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With the 2nd XI losing in their top of the table clash on Saturday, the 3rd XI made no mistake on Sunday with a convincing win against their closest pursuers, which has now opened up a gap of 17pts between Elliot’s men and the rest of the league.

After winning the toss and opting to bat, it looked ominous for the visitors when Ethan and Dan dominated the early exchanges, and they looked a beaten side after 15 overs as Clifton ticked along to 80/0 in cruise control. It took a false shot from Dan (50 off 44) to make the breakthrough, who followed up his Saturday ton with another half century, to now make that two centuries and three 50s across the last 3 weekends. His reaction on giving his wicket away on 50 here told you he thought he’d left a few out there in current form.

Ethan continued with positive intent, putting on a 50 partnership with Owen Hogben before finally playing one shot too many and falling for an excellent 63. The clean hitting and intent from Ethan this season has been a joy to watch and he fully deserved to convert his recent promising form into a 50. Owen continued to nudge and run where a 70 run partnership with Lewis Keogh really took the game away from the visitors. This pair love batting together on a Sunday and run teams into the ground.

244 was put on the board, with all of the top 4 batsman scoring half centuries, and all of them still juniors. Dan 50, Ethan 63, Owen 56* and Lewis 50. The future of Clifton is bright.

The start of the mammoth chase also looked bright for the visitors, with a couple of gorgeous lofted cover drives sent soaring to the boundary informing the crowd that the opener could bat. But in the 4th over came the important breakthrough, with young Oscar Thorpe snicking him off to be caught behind by his dad. Oscar’s excellent opening spell brought further reward a few overs later where he had the no.3 caught at mid on by Oli Dunn. Oscar finishing with excellent figures of 2-18 from his 5 over spell. 10 overs of rebuild and counter punching from the visitors got them back into the contest, but it was a sharp piece of fielding by Oscar to run out the dangerous looking no.4 to leave them 91/3, with 245 looking a lot further away than it did a few moments before.

The introduction of Owen Hogben from the top end twisted the knife with 3-43 from his 7 over spell, supported by 2-14 from 4 by his elder brother, Elliot, bowling from the other end. With the visitors 151/8, it was good to see youngster Harrison Keogh then given the opportunity to have a chuck. It was even better to see him shin up the no.10 first ball, followed up by cleaning up the hard hitting no.8 a few balls later to walk off with two wickets from his 5 overs bowled. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone walk off a cricket field with a smile as big as Harrison’s.

So Elliot’s men march 17 points clear at the top and they will take some stopping in this form. Next up however is the small matter of a Sunday Premier Cup Quarter Final at home to Greenfield, as they look to defend their title claimed so convincingly at Glodwick last August.

With over half of the usual 2nd XI missing through injury, unavailability or stepping into the first team, a trip to Darcy Lever for a top of the table clash looked a difficult challenge.

The home side won the toss and put Clifton into bat on a wicket that looked like it had been marked on the outfield. It hooped, popped and seamed plenty in the early exchanges where young Ethan and Luke looked to survive the early onslaught. Both were removed early on to good balls, leaving Dan Jones and Oscar Thorpe to try and put a partnership together. 58 runs later Oscar was caught after a solid and important 19 off 45.

Sam Winstanley (5) and Lewis Keogh (8) gave their wickets away with poor shots to give catching practise to cover, then a short cameo from Jack Barton (13) kept the small crowd entertained for a while.

The Clifton innings however was all about an exhibition in batting on a difficult track from Dan Jones, who once again looked like he was batting on a different track to everybody else. After a chanceless innings he was poised on 76 with 3 overs to go - with a second century in two weeks in his sights - and set about to push hard for every run, with selfless running from partners Elliot and Daanyaal to give him the strike. By the time the last ball of the innings came around, Dan was on strike on 97 with only one thought in his mind. A good length ball from the returning opening bowler was dismissed over square leg and into the long boundary to complete an exceptional innings of 101* and post a total of 177 to defend.

Early wickets from Tom and Lewis left the host at 17/2 to put Clifton in a strong position to squeeze, but in an innings littered with far too many “4 balls” and a total of 40 extras gifted the points to the home side; along with 3 or 4 dropped catches.

The highlights of the second innings being outstanding one handed catches late on from Oscar Thorpe and Dan Jones to earn the 2s a bowling bonus point.

Yet again, it was the lack of control with the ball with 29 wides bowled that hurts you at this level, and the control usually provided by the absent senior bowlers was costly. It’s Horwich at home next weekend in another top of the table clash, which has now become a “must win” to maintain hopes of promotion this season.

The firsts produced another stunning victory on Saturday, this time against near neighbours Roe Green who had inflicted some heavy damage on us in recent years. With such a young side, there are bound to be some inconsistent performances, but this was on a new level as young and not so young combined to send the visitors home with their tails between their legs.

Steve Mac succumbed early, but a batting masterclass by Gareth Cross put the 'Green' attack to the sword in stunning fashion. At vital times, he received support from his young team mates, firstly when skipper Sam and Caleb were dismissed leaving the score on 61-3 and again when both Jack and Ben went for three runs apiece in the middle order. In the first instance, it was Praharsh (31) that once again stepped up to the mark, his runs and wickets in recent weeks proving vital. He took the score to 138 in a partnership of 77 with an increasingly fluent Gareth who had passed fifty during that partnership. There was a stutter in the middle, but Crossy simply changed gear and the ball was treated to a series of classy cricket shots. At 177-6 Zach Flaxman strode to the wicket with just five and a bit overs remaining and Gareth approaching a hundred. The two then simply took the bowling attack apart and with 200 on the horizon with two overs remaining, pushed the score to 237-6 with 41 runs being scored, the two batters registering six sixes (three each) within the space of seven deliveries. Zach finished with 25 off 18 balls, but it will be Gareth's run a ball 141 not out that will live longest in the memory.

The visitors' response started positively, but with 28 on the board inside seven overs, Ollie struck for the first time, clean bowling Joe Ball. Seven runs later Gareth produced his stock wicket-to-wicket delivery to vitally trap the 'Green' professional lbw, before Ollie took over, bowling with aggression and wiping out the middle order. Luke Williams completed his half century but could find no support from within the batting ranks until Andy Hough, facing firstly Ollie's hat trick ball, joined him. Ollie finally ran out of steam with 6-71 against his name, only to be replaced by Finn, who promptly dismissed Houghy and then followed up four overs later by tempting Batsman number 11 into lofting a catch to Steve Mac and securing a resounding 95 run victory. So, it's a trip to Horwich next week with the prospect of the wins column equalling the loss column with a victory, a prospect that looked very distant after four successive defeats in April.

🔨 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.