APRIL 2011

24^th

Saturday’s home tie against Milnrow on Saturday saw a win for the home side. Bully’s side batted first and runs came freely, especially from the bat of Andrew Griffiths. 83 was put on for the first wicket before Adam Holt was trapped LBW for 19. Pro Hendro Puchert joined in the run fest and helped the score tick along nicely before Griff was out for 107 with 169 on the board. Milnrows fielding was not at its best and Hendro reached his 50 with 193 on the board and with 11 overs left. Hendro was dropped on 83 as the fielding got gradually worse and Darren King reached 57 before being run out with the score on 284. Time eventually ran out for Hendro in his quest for a ton when the innings finished on 304 for 3 with Hendro on 98 not out. Once the Milnrow opening pair were removed, Clifton soon got to grips taking wickets regularly. Pick of the bowlers was Magic Mo who tore through the Milnrow innings taking 6 for 27. Victory was sealed by the home side with 10 overs to spare when Milnrow were dismissed for 172

The 2^nd team also pulled off an easy victory against Milnrow’s 2^nd XI. Batting first, runs came freely with Chris Lord making 44 in a solid first wicket partnership with Chris Thorpe. Ian Morris solidified the middle order with 56 and James Evans finished up with 58 not out in a total of 237 for 7. Clifton made easy work of the bowling and Milnrow crumbled to 116 all out. Wickets were shared amongst the bowlers with Rom Meredith taking 1, Danny Hill and James Evans taking 2 each and Rob Reade talking 3 with 2 run outs

Fridays 20-20 tie against Radcliffe ended up with a disappointing loss. Radcliff batted first and scored 163. Clifton were never really in the race and it was only the late order batting of Greg Jennings and Danny Hill that pushed the score over the 100 mark in reply

23^rd

A good crowd was in attendance for Clifton s home tie to Norden on Sunday but unfortunately it was Norden who went away will all points from the game. Clifton batted first but lost wickets on a regular basis. No batsmen really troubled the scorers although a last wicket partnership between skipper Glen Bullock and Greg Jennings pushed the score up to 92 before the skipper was last man out after being stumped. Norden’s batsmen made light of the response and ended up with a comfortable 8 wicket victory

The second team came up against it away at Norden with the home side racking up 308 against some wayward bowling from Clifton. Pick of the bowlers were Steve Thorpe (3 for 33) and Andy Lord (3 for 64). Clifton's batting got off to a solid start with Adam Holt (30), Chris Thorpe (22) and Ian Morris (34) but then the batting collapsed and the innings ended on 196 all out

The 3^rd XI pulled off a relatively easy victory at Manchester Rd on Saturday when they defeated Greenmount comfortably by 5 wickets. New Captain Mark Unwin lost the toss and the visitors elected to bat first on a dry hard wicket. However, the first wicket was lost due to a silly run out and then Andrew Lord (6-20) and Gareth Lloyd (3-29) ripped through the Greenmount batting dismissing the visitors for only 53 in 18 overs. Wickets fell cheaply in the early part of Clifton s reply but Jack Unwin (19 not out) and Phil Royle (12 not out) steered the home side to victory for a comfortable 5 wicket win

16^th SUNNY START ENDS WINLESS

The selectors dilemmas on Tuesday when the Wembley Team returns to availability didn’t become any easier as all three sides slipped to league defeats on Sunday. However, there were positives in all three defeats at Matt Wright showed hes made of the Wright Stuff for the Central Lancs League with four wickets, Rob Meredith’s close season efforts paid off with another four wicket haul and Mike Hays decision to return to Clifton proved the right choice as he made his first ever half century.

Hendro ended wicketless as Middleton posted 214, but redeemed himself with the bat with a half century but the side fell a disappointing 10 runs short with two wickets still intact. The seconds also picked up a point at Manchester Road with Liam Holt top scoring with 47, but the thirds ended up pointless as a very strong Prestwich side rattled up 243-4 before Mike Hays efforts (Pictured) held together a creditable 157 response.

EAGLEY TOO STRONG IN NATIONAL KNOCKOUT

Geoff Griffiths’ plans for a relaxed Saturday were rudely interrupted as he was sent scurrying to the loft to augment the Wembley hit firsts on Saturday. It would appear that the visitors were similarly hit as Geoff came up against old adversary Andy Cumberbatch who was wheeled out for Eagley having not played for some time.

The firsts 118 was never going to be enough as the five first team regulars fired blanks with the exception of Glenn Bullock (28) and with only Mubeen available from the regular bowling attack, Eagley waltzed through by nine wickets. Excuses apart, it was a disappointing start to the new campaign.

Pic 2 disappointing debut for the new scorebox.

13^th - After a four hour delay, a very bored Greg and a very tired Hendro met up at Manchester airport.

Greg even managed to snap the moment of arrival.

MEANWHILE Balti Bill Dorsey has rattled up a curry for after Saturdays game so you can all come along and say hello to Hendro. ALL WELCOME !!

9th

The seconds warmed up for next week’s opener against Middleton with a solid eight wicket friendly win at Farnworth. The hosts were dismissed for 119 with five bowlers getting a decent run out and sharing wickets around before the opening four knocked off the runs with only Jim Ainscough who fell to the early season played too early curse, failing to make double figures.