Accrington v Colne
Sunday April 21st 1996

Lancashire League
Sunday April 21st	Score		Score
Accrington	167-9	Colne	217-7
Scorecard
Colne (4pts) beat Accrington (0pts) by 50 runs

Accrington 1st XI 1996

Accrington' went down to a 50 run defeat to Colne on the opening day of the 1996 season at Thorneyholme Road. In a match reduced to 45 overs a-side, Colne posted 217-7 and then restricted Accrington to 167-9. In the absence of new professional Chad Grainger, West Indian Steve Dublin stood in but fell for a duck after conceding 56 runs in a wicketless 17 over stint. Azad Akram claimed the first wicket by trapping opener Darryl Halstead (9) in front at 26. Andy Roberts (47) joined professional Ben Johnson and the pair added 111 for the 2nd wicket before Martin Whittle dismissed Johnson for 88, including ten boundaries. Skipper Gary Hunt (15) fell to Damian Clarke (4-57) at 162. Andy Clark (8) was run out at 170 and Roberts chipped a return catch to Clarke at 185. Clarke also picked up Jeff Ellis (6) at 198 and Nigel Rimmer (4) at 217 off the final ball of the innings. John Lambert was unbeaten on 31 with Scott Greaves taking three catches in the innings. Mark Stevenson (16) fell to Nick Moulding at 33, with Lambert having the other opener Paul Barratt caught by Ellis for 24. Kevin Cullen snapped up Whittle (11) and Dublin with Hunt (4-40) removing Russell Edmonds (38), Tofeeq Khan (8), skipper Brian Holmes (7) and Clarke (5). Wayne Roberts hit 30 before falling to Johnson with Akram unbeaten on 16 and Greaves 1 not out when the innings closed on 167-7.