CRICKET: Alderley Edge captain Paul Manton has called on his players to aim for a top-five finish in the Murray Smith Cheshire League.
But Manton wants to see more enthusiasm from his players if they are to move up from their mid-table position in the ECB Premier League.
The captain was disappointed with his side's performance in a rain-affected draw at struggling Grappenhall last weekend.
And Manton wants a better all-round display when Edge host Chester Boughton Hall this Saturday (1pm).
He said: "At the start of the season, I would have been happy with a place in the top five. But having played most of the teams in the division, I would be disappointed if we didn't get a top-five finish. We could maybe even push for a top three place."
Manton pinpointed a disappointing show by his bowlers and fielders as the reason for failing to win at Grappenhall.
He said: "Grappenhall are second from bottom, and most of the top teams are stuffing them out of sight. We need to be scoring highly against these teams.
"We didn't field at all well, and the bowling was not up to standard. Grappenhall didn't score quickly, but we got off to a good start and then slipped up.
"But the batting was also very disappointing. The two openers batted well, and were unlucky to get out. They were setting us up nicely.
"But then we suffered a middle-order collapse. We didn't bat positively, and they bowled very well.
Manton added: "I had my main five bowlers playing this week, so it was not as if we were missing key players, but we struggled.
"I was disappointed overall, because there wasn't a great deal of enthusiasm out there. It was one of those games that was a bit of a nightmare for a captain. No-one was really fired up."
But the club's younger players have given Manton plenty of hope that Edge can move up the table.
One bowler who did impress against Grappenhall was teenager Adam Wildig, who took three wickets to add to the four he claimed at Oulton Park last week.
Also playing well are young seam bowler Julian Scarsbrook, who has come up from Alderley Edge's seconds this season, and opening batsman Mark Currie, who is on Lancashire's books.
And young batsman Alan Day, who is currently studying in the sixth form at Macclesfield's King's School, has played well too.
Manton said: "Alan has looked very good so far. We're going to lose him for a few games because he's got exams coming up. But he will be coming back once the school term has finished."
And Manton would like to see the batsmen show more patience.
Edge's batsmen hit rock bottom when Bramhall bowled them out for 26 runs earlier this season - the lowest all-out score in the history of the Murray Smith ECB Premier League.
Manton believes that Edge could yet put that behind them to finish the season positively.
He said: "We need a bit more patience and commitment in our batting. A lot of our players are expecting to hit fours and sixes straight away. Our batting has let us down this season.
"But our fielding and our bowling have also got to improve. We need to do better across the ball park."
Grappenhall 137-9 Alderley Edge 120-8
Steve O'Shaughnessy scored 45 runs to help Alderley Edge to a draw at Grappenhall.
Fortunately for all soccer fans, the out field and pitch at Grappenhall was too wet for a normal start - allowing time to watch England v Denmark in the World Cup - and the game was reduced from 100 overs to 84.
Paul Manton, Alderley Edge's captain, won the toss and invited Grappenhall to bat on what was always going to be a difficult wicket to score runs, especially with the slow damp outfield.
Grappenhall were immediately in trouble from the excellent seam bowling of Simon Bolton and O'Shaughnessy, and were soon four wickets down for 30 runs.
Julian Scarsbrook was introduced into the attack and took a further wicket, but was becoming expensive as he was bowling a little too short.
O'Shaughnessy finished his spell of 11 overs, taking two wickets for only 11 runs, and at the other end Adam Wildig was introduced into the attack, bowling whippy leg breaks.
After another short spell from Bolton, Mark Warnes (bowling slow left arm) was introduced into the attack. He and Adam Wildig bowled the last 16 overs.
Grappenhall did however make progress, with Jackson - their number four batsman - scoring 32 and Elsharp senior, batting sixth, scoring 28. By the time their overs ran out, Grappenhall had scored 137 for 9 from 47 overs.
Alderley started well, with Mark Currie and David Leonard putting on 30 for no wickets in the first nine overs. Then Currie was stumped off the bowling of Emett down the leg side.
Nigel Howles joined David Leonard, and due to some tight bowling during the next eight overs, the impetus was lost.
Howles was then judged to have been caught behind, and O'Shaughnessy joined Leonard - but they now needed to score five an over.
Leonard departed at 73 for 3, and Alderley were now needed six an over.
Although O'Shaughnessy did his best to steer the ship, all his other partners failed for one reason or another, and Edge were left requiring 28 runs from the last four overs.
O'Shaughnessy was out with ten balls to go, having scored and excellent 45 runs, and Alderley Edge then abandoned the run chase and went for the draw.
Alderley Edge 2nd XI 210-9 Macclesfield 2nd XI 168
A captain's innings of 65 by Andy Sharp saw Alderley's second string beat their neighbours.
Having lost the toss and been put in to bat, Edge made a flying start and were going at six runs an over early on despite the erratic bounce. After openers Alan Day (56) and John Binns (30) were out, there followed a slump that seemed likely to spell the end of Edge's somewhat haphazard involvement in the Sunday Second XI cup competition.
However, Andy Sharp's brought about a dramatic upturn in Edge's fortunes and the innings closed on a very respectable 210-9 off 45 overs.
The Macclesfield innings started slowly, with the identical Emslie twins at the crease.
The loss of a couple of wickets meant that Macclesfield were always well behind the clock.
With the bizarre batting of J. Melrose senior out of the way, it was left to J. Melrose junior to threaten a Macclesfield victory.
A run out for Melrose changed the course of the match. The Macclesfield innings subsided to 168 all out.
The pick of the Edge bowlers were Russell Hall (2-9), Mark Warnes (2-25 - off only eight overs) and Alan Day (2-14).
Alderley Edge 2nd XI 216-3 Grappenhall 2nd XI 220-9
The ground had dried sufficiently after Friday's storms to allow a prompt start after England scored their third goal against Denmark.
Thinking it was all over, there was no thought of a delayed start.
Alderley lost the toss and batted first on a tricky pitch. Birchenall (43) worked hard, but as the pitch eased and the Grappenhall bowlers and fielders wilted, Sharp (78) and Chan (64 not out) scored freely.
A generous declaration at 216-3 in 46 overs left a weakened Grappenhall side plenty of time against a generally out of form AE attack.
Apart from R. Webster (3-48) and later J. Clark (9-1-17-2) the AE bowling and fielding was lack lustre as Grappenhall were effectively presented with a one wicket victory.
Although AE gained 15 points, it really should have been 25.
