Tough opening double header in higher division

NEWLY-PROMOTED Prestbury first team kickstarted life in Cheshire Cricket League Division 2 with a trip to Wirral.

- BILL LIVESLEY & DAVID FRAME

Prestbury skipper George Brindley won the toss and asked Wirral to bat. The Prestbury opening bowlers, Will Worswick and Sumon Ahmed, had little joy with a couple of catches going down as Wirral reached 53 off 11 overs.

Tom Nelson came on as second change and in his first over he got Lewis caught by wicketkeeper Mutu Ramanathan for 29.

Dinesh Padithee, making his Prestbury debut, got his first club wicket,. bowling Hackett for 0.

The score was 64 for 2 but Wirral recovered well and reached 106 before Raks Alex bowled Guilum for 56. Hussain was going well and reached his 50 while McCormack put on 112.

Hussain was eventually out for a fine 107, caught by Ramanathan off the bowling of Brindley. Again, another two catches were put down, so Wirral got to 270 before Bobby Reid bowled McCormack for 66.

Brindley bowled Muise for 8 but Bristol and O'Connell took the score to 299 off 45 overs, the Prestbury wicket takers Padithee 1 for 35, Nelson 1 for 33, Alex 1 for 42 and Brindley 2 for 16.

Prestbury had a challenging total of 300 and were just finding their feet when the first wicket fell, Risha Mehta caught for 14, 23 for 1. With the score at 31 Jake Ogden was also caught for 1 - not the start Prestbury wanted and it soon got worse when Ramanathan was out for 26.

So, with two batsmen at the crease, Worswick and Shakey Shimul, a rebuild was needed and it was going well. They had put on 80 but Shimul was bowled by Hussain for 31, 128 for 4.

Worswick was also to caught out by Hussain for a fine 62, 144 for 5.

Unfortunately, the Prestbury innings fell apart and, Brindley, with 12, was the best score of the next five batsmen.