Category: Club news

It is with great sadness that Greenmount Cricket Club announce the death of former player, committee member and groundsman Gordon Horrocks.

Gordon, who was 89, passed away at home on Friday, December 22nd after a brave battle with cancer.

Always a well-loved and popular figure at the Log Cabin, Gordon’s family are steeped in Greenmount CC history as both he and his brother, Tony, were long-time club stalwarts and – Greenmount born and bred – he played a big part in helping raise the club to be one of the most respected teams in Lancashire cricket.

As well as tending his beloved Greenmount ground, Gordon also plied his trade for many years at fellow Lancashire League clubs Ramsbottom CC and Rawtenstall CC as well as overseeing the playing surface at Bury Football Club’s Gigg Lane ground.

Everyone associated with the Mount wish to send their thoughts and condolences to Gordon’s three sons, Carl, Mark and Peter and their families.

Gordon’s funeral will be held at East Lancashire Crematorium, Radcliffe at 12.30pm on Monday, January 8^th, 2024. The cortege will leave from Greenmount Cricket Club.

 Following the ceremony, family and friends are invited to share memories of Gordon back at the Log Cabin.

I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at the club for their help and support throughout the past year.

A massive thank-you to all our sponsors for their generous financial backing which helps no end in helping the club continue to go forward.

Also, a big thank-you to all the staff, volunteers and board members for their work this year in keeping the Cabin looking good and functioning well despite all the building work that has been going on.

This summer the first team won the Lancashire League T20 competition, the third eleven won their league title while the Under-15s and Under-13s were also champions of their respective leagues.

The cricket fixtures are already out and we look forward to another competitive season next year.

Fixtures for all teams can be found HERE.

The club have re-signed popular South African professional Jacques Snyman and we eagerly look forward to his return to the Mount in April.

Finally, I would like to wish all members, supporters and sponsors a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we hope to see you all at the Log Cabin over the festive period.

Andy

A new bespoke site specific twin bay non-turf cricket practice facility, designed by Dura Sport in conjunction with club members and the space available, was completed at the Log Cabin in recent weeks.

The existing traditional batting and bowling ends were ripped up and removed, as was the cage structure, with a 200mm excavation to form new deeper, stable foundation using specialist aggregates.

The ECB Approved DSi-pro Vision non-turf pitch system was installed throughout the full length of each lane, with DS Evograss surrounds providing a totally synthetic design footprint of 26m x 8m.

A heavy duty cage structure formed from 48mm / 4m high steelwork was erected and clad with DS 3mm thick HD netting. Batting curtains were installed to act as blinkers between lanes but also protect the netting from rabbits and wildlife.

Because of space constraints on site the cage structure was reduced in length, so large gates were fitted to the front of each lane to extend the cage and help to protect users from cross shots during practice. The gates are lockable which also helps to monitor and prevent unauthorised use.

The project was completed on time and within budget and is ready (weather permitting!) for the club’s first pre season outdoor net session during April 2024.“

Club cricket director John Stevens commented “These facilities really are top class and reflect the further investment we are making in improving and growing Greenmount Cricket Club as a great place for all our playing members to develop their cricket experience.

“Dura Sport have done an excellent job with the minimum of fuss and we are looking forward to training on a high quality surface.”

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 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.