24.07.10

Aston Manor fourths 256 for 5 in 45 overs
Leamington 178 for 5 in 45 overs
Winning draw for Aston Manor

Put in on a cracking track, youngsters Rose and Shoukat got us off to a good start before the old guard of Heaney and Sandhu took over. A partnership of 101 took manor into commanding position before Jagit fell for 51 (another jug owing). Contributions from Dawawala (17) and U.Rana (21 n.o) supported the lithe form of Tony Heaney in his continued quest for the full set.

In 93 balls Tony had passed the 100 mark, to establish a new first for Aston Manor, the first player to score a century at all levels of Saturday senior cricket. Congratulations Tony its a pleasure having you back.

Leamington in reply stuck to the task but were always behind the rate. Their youngsters performed admirably, T Freeman (56) run out backing up by J.Sandhu, walked without hesitation. They amassed 178, whilst wickets were hard to come by. The ever young, great grandfather of the team, Geoff Knowles (2-15) and the skippers Bertie Bassett Collection (1-28) along with a further run out for Ussie was all that could be mustered.

To still be towards the top of our division is great, having players achieving ambition is superb. Today was Tony Heaneys day, and a great day for Aston Manor as a club that support each other at all levels.

We’ll be holding 3 coaching weeks for 7 to 11 year olds and 12 to 16 year olds during the summer holidays:-

* Monday 26th July to Friday 30th July
* Monday 2nd August to Friday 6th August
* Monday 9th August to Friday 13th August

Times: 10am - 1pm for age 7-11 yrs; 2-5pm for age 12-16 yrs

Cost: £3 per session

Heartbreakers, the UK’s #1 tribute band are live at the Manor on Saturday August 14th.

This Paul Rogers tribute band play the hits of Free, Bad Company and Queen, and it is a night not to be missed! Click here for more information on the band.

Tickets are only £5 from behind the bar, so don’t miss out and get yours today.

Manor recorded a welcome 6 wicket victory in their Lichfield League Division One match at Church Road against Tamworth on Sunday.

Manors young bowlers performed admirably against a strong batting line up to contain the visitors to 254-6 from their 40 overs. Adam Rana and Rikki Bassi in particular bowled well with debutant Patrick Knott showing great versatility by keeping wicket superbly and then bowling a few useful overs! As Darren Baker wont get a mention for his batting we must commend him on a tidy spell with both the ball and the gloves as well!

Manors reply was built around a blistering partnership between Andy Forman sponsored by Jackson Calvert Chartered Accountants (85) and Ryan van Nierkerk (54). Andy smashed five sixes in his fine innings, which will hopefully give him some much needed confidence, and Ryan was just his usual classy self!

The victory was secured by another good partnership by the impressive pair of Knott (38no) and Bassi (30no) who saw Manor comfortably through to 255-4.

A very young and inexperienced side travelled to Nether Whitacre and lost to a more experienced side.

Fielding first, a different opening attack of lightning Martin Rose and Mehmood (1 for 45) was used, followed by the Beast with best figures of  8 overs 2 for 35. Rees Murray (great spin bowling once again) 8 overs 1 for 51, Keiron Carroll an excellent spell of 5 overs for just 17 and unlucky not to claim a victim, (watch out Sean he catching you up). With Anthony Rose and Avon Turner also having a bowl, with 2 catches to W/K Alex, but we were unable to stop N.W. reaching a total of 286 on a flat wicket with tiny boundaries.

Unfortunately none of the batters managed to stay in long and we could only manage 186 ao, the Beast with the only significant score 35, but people beware of Rees Murray trying to talk you through his six to the tiny five yard boundary, (walk away quickly), you have been warned.

Thanks once again to the senior Roses and Turners for helping out with transport.

But we will be back!

Aston Manor continued their recent good form with a hard fought win against a very good Southam outfit. Having won the toss we took to the field where we bowled them out for 169 with the wickets being shared between all the bowlers. Special mention to Qas Haider bowling very tight and disciplined overs.

Our innings started off badly with Ian GOLDEN QUACK Prichard going in the first over! Man of the Match Nick Farrell carrying his bat with an unbeaten 65 supported very well with Nathan and Dave Woakes, leaving the skipper to wrap the win with an unbeaten 19 not out making another very enjoyable Saturday afternoon.

1st XI Birmingham League Division Two
Whitchurch 131 all out
Aston Manor 132-5
ASTON MANOR WIN BY 5 WICKETS

Following last weeks gritty draw at Old Elizabethans Manor produced a stunning performance at Church Road to gain a vital victory as they aim to move clear of any possible relegation battle.

Utilising helpful overhead conditions Manor bowled superbly and assisted by some fine catching saw Whitchurch dismissed for only 131. Arfan Khan (4-37) and Ryan van Nierkerk (3-46) were very impressive with the new ball keeping the visitors under constant pressure and youngster Shozab Haider sponsored by ODC Future Thinking (3-22) continued the excellent bowling with a fine spell of his own.

In reply former Manor favourite Amjad Ali-Khan struck to take two early wickets and despite a bright innings from skipper Peter Evans sponsored by CKW Distribution Ltd (25) the hosts found themselves reduced to 53-4 with the game very much in the balance. However some quality batting by Warwickshire youngster Chris Whittock sponsored by Synergy Insurance Services (40no) and Ryan van Nierkerk (36) saw Manor through without any further alarms to a morale boosting victory.

Next week Manor travel to relegation threatened Tamworth in a vital match for both clubs.

17.07.10
Aston Manor Fourths 225 for 7 in 45 overs
Studley 41 all out in 19.5 overs
An emphatic 184 run victory for Aston Manor

Pre-match downpours made the wicket look dubious and losing the toss meant batting first. True to form the wicket enabled lifters, shooters and damn well nearly stars. Unlucky Alex Rose got a steeple-ing one off a length into his face guard, spinning his helmet through 180 degrees, the ball to drop on leg stump. Leaving most, the skipper being well padded was joined by more padding in Tony Heaney. Together a partnership of 95 quelled Studleys attack.

Unfortunately the skipper tried an attacking stroke to his demise for 30; Tony continued determined in his quest for a full set, unfortunately another lifter was gloved behind for 75. All other batsmen got to double figures before the wicket did for them too, but the score carried on building. A special mention for Amar Javid (U13s) who took it all in his stride to reach 34. So a target of 225 looked competitive at tea.

The swing of G Knowles (4-20) and pace of Usman Rana (5-17) saw a wicket in each of the first 3 overs to leave Studley reeling. With Studleys batsmen struggling with the variable bounce the race was on for five fors.

A superb run-out from the Rose brothers (Harmony and Melody) made the contest even tighter. Studley in disarray at 16 for 9 in the 16th over, the two contenders given 2 more overs to finish the job or the skipper was threatening to come on!

The tail wagged a little, Geoff unlucky twice (the silver toupee a little rusty this week!), before being retired. Ussy had 6 balls, the fifth skied to mid-wicket, all the field up bar Harmony sweeping the boundary and the skipper wearing a bald patch at mid- off. How Ussy got there Im not sure, but he definitely managed one of the furthest caught and bowled Ive ever seen.

Studley all out for 41 in less than 20. Manor back at the club, for a much calmer pint than last week, by 6:45pm.

Aston Manor 1st XI suffered a last ball defeat in an exciting Lichfield League Sunday Division One game against Wednesbury at Church Road.

Manors innings was built around some solid and impressive batting from youngsters Nabeel Asghar sponsored by RK-SIPS Design Limited (71) and Adam Rana (54), and combined with a late flurry of boundaries from Asif Iqbal (18no) the Squirrels closed on a respectable, if under par, total of 201-5 from their 40 overs.

Manors young bowlers however made life very difficult for the visiting batsmen with 14 year old Brinda Phagura and 16 year old Shaun Carroll being particularly impressive. Adam Rana completed a fine all round performance with a couple of wickets but Wednesbury reached the last over needing 7 runs to win with 4 wickets in hand. Unfortunately an edge over the slips for 4 put the visitors in pole position and they scrambled home for the winning run off the last ball of the match.

A very young side (with 2 exceptions) set out to play Pelsall with great success.

The match was set up on a sporting track by a magnificent 103 opening partnership between Alex Rose with an excellent 61, and Scott Bryson an undefeated and chanceless 105 at a run a ball (hopefully the first of many for the club). He built his innings patiently and then finished it in style with aggression. A 28 contribution from Memhood helped the score along to a grand total of 244 for 3 off our 40 overs.

Not to be out done, another youngster 15 year old Yash Patel stepped up and opened the bowling with figures of 5 overs 3 wickets for 5 runs (another great prospect), Mehmood (not so young) took 2 wickets, Reece (Shane) Murray 1, Alex Rose 1, then a bit of a family theme took over, Bowled senior Rose caught junior Rose, bowled junior Turner caught big bruv Turner plus 1 run out, giving us a win of over 100 runs and all 12 points. How far can the club go if we can hold on to all of our youngsters?