Nobel prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman characterises human thought into two distinct varieties. System 1 thought is fast, instinctive and emotional whereas System 2 is slower, more deliberate and more logical. He uses this framework to describe the different way our minds work when trying to solve the sums “2 + 2” and “78 + 91”. With the former we recognise it as something we know and immediately access the answer from memory. For the latter we instinctively know it is a sum, and one that we can work out but it requires us to actively engage in the process of solving it. The 3s opening fixture of the 2017 season in the heady heights of ESCA Division 2 provided a perfect case study for Kahneman’s research.

Paul won the toss and inserted an under strength Largo at a sun drenched Grange Loan with a strong easterly wind sweeping across the beautifully manicured ground. Mikey Brown came up the hill with the breeze at his back with Rory Allardice flighting it into the wind at the other end. Largo openers made a watchful start in the face of some accurate bowling with Mikey eventually making the breakthrough in the 9th over to remove Mowat with only 16 on the board. Change bowlers Nick Thomson and Alan “Spike” MacLeod kept the pressure on, ably supported by some energetic fielding from the youth element in particular. Warrender and Robertson were getting used to the conditions and pushed the score onto 70 for 1 at drinks but this increase in tempo did not come without risk. A bit too much System 1 thought brought a run out as both batsmen ended up at the same end and Paul threw down the stumps forcing opener Warrender to depart for 44. Spike then picked up new man Brown with the penultimate delivery of his spell. Ethan Wood replaced Nick and hit the top of Gillin’s off stump in his first over. Al Murray also had early success bowling Sneddon with a full swinging delivery, despite his best efforts to look like an off-spinner. Al also bowled Scott and more emotional calling saw Mikey run out Largo skipper Bentley from slightly shorter range with Nelson on the board. The opening bowlers returned and Mikey had Bentley Snr adjudged LBW in the 35th over. Last man Filsell dug in and saw Robertson to his half century before Mikey brought things to a close bowling the Largo number 3 for a well made 60. The Fifers finished on 144 all out in the 39th over. Carlton had bowled and fielded well but Largo would rue the impetuous nature of some of the calling. Youngsters Euan and Cameron and Mo threw themselves around in the outfield to great effect and were a major contributor to restricting the visitors to less than 150.

After a fine tea with all major food groups represented (with the possible exception of salad) Douglas Blood and Al set out for the middle. Gillin and Brown opened for Largo but there were sufficient loose deliveries on offer to let Douglas reap full toll. Al had his System 2 mode fully engaged and was decidedly more scratchy. Brown was struggling coming down the hill and was replaced by Scott who had immediate success when Douglas’s edge was well taken by keeper Warrender. His quick fire 29 off 25 balls had done the job and got the home side off to a flier. Skipper Paul strode to the crease and after a little early rustiness started hitting the ball cleanly. Not quite cleanly enough, however, which meant that the batting pair with a combined age of 99 were forced to complete an all run 4 followed by a 3 and then a 2 in successive deliveries. Just when Paul was looking set to take the game away from Largo he picked out midwicket off the bowling of Bentley. Nick joined Al at the crease with 81 on the board in the 15th over meaning the home side were well on top but Largo’s bowling was also becoming much more frugal. At drinks Carlton were 101 for 2 and both batsmen's System 2 thoughts were to the fore. Slow and deliberate would be an accurate description of Al’s progress towards his half century and Nick was, logically, playing each ball on its merits. In the 31st over Al reached his landmark and Nick hit the winning runs in the 33rd to complete fine first outing for the 3s in Division 2.

In Kahneman’s language this was a victory for “slow” thinking. The runouts in the Largo innings were “fast” thinking and that really hindered their chances of posting a challenging total on a quick scoring GL surface. Despite Douglas and Paul scoring at around a run a ball it was controlled and deliberate. Al was the epitome of “slow” thinking and with Nick’s measured support ground out a much needed win for Carlton on the opening weekend of the season.

(AM)

We all know that playing at the home of cricket can be an experience. But this fixture had the added experience of a fun fair and various bands playing. Yes it was the Meadows Festival. Not only could you not hear yourself think you also couldn't hear the usual “come on Carlton” or “comeon lads let's get a wicket”.

Morton won the toss and surprisingly elected to bat first on what looked to be a typical Meadows track. Carlton’s opening bowlers Muz and Saif started well keeping the scoring down. Carlton soon got their first wicket when Ruairidh Main took a superb reflex catch at gully. Morton continued to bat patiently defending the good ball and hitting the bad ball. On came Harry Simpson who immediately showed his skill by taking 2 wickets in his first 3 overs. Abbie Aitken replaced Muz and she kept up the pressure bowling wicket to wicket and was rewarded a wicket with a diving catch by Paul at short extra cover. On came Nick who took a wicket in his first over and another in his 3rd. Carlton were taking wickets regularly but Morton were increasing their run rate with some big hitting. Gregor Mcintyre came on and took a wicket with his second ball, but the Morton batsmen kept swinging from the hip and finished on what looked like an achievable 171.

At tea the main concern was, “where are the toilets” only to be informed that there was a 30 minute queue [the next bit of this sentence has been deleted -Ed].

Paul Kentish and Douglas Blood opened the batting. Unfortunately Douglas was soon out. In came the in form Ollie Rae who carried on her fine form with some good aggressive hitting. The Carlton batspersons were looking comfortable against the opening bowlers and were scoring easily. Then on came Yash, Morton’s quick bowler. The added pace certainly made batting more difficult with just short of a length deliveries bouncing over the batsperson's head and sometimes over the wicket keeper’s head and some deliveries keeping low. Yash soon had his first wicket - Ollie caught.

In came Ruairidh. Ruairidh and Paul decided they would go after the slower bowlers and this paid off as the scoring rate went up. Paul was soon out (caught) and in came Gregor again looking to be positive. However we were soon off for hail. On we came 20 minutes later and Gregor was soon out. The hail stones had made the wicket even more unpredictable. Next in was Ben he was hit on the arm then a length ball went over his head. Next ball he was caught off his glove. In came Harry whose first ball rolled along the floor. Bowled. Some late hitting by Saif and Nick propelled the score along but by then the game was over.

In hindsight 171 was a good score on that wicket and it was always going to be difficult to chase. They say you have to play at the home of cricket for the experience but as far as Carlton 3s are concerned it is an experience they would rather not endure again. On to the next game at the real home of cricket, Grange Loan.

(PK)

With what looked set to be a fantastic day of cricket the as usual young look Carlton side were send into bat (after losing the toss) on the infamous Stew Mel AstroTurf. It is widely acknowledged that this strip has the occasional bit of zip and variable bounce about it and unfortunately for our very own Eric Edwards this was the case. As, after opening the scoring for the day with a 4, he was dismissed next ball to a good length delivery that continued to climb and found the edge.

This brought young blood to the crease (literally - u15’s Douglas Blood). Some good early strike rotation between him and Keshav saw the scoring tick over nicely for a period of 9 overs. Young Blood took the liking to their opener and dealt predominately in boundaries until one extravagant shot too many found him walking back for a well-played 14.

This brought Ye Old faithful to the crease in the form of captain Paul Kentish, and with the score at 42 for 2 after 14 Carlton looked in a state of trouble. While Paul began to find his way on the tricky surface Keshav had no such problem as a flurry of boundaries came for him at ease. The introduction of the young spinner S. Tait started to see the runs dry up with some excellent line and length bowling that gave some difficulty for Paul and Keshav.

As MVP (Keshav) started to look in fine form he got a full hold of a short long hop from the young spinner, alas it was straight to midwicket and saw him depart for a well-made 27. This left the Carlton side 70-3 and shortly after Tait was rewarded again, this time claiming the wicket of Captain Paul Kentish from a sharp catch by the keeper. This saw Carlton in a rather spot of bother at 71-4 after 19 overs.

In stepped Pete Gill and Nick Thomson to build the recovery. And luckily for Thompson after being dropped first ball it didn’t take long for him to get his eye in with four consecutive boundaries to open his account and sending their 2nd change bowler for 19 in one over. Gill’s excellent gap picking meant that the right hand left hand combination began to frustrate Stew Mel’s bowlers. This meant that 1’s and the occasional 2 were easy to come by for the pair, with them ticking along nicely at 5’s an over.

Thomson began to step up the tempo in the middle overs and he began to find the boundary on several occasions. The SMRH team began to strangle the runs and saw the run rate begin to drop and only singles where being taken. In this time Thompson got to his 50 with Gill on 30 odd. Coming to the last few overs Carlton didn’t seem to gain much more momentum apart from an exquisite 6 from Thomson in the last over to see us over the 200 mark and finish on 203 for 4 after our 40 overs. Nick Thompson finished on a fantastic 66* but even more important was Pete Gill’s 44* which although it didn’t include any boundaries, faced hardly any dot balls which helped release the pressure in the middle overs.

As teas came there was a taste of disgust in the senior members in the team as they saw nearly all the youngsters come back to the table without a sandwich in sight and nothing but mini rolls, cakes and crisps. This was accompanied by the comment of wicket keeper Ben D’Ullise “I don’t do savoury food.” Everyone swiftly finished their food and prepared to try and defend the solid total of 203.

The defence of the 203 began with the opening pair of Sibley and Andrews. The opening few overs weren’t as tight as the pair would have liked and saw their opening overs going askew and saw several runs conceded. The first wicket for Carlton came in the 7th over as Sibley dug one in to the batsmen who looked uncomfortable against the short ball and this proved fruitful as he spooned one in the air and a good catch by youngster Cameron Tinge at cover saw the first wicket fall.

This wicket saw the run rate begin to slow down. This was also helped by the introduction of off spinner Harry Simpson who from ball one looked in great rhythm and it didn’t take long for the first wicket as his third ball clattered E. Campbell’s stumps. It didn’t take long for Simpson to strike again with another tight over building pressure and taking the off stump of batsmen no. 4.

It looked as if the pressure of Simpson and Thomson was starting to show on the Stew Mel boys as they went from 41-0 to 70-3 and were in a spot of bother. While wickets tumbled the Stew Mel No. 3 batsmen A. Armstrong stayed solid blocking out the good balls and making sure to rotate strike as often as possible taking very few risks and building in confidence. A very strong partnership of 92 between Armstrong and captain Burgess frustrated the Carlton side who gave it all they had in order to stop the runs and be as aggressive as possible to take wickets. Even an introduction of opener Andrews with permission to “bowl as fast as you can, I don’t care where it goes” couldn’t manage to break this partnership.

The breakthrough came in the form of u15 Cameron Tinge who bowled some excellent back of a length bowling and was rewarded as Burgess skied one into the blue sky and an excellently judged catch by Eric Edwards saw the batsman depart for a well-made 36. It didn’t take long for there to be a flurry of wickets as Sibley and Simpson both came back on to take their 2nd and 3rd wickets respectively, however Armstrong continued to push and now even managing to take the good balls to the boundary. A late wicket from P. Gill was a lost cause as Armstrong managed to guide his team home with a wonderful 78* with three overs to spare.

All in all, a fantastic day of cricket in the sun, with special mention for the youngsters in P. Gill with his 44* and Simpson with his 8-0-34-3.

(CS)

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The day started off at sunny Grange Loan and the Carlton 3s ventured out to inspect the wicket. The hard track led to Captain Paul’s decision to have a bat.

Paul and Douglas B made their way out to the middle to start off the first innings. Unfortunately Douglas let his wicket fall to a slow but seaming ball from the Fauldhouse opener. Paul continued to bat positively until number 3 batsman Ruairidh brought confusion to the crease and Paul was run out for 9.

However Nick was next in and although he took a while to settle in, batted with patience and steadied the innings. Meanwhile Ruairidh was not as patient and skied once straight in the air and was caught out for 22.

This brought Fed to the crease who, with Nick, steadied the innings and made the most of the ideal batting conditions at Grange Loan. Nick and Fed carried the innings well, both hitting the ball well and making the most of the ideal conditions. Nick (below) was hitting well, however on 96 he hit the ball hard and flat to a fielder and was caught. Next in was Douglas Tidy and he and Fed closed the innings with Fed finishing unbeaten on 53.

With teas eaten and enjoyed, the teams made their way back out onto the field for the second innings. Some good aggressive spells from Charles and Murray forced the batsman to a slow start, however they stuck in and refused to give away their wicket.

With the Fauldhouse openers more comfortable with the second change bowling, Paul decided it was time for a change and brought himself on to bowl (below). This was the change that Carlton needed and the skipper delivered 3 quick wickets.

3 other wickets fell, 2 to Rob and 1 for Ruairidh, and it was looking to be a close game at just over a run a ball for the Fauldhouse boys. Although some tight bowling from Charles and Murray at the end restricted the runs and made it difficult for the batsmen, a few boundaries here and there helped Fauldhouse to win on the last ball by 1 run.

All in all it was a great, exciting close game, but well played to Fauldhouse who came out on top.

(RM)

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