Carlton won the toss and elected to bat on a freezing May morning.  Our early batting was very positive and sensible with Ewan and Gabriel punishing the wayward deliveries for 4 and sensibly running with singles and a few well run 2s on a fast Grange Loan outfield.  Ewan managed to hit the first 3 balls of the fifth over 4,4, 6 and retire for a well earned 30 with the score on 47.  (It was very pleasing to see how much things move on in a year as the same game last year I remember Ewan batted for almost 20 overs for a very slow and determined 20 runs – encouragement for all young batters out there).  

Fin came to the wicket and the flow of runs continued with Gabriel before he was bowled for a good 25.   Rui and Fin continued the familiar good batting against bowling that was generally pretty accurate.  Rui running between the wickets was a little nervy to start with improved over his innings (a small thing to work on in practice).  Fin was striking the ball well and was unlucky for a ball to keep low and bowl him in the 11th over for 17 with the score on an already impressive 93!   

Our batting continued with strength and fluidity, although Cargilfield did not give with the ball or in the field and actually started to increase the pressure on our later batsmen.   Good contributions continued with Rui making a solid 19, Jack a fast 11, Shaun a gutsy 14 not out and Mark 4 not out.  Although Gavin and Ross did not make many runs the experience of batting at Grange Loan will help in the future.  Unfortunately Sam and Josh did not get to bat. 

All up I would describe the batting as “Brilliant, Fantastic and Great” and one of the best 20/20 batting performances that I have seen in the primary school team with so many contributing to the overall total of 137. With such a good total this made it easy to ensure everyone in the team got a bowl (Cargilfield had only used 6 bowlers) including a few playing their first hardball game.  Everyone did well with not many wides for early in the season although I am sure we can continue to improve to bowl even more consistently on or around off stump making it more difficult for the batsmen to hit.   

Gavin, Josh and Sam were all very impressive for their first games in the primary school team.  Ross, Mark and Rui also bowled a very well with the first 2 rewarded with a wicket. 

Another positive performance and I hope everyone enjoyed the game (even in the cold conditions).  Well done and keep up the training as it will continue to make us stronger against future opposition.  We have 3 games coming up in the next week so hope the enthusiasm lasts.

Carlton won the toss and chose to bowl with a somewhat moist outfield.  Our early bowling was on the spot with Murray, Jamie and Ross bowling really well keeping it nicely on the stumps or just outside off stump and the batsmen struggled to score, except for a few edges.  Between them they collected 3 top order wickets (2 for Murray bowled and 1 for Jamie with a nice edge caught by Ewan keeping) and only 16 runs were scored from their 6 overs. 

Ross was very unlucky not to pick up a wicket and was very economical.  Again everyone bowled and although one or 2 of their later batsmen started to hit out and they ran hard to move the score on our fielding remained solid rewarded by a run out late in the innings.  The best of the remaining bowlers were Rory, Rui and Gabriel who all kept it tight and Ewan who had a couple of great spin balls at the end.  Once again we had a few too many extras from wides and no balls and this is an area we still need to improve for next time.

Our early batting was again very positive and sensible with Ewan and Jack starting well before Jack was bowled in the 6th over with the score on 31.  Ewan retired soon after on 26 after another good innings with some fine leg side shots – a couple of nice sweep shots off the spinner.  Murray looked good played very well with some great drives punished to the boundary.  Gabriel was a little unlucky to be caught off his first ball.  Mark was a little nervous early on in his innings with not much footwork moving to the ball, however, once Murray retired he took over the senior ‘pro’ role with Grace and between them they had some great quick running between the wickets and put on a nice 20 odd run partnership before Mark was caught at mid off after flighting a drive.  Jamie and Sam was bowled cheaply with the score on 83 giving Stewarts Melville a chance, however, Grace and Rui made the final 8 runs to seal victory in the 16th over.

Once again a very pleasing all round performance with good batting, bowling and all round fielding.  It is very nice to see different players contributing in different matches.  So far this year we have had 28 players involved in the 7 matches played with a few more to potentially come with this weekend's kwik cricket match against Clifton Hall.  We have had14 different players who have taken at least 1 wicket and amazingly we have 12 different players who have scored 10 or more in a single innings (in some past seasons that could have been as low as 4 or 5 players at this stage in the season).  This is all very good for the prospects of Carlton cricket at a junior and senior level – it was good to see that no fewer than 6 previous Carlton Primary school team players were playing for the Senior 1st team last week.  Also, Leigh Kasperek current New Zealand internationalist (and previous Scotland Internationalist) played for the primary school team.  Keep up the practice and keep improving.

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Murray won the toss and elected to bowl on a pitch that was very green and looked challenging (although not as challenging as the pitch the Carlton 2s were playing on later in the day!)

Bowling was nice and tight to start, with Murray and Ewan bowling a good line and length and were unlucky not to capture a wicket.  The openers then found their eye and running legs and scored fairly well mainly due to some slightly short and legside bowling that was well despatched to the short leg side boundary.  Both openers were retired and the score was 43 after 8 overs with a score of well over 100 looking likely.  This was the time to bowl tightly and the next 4 bowlers responded in exactly the right way staying positive, pitching the ball up on a good length and bowling in the ‘offside corridor’.  From the next 8 overs Gabriel, Will, Finlay and Grace bowled 4 maidens between them and only conceded 20 runs in total with Will getting a wicket by taking the top of off stump and Finlay also collecting one clean bowled.  Carlton were back in the driver's seat – how a game can turn so easily (one to remember).  In the final 4 overs Stewart Melville needed to hit out to get any sort of a score and 100 now looked very unlikely and eventually they pushed the score up to end on 91. 

Everyone bowled except for Georgia who was injured.  Our ground fielding was pretty solid throughout which was nice to see, despite the odd horrific bounce from the ‘rugby’ ground outfield.

We needed 4-5 an over and we just needed sensible batting with an eye on the score.  The batting was again sensible and positive from the start with good running between the wickets from Ewan and Will and some good hitting driving forward through the ‘V’ (from mid on to mid off) which is always a good place to be playing early on in your innings. Ewan was dismissed for 12 from a good ball on off stump that he tried to take on and missed. 

Finlay came to the centre and once again looked comfortable and he and Will moved the score on nicely scoring in a pretty risk free manner at 5 or 6 an over that was perfect for the scenario we had.  A great deal of maturity was shown by both and when Will retired on 26 the score was 60 odd.  Murray came to the wicket and had a few balls where the bounce and speed was a bit variable (although I hear this was even more so later in the day for the 2s' opposition).  Murray was bowled off a good ball on off stump which he tried to hit.

Gabriel came to the centre and hit a couple of nice shots before he was run out by forgetting to go back into his crease before the ball was dead.  One in which I am sure he will learn from and never do again. With Finlay retired on 26 Jack then came in and also learnt a lesson that you need to ground your bat over the crease when running 2 runs or you get what is known as ‘one short’ and only get a single for all your hard work of running twice down the wicket.  Georgia and Jack sealed victory with 4 byes in the 16th over for a well earned victory.

Very good cricket played today by all the team with what in the end was an easy victory. 

The key learning from today is to bowl on or just outside off stump as 4 of the 5 wickets came from good off stump bowling and 24 of Stewarts Melville runs (6 x 4s) came from the odd ball down the legside.  Imagine if we didn't direct no balls down the legside and we were only chasing 68 not 92. We would have won in 10 overs! Let’s all remember this for Friday’s game at Fettes.

This game was a great learning experience for a young and inexperienced team of mostly P5 and P6 players.  With everyone getting a chance to bat or bowl, and plenty of action in the field, it was a real opportunity for many new players to get a feel for hardball cricket for the first time.

Batting first, openers Boris and Ally were sadly out without scoring, leaving skipper Jamie at 3 to build an innings.  A welcome return from Charlotte Spiers was cut short - after timing a few shots nicely to fielders she played across the line and skied one to an awaiting fielder for 2.  While Kyle and Chris both defended stoutly and reached 3 each, and with a deep boundary making fours hard to come by Jamie built a careful innings before retiring on 25 not out.  Chirag defended well with a straight bat and managed 3 before being run out, leaving Sam and Charlie to see out the innings.

We managed to give 8 bowlers an opportunity to bowl before Stew Mel reached the target score of 61 off 12.4 overs with some lusty hitting by the taller and stronger P7 batsmen.  Jamie bowled well for just one wicket, regularly beating the bat.  Ally bowled well without success, Boris was economical and Chris managed a tight over before speed queen Charlotte delivered a fast if slightly leg-side over.  Final overs from Chirag, Sam and Caitlin completed the innings, Caitlin being especially brave by returning to bowl having taken a knock to her knee while stopping a four earlier in the innings. Special mention too for Chirag who managed a couple of excellent stops in the field, and to Saskia playing her first hardball game.

Lots to think about for next time:  fielding requires concentration and a 'long barrier’ to make sure the ball doesn’t go through legs; bowling needs to be pitched up and on the off stump; and batting needs a straight bat (no swinging across the line).  Well done everyone.  

Friendly game with just 8 a-side with some help fielding from each batting team.  Thanks must go to Alasdair and Russell for letting us use the grass wicket in what was damp conditions early on and the rain from Friday. 

Jack's team got off to a fast start with Rua in particular making 21 with 5 4s.  Finlay also batted well and was retired on 9 after 5 overs. Georgia's batting was exceptional with some great pull shots for 4 when bowlers strayed down the leg side and a couple of nice drives through cover on the offside to end up retired on 23 .  Good bowling from Sam Macintosh, Ross, Ewan, Murray and Kyle who kept it generally tight bowling in the offside corridor. Quinn playing in his first hard ball game bowled some nice balls as well.  Everyone should work on a little more consistency on the offside and avoid straying down leg side.

Gabriel's team never made the fast start required to chase down 103 and also despite most batsmen making a start (Murray 8, Ross 10, Ewan 5) no one could go on to make a significant contribution.  This was largely due to much more accurate bowling from all of the team containing the batsmen. Jack 2 for 11, Sayeed 2 for 5, Charlotte1 for 7 and Joe 1 for 7 being the highlights. Ross did bat well scoring 10, striking some nice shots with improved footwork and had some good running between the wickets and it was encouraging to see the development over the past 4-6 weeks.  Grace made a late show (in her football kit) to make 8 at the end before the game finished up with the 2s keen to get onto the wicket for their practice before their game. 

I hope everyone enjoyed the game which allowed for a few less experienced players to get some hardball game practice - not always as easy as it looks.  

Cargilfield U13 were always going to be a strong team and had a significant height and strength advantage. Their opener made a good 50 before retiring.  Everyone bowled well and kept the scoring tight when pitched up on the offside. Most of the runs came from balls down the leg side or that were pitched a little short where their strength made runs easy to come by.  Generally, the fielding was pretty good.

It was always going to be tough chasing such a high score, however Billy and Ewan made a gritty start before Ewan was caught for 7 in the eighth over.  Billy then departed the over after for 13 with the score on 28.  Ru hit 2 quick 4s and then was done by some uneven bounce (as was Jamie for 0).  Rory and Gaby were both run out with Gaby getting 6.  Georgia and Grace batted well defending the good ball (and there were many) before Georgia was finally caught for 3.  Grace remained not out but did manage to bat for nearly 5 overs defending the good ball well.