In April 2011, an under-strength Carlton lost out to a strong North Down in a match played in bright, warm sunshine. This year the only similarity was the presence of sunshine – there was little warmth to be found on a chilly day as a full-strength Carlton trounced the visitors who were short of a few first-team regulars.

Batting first, Carlton soon lost Stevie Gilmour lbw but the Scotland duo of Fraser Watts and Preston Mommsen kept the scoreboard ticking along before Fraser (13) and Preston (38) departed in quick succession. New boy Umair Mohammed (below) combined with Gordon Drummond, with the debutant having a confident start, putting on 76 with the Scotland skipper before being stumped on 40. Drummo was joined by new Head Coach Toby Bailey and the pair took the game to the visitors with Toby putting in a lot of hard running either side of a flat six that nearly took out a spectator.

Drummo eventually perished for 44, with Jamie Kerr hitting some late runs to carry Carlton to 237 for 6 off their 45 overs, Toby remaining undefeated on 47.

The North Down reply got off to the worst possible start with their opener clipping the first ball of the innings from Preston straight to Gilly at mid-wicket.

New boy John Hutton (left) took the new ball for the second over and immediately picked up his first Carlton wicket. When Preston collected a trademark spectacular caught and bowled off the first ball of the fifth over, the visitors had slipped to an improbable 11 for 5 ... and by the time left armer Hutton completed his fourth over his swinging deliveries had earned him debut figures of 5 for 8 and North Down were 18 for 7.

A wicket for Omar Ahmad and two debut wickets for our other left-armer, young Aussie Michael Herdman, soon closed the innings on 31 giving the home side a crushing win to start the season.

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MATCH ABANDONED

The vice captain reports ...

A great effort by the ground staff and players to get the puddles mopped up allowed the 1st XI to start a reduced overs game at 1.30pm.

Watts and Gilmour opened the innings sporting the new coloured kit and sky blue pads. An eventful first over, which included 4 wides, saw the captain crunch 2 balls to the cover boundary and then one straight to extra cover. 16 for 1 after 1 over!

Wickets kept tumbling despite the score board ticking along at very good rate. Debutant Umy and the experienced Sean Olivier managed to consolidate things with an excellent partnership, Umy finishing with a classy 63no after the innings was cut short at 36 overs after yet another rain shower.

With 181 to win in 36 overs it was going to be a tough ask for our visitors from Poloc, however one last heavy shower ended our hopes of a result after only 3 overs of the Poloc innings.

Earlier Scotland internationalist Preston Mommsen presented young debutant Chayank Gosain with his 1st XI cap in the team huddle, a great moment for the youngster, who will be itching to get another opportunity on a drier day.

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Scorecard

The skipper reports ...

We travelled through to a Greenock with one change to the side from the previous week with Omar coming back in for Stevie G who was looking after his school U11 team.

We won the toss on what was a dry but green tinged wicket and chose to bowl. Greenock got off to a steady start although the Hutt claimed an early scalp when an edge behind was snared by a flying Kerr who leapt like a salmon (a well fed salmon) and put out his right paw to take the ball an inch off the ground. It was vintage Kerr and there was a ripple of applause around the ground as well as a ripple on the nearby Clyde as the flying Kerr landed.

Greenock steadied the ship and were 55-1 when birthday boy Herdy was introduced in the attack. He bowled with accuracy and extracted enough movement out of the pitch to bowl the dangerous Baum before nicking off a settled Berrington to the flying Kerr, although Kerr was stationary on this occasion. The heart had been ripped out of the Greenock resistance and we were on top. Herdy continued to bowl well and was ably supported by the ever reliable Omar who had no luck whatsoever and saw numerous nicks fly through the slip cordon prompting the flying Kerr to enquire whether Messrs Mommsen and Drummond were wearing blind folds!

The coach took matters into his own hands and marched into the cordon in a effort to show the incumbent slippers how it was done. When, a couple of overs later, Drummond induced a nick, Bailey charged at the ball and snared it in his considerable midriff in what was a masterclass in slip catching. We all looked on in awe.

In what was his first game, Cheeky bowled a good set of 6 overs claiming 2 for 13 including a superb catch from the coach at silly point. It was a sharp chance but inspired by the earlier effort of the flying Kerr, Bailey dived full length to take the ball after it had taken the edge and the pad and cannoned back up the wicket. The jet skiers on the Clyde were having a field day.......! Herdman was brought back into the attack and finished the innings off whilst claiming his 5th wicket, finishing with figures of 5-6 in 6 overs! Well done.

Sean was promoted to open the batting in Gilmour's absence and clubbed Berrington for 8 in the first over to get us off to a good start before perishing to a good ball in the next. Mommsen then came in and struck 55 off 45 to steer the ship home. I chipped in with 18 before succumbing to a cunningly disguised slower ball bouncer from the pacer Hempsey. There was then a bit of a wobble but we got home with 5 wickets to spare and a good number of overs too.

Mommsen was suitably hacked off that nobody clapped his 50 but was soon pacified when Cheeky gave him 50p and told him to keep it interesting. Good win and we got home in time to see the Second XI finishing off Musselburgh before heading to the pub to watch Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup. A good day all round.

Scorecard

Our overseas amateur reports ..

After an impressive and comprehensive away win last week to begin our Scottish cup campaign against Greenock, hopes were high for a similar result agsinst the visitors from Falkland. With just the one change from last weeks line up. Stevie G, looking homeless as always, (to his credit, he made the effort to tidy up the look) was added to the side at the expense of youngster Cheeky. Winning the toss, 12 year old (mentally) Fraser Watts elected to bat on what looked to be a terrific batting surface. ("Thanks Herdy". "No problem guys".)

Things began well as the opening combination of Gilmour and Watts accumulated a steady base for the team to build on. With the score on 62 Herdy's Aussie friend look-alike Stevie G was dismissed for a patient 13, bringing superstar and self confessed socialite Preston Mommsen to the crease. The pair made light work of the Falkland bowling attack, milking single after single (I don't know what was running more, the batsmen or The Hutts nose) to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Despite the fielding side's efforts, amongst the countless singles, boundaries (Saaaaavee 'eeeemm) were struck at regular intervals as the two proceeded to keep the scoreboard moving.

Watts (left) and Mommsen both reached 50 in quick succession. Much to the surprise of Preston he received an extended clap for reaching the milestone. However, they didn't stop there as they continued to put local traffic in danger and punish any undisciplined bowling. The two eventually were each able to bring up a majestic and chanceless century of their own, putting together a faultless 183 run partnership before the captain was dismissed for 115. He was then able to take a well deserved break and save them.

It was then the job of Gordon 'Grandpa' Drummond (below) to finish the innings off. It seemed that his older years were getting the better of him, as much of what he tried to put into orbit barely reached the inner circle. In his efforts to push on with the innings, Preston was disappointingly dismissed for 116 when a well timed on drive was misjudged and eventually tackled in the outfield, resulting in his wicket. Great knock.

After 50 overs passed a brilliant score of 3/307 was achieved. Umair (5 not out) and Drummond (36 not out) finished the innings off well despite batting for red ink.

As the batsman showed what they could do, setting the very defendable total of 307, it was now an opportunity for the bowlers to show what they were made of. The big Hutt (left) struck first ball of the innings with a hoooooooping in-swinger that picked up the scalp of the opening batsman, LBW. He then fell to the ground and proceeded to punch the wicket in celebration, much to the confusion of his team mates (Classic Hutt).

Wickets fell at a fast rate before a 43 run partnership instigated a small fightback steadying the innings at 3/61. We welcomed Umair Mohammed to the attack (the captain was looking to buy a few wickets here). Turning the ball square, he was relentless, picking up test match dismissal after test match dismissal with the help of Toby Bailey at short leg. (Tackling well as per usual).

At the other end Omar kept things tight as always without any luck, while Sean Oliver pitched in with a handy 2/36. But it was Umair Mohammed starring with 5/19 as Falkland crumbled to be all out for 86 runs. Yet another good win to build some momentum early in the season.

Oh, and finally did I mention Fraser dropped yet ANOTHER sitter? Might need to ask The Hutt for some fielding tips mid week. Save 'em.

 

Scorecard

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A bright, cold evening saw East League Division One side Murrayfield DAFS the visitors to Grange Loan.

The home side batted first and opened with the coaches’ combination of Herdman and Bailey. The youngster threatened to lap his elder and better once or twice during the opening couple of overs as the pair found the gaps and ran hard. Toby soon found his second wind though and began to outpace the Aussie as the scoreboard rattled along.

Herdy pulled two big sixes in a row before being castled on 33 to be replaced by Sean Olivier. Just minutes before Sean took to the crease, one of the watching parents had volunteered to help with the management of his son’s under 13 side. Showing scant regard for the need to create an inclusive environment at all levels of the club, Sean pulled a short one over the wall and dented our dad’s car. Justice was soon served as Sean departed shortly after for a brisk 24.

T20 specialist Ross Burns was next in and tried a few trademark blows before being replaced by young Kyle Macpherson.

Toby (left) passed the 50 mark for the first time for the club and then played the shot of the night – a straight six that had the spectators behind the pavilion window diving for cover after Brian Forrester missed a straightforward catching opportunity immediately in front of them.

Toby eventually pulled another short ball straight to a fielder to depart for an entertaining 64, leaving Umair and Kyle to complete the innings.

In reply, Cheeky and Hutt opened the bowling with the latter picking up the first wicket as a trademark booming inswinger beat the attempted booming drive from Ian Shiels. Cheeky picked up a wicket in each of his last two overs, while the Hutt collected a second thanks to a fine catch from the skipper (no, honestly.). Matt picked up three stumpings while Omar was his usual miserly self and, despite some good resistance from young Ben Falconer, he wrapped up the innings on 66 to finish with 3 for 8.

CANCELLED - Waterlogged ground

CANCELLED - Waterlogged ground

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

With Sean Olivier and Stevie Gilmour unavailable it was a big day for the Macpherson clan as 16 year-old Kyle and his 15 year-old brother Ruari were handed their senior Carlton debuts by skipper Fraser Watts.

With the toss lost, Fraser and Kyle soon found themselves batting on a slow Myreside wicket that displayed low and, occasionally, variable bounce. Nevertheless the two got off to a good start and kept the scoreboard ticking along as they saw off the two opening bowlers Nel and Learmonth. However, the introduction of experienced Watsonian skipper Stuart Chalmers brought the breakthrough as he produced a fine delivery with the score on 34 to remove Kyle. Herdy joined his skipper and played with confidence until he tried to pull one and was given out lbw at 64 for 2.

RAINED OFF

MATCH ABANDONED

After 5 weeks of inactivity, the rare sight of a bright summer's evening brought out a healthy crowd to Grange Loan for this semi-final clash.

Carlton opened with the pairing of Nick Martin and Toby Bailey, but both batsmen struggled in the face of a fine opening spell from Raj Routray. Both Nick and Toby were eventually bowled by the Routray inswinger to leave Carlton on 24 for 2 after 5 overs. Michael Herdman contributed a big 6 but was smartly caught behind by Smith off Powell, to be followed shortly after by keeper Kerr. Skipper Watts and Gordon Drummond were left with plenty to do and they had a few narrow escapes early in their partnership before adding some crucial acceleration towards the end of the innings. Drummo in particular played some big shots, depositing a straight six in a garden over Lovers' Loan as the last 5 overs yielded 68 runs to take the home side to a healthy 162 for 6.

Drummo picked up the early wicket of Sanjay Patel but the combination of Neil McCallum and Simon Smith took advantage of some wayward length from the Carlton attack to keep the visitors up with the run rate. After Smith departed, Andrew Brock kept McCallum company as the latter dealt brutally with anything short.

Brock eventually perished trying to give the strike to his colleague but with McCallum at the crease and just 8 an over needed, the visitors were firm favourites. Rob Thornton's first over was exemplary in terms of line and length and sent the run rate soaring. Rob's second over was decisive; his first two balls seemed to hit a good length but both were pulled effortlessly over the Grange Loan wall by McCallum who, by now, was looking impregnable. Another four followed before McCallum, on 83, looked to clear the wall again, only to find himself through the shot too early and picking out Umair Muhammed at deep square leg. That proved to be the decisive moment of the match as tight bowling from Rob, Drummo and Herdy closed the game out with Grange 9 runs adrift.

Considering that Grange Loan had been under water only two days previously, it was clear that the groundstaff had done a miraculous job to get the final on. The pitch was, inevitably,slower than that a few days earlier but openers Toby and Fraggle started with positive intent.

Carlton's aggressive running turned out to be one of the differences between the sides but Toby was an early casualty as he was run out in the second over with the score on 9. Preston was making a welcome return for this match and he and Fraggle (left) put together a good partnership before the skipper holed out off Scotland U19 captain Paddy Sadler.

None of the batsmen found it easy to find their timing and Carlton were indebted to Preston who showed his exprience while wickets were falling around him. Once Preston was out for 41, pulling a long hop straight to a fielder, Jamie Kerr took the score up to 137 with some lusty hitting late on; a total that was short of the semi-final mark but still looked a competitive score in the conditions.

To win, Carlton knew they'd required to bowl well and that's exactly what they did with immaculate line and lenght across 20 overs. Wastonians opened with big hitters Stuart Chalmers and Dewald Nel but they found nothing to hit and when Chalmers was bowled by Drummo, Watsonians were just 28 for 1 after 5. Nel eventually tried to hit out but skied one to Toby off Omar leaving Watsonians in deep trouble. Soon the rate was up to 12 an over and three quick wickets for Sean ended the game as a contest. Excellent bowling from Carlton - the first boundary wasn't conceded until the 16th over - saw Watsonians end on 96 for 9.

A trophy to brighten the season - the sixth time Carlton have won the Masterton in the last seven years - and the Murgitroyd national T20 finals to look forward to once again.

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Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor who wishes to remain anonymous

Nick reports ...

It was a tense thriller but all in all the better team won. The final blow came with Umair slotting it in the top corner to win the epic pre-match football for the youngsters.

Now to Saturday’s cricket. Fraser went out to toss disheartened; his warm up defeat and not being considered for the young team had taken its toll. Adding to his dismay he was put in.

The Carlton innings began with Gilly and Herdy striding out to open. Gilly as usual looked exquisite at the crease however after receiving a decision which he did not quite agree with he did not look so exquisite when various objects felt his wrath in the dressing room.

Fraser (left) was brought into bat which was promptly followed by Herdy getting out. Nick then joined Fraser at the crease where the pair attempted to knuckle down as the wicket looked to favour the bowlers. Knuckling down for this pairing consisted of Fraser playing straight and Nick leaving it.

However Nick flicked one ball off Weeraratna and managed to dump it into the trees for 6. Very happy with himself, Nick continued trying to play the same shot to various deliveries unsuccessfully. In the end the plan was not be.

Heriots were seething after Fraser was involved in some bump ball controversy but being a natural diplomat he missed a straight one in the next over. The over before drinks spelled the end for Nick as well, after a couple of lusty blows he was trapped Leg Before.

 When play resumed after drinks Jamie joined Toby at the crease. These running men batted very well and formed a solid partnership with some classy stroking from Bailey and good sweeping from Kerr. Toby reached 50 but, much to the disappointment of the spectators, the partnership was broken when he was out for 53. Rob joined Jamie and both men looked to work it about. In the final throws of the match JK was out caught, trying to push the score up towards an ominous 200, however his 41 runs were vital in posting a competitive total. The end of Carlton’s innings was over fairly quickly after JK’s dismissal: Sean pushed the running too far and was run out, Omar did not find middle on one and Cheeky got a good view of Rob skying one for the final wicket. Carlton all out for 192, a decent total on what seemed like a bowler’s deck.

After an excellent tea, that consisted of a varied selection of sandwiches, rolls, cakes, fruit, biscuits and cooked pizza squares, Heriots began their innings. Herdy and Rob opened up but were fruitless in first few overs and there was a distinct lack of Buzz in the field. Rob’s bowling started with a few wides, however like a good wine it matured and got better with age and he managed to cartwheel the important wicket of Knox with Heriots on 47. Heriots got another 53 runs for the 2nd wicket before Umair had Kneebone LBW. Heriots dominated the next few overs with the opener Ross smacking runs.

Umair and Cheeky then bowled well in tandem and this reaped the benefit of Ross’s wicket where he bashed one to long on where Nick held on to it. 3 wickets down and only 69 needed to win; Heriots were in a commanding position. However Farrell the new batter in skied one off Umair to Rob, who snaffled it, having only scored 2. Carlton had their tails up and when Omar bowled a good nut which cleaned up MacLaren the belief began to creep back into the field.

The belief grew when Omar took another 2 wickets and Herdy chimed in with 2 of his own. The final over came with Heriots needing 5 runs to win and to give credit where it is due Pete Ross dealt with the pressure and got Heriots across the line. A tight game lost.

 Special thanks to Lynne who has scored three games this weekend, a mammoth effort. Also thanks to Moon and Russell who have gone beyond the call of duty recently to make the Loan playable.

Scorecard

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FOREWORD: Having waited for this opportunity since being inspired by Fantasy Bob’s notoriously witty, worldly and meticulously detailed reports on the 4th XIs’ conquests, first team young gun Chayank Gosain has finally received the call up to write the report for Carlton’s Scottish Cup quarter final clash with Clydesdale.  Chayank is only now being entrusted with this duty because he has become adequately qualified, (almost certainly) securing a credit grade in his Standard Grade English.   The report, whilst largely the work of Gosain himself, has been, at the author’s urging, edited, given a degree of chronological structure, and provided with some essence of grammatical dignity, by Chayank’s intellectual mentor and all-round role model Fraser Allardice.  Now begins the report…

The team travelling across to Clydesdale was unchanged apart from Charles Legget who was called up for his first 1st XI game since he broke his back and the team was delighted to welcome him back into the side. Another change was that JK’s dog Louie was benched due to being rather loud and irritating.

Carlton won the toss and elected to field on what looked like a rather soft and green wicket. Sean and the typically emotionless face of Herdy started off with the ball. Seany got the breakthrough early with the help of Gilmour’s usual safe hands (although he had had his moments earlier in the weekend). After this, what followed was a devastating display of seam bowling at its best, with wickets tumbling regularly. The only real resistance that was offered by Clydesdale was by their number 8 batsman, Butt, who scored a useful 18 not out containing some brave batting. After 17 overs Clydesdale were skittled for 56, with Sean taking an almighty 7 for 30, equalling specialist fielder Omar Ahmad’s best figures, and sideshow Herdy sweeping over the leftovers and ending up with figures of 3 for 23.

Gilmour and Herdman opened against the new ball. Herdy was keen to leave the pitch early to eat due to teas being delayed until the end of the game, therefore he retreated back to the pavilion early doors. In came David F. Watts, and the two tried to chase down the score. Gilmour looked in good touch until he was dismissed by Afzal.  With Bailey, Umy and Martin all out for not very many by Afzal, the game could have gone both ways. In came Kerr, at no 7, smashing a couple of classic cover drives until being the second man to fall to Sharif. Luckily the cool head and powerful stroke making of Charles Legget came to the crease. His batting style of ‘Go hard or Go Home’ was very effective as he ended up with 13 of 11 balls supporting the anchor of the team, Fraser.

All in all, it was a good win for Carlton as they proceed to the semi-finals of the Scottish cup which will be either played against Heriots or East Kilbride.

Scorecard

D/L Par Score after 26 overs was 110. Carlton win by 9 wickets (D/L)

Sean reports ...

After the wet, and somewhat frustrating last six weeks The 1st XI left for Arbroath in the knowledge that a win was imperative to kick start the league campaign.

On arrival at Arbroath the mood was determined, the boys looked up for it no doubt spurred on by an inspirational text message sent en route by Legget, who managed to use three hash tags in a single message. #crucial.

The warm up was good, standards were especially high, with  the old vs young hand football game being played along the lines of a Spain v Barcelona possession fest, the old triumphed in a close one.

Next up the coin toss, easily won by Arbroath who decided to bat first on what looked a decent deck.

Carlton started poorly with the ball, Olivier conceding 16 off his first over, and Arbroath were away. A wicket fell in the third over, which momentarily stopped the barrage.

The first ten overs cost 68 and with Burnett looking in ominous form, it was crucial that bowlers and fielders showed some guts.

The next 40 overs can be described as dogged from a Carlton perspective with Drummond and Umy bowling an excellent spell to claw back some parity. The fielding wasn't vintage, but the boys fought hard, and a score of 230 odd was probably par considering the start we had handed Arbroath.

The Carlton innings started with heavy skies overhead, Watts and Gilmour looking in good touch guiding us to the first rain break. With the umpires unsure whether to go off or not Gilly was unlucky to play on to a short one, immediately the umpires decided to come off for rain.

The recalculation saw the target reduced to 202, in 38 overs, with Herdy and Watts at the crease.

The chaps played the chase beautifully, ticking along just below the required DL score with no panic until with the clouds closing in, Herdy dispatched a full toss for six, taking Carlton above DL par score.  The batters showed cool heads to continue on above the required rate without any undue risks, until the rain poured down on Arbroath United taking the players from the field.

With no further play possible, Carlton had won by 7 runs on the D/L method.

A fighting win for the lads, and a result to build on for the remainder of the league season.

Scorecard

Omar reports ...

Finally a weekend of sunshine and we have to travel up to Aberdeen, much to Sean’s delight. It was a big game for us as we haven't yet stamped our authority in the league this year but, with the comeback of Scotland skipper Gordon Drummond and off-spinner Preston, this looked to be one of Carlton’s strongest sides to date. On arrival at Grange Loan at what seemed like 6am, everyone was on time apart from JK. The mood was good, Sean Toby and JK were designated drivers, running man no1 (JK) was putting oil in his car for the fourth time of the morning and the rest of us were trying to squeeze all the kit into three cars which was harder than Fraggle expected. After finally getting the kit in the cars we then headed off, myself, Preston, Herdy were in Sean's car, Drummo, Fraggle and Gilly were in Running Man no1's car and sleeping beauty Cheeky and Lynne were in Running Man no2's (Toby) car.

On the way up to Aberdeen just hitting the bridge Sean decides to check his water oil and tyres before heading up for the last stretch; we then bump into Drummo, Fraggle and Wan running and when I mean running I mean RUNNING to McDonalds for breakfast. Me and Herdy thought it would be a good idea to join them but realised we had the South Africans on board the party bus so that was a big no so we had to settle for Tesco. When reaching Tesco classic Preston asks me which sandwiches crisps and chocolate bars were included in the 'meal deal' and Herdy asks me what his credit card pin was, as if I would know!

We then headed to Stoneywood Dyce and found a tricky outfield and a wicket that was slow and low; to be honest I wasn't complaining as this wicket was heaven for me as Cheeky can confirm.

We all got ready for the warm up in the beautiful sunshine. This consisted of first high catches then straight into the Handball game; again it was Old vs Young and the usual outcome with the Young boys winning and Fraggle left speechless. We then had an intense fielding drill to get us in the mood for what seemed like a hard game due to the wicket.

Fraggle winning the toss elected to bowl and opened up with Herdy and Preston. The two had good opening spells and went for almost nothing, then myself and Drummo came on to slow down the run rate even more and add some pressure to the batting team. Drummo picking up a few of my wickets as usual and me trying to bowl economically as possible. Drummo ended up with 8-2-16-2 whilst I ended up 9-1-22-1. Umy then came on and turned it round corners and picked up a good 3 wickets before Sean came on and was economical as usual. Stoneywood Dyce ended up 138 all out.

After having tea which was surprisingly good the openers set out to try to win in a ruthless manner. Fraggle and Herdy walked out to the middle and got off to a very good start before Fraggle was plum LBW for 17. He did his usual “it was missing leg even though I was 4 yards behind the crease right in front of my stumps”, so anyway he was dismissed which brought in form Preston to the attack. With Preston and Herdy steadily getting runs we managed to reach the target in 37.5 overs, Preston hitting a tough 52 and Herdy with 61 ( saaaaave emmmm).

All in all it was a very good ruthless performance from Carlton which was needed before the big game against Watsonians.

 

Scorecard

Match abandoned at 20.5 overs in Carlton's innings with the D/L calculation indicating a tie.  The result rested on the D/L situation at the end of the previous over, which had Heriot's ahead.

With Sean Olivier’s hamstring injury ruling him out, seamer Mo Ahmed stepped up for his first team debut. With Drummo and Preston on international duty, Legs was recalled to the side and Hutt made his long awaited comeback from shin splints.

Despite, inevitably, being a little rusty, Hutt made the first breakthrough getting the dangerous Davie Ross to play on. Nevertheless, Knox and Kneeebone continued a good start with a rate of more than four an over looking extremely healthy given the lush nature of the square and outfield.

Herdy dismissed Kneebone, thanks to a sharp catch at slip from Toby but Knoxy, as usual, looked comfortable and the total was at 89/2 in the 25th over when Umair took a great catch at point as Knox cut an Omar Ahmad delivery hard and fast to his right. Umy then bamboozled Farrell next over, prompting the experienced McLaren to go into counter-attacking mode. His big-hitting neutralised the slow outfield and he raced to a half-century before Cheeky deceived him, forcing him to mis-time a pull over the keeper where he was calmly caught by Hutt.

Sean Weeraratna continued to take the game to Carlton and he was the last man out, stumped by JK off Cheeky to give the youngster his third wicket; a haul matched by Herdy who once again bowled well, returning figures of 3 for 26.

Fraggle and Herdy started the reply confidently although they soon realised that they would have to do a hard afternoon’s running as a series of firmly hit drives failed to reach the boundary – reminiscent of the effects of the Carlton hill. Herdy survived a loud appeal for caught behind and, at the end of the over, demonstrated to anyone who would listen that his bat handle made a noise when it moved. That story wasn’t enough to save the skipper, though, when he was given out caught behind off Farrell with the score on 33 in the tenth over. Gilly soon perished, driving straight to Knox off McLaren (36/2). Legs was sent in at 5 to push things on but he struggled to get the ball away in the face of some very tight bowling.

At this point the skies began to darken and rain started falling in the 19th over. With Duckworth/Lewis sheets in the possession of fielders and batsmen alike the players played through the rain to complete 20 overs. Whatever happened next there would be no replay and Carlton knew that their 20 over score of 56 for 2 was behind the par score.

Herdy then stepped up to the plate smashing McLaren high in the air in the next over and just beating the fielder for a badly needed six. As McLaren began his run-up for the final delivery of the over, he was stopped by his skipper who wanted to check his D/L sheet. As this happened, the rain worsened and the umpires had no option but to take the players off.

With no prospect of resumption, the DL calculations showed that both sides were tied. Unfortunately, the rules dictate that the game is then decided on the D/L total at the end of the preceding over - i.e. before Herdy’s 6 – and Carlton were out. If the final ball of the 21st over had been bowled, and Herdy had hit just a single, then Carlton would have won. Such small margins.

No surprise, though, that the rain should have the final say in this wettest of all summers.

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

MATCH ABANDONED

Herdy reports ...

Hoping to continue their late run of form, the home side was hopeful it could overcome Forfarshire, who were staring down the barrel of relegation, in a game both sides needed to win desperately...

Heading into the match Carlton required two wins from their final two league games of the season to push for the League title for the second year running. Today against Forfarshire, and Grange the following week.

A good start was needed. And when Preston (right) and JK combined to pick up the opening wicket of Parker off just the third ball, things were looking promising.

After the the loss of a couple of early wickets Forfs' batting lineup showed some resistance to be at 3/67 after 20 overs before some top bowling and a few questionable shot choices resulted in them losing their final 7 wickets for just 13 runs. Preston finishing with 4/12. And outstanding figures from Scotland Captain Gordon Dummond taking 3/4 off his 7 overs, including a screamer of a slip catch by the coach (below).

Needing 81 to win on a pitch which gave the bowlers plenty of assistance, running man/flying man Jamie Kerr took the challenge head on, he was a man on a mission. From the outset James took an aggressive approach to the chase, while at the other end I was downgraded to spectator status as I watched JK (strike hog) hit boundary after boundary (not always in a conventional fashion).

It wasn't a race against the overs, but a race against the weather. The ball seemingly darker then normal was made yet even darker by the looming rain clouds, however it didn't seem to bother JK as he smashed two big sixes up the hill in the 8th over - just before the rain arrived and washed away our chance of the title.

Scorecard

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

Haris reports ...

After winning my first game for the Carlton 1st XI, Fraggle had no hesitation in making me do the match report … so thanks for that :/ !

As there had been a lot of rain in the days leading up to Saturday’s clash with city rivals Grange I thought it would be a good start to the report by saying well done to the groundstaff for making the pitch and ground playable - so thank-you!

Finishing our intense warm-up which included me getting my cap (which I did not wear during the game, sorry but thanks), Fraggle won the toss and chose to bowl first. Grange opened with Sanjay Patel and Gregor Maiden who got off to a decent start being 33-0 off the opening bowlers, but on came Omar Ahmad who managed to surprise batsman Gregor Maiden and Preston ended up taking a great full stretch catch to remove him.

Not long after, Omar struck again in exactly the same way to dismiss a fairly settled Sanjay Patel on 18. In came Grange skipper Neil McCallum who put on a 54 run partnership with batting partner Flannigan, which helped to stabilise the Grange innings and put them slightly in control of the game. But it was the bowling of Cheeky (right) that brought the breakthrough and it was the big wicket of Neil McCallum who tried to sweep the ball fine like he did in Chayank’s previous over but ended up top edging the ball straight to me who took a comfortable catch at 45.

Out came Smudger to the crease and he was nearly walking back to the pavilion after he also top edged one straight over JK but too far for diving man Toby to take the catch. Flannigan and Smudge then put on a 36 run partnership before Smudger was bowled by Preston who bowled an extremely good 2nd spell to end with figures of 10-0-39-1. Flannigan, who held the Grange innings together, was soon after walking back to the pavilion after a well fought 69. He tried to smack Drummo out of the park however instead top edged straight up for Drummo to take an easy Caught and Bowled.

Leggs, who also bowled a great spell, took 2 wickets, one of which was a brilliant diving catch by Chayank at short 3rd man in the last over of the Grange innings. One of the outstanding moments of the game was sliding/throwing man Toby who produced a brilliant run out to remove Grange batsmen Moffat on a duck. Grange finishing on 167 for 8 off their 50 made it look like a difficult scoring track in the end.

After a very quick team chat in the changing room we had a lovely tea thanks to the tea ladies, and then it was our turn to bat. Fraggle and Herdy opened the batting and both doing a fantastic job to get us to 56 for none with some great strokes from both opening batsmen. The bowling of Flannigan took the edge of Fraggle after a great knock of 31, which sent Preston in, but it wasn’t long until Flannigan struck again with Herdy, still not learning to not play the pull shot on our Scottish wickets, top edged one high in the sky and Smudger with the gloves took a relaxed catch.

In went Drummo (below) who had told us he would go out and “swing from his tits” and also that “it would be better if he took an aggressive approach”. After doing exactly that he came back scoring 13 after being caught behind by the bowling of Brock.

However Toby went in and stuck with Preston for a superb 68-run partnership which pretty much sealed the deal. After a great knock of 34 from Toby, he was given out LBW. JK took to the crease with 16 runs needed to win and tried to pump a full length ball straight off the bowling of Raj Routray, miss timed his shot and ended up hitting it straight to Giles Holmes, the fielder at Mid-Off who took the catch.

The dismissal brought me to the crease and as I walked out to the crease I got kind of nervous seeing all the spectators from the middle and in my head I really didn’t want to get out first ball. But looking on the bright side an opportunity to bat with Preston didn’t come every day and after having a quick chat with him and knowing that all I had to do was give him the strike I left the first ball and played my very effective “default” shot, that got me off strike and Preston took us to victory with two runs off the third ball of the 46th over which also brought up a well-deserved 50*.

All in all it was a great game, great victory, great atmosphere and a great finish to the season for the boys and for me as I was given the opportunity to play in the first team and contribute to a win against Grange and also I would like to thank Toby and Fraggle for giving me the opportunity to play in the firsts.

Photos

Scorecard