Sunday 27th April – First team v Bacup at home. Won by 71 runs. 12 points.
Bacup won the toss and elected to field on a pitch which was firm but offered movement to the bowlers if they found the right areas.
Professional Jacques Snyman (70) and Gav Nicholl (57), navigated the conditions brilliantly however no other batter reached double figures as the Greenmount innings stuttered to 174 all out.
They were indebted to a fine last wicket rearguard stand from Nicholl and Amal Dalugoda who combined watchful resistance with counter attacks to put on 32 valuable runs.
The Bacup batting line-up soon found the going similarly hard in the face of a fiery spell from new man Ishy Patel who bowled with good pace and bounce.
However, the introduction of Amal Dalugoda turned the game to Greenmount as he picked up three wickets in a miserly spell.
Bacup pro Chirag Khurana played a fine knock of 55 before being well held by Amal off the bowling of Callum Hunter who finished with 3 for 35.
Dalugoda 3 for 9, Patel 2 for 31, Snyman 1 for 3 and skipper Travis Townsend 1 for 24 took the wickets.
The win caps a fine start in April with Greenmount on top of the division with maximum points from the first two games – but let’s not get too excited – 20 more matches yet to play!
Sunday 27th April – Second team v Bacup away. Won by 7 wickets. 10 points
Oliver Dixon’s young second team travelled to Bacup and came home with a win and another very encouraging performance.
Fielding first, The Mount restricted their opponents to 177 for 5 from their 45 overs.
Dixon used seven bowlers, all keeping it tight and making the batters work hard for their runs.
George Kenyon 1 for 14, Ed Wackrill 1 for 26 and Oli Dixon 2 for 44 took the wickets with a run out collaboration between Dixon and Jack Hallows accounting for the fifth.
The Greenmount reply resulted in a very satisfying seven wicket win thanks to fine unbeaten half centuries from Ed Dickinson and Toby Leach.
Indeed they were assisted by Max Birtwistle who acted as runner for the injured Dickinson but the three batted with composure and control to pass the target with 13 overs to spare.
Edward hit his second 50 in successive weeks with eight fours whilst Toby struck eight fours and two sixes.
The win sees Greenmount in fourth place and at the right end of the table, ending the month on a very positive note!
Saturday 26th April – Third team v Littleborough away. Lost by 3 wickets. 3 points.
Mark Crowther won the toss, chose to bat and despite the early loss of Nuttall saw Wesley Young and Ed Wackrill reach 73 after 15 overs.
Young was out for an enterprising 28 but his dismissal saw the innings falter as wickets fell regularly.
Wackrill meanwhile compiled a useful, patient 54 and it was left to the experienced Liam Riley (21 not out) to guide The Mount to a respectable 150.
At 55 for 6 Littleborough were rocking against fine bowling from young openers George Kenyon and Dexter Crowther whilst Liam Riley bowled in tandem with debutant son Jake.
However, the canny experience of 67 year old Chris Dearden tipped the scales in favour of the home team and Borough edged home losing only one more wicket. Liam Riley returned superb figures of 3 for 6 from eight overs whilst Kenyon and Crowther bagged two apiece.
Plenty of positives for Mark Crowther’s team , especially from the younger emerging players.
This weekend we see the first team host Enfield on Sunday with the seconds travelling to the same opponent. Bank holiday Monday sees the thirds in action away at Middleton .