THERE was a welcome sunshine start to the local cricket season at the weekend although there were mixed fortunes for the Wirral sides.

Oxton went under by eighteen runs at the hands of Grappenhall in their opening match in the Premier Division of the Vivio Cheshire County League.

Best performers on the day were Andrew Gibson 49, Gayan Fernando 49, Alex Hughes 45 and Shaaiq Choudry 4-70.

The Wirral side was all out 248 chasing a 266-6 score by the visitors.

Neston enjoyed a better start with a three wickets triumph at Marple. Andrew Clarke with 5-55 helped restrict the home side to 179. Will Evans with 45 top scored in the Neston reply.

Irby figured in a losing draw at Stockport Georgians in Division Two. Dave Newman contributed 65 and Andrew Williams hit 45. Best of the Irby bowlers was Colin Gibson with 4-58.

Old Parkonians came away two wickets winners from Rylands in Division One of the Cheshire Alliance. Skipper Chris Hitchell led the way with an undefeated 62 and the bowlers to bear the brunt of the work were Chris Beckett 5-72 and Adam Westwater 4-19.

Ellesmere Port were also victorious by four wickets over Stretton. Dwayne Barnard played a key part with a 5-28 haul.

There were wins for Port Sunlight and Tranmere Vics in Division Two. Sunlight had 179 runs to spare at Mossley. Wayne Greve was man of the match with a knock of 82 followed by a 4-12 haul. Others to do well were Chris Newton 40 and David Scott 4-30.

Tranmere Vics dismissed Audlem for 79 and cantered in by seven wickets.

Upton got off to a winning start in Division One of the Meller Braggins Cheshire League with a seven wickets margin over visiting Mobberley.

Wirral in Division Three fell by three wickets against visiting Barrow.

The opening group matches in the Liverpool Competition Knock-out Cup were played and there only two local winners.

Wallasey enjoyed a 42 runs margin over Old Xaverians with Mark Wilkie hitting 82 and Liam Crilly 47.

Birkenhead St Mary’s surprised Ainsdale with a comfortable six wickets success. Arfan Khalid 59 and Muhammad Ghafoor 48 batted well while Dave Bryan claimed four wickets at a cost of just two runs.

Birkenhead Park (Craig Reid 52, Chris Stenhouse 4-47) fell by 83 runs against Southport & Birkdale and New Brighton (Mike Hughes 46) lost by five wickets at Liverpool.

A knock of 57 by Grant Hughes could not save Parkfield Liscard in a 90 runs reverse at home to Bootle whilst Caldy 79 all out were crushed by 230 runs at Rainford.

Scoreboard Cheshire County League Premier Div: Marple 179, Neston 180-7; Oxton 248, Grappenhall 266-6dec. Div Two: Stockport Georgians 191-8dec, Irby 179-8.

Cheshire Alliance Div One: Rylands 169, Old Parkonians 172-8; Ellesmere Port 108-6, Stretton 104. Div Two: Mossley 48, Port Sunlight 227-5dec; Tranmere Vics 80-3, Audlem 79.

Cheshire League Div One: Upton 164-3, Mobberley 160-7dec. Di Three: Wirral 144-7dec, Barrow 147-7.

Liverpool Competition Knock-out Trophy: Group 2: Birkenhead Park 163, Southport & Birkdale 246-8. Group 3: Liverpool 131-5, New Brighton 130. Group 6: Parkfield Liscard 169-9, Bootle 259-6. Group 7: Ainsdale 205-9, Birkenhead St Mary’s 209-4. Group 8:Rainford 309-6, Caldy 79. Group 9: Wallasey 217-6, Old Xaverians 175.

There is an appetising Neston v Oxton derby in the Premier Division of the Cheshire County League this coming Saturday at Parkgate.

In Division Two, Irby have Timperley as visitors.

Cheshire Alliance games include Old Parkonians at Appleton, Ellesmere Port at Wistaston Village, Port Sunlight v Audlem and Tranmere Vics v Norbury.

Cheshire League clashes include Upton at Malpas and Wirral at Sandbach.

The Liverpool Competition continues with group matches in the Knock-Out Trophy including Birkenhead Park at Wavertree, New Brighton v Hightown, Parkfield Liscard at Prestatyn, Birkenhead St Mary’s v Burscough, Caldy v Wigan and Wallasey at Northern.