Berkeley Cracks First Jets Ton of the Summer

As the sun continues to provide a welcome return for cricket the Jets batsmen enjoyed themselves in week 2 and delivered a first ton of the summer from the bat of Rob Berkeley. The 1s, 2s and 4s all completed dominant wins to mean all senior sides are now off the mark for the season. 

1stXI v Northwich

Captain and vice led from the front as the 1stXI welcomed Division 1 newcomers Northwich to London Road. Looking to build on a solid week-one outing, the Jets were invited to bat first and, after a circumspect start, an opening stand of 75 set the tone for the day. Skipper Jake Reynolds dominated the opening exchanges with a quality 60 (8x4, 1x6, 67b) before falling LBW, one of five victims for the medium pace of Claridge-Ingham (5-46), leaving Will Ritchie (44) and Jamie Henderson (22) to keep up the momentum.

Henderson (1-17) then swapped bat for ball to knock back Joe Walker’s off stump to end a fiery opening over of the reply and the Jets’ 202-9 looked unassailable as Andy Heath (1-18) also struck with the new ball. The 1stXI didn’t have things all their own way as visiting captain Glawdin Cherian struck a counter-attacking 41, but his dismissal, bowled by debutant Toby Lelean (2-29), was the beginning of the end.

73-3 became 87-8 as Toby Carson whittled out the middle order, bowling unchanged to deliver 5-40 including taking the final wicket with the penultimate ball of his allocation. It completed a good day for the Jets and the captaincy team, Northwich all out for 129 after a brief tail wag with the game long over as a contest.

Styal v 2ndXI

A sparkling 132 from Rob Berkeley helped the 2ndXI banish the memory of their week one aberration and return to winning ways with a dominant display over Styal. Back from injury, the keeper-batsman plundered the home attack to raise a maiden ton in Jets colours and dominated large stands with Sam Scragg (17) and Ed Parkinson (29). It helped set a daunting 234-6 by the time he was dismissed in the final over, a far cry from last week’s batting efforts and more like the standard expected.

In reply, both Sam Turnbull (3-8) and stand-in skipper Jimmy Williams (4-0) narrowly avoided hat-tricks as Styal were bundled out in half their allocation for just 31. The damage was done in a crazy spell of twenty deliveries in which five wickets fell without a single run being added to the score, 25-3 becoming 25-8 in double-quick time and quickly confirming a bounce back win.

Lindow v 3rdXI

A few kilometers down the road from Styal, the 3rdXI took on Lindow at the Phoenix Sports Club. Sentenced to field in what looked perfect conditions to bat, they got off to a solid start as Nathan Warner (3-23) bowled with such pace and aggression that he struck opening batsman Smith Sunil who disturbed his own stumps as a result. A good start couldn’t be sustained though as home captain Ateeb Mehmood took a liking to the change bowling, carrying his bat for a match-defining 112* that dominated Lindow’s eventual 200-5.

The hosts then carried that momentum into the second innings to quickly make inroads into the Jets’ batting order. For the second week running Chris Espley (34) provided some stability as he combined with the returning Theo Penn (35) for a half-century stand as North East also found things easier with the shine off the new ball. However, once opener Ahmed returned to account for both set batsmen, the Jets could total a spirited 156 to lose by 44 runs. 

Romiley v 4thXI

Another low-scoring encounter saw the 4thXI get up and running with a first win of the season in their Twenty20 group. Similar to week one they were sent in to bat and narrowly failed to set a run-a-ball target, finishing 114-6. Stand-in skipper Rob Bowden finished unbeaten on 22* including the day’s only maximum whilst newboy Abel Renu top-scored with an enterprising 37 that included six boundaries.

Romiley opener Alex Napier threatened to make light work of the run chase as he clubbed a quickfire 41 but this turned out to be a lone hand after he fell at 72-3. Young offspinner Ed Parkinson (4-15) cleaned up the middle order as only one other home batsman made double figures. The final nine wickets fell for just 31 runs as Romiley were bowled out for 93 in the penultimate over to leave the Jets with an outside chance of qualifying for the knockout stage if things go their way next week.