This Season

On a Saturday where there were a number of events on, inthe middle of exam season, the length of the roll of players unavailableresembled that of Harry and Meghan’s wedding guest list.

This handed the opportunity to two 13 year olds to maketheir senior debut and another to gain the valuable experience of a second gamekeeping wicket. Congratulations to Zach Flaxman, Mason Turner and Jacob Jervis,and also a big thank you to the returning to action Andy Tocher for helping theteam out at short notice, after Andy Lord dislocated his thumb playing 20-20 onFriday night.

Up against a strong Westleigh 1st X1 the CCC skipperbreathed a huge sigh of relief when the coin cane down on tails and hadabsolutely no hesitation in batting first. About an hour later we had beenreduced to 65 for 6 with only Andy Tocher (16) able to hang around with theskipper (41) for any length of time. This soon became 83 all out inside 30overs and, with teas not quite ready, the decision was taken to turn straightaround. Westleigh showed positive intent from the off in chasing down the tinytotal. Rob Meredith wasn’t going to roll over though, and removed their openerassisted by a sharp catch at cover by Andy Tocher. The very next ball saw ahuge appeal for what sounded like an outside through to the keeper but thiswasn’t given. And it’s safe to say that the edge of the bat wasn’t brought intoplay again, as the ball was dispatched to all parts of the ground, and mainlybeyond!, by Westleigh’s 6ft 7inch Aussie overseas amateur. With ball after balldisappearing into the canal, the game was over inside 10 overs, in a very onesided match.

Great experience for the juniors again, but a steeplearning curve for all, as division 2A is proving every bit as tough as weexpected.

Greenmount came out all guns blazing hitting regularboundaries but lost too many wickets doing so. Greenmount's professional played a few decent shotsbefore becoming Steve Cheetham's first of four victims (4/70).  Mo Ahmed came into the attack after14 overs and quickly tightened the game up and took regular which to finishwith an excellent 4-24. Greenmount finished 149 all out. This was an excellentwin and performance all round. 

And many thanks from Joe McCann to the Greenmount tea people for saving him a slice of homemade cheesecake for after the game.

2nd XI

A tough day at home.

The second XI welcomed another new GMCL league rival,Droylesdon CC 1st team, to Manchester Road this week. Droylesdon batted firstand were contained to just two runs an over in a fine opening spell of bowlingby the experienced pair of Greg Jennings and Rob Meredith. Greg in particularseemed to have the ball on a string and was unlucky not to make thebreakthrough early on as the skipper spilled a regulation catch at second slip.But perseverance paid off as Greg then clean bowled the other opener with thescore on 27 in the 15th over.

A fatigue-required change of bowling at both ends saw theinnings accelerate, but further chances were missed and these were to provecostly. Some fine stroke play, punishing the all too regular bad balls, mixedwith destructive power-hitting, and some pretty ordinary fielding at times,catapulted the score from 40 for 1 after 20 overs, to 256 for 6 in the full 50.Of the other 5 bowlers used, only Rob Reade was able to exercise the controlrequired, finishing with a well deserved 3 for 67.

Chris Royle and Dan Ainscough became the fourth differentopening pair used this season already, both immediately adopting a positiveapproach as they looked to chase down the huge total required for victory. At84 for 0 after 20 overs the early signs were excellent, but then Chris wasunable to keep out a good delivery and was clean bowled for 30. Greg followedshortly after, to make it 95 for 2. Dan continued to play positively, hittingthe two spinners to all parts of the ground, ably supported by Andy Lord. Butin trying to keep up with the required rate, one trip to the well too many sawDan stumped for an excellent 72 with the score on 123. The next three balls sawRob Reade and Andy depart, and effectively that was that. The innings slumpedto a very disappointing 153 all out, with none of the remaining batsman able toregister double figures.

The second team made their first trip to Micklehurst CricketClub on Saturday to play their first eleven with a very young but able Clifton side. The rain held and despite the cold temperatures and a very soft pitch the game commenced with Clifton batting first having lost the toss. It was a difficult start with conditions favouring the bowling attack and Clifton quickly fell to 29-3. A decent partnership between Chris Royle (30) and AndrewLord (36) then steadied the ship before a well played innings from EthanHarding (40) and some good late hitting brought the visitors to a total of208-7 from the 50 overs. The Home side definitely had the better of the pitch in the second innings and Clifton looked condemned to defeat at 170-3. The dismissal of their dominant batsmen by Rob Lord was the catalyst for a huge comeback. An outstanding spell from Andy Lord who finished with figures of 4-40and some excellent catching left the home side stunned as we bowled them out for 190 from 44 overs. 

Following a great first League win of the season on Saturday, the second team travelled to former Central LancashireLeague rivals Heywood CC on a bitterly cold Sunday for the first round of the2nd XI Cup.

Heywood were invited to bat first and got off to a steady start against a Clifton side boasting no fewer than six junior players, including 12 year old debutante Zach Flaxman.

The rather more experienced Rob Meredith gained an early breakthrough with Dan Ainscough taking a sharp catch at short cover. But some wayward bowling allowed the Heywood batsmen to settle as wide after wide kept the scoreboard ticking. The younger bowlers struggled to find a consistent line and length, the next wicket to fall aptly being a rather fortuitous (just below!) waist high non-pitching delivery from Rob Lord, hit straight to square leg where Ben Sykes held onto a low diving catch. When the bowlers did find the right areas it was difficult to score and there was a little bit in the wicket for them. Dan Ainscough got one to nip off the seam and take the outside edge, giving Zach his first 2nd team victim; the first of many to come. Unfortunately this type of delivery was the exception rather than the rule, as a total of 44 extras assisted Heywood to post a competitive looking 180 for 4, the only other wicket to fall being that of old adversaryRob Bennett who chopped on an Ethan Harding delivery for a well crafted 75.

The Clifton innings started slowly as the experienced Heywood opening bowlers hit the line and length that their younger Clifton counterparts struggled to find. Runs were at a premium and every attacking shot seemed to bring the chance of a wicket, Ben Sykes dropped twice before being clean bowled. Ian Morris was next to go, adjudged LBW, and both Dan Ainscough and Roman Slusarenko followed quickly, both playing poor shots offering simple catches. At the halfway point of the innings, after 25overs, Clifton had limped to 38 for 4. Ethan Harding was next to go, stumped for 4, and when Andy Lord followed, caught out for 7, with the score 62 for 6in the 35th over, a fat lady could be heard singing on the horizon.

However with opener Rob Lord staying patient, ably assisted by a wagging Clifton tail, runs eventually started to flow and Rob found his stride - well, he was made to start running between the wickets! The odd bonus boundary on the huge Heywood field catapulted the score up to 147 with 5 overs left and set nerves jangling amongst the fielding side.However the calmest fielder of all was female Lancashire CCC junior representative Olivia Thomas, who set herself superbly under a sky high spiralling catch to dismiss Rob Lord for 70. And this proved to be the turning point as the remaining batsmen couldn’t score at more than a run a ball, the innings falling 15 short and Clifton dumped out of the Cup at the first hurdle.

The 14 extras in the second innings showed the required discipline in the Heywood ranks and we wish them all the very best for a successful season and good Cup run.

Lots to learn for the Clifton youngsters as the 2nds now concentrate on the League.

1st XI - On a sunny day in Prestwich the home side won the toss, elected to field first and got off to the best possible start. 

Opener Will Davidson misread Stanbury's very first delivery by anticipating some away swing. Unfortunately for Will the ball held its line. Davidson looked to leave and he was struck on the pad and was sent packing 1st ball of the season. Stanbury managed to do the same again in his 3rd over as Adam Holt seemingly looked to leave and then changed his made but the bat didn't come down quick enough and he was bowled for 1.

That brought Sam Dorsey to the crease to join professional Gareth Cross and they set about rescuing the innings. Gareth started as he meant to go on by striking powerful boundaries to all parts. At the other end young Sam worked the ball around with ease and capitalised on anything that strayed. Both batsmen reached 50 around the same time after putting on a 120 run stand but soon after Dorsey latched quickly onto a short ball smashing it straight at mid-wicket and was gone for 51. 

Gareth decided this was the point to go into overdrive, he punished almost every ball he faced and had the Prestwich bowlers looking around for some inspiration. 

Crossy was supported nicely by Joe McCann who scored a steady 30 off 46 and when Gareth finally fell for an imperious 139 that brought Liam Hurt to the fray. Liam, who due to a slight injury was on batting duty only, blasted 22 off 12 including hitting the last ball for a huge maximum. All told Clifton amassed an imposing 271-4 setting up a thrilling second innings. 

Prestwich set about the Clifton total with force and raced to 57-0 despite an impressive opening spell of pace and seam movement from young Rob Lord. 

Our new recruit, 17 year old Mo Ahmad, opened with some spin from the tennis court end but struggled to find the right pace to bowl at the dangerous Lee Dale and James Wharmby. Mo then landed a peach which pitched middle and leg and ripped passed the outside edge into the elder Dorsey’s gloves and Wharmby was stumped for 24. 

Once Lord had finished his spell Cross gave himself the ball and single-handedly set about winning the game. He finished with figures of 6-17 and all six were almost carbon copies. No Prestwich batsmen could negotiate the late swing and were all either trapped on the crease LBW or bowled. Mo then settled in nicely at the other end and with some smart catching from Hurt and S.Dorsey he finished with a solid 4-43 and Prestwich were dismissed for 91.