The first eleven had to once again accept a rain abandonment for the second week in a row.
Having won the toss, home captain, Travis Townsend chose to bat first in fairly dry conditions on what looked to be a batter friendly surface.
Accrington struck in the first over when their professional, Jurie Snyman, had in-form Thomas Heaton caught at mid off for 0.
This brought to the wicket Greenmount’s sub professional for the day, Abid Ali, a former Pakistan Test cricketer, now plying his trade at Egerton Cricket Club.
Ali started positively, dispatching anything loose and shared a 57 run second wicket partnership with Daniel Stevens before Stevens was dismissed, caught at point chasing a wide delivery for 20.
Andy Kerr joined Ali and provided support whilst the very classy Ali continued to score freely displaying fantastic technique and timing.
The partnership reached 66 before Kerr was harshly adjudged LBW for 12.
With rain clouds looming a further four balls were bowled before thunder intervened. This resulted in fairly long delay and early teas were called.
Upon returning from teas with the rain halting for a brief moment, play resumed with Greenmount needing to bat for a further 11 overs. Townsend perished for 12 in pursuit of quick runs and unfortunately only one further ball was to be bowled which Kieran Edwards duly dispatched for four through the slip cordon before the heavens opened.
No further play was permitted with Greenmount finishing on 163 for 4 from 30.5 overs. Abid Ali finishing on a splendid 90 not out from 98 balls which included 12 fours and two sixes.
Greenmount will have the task of travelling up to Bacup next weekend knowing that victory would result in a top four finish.
TRAVIS TOWNSEND
Second team report by LEIGH DICKINSON
Rain and Duckworth Lewis prevented any chance of defence for Greenmount second team when they travelled to Accrington.
It is always an advantage batting second in a rain-affected match and today was no different.
Greenmount were put in to bat and after a shaky start posted a respectable 158. This was mainly thanks to a fantastic knock of 84 off 89 balls by Toby Leach who continued his great form.
As the overs reduced, Toby tried to reach his century with some serious bludgeoning towards the end, only to fall foul of the conditions slipping in the mud and unable to reach safety.
Rion Dalugoda again showed promise with the bat scoring 18 and there was a senior debut for Greenmount Junior Edward Cunnington who scored eight off seven.
As the rain poured throughout tea the team eventually took to the field and Accrington took a strong hold of the game through some very aggressive batting.
Ed Wackrill had a very strong leg before appeal turned down and Dexter Crowther came close to a catch off Adam Clarke, which meant that Accrington were well ahead of the DL par score.
With more rain the game was suspended and as the clock ticked away the fixture came within ten minutes of being abandoned.
With a revised score Accrington ended up needing nine runs off nine overs which they achieved easily.
Third team report by WES YOUNG
Greenmount third eleven came out on top in a closely fought encounter against Norden at Stag Park on Saturday afternoon to extend their lead at the top of the Division Two in the JW Lees Lancashire League Third XI League.
With both teams fielding a similarly talented young line-up, captain Mark Crowther lost the toss and Greenmount were put into bat on the edge of the square with short boundaries and windy conditions to consider.
The Mount lost two early wickets to put the pressure on but a partnership of 57 between Toby Leach and Harry Nuttall moved the score onto 64 for 3 before young Harry was caught out trying to increase the run rate.
Leach continued his recent impressive form finishing top scorer with 57, the villagers moving the score on well in the last few overs helped by unbeaten scores of 21 each from Liam Riley and Ben Clarke.
The score of 153 looked like it could have been a couple of dozen light but the Mount bowling attack got to work early and often taking regular wickets to break up any rhythm the Norden batsmen tried to impose.
Adam Clarke crucially grabbed an excellent catch on the boundary for the fourth wicket to dismiss Thorpe who had come out swinging with two sizes in the previous over.
Norden veteran Alan Howard kept his side in the game top scoring with 21 and the home side only needed 25 runs from six overs before Liam Riley bowled him then had Norden captain Jimmy Drury trapped in front of his stumps in the same over to seal the 12 points for Greenmount. Riley finished on 5 for 14 from seven overs with Dexter Crowther taking 3 for 16 and Ben and Adam Clarke taking a wicket apiece.
With Nelson – losing to Rishton – slipping to third behind Middleton in the process, Greenmount move 14 points clear albeit having played two games more than both rivals beneath them.
With uncertainty surrounding available dates to fit in their other fixtures before the league season end cut-off, a final game away at Towncroft against Middleton looks like it could be a title decider. Can Crowther’s Kids secure back to back titles?