14. May 2026

Cup Joy After Saturday Washout

Oulton Park CC 1st XI vs Haslington CC & Warrington CC | 9th & 10th May 2026

Saturday: Rain Frustrates at Haslington

Saturday’s trip to Haslington & Crewe had all the signs of becoming another classic Cheshire County Premier League scrap. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas.

Andy Dufty won the toss and did the sensible thing under grey skies — bowl first and know exactly what’s needed later on.

Jamie Sandlands and Jonny Litler took the new ball and immediately settled into rhythm. Sandlands struck first, bowling Oliver Williams for 15 with the score on 29, before Avinash Shastri entered the attack and instantly turned the screw. The off-spinner was absolutely outstanding.

Callum Newman-Scott was trapped LBW almost immediately, and from there Oulton Park sensed an opening. Dean Mitford and Tom Coppenhall tried to rebuild, but a superb catch from Litler off Sandlands shifted the balance again as Mitford departed on 16.

Then came the collapse.

Shastri tore through the middle order with a brilliant spell of 4-32, while Dufty backed him up superbly at the other end. Ben Istead bowled. Joe Goodier LBW. Freddie Taylor cleaned up. Suddenly the hosts were wobbling badly at 100-6.

Dufty then pinned Coppenhall LBW and removed Max Ross courtesy of another Litler catch as Haslington slipped to 116-8. At that stage Oulton Park looked set for an early finish, but Jack Taylor had other ideas.

The Haslington batter dug in brilliantly for an unbeaten 48, helped late on by Dan Goodier, frustrating the visitors with a stubborn final-wicket partnership. Litler eventually wrapped things up in the 46th over, bowling Goodier to end the innings on 186.

Not a huge score. But with rain looming, everyone knew the chase needed to start quickly.

Sadly, after just four overs of Oulton Park’s reply, drizzle turned into proper rain. Despite hopes of a restart, soft run-ups ultimately forced the umpires to abandon the match.

A frustrating end to a game Oulton Park had largely controlled — but there would be little time to dwell on it.

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Sunday: Cheshire Cup Sunday Delivers More Drama

Less than 24 hours later, most of the same faces were back at Pinfold Lane for Cheshire Cup action against Warrington CC. And this time, the cricket didn’t disappoint.

Warrington chose to bat first, but Oulton Park’s attack wasted no time getting to work.

Sandlands continued his superb weekend by grabbing the opener early, somehow clinging on to a sharp return catch after Charlie Jones drilled one straight back at him. Litler soon joined the party, with Frank Farrington taking a tidy catch to remove Liam Jenkins.

From there, Oulton Park never really let Warrington settle.

Shastri produced another classy spell, James Bell hit relentless lines, and wickets continued to tumble at regular intervals. Harley Barrett briefly threatened to steady things for the visitors, but Bell trapped him LBW and the squeeze tightened further.

Then came one of the moments of the weekend...

Young Oscar Hunter, making his 1st XI debut, was thrown the ball with Warrington already under pressure. On the final delivery of his very first over in senior cricket, he trapped Eswar Peddi LBW. While Peddi limped off, the team celebrated. There’s nothing quite like a first-team wicket — especially one delivered under pressure in cup cricket.

Hunter wasn’t done there either, later removing Baba Sobula as Warrington were bundled out for 114 in the 29th over.

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Litler Leads the Chase

Cup cricket always has a way of making modest targets feel awkward, and when Frank Farrington fell early in the chase there may have been a few nerves around the ground. Jonny Litler and Andy Dufty soon settled those.

The pair batted with intent, rotating strike smartly and punishing anything loose as the scoreboard raced along. Dufty looked in excellent touch for his 38 before an unfortunate mix-up resulted in a run-out with the score on 83. But it barely slowed the momentum from the side...

Litler continued to bat beautifully, finding gaps all around the wicket and looking in total control throughout the chase. Nick Ball briefly came and went, but by then the outcome already felt inevitable.

Fittingly, it was Litler who finished the game in style — crunching the winning runs through mid-wicket to seal victory and bring up a classy unbeaten 53* at the same time.

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Plenty to Like Heading Into Another Big Week

So, despite Saturday’s weather frustration, it was another highly encouraging weekend for Oulton Park.

The bowling unit continues to look sharp, Shastri is finding serious rhythm, Litler contributed heavily in all disciplines, and the emergence of Oscar Hunter provided one of the standout moments of the season so far.

Next up, the action keeps coming thick and fast: Thursday night sees Middlewich visit Pinfold Lane in the opening T20 group game before the 1st XI hit the road again on Saturday with a trip to Upton CC.

If this weekend was anything to go by, there’ll be plenty more entertainment still to come.