GREENMOUNT are sweating on a Lancashire Cricket Board decision that could see them reinstated in the Lancashire Knockout.

The village side went out to the Merseyside Competition's Huyton on Sunday, but the victors may have blotted their copybook by playing an ineligible player.

New Zealander Kevin Murphy cracked an unbeaten century in his side's victory, but competition rules state that overseas amateurs aren't allowed to play if a club has a professional.

In their defence, Huyton maintain that the Kiwi has a British passport and, that being the case, he was eligible to turn out in the tournament.

The rule in question, rule 8, states: "Any amateur player who has not been continuously resident in the UK for a period of 12 months, prior to the start of the season shall not be eligible to play, unless he is the overseas amateur. This rule shall not apply to expatriates of the UK."

The big question is whether Murphy IS an expatriate or is deemed so by having a British passport, which he could merely be by being born to expatriate parents.

Competition organiser and Lancashire Cricket Board chairman Neil Girvin is of the opinion that the Merseysiders have done nothing wrong in playing Murphy, but the Greenmount cricket committee think otherwise and have registered a complaint.

Bolton League chairman Ray Taylor and president Peter Stafford question Girvin's intepretation of the rule and are taking up the club's case.

A decision is expected at a meeting of the Lancashire Cricket Board on Monday.

Whichever way the Board jump, this particular rule is a 'grey area' and clarification is certainly needed to avoid any confusion in the future.

Huyton batted first in the tie and racked up an impressive 245 for 5 from their 45 overs, mainly thanks to Murphy's knock and a fine 130 from Aussie Grant Lambert.

That total was always going to be a tall order for a depleted Greenmount side, missing four first teamers from the day before.

Professional Nishit Shetty top-scored with 46, while nephew and uncle partnership Ryan Senior (33) and Dave Senior (31) also chipped in with telling contributions.

Nevertheless it proved insufficient and the villagers were bowled out two short of the 200 mark.

On Saturday Greenmount moved into second place in the league table with a winning draw at Bradshaw.

Batting first they set the home side a formidable target of 268 to win, with Shetty again among the runs, blasting 82.

Good contributions also came from skipper Mark Fallon (45), John Ashworth (43) and opener Andy Bowker (32) neither of who played in the Huyton game next day.

Undaunted by their target, Bradshaw made a good fist of the reply and were 217 for 7 at the end of their innings.

Fallon took the bowling honours with 4 for 41 from his ten overs.