Category: Club news

The club’s annual senior awards night was held in the newly-refurbished and improved Log Cabin on Saturday evening.

Club chairman Andy Skinner was on hand to present the recipients with their awards.

The event recalled great memories of a very positive season which saw the Mount win their first Lancashire League silverware with a memorable T20 trophy win.

There were scintillating record-breaking feats from professional Jacques Snyman including an unforgettable 269 against Accrington.

Evan Williams – fresh from a first winter in Australia – really kicked on, showing consistent high levels of performance with both bat and ball including a memorable T20 century against Todmorden while Callum Hunter once again returned the overall best bowling performance across the club.

It was pleasing to see so many junior players emerge throughout the season with both the 13s and 15s winning their respective leagues and the 15s reaching their cup final only to lose to an excellent Clitheroe team.

The third team comprised many of these young players and finished top of their division. Three of these lads were fortunate enough to represent England in the Indoor Cricket World Cup in October – congratulations to Ed Dickinson, Ed Wackrill and Rupert Hallows.

Dan Stevens also earned further recognition for the club in the past week as a winner in the ECB Young Coach of the Year annual awards.

Team awards

Third team batting prize – Ed Dickinson

Third team bowling prize – Noah Birtwistle

Third team player of the year – Ed Dickinson

Second team batting prize – Nigel Franklin

Second team bowling prize – Ed Dickinson

Second team player of the year – Kieran Edwards

First team batting prize – Evan Williams

First team bowling prize – Callum Hunter

First team player of the year – Evan Williams

Club awards

Cyril Butterworth Batting Award for most runs – Evan Williams

Bowling Award for Most wickets – Callum Hunter

Pauline Rigby Award for U-18 junior player of the year – Max Birtwistle

Malcolm Grime Award for U-13 junior player of the year – Rupert Hallows

Club Person of the Year Award for Outstanding Contribution – John Stevens

The newly-renovated function room is now open again for breakfasts and meals.

Chris Harrison will be introducing a new menu, so please follow his Facebook page Harrison’s at Greenmount for information.

Chris’s opening times this week will be…

Thursday: 5pm to 8pm

Friday: Breakfast 9.30am to 12.30pm then main menu and specials form 2pm to 8pm

Saturday: Breakfast 9.30am to 12.30pm then main meals and specials from 2pm to 6pm (due to a function)

Sunday: Breakfast 9.30am to 12.30pm then main meals and specials from 1pm to 6pm

Bar opening hours

Monday to Thursday: 3pm to 11pm

Friday: 1pm to 11pm

Saturday: 12 noon to 11pm

Sunday: 12 noon to 10.30pm

Sport on TV

Monday: 7.45pm: Fulham v Wolves

Tuesday: 8pm: Man City v Leipzig; 8pm: PSG v Newcastle

Wednesday: 5.45pm: Galatasaray v Man Utd; 8pm: Arsenal v RC Lens

Thursday: 5.45pm: Backa Toplova v West Ham; 8pm: Liverpool v LASK

Friday: 7.45pm: England Women v Netherlands Women

Saturday: 12.30pm: West Brom v Leicester; 5.30pm: Nottm Forest v Everton; 8pm: Newcastle v Man Utd

Sunday: 12 noon: St Johnstone v Celtic; 2pm: West Ham v Crystal Palace; 4.30pm: Man City v Spurs.

This week’s cask ales

The coming week’s cask ales will be a selection of beers from Bowland, Mallinsons and Brewsmith breweries.

The club is saddened to report the passing of Pat Williams who died with her family by her side, following a short illness, on Monday, 23rd October.

Pat was influential in the running of Greenmount Cricket Club throughout the 1990s and 2000s when she acted in the capacity of club treasurer while her husband Kevan was chairman.

A life member of the club, she took great delight in watching both her sons Andrew and Philip play for the Mount from the juniors through to the first team.

Following her retirement, Pat enjoyed playing crown green bowls with Kevan at Nuttall Park and was often a friendly face in the crowd at first team games at the Log Cabin.

She will be sadly missed by all at Greenmount Cricket Club and the family wish to pass on thanks to those who have sent messages of support and say a big thank-you to the staff at Fairfield General Hospital for the excellent care she received.

A celebration of Pat’s life is to be held at the cricket club on Thursday, 9th November from 12 noon.

The record breaking 2023 junior cricket season was brought to an end with last Friday’s presentation evening.

A full house at the Log Cabin was host to a fitting celebration of the season.

The Under 13’s and Under 15’s were both presented with their Lancashire Junior League Championship trophies.

The following awards were presented by the coaching team and the evening’s sponsors:

Under 9’s Player of the year Josh Riley
Under 11’s Player of the year James Herbert
Under 13’s Batting award Ben Clarke
Under 13’s Bowling award Ben Clarke
Under 13’s Player of the year Freya Franklin
Under 15’s Batting award Max Birtwistle
Under 15’s Bowling award Ewan Malone
Under 15’s Player of the year Jonty Whitehead

Cricket club chairman Andy Skinner was on hand to present the club’s two prestigious awards. The evenings compère John Stevens explained to the attentive crowd that the Malcolm Grime award and the Pauline Rigby award were given to the player for a blend of exceptional performance and also making an outstanding contribution to the club as a role model.

The Malcolm Grime award – Rupert Hallows

The Pauline Rigby award – Max Birtwistle

The evening was finished off with a serving of Chris Harrison’s food and Greenmount Ice Creams Bubblegum flavoured specials.

The DJ then filled the dance floor but when asked to join in the Chairman ended the season with the words that greeted the players in April “no chance!”

Finally the club would like to thank all of the evening’s sponsors:

Woodstock Security

AGM Services

DocTech Ltd

The Carpet Mill

Northern Star Lifestyle Financial Planning

Eclipse Digital Solutions

We are pleased to announce that Harrison’s will be open on Saturday 2pm to 8pm and Sunday 2pm to 6pm, this weekend. 

There will be a limited menu, which will be displayed in the members room.

Building on from good cup runs – the under-15s reaching the final and the under-13s the semi-final – it was time for both teams to concentrate on the league.

The under-15s dominated their section, winning all 12 out of 12 games and most in some style!

With commanding batting at the top of the order by skipper Max Birtwistle (397 runs) and Edward Dickinson (352 runs) the under-15s blew most teams away – including their closest rivals. There were 50s from Max, Edward, Tom Clarke, Noah Birtwistle, Rupert Hallows and Ben Clarke.

During the campaign all the squad contributed and it was especially pleasing to watch our younger players stepping up to help out with runs, wickets, catches and all round good fielding performances.

Tom Clarke claimed seven victims behind the stumps and Edward Dickinson took five catches. Ewan Malone finished with 13 wickets, while the best bowling performances were Ben Clarke four for just three runs and Jonty Whitehead four for five runs.

After winning the league, coach Richard Birtwistle thanked all the parents for their support during the summer and told the players how proud he was of their efforts saying: “Well done to everyone for last night and for a brilliant season. Played twelve and undefeated. Worthy title winners and invincible.”

Our U13s also won their league, winning 13 out of 14 games, securing the title away at Todmorden, with one game to go.

If Tod had won the match, the league would have been shared between them, the Mount superstars and Rochdale.

Winning the toss, Greenmount elected to bowl first and restricted the home side to just 64 for 7 off their 16 overs – the Greenmount reply saw the team win with five overs to spare with the loss of just one wicket.

Throughout the campaign there was superb top order batting from skipper Noah Birtwistle (345 runs), Ben Clarke (373), Eduardo Wackrill (298) and Rupert Hallows (232) while George Kenyon, Harry Nuttall and Dexter Crowther all finished with more than 100 runs for the summer.

Ben Clarke finished with 23 wickets, Noah with 13 and Eduardo with 10. Ben also took the plaudits for best bowling performance with five for only three runs at Rishton and Freya Franklin took 4 for 16 at home to Littleborough.

Throughout the season everyone contributed at different points with bat and or ball and again we were able to enjoy debuts from players from a younger age group who stepped up comfortably.

The final Sunday of the season for the first and second teams had an all too familiar ring to it as both games fell foul of the weather due to the late afternoon downpour.

The firsts were facing Rawtenstall at the Log Cabin and skipper Travis Townsend won the toss, chose to bat and saw the Mount put on 244 for 9 from their rain-reduced 43 overs.

The club welcomed Farnworth Social Circle’s paid man Jamal Stuart as sub-pro this week and the big-hitting Barbadian – who hit five fours and three sixes – was unlucky to be given LBW while on 49.

Townsend was the day’s top scorer with a 63 (nine fours and two sixes) with Evan Williams also chipping in with a fine 56 (seven fours and two sixes).

The only other batsman to reach double figures was Callum Hunter who hit a useful 26.

As the rain rolled in at tea there was no way the Valley side were going to get a crack at overcoming that total and both teams had to settle for five points apiece.

Meanwhile, up at Rawtenstall, the second team also had to settle for five points.

The home side won the toss and elected to bat then went to town in hitting 270 for 9 from 45 overs.

Leading the way was Harry Etchells who blasted 111 with 14 fours and 2 sixes, followed by Abbaas Ahmed who hit 12 fours in his 72.

Ed Wackrill was the leading wicket-taker for the Mount with 4 for 64.

In reply there was a revised target of 167 from 22 overs, however, 12 overs in the heavens opened with the score on 86 for 1 and play was abandoned.

Stand-in skipper Kieran Edwards was unbeaten on 48 at the death.

There was no game for the third eleven at the weekend and they close their successful 2023 account with a trip to Nelson on Saturday.

The club are contemplating entering a team in the Ramsbottom and District Darts League this winter.

Matches will be played on Thursday evenings and the deadline for entering is September 14.

With that in mind, anyone prospective darters interested in signing up for the team should enter their name and details on the sheet at the bar in the members’ lounge as soon as possible.

After last weekend’s T20 success for the first eleven it was the turn of Mark Crowther’s youthful third team to take the plaudits when they secured the Lancashire League Third Eleven Division Three championship.

Victory at Thorneyholme Road, Accrington, put them in an unassailable position at the top of the league – reward for what has been a fantastic summer for the team.

After missing the opportunity to take the title in last Monday’s tied game against Lowerhouse, the thirds weren’t to be denied on Saturday.

Accrington won the toss and elected to bat but a combination of sharp fielding and good, steady bowling reduced the home side to 104 all out, one over short of their allotted 40.

Max Birtwistle finished with fine figures of 4 for 9 from six overs while his brother Noah took 2 for 25, Ed Wackrill (2 for 13), Adam Clarke (1 for 21) and Ed Dickinson (1 for 17).

Ed Dickinson led the way in the run chase with 32 and he was aided by Chris Sherrington (unbeaten on 19), skipper Crowther (18) and Rupert Hallows (12) as the Accrington total was overhauled for six wickets inside 32 overs.

Cue the start of well-deserved celebrations!

On Sunday the firsts travelled to Nelson looking to keep pressure on the top teams in the vain hope they dropped enough points to let us in to the promotion places.

Although promotion wasn’t to be – Church and Middleton will be making the step up in 2024 – it was a convincing display at a sun-drenched Seedhill.

With Mount professional Jacques Snyman making an early return to South Africa, the club found a replacement in Tonge Cricket Club’s Sri Lankan paid man Hashan Dumindu and the talented all-rounder played his part in a nine-wicket victory.

Nelson won the toss and decided to bat but saw wickets fall on a regular basis.

Only former Greenmount professional Usman Tariq – the Nelson pro – showed any resilience with a knock of 46, indeed no other home batsman reached double figures as they slumped to 89 all out in the 29^th over.

Evan Williams and Dumindu both took three wickets while there were two for skipper Travis Townsend and one each for Callum Hunter and Max Birtwistle.

It was Williams (54 not out) and Dumindu (22 not out) who also did the business in the reply as they saw the Mount home for the loss of only one wicket in the 17^th over.

Meanwhile the second team were taking on Nelson seconds at the Log Cabin but once again fell short despite a valiant effort.

Nelson won the toss and chose to bat, putting on 208 all out from 40.3 overs.

Chief wicket-taker was the evergreen Gareth Williams who helped himself to five victims with Matt Senior and Ed Dickinson taking two apiece and Luca Addleton one.

The reply started brightly when openers Nigel Franklin and Henry Dickinson put on 91 for the first wicket before Dickinson was adjudged to be LBW for 27.

Franklin was eventually dismissed after scoring 60 but the Mount failed to move the scoring along, fell behind the run rate and despite their best efforts, eventually finished eight short of victory at the end of their 45 overs.

Greenmount made a mockery of their Lancashire League Division Two status to blow away Burnley then leave Littleborough languishing as they defied the odds to take the JW Lees T20 Trophy back to their Log Cabin home.

Up against three teams from the league’s top division the Mount were unfancied in certain quarters but they showed all their true T20 qualities to make it a day to remember for the sizeable support that converged on Littleborough’s impressive Hare Hill ground.

Although a concerted promotion push has been somewhat hampered by rain throughout the ‘summer’, the club’s Friday night twenty-over exploits at the Cabin have been real highlight.

Regularly centre-stage on those occasions  – as he has throughout the campaign – has been big-hitting professional Jacques Snyman and the popular professional chose Bank Holiday Monday’s finals day to sign off for the season in terrific style.

Mount faced Division One high-fliers Burnley in their semi-final and their skipper Liam Bedford won the toss and chose to bat.

But he would soon realise that this Greenmount side is no one-man show as fine restrictive bowling from the villagers kept the total down.

Three of the Burnley opening batsmen were dismissed with the score on only 13 including influential South African professional Ockert Erasmus who was bowled by Callum Hunter.

Hunter finished with superb figures of 3 for 12 from his four overs with Evan Williams (2 for 17), Jack Thomond (1 for 25), Travis Townsend (0 for 25) and Snyman (0 for 23).

Burnley finished their innings with 108 for 6, a score that proved totally inadequate once the Greenmount innings took shape.

Tom Heaton opened with Snyman and the pairing despatched the ball with consummate ease to all compass points on the Hare Hill ground.

They took the total on to 81 before Heaton was caught by Fergus Bailey off the bowling of Gareth Halley.

The wicket only brought Williams (11 not out) to the crease and he and Snyman (54 not out) saw their side convincingly cruise to victory with more than eight overs remaining.

In the final hosts Littleborough awaited Greenmount after they had edged a close-fought derby victory against near-neighbours Rochdale in the earlier semi-final.

Mount skipper Townsend won the toss and decided to put his former side in to bat. It proved to be an inspired move.

The first three Littleborough batsmen were dismissed by the time the score reached 36 – shared equally between Hunter, Williams and Thomond.

Boro skipper Ryan Miskella tried to give his side some momentum with a useful 41 but a superb stumping by Matt Donnelly off the bowling of Townsend ended his exploits.

Steady bowling and some superb fielding, including fine catches by Hunter (to dismiss Joe Barnes) and Williams (to dismiss Williamson) began to demoralise the home side whose innings ended at 141 for 7.

All five Mount bowlers were among the wickets with Williams and Snyman taking two each with one apiece for Thomond, Hunter and Townsend.

The Greenmount reply got off to a bad start when Heaton was dismissed without troubling the scorer and the vociferous home support began to make their presence felt.

But they reckoned without Snyman and Williams who both showed their undoubted class to take the score to 118 before the pro bowed out for the season with 62.

As the overs wound down, two more wickets, those of Williams (52) and Stevens (4), made it a somewhat tense conclusion and the Littleborough faithful were eyeing a second last ditch win of the day, but skipper Townsend (11 not out) – cool as you like – saw the Mount home in the 18^th over.

Evan Williams picked up the man-of-the-match award for his exploits.

BURNLEY v GREENMOUNT SCORECARD

GREENMOUNT v LITTLEBOROUGH SCORECARD

GREENMOUNT CC: Back row (from left): Dan Stevens, John Stevens (head of cricket), Andy Skinner (club chairman), Andy Kerr, Jack Thomond; Middle row (from left): Sam Greenhalgh, Callum Hunter: Front row (from left): Matt Donnelly, Max Birtwistle, Travis Townsend (captain), Jacques Snyman (pro), Evan Williams, Tom Heaton. @Fitchett’s Photography