Report and scorecard from Meigle CC

It was with great anticipation that the Carlton 2nd XI 2013 season finally got underway with our first game against the Watsonian 2nd XI at Grange Loan. Newly appointed 2nd XI skipper Grant Newman surprised everyone in winning the toss, having not got a single call correct during the 2012 3rd XI season. The skipper chose to bat first believing that any score was a good score in the 1st game of the season.

Ali Shah and Craig Everett opened the batting and comfortably saw the score through to 25 before Craig was unfortunately run out for 8 (below). This brought Ruari Macpherson to the crease who, while appearing comfortable against the Watsonian opening attack was bowled leaving Carlton at 2/33. Rob Thornton joined Ali and the run rate gradually increased as Rob and especially Ali set about the bowling. Both batsmen took full advantage of the short boundaries to the Grange Loan side of the ground such that when Rob fell to Jones for 22 the score was 126 and a good base had been created for the remainder of the team.

The departure of Rob however was the catalyst for Ali (below) to launch a batting onslaught the likes of which has very rarely been seen at Grange Loan. With strong pulls, drives and cuts of all descriptions Ali became a one man scoring machine as the remainder of the Carlton batsmen looked on at the spectacle in awe.

While both Fraser Allardice and Matt Wells were to fall cheaply for 0 and 5 respectively, Ali decimated the Watsonian attack bringing up a fine century with a 6 over mid wicket. With the score at 172 for 6 in the 33rd over, Grant joined Ali but this had no impact on Ali’s scoring rate. Fours and sixes continued to flow from his bat, leaving Grant merely a spectator as Ali moved through the 140’s. 150’s, 160’s, 170’s, 180’s and 190’s at such a rate that with 1 over to go Ali needed only 1 run for an unforgettable double century. This Ali duly recorded with a single to deep mid-on. Fittingly Ali ended the innings with another six over wide mid-on leaving Carlton at 5/301 with Ali unbeaten on 207 ( 15 fours and 10 sixes) and Grant on 19.

During the break the challenge was given to the bowlers to keep the opposition to less than 200. Brad (I have no balls) McKay, (please refer to Brad for explanation), and the wily Rob Thornton opened the bowling finding the Watsonians opening batsmen batting sensibly by playing each ball on its merits, scoring off the bad balls and keeping out the good balls. Brad and Rob were replaced by Omar and Stevie after 13 overs and proceeded to reduce the run rate and in doing so wickets began to fall. Flanagan was the first to fall to Ahmad via an amazing one handed backwards running catch to Rob Thornton at mid-off.

Wickets to Stevie, Rob, and another to Omar together with a fine spell of spin from Fraser Allardice -10-2-35-4 including the wicket of the dangerous James Easton for 76 - ensured that the team met the challenge set at the beginning of innings dismissing Watsonians for 186 in the 48th over.

This match was a promising start to the season, dominated by the innings of Ali but ably backed up by a bowling attack that was focused on restricting the opposition to an under par total.

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Photos & Video clips

Heavy overnight rain meant that the 2’s match against Musselburgh had to be moved from the uncovered Lewisvale Park to Loretto School. This was welcome news and after some wandering around, we actually managed to find the ground, which was very nice. The 2’s welcomed back Ahmad Shah after his success in the 1st XI and Craig Marshall after a four year absence. We also gave a prestigious 2nd team debut to club coach Matt Crowther, who set about putting us through our paces in a vigorous pre match warm up.

Skipper Grant challenged the laws of probability by winning his second toss in a row and we elected to bat first. Fraser Allardice and Craig Everett opened up with Craig pulling Musselburgh’s tall West Indian opener for four and then telling him to ‘fetch it’. Much eyeballing followed before the bowler had the last laugh, dismissing Craig for 7. Fraser and Ruari carried on, with Fraser mixing solid defence with a flurry of attacking shots. Ruari rode his luck to 26 before being bowled and at drinks, Carlton were 80/2. Fraser carried to a well deserved 50 but at the time that we wanted him to push on with Marshall, he fell on 50. Marshall had looked a little rusty to begin with but soon got into the flow, picking up a lot of runs off the Musselburgh spinner. Coach Matt soon got into the swing of things, and after the score had become stagnant around the drinks break in the face of solid bowling, the score started to race along with some excellent running between the wickets keeping the score ticking over. Marsh hit one maximum straight down the ground but was soon stumped for 40 trying to repeat the shot. Wells and Ani didn’t last too long but Matt kept the pace up with two huge swept sixes off the opening bowler in the final overs. He was run out after a mix up with two overs to go for a well made 47 and then Grant and Gav took us to 50 overs for 199/7. A decent score in the face of some pretty accurate bowling.

Tea was very good with a fine selection of cakes, giving us an extra layer to ward off the chill wind. It was important that we made a good start and Ahmad delivered on the fourth ball of the innings, knocking over the Musselburgh opener Marshall with the score on zero. After one loose over, Brad then followed up with the other opener, enticing him to lob one to Gav at mid on. Bowling from both ends was now tight and the fielding was sharp, along with plenty of chat. You could say that the simple things were being done very well. Ahmad picked up a second wicket (2/22) thanks to a sharp slip catch from Ani and the pressure was telling on Musselburgh as two batsmen then perished to excellent run outs, thanks to a sharp return from Fraser to Wells and then a direct hit from Handbag Rittoo. Brad picked up his third wicket for 3/23 with a sharp Wells stumping. At drinks, Musselburgh were 55/7 and in all troubles.

Standards dropped after drinks with some poor bowling and some sensible Musselburgh batting which put on 60 runs in 10 overs to put some worry on Carlton faces. However, just as things were getting close, a succession of dot balls brought the wicket from Ruari thanks to a Shah catch at mid on. Fraser (2/23) then finished things off with two consecutive LBW’s (following the previous five shouts that had been turned down). Musselburgh all out for 127 and a 72 run win. An excellent team performance and that’s two out of two.

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RAINED OFF

Greeted by a cloudless summer sky, skipper Grant didn’t hesitate for as much as a millisecond after winning the toss. Openers Craig and Fraser made hay with an opening partnership of 70 before Fraser spun to play a trademark pull but missed and was bowled. Haris was quickly adjudged lbw and had to pass the coach on his way back to the pavilion – no eye contact was made. The score was on 100 when Craig was also bowled, just one delivery before the welcome arrival of drinks.

The second half of the innings became the Crowther and Gilmour show as the post-Bailey coach and the pre-Bailey coach took advantage of some inconsistent bowling to put on a highly entertaining stand of 198. Gilly peppered the road, miraculously missing his own car.

He hit seven 6s on his way to 92 before being bowled by Sharif, who gave the laid back Gilly one of the most animated send-offs ever seen at the home of (Carlton) cricket. Matt showed that he practises what he preaches by going on to complete a well-paced century in the final over, supported by a breezy cameo from Ruari as Carlton ended on 318 for 4. The skipper, who had licked his lips on winning the toss, didn’t even get a bat.

The visitors came out all guns blazing but Ahmad soon dismissed both openers in quick succession, much to his delight.

This exposed the middle order to the leg spin of Haris and he enjoyed himself to the full, starting by dismissing the dangerous Azeem with the score on 76.

 

Mo and Gavin chipped in with a couple of wickets apiece and Fraser showed why he is one of the best fielders in the league with a runout. Haris collected another three wickets to finish with showboat figures of 4 for 9 (from 9.4 overs) before the final Dunfermline pair committed the ultimate act of foolishness by trying to take another quick single to Fraser.

All out for 111 and a win by 207 runs.

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Photos

Another bright but chilly morning greeted the 2ndXI for their third straight match at Grange Loan. Grant maintained his formidable season toss record and elected to bat without hesitation, so that he could take advantage of the characteristically good batting wicket and so that he himself would get to bat as soon as possible, having been cruelly denied the right to do so last week by Everett, Crowther and Gilmour (see above).

With Ali Shah's return from the dizzy heights of the CSL, he and Craig Everett kicked off proceedings. Carlton started shakily, losing Ali and Fraser quickly - Ali trapped LBW and Fraser clean bowled - as a result of good areas bowled by the openers, allowing them to exploit the natural movement off the pitch. Craig Marshall at 4 sent a ball or two crashing into the roadside wall, showing signs of more positive batting, before being caught at mid-on.

While bails were flying, balls being chipped in the air and fingers being raised at one end, Craig Everett had quietly gotten himself in, and had negotiated the opening bowlers with much less fuss than everybody else. Having moved onto 20, his eyes lit up as first change bowler Javed served up a short and wide delivery. Having struck the cut shot fairly well, Craig was surprised to see the cover fielder take an excellent low catch; so surprised, in fact, that he wasn't immediately convinced that it had carried to the fielder, and made the signal to the third umpire that he wished for a Decision Review. With no basis on which to overturn the decision Craig had to depart, having anchored the first part of the innings while dealing with all the distractions of wickets tumbling around him.

The wicket, however, meant two new batsmen were at the crease, in the shape of Matthew 'Pot Head' Wells and Grant. Their job was to rebuild the innings, and they did so effectively for some time, playing sensible cricket and taking few risks (an unusual discipline for Wellsy). Both batsmen made promising starts (Wells 19, Newman 20) but then both fell in quick succession, either side of the drinks break. They had done some vital repair work, but - to continue the construction metaphor - the foundations were less than sound and there were some visible structural weaknesses about the innings at 80-6.

Enter Stevie Elder and Mo Ahmed. Both decidedly senior members of the 2nd XI, having been placed in the 'olds' team during the football warm up, their wealth of combined experience came in handy as they reached a 50 partnership with a combination of boundaries, smart running and the concentrated power of Mr. Boombastic (Mo's bat). Mo's useful cameo of 24 came to an end when Mr. Boombastic disobeyed him and sent a ball down the throat of mid-on. This left Elder to make the most of the last ten overs accompanied by the tail. With the responsibility somewhat on his shoulders, he tried to regain the strike by calling young Rory Allardice (making his 2nd XI league debut) for a quick single. Unfortunately, Stevie was not quick enough to complete it, and was run out for 36. His innings, though coming to an abrupt end, provided a vital boost to the team score in a high pressure situation, and his partnership with Mo could easily have been mistaken for an opening one (in much the same way that the top order's performance, with the exception of Everett, could easily have been mistaken for the tail-enders, as far as the scorecard goes).

The final three of Rory, Gavin and Brad made a decent effort of seeing out the last 5 overs, however Rory, having been proud to announce the night before that he had never been caught behind in a cricket match, top edged a cut into to the gloves of the keeper. Gavin's inclusion in the team had prompted such excitement in the world of limited overs cricket (his own head) that guest commentator Danny Morrison briefly gave an account of his innings, the end of which is relayed here:

The bowler's Javed, he trundles in, looking to clean up the tail-end here, looking for the scalp of Gav Rittoo ... and BOOM! Take a bow, R. Javed, and take a walk, Gav Rit! His off pole's gone missing!

Viewers of the IPL may understand the reference, but that is not guaranteed. Gavin's demise left Brad not out on 2, and left the team on a probably sub-par 150. That said, this score had looked a stretch earlier in the innings, and the middle order had done well to carry the team to a respectable total.

Coming out to field after tea, the team were prepared for the challenge of defending 150, and openers Brad and Mo Ahmed Wheels got off to a terrific start, taking three quick wickets and immediately swinging the momentum of the game back in Carlton's favour.

The opening bowlers having done their job with impressive figures (Brad 10-4-15-3, Mo 6-0-22-2), change bowlers Elder and Craig Marshall took on the responsibility of suppressing the batsmen and did well. The pressure continued to pile on the batting side with a spectacular direct hit run-out from the cover boundary by Fraser, made by a frantic up-hill chase from point. Following this were a series of sharp slip catches by Grant and, in particular, Stevie, who looked almost like a veteran slip fielder.

After the early onslaught of wickets, Holy Cross did well to rebuild, with Bonfield and Pickering keeping the run rate close to the required 3 per over. A partnership developed between the two, and for some time Carlton struggled to get on top of them. Ali, determined to make a mark on the game, eventually decided enough was enough, and took a fantastic diving one-handed catch on his weaker right-hand side, dismissing Pickering for 16 and sending team morale shooting up. Carlton now looked in a dominant position, with only 3 wickets to take, but these wickets were hard to come by, and the run rate was still manageable for Holy Cross, requiring just above 3 an over. Craig Marshall, Elder and Rory Allardice made good efforts to take the wicket of the stubborn No. 6 Bonfield, but he could not be shaken, and was beginning to look like a potential saviour of Holy Cross's innings.

Grant's bowling change brought on Fraser and Gavin 'Morkel' Rittoo, and Gavin's new run-up really did the trick. He bowled a very tight first over to Russell, who had gotten in and was supporting Bonfield in their attempt to bring the team home. This over put pressure on Bonfield at the other end, which allowed Fraser to beat his defences and bowl him for a valiant 44. With the anchor batsmen gone, the last two wickets fell quickly, both LBW (one for Fraser and one for Gavin), allowing Fraser to enforce his role as team Hoover (Allar-Dyson?) cleaning up the tail. An exciting win for the Twos keeps their 100% league record intact, and overcoming this biggest challenge of the season so far bodes well for the fixture against Edinburgh South next week.

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Arguably one of the greatest Carlton 2nd XI sides ever assembled looked to continue their unbeaten run in the League as they travelled down the road to face newly promoted Edinburgh South at a sun drenched Inch Park.  With Fraser Allardice called up to the 1s after an impressive midweek display and for his all round good chat and banter we welcomed back Amit Bij and his shock put rocket arm. Missing in action this weekend was Stevie Elder who was apparently "on call" however local reports state that he was terrorising the neighbourhood riding a children's bike wearing a worryingly tight "wife beater."  Who better to step in than the Rob Thornton who usually spends his weekends in his garage nurturing his six pack or enjoying a casual cross fit session.

Edinburgh South batted first on an initially slow deck aided by a very uneven and quick outfield. In an opening spell which just about had everything; the average pace of Ahmad Shah and soaring heat of Brad Mackay gave the Edinburgh South openers plenty to think about as they were struggling to find the gaps.

After a very tight opening 10 overs from Ahmad and Brad, Edinburgh South were left on 21-1 with Brad grabbing the early breakthrough. However Edinburgh South's young amateur Grant Beghin showed his class after surviving the early onslaught and managed to take his side to 80-2 after 20 overs with many attacking shots supplemented by some short bowling.

With Beghin going along nicely supported at the other end by Pirani, Rob managed  to get the breakthrough with a superb caught and bowled sending Pirani back. With the scores at 96-2 after 20 overs more wickets were needed, especially that of Beghin.

What happened next was described by a tearful DJ Ru Macpherson as "The greatest over bowled in the history of cricket." Bold statement never theless so true. Mo Ahmed all of a sudden would decide to step up his game and bowl the over of his life. With the first ball about to be dragged onto the stumps by the batsman, he swiped the ball away with his hands giving the umpire no choice but to show the slow finger. The next 3 balls...LBW, Bowled, LBW. Tears of joy all round.

DJ Ru Mac then continued on from his fine bowling efforts last week and managed to pick up 3 wickets including that of dangerous Beghin who made a fine 133. To wrap it up Randy the Camel came back from the other end to clean up the tail. Carlton were then left with the task to chase 202.

The lethal Ali Shah got the 2nd innings underway with his usual big hitting whilst supported by a classy 22 from notorious bad boy Craig Everett. Meanwhile, lengthy fitness discussions were going on by the boundary led by Rob Thornton as he would show us all Youtube videos of old men being able to plank for 2 hours. Whatever floats your boat Rob. Craig Marshall fell soon after Fly Everettes which brought the on form DJ Ru Mac to the wicket. Fresh from writing some sick beats by the boundary he played an innings far beyond his years as he supported Ali Shah from the other end. There would be no let off for the bowlers if anything was short or on the hips of Ali Shah.

With Marshall back in the pavilion he also saw his opportunity to go "taps aff" and show off his body with partner in crime Stevie Elder who was "on call" of course. A disturbing image and sight from the nets at Inch Park.

Ali Shah would end up on 89 in no time at all whilst going for one too many. Rob came next however cheap wickets fell at the other end with Wellsy, Grant and Mo all getting starts but not being able to go on. This left it up to Rob and Amit Bij to see it home at the end. Rob ended up not out on 24 having played an faultless innings with 3 overs and two wickets left to spare. The 2nds now face an experienced Murrayfield DAFS at Grange Loan next week to make it 7 wins from 7 as they battle with Grange for 1st place in the league.

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Wellsy reports ...

A very fresh and lively 2nd XI rocked up to Grange Loan looking to keep their unbeaten streak alive against Murrayfield DAFs. This game was always going to be a good one as the James Gillespie’s leavers ball was the night before... the skipper’s last words to Wellsy at the drinks reception were ‘have fun, have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow’, although Grant only found out in the very enjoyable Aussie Rules warm up, that this was not the last thing he had said to Wellsy that night. ‘Grant’ sent Wells a text making sure he was okay for the big game tomorrow followed by another text, “More importantly, is your sister out tonight? Grant’. At this point it was obvious to Wells that it was Marshall and Elder having a bit too much fun together in their wife beaters texting their teammates. Elder must have felt nostalgia for his school days at Gillespie’s as he decided to come and crash the ball with Marshall. 

Grant won another toss and chose to bat on a wearing pitch which had longer grass on one side than the other, thanks to Kyle ‘Space Cadet’ MacPherson using the wrong mower on the wicket. The in-form Shah and Everett strolled out to the middle but unfortunately didn’t last long as both of them got good balls to send them back to the pavilion. This brought DJ RuMac to the crease along with coach Fudgey. They batted well both getting starts until Fudgey holed out on the boundary playing his classic slog sweep (below) for 26.

Crowther: Out

Wellsy then came in and swept a lot as DAFs only bowled spinners to him. DJ RuMac continued to rotate the strike well until he spooned one up to the bowler on 32. This brought the skipper to the crease who in his own words only played one cricket shot in his entire innings, the rest were pumped to cow corner. When DAFs brought pace back into the attack Wells looked to imitate his captain and pump a 6 over cow but unfortunately it didn’t work out and was caught for 39. Elder was the next man in and as he walked out Murrayfield must have been scared of what was to come as they noticed his ODI blue kit proving that he had been internationally capped  (he probably just put his whites in the washing with his jeans from Cav when he got in on Friday night). Despite his ODI credentials he ran himself out on 1. Grant batted with the tail and we ended up on 194, Rory finishing on a good 12*.

Elder: Whites and coloureds

After a wonderful tea from Karen and Co, Brad and Mo wheels opened up, Mo having filled his face with potato wedges. Randy bowled a tight maiden first up which was followed up by 2 wickets for Mo (who won't get his picture on the website until he wears the correct shirt ... apparently the same applies to me ) in his first over. DAFs then set about rebuilding the innings with a 50 partnership until Rory, who bowled extremely well tossing it up, trapped their no. 3 lbw. DAFs were going at a good rate and still very much in the game until Gav stopped them in their tracks dismissing the DAFs keeper for a well compiled 39. Gav wheels was so overwhelmed by taking an important wicket that he fainted during his celebration and fell flat on his face. We continued to tighten the screw in the field taking wickets at regular intervals. The final 3 came in 3 balls - 2 dirty, dirty wickets for Stevie and a sharp run out from Wells -  and Dafs ended up 38 runs short.  Another good all round performance from the team, making our par total seem very imposing.

One thing that can be taken from the game is that if you want to top score and take 2 catches then you should have a night out with Elder and Marshall the night before.

 

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MATCH ABANDONED

A strong Carlton team assembled at Grange Loan at the beginning of a big double header weekend, all key to remaining at the top of the league.  As with previous weeks, match preparations were affected by a school prom the night before and as Wells has prospered the previous week after a late night, big things were expected from this week's candidate, Craig Everett.  However, the sight of Craig curled up in a corner of the pavilion was not promising and certainly doesn't bode well for his upcoming lads trip to Zante.

Pre match warm up was dominated by a new addition, the Aussie Rules ball, and the hybrid game we played seemed to have few rules and next to no tactics.  Some fairly wayward kicking was the norm despite enthusiastic coaching being provided by the team's only proponent in the game, Grant Newman.  No sooner had we done some cricket related drills but the first shower of the day came down.

The toss was lost and Carlton were asked to bowl.  Omes and Brad kept it very tight for the first four overs when the rain came hammering down again, so covers on again.  Back on again, the runs were hard to come by but after another three overs, we were off again.  Our next attempt to play saw two balls bowled before we were off again.  To break up the monotony of putting the covers on (or in Amit's case, walking next to the cover while Elder pushed), we decided on a tea break and perversely, the sun came out.  However, just as we entertained an idea of playing again, down came the rain. 

So after 2 and a half hours, we had played 8 overs and St Boswells were 17/0 - game off.

Once the visitors had set off down the road, the team decided on another game of Aussie Rules.  Needless to say, it didn't go much better than the morning attempt, but we did learn a number of things.  A wet, soaked ball is very difficult to catch, Omes will always go for glory no matter what the position and Grant unleashes his inner animal when an Aussie Rules ball is brought out.  The team containing both Aussies (the one that can play and the one that most certainly can't) lost a hard fought encounter.  But that's okay as we have another game of cricket tomorrow.

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MATCH ABANDONED

Groundhog Day was a pretty average 1990's film starring Bill Murray and popularised the phrase which refers to an unpleasant situation that repeats.  Despite it being a crap film, it seems appropriate to just refer to this film as this day couldn't have been much more groundhog than the previous day's activities.

With a rubbish weather forecast, it was agreed to start the match against the East Academy half an hour earlier in the vain attempt to get some cricket in.  Another toss was loss and this time Carlton batted first.  Progress was slow against some tight, accurate bowling.  Ali and Frallardice both perished to catches behind the wicket and we were quickly in trouble.  However, Haris and Ruari got us through to the inevitable downpour which washed out the game - Carlton 13/2 off 10 overs - game off. 

Once again, as the visitors left the ground, the team got ready for another instalment of Aussie Rules, this time with large puddles on the outfield.  These puddles brought into play a new tactic, that of splashing water in an opponent's face just a they were about to go for a catch.  Grant used Haris's back as a ladder in going up for a mark and this time, the oldies took the spoils.

 

 

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Through a quirk in the draw, we found ourselves playing St Boswells for a second week in a row, so we made the trip down the A68 to the Borders.  The team welcolmed back Gav's Wheels, Rory Allardice and Boom Boom Whatley to add variety to the bowling attack.  With Grant away, coach Crowther took the reins and with the Aussie Rules ball confiscated, a mini American Football was brought out.  The skill level on show was again pretty poor, suggesting that we should continue to stick with cricket.   The fielding warm up was more promising as we looked to get used to the St Boswells hill.

Fudgie won the toss and we elected to bat first.  Ali and Frallardice made solid early progress building a fifty partnership in next to no time.  So it came as a surprise when Fraser was out caught for 25.  This breakthrough led to two further wickets as Ruari was bowled for 0 and Coach was adjudged LBW (slightly harshly in Holly's view) for 1 and suddenly, we were under the cosh.  Wells and Elder rebuilt the innings with some good running between the wickets, solid defence and taking advantage of the occasional bad ball.  Wells top scored with 48 and final impetus was given by Rory's 20, Ferg's 14 not out and the sweetest sounding single run from the bat of Rittoo as Carlton finished on 208/8 off 50 overs, a very good score on a wicket doing things.

Brad and Omes opened up and the new ball was moving around considerably as scoring was slow.  Brad was then hit for a maximum as the batsmen looked to push things along, but took revenge shortly thereafter inducing the opener to hit a half tracker straight to Frallardice at point.  Further success came for Brad with two further wickets in the over and we were back on top.  St Boswells then heaved out the anchor and run scoring opportunities were at a premium for the next 10 overs or so, so that at drinks, the home team were 50/3.  Ferg finally broke the partnership after drinks and Elder came on and took the first of his three wickets as the home team innings began to fell apart.  Frallardice bought two of the dirtier wickets likely to be seen this season but the final plaudits were to go to Gav's Wheels who completed an impressive spell by inducing a catch to Ferg at slip.  The subsequent wild celebration saw Gav at least stay on his feet this time, but it could do with more work.  St Boswells all out for 116 and the Carlton express carries on - unbeaten in the league going into July.

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Another Saturday and another (relatively) blazing hot day in this glorious summer as the undefeated 2's made the short trip to Craiglockhart to play Watsonians 2's.

Maybe the Craiglockhart groundsman had gone on holiday but if he had, there was no doubting his commitment as three fully prepared and marked wickets were ready to play on. Once that major decision was made, we eagerly awaited the toss. On hot days like this, you pray that your captain wins the toss, you bat, make 300 and inevitably win. In the meantime, you watch your opponents chase leather while you work on your tan. Unfortunately, Captain Crowther hadn't taken that lesson of Captaincy 101 as, upon winning said toss, elected to bowl as we hadn't bowled first very often this year.

No real warm up was required and with the Aussie Rules ball firmly packed away, we did a warm up with a cricket ball as a change. From memory, the Oldies won.

Proceedings began with surely the fastest opening bowling combination in recent memory with McKay and Elder sharing the new ball. Both opening overs went for 8 each and it looked like it could be a long day. However, radars were adjusted and results soon reaped as Brad induced a rash cut to Marshall's safe hands. Elder soon followed inducing the first of many spooned catches as the Watson's boys went hard at the ball. They didn't learn as mid off and mid on were constantly in the game. Brad picked up two more to finish with 3/22 and Elder was the pick as be bowled through for 4/30. At the end of the opening bowlers, Watson's were in big trouble at 55/7. Rob Thornton and Amit then followed up the good work with more tight bowling and although Rob was hit for a leading edge 6, he soon got his man. Amit picked up the last two and Watson's were 76 all out before drinks.

With 24 overs until the tea was ready, we went straight back out to chase. Ali and Ruari fell for 10 and 6 respectively, but Neil Kirk held things together with a watchful 29. Supported by Matt Wells' unbeaten 24 (including back to back boundaries to win), we passed the total inside 20 overs to earn ourselves an early finish and in fact, a completed match by the tea break. A thoroughly professional performance and the unbeaten express train continues on.

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The search for the perfect season continued this Saturday at fortress GL as the mighty Carlton second eleven took on Musselburgh in another enthralling division 1 match up. As is now customary, the warm up of Australian Rules football began the day in high spirits with the young taking on the old in a fierce contest. The young and beautiful won with the last play of the game and Grant was obviously knackered following the ‘footy’ as he got absolutely roasted at the toss. However it wasn’t the end of the world as the Musselburgh skipper decided that whilst they only had 10 players they would take to the field and bowl on a pitch that had had 350 plus runs scored on it the night before. Each to their own. This decision seem3d vindicated as Neil Kirk was sent packing for 0, trapped ‘in front’ off the bowling of Robertson. But erratic bowling from the visitors saw Carlton push on at a steady rate. Wells was joined by young ‘aussie’ Ru Macpherson and they set about building a solid partnership smoking the ball out to the short boundary.

Ru Mac eventually departed for an enterprising 28 having put on 75 with Wells for the second wicket. Rob joined Wells at the crease and continued the free scoring mentality, pushing the score on nicely before rob was caught for 38, but another 50 partnership involving Wells and Carlton were in an excellent position to up the rate even more. The game continued to move on at breakneck speeds with the return of the forgotten force that is Rajan Bhopal. Having told us he didn’t bat much at Cambridge he went on to smack 38 in no time including a lovely maximum over long on. Having taken he score to 194 Carlton proceeded to undo all the good work of Wells and co by losing our final 6 wickets for 20 runs and failing to bat out our 50 overs. However an excellent knock from Wells (79), making sure he is not forgotten about as he runs off around Europe for a month. Hope Berlin isn’t too cold at this time of year.

Once again the teas at Grange Loan were fantastic, but the meal was slightly marred by the behaviour of some players both young and old as they proceeded to tuck into the food before the opposition players had been given the chance.  Forget Stuart Broad not walking, its moments like that which are destroying the spirit of cricket.

Back to the matter in hand, Carlton took the field safe in the knowledge that they would have to bowl and field very well to protect the par total they had set Musselburgh. Things did not start as we had set out with Brad and Ahmed both guilty of serving up full tosses to a Musselburgh batsman only too happy to send the ball to the boundary. Brad came back and took the first wicket of the dangerous looking Devaraj for 16. Ferg then came on to bowl with control and tightened up one end. This allowed Rob Thornton to charge in down the hill and take the wicket of the other opener.

This brought the dangerous Collins to the crease; he took a fancy to Ferg’s bowling and proceeded to ruin his figures hitting 3 boundaries in one over. It took an excellent bit of fielding from closet aussie to dismiss Collins for 15. This opened the middle order to Rob and Rajan who bowled excellently well in tandem. Both reaped the rewards of tight bowling and they regularly picked up wickets. The notorious B.I.J was then brought into the attack and snaffled himself a wicket with a cleverly bowled full toss. At the other end Rob completed an excellent spell finishing with figures of 5 for 25 after 10. The return of the Bhopal was complete as he found the finest of edges to remove the number 11. This rounded off a good fielding display and an excellent win by 56 runs continuing the 2s unbeaten run.

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RAIN - NO RESULT

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Dougal reports ...

Carlton arrived at a warm but very windy Dunfermline and proceeded to warm up in the usual way with a game of Australian Rules football before Grant headed out to the wicket to toss. The wicket looked like a very good batting wicket so everyone was quite confused when the Dunfermline skipper won the toss and took to the field with ten men.

Tom Barrett and Craig Everett opened the batting and even with a large and slowish outfield, scored at a good pace, making it to 106 at drinks with Tom on 48 and Craig on 49. However, Craig soon fell after drinks without scoring another run and brought Haris to the crease. After making a start, he was bowled for 15. Grant joined Tom at the crease and they scored quickly with Grant hitting a huge and effortless six over the wall at cow corner. Tom brought up his hundred in the 40th over but wasn’t finished there, scoring at ten an over, Grant and Tom brought the score up to 299 with Grant finishing on 64* and Tom bringing up a spectacular 154* without giving Dunfermline any chances.

After a great tea, Carlton took to the field with Ahmad and Brad opening the bowling. One of the Dunfermline openers had certainly seen the target set by Carlton and came out swinging from ball one, even attempting a dilshan after only facing two balls. Fortunately, he soon chipped the ball to mid-on before he could do any real damage and Carlton were back on top.

Ahmad Shah bowled well and was unlucky to finish his spell wicketless. Gavin and Haris took over the bowling attack but Dunfermline had begun to find the boundary again. However, it was Haris who made the breakthrough, getting the batsman on 46 caught behind. But after an extraordinary catch from Craig running in from the boundary, Harris had dismissed the opener for 22. Dougal, although having great trouble with his run up, took three wickets in four balls thanks to a good catch in gully from Ferg. Wickets began to fall from there as Keshav took advantage of the confusion of the batsman who had begun to walk off after thinking he had been caught, not realising that it was a no ball. Another stumping for Tom off the bowling of Haris left him with figures of 3/24 off 10. Ferg took the final wicket with a good catch from Grant in slip which left Carlton with a very convincing win.

 

Scorecard

Scorecard

Scorecard

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Scorecard