WOODBANK, Walshaw and Bury all made a losing start to the Premier Division season in the Greater Manchester League.

Anthony Harris's Woodbank side came closest to victory of the three, falling 35 runs short of the target set by visiting side Roe Green.

All five bowlers used by the home team claimed a wicket, with Lee Ingham leading the way with 3-30.

Ingham took three of the top four batsmen in the order, but Luke Williams, coming in at five for Roe Green fired 63 from 68 balls to push up their total before they were bowled out with three overs remaining.

Harris underpinned Woodbank's run chase, making a patient 36 after opening the batting.

But after losing their pro, Jon Whitehead for a duck, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals.

Steve Dearden (22), Tom Murphy (25) and Dom Gowers (22) all failed to convert starts into match-winning innings as they were bowled out for 166.

Adam Holt's 89 and a 50 from Sam Dorsey put Clifton out of reach for Bury.

The pair helped the home side reach 211-9 and Karl Belston's never looked like getting close before being bowled out for 124.

Jon Wiggans, a new signing from Unsworth, top scored for the Radcliffe Road men with 24, while pro Kasun Adikari and Mukhtar Nasir each took three wickets.

Walshaw, meanwhile, fell to a 123-run defeat at Flixton.

Alton Beckford hit 13 boundaries in his 80 from 60 balls as Flixton made 220, with Liam Riley claiming 4-47.

Shabnan Ali top-scored with 20 as only four Walshaw batsmen made it to double figures in their reply.

Division Two was a much happier hunting ground for our local sides, with all three claiming victories.

Brooksbottom bowled out Astley and Tyldesley for 88 after setting them a target of 141 to win, while Edenfield passed Whalley Range's total of 143 with eight wickets to spare.

Elton showed they mean business with a 44-run victory over Prestwich seconds.

Captain David Murray will be hoping his side can bounce straight back up after they were relegated from Division One last season.

Club professional Anwar Ul Haq should play a key role in any title charge. He made 51 of Elton's total of 201 all out then took four wickets, as did Steve Filkins, as the Prestwich run-chase folded.

Both Elton Vale and Radcliffe began life in Division Three with victories. Vale (171-9) beat Deane and Derby (101) by 70 runs, while Radcliffe (63-3) beat Littleborough Lakeside (62) by seven wickets in a low-scoring game at the Racecourse.

In Division Four West, there were wins for ELPM (117-3), by seven wickets at home to Winton seconds (114), and Tottington St Johns (133), who beat Greenmount seconds (118) by 15 runs.

GMCL fixtures

Saturday

Premier Division: Bamford Fieldhouse v Woodbank, Bury v Denton West, Denton St Lawrence v Walshaw.

Division One: Greenmount v Dukinfield, Unsworth v Woodhouses.

Division Two: Elton v Glossop, Swinton Moorside v Edenfield, Whalley Range v Brooksbottom.

Division Three: Elton Vale v Astley and Tyldesley, Irlam v Radcliffe.

Division Four West: Flixton 2nd XI v ELPM, Tottington St Johns v Bury 2nd XI.

GMCL ins and outs

Premier Division

Bury

Captain: Karl Belston

Professional: Kasun Abikari

Incomings: Jon Wiggans (Unsworth)

Outgoings: Mohammed Jahangir (Unsworth).

Walshaw

Captain: Mikey Watt

Professional: Saif Bhojani

Overseas amateur: Dylan Blignaut

Incomings: Shabnan Ali (Kearsley), Joe Smith-Butler (Litteborough), Ben Parkinson (Ramsbottom).

Outgoings: Tom Murphy (Woodbank).

Woodbank

Captain: Anthony Harris

Professional: Jonny Whitehead

Incomings: Chris Read (Edgworth), Lee Ingham (Haslingden), Tom Murphy (Walshaw)

Outgoings: Damion Stringer, Faisal Ahmed (Elton).

Division One

Unsworth

Captain: Jack O’Brien

Professional: Mangaliso Mosehle

Overseas amateur: Leighton Friend

Incomings: Aman Arora (Walkden), Shoaib Mohammed (Elton Vale), Mohammed Jahangir (Bury)

Outgoings: Chris Williams (Middleton), Jon Wiggans (Bury).

Greenmount

Captain: Phil Heaton

Professional: Kaustub Pawar

Overseas amateur: Sachin Varadarajan

Incomings: Cameron Smith (Newton Le Willows), Saad Khan (Rainford)

Outgoings: Andy Kerr (Heywood), Ryan Senior (Bamford Fieldhouse).

Division Two

Elton

Captain: David Murray

Professional: Anwar Ul Haq

Amateur: Gareth Edwards

Incomings: Rob Powell (Didsbury), Faisal Ahmed (Woodbank).

Brooksbottom

Captain: Oliver Hawley

Overseas amateur: David Schierhout (South Africa)

Incomings: Kyle Ogden, Oliver Argyle, Zaeem, Mohammed Hammed

Outgoings: none.

Edenfield

Captain: Adam Barnes

Professional: Paul Gallagher

Overseas amateur: Wade Van Zyl.

Division Three

Radcliffe

Captain: Martyn Coates.

Elton Vale

Captain: Zeeshan Anwar.

Division Four West 

ELPM

Captain: Paul Hewart

Professional: Matthew Smalley (Flowery Field)

Incomings: Dan McCaffrey (Winton).

Tottington St Johns

Captain: Michael Watts

Incomings: Brett Collins (Woodbank), Ryan Wilkes (Woodbank), Mark Hague, Michael Proops, Mark Parkinson (Glodwick).

Outgoings: Stephen Brooks (Woodbank) and Lee Kenyon (Woodbank).