WITH the weekend weather forecast promising thunder and rain, it was always going to be a case of how many bonus points Atherton CC could winkle out between the showers in their quest for Redmayne Bentley Bolton Association championship.

They managed six on Saturday against Little Hulton and 12 on Sunday at home to Blackrod.

On Saturday, Steve Walsh won the toss and asked the home side to bat. Opening bowlers Greg Dimery and Ian Nuttall were soon among the wickets, taking one apiece in their second overs; Dimery bowling Paul Craig while Nuttall accounted for the dangerous Mark Penny, caught behind by Phil Williamson.

Dimery then bowled Dave Mullineux for five and had Ashley Perry caught by Phil West at forward short leg for one.

By the 17th over the score was 51 with Dimery having figures of 3-9 in 10 overs.

Phil Wakefield took over from Nuttall and bowled both Mick Edwards and Roger Kumah for five and two respectively and when skipper Ian Lee was run out for one in the 26th over, the Little Hulton score stood at 83-7 and six batsmen had contributed just 14 runs between them.

With extras accounting for 10, the remaining runs had come from the bat of professional Ijaz Mahmood who had come in at the fall of the second wicket. Not a classic stroke-maker, more a big hitting punisher of short and over-pitched bowling, he plundered his way to 59 off 79 balls with four 6s and five 4s when rain halted play.

After an early tea, Atherton were keen to get back on as they anticipated a quick three wickets and a target of around 100. Ijaz, however, had other ideas and when play finally resumed at 6.40pm in a stand with Paul Rushton, he bludgeoned his way to 96 with Rushton's share being nine.

A last wicket partnership of 25 between Danny Andrews (10) and Andy Sutherland (17 no) raised the score to 172 in the 40th over. Dimery finished with 4-63, Baines 2-27, Wakefield 2-30 and Nuttall 1-38.

The lost overs through rain left Atherton with just 12 overs to get 173 for victory, an impossible task by any standards.

The innings started with Dimery and Rob Clews setting about the bowling with great gusto. They slogged furiously to make 49 in the seventh over when Clews was out for 17.

After bowling three overs apiece Sutherland and Ijaz were taken out of the attack and the match degenerated into a farce as the remaining six overs were bowled by six different players.

The match finished at 8.25pm in semi-darkness with Atherton on 87-3. Dimery was unbeaten on 49 and showed his immense versatility by scoring the last 12 runs batting left handed!

Sunday saw Atherton having to bat first after a 30 minute delay for a mopping up operation.

Williamson lost his wicket early, falling lbw to Southworth. Dimery soon followed, unluckily playing on to fellow pro Dave Morris for just four.

Two excellent partnerships of 49 and 35 between Partington and Paul Walsh and Walsh and Clews. Clews opened his account with a six followed by a four and his 23 came off 21 balls while Partington's 25 took 63 balls.

Nuttall weighed in with a quickfire 18 but the best knock of the innings came from Walsh himself who made 46 off 69 balls.

With the ninth wicket going down on 131 and regular number 11, Steve Walsh, at the wicket, a third batting point at 150 looked unlikely. But Walsh, with David Baines, put together a final partnership of 19 which allowed Atherton to declare and claim five extra overs.

A 90 minutes break for rain during the Atherton innings meant that Blackrod's innings was reduced to 26 overs and Atherton's first aim was to take three wickets to gain the first bowling point.

This was achieved when Nuttall dismissed both openers and Dimery caught and bowled fellow pro Morris.

But things really turned Atherton's way when Walsh introduced son Paul into the attack. His first ball induced Steve Ashworth to give keeper Williamson his second catch. In his second over he had Jack Southworth superbly caught by Clews and in his third over he clean bowled Gary Speak.

Atherton claimed maximum bowling points and with Walsh bowling a final maiden, Blackrod's innings closed on 115-7 with Walsh returning 3-7 on top of his score of 46.

As the side batting first the Higham Park boys were able to double up their bonus points to finish with an acceptable 12.

This weekend Atherton travel to Spring View tomorrow while on Sunday Higham Park hosts the ' big one' against last season's champions and current league leaders, Walshaw. Both matches start at 1.30pm.