In a welcome development, girls cricket is finding a foothold in Dollar Academy (run by a cousin of Stevie Gilmour, incidentally).  So Carlton U16 girls made the trip over the Bridges of Stirling County for an early morning start in the beautiful setting of Dollar, Where Eagles Dare. 

The Carlton girls

As there was the odd Rookie on each side, we decided to play a couple of matches in kwik-cricket format using an incrediball.  In the first game, Dollar were first In the Line of Fire.  A steady start from the opening pair was undone when Hannah took a Fistful of Dollar with a caught and bowled off her final delivery.   Next, it was the case of The Beguiled as Miriam bowled a rare maiden over.  Tidy overs from Jenn and Fliss restricted Dollar’s third pair to only 6 runs and our keeper Sepp Meier took off the gloves to take a wicket against the final pair, leaving Dollar on a net 23. 

Chasing this total, in A Perfect World it was imperative to bat Every Which Way but Lose your wicket, and all Carlton pairs did well, each adding around 10 runs for a total of 39.  Only senior pros Hannah and Harriet lost a wicket, walking the Tightrope with their tactic of Hang ‘Em High eventually leading to a catch. 

In the second game, Carlton lost the toss and were put into bat.  Louise and Sepp again made a steady start, but then Jenn and Miriam made a Sudden Impact with a brilliant performance at second pair, adding a day’s high of 17 with shots of Magnum Force.  Despite some of their running between the wicket being a True Crime, they successfully ran The Gauntlet and senior pros Harriet and Hannah added 12 more runs, of the Any Which Way You Can variety.  Carlton ended on 41, without losing a wicket.

Despite an excellent final over, Dollar never threatened this total.  Their running between the wickets was a combination of The Good, the Bad and the Kamikaze. Another tight over from Fliss saw her win the title of The Enforcer as the most economical bowler of the day and Charlotte was so happy with her wicket maiden, she immediately texted her Gran, Torino.  In the penultimate over Louise surprised the batsman with a straight one and another run out meant victory was secured before an excellent final over by Dollar, with Two Pulls from Sister Sara.  Overall, Carlton fielded well and took their run-out opportunities and catches, though sadly Harriet didn’t make a diving stop to allow me to work in Dirty Harriet into the match report. 

Both teams line up for the camera. Clearly the Carlton Kit Marketing Department still has some work to do ...

Thanks to Dollar for their hospitality and it is great to have another opponent, though we could still do with a Few Dollar’s More to fill up our fixture list.  Thanks also to the match sponsor, computer firm Firefox. 

After Charlotte’s dad, the Pale Rider returned from his bike ride, we returned home.  On the car journey back, I repeatedly requested my daughter Play Wagner for Me, but she refused and is Unforgiven.