Weekend preview – 22nd/23rd June

The Arrows have six fixtures on the horizon including a second round Scottish Cup tie to look forward to on Sunday.

The First XI will head to Inverleith on Saturday where they will meet Stewart’s Melville.  The side based at Inverleith finished 6th in the EPL last year, 2 spots below the Arrows.  They are currently in 8th place this season with 3 wins and 4 losses.  The game at Inverleith last year was abandoned after 34.1 overs but in the game at Grange Loan skipper Arun Pillai won the toss and opted to bat first.  Umair Mohammed fell early but Daniel Da Costa joined Ru Main at the crease and after a watchful few overs began to open up.  The pair put on 261 for the second wicket, a new club record partnership, during which both batters brought up three figures.  The epic partnership was eventually broken in the 46th over with Main departing for 112.  Da Costa fell for 148 in the 48th over and there was a further clatter of wickets as the home side finished on 299 for 6 from their 50 overs.  In reply, Charles Stronach, playing his first 1st XI game for 17 years, removed both openers to leave the visitors 24 for 2 after 9 overs.  Things got worse for Stew Mel with a runout from Mohammed but a good 4th wicket partnership was developing.  Rory Allardice made the breakthrough in the 24th over to make it 98 for 4 but the home side had to wait until the 37th over for the next wicket.  Pillai was the man to strike with Stew Mel having 180 on the board.  Another 2 wickets fell in quick succession off the bowling of Mohammed and then David Saul got in on the act to claim a wicket on debut.  Pillai then picked up 2 in 2 to bowl the visitors out for 213 in the 43rd over to set up an 86 run win.

The Second XI will welcome Murrayfield DAFS to Grange Loan on Saturday.  DAFS finished 5th in last year’s ESCA Division 1 and are currently 8th this time out.  The sides have not met recently, however they did meet in 2018 in the ESCA Championship.  At Grange Loan the visitors won the toss and opted to bat first.  They were bowled out 146 in 44.4 overs thanks mainly to Mikey Brown as he picked up 5 wickets for just the 12 runs.  In reply the Arrows chased the total for the loss of 4 wickets in 28 overs, Fraser Watts’s 69* the mainstay of the innings.

The Third XI travel west to Campbell Park as they take on Edinburgh CC 2s on Saturday.  The men from Colinton finished 6th in last season’s ESCA Division 2 and are currently top of the league with 6 wins from 6 completed matches.  In last year’s outing between the two sides at Campbell Park Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bowl first.  Rain began to fall before the start so the match was reduced to 35 overs. When we did start, Shaun Smith and Ben Stronach bowled well up front and took early wickets. After another rain break, the skipper picked up three wickets and one each for Kyle Burgess and Andrew Lang. Smith and Stronach cleaned up the tail as Edinburgh 2’s were bowled out for 112 in the 33rd over.  A change in the batting order saw the Bruce & Shaun Smith open together and got the 3s off to a decent start before both were out bowled. Ben Thurman helped consolidate with Euan Keatinge before Arrows lost a number of quick wickets in the middle. However, Keatinge batted through and hit the winning runs in the final over in making 42 not out, well supported by Lang and Hamish Foley for a well deserved 3 wicket win.  

The Fourth XI will host Livingston’s 2nd team at Gyle Park on Saturday.  Livingston fell 1 place short of promotion from last year’s ESCA Division 5 but they currently sit top of the table this time out.  The most recent meeting between the two sides similarly came in 2018 in ESCA Division 5 at Peffermill.  Livingston 2s also won the toss and chose to bat first but never really got going.  After 33 overs they were bowled out for 87 with Mo Nauman and Alan Murray combining for figures of 10-5-10-6.  In response the Arrows made light work of the total, claiming victory in the 17th over with 9 wickets to spare.  Eric Edwards (50*) and Rob Grisenthwaite (10*) saw the 4s over the line.  If you’re interested in learning more about the 4s promotion winning season from the “super elite” ESCA Division 5 in 2018 a full complement of Fantasy Bob match reports can be found here.

On Sunday the First XI will entertain Aberdeenshire at Grange Loan in the second round of the Scottish Cup in a rearranged game.  Aberdeenshire currently play their league cricket in the SPCU NE Championship and have 7 wins from 7 games so far this season, leaving them at the top of the table and in line for the promotion playoff spot.  Aberdeenshire eased past Greenock in the first round of the cup this year, chasing down 197 in 30 overs for the loss of 4 wickets.  The two sides most recently met in the Scottish Cup in the 2019 quarter final.  Choosing to bat first, the Arrows lost Fraser Burnett early but good knocks from Kyle Macpherson (47), Rory McCann (119), Arun Pillai (37) and Corne Dry (78) propelled Carlton to 315 for 6 from their 50 overs.  Dry picked up both Aberdeenshire openers cheaply and Ali Evans and Adeel Raza claimed 3 & 2 wickets respectively as the visitors were bundled out for 97 just after drinks.  The Arrows went on to beat Dyce in the semi final but fell short against Heriot’s at Meikleriggs in the final.  Jamie Beattie is set to make his First XI debut, playing for Carlton’s top team for the first time alongside his brother Angus.

The Fifth XI will host Drummond Trinity 5s at Peffermill on Sunday.  DT 5s finished three positions below the Arrows in 8th place in 2023.  The two sides are level on points and points percentage with each other, meaning they are both in joint 6th currently.  In the match last year skipper Keith Murray won the toss and inserted the home side.  After 3 overs DTs were 0 for 3 as Stu Dawson (2) & Kartic Subr (1) removed the top order.  A modest recovery was broken as Subr claimed a 2nd wicket to leave the home side 23 for 4 after 8 overs.  A decent 5th wicket stand was broken by Rahul Khadse and just before drinks he claimed another to reduce DTs to 61 for 6.  John Gill & Benji Risi then shared the last 4 wickets as the home side were bowled out for 99 in the 29th over.  The skipper changed up the batting order and although 3 wickets fell relatively early Tom Hathorn (39*) and Risi (20*) saw the 5s home in the 31st over for a 7 wicket win.