Report and photo: Martin Trengrove

Mawdesley 1st XI had a packed weekend of cricket in the beautiful weather, away to local rivals Standish in the league on Saturday, before hosting Premiership outfit Penwortham in the first round of the Meyler Cup on Sunday.

A tough wicket and some controlled bowling from the Standish openers made for tough work on Saturday; Mawdesley’s opening partnership battled with determination to build a platform for some dynamic striking later in the innings.

The middle order worked hard to up the run rate and threatened to go big, but again, some tight bowling from the home side limited the Mawdesley men to 155-6 from their 45 overs. Contributions from in-form Trevor Webster (35 not out) and team Captain Nathan Trengove (20) and young Ben Munslow (18), being the highlights.

The Standish reply proved to be an absolute thriller as the home side pushed hard towards their target whilst the Mawdesley bowlers steadily took wickets to limit progress. The bowling spoils were shared amongst the spinners with Dave Lovell (3-28) and Chris Andrews (3-19) taking the headlines.

The game came down to the last over with Mawdesley getting over the line by just four runs - a game either side could have won, or lost!

Sunday’s Meyler Cup action saw Mawdesley bat first at home, but this time on an excellent batting strip which made run scoring much easier.

Congratulations for the second time this weekend to Ben Munslow for his maiden first team fifty batting in tandem with Chris Andrews (53) to set a strong platform for some power hitting from the middle order in the last ten overs. Significant contributions from Jon Stone (41 not out) and Trevor Webster (24) left the home side on a respectable 227-6 from their 40 overs.

Once again with ball in hand, the men from Rectory Field hunted in packs to restrict batting progress and take regular wickets. Dave Lovell with another tidy three wickets (3-43) helped remove key threats and at key moments to increase the required run rate.

Ultimately, the total ended up out of Penwortham’s reach, finishing 27 short of the home side’s total resulting in Mawdesley, after one of their best ever recent results, progressing into the next round of the cup.