Weekend roundup – 12th/13th June
The weekend got underway with the 1st XI hosting RH Corstorphine at Grange Loan. Skipper Tom Simpson won the toss and chose to bat first but lost Arun Pillai in the first over. Shujaa Khan & Simpson then set a new club record partnership of 226 for the second wicket with both men bringing up three figures. Simpson fell first for 103 and then Khan for 145 as Carlton rattled up 325 for 6 from their 50 overs. The visitors got off to a fast start but wickets slowed their progress. In the end RHC were bowled out for 114 in the 38th over with Pillai taking 4 for 8.
The 2nd XI travelled to Campbell Park to take on Edinburgh CC. Pete Deakin lost the toss and Carlton were asked to field first. Charles Stronach and Calum Everett each picked up an early wicket but a number of dropped catches allowed Edinburgh to post 180 for 6. In reply, Carlton lost both openers early but Deakin (27) and Will Hardie (20) rebuilt. A useful middle order contribution from Ben D’Ulisse (41) wasn’t enough to get the 2s into a winning position and they were bowled out for 151 in the 49th over.
The 3rd XI welcomed their counterparts from Heriot’s to Peffermill. Paul Kentish won the toss and inserted the visitors, bowling them out for 128 in the 38th over. Saif Khan claimed 4 wickets with Amit Bij picking up a couple and there was one each for Sam Haggo; Andrew Lang; Zaki Yusaf and a run out. Yusaf hit 48 in the reply but wickets fell regularly and the last wicket pairing of Bij & Max D’Ulisse still needed 22 for victory. The youngster hit two glorious cover drives to the fence as he and Bij saw the 3s home in the 36th over.
The 4th XI were at Cavalry Park 2, entertaining a Watsonians 3s. Skipper Brian Kaczynski lost the toss and the visitors chose to bat first. Despite a couple of early wickets for Rudy Adair & Fraser Kentish Watsonians were scoring freely on the compact surroundings. In the end the visitors posted 306 for 5 with the Watsonian skipper Rory High making an unbeaten 136. In reply Charlie Kentish made 61 and there were useful contributions from David Simpson (34) and Shuaib Farooq (20) as well as an unbeaten 51 run 10th wicket partnership between Joe Ward (21*) and Kaczynski (23*), but the 4s fell 80 runs short.
On Sunday the 1st XI were on Scottish Cup Duty taking on Heriot’s at Goldenacre. Tom Simpson won another toss and again opted to bat first. Arun Pillai and Shujaa Khan got off to a better start than the day before putting on 47 for the first wicket before Khan fell for 24. Simpson (24) and Ali Shah (26) also got starts and Pillai completed his half century before being run out for 53. That prompted an almighty collapse as 131 for 4 became 147 all out with Carlton leaving nearly 12 overs unused. The total looked well short of being competitive and so it proved as Heriot’s chased it down in the 21st over with 10 wickets in hand.
The Women made the long journey to Gatehouse to take on Dumfries/Galloway Women in round 4 of the Women’s Premier League. Annette Aitken-Drummond won the toss and chose to bowl first. A strong performance in the field saw the home side bowled out for 84 in the 28th over. Masie Maceira was the pick of the bowlers, claiming 5 for 14 while there were 2 wickets each for Hannah Rainey and Ashley Robertson and 1 for Leanne Farmer. In reply Abby Aitken-Drummond hit 25 and the skipper chipped in with 29 not out as the Carlton won by 7 wickets with 13 overs to spare.
Back at Grange Loan the 5th XI entertained Dunfermline & Carnegie 2s. Batting first, Carlton scored 240 for 8 thanks largely to 140 not out from U15 Rory Ledingham – the first ever century for the 5s. Ledingham carried his bat and was well supported by Stu Dawson (25) and Martin Robertson (24). In reply the visitors lost wickets up front and despite some good middle order hitting fell 39 runs short. Robert Rowlands was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 11.
The Mixed Development XI travelled to Lewisvale Park to take on Musselburgh 3s. The home side batted first and scored 132 for 6 from their 25 overs with David Rowlands picking up 2 wickets and one each for Caitlin Hutchinson; Jack Farmer and skipper Bob Irvine plus a run out from Blair Mackenzie. Unfortunately the total proved to be too much for the Mixed Dev side as they were bowled out for 41.
Earlier in the day the Kwik Cricket squad was due to entertain Gala, but due to an unfortunate COVID outbreak in a local primary school the borderers had to call off. Undaunted by the late change of plan, 24 Carlton Kwik Cricketers played a set of close-fought and entertaining intra-club games in glorious sunshine.
The U13s made the journey north to McKane Park for the finals day of the ECB Vitality Scottish Cup. First up were Gordonians in the semi-final and skipper Fergus Foley won the toss and opted to field first. The small ground was hard to defend and the side from Aberdeen got off to a quick start with some excellent running between the wickets. The Carlton lads stuck to their task and restricted Gordonians to 96 for 6 with Harry Sharman claiming 2 for 7. In reply the young Arrows knocked the runs off in the 9th over for the loss of 2 wickets; James Stronach top scoring with 32ret.
Clydesdale were next up in the final and the skipper again called correctly and inserted the side from the West. Another fine all round display in the field saw Carlton bowl out Clydesdale for 50 in the 15th over. Sharman again led the way with 4 for 9 and Robbie Murray cleaned up the tail with 2 for 9. Openers Lewis King (22) and Oli Stones (24*) did most of the damage with the bat as the U13 chased down the total for the loss of two wickets in the 8th over to claim the silverware.