Eccleshall secure NSSCL Premier B promotion spot to return to the top table

Danny Brierley made 63 not out as Wood Lane beat Silverdale on the final day of the North Staffs and South Cheshire League Premier B season.
-Credit: (Image: Pete Stonier / Stoke Sentinel)


Eccleshall made an immediate return to the top flight of local cricket by beating Elworth to secure the second promotion place in NSSCL Premier B.

Eccleshall were relegated from the top division last summer after just one season - but made sure their absence was a fleeting one.

They went into Saturday’s encounter knowing that a win would be enough to join champions Newcastle & Hartshill in making the step up.

And they delivered when it mattered. Myles Coughlan’s 44 was backed up by Chris Plant’s 39 and 34 from Greg Clark as Eccleshall amassed 192-8 from their 45 overs. Ed Parrish took a couple of wickets.

Parrish then top-scored with 36 in Elworth’s reply, with Alex Banks (27), Russ Ballard (22) and Harry Newton (20) lending support.

But it wasn’t enough as Elworth were dismissed for 145 thanks to Deklan Binnington’s 3-52 and two wickets apiece for Dan Byatt, Ejaz Nawaz and Coughlan.

That result meant Alsager missed out on promotion, despite winning their final game at Ashcombe Park.

Both sides went into the contest with hopes of taking second spot, but as it was they finished in third and fourth respectively.

Alsager made their way to 217 all out on their visit to Basford Bridge Lane on the back of Asif Raza’s 75.

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Raza struck 11 fours in his innings, with Alex Perry adding 28 and Thikshila De Silva and Aqeel Ahmed making 24 each.

Jacob Johnson captured 5-39 and there were two wickets for Aidan Derbyshire.

Ashcombe Park’s run chase never truly got going, despite Anis Raza (30), Tom Ball (23), Haroon Mahmood (17), Riecko Parker-Cole (17) and Johnson (15) making starts.

They were eventually bowled out for 136 as De Silva and Raza snared 3-13 and 3-21 respectively, while there were also a couple of victims for Oliver Mitchell.

Champions Newcastle & Hartshill completed an unbeaten season with victory over Whitmore to finish a whopping 120 points clear at the summit.

Castle won 21 of their 22 matches to dominate the division this summer - and rounded off their stellar campaign with another fine performance.

Sachithra Perera (5-31) and Harry Bailey (3-36) joined forces to dismiss Whitmore for 131 at the weekend.

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Jack Wilson took the other two wickets to fall, while Caleb Mierkalns’ 62 was the eye-catching effort with the bat for Whitmore.

Mierkalns struck 10 fours and one six in his innings, with Ryan Roberts chipping in with 34.

That target didn’t test Castle and they were soon celebrating an eight-wicket success.

Rohan Vallabhaneni (40), Ryan Hassett (37), James Cronie (21no) and Jonathon Gidman (14no) dealt with batting business in clinical fashion.

Knypersley wrapped up their summer schedule with a nine-wicket home win against relegated Caverswall.

Visitors Caverswall were skittled for just 71 as Daniyal Hussain Rajput (3-11) and Liam Hopkins (3-24) did the damage.

Munir Ur Rehman Tanzil also claimed two scalps and then made 25 not out in the run chase.

And with Darren Butler making 24, Knype eased over the line.

Norton in Hales won by 17 runs in an entertaining game against Leycett.

Aaron Thomason was in big-hitting form for hosts Norton in Hales as he smashed five fours and seven sixes in a 33-ball 72.

Jamie Evans weighed in with 41 and Dane Tinsley and Charlie Belfield made 29 apiece as Norton in Hales posted 226-8 from their allocation.

Matt Johnson scooped 4-37, with Tom Warburton striking twice.

Leycett gave the run chase a good go, led by Muhammad Usman Ahmed’s 67, which contained seven fours and three sixes.

Dan Redfern (37) and Amaan Tariq (29) also played their part, but Anthony Sheeran’s 3-36 helped to limit the visitors to 209-6 when stumps were drawn.

Wood Lane were six-wicket winners at home against Silverdale.

Silverdale tumbled to 30-7 early on, but recovered to make 138 all out thanks to Matthew Baker’s 41, Ethan Sherriff’s 32 and 22 from Matt Moore.

Zaighum Abbas and Eddie Visser helped themselves to 4-63 and 3-34 respectively.

Danny Brierley then struck eight fours and two sixes in his 63 not out to form the backbone of Wood Lane’s successful chase.

Richard Hassall lent support with 34, while Moore took two of the wickets to fall.