Weekend preview – 24th/25th June
It’s the ninth round of league cricket this weekend and the Arrows have five teams out on Saturday, as well as two friendlies on Sunday.
On Saturday the First XI will visit Fortill for their fixture against Forfarshire. Last season Forfs finished in 3rd place, 1 spot above the Arrows. The side currently have 5 wins from 7 games in this year’s campaign. In last year’s league season the two sides met twice, with Forfs claiming the spoils on both occasions. In last season’s league game at Forthill the Arrows won the toss and opted to bat first. The men from Grange Loan found themselves in a spot of bother at 80 for 5 however Ali Evans (72) and Neville Madziva (68*) ensured the Arrows got to a total of 227 for 7. Despite Madziva removing Wallace from the first legal delivery of the innings, the Forfs middle order broke the back of the chase, allowing the tail to come in and finish the job in the 46th over with 2 wickets in hand. Madziva was the pick of the bowlers taking 3-55.
The 2nd XI will entertain league leaders Linlithgow at Grange Loan in the ESCA Championship. The away side finished 8th in the league last season, narrowly avoiding relegation. However fortunes have changed for the West Lothian side as they currently sit top of the table with 6 wins and 1 loss from their 7 completed matches. The sides won a match a piece against each other in last year’s campaign. In the fixture at Grange Loan stand in skipper Rory Allardice won the toss and elected to bat first. The side scrambled to 123 all out with only Mo Nauman (29) and Calum Everett (23*) able to make any sort of progress with the bat. 4 wickets from Charles Stronach and 3 from Allardice was enough to bowl the visitors out for 93 and give the Arrows a scrappy 30 run victory.
The 3rd XI will head to Goldenacre where they will face off against RHC’s 2nd team. RHC finished 3 spots above the 3s last year, ending up in 3rd place. The sides met twice last year, with the Arrows winning both matches. In the home match at Cavalry Park, the visitors won the toss and decided to bat first. RHC were restricted to 187 for 8 from their 40 overs with Gregor McIntyre picking up 3 wickets. In reply the Arrows chased the total down with 4 overs and 5 wickets to spare thanks to 89* from Zaki Yusaf and 46* from Isaac Foley.
The 4th XI are heading to Inverleith park as they encounter Drummond Trinity 3s. DT finished in 2nd place in last year’s ESCA Division 4 season,however were unable to be promoted due to their 2s residing in the division above. The sides met twice last year and each team won one game. In the away fixture last year the Arrows won the toss and took to the field. DT put 219 for 8 on the board despite 3 wickets each for Andrew Lang and Kyle Burgess. In response it was only Lang (44*) who found any sort of consistency with the bat and ultimately the Arrows fell 49 runs short.
To conclude action on Saturday the 5th XI will host Holy Cross 2s at the Meadows. Holy Cross 2s finished in 10th place In ESCA Division 6 last year and now find themselves sitting in 5th place so far in Div 7 this year. The sides have never met before, however last weekend the 4s lost out to Holy Cross’ first team at the same venue.
On Sunday the Women’s First XI will play a friendly fixture against the Northern Lights at Grange Loan. The away side have conceded the WPL fixture due to lack of players, meaning the Arrows have claimed the points, but the sides are still having a runout against each other with Carlton players being loaned to the Northern Lights to try and make it an 11-a-side fixture.
The Mixed Development team will also be back in action on Sunday at Peffermill for their match with Edinburgh South.