It was a weekend to forget for Alderley Edge as they lost to Toft in both the Cheshire Premier League and the Cheshire Cup.

On Saturday the Toft pitch was surprisingly dry despite the torrential rain that had fallen in the previous few days so Edge won the toss and decided to bat first.

They were soon in trouble but good innings from Calum Rowe, Jon Steele and Charlie Reid meant they posted a reasonable 156 all out off their 55 overs.

However, even on a wicket giving a lot of assistance to the spinners, it looked a total well short of par.

For the home side, leg-spinners Rob Jones and Danny Hancock took seven wickets between them.

Toft’s batsmen also found the going hard after tea and it was only Aussie Jake Hancock that kept them in the hunt.

Nevertheless, it was his 80 off 143 balls that proved the difference between the two sides.

Despite Edge’s slow left-armer Mark Warnes also proving difficult to get away – he took 4-65 off 22 overs – he couldn’t prevent the home side squeezing home with eight deliveries remaining.

Edge managed only two points from the game, which was a major blow with other teams collecting seven points from fixtures cancelled due to the bad weather.

The following day Alderley visited Toft again in the Cheshire Cup and once more found it difficult to score runs against the Toft spinners.

The home side batted first and posted 231-7 off 45 overs with Edge securing three run-outs to keep the total down to a manageable level.

However, Edge never really looked likely to reach their target despite 42 from Jon Steele, 37 from Mark Currie and 33 from Jason Whittaker as they were all out for 173.

On Saturday, Edge host Didsbury in a game which marks the halfway point in the league season.