Week 14: Sat 19th & Sun 20th July
Deane & Derby (107) vs 1st XI (118)
The ground sat beneath a steel sky, ringed by the ghostly remnants of old mills and crooked
towers — the kind of northern scene where cricket is less about flourish and more about
surviving the elements. On this bleak Bolton afternoon, Stretford arrived not with fanfare, but with quiet purpose — and they left with a hard-earned, richly satisfying win.
Stretford, batting first, didn’t have it easy. The pitch was lively, the ball moving, and wickets
came all too regularly. The early top order scrapped for every run — Tim Boyd’s 22 hinted at momentum, but the innings never really flowed. After a mid-innings collapse left them 54 for 7, it was Adam Saynor who dug deep, striking a valuable 26, while tailender Robert Renforth chipped in with a spirited 19. Their efforts lifted Stretford to 118 all out in 30.2 overs — not a huge total, but in conditions like these, it felt defendable.
The hosts, Deane & Derby, probably fancied it at the break. But they hadn’t counted on what came next.
Benjy Evans bowled like a man possessed. Relentless and miserly. Continuing his red hot form with the ball, he tore through the top order with figures of 3 for 22 from 12 overs, six of them maidens. His accuracy left no room for error. Renforth, too, was superb — his rhythm just right for the conditions, picking up 2 for 23 and striking at key moments.
The turning point came when M Khan Khanam, the only Deane & Derby batter who looked like changing the game, was caught for 32. From there, Stretford’s grip tightened, only to be
shocked by a blitz of lower order sixes. Taking the home side to within striking distance. Enter Ramesh Perera. Patiently waiting like a Sri Lankan leopard eager to strike his prey. Ruthless aggression teeth bared and in 11 balls he devoured the Deane & Derby tail taking all three remaining scalps. Clawing Stretford’s victory!
The hosts were bowled out for 107 in 39.5 overs — Stretford victorious by 11 runs.
Stretford’s victory wasn’t flashy — it was earned. Every run made in the first innings, every tight over bowled, every low catch taken — it all mattered. On a day where most might have been content to go through the motions under damp skies, Stretford showed grit and heart. Can they keep this going to the end of the season?
2nd XI (121) vs Little Hulton 1stXI (84)
The clouds also sat low over Stretford, motionless and menacing. The pitch was soft, the outfield claggy, and the wind had teeth. It was, unmistakably, a bowler’s day — and fittingly, the bowlers wrote the story. But not before Stretford’s batters gave them just enough to defend.
Winning the toss, Stretford 2nd XI chose to bat first — a brave call in heavy air and under a
darkening sky. Early on, Uwais Siddique (21) and Blake Crawshaw (13) handled the
movement with caution, building a useful opening stand. But once Lee Jones found his rhythm, the innings quickly began to fray.
Jones bowled with purpose, taking 4 for 56, supported well by Ihsan Ullah’s nagging accuracy (3 for 35). Wickets fell in clumps, including a middle-order slide where four batters were dismissed for single digits.
But Connor Bliss (30) stood firm in the middle, and Usman Hasan (28) played the innings of the match — not for flash, but for timing, placement, and sheer value. His late charge turned a sub-100 score into 121 all out in 32 overs. A modest total — but on this surface, it felt alive with possibility.
And Then Came the Collapse
If the first innings was built on tension, the second was built on ruthlessness. Usman Hasan, already a hero with the bat, returned with ball in hand and produced a spell that broke Little Hulton’s chase before it had even started. He bowled with a rhythm that made time feel slower. Seam, line, nip — he had it all. The figures speak loudest: 12 overs, 6 maidens, 5 wickets for just 27 runs. Five scalps, each one earned. From removing the openers to cleaning up the tail, Hasan was unplayable — a quiet storm in white. Connor Bliss, never far from the action, chipped in with 3 for 18 and a key catch in the deep. James Hepple struck once too, despite a brief blitz from Kev Robinson (28 off 29), who hit three sixes in a futile counterattack. Little Hulton were all out for just 84 in 24 overs — their innings folding under pressure, the weight of tight fielding, and Stretford’s refusal to let go.
SUNDAY 4th XI (222-6) vs Springhead (152)
A different day but the clouds rolled in low and uninvited over Stretford again, casting a heavy lid on the ground like a steel trap. The forecast had promised grey and it delivered — soft drizzle dusted the outfield, and made sure no one ever got comfortable. It was, in short, classic northern cricket weather. But as the clouds circled above, Stretford’s batting line-up lit the day like floodlights through fog.
Put into bat, the hosts wasted no time asserting themselves. Lucas Dickman, quiet and composed, steered the innings beautifully. His 51 (retired) was all timing and poise —
a collection of grounded strokes and cool judgement that set the tone. When Chris Walker fell for 22, it brought Muhammad Hamza Arif to the crease, and with him, a surge in tempo.
Arif was a revelation. His 47 off just 36 balls, including three brutal sixes, ripped apart the
Springhead attack. Every shot was decisive; every movement forward drove a stake into the idea that this would be a low-scoring, weather-limited match.
Aarij Naveed played the anchor role, rotating well and scoring a stylish 39, before late-order cameos took Stretford to an imposing 222 for 6 in 40 overs. Extras, notably 35 of them, addedto Springhead’s growing frustration as the innings unfolded with almost clinical momentum.
Springhead’s reply never really got off the ground. Alfie Carson turned destroyer, bowling a potent mix of pace and accuracy to return figures of 7-4-10-3. He struck early, removing the stubborn Sutcliffe for a duck, then followed with two more as panic set in.
Charlie Sellors backed him up with 2 wickets of his own, and Nabeel Malik and Sanmay
Santhosh each took one. Despite a blistering counterattack from Daniel Mulkeen, who
smashed a defiant 52 off just 21 balls* — including five sixes — the visitors could only scramble to 152 all out in 29.3 overs.
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