Welcome

The unbeaten Clifton 3s welcomed neighbours Prestwich on Sunday afternoon, who arrived at Manchester Road from one junction up the M60 to be greeted by a freshly cut outfield and blistering blue skies.

Prestwich won the toss and of course opted to have a bat.

The early exchanges involved tight, wicketless spells from Tom (0-20 from 7) and Dunny (0-15 from 8). Lewis Keogh and Elliot Hogben came on and the set batters went after them early doors before they pulled it back to put the brakes back on. It wasn’t until the 28th over - with Prestwich 97 without loss - until Clifton made the first breakthrough when Luke Jones bowled another youngster (who had replaced the “retired hurt” opener who was struggling with 5 from 30). Four overs later Luke claimed another victim where a full toss was edged to Sam Winstanley at cover.

Sam came into the attack himself and quickly took the big scalp of opener, J. Mercer, who had to depart an agonising 8 short of his century following a great knock from the lefty.

Four more wickets fell in the last 5 overs, as Clifton finished well to restrict the visitors to 175/7 when 200+ was on the cards, with Sam, Lewis and Luke all picking up two wickets apiece to sandwich a run out between Elliot and Sam.

The chase then got off to a poor start with AJ bowled fourth ball, and it didn’t get much better as Luke (4), Sas (8) and Sam (4) all fell to leave Clifton up against it at 26/4. It was then that Lewis Keogh joined Owen Hogben at the crease and they put on a masterclass of rebuilding and developing a partnership to get the home side back in the game.

It was a partnership of ever growing maturity from the young pair, resulting in well deserved half centuries for them both in a 103 run pairing. Lewis (56) was first to fall, with Owen (60) hanging around until the end to see his side across the line with just over three overs to spare.

It’s now 4/4 for the 3s in the Sunday Prem, and Elliot’s men look like they’ve got the right balance of giving young players a platform and supporting them with some experience in the side. There’s no need to panic with the loss of early wickets anymore as this middle order is stacked with runs to take games deep.

Another enjoyable Sunday watching the 3s in roasting hot conditions. Long may it continue.

The Clifton 2s fell to their second defeat of the season in a disappointing afternoon on the vast playing field of Heywood; failing to chase down what looked like a below par total of 149.

On a warm and sunny afternoon, the hosts chose to bat, but were quickly in trouble at 8/3 after Tom took a wicket with his third ball (caught Elliot), Oscar cleaned up the other opener in his third over, before a run out from Lewis Keogh an over later left the hosts reeling. They rebuilt with a 50 partnership, before the introduction of Jordy with his Aussie off spin brought two wickets in as many overs. Jordy picked up another wicket during his 14 over spell, whilst Lewis Keogh picked up 2-23 from his 5 over spell, with only half them runs coming off the bat.

A chase of 150 should be bread and butter for this batting line up, and it looked to be a walk in the park with Clifton 55/1 having Macca and Dan at the crease with plenty of batting still to come. What followed wasn’t pretty. Dan (25) lost his off stump from a cutter that fooled him, shortly followed by Jordy (0) heading back to the changing rooms for an early shower. Sam Winstanley (4) and Lewis Keogh (0) then came and went quickly and Clifton were suddenly in trouble at 72/5. Luke Jones (0) was then run out with the ball deflecting of his bat onto the stumps whilst trying to make his ground. Very quickly it was 91/7 when Oscar (5) and Charlie Seddon (0) were both caught.

A late rally from the captain Macca (55) to get Clifton within 32 of the win gave the travelling fans some hope, before being caught leaving the hosts 1 wickets to claim victory. Tom Worthington lbw on 4 sealed it.

A fantastic and gritty knock from the captain wasn’t to be enough, as after the second wicket fell, nobody could stay out in the middle with him.

An acquaintance from Denton mentioned in conversation how much the standard of cricket has improved year on year in the Premier Division and how errors are punished mercilessly unless you are on top of your game, and so it proved as the firsts went down to another heavy defeat on Saturday.

Bowling one or two bad balls each over and dropping catches invariably leads to large totals and the disappointing thing about Denton Wests 273 all out, was the weakness exhibited by the middle order and tail which scored 74 runs for eight wickets showing that, if the early batsmen had been snuffed out, the result could have been much different.

The difference in the second innings was how difficult it was to remember Jordan Williams bowling a single bad ball in his fifteen over spell. It didn't help when Caleb asked Jack to run 22 yards up the hill in sweltering conditions after he hit the first ball of the innings straight to point.

Batsmen continued to perish in pursuit of the challenging total as only Caleb (64) managed to pass the fifteen run mark and eventually another disappointing day at the office concluded with a 135 run defeat.

🔨 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.