Weekend preview – 10th/11th June
It’s the seventh round of league cricket this weekend and the Arrows have five teams out on Saturday, as well as two more games on Sunday.
On Saturday the First XI will travel north to Scroggie Park for their fixture versus Falkland. Last season Falkland finished in 8th place, 4 spots below the Arrows. The side currently have 2 wins from 6 games in this year’s campaign. In last year’s league season the two sides met twice, with one game being lost to the rain and the other finishing as a tie. The sides have already faced off once this season, that came in the form of a second round Scottish Cup tie. In that game the Arrows won the toss and chose to bat first. 30s from Hugo Southwell and Ali Evans were the main contributions as the home side posted 158. Rory Allardice and Arun Pillai claimed 4 wickets apiece to help bowl Falkland out for 111 in the 34th over.
The 2nd XI will welcome Edinburgh Accies to Grange Loan in the ESCA Championship. The away side finished in 5th place, one position below the Arrows in the 2022 season. Accies have registered two wins so far from their five completed fixtures. The Arrows did the double over Accies last year, winning both matches between the sides. In the home game the Arrows were invited to bat first. Kyle Macpherson’s century and 72 from Hayden Laing helped build a formidable first innings total of 293 for 7. A strong opening bowling spell from Omar Ahmad (1-38) and Charles Stronach (3-22) reduced Accies to 49 for 4. Ruaridh McIntyre and Will Hardie then cleaned up the final four wickets in a timely manner to secure the Arrows a 169 run win.
The 3rd XI will also venture north this Saturday, as they head up to McKane Park for their meeting with Dunfermline and Carnegie. The hosts finished 1 spot above the 3s last year, ending up in 5th place. The sides met twice last year and picked up a win each. In the away match at McKane Park, the Arrows won the toss and elected to bat first. Having chosen to bat, the Arrows then found themselves 5 wickets down with only 27 runs on the board. A sizable recovery from Paul Kentish (71) and Amit Bij (51*) helped the 3s post 177. Despite 2 wickets from Rory Ledingham and 1 each for spinners Charlie Kentish and Max D’ulisse, Dunfermline chased down the target in the 34th over.
The 4th XI are heading across town to face RHC 3s at Gyle Park. RHC 3s finished in joint 6th place in last year’s ESCA Division 4 season, 2 places above the Arrows. The sides met twice last year and both games were won by the away side. In this fixture last year the Arrows won the toss and took to the field. The 4s got off to a good start, picking up the first 3 wickets with only 38 runs having been scored. RHC recovered well and set the Arrows the target of 191 to win. 3 wickets from Kyle Burgess was the highlight with the ball. In response the Arrows timed their chase to perfection, getting over the line with 3 balls to spare thanks to 67* from Harry Hardie. Alan Murray (33) and Richard Charman (25) also provided vital contributions.
To conclude action on Saturday the 5th XI will visit Newfield for a match against Drummond Trinity 5s. DT 5s finished in 5th place last year in ESCA Division 7, however they currently sit in 8th place having won two games and lost 4. This exact fixture came in Round 6 last year and was won by the Arrows. DTs were skittled for 87 in 35 overs with Angus Turner returning figures of 7-2-12-4. It was then down to the younger Turner, Hamish (34*), to guide the Arrows home to an 8 wicket win.
On Sunday the Women’s First XI will continue their WPL campaign at Grange Loan against RHC. RHC finished 6th in last year’s competition, 5 places below the Arrows. So far this season they have registered 2 wins from 4 games. In last season’s meeting RHC won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first. The Arrows struggled to a first inning score of 106 all out with Heather Tait’s 24 the top score. With Zaara Dancu blowing out 3 of RHC’s top 5, a sensational spell of bowling from Saskia Aldridge (2.5-0-5-5) ensured RHC were bowled out for 39, well short of their target. This win confirmed the Women’s side as WPL champions for the 2022 season.
The Mixed Dev team will also turn out on Sunday against Kelso at Peffermill.