123 all out

Ally Evans 3 for 31, Steve Gilmour 2 for 14

219 for 5 (47 overs)

Fraser Watts 117, Steve Gilmour 32 no

A soggy start to the Scottish cricket season, but Carlton's trip to Ayr survives the weather.  Fraser Watts, returning to the Carlton fold, starts with a composed, cultured 117, ably supported by Cedric Engish (21), the evergreen Bryn Lockie (27) and Stevie Gilmour (32 no).

219 for 5 in the early-season conditions proves more than enough as Alasdair Evans (Scotland Under 19,  Loughborough University,) blasts 3 for 31, the rest of the wickets shared around amongst some economical figures, including 1 for 18 off 9 overs, a great start for overseas amateur Michael Radnidge in his first game for Carlton.

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125 for 9 (45 overs)

Peter Wooden 5 for 20

126 for 5 (32 overs)

Bryn Lockie 50, Jamie Kerr 36

Carlton's second SNCL fixture survives the weather, but only just - in wet conditions at Titwood.

Michael Radnidge, opening the bowling with 2 for 14 adds to the pressure on the Clydesdale top-order, Qasim Sheikh making the only significant score (35) in 125 for 9 from a rain-shortened 45 overs.  Again, consistent, economical bowling by the 7 bowlers used; Peter Wooden's 5 for 20 (including two sharp stumpings for Jamie Kerr) tears out 'dale's middle-order , with 1 for 6 off 5 overs  for Dave Robertson at the other end imposing a stranglehold on the innings.

Tough conditions make life difficult for the Carlton top-order, but from 33 for 4, Bryn Lockie adds his usual solidity to the middle order in a textbook-demonstration – a solid start, sound defence, then easing comfortably into cruise control with a straight six off Ross Lyons, followed by 5 fours in quick succession. Accompanied by a similarly-controlled knock of 36 from Jamie Kerr,  Carlton cruise to victory with 13 overs to spare. 

Carlton stay top of the Premier Division pile alongside Uddingston.

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244 for 3 (50 overs)

Peter Wooden 130 no, Cedric English 70

Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Mohammad Aslam MBE

Cricket  1, Weather Nil : Carlton 10, Heriot's 2

This was as much of a battle between cricket and the weather as between the two teams.  A tough struggle at the start of the Carlton innings after Cedric lost the toss (again!).  Fraser departs early, but a steadying partnership between Cedric and Woody lasts 37 overs - patient and watchful at the start, increasingly belligerent at the end.    Cedric is eventually dismissed for 70, but Woody continues to finish unbeaten on 130, scoring off each of his last 19 deliveries- accelerating from a rate of 3.5 at 40 overs,  to add just short of 100 off the last 10 – 244 for 3. 

Tea was taken at 41 overs due to rain (maybe Woody just needed a cuppa?),  a further interruption and a battle to mop-up the square  left the match in the balance.  With thunder and lightning all around, Grange Loan was spared the worst and despite the damp, misty conditions, Heriot's batting started brightly, a six the first scoring shot. A Duckworth-Lewis calculation seemed destined to decide the match but a wicket for Ally Evans upped the required rate, then Mo Afzal and Woody combine to strangle the run-rate until the light deteriorated forcing an end after the 28th over with Heriot's on 87 for 2.  That last 10 over acceleration and some tight bowling proving decisive as Heriot's lost out in the DL calculation.

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Man of the Match: Peter Wooden

Haris, grandson of match sponsor Mohammad Aslam MBE, makes the Man of the Match presentation to Peter Wooden.

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Arriving at Shawholm on a damp morning to find that the covers had been left off overnight was not the best of starts! However, a 105 run partnership for the second wicket between Fraser (75) and Woody (60) set Carlton on the way, eventually reaching a competitive 196 for 9 off their 50 overs.

At 111 for 2 around the half way mark, prospects looked bleak but Steve Gilmour made the important breakthrough dismissing the dangerous Sajjad with the help of a Jamie Kerr stumping. Thereafter, wickets fell regularly as Poloc fell behind the run rate and a typically tight spell from Woody set the seal on a hard fought win. Fraser summed up the day: “I suppose it's a good sign when you win games without playing anywhere near your best."

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After their stunning win over Greenock the previous weekend there was no danger of Carlton treating the Under 19s lightly. Steve Gilmour perished during an impressive opening spell from youngsters Parker and Sharif, and Woody and Ced had to work hard to gain a foothold.

Once their collective eye was in, the two senior players treated the home crowd to a fine exhibition of stroke play as they both cruised to clinical centuries.

Again, there was no complacency after tea with wickets shared round all the bowlers. Carlton’s ‘other’ left armer, Tom Clarke, had the pick of the figures with 3 for 14 off his 6 overs.

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Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Angus Mair

A setback to Carlton’s title challenge as they finished a distant second best to visitors Ferguslie. It was a disastrous start, with Darren departing for zero and Woody following him shortly afterwards, his giant stride not saving him from being adjudged lbw.

Coming together at 4 for 2, a lot depended on Ced and Bryn. While they both battled hard, they struggled to find the gaps with any regularity and it was left to Stevie to up the run rate with a couple of mighty sixes late on as he made his way to an unbeaten 42 off just 35 balls.

Ferguslie’s overseas amateur played the pinch hitting role, riding his luck before Rad had him caught behind. Unfortunately, Con deLange was in fine form and he cruised to an unbeaten 89 as Ferguslie ran out easy winners

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On one of the coldest summer evenings imaginable, Carlton began their defence of the Murgatroyd Masterton Trophy with a big win over Edinburgh CC. From the moment the second ball of the innings disappeared up the hill for six, it was clear that Carlton were going to take some stopping. Jamie, Ced and Fraser all hit some cracking boundaries on the way to an imposing 195 off 20 overs.

The other highlight of the Carlton innings was the appearance of what looked suspiciously like a Carlton mascot. There was some mystery attached to the identity of the man inside the tiger suit and, while we're unable to shed any light on the matter, it was noticeable that club president Dave Carter was nowhere to be seen while the tiger was on the prowl.

The light was very poor for the second innings and Jamie sustained a nasty cut above the eye while keeping. Mo picked up 3 wickets while a young off-spinner by the name of Watts picked up 2, including a sharp catch to stand-in keeper Rob Thornton.

289 for 5

234 all out

Fraser Watts 92, Peter Wooden 35

Winning the toss, the locals elected to bat. Carrying on his good form with the new ball, Michael 'Rads' Radnidge was very unlucky not to get the first breakthrough as he was forced to watch the opposition Pro dropped off his bowling not once but twice, and escape a very enthusiastic shout for LBW. Mo Afzal finally managed to break the opening partnership by clean bowling Sean Weeraratna after he'd made a damaging 65.

Runs flowed for the home team as Carlton were forced to chase leather in what was an unusually below-par display in the field. Peter Wooden and Stevie Gilmour managed 2 wickets a piece in the effort to limit the damage. Greenock Pro Tim McIntosh eventually out for 69. Jamie Kerr grabbing 2 stumpings with a stitched-up right eye from the midweek 20/20 match. Richie Berrington scored an unbeaten 95 elevating the home team's score up to 289/5.

In what was always going to be a tough chase, Carlton suffered an early setback losing Ced English for 5. Wooden and Watts then came together batting both sensibly and forcefully, picking up runs without looking in any trouble. With strong belief in the Carlton dressing-room and a long batting line-up to come, the run chase was definitely on.

The loss of Wooden for 35, dented the Carlton momentum, but the loss of the next 3 wickets in fairly quick succession certainly swung the match to Greenock's favour. Bryn Lockie and Darren Spink both unlucky to fall victim to LBW decisions which went the 'Wright' way.

Jamie Kerr then joined the impressive Fraser Watts and the pair went about getting the run-chase back on track. This ever-more threatening partnership was unfortunately broken when JK was caught for 27. Charles Legget (22) provided some late resistance but when Fraser was caught for a well-made 92, the goal of 290 was a huge challenge to reach and the visitors had to settle for a couple of bonus points. Final score, Carlton all out for 234.

Story of the day was probably leaking too many runs in the first innings through fielding errors and too many extras given away. Thus, giving Carlton 40 or 50 runs too many to have to chase. Some encouraging signs with the bat however. Carlton will be eager to learn from and correct the mistakes and return to winning ways at the next opportunity.

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213 for 9

Peter Wooden 114

Carlton are rattled early losing Watts and English to some fine new-ball bowling from Paul Hoffman. Woody and Gilly steady the ship to get the score up to 100. Gilly (26) and Spinky (20) provide good supporting roles but Carlton struggle to recover from a middle order collapse. Wooden is unlucky to be run-out late in the innings after making a superb 114. Carlton 213/9 from their 50. This always looked as though it was 30-40 short of what was needed.

Off to a good start in the field getting the in-form pro Ed Cowan out for 16. Runs were leaked too easily however as Carlton tried in vain to contain the Uddy batting line-up. Overall, a sub-par effort in the field and with the ball allow Uddy to reach the target fairly comfortably with the loss of only 5 wickets.

Other than another fine hundred from Woody, a performance to forget for Carlton.

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239 for 9

Fraser Watts 44, Jamie Kerr 41

Fortunes fluctuated first one way then the other in this cup tie. Kamran Sajid hit a fine 83 and Clydesdale looked to be heading for a formidable total before tight bowling from Legget, English and Wooden restricted Clydesdale to 244 for 9 off their 50 overs.

Fraser Watts then got the Carlton reply off to a great start before he was caught on the boundary going for one big shot too many. Wickets then began to tumble regularly and Carlton eventually headed into the final over needing 22 runs to win. Two thumping sixes from Michael Radnidge suddenly put the match back in the melting point, before the young Aussie just failed to make contact with Ross Lyons’ final delivery with six more needed.

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115 all out

Cedric English 51

200 all out

240 for 6

Cedric English 57, Peter Wooden 45

After being sent in to bat on an uncharacteristically green-tinged, seamer-friendly Raeburn Place wicket, Carlton suffered the early loss of Watts, caught behind with the score on 16.

English and Wooden then came together and again combined beautifully lifting the score up to 99/1 at the drinks break. The partnership of 93 ended when Wooden (45) spooned a catch back to the bowler. English, requiring the assistance of a runner after sustaining a hamstring strain, played another vital innings which ended when he was caught behind for a well made 57.

The middle-order 'engine room' pushed the score along with useful contributions from Bryn (19), Gilmour (19) and Spink (20). With the score on 189/6 Rads joined JK and together the pair accelerated the scoring in the final 5 overs. Their unbeaten partnership of 51 included some fine, controlled hitting to set the home team a target of 240.

Rads and Mo Afzal showed great control with the new ball, applying pressure on the Grange openers. Mo picked up the opposition skipper cheaply, caught behind before a passing shower forced play to be stopped for 20 minutes. On the resumption of play, Mo dismissed the other opener, Maiden, to make the score 32/2.

Some Grange resistance came from Neil McCallum and Kiwi pro McSkimming but this was halted when Ced English, coming off the short run, clean bowled McCallum (35) just as he was starting to look threatening.

Rads was re-introduced with great effect picking up 2 wickets in a crucial period which swung the match slightly in Carlton's favour. When the pro departed for 65, following a very tidy stumping by JK off the bowling of Robertson, the home side were still 78 runs short. Another wicket for Robertson in the same over, along with 1 each for Omar and Stevie G pretty much wrapped things up as Grange were bowled out for 200.

The song was sung with great spirit as the Carlton Firsts enjoyed getting that winning feeling back.

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67 for 0 (19 overs) Abandoned

Fraser Watts 32 not out, Ben Duerden 26 not out

205 for 7 (50 overs)

Ali Evans 2 for 29, Steve Gilmour 2 for 36, Peter Wooden 2 for 47

Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Alan Kemp

Batting first, Watsonians were well placed at 115 for 2, but after opener Stewart was well caught by Fraser off the bowling of Steve Gilmour the visitors struggled in the face of some accurate bowling. Woody took 2 in 2 balls and eventually Watsonians had to be content with 205 off their 50 overs.

With rain forecast, a good start was essential. However, after 5 overs Carlton had still to put a run on the board! Fraser Watts and Ben Duerden played sensibly, though, and by the 19th over they had the score ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis calculations as Watsonians made it clear they didn’t fancy the by now wet conditions. Russell Weir made a valiant attempt from the sidelines to convince the visitors that they may as well play on (he was right; they would have got 2 points for losing – the same as for a no-result) but it was to no avail as the umpires took the players off one over short of a result.

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133 for 7

Rob Thornton 46

89 for 7

Omar Ahmad 3 for 7, Tom Clarke 2 for 19

After a spell of wet weather for days, Thursday, contrary to all weather reports, saw a bright, dry evening for this rescheduled Masterton semi-final.  Carlton won the toss and batted first, 60 off the first 8 overs a fine start, but 4 wickets in the space of 3 overs changed the complexion of the innings.  A valuable 46 from Rob Thornton rebuilds the innings to post a decent 133 for 7.  

Ally Evans with 1 for 12 off his 4 overs including the wicket of the dangerous Glen Rodgers set the tone, leaving Tom Clarke, 2 for 19 (including an arm-ball to dislodge the ever dangerous Graeme Gardner) and Omar Ahmad, 3 for 7, to clean-up the tail.  Stenhousemuir finishing on 89 for 7.    

On to the final on 10th July  for Jamie Kerr's  midweek marauders, facing last year's beaten finalists Grange.

255 for 6

(Cedric English 110, Bryn Lockie 80)

159 all out

Peter Wooden 3 for 16, Cedric English 3 for 23)

Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Frank Millar

Following the disappointment of the rained off clash with Watsonians, Carlton got back to winning ways with a comfortable win over Ayr at Grange Loan.

Skipper Cedric English, returning to the side following a hamstring injury, won the toss and strode into bat with fellow opener Fraser Watts. After losing Fraser in the second over and Woody with the score on 37, Cedric put together a commanding partnership of 170 with Bryn Lockie. The captain was eventually out for a very fine 110, with Bryn reaching 80 before being run out, as Carlton reached a challenging 255 for 6 off their 50 overs.

After another sumptuous tea prepared by the multi-talented Carlton tea ladies, the home side took to the field determined that there would be no slip ups this week and well aware that prolific New Zealand batsman Matt Horne would pose the biggest threat. Good early spells from Rad and Ally Evans, who picked up the first wicket with a finely crafted yorker, set the visitors on the back foot before two fine slip catches from Ced and Woody tightened the Carlton vice. The seal was set on a comfortable victory when Horne completely misjudged the length of a straight one from Ced and was sent packing by the umpire.

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32 for 0 (14 overs)

Abandoned

Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Alastair Ritchie

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154 all out

Bryn Lockie 37

A shocker from Carlton and a serious dent to our title hopes. With a highest partnership of just 39 we struggle to 154 all out with Bryn top scoring with 37.

Chances are there in the reply but too few are taken. Steve Knox is dropped on his way to 67 and, ultimately, his contribution is crucial despite a late flurry of wickets.

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200 for 8 (35 overs)

Cedric English 74, Peter Wooden 33

157 for 9 (35 overs)

Cedric English 3 for 19

147 for 9 (20 overs)

Fraser Watts 54, Cedric English 28

Grange

Loan

Carlton won the Murgitroyd Masterton trophy in front of a healthy crowd at Grange Loan, earning the right to take part in the inaugural National Finals Day.

Batting first, Carlton overcame the early loss of skipper Jamie Kerr thanks to a fine 2nd wicket partnership between Cedric English and Fraser Watts that helped to take the run rate to more than 7 an over by the halfway stage. After Ced departed rather unluckily when he holed out off a full toss, Man of the Match Fraser continued to pepper the boundaries on his way to 54. Some big hitting late on from Omar Ahmad (16) took Carlton to an imposing 147 for 9 off their allotted 20 overs.

Chasing a good total batting second in an evening game is always a challenge and Carlton turned the screw immediately with opening bowlers Ced and Mo picking up three wickets between them in their opening spell, including the dangerous Stuart Davidson. A rasping four overs from last year's hero Ali Evans decimated the middle order and Ced pounced like a youngster to score a direct hit with barely one and a half stumps to aim at.

A comfortable win in the end for Carlton and they now move forward to take part in the Murgitroyd national Twenty20 Cup finals day at Poloc Cricket Club on Sunday August 3.

138 for 9 (50 overs)

Steve Gilmour 5 for 27

139 for 4 (41.2 overs)

Peter Wooden 48, Bryn Lockie 33

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112 all out

Peter Wooden 37 not out

223 for 7

Peter Wooden 3 for 33

Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Bill Borthwick

Following heavy rain in the lead up to the match, skipper Ced was happy to insert the opposition on winning the toss. Rad made the early breakthrough when he induced opener Prabhu to edge to JK. Unfortunately, there were 75 runs on the board when the next wicket fell - Byrnes-Howe edging to Woody at slip off Ali Evans. When professional McIntosh finally fell on 84 to a Stevie Gilmour caught and bowled, Greenock were ominously placed on 153 for 3. Three wickets for Woody late on eventually restricted the visitors to 223 for 7 off their 50 overs.

What Carlton didn't want was to lose Cedric early. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened as he was adjudged to have edged behind. Wickets fell regularly and when umpire Wylie raised the finger in answer to bowler Wylie's appeal for lbw against Peter Swan, Carlton were in deep trouble at 52 for 6. Woody held firm and a couple of lusty blows from tail enders Mo and Ali at least saw Carlton to three figures as their title aspirations were put on hold until 2009.

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Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Archie Gray

Rained off

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153 all out

Cedric English 35, Peter Wooden 35

Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Richard Dickinson

Contrary to all expectations, Saturday dawned dry. Given the amount of rain that had fallen on Edinburgh in the preceding two weeks, however, there was no hope of the strip being a batsman’s paradise and it was no surprise when Grange skipper Sanjay Patel asked Carlton to bat on winning the toss.

As Ced and Fraser strode to the wicket in front of the assembled members of the Carlton 1988 squad, who were enjoying a sumptuous lunch, the consensus was that 150 might be a good total on such a day. This view was supported when Fraser, attempting to play practically the first attacking shot of the day, was comprehensively bowled by McSkimming.

Thereafter, Ced and Woody – not for the first time this season –worked hard to put together a decisive partnership mixing solid defence with the occasional attacking shot. Woody was growing increasingly frustrated and he was the first to depart on 35 when he misjudged a Gray full toss and was caught. When Ced departed lbw shortly after, also for 35, the impetus of the innings was lost with only Darren Spink sticking around to add some late resistance. When Mo was bowled in the penultimate over Carlton were all out for 153.

A good start was essential and that’s exactly what Carlton got with Mo and Rad sharing the first four wickets in their opening spells. However, pro McSkimming and Cameron Coles then wrested control back to the visitors as they put on a stand of 95 to take Grange within touching distance not only of a win, but of the Premier League title. It was Leggs who made the decisive breakthrough, nipping one back to take the bails of the startled Coles who had shouldered arms. Woody, who had beaten the bat on numerous occasions, then took a caught and bowled off his penultimate delivery to reduce Grange to 6 wickets down. With the experienced Simon Smith joining McSkimming, the match and the title appeared to be Grange’s for the taking until a sensational piece of fielding turned the match on its head; Steve Gilmour pouncing to hit one stump as Smith was just short of his ground.

Game on – and Ced soon responded by having McSkimming pinned lbw. Leggs then picked up his second wicket by trapping Gray plumb in front. Finally, with just 7 runs between Grange and the title, Ced induced Davidson to go for a big hit and Ali Evans was waiting to take his second catch of the day to round off a special day for Carlton, both on and off the park.

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128 for 8 (37 overs)

Peter Wooden 3 for 15

50 for 3 (22 overs)

Cedric English 33 not out

The Carlton travelling Barmy Army rolled up to Myreside in anticipation of enjoying putting one over our local rivals following the slightly contentious conclusion to the earlier meeting at our place. Comparisons were immediately drawn with the atmosphere at the Galatasaray football stadium in Istanbul when a couple of Sonians were seen carrying a dead pig in front of the clubhouse. What a relief when we discovered that their rugby club were having a barbecue that evening and this poor creature was then impailed on the spit.

Some of the Carlton afficionados splashed their way towards the square to examine the wicket only to discover that every blade of grass had been painstakingly removed by an obviously overworked groundstaff and that the match would take place on a sea of mud. Rad opened the bowling from the shallow end, while Juan and Bryn resembled two under-rehearsed synchronized swimmers at the deep end.

Meanwhile back at the barbie the coals were lit and after about an hour the rather appetising smell filtered its way upwards towards the bar where , needless to say, the travelling masses had re-located. Those previously mentioned afficionados then made their way towards the spit to discover that the boar (we had now been told that they don’t do pigs at Myreside) had slightly changed colour and was now a darker shade of pink. Some much needed exercise was then achieved by climbing back up the stairs to the bar to discover that the ranks of the Barmy Army had been doubled by the welcome arrival of Messrs. Alan Kemp and Frank Millar whose collective excuse for heading straight to the bar - that they hadn’t brought their wellies - was accepted without question.

The football results were now coming through on the clubhouse telly and dismay was evident at one corner of the bar on hearing that the Jambos had very fortunately overcome a rather unlucky and plucky St. Mirren side reduced to 10 men when their goalkeeper was struck on the arm by a pig’s head thrown from the home section of the crowd. The Myreside Hearts Supporters Club swear that they were not involved in any shape or form. Just then Hugh and Moon arrived and were immediately whisked downstairs and outside to have their opinions canvassed on the state of the rapidly grilling boar. Alasdair (whose views are totally respected) suggested that it should have been scarified for at least an hour and then brushed, cut and rolled for twenty minutes before being skewered and assembled on to the barbie. Brian (who had now arrived) stormed off back to Grange Loan in a fury because the pig’s trotters had been given to a passing dog as a reward for retrieving the match ball from a lake in the outfield fairly close to the barbecue. The smell of the barbie had obviously reached big Fergus’s nostrils, as he was heard extolling the virtues of grilled boar (which was all the more amazing because he was at Grange Loan at the time).

Just then all Hell broke loose when Ann and Nan were seen attacking the roasting pig with carving knives and began slicing copious amounts of succulent meat from the beast with a view to stocking the freezer for next season’s teas. They bravely held off an entire rugby fifteen for all of half an hour before succumbing to a ten minute speech from Mike Killey .

Suddenly it got rather dark and we noticed that the cricketers were coming off the park and shaking hands. The game apparently had been abandoned due to bad light with Sonians winning on the Vera Duckworth method.

For those interested in statistics: Cedric batted well. Fraggle was out first ball and then treated us to the worst excuse ever tendered for getting out - he lost sight of the ball against the backdrop of a rotating pig behind the bowler’s arm.

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141 for 5

Fraser Watts 61, Cedric English 28

As the Carlton squad warmed up, the first semi-final was played out on a damp Poloc square that had suffered as a result of weeks of seemingly constant rain in the Glasgow area. Dunfermline and Clydesdale played out a thrilling tie, with the Fifers eventually declared winners as they had scored more runs after 10 overs.

Skipper Jamie Kerr and Cedric English, resplendent in their blue and canary yellow outfits, strode out to the middle to face the Dumfries attack. JK, in the pinch hitting role, went for a pull shot early on but was unlucky to pick out a fielder.

Fraser then joined Ced and they showed all their cricket experience and nous on a demanding wicket as they knocked the ball into the gaps and ran hard.

Anything remotely resembling a bad ball was dispatched to the boundary and when Ced departed for 28, Carlton were on track for a good score.

Bryn then came to the wicket and began to run Fraser ragged – the younger partner having to stop for breath after each hard run two. Despite his usual dedicated and professional preparation for the match, the heavy ground was clearly taking its toll on Fraggle. Bryn, meanwhile, coasted between the wickets as the score mounted.

Fraser eventually departed for a superb 61, while Rob Thornton provided the best entertainment of the afternoon by completing a second run by diving from halfway down the wicket and timing his mud slide to perfection to beat the incoming throw. Unfortunately, his rather fetching blue and yellow Murgitroyd kit looked a touch muddy as a result of his efforts. Darren and Rad hit out and ran well at the end to see Carlton through to a very challenging 141 as the skies darkened even more.

Rad and Mo opened the bowling and both struggled a little early on to control the white ball. As the rain started to fall, the ball also became wet and the Dumfries openers took advantage to get off to a fine start. Mo, however, produced a good ball to send Davidson's stumps flying and Carlton began to wrest the advantage back. With Dumfries behind the run rate the rain progressed from steady drizzle to heavy rain to a torrential downpour. Play continued however with Leggs and Ali picking up wickets as the conditions turned farcical. The highlight was an attempted stumping by Jamie, who whipped off the bails with a confident appeal. On having the appeal turned down by an umpire who must have been struggling to see through the rain, JK wrenched the stump out of the ground. The spectators were horrified, convinced that they were about to see another show of dissent at an umpire’s decision – this time possibly involving physical violence. However, JK had merely spotted that the batsman had continued to wander away from the crease and was completing the successful stumping at the second attempt.

The last 2 overs were completed very quickly in the teeming rain and Carlton ran out winners by 40 runs. With further play impossible the final will now take place next April at Grange Loan.

A rather bizarre end to a fine season, which saw Carlton have their best ever Premier League finish, lift the Masterton Trophy and reach the final of the inaugural Murgitroyd Nattional Twenty20 Cup.

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