Carlton Fives took on Clackmannan County 2nd XI at Peffermill.  Carlton’s selection Illuminati reverted back to Fives’ selection policy of 6 adults and 5 juniors.  Euan Keatinge made his senior debut.  On a sunny afternoon Clackmannan comprehensively won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Keith Murray and Paul Stones opened for the Fives but the partnership was soon broken when Paul was run out by a direct throw at the non-strikers end (Stones 1, Carlton 6-1).  Charlie Kentish and Keith progressed slowly until the 9th over when Keith was undone by Bryant-Nicholls’s celebrated 1-2-3 routine of wide, off cutter, in cutter … Keith bowled by a cracker (Murray 10, 19-2).  Bryant-Nicholls claimed his second wicket bowling Mohammed in his next over (Nouman 4, 25-3) and   Mohammed’s departure signalled the long awaited return of Mike “Boom Boom” Kennedy to the ranks of Carlton Cricket.  Uncharacteristically for Mike, 4 runs in his first 16 balls before 4,2,4, OUT provided a brief but spectacular view of his ball striking skills (Kennedy 14, 44-4).  Charlie was run out for a patient 17 (56-5), Cameron Keatinge 0 (58-6), Barnacle 11 (72-7) and Euan Keatinge 0 (77-8) followed.  Gavin and Jamie batted through to the 38th over adding a further 22 runs before Gavin (13, 99-9) and Jamie (11, 99-10) fell.  Carlton innings concluded after 38.2 overs with the score at 99.

When Clackmannan batted, Charlie made an early breakthrough, removing Carman (0) with his 3rd ball but Arshad and Virgo confidently took the reply to 35 before Charlie claimed his second wicket aided by a smart catch by Cameron in the covers (Arshad 11, Clacks 35-2, 9 overs).  Bryant-Nicholls made a quick fire 24 before Mohammed snaffled him leg before (66-3, 18 overs) and Malcolmson 13 (93-4, 25 overs) took our visitors to the brink of victory.  Malcolmson became Euan Keatinge’s first wicket in senior cricket.  Virgo remained undefeated on 26 as Clacks ran out easy winners by 6 wickets in 26 overs.

Comprehensive win for Clackmannan, congratulations to them.  For Carlton six bats made double figures but none went on to register a significant score.  On the fast outfield at Peffermill we set too low a target to put any pressure on our opponents.  Kentish (5-2-16-2), Nouman (6-1-29-1) and Euan Keatinge (2-0-8-1) were our wicket takers on the day.

In the final game of last season Carlton’s Famous Fives beat Marchmont 3s with an Alan Murray six off the final ball to record a famous victory. Like anyone that’s ever been to Blackpool, the Paris of the North, you learn it’s never quite the same second time around and so with no expectations of a game to rival last year Carlton travelled to Cavalry Park to face Marchmont. After an overcast start the sun came out and with it the promise of an afternoon of fresh air and fun. Marchmont skipper Rob Trantor struck the first decisive blow by winning the toss and electing to bat.

Fraser Kentish made two early breakthroughs – first bowling Macconnachie and then having Farnworth smartly caught by Paul Bailey at square leg (14-2, 6 overs). In the final over of his first spell Gavin Murray claimed two in three balls assisted by Paul and Martin Robertson in the field and when Ruari Shand started with a wicket maiden Marchmont were in trouble at 26-5 after 9 overs. Skipper Trantor and Hussain doubled the score before Ewan Hutchinson induced a nick behind to get rid of Hussain (51-6, 16 overs). However, the tail continued to wag as first Mascarenhas and then Kohar supported Trantor with partnerships of 35 and 50. When Trantor fell, bowled by Mohammed, for a well-made 47 Marchmont were on 136. Gavin returned to claim the last wicket, the Marchmont innings closed on 146 after 34 overs.

Paul Bailey and John Beattie opened for the Fives and made a substantial dent in the chase with a 55 run partnership for the first wicket. After John fell (Beattie 6, 55-1), Ruari batted well until he was unfortunately run out (Shand 9, 72-2), Ewan made his highest senior score (Hutchinson 13, 102-3) and Fraser scored his first runs in senior cricket (Kentish 6, 110-4) putting the Fives in a very strong position after 30 overs. With the game seemingly lost Marchmont raised their game. Hussain and Trantor bowled super spells, restricting the scoring and taking wickets at regular intervals – Paul (Bailey 62, 125-5), Gavin (Murray 2, 127-6) and Euan (Keatinge 0, 128-7) but with plenty of batting left we were still confident of victory. When Martin tried and failed to hit Trantor into Duddingston Loch (Robertson 2, 133-8) the target started to look a little more daunting. Ian Thompson and Mohammed Nouman took us the edge of victory before Mohammed attempting to win it with a big hit only succeeded to chip Hussain back for a caught and bowled (Nouman 3, 146-9, 39.1 overs). With the scores tied, Barnacle blocked the first and pushed the second through point for the win with 3 balls left.

Super game for the second year running, played in great spirits. Many thanks to Rob and his Marchmont Team and full praise for their attitude when the game seemed lost. From a Carlton perspective Paul Bailey and Ewan Hutchinson took the batting accolades and as always our bowling was very tidy. Gavin Murray (8-0-29-3), Fraser Kentish (5-0-8-2), Ruari Shand (5-2-14-1), Ewan Hutchinson (7-1-45-2), Euan Keatinge (2-0-27-0) and Mohammed Nouman (7-1-23-1) all bowled well. For the second time in a row the game came down to the final over, a lesson that lightening can strike twice and more importantly Blackpool should be back on everyone’s holiday list.

As atonement for his crimes Hercules, son of Zeus, was told to serve the Mycenaean King Eurystheus for 12 years. In each of these years, Hercules was sent to perform an impossible task, called labours. Unlike the challenge of naming the Seven Dwarfs or the actors who starred in the original 1961 MGM version of the Magnificent Seven, where most folks get six before forgetting “Doc” or “Brad Dexter”, when faced with the “name the 12 labours of Hercules” challenge, unless you studied at Oxbridge, everyone stops after “Slaying the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra”. The rest of the heroic deeds are condemned to history and forgotten by pretty much everyone. On Saturday the famous Fives faced Falkland 3rd XI at our adopted home of Cavalry Park. With over 30 call offs across the 4th and 5th XI’s, Carlton’s toga loving Fantasy Bob laboured to amass a Positively 4th XI and 10 warm and willing bodies to face the Fifers. This Herculean effort will be celebrated, carved in stone by a few and forgotten by most.

Faced with this unprecedented recruitment challenge Carlton’s Selection Illuminati put their hoods together and made the best of it, equipping the Fives with five new players for the 2017 season, including three Saturday club debuts (Alastair Keatinge, Ellie Hird, Cameron Grier) with Cameron taking his first steps in senior cricket and a new father/son combo in the shape of the Keatinges. Falkland skipper Davy Chambers, sensing opportunity, won the toss and invited Carlton to bat first.

Beattie & Barrett opened against the impressive pairing of Wilkie & Palin. John was first to go brilliantly caught by wicket keeper Low off Palin (Beattie 1, 4-1) and Wilkie chipped in bowling Archie soon after (Robertson 1, 5-2). Barnacle seemed to be untroubled until he knocked a ball out to deep extra cover for an easy two and was surprised to see his stumps explode from a direct hit from the boundary by Langlands – run out by an “Ali Shah”, give or take a yard or two. Uncharacteristically brilliant fielding at this level (Barrett 2, 8-3) – and lesson 1 … don’t run two to Langlands.

Wickets continued to fall, Euan chipped to square leg (Murray 8, 15-4), Cameron looked really solid on debut but clearly hadn’t been watching Barnacle's demise attempting a second to Langlands on the long-off boundary **SMASH** (Grier 6, 25-5) and when Euan was out (Keatinge 0) the Fives were in a mess at 27-6. Robertson senior strode to the crease, looking like a man who had a dance to go to at 18:00. Martin adopted a binary batting mode, single or boundary, he eliminated “two to Langlands” from his repertoire and prospered. Ably supported by Eric McKinley the pair put on 60 for the 7th wicket before Langlands proved he could also hit the wicket from 22 yards bowling Eric (McKinley 6, 87-7). Wilkie returned to mop up the last two wickets and the Fives finished on 95-9 after 26.2 overs with Martin stranded on 49 not out.

With the majority of last week’s bowling attack playing for the 4,s Archie and Eric took the new ball but their efforts were negotiated by the Falkland openers. Euan Murray made the first and only breakthrough snaffling Peggie (18) leg before with the score on 58. Langlands (44 no) and Kellock (15 no) ensured Falkland ran out easy and worthy winners in the 15th over.

Tough day at the office but as always several positives – Eric and Cameron on their 5th XI debuts didn’t look out of place in difficult conditions. Ellie Hird (disappointingy no relation to Thora) was comfortable behind the stumps and the benefit of replacing an ageing wicket keeper is, from mid-off I couldn’t detect the sound of a small fart on every crouch behind the wicket – a pleasant change. Euan Keatinge continues to improve with his leg spin and we just didn’t have enough runs to give him a longer bowl. Martin’s innings was brilliant and with a stronger batting line up around him he would have made a lot more.

Falkland were by far the best team we faced this season – the bowling and fielding were well above what we typically see at this level. Thanks to Davy & his team for supporting and helping our juniors through the game, look forward to the return in August.

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Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor is the longest serving heir apparent in British History, having held that position since 1952.  On Saturday Euan Murray set a Famous Fives record as he remained patiently padded for 38 overs, ready to succeed “next adult out” Paul Bailey as the Fives took on Leith FAB 2nd XI at Cavalry Park.   Paul’s reign, an unbeaten 90, was built on the combination of impressive batting, abysmal catching and his inherent resistance to any snack containing fish bones.  Unfortunately for the Fives his longevity was insufficient to see them home as we succumbed to Leith by 70 runs on the day. 

Cavalry Park 3 is a good artificial track with a small playing area, it’s a “single” or “boundary” scoring venue …..  Ideal for juniors (and we had six courtesy of the selection illuminati), for old blokes that cant’ run (and we had three of those too, again masterly selection) but for healthy adults with viable knee flanges it’s a bit like being Gulliver on the Island of Lilliput.  Rob Mann comprehensibly outwitted Barnacle at the toss and chose to let his mobile giants bat first on a cold dreich Scottish Saturday.

The bowling plan at Lilliput was simple, keep it full, bring the giants forward, make them drive and don’t, repeat don’t, bowl anything short… runs down the ground are OK, runs square are not.  36 “fours” and 2 “sixes” later we can conclude that the bowling unit needs to work on better control of length.  80 percent of the runs off the bat came from boundaries and pretty much all of those were carved square off short balls.  Mann (45), Ahmed (38) and Rizwan (49 no) filled their boots, 

Euan Murray,  Ewan Hutchinson and Eric McKinley probably saved another 30 runs by their excellent fielding efforts in the arc between long leg and deep mid-wicket.  Charlie and Gavin came out of it with the most economical bowling figures (Kentish 5-0-18-1, Murray 5-2-18-0) at the top of the innings as the batsmen started cautiously against accurate bowling.   The rest of the bowlers each had one, maybe two overs where they lost their length and they were punished probably much more severely than they would typically experience in junior or women’s cricket … so good lessons to be had.  

Behind those brief lapses was some super bowling and plenty of positives to take away – Fraser Kentish, Euan Keatinge and Eric McKinley continue to improve game by game, no doubt they can all play easily at this level, Hannah Rainey bowled a number of absolutely Jaffa’s that wouldn’t have been out of place several divisions higher and Ewan Hutchinson after two wayward overs first up bowled his best spell this season.   All catches were held, Hannah threw down the stumps to remove Stevie Middleton at the top of the order and ground fielding was good in cold windy conditions. 

Leith concluded their innings at 229-6 from their allotted 40 overs.

Paul and John Beattie opened up for the Fives and were playing well against a decent opening attack until inexplicably John tried to run “one and a half” while Paul remained static at the non-striker’s end.  The Leith keeper had time to clean his glasses, adjust his box and phone home before flicking off the bails (Beattie 6, 27-1). 

Euan Hutchinson was the first junior off the rank and after a couple of high quality boundaries was unfortunate to fall to a splendid catch by skipper Mann at backward point (Hutchinson 8, 40-2).   With Paul in residence at one end the juniors took turns to bat with him … it was like cricket Santa without the Ho Ho Ho ….Eric (12, 75-2), Gavin (8, 102-4), Fraser (1, 103-5), Charlie (1, 104-6) and Euan K (5, 137-7) formed an orderly queue and took their opportunity to bat without overstaying their welcome. 

After running out of juniors it was finally Euan Murray’s turn to serve – he was executed almost immediately on his arrival to the crease by the House of Yorker (Murray 1, 138-8).  Hannah and Paul saw out the remaining balls and secured maximum batting points as Carlton finished on 159-8 (Bailey 90 no, Rainey 1 no).

Splendid innings from Paul, encouraging batting by the juniors against four very decent seamers.   Congratulations to Rob and his Leith Team on a deserved victory and thanks to Paul Kentish for umpiring through the Carlton innings. 

Photos

Dave Brailsford, former Performance Director of British Cycling and current General Manager of Team Sky, championed the philosophy of ‘marginal gains’. The idea is that if you break down everything you can think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve each one by 1%, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together. Team Sky launched in 2010 with the target of winning the Tour de France within 5 years - a target largely derided by the cycling establishment. In fact, under Brailsford’s tutelage, Team Sky met their goal 2 years early when Bradley Wiggins stormed to victory in 2012.

The Famous Fives welcomed table toppers Morton 3s to a dry and sunny Grange Loan with Al Murray taking the reins after Barnacle was elevated to the 4s for the massacre of Prestonpans the previous day. The Fives were honoured to have the services of Ken Nisbet on the book; clearly the 1st team had under-utilised him the day before when they rolled Aberdeenshire for 44. Sandy Scotland was also on hand and kindly stood for the duration - denying any suggestions that he had spent the night in the pavilion having umpired Saturday's 2nd XI home fixture. This is what Division 8 cricket should be like very week!

Al won the toss, and with Fantasy Bob watching on from the sidelines, opted to bowl first. Ethan Wood opened from the Lovers Loan end but struggled initially with his run up. In the third over he sent O’Thy’s off stump flying but alas it was a no-ball. Cameron Keatinge was bowling a tidy spell at the other end and young Shaun Smith came on to replace Ethan. Shaun soon settled into his work and produced a good spell. The two Morton openers were batting well, taking advantage of the odd loose ball but the scoring rate was not getting out of hand. Ivan Dawson replaced Cameron and bowled steadily while Ethan came back having sorted out his run up. With drinks approaching, the Morton batsmen were upping the tempo so in an attempt to rein things in the skipper brought himself on.

In the 19th over Carlton picked up their first wicket as Al (below) had O’Thy pinned LBW for 27 with the total on 89. Nautiyal was looking solid at the other end and Malan joined him in the middle. Charles Stronach came on for Ethan, bowling off two paces in an attempt to save the hands of 12 year old keeper Gavin Murray. Cameron came back from the pavilion end and was unlucky not to pick up the wicket of Malan when the skipper dropped a straightforward chance at square leg. To rub salt into Cameron’s wounds Al saved his own fantasy league performance by running Malan out a few balls later.

Charles picked up 3 wickets to a keep lid on things but Nautiyal continued to tick the scoreboard along. Euan Keatinge was introduced to the attack and although he created chances, none were taken. Ethan came back and picked up a well deserved wicket as did Shaun - Ewan Hutchinson taking a fine catch at point. Morton finished on 195 for 7 with Nautiyal carrying his bat for a well made 83.

After a fine tea, with more than the required quota of empire biscuits, Keith “Send It” Murray and nephew Gavin strode out to the middle. After a steady couple of overs a rush of blood to Keith’s head saw him call Gavin through for a single when the young batsmen had played the ball straight to midwicket. Rather than sending his uncle back, instinct and respect for his elders kicked in and he was run out by a considerable margin.

Running (out) man

Ewan joined Keith at the crease and hit a few nice shots before he skied a shot to be caught and bowled for 9. Next was Euan who played himself in nicely only to fall victim to another run out. Keith hit the ball to mid on and called Euan through. Possibly a little on his heels from the previous dubious calling he was further undone by a good bit of fielding and his bat bouncing up to be in the air over the line when the stumps were broken. Older brother Cameron came out to bat and narrowly avoided his brother's fate when Keith’s leading edge was dropped by the keeper with the opener have run but not called.

Fortunately Cameron made his ground and went on to produce a very mature innings, upping the pace of the innings nicely. He eventually fell, nicking off to that man Nautiyal for well made 34. Charles entered the fray and hit a few lusty blows while Keith continued to accumulate at the other end, reaching his 50 in the 31st over. The opening bowlers returned and Keith was bowled trying to up the pace for 51. This brought the skipper to the crease and with the run rate climbing some big shots were required. Unfortunately Charles missed a straight one and Ian Thompson suffered a similar fate shortly after. Ethan and Al were left to ensure the Famous Fives achieved maximum batting points with the home side ending 22 runs short.

To take from Brailsford’s philosophy, small improvements in much of the 5s' performance could have made a big difference to the result. A foot behind the line, a catch or two held, a suicidal run not taken. But at the end of the day it is not just about winning. We played a great game of cricket against a very decent bunch of men. The sun shone, empire biscuits were consumed and our young cricketers got invaluable experience practising their skills at a level higher than they experience in junior cricket. Oh, and the grown ups had fun too. Well done to Darren and his side - the way you play the game makes for a positive experience for all involved. We will miss you next year, but hope to meet again in Division 7 in 2019. Finally it was great to see players from higher sides of both clubs down to support their lower teams - marginal gains indeed!

Fives defeated a Marchmont side depleted by Festival commitments at Peffermill. On a lush outfield, further slowed by prolonged overnight rain every run was a premium.

After a negotiated toss Carlton batted first and quickly lost opener Paul Bailey to the second ball of the day. Paul Stones and Ewan Hutchinson batted resolutely but made slow progress against the impressive opening pair of Gravelling and Mishra, until Ewan drove one up into extra cover where Fabien Despinoy, guesting as an extra fielder, reluctantly took the catch (Hutchinson 9, 19-2). Soon after Carlton lost Jamie Beattie (2, 25-3) and the last ball before the drinks break saw Paul dismissed (Stones 11). At half way Carlton were at 32-4. Shaun Smith batted well before he was out, timing several impressive drives which on a better outfield would have brought him many more runs (Smith 7, 39-5).

Surely the arrival of “boom boom” Mike Kennedy to the crease would bring the acceleration Carlton needed? Immediately Mike launched one up into the stratosphere, a mighty blow, surely the first boundary of the day… it landed 6 inches inside the rope and stopped dead in its pitch mark….after a couple of seconds the Marchmont guys realised they’d have to go field it. Mike and Fabien took the opportunity to run the only three of the day. Mike was undone by John Macconnachie, who may well be the slowest bowler in the East leagues (Gavin Fisher of Leith may demand a bowl off), unfortunately for Mike John also bowls awfully straight – Mike’s nemesis. Kennedy bowled with a mighty corkscrewing heave three yards down the track (Kennedy 9, 57-6). The top partnership of the day came from Fabien and Gavin Murray, 26 runs which in the context of the day was match winning. In the last stages of the innings Gavin selflessly gave up his wicket attempting a suicidal second run (Murray run out 11, 83-7). Fabien and skipper Barnacle scampered runs in the last few overs to get Carlton to 101-7 off their allotted overs. Man of the Match Despinoy finished unbeaten on 25 …. a splendid knock.

After a classic tea involving Empire Biscuits, Pork Pies, Mini Sausages, two types of Quiche and enough Strawberries to feed 1000 wasps, Jamie Beattie and Shaun Smith opened the bowling for Carlton. Shaun claimed an early wicket bowling Fraser (Marchmont 1-1) with a corker and Jamie removed the dangerous Mishra, caught inspector gadget-like by Paul Stones at mid-off, in the last over of his spell (9-2). Hannah Rainey got a positive response when requesting leg before against Hussain (23-3) and Gavin got a similar reward trapping Macconnachie back on his stumps in front of middle (23-4). Marchmont skipper Rob Trantor was Gavin’s second wicket of the day, caught by Fabien (25-5) and the innings was wrapped up by a Ewan Hutchinson double (28 -6 and 30 -7). With the fall of the seventh wicket the Marchmont innings closed in the 22nd over.

While we could help out Marchmont in the field by supplying fielders there isn’t much you can do when you are batting with 8 players. Many thanks to Rob and his team for wanting to play – with so many games lost to the rain recently it was greatly appreciated. For Carlton impressive batting from the juniors in difficult conditions, particularly from Fabien, Gavin, Ewan and Shaun. On the bowling front everyone bowled beautifully: Beattie (5-2-4-1), Smith (5-0-11-1), G Murray (4-2-2-2), Rainey (4-1-8-1), E Murray (2-1-1-0) and Hutchinson (1.4-0-3-2).

(589 Words – “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler” Albert Einstein)

The Famous Five’s lost their last fixture of the 2017 season at Leith Links. Winning the toss and deciding to bowl first, Leith FAB 2s scored 149 – 4 off their 40 overs. In reply Carlton could only muster 57, losing by 92 runs.

After a week of heavy rain the sun finally came out and Leith had first go at batting on the spongy, green top at Leith Links. Charlie Kentish and Shaun Smith took the new ball for the Fives, while neither were able to make the early breakthrough they managed to restrict our opponents in the opening exchanges. The first wickets fell to the change bowlers, Euan Hutchinson bowled Ahmed (5, 19-1, 10 overs) before Fraser Kentish had the remaining opener Bhandari (8, 20-2) caught behind in the next over. The impressively named Pravez Thekumpurath and Leith skipper Robert Mann set up camp and took the score to 71 before a Yes-No-Sorry incident saw Ian Thompson run out Pravez with both bats stood at the same end of the pitch (Pravez 24, 71-3, 24 overs). John Ingram entertained with a quick fire 15 before Euan Hutchinson ran him out with a direct hit from square leg on the boundary (92-4, 28 overs). Mann and Prince occupied for the rest of the overs and Leith ended on 149-4 with Mann unbeaten on 59 and Prince 21. Euan’s Hutchinson and Keatinge took most benefit from the slow puddinous pitch and bowled 16 consecutive overs of leg spin from the Salamander Street End claiming 8-3-25-1 and 8-1-25-0 respectively. There was less in it for the pacier bowlers but Charlie (8-2-29-0), Shaun (4-1-11-0), Fraser (5-0-23-1) and Hannah Rainey (7-0-36-0) all bowled accomplished spells.

When it came time for Carlton to bat the pitch hadn’t been baked dry by the Edinburgh sun beating down on it, the council hadn’t popped round in the tea interval to mow the outfield but the Fives skiddy bowling attack had been able to remove a significant amount of the surface. Barnacle’s master plan of bowling first suddenly didn’t seem so smart as Keith Murray and Paul Stone went out to bat on something that resembled a Titleist Pro V1 golf ball. Applying lots of local knowledge the Leith bowlers bowled expertly – Ahmed (7.1-4-4-3), Fisher (8-3-11-3) and Barass (8-1-17-4) took the bowling honours. Very little to celebrate on the batting front with the exception of the contributions from juniors Charlie (10) and Shaun (14), digging in and batting time which will serve them well when they get on better pitches next season. Carlton were dismissed in the 31st overs for 57 runs.

A comfortable and deserving win for Leith. As always an excellent tea from the ladies in the club house. Thanks to Rob and his team and look forward to seeing them next year.