Elliot’s men may be sat 16pts clear at the top of the Sunday Premier League, but they also have their sights firmly fixed on retaining the Sunday Premier Cup, which they won in emphatic style at Glodwick last season.
There can be no doubt that this Clifton 3rd XI is by far the strongest Sunday side in the GMCL, and that was proven yet again this weekend with a convincing Quarter Final win against old foes, Greenfield, setting up a Semi Final at home to Heywood on the 2nd August.
After opting to bat, Greenfield got off to a flyer thanks to some wayward bowling, with their opening pair feasting on anything short or wide, of which there was plenty.
48/0 after 6 overs is not where the hosts wanted to be, but the introduction of Kite and Worthington helped slow things down and chipped away at the Greenfield top order, with Tom picking up 3 wickets to expose the middle order, finishing with an impressive 3-26 off his 7 over spell.
It was the introduction of Owen Hogben from the bottom end that really restricted the Greenfield total, as despite getting hit for a few bombs early on, he responded excellently to finish with figures of 4-29 off his 8 over spell, including the wicket of the big hitting, but exhausted James Ashton for 78.
The bowling and fielding for that first 10-15 overs was miles below the usual standard of this young 3rd XI, but they recovered well to hold Greenfield to 171, which never looked likely to be enough given the batting depth of this side.
That depth wasn't remotely tested though, as the chase was all about young Ethan Kite completing a magnificent weekend and a putting the cherry on top of his current rich vein of form with his maiden senior century.
He set the tone from the off alongside Oli Dunn (20) to create a great platform, then a 100 run partnership with Dan Jones (39) took the game away from Greenfield completely. It was Men v Boys. But our man was 16 and their boys a lot older.
When Sam Winstanley came to the crease, it was 27 to win with Ethan on 74. Taking into account potential wides there was no wriggle room.
A selfless 1 off 27 from Sam to keep Ethan on strike at the right times was outstanding sportsmanship and each block drew more applause from the crowd than Ethan clearing the infield for 4.
With the score at 169 with 3 to win, Kite on strike on 96, a drive over extra cover to the boundary sealed that maiden century and brought tears to the eyes of Mr and Mrs Kite I’m sure.
To see Ethan in this form and bringing up his first century at 16yrs old is testament to his development since given the opening role as a 13yr old, and to the club for backing him in that role to learn, develop and grow into a strong senior cricketer.
For those that remember the likes of Ethan, Dan, Owen and Lewis being chucked into senior cricket at 13yrs old, it’s brilliant to now see them delivering match winning knocks and bowling performances for their home club.
For anyone that’s been watching our current junior sides, you’ll know there’s another crop coming through in the next year or two that’ll do exactly the same. The future’s bright at Clifton.