On Sunday 15th September our Under 11s rounded off a glorious season by winning the GMCL Under 11s Pairs Cup for the first time in our club's history, thus completing an incredible “cup double” following our success in the County Cup the previous weekend. 

In the GMCL Cup we landed a difficult cup draw, starting with a first round tie against rivals Royton. A clinical performance saw us come away with a 121 run win; Jim taking 3 for 8 from 3 overs and Harrison and Will smashing 24 and 20 respectively. A tie away at Milnrow was next. In a bizarre game, Greenfield amassed 112 for 3, Harley on fire with 42. In reply, Milnrow forfeited the game after 5 overs, allowing us to progress to a quarter final with Monton CC. With both sides already through to the LCF Finals Day, it was set to be a close contest and so it proved. On a late August evening, Monton won the toss and batted. Greenfield restricted a strong batting side to 34 for 6, Will taking 3 for 16. Despite a strong start from Jim and Lewis, GCC were pegged back in the middle order and Will and Harley needed 18 off the last four overs in rapidly fading light. With one over to go, GCC needed to avoid losing a wicket and in a tense finish Harley blocked out the last 3 balls to send us through to finals day.

With fortune favouring us in the draw, we hosted the finals day. On a damp day where ball dominated the bat with runs and boundaries difficult to come by, the first semi-final saw Denton St Lawrence CC beat Greenmount CC after strong bowling from DSL. The second semi-final with GCC taking on Friarmere in front of a large and excitable crowd was a much tighter affair and went right down to the last ball of the game. Greenfield, after being put in to bat, batted with great maturity and resilience against a strong bowling side containing both Lancashire opening bowlers, GCC steadily building a score whilst protecting wickets rather than trying to accumulate runs at pace. Only Harley with 15 runs achieved double figures, but only 2 wickets were lost allowing Greenfield to reach 237 for 2 off 16 overs. In reply Friarmere scored more fluently but also lost 7 wickets against hostile GCC bowling and exceptional fielding, the pick of the GCC bowlers being Lewis with season best figures of 3 overs, 3 for 6. Needing 18 off the final two overs, Jim conceded only 1 run off the 15th over and it looked like we were home and dry, however in the final over four singles and an extra left Friarmere needing 12 off the last two balls. The penultimate ball was then launched into the park for 6, creating an incredibly tense finish however Will held his nerve to bowl a dot ball and win the game for Greenfield to rapturous cheers from our supporters and players alike.

The final between Greenfield and Denton St Lawrence was played in increasing drizzle but was a less tense affair with GCC taking command of the game from an early stage, scoring 265 runs for the loss of only 4 wickets, Lewis and Will both scoring 18 apiece. In reply Denton St Lawrence were restricted to 209 for the loss of 11, the pick of the bowlers being Jim with 4 wickets for 1 run off 2 overs and Harley, this time bowling rather than keeping wicket, returning seasons best figures of 3 for 5 off 3 overs. A superb caught and bowled from Zander sealed the win, allowing Greenfield to add the GMCL Cup to the Lancashire Cup triumph the previous week.

In glorious weather the previous weekend, we had travelled to Wigan and returned home with the Lancashire Cup, which took place on Sunday 8th September at Highfield Cricket Club. Our route to the final had been relatively comfortable, with wins away at Heaton CC by 70 runs, at home against Glodwick by 76 runs, and at home against Wigan Wizards by 116 runs. Not that any of our opponents were not strong sides, we just played exceptionally well in all three matches. There had been some notable performances along the way - James's 5 for 31 v Wigan, Jim's 5 for 1 v Glodwick, Will and Harley both accumulating over 50 runs each over the three ties and Jake bowling an aggregate of 6 overs, 3 for 10 runs.

On a glorious late summer day, playing in the second semi final, we were drawn against Orrell Red Triangle CC. Unbeaten all season, they where always going to be strong opponents. GCC lost the loss and were invited to bat. Jim and Lewis got us off to a good start taking us to 216. Jake and Louis then took over followed by James and Harrison. In the face of some exceptional bowling and fielding, GCC reached 227 with 4 overs to go. Harley and Will knuckled down to get GCC to 247 despite losing a couple of wickets. Although this was less than we hoped for, it inspired the boys to bowl and field to a higher standard than they have ever done. Harrison was fantastic returning his best performance of the season with 4 for 7 from his 3 overs, and Will and Jim both reliable as ever both started and finished the innings each taking 3 for 11 from 3 overs. Wickets from Jake, James and Louis; and great fielding restricted Orrell to 189 for 13. 

After a short break, we were straight back out to play the final. Our opponents this time where the defending champions, Clitheroe CC, who we had arrived earlier to see them comfortably win the first semi final beating Monton CC, who had run us close in the GMCL quarter final on the Thursday evening. Winning the toss, Clitheroe elected to bat and started well. Bowling as miserly as always, Jim and Will kept the runs down to 7 off the first 4 overs but were unable to dislodge either of the openers. After 7 overs Clitheroe had not lost a wicket, but runs continued to be difficult to come by and Harrison eventually made a breakthrough as the pressure built. Lewis then took over spinning out another two quick wickets. The last pair began well and three boundaries suddenly threatened to take them to a formidable total. But Jim, bowling the last over had other ideas as he dismissed both batters to bring Clitheroe back to 239 for 5.

Needing a good start, Jim and Lewis didn't let us down, seeing off the opening bowlers and taking 16 off the target despite losing an early wicket. Jake and Alfie then added another 10 runs. With the game evenly balanced, and runs difficult to come by, Harrison smashed three boundaries in a partnership of 18 with James. Will and Harley now needed only 10 to win off 4 overs, but with the opening bowlers back on they knew any wickets would increase the target by 6 runs. Batting with great maturity, the two never looked like getting out and accumulated runs steadily and the game was safe with 3 balls to go. Our final score was 259 for the loss of only 2 wickets and GCC held the Lancashire trophy aloft for the first time in Greenfield's history.

So 2019 has been a hugely successful season for GCC. All together our players have played 21 games, scoring 2505 runs and taking 194 wickets along the way. Well done guys and good luck for under 13s. Hopefully more success will come in the next two years.

We are also proud that seven of our Greenfield under 11s  (Will, Harley, Lewis, Harrison, Jim, James, Jake and also Ben from the under 9s) have been in the Oldham District squad this season, with five players (Will, Lewis, Harley, Harrison and Jim) representing Oldham District in the semi final and final of the Bob Hurst Rosebowl trophy. Our boys contributed to another successful season for the Oldham District team and particularly in the semi and the final. Jim top scored and took 2 crucial late wickets in the semi final win against Bolton. Then in the final on 12^th September Will blasted the opposition away with 4 wickets and then carried his bat as well as top scoring as Oldham (84 for 5) beat Lancaster and Morecambe (83 for 9) to retain the Bob Hurst Rosebowl Trophy for a third successive year as District County Champions.