Category: Club news

Friday was a washout as the early season poor weather returned with a vengeance so the highly anticipated T20 quarter final is rearranged for this week!

Be there in your numbers and get behind the team as we look to qualify for the prestigious finals day on 28th August.

On to Sunday and a potential banana skin at a green and soggy Rishton pitch.

As Travis lost the toss it was no surprise that we batted first but the score of 265-7 belied the sticky batting conditions.

The highlight of the innings was another century for professional Jacques Snyman who reached 1000 runs for the season.

What a special season he’s having, 1092 runs at 99.27, four centuries and four fifties, we need him to keep up this rich vein of form for the season run in with just ten league  games remaining.

There was also a very welcome return from Travis who carved out an excellent 61 from just 50 balls to ensure momentum was maintained.

The Rishton reply was sufficiently spirited to ensure we ended up without maximum points but still climbed to fourth place.

Callum Hunter rounded off an excellent all round display adding to his effective unbeaten 24 with his first five wicket haul of the season.

Cal had four bowled and one LBW and included the scalp of professional Dale Phillips first ball, he is now top of the league bowling charts for amateur bowlers – a fantastic performance season to date.

Unfortunately we couldn’t prise out the last two wickets and the game ended with Rishton 43 runs short.

It’s a big weekend to come at the Mount as we host Crompton on Sunday. Our opponents lie in third place just six points ahead and the top two teams Church and Middleton face off the same day.

The fight for promotion is well and truly on and as we enter this last ten game run it’s all to play for and promises to be an exciting few weeks.

Meanwhile, after last week’s victory the second team lost at home to Rishton in a game which mirrored the shape of the first team encounter.

Rishton posted 264, helped by an unbeaten century from opener Adam Hussain and unfortunately an incredible 35 wides from the Greenmount attack.

Wickets came the way of Richard Catterall (2) Luca Addleton (2) Ewan Malone (2) while Matt Senior and Nigel Hallows claimed one apiece.

There wasn’t enough legs in the Mount response and we finished 52 short. A number of batters got themselves in, Jake Chadwick top scored with 46, Nigel Franklin 29, Matt Senior 26, Kieran Edwards 23 and a welcome show of form from Nigel Hallows with a fine 34 but unfortunately nobody played the lead knock to score big and get us over the line.

With ten games to go, we are currently bottom of the league but the goal remains to change fortunes and climb up towards mid-table as the week’s progress. Starting this week away at Crompton.

There was no third team match this week after last week’s excitement and sadly the planned fourth team match with Prestwich was another victim of the poor mid-summer weather. Let’s hope for a return of the warm and sunny stuff sooner than later!

Tonight’s (Friday’s) T20 quarter-final tie against Enfield at the Log Cabin has been postponed due to the heavy rain.

The match will now be played on the reserve date next Friday (July 7th) at 6pm.

Club chairman Andy Skinner said: “The rain has been coming down all day and is forecast to continue right through, so it makes sense to call it off early.

“We contacted opponents Enfield and they are in complete agreement with the decision.”

While the cancellation is a disappointment given the organisation involved, the club hope people will attend next week when – hopefully – the weather is more agreeable.

Despite tonight’s postponement, the club bar will be open until 11pm and Harrison’s will be serving food until 8pm.

Following the ten-over scamper to victory over Ramsbottom on Friday, the table-topping third team took centre stage at Walsden on Saturday.

Having bowled the opposition out for just 60 in the previous encounter, confidence was high, however Walsden had bolstered their line-up and posted a challenging score of 201.

Greenmount’s young bowling attack stuck to the task with Noah Birtwistle taking 3-26, Luca Addleton 2-36 and both Ed Wackrill and Ryan Edge one apiece.

Captain Mark Crowther was still receiving deserved and merciless stick for losing the toss yet again however he turned this around emphatically with the lead role in an excellent and exciting run chase.

Tom Clarke and Noah put on 58 for the first wicket before Tom fell for 32. A flurry of wickets followed including Noah for 26 and the Mount rocked at 103-6.

But skipper Crowther was in belligerent form and, joined by Leigh Dickinson, the pair accelerated in a partnership of 77 for the seventh wicket.

Crowther was run out for an excellent 54 leaving Leigh to steer the innings to a dramatic conclusion. Leigh had reached an unbeaten 46 and in the final over it was do or die but Luca Addleton stole the plaudits at the death with a firecracker six to stun the locals and seal memorable victory.

There is allegedly still a manhunt going on in Walsden for one Vasco Wackrill however it would appear he escaped safely over the border in one piece! Top of the league at the turnaround, Crowther’s Kids march on!

On to Sunday and another forecast of afternoon showers and thunderstorms as the first team traveled to Rawtenstall and the seconds hosted the same club.

As the news came in that Greenmount were batting first it was surprising to learn that we’d won the toss with rain around but Jacques Snyman and Evan Williams soon set about the Rawtenstall bowling with strong intent, racing to an opening stand of 70 before Snyman was caught for another fine 56 including four sixes.

Evan continued his recent fine form which included a century for the MCC on tour to Ireland last week however as the spinners were introduced we began to lose wickets in alarming fashion.

Andy Kerr, Tom Heaton, Travis Townsend and Dan Stevens all perished for 30 between them before Ryan Senior steadied the ship with a dogged unbeaten 15, accompanied by Sam Greenhalgh in similarly obdurate mood but what neither did was surrender their wickets easily.

Heavy rain curtailed the innings ten overs short however we were left to defend 138 following the “easy to understand“ DLS calculation.

With echoes of Friday night and defending a short boundary, the Mount dug in to constrain the chase, taking wickets at just the right time to arrest momentum.

Jacques turned in another five star performance, answering the mildly unruly heckling from the local fans with a five wicket haul.

The last over definitely came under “squeaky bum“ moments and I guess you could call it an ugly win but we take it and move on to another away trip to Rishton next week.

At the turnaround point of the season we still lie in sixth place with 78 points. Just 13 points separate the top seven teams and we are just nine points away from top spot so it was an especially important win to maintain touch.

The second team lifted themselves off bottom slot with a fine home win. Put in after Oli Dixon lost the toss Greenmount’s batting once again stuttered to 156 with Kie Edwards hitting 84, his third successive half century.

Faltering on 74-6 , Kie and Oli repaired the innings in an important stand of 60 before Oli was stumped for 15.

Rawtenstall found it heavy going against Matthew Senior who bowled a miserly seven overs for just five runs although only one wicket he passed the bat multiple times.

Oli turned in his best performance of the season to date and ripped through the middle order with a fine five wicket haul, 5-34 from his 12 overs.

He was well supported by Richard Catterall with 3-31 and there was a pantheresque run out for Kie to complete the victor . Ewan Malone held on to two fine catches.

The seconds now host Rishton who have replaced us at the bottom spot. We really need the more senior players to be available more consistently so we can start to field a more experienced and competitive team on a regular basis.

This game proved the point that we do not belong at the bottom of any league so let’s get a strong second half of the season and climb the ladder as far as we can.

Final note just to say thanks to everyone who turned out to either work , support or cheer on Friday night – we hope to see you all again this Friday for the T20 quarter final against Enfield.

A substantial crowd gathered for the hugely anticipated T20 clash with neighbours Ramsbottom last night (Friday) but once again poor weather threatened to dampen the mood.
However, mindful of the large crowd, umpires and players agreed to a ten-over bash in the rain.

Not sure Skins has recovered from this decision but the crowd seemed to like it and soon the benches and veranda were full.

The Greenmount Grill and Bottle Bar were rocking and so was DJ Rick with “something for everyone“ grooves from the scorebox.

Credit to Harry Caton and the Ramsbottom team who put up a good fielding performance in difficult and slippery conditions, but nothing could contain Mount pro Jacques Snyman who delivered another great show of pyrotechnics.

Losing Tom Heaton in the first over, Jacques was joined by Dan Stevens for eight overs of fun, striking six sixes in a 25-ball 65.

Dan compiled a supportive 15 in a stand of 78 with one six of his own before a flurry of wickets left the Mount just shy of 100 from ten.

Ramsbottom came out of the traps strongly with Brad Fielding striking the ball well before falling to former team mate Jack Thomond, caught brilliantly by Jacques for an excellent 38.

New pro Bilal Asif threatened to break loose but was also the victim of a fantastic catch in the deep from Jacques.

Indeed, Greenmount held all their catches in the rain with another from Jacques to complete a hat-trick and fine grabs from Travis and Tom.

The bowlers all stuck to the task well and the visitors ended just eight runs short – the last three overs were executed really well with no opportunities for the batters to free their arms and we completed a full five out of five wins in unusual circumstances.

Thanks to everyone who came out in the mizzle to support the team.

STOP PRESS: The Mount will now entertain Enfield in the T20 quarter-finals next Friday evening with a reserve date for Friday, July 7.

It’s a shorter round up than usual this week reflecting the intervention of weather which yet again left a sense of disappointment and anti-climax to the weekend .

Friday saw a bright start as the first team sealed qualification for the first time into the quarter finals of the T20 competition with a fourth consecutive win, this time at Bacup.

Batting first, the home side were checked on 120-8 with Jacques Snyman bagging 4-12 and one wicket apiece for Cal, Evan, Tom and Jack.

The Greenmount reply was complete in ten overs for the loss of just three wickets. Skipper Travis Townsend top scored with 35 not out while there were cameo knocks from Tom Heaton (27), Jacques (24), Evan (10) and Andy Kerr (16 not out). A final group home tie with Ramsbottom awaits this Friday before the quarter finals on 30th June.

Saturday saw the visit of a very young Lowerhouse fourth team against our league-leading thirds in a match which ended all too early – the visitors dismissed for just 60.

Bowling plaudits went to Adam Clarke 3-11, Noah Birtwistle 2-6, Sam Woolley 2-8 and there was a wicket apiece for Ben Clarke and Nigel (yes folks that’s Nigel not Rupert!) Hallows.

The Greenmount reply saw another emphatic partnership between Rupert Hallows and Tom Clarke to seal another win by 10 wickets. Rupert finished 33 not out and Tom 18 not out. The third team have a narrow lead over Rawtenstall at the top and travel to bottom-placed Walsden this weekend.

On Sunda , the visit of bottom-placed Nelson offered opportunity to the first team to extend their recent winning streak and further close the gap at the top.

As it was, the weather this week turned out to be the winner but now only nine points separate six teams at the top with the final match of the first half to play this weekend.

Meanwhile Nelson were bowled out for 150 – another four wickets for Jacques – Callum also took four with one apiece for Jack Thomond and Travis. Greenmount were unable to reply due to the torrential rain.

The seconds started the day with optimism and a strong team but finished it nursing another loss and propping up the division.

Batting first, Greenmount compiled 190 with a fine 96 from Kieran Edwards the highlight which included four sixes. Unfortunately Nelson reached the target in just 27 overs, matters made worse through illness for Jake Chadwick and injury to Danny Hornby. We move on to host Rawtenstall this weekend .

A rather anti climactic weekend BUT third team still lead their league, firsts are in T20 quarters and just nine points off top spot so lots to play for starting this week!

No more thunder and lightning please!

After the incredible performance of the previous week, the fun continued last Thursday at the Mount with the visit to the club of the infamous, original Australian pantomime villain Merv Hughes.

We had a few of our own villains turn out in an Over-50s Legends match and there were most likely a few aches and pains the next day but a good time was had by all.
On to T20 away to Norden on Friday who are a daunting opponent packed with talent. We were unfortunately without Tom Heaton Cal Hunter and Sam Greenhalgh for this one, but Sam Woolley stepped up for his senior debut and second team skipper Ollie Dixon came in to support the bowling attack.

The game was watched by an enthusiastic crowd in the bar via a live stream and a packed crowd witnessed an amazing match and yet another mind blowing performance from professional Jacques Snyman (pictured right).

The match began with a hint of special things to come when Max Birtwistle removed the dangerous Tolley in the first over.

However, Ashar Zaidi is an equally dangerous customer and he plundered an excellent 91, the main contribution of a challenging 206 total.

Oh hang on – the target is now 245 amid gasps from the bar, how does that work? Did an invisible batter make 39 nobody noticed in the excitement?

No, the Mount were punished for a slow over rate and the calculation presented a daunting target.

However, nobody told Evan Williams it was challenging as he set the tone with Jacques, smoking 30 from 19 before falling to Sami Waheed.

We then lost Dan Stevens and Travis Townsend in quick succession but Andy Kerr was in the mood from the word go and played a brilliant hand in supporting Jacques with a fine 32 from just 21 balls.

Meanwhile – devastating, brutal , sheer power was on show at the other end as Jacques smote the Norden bowling to all parts of Stag Park .

An incredible 13 sixes and 13 fours saw him amass 164 not out from 70 balls and close the game out with four balls to spare.

Top of the league, three wins from three with two to play, a quarter-final place in sight for the first time. What a performance, no superlatives can capture how brilliant was this knock. Let’s continue to enjoy it!

On Saturday, a slightly more sedate pace in searing heat saw the third eleven, with the return of Captain Crowther,  also capture the top of the table spot with a win over high-flying Nelson.

Fielding first, the tone was set by a fine delivery from Noah Birtwistle to bowl their opener first ball. Wickets fell steadily including a wonderful running catch from Wes Young (fee payable for additional superlatives but there was no dive involved!), fine bowling all round with Noah and Adam Clarke collecting three wickets apiece, Sam Woolley pitched in with two, and there was one apiece for Rupert Hallows and Ed Dickinson.
Highlight of the Greenmount reply was a fine 52 not out from Rupert Hallows who responded brilliantly to a slightly over-zealous opponent by letting the bat speak for him!

There was an excellent contribution from Tom Clarke with 23 not out which saw us comfortably home by eight wickets after Ed Dickinson (24), and Wes Young (13), also chipped in. The table-topping thirds will be at home again this week to Lowerhouse.

Sunday’s matches returned to the vagaries of weather and Duckworth Lewis as flash storms interrupted the glorious weather with the ground turning quickly to a lake just long enough for second team opponents Todmorden to say “no chance“, shake hands and head for the hills from what was most likely a winning position – only for the ground to be clear and dry within an hour!

Greenmount had been bowled out for a disappointing 152, the highlight being a return to the crease for Kieran Edwards, following his release from the bathroom, with a fine 43.

Ed Wackrill joined Kie for a very fine support performance of 24 including a lovely six over cover from a free hit.

Meanwhile, at Bacup, the first team delivered their best bowling and fielding performance of the season to skittle the opposition for just 93.

There were two wickets apiece for Evan, Cal and Jack Thomond while Jacques took 4-14 from five overs.

Travis took the gloves in Tom’s absence and poached two catches and a stumping.

Our reply was suitably clinical with 54-0 from just nine overs before rain arrived in buckets with Evan not out with a belligerent 36 and Jacques 16.

Following the usual confusion about a recalibration of targets, once the rain cleared we went out to complete the win and bring 12 points home.

We are now still in sixth place but there’s only nine points separating six teams so the last three weeks has seen consecutive wins eat away at the gap and bring us right into the challenging pack.

Including the T20 it’s now six from six in this mid-season mini campaign and we now move on to this week’s opponents Bacup once again on Friday before we entertain Nelson on Sunday.

Thanks again to all our supporters, keep behind the team and enjoy the ride!

The weekend of 2nd to 4th June, 2023, will be long remembered at the Mount following a scintillating display of savage batting from professional Jacques Snyman.

There aren’t any superlatives or cliches that haven’t already been used but the phrase ‘remember the name’ must surely ensure Jacques a place in Greenmount CC folklore alongside many previous famous faces to have graced the Log Cabin.

The weekend started with a sunny Friday evening T20 against Walsden – chasing a modest 101 (three wickets for Tom Heaton) it was clear that Tom and Jacques had agreed a ‘no run’ approach to the reply as the total was knocked off in just five overs. Tom struck 39 from just 16 balls and Jacques bludgeoned 54 from 18 with seven sixes.

Two wins from two in this years’ T20 competition and a stiff challenge to come at Norden this Friday. Save the date in the diary for Friday, 23rd June when Ramsbottom provide the opposition!

On Sunday we saw the visit of Accrington and following the record-breaking day against Great Harwood last week there was much anticipation at the toss – which Travis duly won and surprisingly (irony) chose to bat!

Despite losing Evan Williams and Andy Kerr early on, Jacques, accompanied once again by Tom, set about the bowling in much the same fashion as last week.

Tom Heaton was eventually caught for 80 with five sixes and eight fours to end an entertaining stand of 145 but then Travis was adjudged LBW to his first ball which brought Dan Stevens to the wicket.

Jacques continued to build momentum through the middle overs and Dan chipped in with four fours and was looking set for a big score before chopping on for a good 31.

We then lost three quick wickets and were in danger of being bowled out with overs to spare until Jacques was joined by Sammy Greenhalgh who watchfully helped build a record partnership for the ninth wicket of 133 which has stood since 1937 apparently!

By this time Jacques was unfurling his full repertoire and the individual league record score was blown away along with about eight lost balls. For the record the amazing score of 269 not out included 28 fours and a staggering 15 sixes from just 139 balls.

It is hard to imagine this achievement will ever be broken and it must surely go down as an all time great knock if not the greatest ever seen at the Mount in our extensive history.

Accrington responded with a creditable 231 with the key goal for Greenmount to bowl them out and earn the full 12 points, something we did not achieve last week.

Jacques Snyman had the most fantastic day in the sun, taking 4-34 to add to his stellar batting exploits. Callum Hunter took 3-67, Travis Townsend 2-31 and Tom Heaton 1-47. Another win which sees the Mount slowly edging up the rankings to sixth in the table after eight games.

Meanwhile Saturday`s FA Cup final provided a noisy backdrop to the third team match with Colne at home which also saw another fantastic individual performance alongside a very positive all round team effort.

Greenmount batted first, compiling a steady 203-5 with Ed Dickinson once again impressing with a fine 62, Wes Young, 33, (runs not age…)  continued his entertaining spree of swashbuckling innovation (use of the edge being especially inventive) and there were useful contributions from Rupert Hallows( 26) and Max Birtwistle ( 24).  

Nobody quite expected a decent looking Colne side to be skittled for 80, however they were blown away by a superb spell of controlled swing bowling from 15-year-old Max Birtwistle.

Max took 6-19 from six overs, five all bowled and including a hat-trick all bowled – simply an excellent example of how to bowl at the stumps and well deserved reward for lots of hard work.

Ed Dickinson also chipped in with 3-11 and there was a wicket for Sam Woolley to wrap up an early win and round off a good team effort as the team move up to third place!

The second have had a rough season to date – availability has prevented a consistent team however there was a higher expectation with a strong-looking team with more experience this week.

And so it proved to be as we emerged victorious for only the second time this season and to complete an amazing weekend of success on the field for the Mount.

Unfortunately for unknown reasons the game has not yet been uploaded to Play Cricket (one of my pet hates) but there were once again some great individual performances within the team.

Nigel Franklin hit an unbeaten 79 and Jack Thomond scored his maiden Greenmount 50 before once again Max Birtwistle was the man of the moment, roaring in to complete a second five wicket haul for the weekend.

Younger brother Noah chipped in with three wickets too to complete a good win for Ollie Dixon’s lads.

Overall, the most memorable of weekends, four wins from four, thanks to everyone who contributed on and off the field for the best club weekend of the summer so far.

Mount Momentum! More next week…

We are looking forward to welcoming the Shaun Brown Cricket Coaching Academy from Australia on Thursday.

There are two matches to enjoy, starting at 1pm with a Greenmount Invitation XI captained by Evan Williams ahead of  an Over 50’s match featuring the Greenmount Legends eleven captained by Ian Senior.  

Please note admission to the ground for these matches is FREE. There will be a raffle and Chris will be serving from his tasty menu all day.

In the evening, after the action, Aussie cricketing legend Merv Hughes will be taking centre stage at 8pm to share anecdotes about his illustrious test career. This part of the day is admission via ticket only, £20 per ticket, still some remaining so hurry and place your order today.

Merv will also be conducting an auction which will include signed bats however there is also an additional outstanding item which may be of interest.  

Courtesy of Wes Young and AGM Services we have two tickets for Liverpool FC Premier League Match Day hospitality in the Beautiful Game Lounge in the Anfield main stand.

 This is a truly magnificent experience and includes :

– Elevated views of the pitch with walk through access to your seat for a Premier League home match in September or October (fixture schedule to be confirmed when released on 15th June)

– Exceptional 4 course match day menu

– Welcome drink on arrival

– Match day complimentary beer, wine and soft drinks

– tea, coffee and lite bites at half time

– visit from former Liverpool FC player

– Complimentary match day programme

– Match day gift

– One car park pass for Stanley Road car park

A lower level hospitality package excluding complimentary food and drink in the Anfield Beat lounge cost £495 per person for the recent Villa match.

If anyone wishes to place a ‘blind bid’ ahead of the auction for this amazing prize please reply to helen@peterbowker.com with your offer.

We look forward to seeing as many members as possible on Thursday, remember it is free to watch the cricket and create a welcoming atmosphere which will be appreciated by all the touring players and indeed our own!

Half-term week and a high level of activity for junior representative matches saw a number of our boys involved – either in county age group or inter league fixtures.

Max Birtwistle represented the county Under-15s while brother Noah and Ed Wackrill played for the county Under-13s.

Both Ed Dickinson and Tom Clarke played for the Lancashire junior league Under-15s while Harry Nuttall represented the Under-12s.

But performance of the week goes to Ben Clarke representing the Lancashire junior league Under-13s where he scored 101 against the GMCL West to become the second Greenmount young centurion of the summer.

Following his excellent cup hat trick against Rishton it’s been a stellar season so far for Ben!

Congratulations from all at the Mount and here’s to many more!!

Three Lancashire League records were put to the sword at the Log Cabin on Sunday when Mount saw off a spirited Great Harwood side in an amazing high-scoring encounter.

Following on from the T20 party atmosphere on Friday night, we were in optimistic mood as Travis won the toss and chose to bat on the same very true pitch.

What followed was an explosion of brilliant batting – Evan Williams continued his excellent form from Friday with a series of well executed strokes and blazed his way to an impressive run-a-ball 67 with a six and nine fours before surprisingly being stumped with the score on 149.

However, this merely served to unleash the best of South African professional Jacques Snyman. Opening the batting, he played himself in nicely with a few well-timed shots offering a glimpse of the onslaught to follow.

But once Evan departed he cut loose with a succession of brutal shots to reach his maiden century for the Mount.

But this was just the curtain-raiser as he then savaged the bowling attack with an array of exhilarating blows out of the ground, racing to 158 before holing out.

A stunning performance with fifteen fours and ten brutal sixes, this was entertainment at its finest and underlined the power of Jacques’ batting which the home crowd experienced for the first time.

With Jacques out at 280-2 there was license for the middle order to continue with freedom, resulting in fine knocks from Andy Kerr (41), Travis Townsend a breezy 45 from just 27 balls and an excellent 52 from Tom Heaton from just 37 balls.

We finished with a staggering Lancashire League record team total of 429-6 from the 50 overs. Par score had been suggested as around 285!!

There was a strange feel to the Great Harwood response, surely this was a foregone conclusion! However massive credit to our opponents, they kept coming and managed to reply with a superb total of 346 -8 (a record losing score in the Lancashire League) giving Greenmount a much needed win but only 10 points.

There was some disappointing bowling and fielding which will have frustrated home support but the pitch was the overall winner with an astonishing match aggregate total of 775 runs that is now in the Lancashire League record books.

Callum Hunter took 3-82 and Travis Townsend 3-51 to round off the win.

All in all an excellent weekend of cricket at the Mount with back to back wins, defeat of a division 1 opponent in T20, centuries for Evan and Jacques all supported by strong team batting performances.

With the forecast looking dry for the week ahead let’s try and build momentum after the stuttering start and we look forward to an exciting weekend next week with more T20 on Friday versus Walsden and league action on Sunday versus Accrington.