ECCLESTON suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Grange on Saturday.

Batting first, Grange posted a total of 171 all out, with Carter the top scorer with 46.

He was well supported by Peters (36), P. Swindell (26), Hunter (20) and Melia (16).

Pick of the Eccleston bowlers was H. Ashurst with 6-52, while R. Creak claimed 3-48.

The writing was on the wall for Eccleston from the first ball of their innings when Atherden was caught.

A steady stream of batsmen came and went, with only Appleton (17) and Connor (11) showing any resistance.

Eccleston were eventually all out for 63.

It was a similar story in the second team encounter.

Put in to bat, Eccleston struggled against some tight bowling.

It was only when 18-year-old David French joined Dave Gee at the crease that the run rate improved.

They put on 33 in 11 overs, but the innings closed on 86. Gee was comfortably the top scorer with 53 not out.

Grange passed the total for the loss of five wickets. Man of the match Gee returned bowling figures of 2-27, while J. Johnson took 1-22 off 10 overs.

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