Welcome

The unbeaten Clifton 3s welcomed neighbours Prestwich onSunday afternoon, who arrived at Manchester Road from one junction up the M60to 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 fromTom (0-20 from 7) and Dunny (0-15 from 8). Lewis Keogh and Elliot Hogben cameon and the set batters went after them early doors before they pulled it backto put the brakes back on. It wasn’t until the 28th over - with Prestwich 97without loss - until Clifton made the first breakthrough when Luke Jones bowledanother youngster (who had replaced the “retired hurt” opener who wasstruggling with 5 from 30). Four overs later Luke claimed another victim wherea full toss was edged to Sam Winstanley at cover.

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

Four more wickets fell in the last 5 overs, as Cliftonfinished 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 runout between Elliot and Sam.

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

It was a partnership of ever growing maturity from the youngpair, resulting in well deserved half centuries for them both in a 103 runpairing. Lewis (56) was first to fall, with Owen (60) hanging around until theend 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 menlook like they’ve got the right balance of giving young players a platform andsupporting them with some experience in the side. There’s no need to panic withthe loss of early wickets anymore as this middle order is stacked with runs totake games deep.

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

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

On a warm and sunny afternoon, the hosts chose to bat, butwere 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 arun out from Lewis Keogh an over later left the hosts reeling. They rebuiltwith a 50 partnership, before the introduction of Jordy with his Aussie offspin brought two wickets in as many overs. Jordy picked up another wicketduring his 14 over spell, whilst Lewis Keogh picked up 2-23 from his 5 overspell, with only half them runs coming off the bat.

A chase of 150 should be bread and butter for this battingline up, and it looked to be a walk in the park with Clifton 55/1 having Maccaand Dan at the crease with plenty of batting still to come. What followedwasn’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 earlyshower. Sam Winstanley (4) and Lewis Keogh (0) then came and went quickly andClifton were suddenly in trouble at 72/5. Luke Jones (0) was then run out withthe ball deflecting of his bat onto the stumps whilst trying to make hisground. Very quickly it was 91/7 when Oscar (5) and Charlie Seddon (0) wereboth caught.

A late rally from the captain Macca (55) to get Cliftonwithin 32 of the win gave the travelling fans some hope, before being caughtleaving the hosts 1 wickets to claim victory. Tom Worthington lbw on 4 sealedit.

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

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

Bowling one or two bad balls each over and dropping catchesinvariably leads to large totals and the disappointing thing about Denton Wests273 all out, was the weakness exhibited by the middle order and tail whichscored 74 runs for eight wickets showing that, if the early batsmen had beensnuffed out, the result could have been much different.

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

Batsmen continued to perish in pursuit of the challengingtotal as only Caleb (64) managed to pass the fifteen run mark and eventuallyanother 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.