There was great news for Carlton’s Preston Mommsen when he was announced as the 2014 winner of the ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year award, seeing off competition from the shortlisted Calum McLeod of Scotland and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi and Samiullah Shenwari.

The Carlton man was in good company as the other ICC award winners included Mitchell Johnson, AB de Villiers, Sarah Taylor and Aaron Finch.

The award caps a memorable year for Preston, who was named Man of the Tournament in the World Cup Qualifying series in New Zealand at the beginning of the year.  He starred in the final, hitting a magnificent unbeaten 139 as Scotland defeated the UAE and, in all, he amassed 520 runs in 8 innings at an average of 86.67, hitting 2 hundreds and 2 fifties.

Preston then skippered Scotland in their warm up tour of Australia and New Zealand, as the squad prepared for the World Cup Finals in the same countries in February.

Full list of winners:

ICC Cricketer of the Year – Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

ICC Test Cricketer of the Year – Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year – Sarah Taylor (England)        

ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year – AB de Villiers (South Africa)

ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year – Gary Ballance (England)

ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year – Preston Mommsen (Scotland)

ICC Twenty20 International Performance of the Year – Aaron Finch (Australia)

ICC T20I Women’s Cricketer of the Year – Meg Lanning (Australia)

ICC Spirit of Cricket Award – Katherine Brunt (England)

ICC Umpire of the Year  – Richard Kettleborough

LG People’s Choice – Bhuvneshwar Kumar (India)

Pride of place at the 2014 Junior Awards evening went to coach Rob Thornton and the Carlton Under 15s after a season that saw them reach the last 16 in the UK in the ECB Cup.

Rob and members of the Carlton u15 squad

Club 'celebrities' Fraser Watts and Hamish Gardiner were also guests of honour and they handed out the main prizes in front of a large audience of parents and club members. Many thanks to them, and also to Brian and Kirstin and her team for organising a highly enjoyable evening.

Fraser, Hamish and the Carlton kwik cricketers

Prizewinners:

All the photographs

Eleven Carlton youngsters made a national TV appearance recently as they presented a cheque for £1000 on behalf of Cricket Scotland to the STV Appeal. The Carlton youngsters had been invited to make the presentation as the club had raised £400 of the overall sum during a fundraising weekend in August in aid of Cricket Scotland's cricket-a-thon.

Our website reporter, Georgia, gives us an insider's view of the youngsters' big night on TV ...

Cricket Report STV News, Thursday 9 October:

During the summer there were a number of cricket-a-thons across Scotland, raising money for the STV appeal. Carlton managed to raise an outstanding £400 and some of the Carlton participants were invited to hand over the cheque to the STV on a live show!!! The STV show took place at RBS Gogarburn. The people that were lucky enough to go were Georgia, Rory, Grace, Freddie, Boris, Ross, Neil, Aidan, Keagan, Shaun and Alistair.

Everyone was really excited when we were called up to sit on the sofas and have a photo taken!!! We then waved and cheered when the orchestra played a few bars. Unfortunately we had to do this about 10 times and everyone soon got arm and mouth ache!!!

After a lot of filming and photos we had some delicious, mouthwatering, food. We decided to get a team photo in the funky photo booth and got some great snapshots.

From then on we watched the bikers and rowers doing their part. We gathered back together to hand over our cheque to the STV appeal and Sean Batty!!! Gordon Drummond spoke for a bit first then Shaun spoke but got a little nervous, as it was his first time!

After that it was time to leave - we got home at 10.30pm! It had been a superb night, something we would always remember ...

More behind the scenes photos

A sell out annual Carlton dinner and awards evening saw a number of leading players double up with trophies for the 2014 season.

There was no shortage of speakers keen to point out the difference between the success levels of the men's and women's teams in 2014 and pride of place went to Ruth Willis, who won the women's batting award plus the club's Best Individual Performance award for her unbeaten 128 in a T20 match against Glasgow Accies.

Another double winner was club captain Fraser Watts, who earned the 1st XI batting prize as well as the most sought after award of the evening, the Player's Player of the Year. Rory Allardice also picked up a couple of trophies, winning the 2nd XI bowling award plus the Young Player of the Year prize. Gordon Drummond won the 1st XI batting trophy as well as the annual Six Hitting award.

Other winners included Helen Blair (Women's Bowling), Kyle Macpherson (2nd XI batting) and youngsters Angus Beattie (3rd XI bowling) and Pete Gill (4th XI bowling).

Ollie and Hannah with the Women's National League trophy

The most popular presentation of the evening was when Ruari and Cheeky presented club legend and outgoing 1st XI scorer Lynne Forrester with a gift and flowers to mark her (semi) retirement.

Prizewinners:

In only their third year of existence, the Carlton women's side won their third trophy after seeing off the challenge of hosts Ayr in the Scottish Cup Final on Sunday. The victory completed the double for skipper Helen Blair's squad after they had ended their national league season with a 100% record with a win at St Boswells last weekend.

After losing the toss and being asked to bat, Carlton got off to a great start, thanks to a rapid 39 off just 30 balls from Annette Drummond. Skipper Blair, batting at 3, hit an unbeaten 46 off 39 balls, aided by Ollie Rae, who smashed 31 not out from just 21 deliveries, to take the score at the end of their 20 overs to a formidable 158 for 6.

Scotland under 17 bowlers Lily Steindl and Lisa Thomson then combined to pick up three early wickets, ensuring that the Carlton total was never under any real threat. There were also wickets for Cat Sammon and Rosie Jenner, before skipper Blair rounded off a great day with 2 for 2 as Ayr ended on 47 for 9.

    Pic: David Potter

On Saturday, Carlton youngsters Olly Brown and Angus Hinton completed a memorable season as they helped the Scotland Under 15s to an ECB Division B Cup Final win over Gloucestershire at Paisley. Both boys had been involved in an incredible comebackagainst South Shields CC in the ECB club competition earlier this season. So when Gloucestershire needed just 33 runs to win with 6 wickets in hand both Carlton lads would have known that anything could still happen.

And happen it did ... after the 5th wicket fell Olly made a key breakthrough with the 6th wicket, courtesy of a catch from Angus. He then took a catch himself before clean bowling the Gloucestershire no. 8 as the visitors found themselves 8 down with another 5 runs required. A run out with 2 runs still required saw Olly back to bowl the last over and he struck the stumps with his first ball to seal a dramatic win. Congratulations to all the players and coaching team involved with the national side.

And the curtain came down on the cricket season at Grange Loan on Sunday when a match between the Under 13s and their parents ended with the oldies claiming a much needed morale boosting win over the youngsters (who let them win really ...)

After winning the Scottish cup in 2013, and suffering just one defeat in last year’s league campaign, the Carlton women travelled south to St Boswells in determined mood on Sunday, knowing that a win in their final match of the 2014 league season would clinch the national title.

Batting first, the Carlton side overcame the early loss of skipper Helen Blair, thanks to a superb century partnership between Annette Drummond (81*) and Ruth Willis (44). The total of 156 off 25 overs was always going to be tough to chase and accurate bowling from the visitors made sure there would be no mistake, dismissing St Boswells for 91 and sealing Carlton’s first ever women’s national title.

Congratulations to Helen and the entire squad for a great achievement. The women now head to Ayr next Sunday for the 2014 Scottish Cup Final, where they will take on either the hosts or St Boswells, looking to retain the trophy they won at the same venue last year.

Sadly, there was no silverware for the Under 18s on Saturday. After overcoming Forfarshire in the semi-final of the Peacock Salt Scottish Cup they came up short against Heriot’s in the final. Bowling first, the youngsters failed to reach the standards they’re capable off, allowing Heriot’s to post a total of 113 despite a fine bowling spell from Harris Aslam (below). The cup run this year owed a lot to the prolific opening partnership between Harris and Angus Hinton and when both batsmen were dismissed in the opening two overs Carlton were up against it. Despite a counter attack from Ruari Macpherson and a fine innings from Craig Everett the youngsters were eventually dismissed for 88.

On Saturday, all Carlton eyes had been on Falkland where the play-off for the promotion place to the Eastern Premier League took place between RH Corstorphine and Meigle. The eventual outcome – a victory for the Edinburgh side – was good news for the Carlton 2s and 3s as it means that an extra East club won’t be participating in the ESCA leagues next season, confirming that 3rd bottom place in each division is enough to avoid relegation. So the 2s and 3s are saved!

At Grange Loan on Saturday a young Carlton XI lost out to visitors Dollar in a friendly. On Sunday the friendly XI enjoyed the annual fixture at Manderston, although it also ended in defeat, while the Carlton Croc(odile)s defeated visitors Penicuik in their end of season fixture at Grange Loan.

The evening of Friday 22nd August saw a host of juniors, parents and other club members descend on Grange Loan for the last home junior match of the season – the Under 13 league derby between the Arrows and the Hawks. But the hard-fought game wasn’t the only attraction, as the BBQ served up food to a never-ending queue of hungry folk and a series of attractions kept the youngsters entertained while raising funds for the Cricket-a-thon initiative in aid of the STV Appeal.

Gordon Drummond brought along the Cricket Factory kit, which proved a great hit with all the young players, while seniors Ruari, Gavin, Harris and Cheeky gave club members the chance to dismiss them in a tape-ball challenge. With the successful bowlers winning their money back there was a lot of pressure on Cheeky to keep the scheme in profit.

In the clubhouse the bar did a roaring trade while the legendary Carlton home baking stall was as a popular as ever.

On the park there was a narrow win for the Hawks after 40 overs of quality cricket and the weather held off until eventually the rain fell with a few hardy youngsters still playing on the outfield in the pitch darkness.

On Saturday, the Twos added to the Cricket-a-thon coffers by selling a souvenir programme at their match with Holy Cross, taking the weekend’s charity takings over the £350 mark, all of which will go to the STV Appeal to help children and young people in Scotland affected by poverty. A great effort.

On Sunday, the Carlton youngsters took part in two other ‘official’ cricket-a-thon events. The kwik cricket squad split along gender lines with the girls heading to an event at Doo’cot Park Perth, while the boys made the shorter trip to the event at the Meadows. Lots of cricket was played once again while the collection buckets went round the spectators.

A big thanks are due to all the volunteers who helped out with Friday’s match, the surrounding activities, the baking and the BBQ. A great way to bring down the curtain on the junior season.

Although the league season has finished for four of our senior sides, there is still a lot of vital cricket to be played this weekend.

On Sunday, the Carlton women head to St. Boswells for their final National League match knowing that a win will confirm them as Scottish champions for the first time. Although Helen Blair’s team will head south on the back of a 100% record in the league so far, they know they will face a tough match against a team led by one of Scotland’s finest and most experienced all-rounders, Kath White.

Also on Sunday, the Carlton Under 18s will be at Linithgow attempting to defend the Peacock Salt Scottish Cup they won last year. Although last year’s winning skipper Fraser Allardice is unavailable this year, a number of the Carlton youngsters have first team experience. They will face a strong Forfarshire side in the first semi-final at 11 am, with the winners playing either Ayr or Heriot’s in the final later in the day.

On Saturday, a Carlton XI led by ‘Fantasy’ Bob Irvine will host Dollar CC in a friendly starting at 2pm. On Sunday, the ‘other’ Carlton side, the Carlton Crocodiles (a team comprising parents of Carlton juniors) will host a Penicuik Development XI at Grange Loan.

The 2nd XI season came to a nail-biting end in the pitch dark at Grange Loan as they earned a dramatic tie with Holy Cross to keep them just above the ESCA Championship automatic relegation zone in third bottom place. Their ultimate survival now depends on the outcome of the CSL play-off between ESCA champions RH Corstorphine and Strathmore & Perthshire Cricket Union winners Meigle. If Corstorphine win, the Twos are safe; if Meigle win three teams will go down, meaning relegation for Brad McKay’s team. Given the Meigle connection of the Carlton Drummond siblings we’ll be remaining officially neutral …

After a long rain delay, the Twos did very well to restrict Holy Cross to 189 for 8, with the Allardice spin twins (well, brothers) taking two wickets apiece.

After a tumble of early wickets the Twos looked all but down but fighting innings from Ali Shah (below) and Rob Atkin kept them hanging on before a superb partnership between teenagers Matt Wells and Fraser Allardice edged Carlton closer and closer until the remaining overs played out in virtual darkness. Matt was caught behind in the penultimate over and it was left to skipper Brad to face the last ball with three needed. Brad somehow made contact and Fraser was able to scamper through for two as mid off located the ball. A tie, and disappointment, until someone realised that there were 15 points on the go for a tie. As it turned out, this was just enough to move Carlton ahead of West Lothian and keep them safe … for a week at least.

The Threes also performed their own great escape, despite being beaten by runaway Division 3 champions Falkland 2s. After the home side hit 195 for 9, the Threes needed 2 batting points (110 runs) to keep ahead of Freuchie 2s in third bottom place. They just managed it, thanks in main to good innings from Nick Thomson and Gavin Rittoo, as they finished on 119 all out. Just like the Twos, they now need to wait to discover if three teams go down or two. But we’re still remaining neutral …

Happily the Carlton women are operating at the right end of the national league and they maintained their 100% record on Sunday with a comprehensive win over Stirling County. Skipper Ruth Willis and Cat Sammon both picked up three wickets as the visitors were bowled out for just 32. Opener Louie Gardiner remained undefeated as they won by 8 wickets. They now travel to St Boswells on Sunday looking for a final win that would clinch the league title.

Earlier in the day, the women found themselves through to the Scottish Cup Final without playing a game as visitors Glasgow Accies were unable to raise a team for the scheduled semi-final.

On Saturday at Forthill there was an end-of-season feel about the Carlton performance as they were dismissed for 150 against Forfarshire chasing 195. Ali Evans captured 4 wickets while Hamish Gardiner continued his good form with 51 before being run out.

The Fours ended their season with a narrow defeat in difficult conditions at the Meadows against Kirk Brae 2s. Chasing 141 in 32 overs, the Fours ended 15 runs short despite 64 from the evergreen Kevin Whitaker, which took his season’s tally to a remarkable 558 runs.

On Friday evening from 6pm, Grange Loan will play host to our junior social evening and BBQ. On the pitch, both our Under 13 sides (below) – the Carlton Hawks and the Carlton Arrows – will play their end-of-season derby league match.  As well as the BBQ, the bar will be open and there will be home baking on sale. 

And not all the cricketing action will be confined to the 22 youngsters out in the middle. As part of the Cricket Scotland/STV ‘Cricket-a-thon’ appeal there will be fun games and cricket activities featuring some of our own Carlton senior and junior star players, with something for everyone in the family – especially those who’ve never played cricket before!

Everybody is very welcome at the event – please come along ... and remember to bring your trainers and some change!

The Cricket-a-thon is a nationwide weekend-long event aimed at raising money for the STV Appeal, which is committed to helping children and young people affected by poverty in Scotland.  We’ll also be collecting for the charity at all our home matches at Grange Loan on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday at noon the Carlton 2nd XI play their crucial final league match of the season against Holy Cross. And on Sunday the Carlton women have a double header. At 10am they entertain Glasgow Accies in the Scottish Cup Quarter Final before hosting Stirling County in the league at 2pm.

Also on Sunday, our girls will be up at Perth playing in the Girls' Kwik Cricket Festival, while our boys will be taking part in a special Cricket Scotland kwik cricket event at the Meadows. Both events are part of the weekend's offical Cricket-a-thon calendar.

The 2nd XI made it two wins in a row on Saturday – and kept their Championship hopes alive – with a nailbiting win at West Lothian.  An excellent third wicket partnership between Ali Shah (50) and Craig Everett (48) formed the backbone of a competitive 199 for 7, with Ben Thurman contributing an invaluable 33. The West Lothian reply got off to a disastrous start when Ahmad Shah picked up a wicket with the first ball of the innings Thereafter the match fluctuated first one way and then the other, with a couple of rain delays thrown in to keep things interesting as it approached its climax. Eventually Carlton ran out winners by just 4 runs after a catch by Harris Aslam off Ali with just three balls to go.

There was also a win for the 4th XI at Peffermill as they defeated Dunnikier 2s by 7 wickets. Young Angus Beattie made a welcome return to bowling with 3 for 30 as the visitors were dismissed for 104. Opener Shaun ‘Barnacle’ Barrett then lived up to his nickname by sticking around to see his side home with an unbeaten 48, ably supported by Keith Murray.

Sadly, there was no third successive home victory for the 1st XI as they lost out in a tight encounter at Grange Loan. The blustery conditions made for a difficult day with a spate of dropped catches but Carlton bowled out visitors Heriot’s for 196, with Omar Ahmad taking 4 for 37. After a promising second wicket partnership between debutant Steve Allan and the returning Stevie Gilmour was interrupted by an injury to Allen, Carlton lost wickets in clusters. This meant that nobody was able to maintain a meaningful partnership with the in-form Alex Rajendran, who ended up stranded on 57 not out as his sided were dismissed for 173.

There was a remarkable match at Grange Loan on Sunday when the Threes lost out by the narrowest of margins to visitors Kirk Brae in a tussle that ended in near darkness at around 8.30pm. After the visitors had posted a formidable 254 in their 45 overs, a brilliant 5th wicket partnership between under 15 wicket keeper Tom Simpson (74) and Adeel Raza (78) kept Carlton in the hunt. With 7 needed off the last over the Carlton tail just fell short as they were eventually dismissed for 248.

Also on Sunday, the Carlton Under 13s reached their second cup final of the season after beating Clydesdale in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Stirling. After the youngsters had restricted the Glasgow side to 93 for 4 in their 20 overs, Murray Whitaker (31*) and Gregor McIntyre (29) saw their side to a six wicket win.

In the final Carlton faced up to Grange for the second time this season and performed admirably with the ball, taking regular wickets to restrict Grange to 109 for 8. Young Cameron Ede took the bowling honours with 4 for 16, with Ruairidh Main picking up 2 for 16. Despite losing the crucial wicket of Murray Whitaker early on, Carlton kept the chase going, thanks in main to a great partnership between Ruairidh (30*) and Gregor (28). Some late hitting from Ben D’Ulisse took Carlton close but they eventually finished on 100 for 9, just 9 runs short. A great effort by the Carlton youngsters to end off a great season for them.

Also on Sunday a depleted Twos headed south for their much delayed President’s Trophy semi-final at Gala (below). 51 from Keshav Arvind helped the Twos post 134 for 6. Despite two wickets for skipper Brad McKay, the home side ran out winners by 7 wickets.

Carlton now face Plumtree CC from Nottinghamshire in the third round as part of the North regional finals in York on the 29th July.

On Saturday, the 4th XI gave a debut to its youngest ever player, 9 year old Ruaridh McIntyre, who promptly celebrated by taking his first senior wicket as Clackmannan 2s were bowled out for 112 at a damp and misty Peffermill. Under 13 spinner Murray Whitaker was the pick of the bowling attack with 4 for 18, supported by his skipper Bob Irvine (3 for 31). Murray’s dad Kevin continued his fine form with the bat, hitting 63 with Murray contributing 21 as the Fours ended up wet but happy 7 wicket winners.

Up at Aberdeen a Carlton side containing 7 players who have played for the Carlton Under 13s at one time in their careers earned a hard fought win over hosts Stoneywood Dyce. After the loss of four early wickets, a 99 run partnership between Alex Rajendran (56) and Fraser Boyd (40) formed the backbone of a competitive total of 160 on a tricky wicket. Ali Evans dismissed home skipper and star batsman Michael Leask early on, on his way to 3 for 36, before Omar Ahmad (3 for 16) and Cheeky Gosain (2 for 15) combined to ensure a 40 run win for Carlton.

The Carlton 2s, desperate for a win, were in a strong position at Grange Loan on Saturday, having reduced RH Corstorphine to 54 for 4 when the weather put a stop to play for the day. At the Meadows, the Threes had barely got underway against Morton at the Meadows when their match was abandoned.

By contrast, Sunday’s friendly against our old friends from Woodcutters CC took place in glorious sunshine. Olivia Rae got the Carlton innings off to a good start with 37, before an unbeaten 50 from Martin Robertson and a great 93 from young Keshav Arvind helped the home side to 211 for 7 in their 40 overs. The Cutters’ reply was stymied by Ruth Willis who returned the impressive figures of 4 for 25 as Carlton won by 49 runs.

Sometimes cricket throws up a match that has everything. That was the case at Grange Loan on Sunday afternoon when the Carlton Under 15s somehow turned round their ECB cup tie against Durham champions South Shields with an incredible last 5 overs in the field. Having posted just 84 in the face of some high quality bowling and fielding, the Carlton youngsters went into the last 5 overs of the match with the visitors needing just 18 runs with 9 wickets in hand and both fast bowlers, Olly Brown and Angus Hinton, having bowled their quota.

First left armer Saif Khan made the breakthrough, dismissing South Shields opener Hurst for a fine 38, in an over that conceded only two runs. Next, the ball was thrown to 12 year old Gregor McIntyre and after conceding a single to his first ball his first over went ..W.W – 15 needed off 3 overs. Back came Saif for his final over –two wickets for just 3 runs (two of them extras) as it was clear that Carlton were going to catch anything that came their way. Suddenly 12 needed off  2 overs with 4 wickets in hand. Crucially the big number 3 Appleby was still in and he hit 3 runs in Gregor’s next over. A leg bye added another before Gregor bowled a couple of wides. Would the young man crumble under the pressure? Not a bit of it as he picked up his third wicket the very next ball.

So 6 needed off the last over – in effect only 5 as long as South Shields didn’t lose another wicket. With Saif bowled out it was left to Sam Marchbank to bowl the final over. His first ball was a beauty as t took Appleby’s edge and was caught by Tom. Up went the umpire’s finger to cue huge celebrations. However, square leg umpire Wilson had spotted a man short in the ring ... no ball! Surely Carlton’s last chance gone?

Next ball Appleby hit out and came back for a second to get back on strike, leaving his partner stranded. 81 for 8 – just 4 runs needed. Next ball came flying of the middle of the big batsman’s bat – it looked all over but Olly Brown at long off came running round to take a brilliant catch. Next ball saw an inside edge into the pads, a panicked run and Tom stooped down to take off the bails. Somehow Carlton had won and the cheers from the home crowd surely wakened the neighbours from their peaceful Sunday afternoon slumbers.

Carlton now travel to Tynedale in Northumberland for the next round on Sunday.

The team relax after their big finish

There was another exciting cup match at Grange Loan on Friday, but sadly Carlton came off second best in the Murgitroyd Masterton Trophy Final against Grange in front of a big crowd. No sooner had Carlton won the toss than the skies darkened leaving Carlton to bat in very poor light. Nevertheless they were in a great position at 105 for 3 after 15 overs. However, the loss of Fraser Watts after a fine 50 led to a tumble of wickets and the innings ended on a slightly disappointing 126 for 9. Carlton fought all the way, with Chayank Gosain picking up 4 wickets in a fine spell, but Grange ran out winners by 3 wickets with 6 balls to spare.

The sun back out at The Masterton Final

The following day saw Carlton lose out to high flying Arbroath in the league at Grange Loan after a disappointing performance. In the face of excellent bowling and fielding opener Hamish Gardiner was unable to find any consistent support and he was last man out on 63 as his side were all out of just 167. Despite two early breakthroughs, a second successive century at Grange Loan from Brendan Ford (below), who was dropped just after passing 50, helped Arbroath to an ultimately comfortable 6 wicket win.

The Twos suffered a heavy defeat at Leith Academy against Murrayfield DAFS. Young spinner Rory Allardice took 4 for 42 as the home side were all out for 228. The young Carlton batting line up was soon in trouble although Under 15 keeper Tom Simpson showed great application to top score with 28 as his side was dismissed for just 88.

The Fours were thwarted by the rain at Dalgety Bay as their run chase was halted after 25 overs with the match intriguingly poised. However,  crucially, the visitors were just behind on the rain calculation. The home side had hit 226 for 6, with skipper Bob Irvine claiming 3 wickets. and the Carlton reply was on 118 for 4 when the game was called off.

On Sunday, the Threes picked up their second win in succession when they beat 8 man Freuchie Twos by 8 wickets at Craiglockhart. Left armer Alan McLeod took 3 for 12 from 7.2 overs as Freuchie were all out for 69. Opener Robert Atkin then top scored with 23 as the total was chased down in 10.3 overs.

After some challenging weeks in the early part of the season the club came close to their first four out of four weekend.

At Inverleith, Carlton overcame the pre-match loss through injury of Preston Mommsen and Ali Evans to record a comfortable victory against SMRH. In an attritional battle on a slow, low wicket and a sluggish outfield opener Hamish Gardiner set the tone with a disciplined 37 before Alex Rajendran (below) played the crucial backbone innings, finishing unbeaten on 68 after hitting the last ball of the innings for 6. Once Cedric English was dismissed by Cheeky Gosain, Carlton always looked favourites although a 50 partnership between Ruthven and pro Moses kept the home side in the hunt until both were dismissed by Fraser Allardice, who turned in an impressive spell on his comeback, taking 4 for 24 from 9.4 overs. Carlton eventually ran out winners by 49 runs.

At Grange Loan, comeback man Rob Thornton rescued the Twos from a difficult start, hitting 40 in his side’s below par total of 123. The Twos almost pulled off an unlikely victory with Ahmad Shah earning four wickets to reduce the visitors to 112 for 8. However, Freuchie held on to edge home by two wickets.

At Falkirk the Threes, under the captaincy of Shuaib Farooq, fielded no fewer than 8 under 15s as they took on Westquarter.  Youngsters Olly Brown (20) and Sam Marchbank (24) top scored as the Threes posted 115. Sam then took the game by the scruff of the neck, picking up 4 cheap wickets – not to mention a direct hit run out – as the home side were skittled for just 99 to give his side their second win of the season.

On Sunday it was another youngster, 12 year old Gregor McIntyre, who was the main man for the Fours as they ran out comfortable winners over Murrayfield DAFS 4s at Grange Loan. However, it was another teenager, Matthew Edwards, who got the day off to a great start, decimating the visitors’ top order, taking 5 for 25. Gregor then followed up with 3 for 8 as DAFS found themselves bundled out for 118. Gregor then opened the batting and hit a mightily impressive 46 before being bowled. With rain on the way, Edwards Senior (that’s Eric) smashed a quick unbeaten 41 to see his side to an 8 wicket win.

On Friday evening, Scottish Under 18 Cup holders Carlton moved on to the quarter finals of this year’s competition after a 28 run win over Kelso, thanks in part to a fine all round display from Harris Aslam who hit 47 before taking three wickets in the Kelso reply.

The ECB Under 15 Cup match originally scheduled for Sunday, between Carlton and South Shields, will now take place on Sunday July 13th.

Following their dramatic regional ECB Cup Final victory against Grange a fortnight ago, the Carlton Under 15s host Durham region qualifiers South Shields in the first national round at Grange Loan on Sunday (2pm).

While the annual timings of this fixture (during peak Scottish holiday period) always bring availability challenges for the Scottish sides, Carlton are able to call on the services of both Angus Hinton and Ollie Brown, who missed the regional finals on representative duties. Under 13s Murray Whitaker and Ruairidh Main also step up to join the squad.

South Shields defeated local rivals Stockton on Monday evening to reach the national stage and they will provide a stern test for the Carlton youngsters. Coach Rob Thornton (left) is looking forward to the match:

“Our lads have really come of age during this competition - to make it this far has taken great performances to beat Arbroath, Kinross-Shire and Grange convincingly, but this week will be even more of a challenge.

We now have a great opportunity to represent Scotland on and off the pitch and it will be a brilliant experience - so we will enjoy the day and have a real crack at getting through to the next round.”

The club is looking to welcome a large turnout of parents, friends and Carlton supporters for the match.

With the Under 15 match taking pride of place at Grange Loan on Sunday, the Fours will decamp the short distance to Craiglockhart for their home match with Murrayfield DAFS 4s. Skipper Fantasy Bob will be keen to build on last week’s win at the Meadows to propel his side up Division 7.

On Saturday, Carlton are on their travels again, albeit they have a much shorter trip than last week’s jaunt to Aberdeen as they face Edinburgh rivals SMRH in the Eastern Premier League at Invereith with a noon start.

The Twos are at Grange Loan again as they entertain Freuchie on Saturday after their much improved performance at home last week. This weekend’s match starts at noon.

Meanwhile the Threes head to Falkirk to take on Westquarter, keen to repeat their early season victory over the same opposition.

Carlton returned pointless from their long trip to Aberdeen on Saturday after slipping to an 8 wicket defeat. The early loss of international batsmen Hamish Gardiner and Preston Mommsen got the Carlton innings off to a difficult start and, despite a fighting 32* from Ali Evans and a fine unbeaten 40 from Fraser Watts, they were dismissed for 158. In a rain affected reply, the Aberdeenshire batsmen had to cope with some top quality pace bowling from Ali Evans and a challenging spell from Tom Freshwater but held firm to record an 8 wicket win.

The 1st XI while away a rain break by watching the live action from Grange Loan

At Grange Loan, Glenrothes – complete with their impressive live streaming setup - were the visitors on Saturday. Some last minute selection challenges saw the Twos fielding what may well have been their youngest ever side, with debuts at that level handed to youngsters Ruairidh Main and Saif Khan. The visitors batted first and enjoyed a superb surface to post their highest score of the season, despite four wickets for Gavin Rittoo and two good catches for young Saif. Teenage batsmen Kyle Macpherson and Keshav Arvind got the Carlton reply off to a flyer, both hitting elegant half-centuries before each was undone by a legside stumping by ex-Scotland keeper Alex Davies. After a brave effort the Twos were eventually dismissed for 208, losing by 86 runs.

Keshav, as captured by the Glenrothes live stream

Down at the Meadows, the return of skipper Fantasy Bob seemed to galvanise the Fours as they recorded their second win of the season, defeating Morton 2. Credit should go to the young bowling attack – 12 year old Pete Gill returning figures of 3 for 7 – as the home side were rolled over for just 66. Spearheaded by the steady Barnacle Barrett the runs were knocked off for the loss of five wickets. Sadly, the match was marred by a nasty knee injury to our all-rounder Mike Kennedy and we wish him a speedy recovery.

On Sunday, the Threes found the going tough against a strong Haddington batting lineup at Grange Loan, as the visitors ran up an impressive 252 for 4 to run out comfortable winners by 108 runs.

On Friday evening the Under 13s bounced back from their ECB Cup Final disappointment by defeating hosts Penicuik in the second round of the Scottish Cup. Pete Gill impressed with the bat this time hitting an undefeated 30, as did Twos debutant Ruairidh Main, as the Carlton youngsters overcame the Penicuik total of 92 for the loss of just one wicket.

Where to start? It was a weekend packed full of cricket. There was a cup final appearance for our Under 13s, a century on return for Hamish Gardiner as Carlton thumped Forfarshire, an incredible double century opening partnership between Ruth Willis and Helen Blair and a nailbiting cup-final triumph for the Under 15s.

Saturday saw a healthy crowd at Grange Loan as Carlton, boosted by the return of opener Hamish Gardiner, hosted in-form Forfarshire. Putting aside the early loss of the experienced trio of Watts, Mommsen and McCann, Hamish (below) calmly made his way to a fine 118 and, supported by a good effort from the lower order, helped his side to an imposing 272 for 9. Any hopes of Forfarshire chasing down the total were stalled by two early wickets from Ali Evans before seamer Omar Ahmad turned in a superb spell taking 7 wickets for just 20 as Carlton won by a crushing 159 runs.

At Inverleith the Twos put in an improved performance against Holy Cross, but, despite half centuries from Charles Legget and Ali Shah, they could only muster 139. Steven Elder did his best to drag Carlton back into the match with 3 for 26, but the home side ran out winners by 3 wickets.

And it was another tale of nearly but not quite for the Fours as they lost by 32 runs at Kirk Brae. The young bowling attack did well to dismiss the home side for 158, with Angus Beattie and Gregor McIntyre both taking two wickets. However, the ‘experienced’ batting line up didn’t do quite so well despite 26 from Eric Edwards and a defiant unbeaten 17 from Barnacle Barrett.

Sunday’s full fixture list meant that Threes skipper Alex Fedenczuk was robbed of his normal rich selection resource of juniors and women but still managed to put out a competitive side against high-flying Falkland 2s at Grange Loan. He was indebted to a man making a very welcome return to Carlton colours as Alan McLeod hit 33 in a total of 119. The visitors however made no mistake, running out comfortable winners by 9 wickets.

At Goldenacre, the under 13s were in action in the ECB National Club Championship Scottish Finals day. They boys won their morning semi-final against a promising young Falkland side, with Murray Whitaker and Ruairidh Main in the runs as their side chased down their opponents’ 62. Ruaridh, Gregor McIntyre and Peter Gill had all earlier taken 2 wickets in a fine bowling and fielding display.

In the final they came up against a very good Grange side and, despite a blistering start with the bat from Ruaridh Main, the Carlton youngsters had to be content with a total of 94 for 7, thanks in main to a mature unbeaten 30 from skipper Murray Whitaker. A touch of nerves in the field didn’t help and although Pete Gill bowled well to collect two wickets Grange always looked in control and eventually ran out worthy winners by 7 wickets.

Meanwhile over at Merchiston Castle, the Under 15s also found themselves in an ECB Cup Final against Grange after they saw off the challenge of Kinross-shire in their semi-final. Their semi-final total of 111 owed much to 36 from keeper Tom Simpson. The Kinross reply was kept in check with some fine bowling with Saif Khan (3 wickets) and Angus Beattie and Tristram Holden (2 each) in the wickets.

The final saw Grange dismissed for just 53 with Calum Everett the hero with 4 for 9, supported by Tristram (3 for 4) and Angus (2 for 4). There was to be no easy victory though after a clatter of early wickets in the Carlton reply and the 15s were indebted to top scorer Tom Kujawa who kept the scoreboard ticking over before Sam Marchbank crashed a boundary to see his side to a four wicket win and deliver the first silverware of the season to the club.

As if that wasn’t enough for a Sunday, the Carlton Women’s National League match at Glasgow Accies turned into something of an historic occasion as openers Ruth Willis (128*) and Helen Blair (60) put on 208 for the first wicket.

This was the highest partnership for Carlton Women and Ruth’s 128 was the highest individual score. Carlton scored a remarkable 252 for 1 in their 20 overs before dismissing their hosts for 57.

Before all that excitement unfolded, the Carlton Primary School Team brought the curtain down on their competitive season with their 9th hardball win out of 10 matches with a win at Heriot’s. A great effort from a great squad of young cricketers.

It’s a big day for our Under 13s and Under 15s on Sunday as they both take part in the ECB Cup Finals day in Edinburgh.

The Carlton Under 13s are at Goldenacre, where they will take on Falkland in their semi-final at 11am. The winners of this match will take on the winners of the other tie between Grange and Clydesdale at 2.30 pm, with the losers facing off in a play-off at the same time.

While the rearranged Under 15 day at Merchiston Castle unfortunately clashes with a representative match it still promises to provide high quality cricket. It’s an identical set-up, with the Carlton Under 15s in action against Kinross-shire at 11am, while the other semi-final is again between Grange and Clydesdale.

The weather seems set fair so it would be great to see lots of parents and supporters come along to cheer on our youngsters.

Also in action on Sunday  are the Carlton women who will be looking to maintain their 100% record as they travel to face Glasgow Accies in a National League clash at 1pm. At the same time, the Carlton 3rd XI host high-flying Falkland 2s at Grange Loan, with a 1pm start.

On Saturday, Carlton entertain Forfarshire at Grange Loan. With a dry week there should be lots of runs on offer and what better way to spend a summer’s afternoon than by coming along to watch. The match starts at noon and the Carlton bar will be open. Remember, the match will be followed by the club’s World Cup Night – all welcome.

Also on Saturday the Twos travel across town to face old foes Holy Cross, while the Fours make the short trip to Kirk Brae to play the hosts’ 2nd XI.

Carlton’s early season struggles with the bat owed a lot to the unavailability of club captain Fraser Watts (left) for the first month of the season. He’s looked in good touch since his return and he showed his class at Heriot’s, carrying his bat for a chanceless 134 as Carlton racked up 266 for 3 in their 50 overs. The bulk of the runs came in a superb partnership of 186 with Rory McCann, who showed his class, hitting 91.

A wayward start with the ball meant that there was to be no comfortable victory. However, with the run-rate climbing, the run-out of the dangerous Cameron Farrell proved pivotal as Carlton eventually won by 13 runs to gain 10 valuable league points.

At Grange Loan, Carlton Twos came off second-best in the relegation clash with West Lothian. Despite 35 from opener Kyle Macpherson and 29 from 15 year old Calum Everett, Carlton were dismissed for just 122 and the visitors had no problem in knocking off the runs on their way to a 9 wicket win.

The Threes let opponents Kirk Brae off the hook as their hosts recovered from 66 for 5 at the halfway stage to score 182 for 9 despite 3 wickets apiece for youngsters Sam Marchbank and Maxwell Farrer. In response, Carlton were dismissed for just 87 with Dougie Scott top scoring with 28.

At a soggy Kirkcaldy, the Fours couldn’t find the runs need to overcome the 139 for 9 posted by Dunnikier 2s. Young Tom Kujawa returned the fine figures for 4 for 17 before opening the Carlton innings with the rather more experienced Shaun Barrett. Unfortunately runs were hard to come by and the Fours finished 33 runs short, despite 33 from debutant Paul Kentish, promoted after starring for the Carlton Dad’s team, the Crocodiles, in recent weeks.

There was no senior cricket to be found on Sunday. The Friendly XI match at Dollar was rained off, while Musselburgh conceded the President’s Trophy 1st round match against Carlton 2s. Sadly, the Carlton Women’s match scheduled for Grange Loan was cancelled as opponents Galloway were unable to fulfil the fixture.

While the Carlton Women played a practice match, two of the squad were in action at Hertfordshire. Ollie Rae and Annette Drummond, fresh from her headlining appearance in the Scotsman at the weekend, were part of the victorious Scotland Women side that kept their place at the top of ECB Division 3 with a 4 wicket win over their hosts.

With a forecast of heavy rain for mid afternoon on Saturday, it was a case of hope over experience for all cricketers in the Edinburgh area. With the only hope of victory lying in bowling first and dismissing the opposition for a low total, Carlton had no hesitation in asking Watsonians to bat at Myreside.

Two early wickets from Ali Evans (left) in only his second club bowling appearance of the season got things off to a perfect start and with wickets falling at regular intervals Carlton felt they were in the hunt. The home side were eventually dismissed just over two hours into the match, with Ali returning the excellent figures of 6 for 19 from 11 overs.

With rain surely on the way Carlton were out of the blocks quickly with Fraser Watts looking in great touch. However, with the score on 53 for 1 after 8 overs of the Carlton reply the umpires were forced off by the rain, leaving Carlton high and dry (metaphorically at least). With the forecast proving all too accurate the heavens opened shortly afterwards leading to the game being abandoned with no points to either side.

At Grange Loan, Carlton 2s batted first against neighbours Edinburgh South and opener Kyle Macpherson had to dig in to see off some accurate bowling. Unfortunately, he was unable to capitalise as the rain forced the players off with the score on 87 for 3 and Kyle (below) unbeaten on 34.

The heavy Saturday rain also put paid to some of the scheduled programme of Sunday cricket. The Fours trip to Barnton was called off due to a waterlogged ground and there was disappointment for the Under 15s, who were informed that their ECB Cup Finals Day had to be postponed to Sunday 22nd June.

One ECB Cup tie that did go ahead was the Under 13 tie at Peffermill, where Carlton saw off the challenge of visitors Arbroath to book their place in the u13 Finals Day at Goldenacre, also on June 22. Runs from Murray Whitaker, Harry Simpson and Ruairidh Main helped Carlton to a total of 144 for 5, before a superb spell of 5 for 1 in 4 overs from Cameron Ede decimated the Arbroath batting to give the Carlton youngsters a 88 run victory.

At the same time at Grange Loan, the Carlton Under 18s saw off the challenge of SMRH in their Scottish Cup tie. Tight bowling and fielding from the experienced home attack restricted SMRH to 94 for 3, before a fine opening partnership (below) between Harris Aslam (47 from 35 balls) and Angus Hinton (34 not out) took Carlton to a 7 wicket win.

In the afternoon, the Threes batted first at Grange Loan and were indebted to 48 from skipper Alex Fedenczuk to enable them to post 126 for 9. Three quick wickets for the returning  Adam McDonald had Boroughmuir in early trouble but it wasn't quite enough as the Meggetland men edged home by three wickets.

The Carlton Under 15s have a big day on Sunday when they travel to Doo’cot Park, Perth for the ECB National Club Championship Qualifying Cup Finals Day. The Carlton side earned their trip with a great win at Arbroath in the quarter finals but will face a tough semi-final when they take on Kinross-shire at 11 am. The other semi-final is between Clydesdale and Grange with the final and third/fourth place play-off taking place at 2.30 pm.

Best of luck to the Carlton squad – if you’re in the area on Sunday why not call in and cheer them on.

That’s not the only junior cup action on Sunday. In the morning, the Carton Under 18s begin the defence of the Scottish Cup when they entertain SMRH at Grange Loan at 9.30 am. At the same time, the Carlton Under 13s host Arbroath at Peffermill in the second round of their ECB Qualifying Cup.

The Threes and Fours are also in action on Sunday and with so many juniors otherwise engaged, the average age of both sides is likely to be slightly higher than usual. The Threes play Boroughmuir at Grange Loan (1pm) while the Fours travel to Barnton to play RH Corstorphine 3s.

On Saturday, Carlton will be looking to get back to winning ways when they make the short trip to Myreside to take on Watsonians. The match starts at noon. At Grange Loan, the 2nd XI host neighbours Edinburgh South, with a 1pm start.

Although Saturday saw the first proper summer’s day of the season it turned out to be a black day for Carlton as all four senior sides lost their league matches.

A decent bowling effort at Grange Loan had restricted Falkland to 177 for 9, with three top order wickets for Omar Ahmad and Tom Freshwater dismissing dangerman Safyaan Sharif for just 22 (below).

However, Sharif soon had the Carlton reply in trouble picking up the first four wickets, including Mommsen and Drummond, to leave the score on 36 for 4. From 96 for 7, a good partnership between the two Frasers, Watts (below) and Boyd, took Carlton to within touching distance before Fraggle mistimed a pull on 62 as the home side eventually fell 13 runs short.

There was a good fight from the Twos at Penicuik. Last week’s batting heroes picked up the bulk of the wickets - young spinner Rory Allardice taking 4 for 48 and Gavin Rittoo with 3 for 55 – as Penicuik made a challenging 226 all out. An early collapse had the Twos in batting trouble, but a fine 7th wicket partnership between Mo Ahmed (who smashed a window on his way to 40) and Under 15 wicket-keeper Tom Simpson (31) saw the Twos earn 9 points, finishing on 175 all out.

With batting resources stretched, the Threes found it tough going at Drummond Trinity.  Adeel Raza took the bowling honours with 3 for 32, with Callum Sibley and Ollie Rae both picking up two wickets as the home side made 204 for 8 in their 45 overs. The Carlton reply never got going as they were bundled out for 61 in 25 overs, with only Calum Everett and Shuaib Farooq making it into double figures.

The Fours mustered 148 for 9 at Broomhall in Fife against the local 2nd XI, 93 of the runs coming from everybody’s favourite fantasy (cricketer), Kevin Whitaker. There was a wicket for Tom Kujawa but, bar a run out, no other success, as the home side eased to an 8 wicket win.

Happily, it wasn’t a completely blank Saturday as the Primary School team earned a good win at George Watson’s in the morning. And there was even better news from the junior front on Sunday when the Under 15s had a fine win at Arbroath in the quarter finals of the ECB Cup. Tom Simpson was in the runs again with an unbeaten fifty as the Carlton side qualified for finals day at Doo’cot Park, Perth next Sunday.

The weekend finished off with another win as the Carlton dads’ side – the Carlton Croc(odile)s, enjoyed a good win in a friendly at Penicuik against the local Development XI. Paul Kentish top scored with an unbeaten 41, before Martin Firth returned the impressive figures of 3 for 8 in his three overs.

The much anticipated Carlton – Grange double header saw wickets tumble on a day when bowlers were very much on top. At Grange Loan, three early wickets for Brad McKay followed by four for the returning Steven Elder bundled out a very strong Grange 2s side for just 89.

The Carlton 2s reply looked to be in no trouble while Haris Aslam was at the crease, but his loss for 32 sparked a dramatic collapse and it was left to teenagers Rory Allardice and Gavin Rittoo (left) to keep their nerve as they calmly saw their side through to a two wicket win at a noisy Grange Loan.

Unfortunately, the reason that Grange Loan was noisy was that the 1st XI were already back at the ground, having been comprehensively beaten at Grange (below). On a day to forget for the Carlton batsmen, they found themselves dismissed for an embarrassing 77. Although a good spell from Tom Freshwater did pick up a couple of early wickets the game was all over in the 15th over.

Gloomy at Grange

Things weren’t much better for the Fours. Succumbing to the Arctic conditions at Peffermill they slid to a 127 run defeat at the hands of SMRH 3s, despite 3 wickets for Ruairidh Main and more runs for Kevin Whitaker.

At least the day ended on a high note with the Carlton Aussie night (although the weather was anything but Australian). A big thanks to Helen & co for making it all possible.

If Saturday was bad, Sunday didn’t see any improvement. First, the 3rd XI match at Grange Loan was washed out by the continual torrential rain (below).

Grim at Grange Loan

Then the 1st XI had to spend a long afternoon in Greenock (below) waiting for the ground to dry out. In the end, given this was the third time of asking, a 10 over match was played. Sadly for Carlton, the second tier side from the West ran out winners by the narrowest of margins, having lost fewer wickets than Carlton with the scores tied on 77.

Grey at Greenock

No such doom and gloom for the juniors on Friday evening though. The first Under 13 derby of the season was played out in front of a large crowd of parents who braved the bitterly cold weather to attend the junior social and BBQ. Fittingly for a match played in front of a big crowd, the game went down to the last ball with the Arrows just edging it with a last gasp run-out.

Also on Friday, the Under 11s bravely gave up the opportunity for BBQ burgers by travelling to Grange to play the local Sharks. A fine all round display saw the Carlton side run out winners by 29 runs.

There was another vital home win for Carlton as the Grange Loan side defended an under par 178 against Stoneywood Dyce. That total was reached largely due to a fine 42 not out from teenage all-rounder Ruari Macpherson. Coming in with the score on 89 for 6, Ruari (below) showed commendable calmness to shepherd his side to a reasonable total, thanks in part to a valuable 10th wicket partnership of 26 with Chayank Gosain. Earlier there were two contrasting innings of 41 from Gordon Drummond and Ali Evans – Drummo belligerent and aggressive, Ali watchful and patient.

Early breakthroughs for Drummo and Tom Freshwater brought visiting skipper Michael Leask in and Tom got the big wicket, bowling Leask with a slower, yorker. This week catches were held and, with wickets falling regularly, Stoneywood Dyce were bowled out for 144. Drummo finished with 4 for 27 and Tom 4 for 36.

Given the major selection headaches that permeated the top three sides, it was perhaps no surprise that the 2s and 3s both suffered heavy defeats. Despite a tight spell from young spinner Rory Allardice (10 overs, 1 for 28) RH Corstorphine racked up a formidable 239 for 2. A battling 33 from Arsal Sohail was the only bright spot in the Carlton reply, with young keeper Tom Simpson the only other batsman to reach double figures, as the Twos were dismissed for 87.

The Threes took on Morton at the Meadows and they had to watch as their opponents scored a mighty 264 for 4 – a huge total for the Meadows – and consider the damage to their bowlers’ fantasy ratings. The Threes also failed to reach three figures but credit to Shuaib Farooq (23) and Ruth Willis (26) for showing fight as their side lost by 170 runs.

There was a much tighter match at Alloa as the Fours were just pipped by Clackmannan County 2s. Kevin Whitaker and Shaun Barrett were the mainstays of a total of 137 for 9, before young Pete Gill had his skipper purring with appreciation with figures of 2 for 15. Fantasy Bob himself earned his legion of followers some valuable points with a couple of wickets and a run-out assist, but his side lost out by two wickets.

On Sunday, the women entertained Ayr at Grange Loan in the National League and a brief affair saw the visitors bundled out for just 20 with bowlers Ruth Willis, Lily Steindl, Jenny Nobes and Hannah Rainey all in the wickets. Despite two early wickets Hannah and Louie Gardiner (left) saw their side through to an 8 wicket win.

Earlier in the day, the Carlton u13s won through to the second round of the Scottish Cup with a big win over an inexperienced Livingston side. Gregor McIntyre and Ben d’Ulisse both hit unbeaten 30s in a total of 159 for 2, while Ben Afshar collected three wickets as Livingston were dismissed for 67.

With the 2s match at home to Murrayfield DAFS and the 3s game at Freuchie both falling victim to the heavy overnight and morning rain, the 1s headed north to Arbroath hoping to find a gap in the clouds.

The match at Lochlands did go ahead, but on a pitch that favoured accurate bowling the Grange Loan side found themselves on the wrong side of a low scoring encounter. Three wickets from Aussie Tom Freshwater (left), backed by mean bowling spells from Gordon Drummond and Chayank Gosain helped to dismiss the home side for 129. The total would have been a good deal less had it not been for a counter-attacking 50 from Arbroath's Calvin Burnett.

Burnett proved himself to be a real thorn in the side of Carlton when he became one of three home bowlers to pick up three wickets as Gordon Drummond's side were dismissed for just 82.

On Sunday, the Fours also lost but there were lots of positives to take from an exciting match against Dalgety Bay. Young Tom Kujawa picked up four wickets as the visitors were dismissed for 218. A great partnership between the stylish Murray Whitaker and his slightly less stylish but effective dad, Kevin, was the mainstay of the Carlton reply. However, when Whitaker Senior was dismissed for 87 the Fours had to settle for second best, finishing their 40 overs on 185 for 7.

On Sunday morning the Under 13s got their ECB campaign off to a winning start at Peffermill against a young Livingston side, while Grange Loan hosted a very successful Under 9 kwik cricket event.

Carlton earned a much needed first win of the season on Saturday after seeing off the challenge of SMRH at an overcast Grange Loan. With 75% of the match gone, the home side had been looking distinctly second best but an inspired spell from Omar Ahmad (below), who picked up three quick wickets including the prized scalp of Cedric English, helped Carlton claw their way back into the game and eventually dismiss the visitors ten runs short of their target. Earlier 50 from Preston Mommsen (75 Fantasy League points) and a fighting 45 from Alex Rajendran had helped Carlton post a +200 total.

With an inexperienced team for the first part of the summer, Carlton 2s know they face some challenging games in the Championship. And so it proved at Freuchie, where the home side scored a formidable 223 for 9, despite a five wicket haul for teenage off-spinner Rory Allardice (90 Fantasy League points). In reply, only the experienced trio of Ali Shah, Nathan Pietsch and Brad McKay reached double figures as the Twos were dismissed for just 74.

Also on Saturday, there was a thriller at Roseburn where the Fours narrowly missed out on their second win of the season as Murrayfield DAFS ran out winner by two wickets. A Kevin Whitaker fifty (82 Fantasy League points) formed the backbone of the Carlton innings, but unfortunately he couldn’t find much support as his team were all out for 115. A fine bowling effort, the highlight of which was a double wicket maiden from 12 year old Harry Simpson, kept the Fours in the match all the way but they eventually had to settle for bonus points.

On Sunday, the Threes picked up their first win of the season as they saw off the challenge of Westquarter. After a bright opening partnership between Chris Patterson and Angus Beattie, skipper Alex Fedenczuk anchored the innings with a patient 34 as his side were eventually dismissed for 142 in the 43rd over. However a great new ball spell from Katie McGill (below) and under 15 Angus Beattie reduced the visitors to 20 for 5. A middle order recovery was broken by the experienced double act of Mike Kennedy and Dave Carter, who shared the final five wickets to see the Threes home by 24 runs.

Also on Sunday there were four Carlton players (well, five if you count Hamish) on representative duty. Annette Drummond and Ollie Rae were playing for Scotland women in their defeat to Northants, while Chayank Gosain, Ali Evans and Hamish Gardiner played for the Highlanders in the inaugural North Pro Series match in Voorburg, Holland. Facing the Seafarers in a T20, Hamish hit 48 and Ali returned the remarkable figures of 4 for 12 off his 4 overs. The following day Ali went one better, taking 5 for 23 in a 50 over contest in Holland, while a vital 34 from Annette saw the Scotland women to a fine win over Hampshire.

On Saturday morning at Goldenacre the Carlton primary school team had their first outing of the season, beating a George Heriot's side in a kwik cricket contest.

Carlton are delighted to announce leading city care provider, Everycare, as the club’s official sponsor for the 2014 season.

The deal will see Everycare Edinburgh’s logo on the Carlton playing shirts and on match day training kit. As the principal club sponsor, Everycare will also benefit from branding within the ground at Grange Loan, prominent coverage within the match programmes, the membership booklet and the Carlton website.

Carlton President AndyMacpherson, Everycare Edinburgh Managing Director Martin Walker and Carlton captain Gordon Drummond

Commenting on the agreement, Everycare Edinburgh Managing Director Martin Walker said:

“Carlton Cricket Club fulfils all the criteria I was looking for in a sponsorship arrangement. Attending to the needs of people in their own homes with varying degrees of physical impairment, I particularly wanted to team up with a sporting organisation as a counterbalance. Cricket is not considered a “mainstream” sport in Scotland and, as the first Everycare branch in Edinburgh, this appealed to me as Everycare Edinburgh is a little bit out of the ordinary in our quality approach to care provision and, with our client base in the community, I was also looking to invest in an activity with strong community ties. Further, having celebrated its 150 year anniversary last year, Carlton Cricket Club’s illustrious heritage was attractive as Everycare Edinburgh’s espoused values are highly traditional. I am looking forward to having a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the Club.”

Carlton President, Andy Macpherson, is delighted with the tie-up:

“We are very pleased to have Everycare on board. Having funded the electrification of our scoreboard last year, we are thrilled that Everycare Edinburgh has agreed to be our main sponsor for the 2014 season and we look forward to working closely with them going forward.”

About Everycare:

Everycare Edinburgh provides care services to clients at home and offers a wide range of options that can be individually tailored to meet specific client requirements. These include all types of personal care, companionship, sleepovers and night sitting, convalescence support, bathing, meal preparation, excursions and outings, domestic help, laundry, errands and shopping. The care team has considerable experience supporting people with dementia and care can be provided at any time of the day or through the night.

Owned and operated by Martin Walker, and part of a national network of 23 branches, Everycare Edinburgh opened in 2011 as the first Everycare office in Scotland and, since taking on its first client in June of that year, has quickly established itself as one of the city’s leading care providers. Following a recent unannounced inspection, The Care Inspectorate, rated Everycare Edinburgh as being “Very Good” for the quality of care it provides, “Very Good” for the quality of its staff and “Very Good” for the quality of its management.

Everycare Edinburgh provides further evidence that - across the UK - Everycare has, arguably, a better reputation for the quality of care provided to its clients than any other national provider.

The league season kicked off on Saturday after a night of heavy rain, with Grange Loan looking remarkably dry thanks to the efforts of the Grange Loan groundstaff. Unfortunately, it was visitors Aberdeenshire who profited from an excellent early season deck by racking up 264 for 3 against a young Carlton side, with opener Chris Venske profiting from an early drop to hit a belligerent 137. In reply, tight fielding from the visitors strangled the early response but opener Kyle Macpherson (below) held his nerve and produced an innings that formed the backbone of the Carlton reply. In partnership with skipper Gordon Drummond they just kept Carlton in touch, but when first Drummo (52) and then Kyle (77) were run out, the lower order were left with too much to do.

The rain proved to be too much at Glenrothes, where the Carlton 2nd XI’s first match in the ESCA Championship was called off on Saturday morning. The Threes did get their season underway at Haddington, but only skipper Alex Fedenczuk (28) and under 13 Ruairidh Main (22) were able to get to grips with a damp surface as they were dismissed for just 101. A fine bowling and fielding display, with young Calum Everett picking up two wickets, made the home side work for their 5 wicket win.

The first win of the weekend came from the Fours, thanks in main to a century partnership between Eric Edwards and Katie McGill, which helped Bob Irvine’s side post an impressive 170 for 9 at Peffermill against Morton 2s. Two early wickets apiece for Under 13 Gregor McIntyre and the ever reliable Dave Carter got the fielding effort off to a good start and with all-rounder McGill picking up three late wickets the Fours ran out winners by 34 runs.

On Sunday the friendly between a Carlton XI and Dunfermline Wanderers saw a win for the home side after they posted 102 for 8 before dismissing the visitors for just 74.

This Saturday sees the beginning of the league season, an appearance at Grange Loan of the magnificent ICC Qualifying Trophy (below) won by Preston Mommsen & co over the winter and the first major social event of the season, the President’s Drinks*.

As if that wasn’t enough the 2014 season sees the return of the famous Carlton Fantasy Cricket League, which will be officially launched in the pavilion on Saturday evening.

Aberdeenshire are the visitors to Grange Loan on Saturday and, to mark the start of the league season, we’ll have a chance to show off the sparkling trophy won by the Scotland squad over the winter. So if you want to get up close (not too close in case we have to pay for breakages!) with an international trophy now’s your chance.

Once the game finishes, our new president Andy Macpherson will welcome members to the pavilion to launch the season in style. In addition to welcoming non-playing members, we’ll be looking for a full turnout from our returning 2nd XI (from Glenrothes), 3rd XI (from Haddington) and 4th XI (all the way from Peffermill). Food will be available

During the evening, you’ll be first to get the opportunity to enter a team (or teams) in the 2014 Carlton Fantasy Cricket League, which is back this year after an absence of a few years. This has always proved to be a great source of interest during the cricket season and we’re sure this year will be no different. Application forms will go to print in time for Saturday once the Appeals Committee has dealt with Fraser Watts’ request to be included in the ‘all rounder’ category.

If the weather should be unkind on Saturday please note that the President’s Drinks event will go ahead regardless, starting at 7pm.

*Note: The President is keen to point out that despite the evening being entitled the ‘President’s Drinks’ this [Sadly. Ed] doesn’t mean that the President will be buying all the drinks. He has a family to support after all. There will, however, be a small complimentary introductory drink to kick off the evening. We hope to see you all there.

There was welcome spring sunshine for a final weekend of pre-season action, which saw Carlton entertain neighbours Watsonians at Grange Loan in their last match before they entertain Aberdeenshire in their opening league game.

Carlton batted first and the top order failed to fire, leaving a lot on the shoulders of their skipper, Gordon Drummond, who was batting at 9. A succession of hefty blows soon had the scoreboard looking a lot healthier and, with an impressive supporting innings from debutant no.10 Tom Freshwater, Carlton finished their 40 overs on 222 for 8, with Drummo on 75*

Left armer Tom picked up his first couple of Grange Loan wickets in the Watsonians' reply, as did young off-spinner Rory Allardice. Seamer Ruari Macpherson collected three wickets, including two in two balls, as Carlton dismissed the visitors for 183.

Without Fraser Watts, Preston Mommsen and Ali Evans, skipper Gordon Drummond led a very young and inexperienced side into action over the first pre-season weekend.

On Saturday, there were plenty signs of winter rustiness as bowlers and fielders alike struggled in the challenging blustery conditions, with visitors Benwell Hill posting 165 for 3 off their 40 overs. There was a wicket apiece for Ahmad Shah, Haris Aslam and Chayank Gosain, with the total owing a lot to an aggressive 76* from ex-Gloucestershire man Richard Coughtrie.

In reply, a clatter of early wickets left Carlton 6 wickets down before the hundred was on the board, but the experienced duo of Gordon Drummond (78*) and Omar Ahmad (39*) took Carlton to their first win of the season

The club's annual pre-season preparation day was given added spice this year with the addition of what was described by its founder, club captain Fraser 'Fraggle' Watts, as a 'major new sport'.

Following completion of the annual ground preparation duties, large numbers of enthusiastic foursomes gathered at Grange Loan to take part in the inaugural playing of fraggolf - an 'interesting' hybrid of cricket and golf. The honour of playing the historic first competitive shot went to legendary blogger and 4th XI skipper Fantasy Bob.

Despite Bob's team (below) taking an early lead, the winners were a later foursome led by Bruce Smith. Claims from Ali Evans that later groups got the best of the conditions with the greens firming up as the sun came out were dismissed as 'sour grapes' by fraggolf supremo Watts.

All in all a great day and good to see so many people down at Grange Loan at this time of year. Many thanks to Fraggle and to Karen for a great effort in providing meals to the hungry participants.

Prizewinners

Winning team: Bruce Smith, Neill Bukes, Kieron O'Brien, Angela O'Brien

Individual winner: Kieron O'Brien

Women's winner: Angela O'Brien

Best Junior: Rory Allardice / Ben d'Ulisse

Nearest the pin: Shaun Smith

Best dressed fraggolfer: James Mure

While the reputation of a cricket club is partly forged on the field of play, most cricketers will tell you that the real test of a club’s standing is the quality of its cricket teas.

Over many years, Carlton has taken great pride in providing excellent fare during the Grange Loan tea break, with home players and visiting teams enjoying the delights produced by our talented and very loyal band of tea ladies … and gents of course!

This year, some of our long standing tea volunteers have understandably decided the time has come for them to retire while still at the top of their game, which means we are currently short of tea helpers for the coming season.

As a result, we’re very much on the lookout for new volunteers (non-members very welcome) to help fill the gaps. The duties themselves aren’t too onerous – it’s simply a case of helping to provide and set-out a cricket tea. And as you’ll be part of the club rota, you may only need to be ‘on duty’ a handful of times during the season.

We're looking for our volunteers to prepare sandwiches and other savoury bites. For those really keen, there's also an opportunity for a spot of home baking, but that's not compulsory! So, if you feel that your culinary skills are ready for a wider audience please do get in touch. All volunteers will be made very welcome. As well as providing a much valued service to the club it’s also a good way of getting to know the extended Carlton family. And if a group of new volunteers would like to work together as a team then we’ll organise that for you.

Any assistance you can offer would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to volunteer or find out more information about the way the tea rota works then please email Karen Macpherson on teas@carltoncc.co.uk or call her on 0131 622 0781.

With the recent revamp of league cricket there is now a greater need than ever before for qualified umpires.

The doyen of Scottish umpires, Sandy Scotland, is on the hunt for new recruits and will be running a pre-season Level 1 umpiring course this month for those who think they might enjoy umpiring on a Saturday afternoon.

The course lasts 16 hours spread over three days in late March (Sun 23rd, Sat 29th & Sun 30th). The cost is just £30 and covers the course plus all the course materials, the definitive book on the laws and a small copy of the laws to take on the field. As Sandy says, you’ll earn the course fee back with just one Saturday match fee.

The club is keen to support Sandy’s request by uncovering one or two prospective umpires at Grange Loan. The game can’t survive without officials and umpiring on a Saturday is a great way to give something back to the game regardless of age.

For further information and details on how to register, email Sandy at scotlandsa@yahoo.co.uk

February's indoor tournament in Craigholme, Glasgow provided the women of Carlton with the opportunity to shake off those winter cobwebs and get back into the swing of things.

Carlton faced the opposition of RHC, Stirling and St Andrews, who all tested the women's skills with both bat and ball. The fast paced nature of the indoor tournament provided highly pressurised but equally fun games. 

In the first game consistent bowling from the RHC women provided no match for Louie Gardner and Lily Cartwright, whose strong batting performance secured the women's first victory of 2014.

The second game saw the women face tough competition in Stirling. Impeccable fielding performances restricted the Stirling side to a low score that was easily chased down by Lisa Thompson (left) and Ruth Willis to ensure the women bagged their second victory.

The Carlton women faced an established St Andrews side for their third and final match of the day in which they lost the toss and were put in to bat first. Helen Blair and Ruth Willis posted a very defendable total off their 5 overs. Consistent bowling and fielding performances from the Carlton women demonstrated the depth and breadth within the squad, sealing their third victory out of three.

A promising start to 2014 - let's hope the winning streak continues!

Saturday March 1st sees Carlton's Fantasy Bob running another of his world-famous Quiz Nights at Grange Loan.

Teams of up to 6 participants are invited to compete for the much sought after first prize. Tickets are £10 per person (£5 for students and juniors) with a family ticket available for £20. As usual the bar will be open from 7.30 pm with the quiz starting at 8pm. Members, friends and visitors welcome.

While there will be entries accepted on the night, given the popularity of previous events we recommend entering beforehand by emailing our treasurer Brad on treasurer@carltoncc.co.uk

The qualification process for the 2015 cricket World Cup began in Aberdeen in June 2011, when a Scotland side skippered by Carlton’s Gordon Drummond beat the Netherlands by 15 runs.  It ended in the first day of February 2014 when Scotland, led by another Carlton man Preston Mommsen, defeated UAE in the final of the qualifying tournament in New Zealand.

The tournament was a particular triumph for Preston, as he returned to the international side following a lay-off due to a pelvic injury. In his first game back he hit a century against Hong Kong in a match that Scotland lost, effectively meaning they had to win each of their remaining games to qualify. After the second match, a recurrence of national captain’s Kyle Coetzer’s wrist injury meant that Preston had to take the helm for the remainder of the tournament.

No surprise to anyone at Carlton of course, but Preston rose to the challenge in spectacular fashion leading Scotland to qualification before crowning  it all with a superb unbeaten 139 in the final to see off the UAE.  In all, he hit 520 runs in 8 innings at an average of 86.67, hitting 2 hundreds and 2 fifties. Preston also won a remarkable 4 Man of the Match awards and, not surprisingly, was named Man of the Tournament.

His innings in the final was all the more impressive in that he came to the middle with the score on 24 for 2, slipping to 37 for 3 soon after.  When he left the field Scotland had scored 285 for 5, a total that UAE couldn’t match, falling short by 41 runs.

Fittingly, Gordon Drummond was also part of the winning squad in New Zealand to see a finish to the campaign he’d kicked off two and a half years earlier. Carlton’s Toby Bailey was also there in his capacity as fielding coach and analyst.

Drummo, Toby and Preston with the ICC World Cup Qualifying trophy.

Scotland will now return to New Zealand this time next year to play in the World Cup itself, when they will face matches against New Zealand, England, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before they head to Hobart to play Australia and Sri Lanka.

Congratulations to the Scotland coaching staff and squad from all at Carlton.

This year's Carlton winter nets will be held at Cricket Scotland headquarters at the MES Centre at Ravelston, starting on Monday February 24th at 8pm.

The sessions, for all senior and women's squads, will then run every Monday with the final indoor date on 31st March. The evenings are split into two sessions. The Women's, 3s' & 4s' squads are in from 8 to 9pm, with the 1s and 2s in between 9 and 10pm.

Fees will be £5 per session (£3 for students) or £25 as a bulk payment (£15 for students).

The year ahead will be a challenging one for all our squads. Our 1st XI will again be looking to challenge at the top of the Eastern Premier League while hoping to go one better in the Scottish Cup than in 2013 when they lost in the final. The 2nd XI will be playing at their highest ever level as they face the 1st XIs of RH Corstorphine,  Freuchie, West Lothian and Penicuik to name but a few in the new CSL East Championship.

The Threes will continue in ESCA Division 3 with the Fours in Division 7, while the Women's team will be looking to build on last year's great success when they won the Scottish Cup.

The club is keen to attract new male and female players at all levels for the 2014 season. If you'd like to get involved please drop club captain Fraser Watts an email on fraser.watts@carltoncc.co.uk

The Scotland squad flew out to New Zealand between Christmas and New Year to prepare for the crucial ODI World Cup Qualifying tournament.

Back in the squad, after missing the disappointing T20 qualifier in the UAE in November, are Carlton duo Gordon Drummond (left) and Preston Mommsen. Also out in New Zealand are Carlton's Ali Evans, who is playing club cricket and will be on hand to bolster the squad if any of the selected bowlers are injured, and Toby Bailey the Scotland analyst and fielding coach.

Scotland's first match is in Queenstown on 13th January against Hong Kong. They then complete their group matches by playing Nepal, UAE and Canada before the top three sides in each group move on the the Super Six stage. The top two teams from the 10 team event will qualify for the World Cup Finals to be held in Australia and New Zealand in 2015.

Still in New Zealand, Carlton's first ever women's international, Leigh Kasperek, is spending her second winter in the country. This season Leigh is based in Dunedin playing for the Otago Sparks.

Carlton home grown talent Ali Evans has recently finished a spell in county cricket with Derbyshire. He recently gave a small insight into his time as a Derbyshire player to the monthly Carlton newsletter …

"I think back to the last two years with Derbyshire with some fond memories of good times and also of the lessons I have learnt over my time there. 

It all came about, as a lot of opportunities like this do, because I was in the right place at the right time.  Three years ago I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go play a season of cricket in Australia. Whilst there, I had the chance to train alongside a number of young pros from different counties in England, including Tom Poynton, wicket keeper for Derbyshire. It was through my time training with him that Derbyshire offered me the chance to come down and work with them.

After heading down to Derby for a couple of days trialling they offered me the chance to come down for some games with their 2nd XI. It was a very exciting time and something I was looking forward to, but was also very nerve racking - to uproot yourself and move down south with no knowledge of how long it would be for and what exactly to expect. However, I found that the unknown was actually a good thing for me. It was a way of driving me to do well and to stay down there as long as possible.

I had nothing to worry about as the guys at Derby were excellent. They made me feel very welcome and involved from the outset.  With the very ruthless nature of professional sport this is not always a given, but it was the case for me as I settled in quickly and this allowed me to really express the player I was, and the player I wanted to be. It was an environment where you are constantly being challenged to improve and perform, and although I made a good start to my time down there I soon realised that I wouldn’t be able to rest on that.

The volume of cricket was at a level I hadn’t played before. Even in the second team you were playing 4 to 6 days of tough, competitive cricket every week during the summer, with the added expectation of having to perform on a regular basis because you knew that if you didn’t you wouldn’t be round for much longer. So I knew that if I wanted to stay down there I was going to need to work very hard. 

As time went on it became very apparent that, like in any walk of life, the best players in the squad also had the best work ethic and worked the hardest. This was a real eye opener for me. I had always considered myself a hard worker, but it was nothing compared to these guys. Not only did they work hard at their game and their conditioning but they also worked hard at having the right lifestyle, which was a part of life I had never really thought about. So I had to adjust diet, nutrition, sleep patterns, recovery methods and understanding of my own body. I was amazed by the impact these things had on my game. I feel that having to go through these things as well as the whole experience has matured me and I had to grow up pretty quickly.

Another big thing I have learnt from my time down there is how useful it is to learn off other players around you and the importance of team mates talking to each other and sharing experiences. I was also lucky enough to work with some excellent coaches while I was there - the likes of David Houghton and Andrew Harris helped me learn a lot. Not just technically but tactically as well. That is, I think, where I made my biggest and most important improvements. I have come away with a much better understanding of the game and what my role is at any given time. 

I am of course disappointed to have had to leave Derbyshire and the county game, but now having left it I realise how much I enjoy being part of it and how much I still want to be involved. So similar to when I first arrived at Derby I now find myself realising that what I’ve done isn’t enough and that I need to work harder to get back in the system again.

It is an old cliché but I don’t want to look at myself in 30 years and say “what if?”. And I urge all of you to do the same!"

An early highlight of 2014 is sure to be the Carlton Burns Supper.

The three course meal will include the traditional haggis, neeps & tatties ( vegetarian option available!) and will be backed by a not to be missed turn from our world-famous Doughty Groundsman who has promised to deliver a unique rendition of Tam o' Shanter.

The Burns Supper will be held in the Grange Loan pavilion on Saturday 25th January.

Tickets will cost just £20. To book your seats please get in touch with Ann at ann@carltoncc.co.uk or Helen at women@carltoncc.co.uk.

Members, neighbours and friends all welcome!

Time: 7 for 7.30 pm