Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Colin Campbell

An overnight deluge proved no match for the Carlton groundstaff as they had the ground looking in good nick in time for a scheduled noon start for the first league match of the season. In gloomy conditions and with residual dampness around new skipper Drummo had no hesitation in asking the visitors to have a bat.

With a lack of the usual tightness in the Carlton field, openers Howard and Venske got off to a good start and the imposing Venske soon had a life when he edged a fine delivery from the returning Ali Evans only to see the chance go to ground. Chances were few and far between thereafter and it wasn’t until the 100 was up that left-hander Howard miscued one off the wily Omar Ahmad and was caught by Cheeky.

This wicket brought no respite for Carlton as the South African under 19 all-rounder Hayes van der Berg joined Venske and the pair put on another century partnership before the youngster eventually mistimed one off Drummo trying to go for a maximum and was taken by Ali Evans coming in from long on with the score on 203. With Venske bringing up an impressive ton and visiting pro Harsha Cooray finding the middle of the bat, the last few overs proved tough for the home side.  Cooray hit Ali inside out over cover for an audacious six before playing the same shot next ball only to be well caught on the boundary by Ruari Macpherson

There was a little bit of history made after tea when brothers Kyle and Ruari Macpherson (below) opened the batting in pursuit of 263.Unfortunately the loss of three quick wickets, including two in two balls from tall seamer Neill, left Kyle looking for support to rebuild the Carlton reply.

Kyle eventually found solid support from his skipper and the pair put on 96 before Drummo was run out by a shuttle throw from the keeper coming back for a third with the score on 147 for 1. Thereafter it was a case of hit out or get out for the lower order as Carlton looked for the best part of 10 an over to win. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and Kyle was 9th man out - another run out – for a battling 77 as Carlton fell short by 56 runs.

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

After the previous week’s loss, the skipper decided to bat on winning the toss. With plenty of movement early on batting wasn’t easy although a firm drive from Rory showed good intent.  Soon after, however, an attempted cover drive turned into a leading edge and  Brock took a fine, tumbling catch running in from the Grange Loan boundary. 23 for 1 then turned into 23 for 2 as Kyle edged to the safe hands of Ced at slip.

Thankfully, Preston was making his first appearance of the season and he looked solid from the outset, receiving good support from Haris (below) until the youngster was deceived by Bissett with the score on 61. At drinks, Carlton were looking well placed on 91 for 3 with Preston and Drummo in harness. However the skipper lost his middle stump to the first ball after the restart and then Preston, immediately after reaching 50, misjudged the line of left armer McCallum and was adjudged lbw. Alex, who was chancing his arm, and Boydy, who was digging in, repaired some of the damage before the keeper was stumped with the score on 152. With Alex run out immediately afterwards (on 45) and Ruari caught, Carlton were indebted to a fine counter-attacking 9th wicket partnership between Omar (19) and Tom (23*) to see them past 200.

An early breakthrough from Cheeky (below) was the only success for a large part of the SMRH innings. However, with Ced looking as solid as ever and no.3 Parker profiting from some over generous fielding from the home side SMRH were well in charge. With the score on 143 for 1, Parker tried to hit Omar out of the ground and was taken safely by Haris coming in from long on. Next ball saw Ced cut Omar straight into the hands of Cheeky at backward point and suddenly Carlton had a sniff.  With only one run added, SMRH pro Moses tried to take liberties off Omar but only succeeded in skying the ball to Tom. 144 for 4.

With Carlton suddenly alert in the field, two wickets for Cheeky – both batsmen slogging and missing – changed the balance even further. A good late spell from Tom was rewarded with the wicket of Ruthven.  With just 14 needed a great diving stop from Omar saved a boundary and, as the batsmen panicked, Omar’s throw from the deck delivered a run out.

13 needed off the last over from Drummo with two wickets in hand. A single off the first ball was followed by a comedy sequence next ball as a dropped catch yielded a single but another mix up resulted in McKellar being run out.  A dot and then Bissett found the safe hands of Tom to seal what had seemed, only a few overs before, like an unlikely victory.

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There was an inauspicious start to the day with news that Carlton’s two representatives in the Scotland v England clash the evening before were ruled out of the trip to Arbroath. This meant a last minute call-up for Ali Shah and a debut for new boy Edd Alexander.

While the rest of the country was uniformly washed out, there was a window of dry(ish) weather over the North East, allowing the match to start as a 47 over affair at 1pm. Given the conditions, Carlton were happy to be bowling and they made an early breakthrough when Ford mistimed a pull off Drummo and was caught by Omar. Two runs later and the dangerous Ross McLean became Drummo’s second victim courtesy of a good catch from Boydy, giving the keeper some badly needed fantasy league points.

Another two runs on the board and Drummo, everybody’s fantasy captain (well, apart from runaway leading manager Murray), was in the act again taking a great diving catch at second slip off Tom to dismiss his old mate Hamish Bartlett.

Drummo could do no wrong at this stage and his first bowling change showed the golden touch as Omar cleaned up Fraser Burnett with his first delivery to reduce the home side to 31 for 4. The next bowling change was also a successful one with Ruari removing Peal, his rising delivery nicking the glove to be well taken by Boydy – 34 for 5. Before the 50 was on the board, Omar had another wicket, courtesy of a diving catch from Tom.

However, with 6 wickets down Calvin Burnett was joined by Marc Petrie and the duo put on what was to be the defining partnership of the match. Burnett defied the slow wicket to take the match to the Carlton bowling attack, punishing anything short and racing to 50 off just 60 deliveries before being caught and bowled by Cheeky with the score on 108. Two further wickets for Tom (another catch for Drummo) and a second for Cheeky brought an end to the innings on 129.

The combined figures for Drummo and Cheeky (14 overs, 4 for 19) showed just how difficult it was to score runs against accurate bowling, suggesting a tough task for the inexperienced Carlton batting line up after they enjoyed a typically sumptuous Lochlands tea.

The mid innings roller didn’t appear to have helped the batsmen as the top order struggled to get anything off the square at all and the visitors were soon in trouble at 18 for 3 after 11 overs.

Things didn’t really improve from there with only Drummo and Alex Rajendran struggling to double figures. When Omar became the third lbw victim of a ball keeping low, and Tom was bowled with no further addition to the score, Carlton were all out for 82, losers by 47 runs.

A tough day in tough conditions with the aggressive half century from Burnett clearly the difference between the sides.

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On a slightly overcast evening the visitors had no hesitation in batting after winning the toss. Openers Yellowlees and Ossie Malik survived four tight overs from Ali Evans and Tom Freshwater, before Omar picked up the first wicket with the score on 15, courtesy of a sharp legside stumping by Fraser Boyd off a wide.

RHC captain Leeder looked in good touch but found Alex Rajendran off the bowling of Harris Aslam for 11. Harris settled onto a good spell of leg spin and picked up his second wicket, bowling McCorkell, with the score on 43 in the11th over. Opener Malik had dug in well but he was eventually undone by another delivery from Harris to give the young leggie his third wicket.

Skipper Drummond had set off-spinner Rory Allardice to work at the other end and after seeing a couple of half chances fall into open space Rory received due reward when Barclay sliced one to Tom Freshwater . A second wicket followed for the youngster when Thompson holed out to Omar at long on, taking the score to 67 for 6.

Tom picked up a wicket in his second spell, with a second catch from Alex, but some good hitting from Taylor took RHC beyond three figures at the end of their 20 overs.

In reply, Boydy, Rory McCann and Ruari fell early on, but the return of the experienced Fraser Watts steadied the middle order before Alex Rajendran found the middle of his bat – and the boundary – with increasing regularity, With the score rattling along, the only delays to a Carlton victory came with the prolonged searches for the pink ball that was dispatched out of the ground by Alex twice in quick succession.

In the end the total was passed with just three wickets down in the 13th over, with Fraser (24 from 22 balls) and Alex (42 from 23) both undefeated.

Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsors: Ken Sutherland and Stuart Taylor

With unavailability and injury continuing to pose an extra challenge in the run-up to this fixture, Carlton promoted the non-bowling Ali Evans to bat at 3 and gave a late call-up to Ben Thurman. Winning the toss and electing to bat, skipper Drummo can’t have been happy to find himself walking to the crease in the 7th over with the score on just 9. Both openers had departed within the space of 8 balls – Kyle run out coming back for a second and Boydy edging Willemse behind. An attempt by the Evans/Aslam partnership to provide some stability had ended when Harris edged behind off the spin of visiting captain Michael Leask.

Responding in typically assertive fashion, Drummo took the game to the bowlers immediately, while Ali played a sensible supporting role. With the skipper punching anything pitched up and pulling anything short the pair had put on 51 when Drummo, having struck three boundaries in the over already, tried to force another one off Kidd and edged behind. Although Carlton were still in trouble at 60 for 4 at least Drummo had put some impetus into the Carlton innings with his 41 coming from just 30 balls.

Batting at 6 Alex tried to carry on where his skipper had left off but holed out to Shaun Coetzer to bring an end to a run-a-ball 12. He was closely followed by debutant Thurman, who edged behind for just 1 to leave Carlton on 89 for 6 and still a couple of overs short of drinks.

Enter 17 year old Ruari Macpherson , who set about supporting Ali in the hope of at least posting a competitive total. Ali stepped up intent, using his long reach to best effect with a number of stylish sweeps. However, with a well-deserved half-century in sight, the sweep eventually proved to be Ali’s downfall when he top edged Henk Conradie to give an easy catch to Gill at fine leg.

At 116 for 7 Ruari set to his task with impressive maturity. Together with Tom and Omar he took the total past 150, before he and Cheeky set up an invaluable last-wicket partnership of 26 (which included a classic Cheeky cover drive, below),  which was only ended by a direct hit from the boundary by Leask to run out Cheeky on his way back for a third. A great effort from Ruari (43*) and Carlton had something to bowl at with a total of 178, albeit it, as the doughty groundsman was keen to point out, still a sub-par total for the deck.

With early wickets needed, Drummo delivered with a beauty (below) to clean up the wicket-keeping Conradie twin and then Tom removed the other opener Gill in similar fashion. This brought Carlton’s nemesis of last season Michael Leask to the crease and he showed intent early with a mighty pull up the hill for four. However, a Freshwater slower yorker undid the Scotland man completely, making a mess of the shiny Carlton-blue stumps to leave the visitors in a bit of trouble at 21 for 3.

Any thoughts of the game being over with the removal of the visiting skipper were soon put to bed by a good partnership between Coetzer and the left handed Steinson. Steinson in particular looked comfortable against the seamers but he was immediately bamboozled by the introduction of spin, being cleaned up by Cheeky off the second ball he faced. 46 for 4 became 94 for 5 when Coetzer was lbw to Cheeky for a useful 30. However, Henk Conradie was receiving good support from Willemse and the pair had taken the total on to 129 when the returning Drummo trapped Willemse lbw for what proved to be the crucial breakthrough.

Although Conradie moved to a well earned fifty the end then came quickly with Tom and Drummo sharing the last four wickets to dismiss the visitors for 144.  Ten very important points in the bag.

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Least said, soonest mended.

In a performance that matched the gloomy conditions, Carlton were inserted then dismissed for just 77 against a Grange attack shorn of their two regular opening bowlers.

While there was help for the seamers – George Munsey picking up four wickets – the Grange attack were also helped by some injudicious decision making from the Carlton batsmen.

A good spell from Tom Freshwater saw him pick up two wickets, with Omar claiming another, but it was all too little too late as Carlton were beaten at the home of their greatest rivals, the match finishing before 3.30 pm.

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Carlton’s Scottish Cup campaign came to an early and muddy end at Greenock. After the first two scheduled dates were washed out, Carlton travelled in attempt to get a game played, with the prospect of a bowl-out unappealing.

After waiting all day, a 10 over match started after 5pm, in conditions that would not normally have seen play – the sight of Tom Freshwater sliding on his back while attempting to take a catch in the outfield just about summed things up.

However, it was the same for both sides. Omar Ahmad picked up the first wicket as Greenock pro Thomas edged a drive to Boydy. Ruari induced McDougall to sky one to Drummo, before Tom collected a couple of wickets - opener Flack holing out to Ali Shah and Chris Hempsey bowled - to leave the home side on 60 for 4 off 7 overs. Carlton turned the screw over the next two overs – Haris picking up a stumping and Drummo bowling Jonathon Hempsey. However, a final over flourish from Santhosh took the total to 78 for 6 at the end of the 10 overs.

Tom was promoted to open with Fraggle and he got the Carlton reply off to a flyer with the score at 30 for no wicket at the end of the first two overs. However, the introduction of Thomas put the brakes on the Carlton effort and some ambitious shots on the tricky wicket brought about the downfall of Fraggle, Tom and Drummo to leave things in the balance at 59 for 3 after seven overs. Steady nerves were needed. However, even with Alex run out in the penultimate over, Carlton were favourites – needing 6 to win (and crucially 5 to tie as they were only four wickets down at this point) off the final over.

What happened next ranks with the failure to get over the line in a tie against Ayr three years ago. Ali holed out on the boundary, Boydy was run out without facing a ball and Ruari was also caught. With only a single scored, Carlton suddenly needed 5 off the last two balls (with seven wickets down a tie was no longer an option). Kyle swept the fifth ball to the furthest reaches of the sodden ground and he and Harris somehow ran four. Only one needed. Sadly, the young batsman couldn’t make contact with the last ball and Carlton had lost by the narrowest of margins with the scores tied.

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

Summer made a sudden breakthrough at Grange Loan as visitors Falkland won the toss and elected to bat.

After a tight start, openers Henderson and Cleaver began to grow in confidence, finding the boundary with regularity and passing the fifty mark at the rate of four an over. Skipper Gordon Drummond turned to his late arrival Omar Ahmad, who proved he didn’t need a warm-up by wresting control from the visitors with a fine spell of seam bowling. First he took the edge of Cleaver’s bat as the opener went for an expansive drive, then he trapped Henderson lbw, before a carbon copy of the first dismissal saw the back of Ferguson, courtesy of another sharp catch from keeper Fraser Boyd.

At 75 for 3 with the run rate slowing, things were looking up for Carlton. However, with dangerman Safyaan Sharif at the crease it was very much game on. Although Chayank Gosain gained reward for a good spell by trapping Surry lbw, Sharif was clearly finding his range with a couple of big shots. However, Tom Freshwater made the big breakthrough with a leg side delivery that the Falkland man tickled through to Boydy with the score on 125.

Drummo picked up a well deserved wicket, trapping Ryan lbw before a good partnership between skipper Ditchmen and Campbell kept the visitors in the game. Both batsmen departed in quick succession – Ditchmen bowled by Cheeky (below) and Campbell well caught by the young left-armer off the seam bowling of Alex Rajendran. With Hepburn run out courtesy of good work from Preston Mommsen, the visitors closed on 179 for 9.

With the Falkland attack spearheaded by the in-form Sharif, a good start was required. However, two legal deliveries into the paceman’s first over new opener Freshy found his stumps rearranged. The experienced duo of Fraser Watts and Mommsen looked to steady the ship but Sharif continued to pose problems and Carlton were soon 2 down for just 10 when Preston edged one to the keeper.

The balance looked to be tilting when Drummo, batting at 4, walloped two 4s and a 6 in Sharif’s 5th over. However, the bowler took swift revenge in his next over, having Drummo edge behind before sending Kyle Macpherson’s off stump cartwheeling over the Grange Loan turf.

Carlton were in deep at 36 for 4 as Sharif took a well deserved breather. A couple of glorious shots from Alex Rajendran got the scoreboard moving but the big man never looked in full control and he gave an easy catch in the covers off Henderson to leave his side on 65 for 5. Ruari Macpherson was adjudged lbw off a full ball from off-spinner Ditchmen, before Harris Aslam, who had stuck in well, missed a sweep off the same bowler and also departed lbw.

At 98 for 7, Carlton were a long way away although the experienced Fraggle (below) was still there. At this point he was joined by Boydy and the pair put together the only meaningful partnership of the innings. With boundaries hard to come by the pair ran hard and fast, with the older of the two Frasers showing he can still sprint with the best of them. Little by little they inched their way towards the target, bringing up the 50 partnership but, just when an unlikely win looked within reach, the worst ball of the day got the breakthrough as Fraggle toe-ended a long hop from Hamilton straight to Ryan Hepburn.

With 26 still needed, Omar and Cheeky both had a go but the former was run out and when Cheeky was stumped in the penultimate over, Carlton were all out still 13 runs behind.

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TIE CONCEDED BY MUSSELBURGH

MATCH ABANDONED

The forecast seemed pretty specific – rain, and lots of it, arriving around 3pm. Winning the toss and putting Watsonians in at least gave an outside chance of a win but it would have to be a quick one.

Ali and Freshy opened the bowling with Ali bowling stand-in opener Ben Fox early on. This brought Ewan Chalmers to the crease and after blocking his first ball he was beaten all ends up by a beauty from Ali that beat his defence and struck the top of off to leave the home side in trouble at 6 for 2.

Dewald Nel decided to counter attack and hit a few boundaries before Drummo nicked him off and Preston at slip took a great grab to his right, managing to get his hand under the ball diving full length.

Ali then made it a Chalmers double, bowling Andrew first ball in exactly the same fashion as his brother. Soon it was four for Ali as Hislop was trapped right in front by a full ball with the score on 38. Hopes were high just a few balls later when Ryan Murray pushed hard at the ball and offered a return catch to Drummo – 43 for 6.

Fraser Sands rapped two successive boundaries off Freshy and then hit Drummo over mid on for six.  Ali was brought into the attack and almost bowled Sands two balls in a row.  No doubt not sure about facing Ali again, Sands hit one straight to mid-off in Omar's next over.

James Easton, who had stuck in and batted well, was then struck on the pad and given out from one that nipped back in from Ali, to give him a fifth wicket and leave Watsonians on 70 for 8.

Given the weather closing in, Milodowski and Legget frustrated Carlton for a while before Legget was bowled by Ali and Yelland followed shortly after by nicking one off Freshy straight to the hands of Mommsen at slip.

After a quick turnaround, Fraggle came out all guns blazing and got Carlton off to a flyer.  Although Freshy never quite got going and skied one to mid on, Fraggle continued to hit boundaries and run hard but the rain started and then never stopped to leave Carlton stranded just 46 runs short of a much needed win.

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With Gordon Drummond unavailable due to a calf strain, Preston won the toss and decided to bat.

Freshy and Fraggle opened up and took the score to 47 before Farooq cleaned Freshy up which brought Preston to the crease. With only three runs added Preston was bowled a long hop down the legside which he somehow managed to nick to the keeper.

McCann came to the crease and he and Fraggle dominated the bowling. They ran extremely well, putting the fielders under pressure and dispatched bad balls to the boundary. Fraggle brought up the Carlton 200 - and his own century - as the pair accelerated the run rate. Sadly, with the score on 236, McCann was eventually bowled by walking down the track, attempting to pull one and the ball just clipped the top of the bails. He was out for 91. Big Alex was next in with just a few overs left. Fraggle hit a few more sixes and Alex kept him on strike. Fraggle finished on 134. Top knock!

The fielding innings didn't get off to a good start with David Ross seizing on anything short and smashing to the boundary. the first breakthrough came with Freshy bowling the pro Jooste with a full in-swinging delivery which he missed. The amateur, Papwporth, was next in and he supported Ross well who was still hitting regular boundaries off the back foot. Ali eventually succeeded with a short ball as Ross plinked one to McCann at straight mid wicket. This really slowed things down for Heriots. Pete Ross came in and played a few interesting shots before he tried to run one down to third man off the bowling of Macpherson bit only found the gloves of Boydy.

Farrell was next in and looked solid but the batsmen were beginning to feel scoreboard pressure. Papworth tried to up the rate by attempting to hit Omar for a straight six but only succeeded in hitting it up in the air to Cheeky at long on. There was then a partnership between Farrell and Worth but they weren't scoring at a fast enough rate to put Carlton under any pressure. A very tight power play with only one boundary coming in it meant that the game was Carlton's to lose. Worth was caught by Mommsen off Cheeky's bowling at straight mid wicket. Knoxy was next in. A dropped catch and some misfields meant Heriot's were given a sniff again but when Harris chased down a scoop by Knox to the fine leg boundary and threw in for Boydy to run out Farrell the game was virtually over. A flurry of edges in the last two overs meant the result appeared tighter than it was.

The key was the dismissal of David Ross and some extremely tight middle overs and power play bowling.

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Kyle Mac, opening bat and quick net bowler (just ask Rory Allardice), reporting.

The sun had been blazing all day long and now Carlton was eagerly awaiting their second fixture of the week against a strong Heriots side in their Masterton semi final at Grange Loan. The match at the weekend had been another nail biter with Carlton winning in the end with good batting displays from Fraggle (134*) and Rory McCann (91) so it was hoped this could continue in the T20 format.

Heriots won the toss and were batting. Carlton got off to a great start with Freshy bowling David Ross, leaving the score at 6 for 1 after only 2 overs. Carlton continued to be good in the field, stopping the ball from piercing the infield, which led to the fall of Cam Farrell who hit the ball straight to an alert and always energetic Alex at mid off who took the catch off the bowling of Ali Evans leaving the score at 15 for 2 off 4 overs. Heriots then stuck in for a couple of overs rotating the strike nicely until new bowler Ali Shah, who was better known for his big hitting antics, came on to bowl. Now converted to an off spin bowler by none other than Preston ‘Goldenballs’ Mommsen he came on to bowl and took a wicket first ball, leaving Heriots 3 wickets down for just 39 runs. Carlton continued to be sharp in the field with good composure out near the boundary and in close aiding the good bowling and led to Heriots struggling to gain full momentum. Ali Shah soon picked up another 2 wickets which left Heriots 62 for 5 after 12. Some raw pace from Ali Evans saw another wicket fall soon after, this time a diving catch by Fraggle to bring Heriots to 62 for 6 after 13. It was only when Heriots were 7 wickets down did Knoxy and Ryan Brown begin to put pressure on the bowling and fielding unit with the 16th over going for 12 runs with a big straight six from Knoxy. However Carlton remained composed and through some great pieces of fielding and some good attacking bowling, managed to restrict Heriots to 116 for 8.

To start off the batting innings it was to be Fraggle and star bowler Ali Shah to open the batting. The innings couldn’t have got off to a better start with both batsmen putting away the bad ball with ease and rotating the strike very nicely, bringing Carlton to 40 off 4 overs. In the 6th over Ali Shah was dismissed for a useful 15 with the score on 53 and in came Preston and with no hesitation the pair continued to bat nicely until the target was reached. This saw Carlton secure a win by 9 wickets with both Fraggle and Preston not out in the end giving the team a great confidence boost for the week ahead.

This was a good comprehensive win with contributions by all whether in the field, bowling or batting and should give good momentum for Carlton’s next league match against Forfarshire at home.

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

With Drummo still injured, Preston made the customary decision to bat after winning the toss at a warm but slightly overcast Grange Loan.

It was a reassuring sight for the Carlton fans to see the returning Hamish Gardiner stride out to open with Fraggle and the pair got things off to a solid start reaching 37 in 10 overs before Fraggle, in expansive mood given his recent form, drove at Gough and edged to stand-in skipper Parker on 14. Preston replaced him and looked in the mood to get in some serious batting before he was adjudged lbw off Gough with just 7 runs added to the total.

Rory McCann was in at 4 and in confident mood following his 91 last week. He and Hamish moved things on steadily until Rory edged Gough behind for 13 with the score on 79. Harris came and went quickly, as Sweeney tempted him into giving an easy catch to Bailwal with the score on 85 for 4 as drinks were taken.

Hamish, barring one difficult chance offered, was meanwhile looking serene on 48* and he received aggressive support from Alex in a partnership of 90 that was ended when Alex sliced a full toss from Umair Mohammed up the hill where Aman Bailwal took a brilliant running full length catch. If there was any thoughts of the innings petering out at 175 for 5, these were put to bed by the Carlton lower order. First Ruari Macpherson once again belied his tender years to bat with maturity, seeing Hamish through to a richly deserved century that was a mix of sensible batting interspersed with some big sixes (below). The partnership of 49 finally ended when Hamish holed out to Lilly off the bowling of Umair for 118.

47 runs were added in the last 5 overs: Ruari eventually departed for an invaluable and classy 25; Boydy hit a rapid 18, planting a Bailwal bouncer onto the roof of the Sibcas, before being bowled in the final over; Ali employed the long handle; Freshy hit 13 from 8 balls; and Omar took 4 off the final two deliveries of the innings.

After the poor bowling start last week Carlton were on the spot early on and Ali struck first, bowling pro Lilly comprehensively (below). He then followed up with the big wicket of Matty Parker finding an edge that was well taken by Preston at slip.

Next over Omar found a thick edge off Martin’s bat to give Alex a catch at gully. Next ball was even better and the result was the same – Gough sending the ball flying to gully where Alex took a fine one handed catch. When Aman Bailwal was adjudged lbw off Omar the game was all but over at 53 for 5. Then, after Ali gave another slip catch to Preston – Weed the victim, it was all about Omar (below).

First a frustrated Umair hit him straight to Freshy at long on, then a brilliant one handed catch at slip by McCann saw the back of Fearn to give Omar his fifth wicket.

A catch by Boydy made it 6 and, after a cameo one over from the club captain who had begged the skipper for a bowl, Omar bowled last man Liam Sweeney to finish with 7 for 20 and seal a 159 run win.

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Aberdeen was cold and grey but the deck looked flat so it was a bit of a surprise when the home side won the toss and asked Carlton to bat.

With Drummo still injured and Alex out, the order was shuffled with Scotland A’s night-watchman Ali Evans promoted to opener to accompany last week’s centurion Hamish. Unfortunately Hamish edged behind in the first over off Buchan and shortly afterwards the same bowler got one to come back in, bowling Preston, whose mind may have been on the first Centurion Club draw to be held later that evening.

Ali knuckled down well and staged a recovery, supported by Harris, taking the score to 53 for 2 after 14 when the players were forced from the field by the rain. Entertainment was provided by the live stream from the Twos game at Grange Loan.

On the resumption, with the match reduced to 43 overs a side, things didn’t go well. With only four added to the total, Ali, on 32, went back to spinner Cooray and was bowled, with Harris then run out only one run later. Fraggle and Ruari threatened to stage a recovery before Ruari was unluckily given run out at the non-striker’s end after Fraggle hit one straight back to the bowler. Boydy then lasted one ball, adjudged stumped after missing one from Cooray and it was 92 for 6.

Ali Shah at 7 hit a four early on and had added 30 with Fraggle, who was again looking immense, before Ali was out lbw to Cooray trying to turn one round the corner. Freshy hit 13, running hard with Fraggle, before he was bowled by the returning Buchan, and Omar was the victim of a tight looking run out decision. Cheeky was the last line of support for Fraggle but he became Buchan’s fourth victim, given out lbw, leaving Watts stranded on 40 and the total 158 all out.

Ali, bowling rapidly, opened the bowling with Cheeky, but Venske, as usual, was quick to pounce on anything short or wide. Howard looked uncomfortable against a series of good deliveries from both Ali and Freshy but capitalised against the fuller bowling of Omar. The pair had taken the score to 76 before Venske hit one through the covers; Fraggle chased and had the ball in his hand when Venske called a suicidal run that saw him stranded with Howard, rightly, standing his ground. Shortly after, Howard, who had played and missed at a succession of deliveries, flashed hard at Freshy and was well caught at second slip by Hamish above his head.

This brought Cooray to the crease and he survived a huge lbw appeal early on as Freshy swung one back into his pads. Thereafter, he and Van der Berg had to fight hard to survive a superb spell of fast bowling from Ali – Cooray taking one on the helmet while his partner was struck on the ribs. Sadly, the break didn’t come and the Aberdeenshire pro and amateur saw their side through to an 8 wicket DL win with time to spare.

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With both Preston Mommsen and Ali Evans ruled out, there was an immediate 1st XI comeback for left arm spinner Fraser Allardice, just arrived back from his first year at Oxford, while skipper Gordon Drummond was restored to the line up. Drummo won the toss and opted to bat on a surface that turned out to be low and slow.

 

Tom Freshwater opened with Hamish and his aggressive approach got the scoreboard moving despite the slow Inverleith outfield. Ex-Carlton skipper Cedric English was back opening the bowling for the home side and looked in fine fettle, getting one through Freshy’s defences with the score on 40 to dismiss the Aussie for 22 in front of his own sizeable travelling support all the way from Queensland. Fraser Watts joined Hamish and the pair looked to build a partnership while realising that it was not a surface for sparkling strokeplay. After adding 26 with Hamish, Fraggle got an edge to a Crouch delivery that was taken well by home pro Brad Moses at slip.

 

Harris Aslam was in at 4 and looked to get his head down and graft. However, just before drinks he turned for a third run, was sent back and didn’t make it. 88 for 3. Worse was to follow just after the resumption, when Hamish, to his obvious frustration, edged McCallum to the keeper. Nobody seemed keen to make eye contact as the opener walked off and disappeared into the dressing room.

 

Out in the middle things were looking good however as Alex Rajendran and young Ruari Macpherson played themselves in and began to build what would be the decisive partnership of the innings. Alex decided to forego his usual expansive game and concentrated on picking up regular singles, waiting for the occasional loose delivery to add to his total. Ruari meanwhile provided mature support and the pair had taken the score to 146 for 4 in the 39th over – a partnership of 56 – before Ruari, looking to push things on, was bowled by Moses.

 

Drummo joined Alex and the two big lads accelerated things well before Drummo was caught off Moses with the score on 170. Omar was in at 8 and he helped Alex past a well deserved 50 before being bowled. The returning Matt Wells added a couple before Fraser Allardice joined Alex for an eventful last over. Hitting out, Frallardice gave not one but two simple catches to the home side and profited as he saw both chances grassed. To add insult to injury this brought Alex on strike for the last delivery and he made the most of it by launching Moses for a big 6 to take the Carlton score to 208 for 8.

 

Given the conditions a 200+ score looked defendable, particularly when Drummo bowled McCallum with just 11 on the board.

Cedric and Parker started to build a partnership for the home side but the outfield meant that there wasn’t always full value for attacking strokes. With the score on 54, Ced tried to seize on a low full toss from Cheeky but was well caught low down by Hamish.

 

Parker soon spooned one to Ruari in the covers off Freshy and Bissett was pinned lbw by Cheeky to leave SMRH on 67 for 4 just past the half way stage. With the run rate soaring, the broad Ruthven clearly realised that the best policy was to negate the slow outfield by trying to deal exclusively in sixes. His tactics were working well before the introduction of the left arm spin of Frallardice first slowed him down and then saw him back in the pavilion thanks to a sharp catch from Drummo. 126 for 5.

 

Pro Moses was the home side’s last hope and when he was caught behind by Wellsy off Frallardice the game was all but over. The end came quickly – a third wicket for Cheeky, another couple for Fraser and a run out courtesy of a good throw from Fraggle (with Cheeky waking up just in time to take the bails off). The two teenage left arm spinners ended with combined figures of 7 for 61 from 21.4 overs.

 

A good team performance and an ultimately comfortable win to put Carlton back up to 4th in the league.

 

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The week’s fine weather had encouraged a big crowd along to Grange Loan for the final and they watched as Fraser Watts and Hamish Gardiner walked out to the middle. Usually winning the toss in an evening T20 and electing to bat guarantees the best of the light but a sudden onrush of clouds after the toss meant that the Carlton openers had to deal with very gloomy conditions.

Although struggling to see the ball, Hamish swung to good effect rattling up 20 runs in next to no time before skying one from Stu Davidson and being caught on the hill. Tom Freshwater departed soon after and the experienced duo of Watts and Mommsen tried to pierce the Grange infield and the gloom. Unfortunately Preston was dismissed by young Chris Sole, who made the most of the gloom to bowl four miserly overs and drag his side back into the game after the home side had brought up their fifty in just 6 overs.

Fraggle was in good touch again and his side were looking good on 105 for 3 after 15 overs when he was given out lbw. Despite a few effective blows from Drummo, the Carlton lower order failed to get bat on ball and the innings petered out on 126 for 9.

With the sun shining once again, Flannigan and Munsey got things off to a steady start putting on 50 in good time before Omar dismissed Flannigan courtesy of a catch from Tom Freshwater. A succession of wickets then kept Carlton in the hunt, Cheeky Gosain picking up three wickets including the key dismissal of Munsey for 41. With the game in the balance Andrew Brock decided to chance his arm and a big six in the 17th over , followed by two rather fortuitous fours – a top edge and an inside edge – took Grange to within 9.

Cheeky then dismissed Brock – his fourth wicket of the evening – to leave Grange needing 7 off the last two overs. Some brilliant bowling from Freshy delivered five dot balls before Sole flayed at the final ball, hitting it inside out over the covers. Ruari leapt, going for his second fine boundary catch of the evening, but there was just too much height in the shot and the 6 gave Grange a deserved win with one over and three wickets to spare.

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

On winning the toss Gordon Drummond elected to bat, but his side soon lost opener Haris Aslam as the youngster advanced down the pitch to Parker and was given out lbw. The visitors were bowling very well, making the most of the helpful overhead conditions and were backed up by top class fielding.

Next out trying to loosen the shackles was Fraser Watts who looked to clip Calvin Burnett off his legs only to see the ball fly to the grateful Parker at deep fine leg. Ruari Macpherson, who has been in such good touch recently, was then undone by a great piece of bowling from Burnett, playing and missing at a couple of classic away swingers before being bowled by a fierce yorker.

38 for 3 and the skipper walked into a challenging situation. Just as Drummo and Hamish (below) were beginning to steady the ship, the former was bowled by Brendan Ford with the score on 58. Last week’s hero, Alex Rajendran, then offered the support Hamish was craving as the pair put on 79 for the fifth wicket. Alex, on 45, attempted to make the most of the powerplay by trying to hit Ramsay over the top but was caught by a brilliant one-handed effort by Calvin Burnett.

Sadly Carlton then proceeded to lose their last 5 wickets for just 30 runs, with a clearly frustrated Hamish last out for a determined 63.

For a while after tea it looked as if all might not be lost as Tom Freshwater dismissed McLean and Bartlett in quick succession. When Fraser Burnett was out lbw to Omar Ahmad, the visitors were in potential trouble on 66 for 3. On 93, Carlton’s last chance of the win came and went when opener Ford was dropped at mid on.

Ford, who had scored a century at Grange Loan last season, moved smoothly towards a 2014 repeat despite a good spell from youngster Ruari Macpherson, who was rewarded with the wicket of Peal, courtesy of a sharp legside stumping from keeper Boyd.
In the end though it was a comfortable 6 wicket win for an impressive Arbroath outfit, with Ford ending on 114 not out.

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Frallardice reports ...

The treacherous journey up to Aberdeen was braved by the 1st XI with the threat of rain looming throughout the morning. A surprising selection decision this week was to move skipper Drummo down to the 2nd XI (harsh, some would say), leaving Fraggle to rudder the side (dangerous, some would say).

A rain-delayed start removed a crucial 3 overs from each innings; despite the shortened format, the top order did not slip immediately into T20 mode. Kyle stuck around to see away the new ball, though had nobody with whom to build a stand, top order wickets falling around him. After Kyle's dismissal, Big Eck and Judas dug in, on what was a typically difficult Stoneywood wicket, to establish some stability. Both played admirably in their partnership of 99, turning a shaky start into a solid platform. Frustratingly, Boyd's wicket fell shortly after another rain delay, followed closely by Eck's, and the lower order failed to capitalise on their work. Carlton were bowled out for 160 – solid, given the conditions, but fewer than would have been hoped for at the half-way point.

A strong start to the bowling effort was required, and provided, by Melman and Freshy, and Stoneywood were reduced to 39-5 early on. Omar was characteristically tight, picking up wickets as well. A counter-attack from the number 5, Conradie, kept Dyce in the game through the middle overs, but, having grafted his way to 49 was caught and bowled by Omar (7-0-16-3). The lower order proved stubborn, and the last few wickets were more difficult to come by than hoped. On the plus side, this gave Fraggle – the Shikhar Dhawan of the Carlton bowling attack – a chance to turn his arm over (champ, he would say).

Eventually, Ali Evans (10-1-36-3) unstuck the number 8, and Freshy the number 11, giving Carlton a solid 40 run victory and momentum going into the next fixture against Grange.

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Grange Loan was bathed in sunshine when Carlton won the toss and decided to bat. Opening with Hamish this week was Ali and the pair had to battle hard early on against the impressive new ball partnership of Goudie and Routray.

Hamish was the first to go when he edged a delivery from Routray to Grange skipper McCallum at gully. Ali flat batted Goudie over mid-on, the ball slapping into the pavilion fence, before he tried to pull Routray up the hill and was out lbw.

28 for 2 and Ruari Macpherson, just arrived back with coach Drummo from the national under 17 road trip a few minutes earlier, walked out to join Fraggle in the middle. The pair stuck in well, Fraggle playing watchfully and Ruari settling down to play positively. Having compiled a priceless partnership of 70, Ruari played a Brock delivery into his foot and while he searched for the ball keeper Munsey stooped down and whipped off the bails.

Boydy looked to continue where he left off last week and mixed singles with boundaries before getting an inside edge on 19 off Routray onto his stumps. Alex joined Fraggle on 137 for 4 and saw Watts to a chanceless 50 before Eck became Routray’s 4th victim for 5.

An experienced number 7 was just what was needed and Drummo was the man for the job. Timing the ball from the off he added 41 with Fraggle in good time before, on 20, being beaten by a full ball from Routray, who celebrated his fivefer.

As Fraggle began his acceleration Freshy pulled a slower short ball from Goudie to Flannigan at deep square. Omar was in the middle next and he, like the large Grange Loan crowd, watched and enjoyed the culmination of a superb Fraggle innings. First he brought up his second century of the season and then, when he had brought himself to a standstill by running a series of twos, smacked the last two balls of the innings to the boundary to finish on 120. A brilliant knock.

Munsey and Flannigan opened for Grange and they had to contend with as fast a spell of bowling as the Grange Loan faithful can remember as Ali ran in fluidly from the pavilion end, working up genuine pace. The first wicket fell to Freshy, who had Flannigan edge behind and a second might have followed shortly afterwards when Ali found the edge of McCallum’s bat with a searing delivery only to see the ball burst through the hands of second slip.

After 8 overs played through steadily worsening conditions the players were taken off for a lengthy break. On resumption, the Grange target was 181 in 31 overs and the gloomy conditions seemed a long way from the sunshine of the first innings. With bowlers’ overs reduced, Omar and Drummo took over and with the score on 59 Munsey edged the skipper, well taken by Boydy.

The Drummo/Boydy combo also saw the back of Foulds, but with the score on 91 for 3 in the 19th over the rain intervened again and the players were off for a further period. The delights of Duckworth-Lewis eventually presented Grange with a revised target of 131 in 23 overs. Or, put another way, Grange needed 40 runs off 26 balls.

A 4 immediately followed by a huge 6 from Gordon Goudie soon had Grange in the box seat before the all-rounder picked out Hamish at long-on off Cheeky. That brought Brock to the crease to partner McCallum and the pair needed 18 off the last two overs with 6 wickets in hand. The decisive moment came when McCallum tried to pull Drummo up the hill but was through the shot too early. The ball struck the glove and ran up the back of Macca’s bat before being snaffled by the left-hand of the keeper. A couple of balls later Will Edwards found Ruari in the deep to give Drummo his fourth wicket and the equation was 14 needed off the last ball with 4 wickets in hand.

Ali came steaming down the hill and a perfect bouncer made for a dot ball. The second was also too good for Farrer as the ball thumped into Boyd’s gloves. Another play and miss led to Brock trying to get back on strike by taking one to the keeper but Boydy’s aim was true and the left-hander was run out. A single off the fourth ball left Grange needing two 6s to tie. Ali made sure that didn’t happen and a fine match ended with a 7 run win for the home side.

 

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RAINED OFF

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

With rain around overnight and during the preceding week, visiting skipper Ewan Chalmers was happy to ask Carlton to bat after winning the toss.

Accurate spells from Nel, Sadler and the skipper himself made for a testing opening 90 minutes with Hamish, caught behind off Nel, an early victim. Preston joined Fraggle and the pair battled hard, building a 50 partnership, before a ball from Sadler kept a little low trapping the no. 3 lbw.

Ruari, now a firm fixture at no 4, again started confidently, seeing Fraggle to a chanceless 50, before the youngster was bowled by a beauty from Chalmers on 14 with the score on 93. Boydy, at 5, hit 13 in a partnership of 44 as Fraggle started to accelerate. When Boyd hit Ewan Chalmers to his brother at midwicket it brought the big man, Alex Rajendran (below), to the wicket just in time for the powerplay. This was a case of perfect timing as he took full advantage of the fielding restrictions to hit the ball all round the park, the highlight being a six smashed up the hill over point.

Watts, meanwhile, proceeded smoothly through the nineties, before bringing up his second successive century – and his third of the season.

When Eck was eventually bowled on 49 (denying Fantasy Cricket manager Forrester 25 vital points) the pair had put on 94 runs in 44 frantic minutes. Fraggle (below) then hit out, pumping a straight six towards Lovers’ Loan before he eventually holed out on 124 just before the close. With Omar run out coming back for a second off the last ball, Carlton finished on a very healthy 253 for 8.

Ali opened up, coming in down the hill keen to repeat his six-for against the same side earlier in the season. However, it was Freshy who made the breakthrough, bowling Hislop in the second over. As happened the week before, Ali (below) had little luck in his opening spell, again finding the edge only to see the chance spilled. Fortunately Easton didn’t profit for long, as Cheeky had him stumped on 27.

With drinks looming and Watsonians still in contention at 94 for 2, skipper Drummo made the breakthrough, trapping his opposite number Chalmers lbw for 20.

Stuart Chalmers decided to counter attack by hitting Cheeky back over his head but only succeeded in picking out Fraggle at long off, who held a good catch just inches inside the boundary. Next ball, opener Learmonth, on 45, hit one back at Cheeky and the youngster took a good catch to leave Watsonians in bother at 103 for 5.

Nel was then joined by Andrew Chalmers and the pair batted well, rotating the strike skilfully, with Nel in particular finding the boundary regularly. Carlton’s cause was not helped when Preston injured a finger stopping a ball at slip and he was replaced by Under 13 stalwart Ruairidh Main. If the batsmen thought they might be able to take advantage of the young man’s fielding they were put in their place immediately when Ruairidh was in action with a fine pick up and throw to stop a second run.

Although the run rate had risen to over 10 an over, Nel and Chalmers were keeping in touch with the target and it took the return of Ali to stop the charge, clean bowling Nel on 70 after he tried an ambitious ramp shot. Drummo then found Chalmers’ top edge, the ball looping into the air as young Ruaridh came tearing in from third man, diving forward to take a great catch (below). His first contribution to a 1st XI scorecard and we’re sure there will be more to come in a few years’ time.

Drummo then carried out some efficient hoovering, bowling Pete Legget and having Sadler caught at long off by Hamish after Sim had been run out, to leave Carlton winners by 27 runs.

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More pics from David Potter, Cricket Europe

Carlton are grateful for the generous support of our match sponsor: Ann McConnell

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