One for the kids this week as it was on this day in 2010 that One Direction was formed during the X-Factor. As we head towards the closing stages of the season, we hope the group’s name will act as a reminder to our teams of the desired heading.

The 1st XI will be keen to return to winning ways Right Now when we are at Home to Ashton-on-Mersey. C'mon, C'mon, we can do it!. Ashton are currently 6th in the league, 3 places and 41 points ahead of us and they have 6 wins to their name this season. Currently on a 3 game unbeaten run, Ashton had a fine win by 110 runs last week at home to Haslington. Choosing to bat, 82 from Miraj Patel and 56 by James Marshall helped them to 248-7 in their 50 overs. In reply, James Marshall with 4-31 and Zohaib Khan with 4-36 saw their visitors dismissed for 138 in 35.3 overs. Miraj Patel leads their batting with 338 league runs (Does He Know?) whilst Edward Faulkner has 316 runs in addition to his 26 wickets. The first game between the sides, earlier in the campaign, fell foul of the weather. We were beaten at Barrow last week by 19 runs. Invited to bowl we dismissed our hosts for 183 in 47.3 overs, Phil McGowan, Joe Green & Liam Sundve were the Heroes, all taking 3 wickets. Unfortunately, we were bowled out for 164 in 48.4 overs in reply despite 46 from Darren Warburton & 32 from Chris Stowell-Smith. Matt Owen is the leading league run scorer with 310 whilst Liam Sundve has 20 wickets. Ashton’s last league visit to Upton, back in May 2013 ended in a draw and I Want us to go one better this time as we need More Than This. Upton 213-4 dec (Matt Smith 81*, Andy Roberts 58), Ashton-on-Mersey 212-7 (Lee Brooks 71*, Mark Duncan 46, Chris Cunningham 3-25).

After consecutive defeats, the 2nd XI will be keen not to make the Same Mistakes when they set off on Saturday A.M. to travel to 7th placed Brooklands who have 5 wins and a draw from 10 games played. Their match last week at Davenham was cancelled due to Covid and they drew their last outing at home to Heaton Mersey, Tom Lett claiming 4-17 & Tom Mitchell 3-32 as they restricted their visitors to 68-7 chasing 176-8. Ben Cunliffe is playing in Another World and is certainly one to watch as he has 417 league runs this season, including 3 centuries whilst Tom Lett has 20 wickets. The first scheduled meeting between the sides was lost to the weather. We were beaten by a Strong Grappenhall side by 97 runs last week at the UCG. Invited to bat, our visitors posted 216-6 dec in 47 overs, Callum McCormick picked up 2 wickets whilst Simon McGowan produced a bit of Magic to claim the victim he needed to make him the club’s all time leading wicket taker. In reply, Pete "Act My Age" Clark rolled back the years and in conjunction with Callum, who was last man out for 39, we kept the game Alive for a while, however, we were eventually dismissed for 119 in 40.4 overs. Tom Woods is the leading league run scorer with 286 whilst Callum McCormick has Taken 16 wickets. Our last visit to Brooklands ended in a 1 wicket victory. Brooklands 144 all out (Joe Gill 51, Tommy Maguire 3-14, James Woods 3-33), Upton 146-9 (James Woods 46*, Dave Stewart 31, Joe Gill 3-20).

On the back pitch, the 3rd XI need to Stand Up to the challenge of Neston 3rds who lie 2 places and 34 points ahead of us. Neston have picked up 2 wins this season but came second last week in a high scoring game at home to an Irresistible Hale Barns. Electing to bat, Neston posted 224-8 in 50 overs, Chrissy Lacey scoring 61 & Tom Ford 56. In response, Hale Barns made 225-4 in 48.1 overs, Guy Bradshaw taking 3-52. Harry Beddard is their leading run scorer with 440 runs whilst Paul Stimson has 11 wickets. Like the 1s & 2s, rain Clouds meant that the first scheduled meeting was cancelled. We were beaten by 79 runs at Congleton last week. Choosing to bat, they were dismissed for 134, Ian Sharrock taking 5-30 & Matt Fielding 3-12. Unfortunately, we were all out for 55 in reply. I Wish we could go back in History but we can't. Ian Sharrock leads the batting and the bowling with 254 runs & 27 wickets and Nobody Compares. Last season, Neston won the equivalent fixture by 5 wickets but that doesn't make them Fireproof!. Upton 81 all out (Oscar Jennings 3-12), Neston 82-5 (Andrew Hursthouse 31*).

The 4th XI were the only victors last Saturday but this won't Drag Me Down. This week we take our 5 game winning run a Long Way Down the M53 to Chester County Officers who lie 1 place and 3 points below us in the table. Last week they won by 6 wickets at Warrington. Choosing to bowl, they restricted their hosts to 204-7, Mark Fletcher taking 4-46, and replied with 205-4, Paul Hickey 73*. Hickey is their leading run scorer with 554 league runs this season, including 2 x 100s and a 50. Vas Uprenda has taken 15 wickets. We completed the double over Tranmere Victoria last week with a 7 wicket win at the UCG. Choosing to bat first, Vics posted 178-9 in their 40 overs but this was Never Enough and they had no answer to the spin twins: Sophie "Girl Almighty" Morris (the leading wicket taker in the club) claiming 4-27 and John "Forever Young" Scragg 3-17. Losing an early wicket was not Perfect, however, a 51 run partnership between Dan Rivett & Dave Charles for the 2nd wicket and a 106 partnership for the 3rd between Dave Charles (who made 85*) & Aaron Turner (who made 62) saw us home with 11.5 overs to spare. Our leading performers are Phil Wood who has 357 league runs (the most in the club) and Dan Rivett who has 16 wickets. We won our last visit to Chester by 8 wickets and at the End Of The Day we'd settle for a repeat. Chester County Officers 73 all out (Kevin Jackson 5-13, Paddy Cullen 3-15), Upton 74-2 (Phil Wood 42*).

There is no senior cricket at Upton on Sunday as the Sunday 1sts are on their travels for the 2nd week running, this time to Burton. Please - Don't Forget Where You Belong. Hopefully, we’ll get a repeat Over Again of the game at Upton a few weeks ago which God Only Knows we won by 7 runs. Sean Lynch 50 ret & Joe Green 52 ret were the main contributors to our 186-4 whilst they replied with 179-8. Gerry Hilton top scored with 46 and Joe Green (obviously fully recovered from his 18th birthday celebrations) took 4-35. Last week we Happily continued our winning run (that goes back to Infinity) with a 7 wicket win at Winsford. Electing to bat, they were held to 96-9 in their 30 overs. Phil Wood and Dec Delaney both claimed 2 wickets but Matt Morris provided the special Moments, taking 2-0 from his 4 overs. In reply, another 52 retired from Joe Green saw us home with time to spare.