Amy stars at Fleetwood Hesketh

Rose lose in entertaining game at Sea Cop

Mersey Rose 87-6 (Net Score 257) (Andi Page 31, Aaron McKenna 15; Philippa Day 3-16) Fleetwood Hesketh 123-2 (Net score 313) (Margaret Samuels 29, Kim Thomas 24; Amy Parsons 1-19) Fleetwood Hesketh won by 56 runs On Tuesday evening Mersey Rose's softball team travelled to Sea Cop for a friendly fixture with Fleetwood Hesketh. Rose's team was relatively inexperienced, although it did include Andi Page and Aaron McKenna. They were up against a team that currently sits proudly at the top of the LDCC Women's Softball Super 8s League Division 2, and the hope was that we would be able to give a good account of ourselves, provide some useful match experience for our players and have an enjoyable game of cricket. It's fair to say that those aspirations were accomplished! Mersey Rose opted to bat first. It wasn't perhaps the best of starts and the second pair of Gail Rose and Anna Page got unstuck trying to press on. They were looking to play positive shots but unfortunately on three occasions Gail only found fielders grateful to take catches, while Anna edged behind while attempting a cover drive. At the end of the eighth over Rose were on 25 for 5 - a net score of 200, effectively 0. The third pair of Ian Mosquito and Aaron McKenna did not lose further wickets and shared a partnership of 27, characterised by good running and intelligent shot selection. The final pair, Andi Page and Amy Parsons, had one objective - to put on as many runs as possible. Unfortunately, Amy was bowled on the first ball, but Rose rallied and the pair added a further 35 runs to close on 87 for 6. Andi regularly found the boundary but Amy batted sensibly and purposely and finished with six runs to her name - her highest score in a full Super 8s game. it was a very positive performance from Amy who is looking far more confident at the crease. Mersey Rose were pretty pleased with their total. It wasn't going to be easy to defend against a good team but the recovery from the last two batting partnerships gave them something to bowl at, What the visitors needed were wickets and they got an early one when Andi Page held a catch off the bowling of Aaron McKenna. Amy Parsons also added to her impressive all-round performance by taking her first ever wicket. However, Rose couldn't find another despite a couple of half-chances and with the hosts' Bina Shukla (11), Kim Thomas (24) and Margaret Samuels (29) all making runs in the end it proved a relatively straightforward win for Fleetwood Hesketh. That said, there was some good work in the field especially from David Crossley and Ian Mosquito. Team captain Anna Page was pleased with the effort and, with limited bowling options, it was encouraging to see everyone have a go. Overall there were several positives to take away from the game and we hope it will give some of our players a confidence boost going forward. Many thanks to Fleetwood Hesketh for hosting us. They made us especially welcome and our players appreciated the encouragement, support and advice. We hope to meet again next year! Player of the Match: Amy Parsons