Hindley St. Peter’s were in action on Saturday for the first time in
2024 after the weather conditions caused the start of the season to be
pushed back by two weeks.

The 1st XI hosted Monton. The conditions were damp but unlikely to get
any better so the decision was made to start on time. HSP won the toss
and elected to bat first. They lost a couple of early wickets but then a
third-wicket stand of 66 between Phil Moorfield and Toseef Khan got them
up and running. Progress was slow in difficult batting conditions but
the pair showed good application and patience as they began to build a
good foundation for HSP. Moorfield made 30 before he was caught but
Toseef went on to reach his half century. He then began to try to pick
up the pace but was stumped for 55. By this time the score was 95-5 and
another couple of quick wickets saw HSP find themselves in a bit of
trouble at 98-7. Mark Wood added a quick 16 and a useful unbeaten knock
from Ryan Hardman (15*) at the end allowed HSP to drag themselves up to
138-9 at the close.

A steady drizzle had been falling for the second half of the HSP
innings, with heavier spells at times, and the rain continued through
the interval. The umpires felt that the conditions were no longer safe
to continue and the game was abandoned by mutual agreement at the half
way stage, each team taking two points.

The 2nd XI were away at Stretford, where the home team batted first. HSP
had instant success when they took a wicket with the first legal ball of
the game, and they kept the upper hand for a while as they limited
Stretford to 42-4, Lukman Tailor taking the first three wickets to fall.
The Stretford middle order rallied though with three batsmen getting
starts, but Amir Javed managed to remove all three to limit the damage
for HSP. Javed and Muhammad Pervez then went on to finish off the tail
and bowl Stretford out for 136, Javed finishing as leading wicket taker
with 4-39 from 10 overs.

The HSP reply reached 23 without loss but from then on things went badly
wrong as no one apart from the openers made double figures and the
innings fell away to 51 all out, giving Stretford an 85-run victory.

Next Saturday the 1st XI travel to Stand while the seconds are at home
to South West Manchester.