Uppermill in search of third win

ANDREW JONES . . . the tall Uppermill bowler took six wickets in his side’s first league win of the season against Friarmere.

CRICKET: LIFTED by back to back successes, Uppermill head to Whalley Range with a spring in their step tomorrow.

The departure of key players at the end of last season left a big hole at Leefields, and until beating East Lancs PM in the LCB Cup a couple of weeks ago, victory had eluded them.

The first win in the SWB Commercials Saddleworth and District Cricket League arrived six days later against Friarmere, when captain for the day Andrew Jones helped himself to six for 27 and overseas amateur Daelon Campbell scored an unbeaten 60.

The trick for Uppermill is now to make it three in a row at Kingsbrook Road. Whalley Range won’t be a pushovers though. Fifth in the table, they are only 10 points behind the joint second-place teams, and they have been defeated only by two of the current top-three sides, Saddleworth and Greenfield.

Leaders Saddleworth hit the road to Wythenshawe, while joint-second Moorside will test fourth-placed Glodwick at Turf Pit Lane. The visitors are coming to the boil nicely, having won their last six games. But they have faced nothing of the calibre of Danny Anchor’s men.

The carrot for Glodwick is that victory would see them jump two places into second as it is Greenfield’s open date.

Just outside the top five, Austerlands will look to recover from their first defeat in the league so far this season — they were vanquished by Moorside — when they go to Friarmere.

Of the other two fixtures, Droylsden come back from an open weekend by hosting Stayley and Micklehurst welcome South West Manchester to Castle Lane, hopeful of turning over the basement side.

Sunday’s action surrounds the Readers Inter-League Knock-out first-round meeting between the Saddleworth League, skippered by Peter Skuse, and the Liverpool Competition at Moorside Cricket and Bowls Club.