The half-way point was reached in the Cheshire Premier League season with all the teams having played each other once, and Edge were just happy to have an almost full game against Didsbury despite several interruptions for rain.

Edge won the toss and decided to bat first and were in a good position with the visitors at 121 for 5 in the 37th over.

Unfortunately Didsbury’s overseas South African player Jan van Schalkwyck was still in and he has quite rightly earned the reputation as the biggest hitter in the league.

He launched a one-man assault on the Alderley bowling that yielded 84 runs off only 51 balls, including five sixes and eight fours.

When he was out Didsbury were in a much better position at 194 for 6, eventually totalling 220 for 9 off their 55 overs. Jason Whittaker took 4 for 89 off 26 overs and slow left-armer Mark Warnes 3 for 56 off 15 overs.

Unfortunately, the rain had lopped two overs off Edge’s allocation of batting entitlement which in the end was to prove crucial.

Several Alderley batsmen made useful contributions, with 67 for Mark Currie, 44 for Jon Steele, 36 for Jason Whittaker and 30 from skipper Alan Day.

In a remarkable game all four results were possible off the last ball – a win for either side, a draw or a tie – but Edge settled for a draw and did not attempt to hit a six to secure victory.

A final total of 215 for 9 off 53 overs showed how vital the overs lost to the weather were to the overall result. At the half-way point, Edge are comfortably in the middle of the table with hopes for a big improvement in the weather for the remainder of the season.

Alderley play at promoted Marple next Saturday having had the fixture at Alderley rained off.