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Carlton Kwik Cricket Tournament You could almost have been forgiven for thinking it was summer at Carlton’s kwik cricket festival – dry and warm with the sun out! Ten teams (Carlton U9 Cubs, Carlton U10 Cats, Grange Stags, Grange Sharks, Livingston, Murrayfield DAFS, Penicuik, SMRH, Watsonians and West Lothian) and over 100 youngsters descended on Grange Loan for the last festival of the season. Thanks to John’s imagination we managed to squeeze in five pitches across the outfield, which allowed each team to play four matches - with plenty of attacking shots making the most of the short boundaries.
The Carlton teams had mixed fortunes. In the Cats first game against SMRH, few wickets were taken and it ended up being a close affair with the Cats winning by just 2 runs. Gregor W and Fabian both get a mention for good bowling, while Euan and Tom, Angus and Gregor W and Callum and Robbie all batted well as pairs to push the total along, which proved crucial in the end. Special mention also to George who kindly agreed to play for SMRH who were a man short. The Cubs first game was against Livingston, who fielded a team even younger than our own, which bodes well for the future of both clubs. Unfortunately for Livingston, the Cubs posted a phenomenal 297 with some aggressive batting from the likes of Benji (whose straight 6 would have graced a Test match) and Zack, a score which was never seriously troubled thanks to some accurate bowling from the likes of Hal and Brodie. Next up was a Cubs v Cats rematch. Last week the Cubs were victorious, so it was time for revenge with the Cats coming out on top this time. Cameron, Tom and Robbie all bowled well for the Cats, while for the Cubs the highlight was undoubtedly Jamie who superbly bowled Euan with the first ball of the innings followed by the other Cub’s debutant, Ralph, taking a wicket with the final ball! The Cubs batted well and conceded half as many wickets as the opposition, but sadly didn’t have the firepower to post a big enough total to overcome the Cats.
Last up were Grange. A steady flow of wickets for the visitors left the Cats with a modest total of 216, which was always going to be under threat. Nevertheless Grange was made to work for the win through a combination of good bowling (Gregour, Cameron and Euan in particular) and the Cats taking advantage of some fortuitous run out opportunities (well done to George in particular for being so alert). Nevertheless, Grange’s last pair did well to put the game beyond doubt despite Cameron’s wicket from the penultimate ball. Unfortunately, the Cubs struggled in their final 2 games as well, but still turned in competitive performance against teams with players who were in some cases 3 years older than them. First up were Murrayfield DAFS, who had a number of strong batsmen and batswomen whose total left the Cubs always chasing a score. The Cubs had to play some attacking cricket, but this unfortunately left gaps in the defence and wickets fell too regularly to allow them to mount a challenge. Special mention goes to Ewan, Zack and Brodie, the elder statesmen of the team who continued to encourage their teammates and play positively.
All in all, the Cubs batted with a composure that belied their years (evidenced by the fact that in each of the 4 games they lost fewer wickets than the opposition) and bowled and fielded with great enthusiasm and no little skill. With some of the boys having at least 2 if not 3 years of U9 cricket to come, it looks like the Cubs will a force to be reckoned with for the next few seasons. More generally, the most successful teams of the day were a traditionally strong Grange Stags team, Penicuik (who made the most of a mature group of players and an unorthodox team rotation policy capitalising on individual players’ strengths) and Watsonians. Special mention goes to Livingston who refused to be daunted by older opponents and competed enthusiastically throughout. The star performers of the day, however, were undoubtedly the Carlton parents who both turned out in strength to support the teams and produced a mountain of delicious home baking which was devoured by all. Thanks to the coaching team Iain, Miles, Ed and Brian; to Shona and Callum for calmly making sure each team made its way to the right pitch at the right time; to Lynne, Frances, Fiona, Marjorie and Helen for organising and serving refreshments all morning; to John for his continued support of Carlton kwik cricket and, above all, to our excellent kwik cricket ‘supremo’ Brian for organising a great day. Carlton Cats Results Game 1 Carlton Cubs Results Game 1 |
The last two games presented something of a challenge for the Cats. Watsonians posted a big total of 250 and the Cats fell short at 240 with the last pair of Cameron and Robbie having just too much to do, despite a valiant attempt.
The Cubs final appearance was against the Auld Enemy (Grange, not England!), and produced the usual hard fought game. Batting first, the boys were held to a modest 222, but it proved to be a decent score when backed up with accurate bowling and athletic and committed fielding. In the end, Grange only made their win safe in the final over, which is testimony to how well the boys bowled and fielded. Scott, Brodie and Hal defended their boundaries particularly well, with Brodie doing a passable impression of Superman on more than one occasion. On the bowling front, the pick of the bowlers was Ruairidh who frustrated the Grange batsmen with line and length bowling at terrific pace.