the ball for Wood Lane.

Burslem are 17 points behind the leaders in second place after winning at home against Whitmore.

It was a case of every little helps for Whitmore when they took first use on their trip to Festival Heights.

Piers Copeland top-scored with 27, Logan Follows made 25 not out, Caleb Mierkalns and Aaqil Mohideen made 20 each, while Bilal Hussain (18no), Danyal Hussain (17) and Joe Harrison (16) were also in the runs.

That enabled Whitmore to post 197-8 from their 55 overs, in which Matthew Morris picked up 4-62.