Welcome

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. 

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 giving 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 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. 

The Clifton 2s promotion hopes were dealt another blow on Saturday, with a heavy defeat to Horwich, backing up the loss at Darcy Lever last week, leaving them 7pts behind both of those clubs in 3rd place and plenty of work to now do to get back in the hunt.

In sweltering conditions, it was a bad toss to lose for the returning captain Liam Dorsey, with the visitors opting to bat against a Clifton side missing a few key players. 

However, it only took until the 6th ball of the day for Tom Worthington to make the breakthrough, and with Horwich 15/1 after 6 overs it was a tidy enough start. 

As Horwich looked to kick on, Tom picked up another to end a tidy spell of 2-27 from 7, before the introduction of Daanyaal Mehmood brought a wicket with his first ball to leave the visitors 38/3 and in a bit of trouble. 

The game was then turned on its head over the next 90 minutes or so with a 150 run partnership, where Rippengal smashed his way to a dominating 144. He made his intentions clear from the start where he pounced on an over of short balls from Mehmood to clear the short boundary and he never looked back. 

It was a day to forget for the bowling attack, as they had no answers to the onslaught until Lewis Keogh’s second spell removed both set batsmen, whose figures of 3-51 off 11 overs was the pick, and 10 of them a result of wides.  

With a daunting target of 283 in front of them, Clifton then aimed to repeat the first innings by also finding themselves in trouble at 38/3 following the wickets of Owen Hogben (5), Dan Jones (1) and Lewis Keogh (1). Sam Winstanley (6) fell shortly afterwards and 283 looked a long, long way away at 55/4. 

Another outstanding knock of 77 from Ethan Kite couldn’t quite replicate the match winning knock from Rippengal, but it was yet another step forward after a series of impressive knocks from the youngster, who will have been sick to have been run out with his maiden century in sight. 

Only Liam Dorsey (15) and Jack Barton (33) offered him any support with the bat, so even the consolation of the batting bonus point was missed out on. 

A 7pt gap to the top two sets a stiff challenge if promotion is still the hope this season.

🔨 Rear Lounge Refurbishment COMPLETE !!

We are pleased to let members know that refurbishment of our rear lounge is complete, an exciting step forward in improving our club facilities for everyone.

The improvements include:
• A new feature wall
• A new trophy cabinet to properly showcase our history and achievements
• New seating to create a more comfortable, welcoming space

This is part of an ongoing project to continually enhance our club for members, players, families and visitors. As a volunteer-led club with strong community roots, every improvement is about creating a space we can all be proud of.

If you’re not yet part of our club, new members are always welcome. Please come and be part of something progressive, inclusive and growing.