The league season may have finished but it was another busy weekend at Carlton, with cricket in full swing at Grange Loan on both Saturday and Sunday. We had our Junior Awards evening, the annual Sixes, kwik cricket, cup action for the women and the Under 18s and the annual club dinner.

As always the sun shone kindly on the end of season Junior Awards event on Friday evening. A great turnout of youngsters and parents enjoyed the late summer sunshine and a top quality BBQ, and watched on as a host of juniors picked up medals and trophies. [Photos]

All the junior winners

On Saturday morning, the second annual Sixes kicked off with half a dozen sides, drawn from all corners of the club, taking part in a series of enjoyable matches. Winning captain was Gavin Murray who saw his Cammo-kazis side take the Martin Flynn Memorial Trophy. Unfortunately a rugby injury meant young Gavin’s input was restricted to non-playing captaincy. [Photos]

At the half-way stage of the Sixes the annual senior club awards were handed out [Photos].  Top team bowler of the year was Arun Pillai (below), with Rory McCann winning the batsman of the year award.

All the senior winners

On Saturday evening, a packed Grange Loan pavilion played host to the annual club dinner, where we were delighted to welcome ESCA President David Gibson as our special guest.

On Sunday the Under 18s just lost out in the Scottish Cup quarter final match at Poloc. There was better luck for our women though, who enjoyed an impressive Scottish Cup Qualifying win over George Watson’s at Penicuik. Carlton hit an imposing 170 for 1 in their 20 overs, with Charis Scott scoring 75*, well supported by Ikra Farooq (39) and Annette Drummond (35*). After a good opening partnership of 69, the Carlton bowlers took control with Charis (3 for 6) completing a fine all round display as they won by 51 runs. Carlton now play West in the semi-final at Stirling on Saturday.

Down at Manderston, the annual friendly saw under 13 all-rounder Jamie Beattie deliver a triple wicket maiden on his way to superb figures of 5 for 21. However with the home skipper hitting 147 not out, Bob Irvine’s Carlton side found themselves chasing 242 in 35 overs, a total that proved beyond them despite a fine unbeaten 63 from Rob Grisenthwaite.

Meanwhile Grange Loan hosted a players v parents KwikCricket match on Sunday morning. The players won two out of three matches against their parents and then played with their parents. Several games came down to the last ball. Many thanks to Dougie Firth, Euan Keatinge, Rudy Adair, Rory Ledingham and Gav Murray for umpiring, and all the players and parents for a really enjoyable morning. [Report]

In the afternoon, a players and parents team including five under 10 players took on a similar team from Peebles in a 30 over hardball match at Grange Loan. The home side posted a competitive total of 117 in their 30 overs, and some fine bowling and fielding from the youngsters restricted Peebles to 93 for a deserved victory in the late summer sunshine. A great way for all involved to finish the season. 

The 18th (and last) week of the league season delivered a Carton clean sweep – wins for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th XIs.

At Grange Loan, run scoring was more difficult than usual following the recent wet spell and Carlton had to battle all the way against RH Corstorphine before being dismissed for 139 in the final over of the innings, with only Rory McCann and Parker Neame passing 20. RHC ground their way to 68 for 1 before losing their last 9 wickets for 40 runs, with off spinner Arun Pillai returning impressive figures of 6 for 9 from 5.2 overs.[Scores] In a year of transition, Carlton ended the season a creditable 4th in the Eastern Premier League.

A very young 2nd XI, led by Ruari Macpherson, batted first down at Gala. After opener Pete Gill got the innings off to a good start with 26, the skipper (93) and Ruairidh Main (68) put together a great partnership to drive their side to an imposing total of 273 for 9. Despite an unbeaten 80 from opener Halls, Gala were kept in check by a disciplined bowling performance from the Carlton youngsters, ending 51 short on 222 for 6. [Scores] This impressive win means the Twos end the season in third place in the ESCA Championship.

The Threes also ended the season with an impressive win over Largo at Inch Park, although things hadn’t looked too rosy when they had stumbled to 21 for 5 after being put into bat. Happily for their side, George Lamb (137) was joined by David Simpson (65*) at this point and the pair added a remarkable 188 for the 6th wicket as Carlton posted 271 for 6 in their 40 overs. After Brad McKay had dismissed both openers Largo were never in the hunt and Callum Sibley took 3 for 16 as his side won by 121 runs to seal 5th place in Division 2.[Report]

Meanwhile at Largo, the home side’s 2nd XI hosted Carlton Fours who were looking for a win to seal their promotion to ESCA Division Four. Carlton, with a trio of Kentishes in the side, had to work hard in the sun, eventually restricting the home side to 234 for 5. It was Kentish senior who made sure the Fours stayed in the hunt, hitting a fine 140, supported by crucial contributions from Douglas Tidy (28) and Euan Burgess (26*), as Carlton edged home with 9 balls and 4 wickets to spare. [Report] Congratulations to all involved with the Fours on their promotion.

Finally, the Fives sealed the clean sweep after a comfortable win over Clackmannan County 2s. Experienced opener Keith Murray carried his bat with an unbeaten 79 that underpinned a total of 141 for 3 at Cavalry Park. Once again the youngsters bowled well, with Euan Keatinge (3 for 8) and Rory Ledingham (3 for 25) combining to dismiss County for just 79. [Scores] The Fives ended the season with a creditable 5 wins and a 9th place finish in Division 7.

Sadly the by now traditional wet Sunday ensured there would be no play in the scheduled matches for our u18s, Friendly XI and Girls teams.  However, despite the dire weather forecast, 10 teams of hardy KwikCricketers braved the elements to compete in the Carlton u9 festival at Grange Loan. Carlton fielded three teams, who each won all of their matches against spirited and youthful opposition. It was great to get some cricket played on an otherwise rain affected day and the young Carlton players conducted themselves with great skill, determination and spirit despite the increasingly damp conditions. Many thanks to all who played, supported and coached in the rain.

The penultimate weekend of the season saw the Fours keep their promotion hopes on track with a win that puts them one win away from promotion, while the Threes also picked up full points. Unfortunately the 1st XI suffered a heavy defeat, the Twos lost their last home match of the season, while the Fives, the Under 18s and the Carlton Women’s team were washed out on Sunday.

After 8 league wins in a row, Carlton’s early season batting woes returned at Forfarshire. After a steady start, a mistimed pull (below) from Michael Castle with the score on 37 without loss triggered a collapse that saw all 10 wickets fall for the addition of a further 64 runs. To rub salt into the wounds, the Carlton attack failed to pick up a wicket as Forfarshire eased home by 10 wickets. [Scores]

Pic: Forfarshire CC

At Grange Loan a young Carlton 2nd XI restricted Freuchie to 224 for 7. Mikey Brown’s two wickets took his tally to 23 for the season, while Rory Allardice took 3 for 43. The return started badly with the first four wickets falling for just 19 runs, before Ruairidh Main and Ben D’Ulisse steadied the ship. When Ben was out with the score on 64, Mikey Brown then combined with Ruairidh to put on a partnership of 88 to keep the Twos in the game. However, Carlton eventually finished 31 short with both teenagers dismissed in the 60s. [Scores]

The Threes turned in a clinical bowling display at Prestonpans to dismiss Tranent & Preston Village for 127, with Mohammad Nouman heading the bowling figures with 3 for 27. In reply, 48 from Matt Wells and an unbeaten 50 from Ben Thurman saw the Threes home by 8 wickets. [Scores]

It was similar story at the Inch where the Fours hosted Tranent & Preston Village 2s. Bowling first, two early wickets for Euan Burgess put the visitors on the back foot before Duncan Sutherland returned 4 for 23 to end the innings on 141. Despite losing two early wickets, Anish Amin (90*) and young Jamie Beattie (20*) put on an unbeaten 3rd wicket stand of 122 to take their side to a comfortable 8 wicket victory. A win in their final game at Largo next week will see the Fours seal promotion to ESCA Division Four. [Report]

Unfortunately Sunday turned out to be a day of almost continuous rain, washing out the scheduled action for the Fives, the Under 18s, the Women and our kwik cricketers.

The weekend saw Carlton extend their Eastern Premier League winning streak to 8 games with a comfortable win over Aberdeenshire at Grange Loan, while the Fours earned a great win over Division 5 league leaders Drummond Trinity at Inverleith.

At Grange Loan, Carlton skipper Ali Evans won the toss and decided to have a bowl against visitors Aberdeenshire. His decision looked like a good one as the Dons quickly subsided to 36 for 5, with Ali (below) leading the way with 4 for 23.  Further wickets for Michael Castle, Calum Everett, Shiv Gupta and Adeel Raza soon ended the innings with the score just edging into three figures.

As Carlton looked to finish things quickly some careless batting led to a few quick wickets, but opener Kyle Macpherson (23*) was joined by his skipper who hit a rapid unbeaten 19 to seal the win. [Scores] [Photos]

An inexperienced 2nd XI found the going tough down at Kelso as the home side were dismissed for 225 off the last ball of their innings. Saif Khan led the wicket-takers with 4 for 54. One bright note in the Carlton reply was provided by young opener Pete Gill who hit 43. However, none of his team-mates were able to provide consistent support and the Twos were all out for just 109. [Scores]

After their disappointing loss last weekend, the Fours kept their Division Five promotion hopes very much alive with a fine win over league leaders Drummond Trinity at Inverleith. A healthy contribution by Extras (53) helped Carlton reach 146 all out. When the home side were 83 for 4 the game was very much in the balance, but the deadly father-son combo of Alan and Gavin Murray (2 for 11 and 4 for 23 respectively) hoovered up the DT middle and lower order to see the Fours win by 29 runs. [Report]

The Fives recorded their fourth win of the campaign with a nail-biting one wicket win over Dunfermline & Carnegie 2s at Peffermill. As usual, the side’s youngsters led the bowling attack with style – Rory Ledingham took 2 for 16 from his 7 overs, while the Kentish twins (Fraser 2 for 33, Charlie 3 for 34) combined to restrict the Fifers to 144 for 8 from their 40 overs. The game swung one way then the other before a vital last wicket partnership between Euan Murray (5*) and the unflappable Paul Bailey (25*) saw their side home with one wicket and nine balls to spare, with the final run coming in the strangest of circumstances. [Report]

Sadly no cricket was possible on Sunday, washing out the Under 18s’ Scottish Cup tie at Poloc and the 3s’ home match with Livingston at Grange Loan.

The club came within a whisker of registering 5 senior wins out of 5 at the weekend as the Fours just failed to get over the line at Grange Loan in Sunday following wins for the Ones, Twos, Threes & Fives.

On Saturday at Inverleith Carlton won their 7th Eastern Premier League match on the trot, trouncing Stewart’s Melville by 173 runs. Despite the relatively early loss of openers Macpherson and Castle, a 120 run partnership between Rory McCann and Arun Pillai ensured a healthy total. Carlton ended their 50 overs on 245 for 7, with Rory hitting 90 and Arun 79. The home side’s reply never got going as Omar Ahmad (3 for 19) and Shiv Gupta (4 for 23) combined to dismiss Stewart’s Melville for 72. [Scores]

The Twos were at Grange Loan for a match with Dunnikier and they also made short work of their opponents, dismissing the visitors for 74 in the 23rd over. After 2 early wickets from Ahmad Shah (below), Mikey Brown took over, taking 5 wickets in his 6 overs.

The match was over early as the Twos chased down the target in just 13.1 overs, with Murray Whitaker, Chris McAllister and Craig Marshall (below) all hitting 20s. [Scores] [Photos]

Down at Penicuik, the Fives earned their third victory of the season with a 7 wicket win over the home 2nd XI. The young Carlton bowling attack was on fire, with openers Euan Burgess and Duncan Greenshields each taking 2 wickets, while Finn Gibb and Ewan Hutchinson shared the final 6 wickets to roll over Penicuik for just 53. After the loss of 3 early wickets, Duncan and Euan combined with the bat to see their side to the win in the 22nd over. [Report]

On Sunday, the Threes won a tight match with Boroughmuir at Campbell Park. Batting first, Zaki Yusaf (28), Ruairidh Main (63), George Lamb (31), and Nick Thomson (47*) all contributed to a healthy Threes’ total of 205 for 6 from their 40 overs. A century from opener Hussain kept Boroughmuir in the hunt but when he was caught behind by Matt Wells off the bowling of George Lamb, Carlton were able to see the game out as their opponents ended on 200 for 7. Calum Sibley was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 27 off his 8 overs. [Scores]

Meanwhile, over at Grange Loan the pressure of sealing the first 100% weekend of the season proved just too much for the Fours (below) against Morton 2s. Batting first after the skipper won the toss (probably for the last time if his match report is anything to go by) Eric Edwards, Alex Fedenczuk, Ollie Raine and Brian Kaczynski all passed 20 but nobody could go on to hit the big score the situation required. Chasing 164, Morton started slowly before accelerating. Two run outs for Steven Andrews kept Carlton in with a chance at 138 for 6, but Morton eventually eased home with 4 wickets and 7 balls to spare. [Report]

Also on Sunday the Under 13s played Ferguslie in their Scottish Cup Semi Final tie at Goldenacre. An unfortunate fixture clash with a key Eastern Knights Under 14 game sadly meant that Carlton were unable to call on the services of Gavin Murray and Rua McIntyre, while all-rounder Murray Johnson was on his way to Ireland with the Scotland Under 15 squad. Nevertheless, the Carlton side went agonisingly close, losing out on countback after a tie with the Paisley side. [Report]

In the afternoon, the Carton youngsters sealed third place in the tournament with a 71 run win over Meigle, with Euan Keatinge, Charlie Kentish and Matthew Restall all retiring after passing 30. [Report]

Carlton sent two Kwik Cricket teams to the Penicuik u10 festival on Sunday morning. Both were unbeaten in each of their 3 games, including good victories over Grange, SMRH and Watsonians. The highlight was undoubtedly young Freddie Charman’s four wicket maiden against Watsonians, which included a hat-trick, as the Panthers took an impressive 11 wickets in their 8 overs, but there were great team performances all round. In our last 4 events the Carlton Kwik Cricket teams have won 19 out of 20 matches - hopefully a positive sign that the conveyor belt of talent at Carlton is continuing.

The hottest summer of Scottish cricket in a generation came to a (hopefully) temporary halt on Saturday when torrential rain drenched the capital at 11 am, just an hour before the scheduled start of the much-anticipated league match at Grange Loan between Carlton and Grange.

The rain fell with such ferocity that there was little hesitation on the part of the umpires to call the match off, and the 4s and 5s also soon found themselves with a free afternoon.

However, in the micro-climate of East Lothian, summer was still very much in evidence as the ESCA Championship match between Musselburgh and Carlton 2s got underway after just a brief delay, with the home side winning the toss and asking Carlton to bat.

The Carlton innings was built on a magnificent, unbeaten century from skipper and club legend Gordon Drummond. However, Drummo being Drummo he wouldn’t like the tale of the match to be about him and indeed it was the contribution of the Carlton teenagers he is mentoring that ultimately delivered a well-earned win.

Opener Chris McAllister made a solid start. However, when he was out, followed almost immediately by Craig Marshall, the Twos were struggling on 54 for 4 with Drummo striding to the crease. Two run outs followed by Rory Allardice being bowled didn’t help matters, as the score reached 99 for 7.  Joining his skipper at this stage was the recently returned Calum Everett, and he scored an invaluable 21 in a partnership of 35 before he hit a full toss to mid on. When Harry Simpson was bowled, the Twos were on 145 for 9 with a full 15 overs still to go.

Enter under 13s’ all-rounder Murray Johnson. Muz showed great maturity to keep Drummo company, first taking the total past 200, and then seeing his skipper bring up his hundred. When Muz was out in the penultimate over for a very fine 13, he had featured in a last wicket partnership of 72 and his side had posted a very competitive 217.

We don’t know if the skipper checked his phone during the tea break, and whether he saw that he’d been described as ‘old man Drummo’ by our Twitter correspondent. However, we trust that the President was tweeting the second innings updates from a safe distance.

Muz then demonstrated his all-rounder credentials by taking the first Musselburgh wicket, closely followed by one for fellow teenager Mikey Brown. Meanwhile at the other end, Calum Everett bowled his 7 overs for just 7 runs.

Thereafter the spinners took control. First Rory Allardice took two wickets in an over, before Scotland under 17 off-spinner Harry Simpson dismissed the dangerous Tufail. In the end, the home side was dismissed for 103 with Rory finishing with 3 for 30 and Harry returning the impressive figures of 5 for 14. [Scores]

The Threes were due to play at Grange Loan on Sunday but once again the rain ensured that no cricket was possible.

Although not much cricket was played by the seniors this weekend, the u10s beat the weather and were in action on Friday night and Sunday morning.

On Friday evening we had an u10 hardball match against a strong Watsonians team at Myreside. playing 16 overs a side. The Carlton side outscored the home team, but lost 10 wickets to the opponents’ 5 and so lost by 17 runs. A really good contest, with some fine performances on both sides. We hope to schedule a rematch before the end of the season.

On Sunday morning, we had the return u10 KwikCricket match against SMRH. The Carlton Panthers and Leopards both won their opening matches, so we re-jigged the teams with James Stronach and Harry and Freddie Charman kindly playing for SMRH. The second round of matches were much closer, but Carlton came out on top on both. There were particularly strong performances from some of the younger players including Egan Hundleby, Benji Risi and Finlay Thomson.

On a sweltering Scottish summer’s evening in front of a sizeable Grange Loan crowd, Carlton won the 2018 Murgitroyd Masterton T20 Trophy.

[Scorecard] [Photos]

Skipper Ali Evans won the toss and had no hesitation in deciding to bat. With a scorched outfield that meant anything beating the infield had ‘four’ written all over it (even up the Carlton hill) it looked like it could be a difficult evening for the seamers.

However, Joe Kinghorn-Grey earned an early breakthrough as he had Michael Castle play an uppish cover drive straight into the hands of Meier with only 9 on the board. The experienced duo of McCann and Southwell then started the scoreboard moving before the introduction of spin in the sub-continental conditions showed that the batsmen weren’t going to have it all their own way. First Wood had McCann well caught behind off one that bounced to find the edge, then Tom Simpson was hit on the toe and adjudged lbw.

At this point Southwell was joined by vice captain Arun Pillai, and the pair began to build a total in the face of some probing spin bowling, blending judicious shot selection with some aggressive running. Even the introduction of Majid Haq, the sixth bowler used, couldn’t find the breakthrough as Hugo (below) set the platform for a solid Carlton total.

It was the re-introduction of seam, though, that eventually brought the wicket as Hugo, on 58, was caught in the deep by Wood to give Kinghorn-Grey his second wicket. Arun (31) and Parker Neame (17) then kept things moving, helping Carlton to post a decent 132 for 7 in their 20 overs.

With four spinners in their ranks Carlton would have felt reasonably confident in defending their modest total, especially as RHC were unfortunately without their injured professional, Hammad Azam. However, a generous opening over allowed openers Taylor and Foster to get off to a flyer before Taylor was run out with the score on 34 thanks to some excellent fielding by skipper Evans. With no runs added Foster was then castled by Castle to put Carlton in control.

The spinners then applied the squeeze. Adeel Raza (below) dismissed the dangerous Flett with a sharp caught and bowled, before trapping Kinghorn-Grey lbw. Majid was very well caught by a tumbling Shiv Gupta off Rory Allardice, before Chayank Gosain restored his reputation with a couple of wickets; first bowling McCorkell then having Wood nonchalantly caught by Pillai in front of his adoring fans on the hill.

The end came quickly. Cheeky returned the compliment, taking an excellent catch off Arun, before Michael Castle got his second of the evening, bowling Meier. Fittingly, the final wicket fell to the skipper who cleaned up Young to seal a 28 run win.

Carlton moved up to third in the Eastern Premier League on Saturday with a thumping win at Arbroath. The Fours stayed firmly in the promotion hunt in ESCA Division Five with their 5th victory in a row and the Threes finally got back to winning ways.

Following their superb T20 semi final win at Grange on Tuesday, the Carlton batting fired from the off at Arbroath on Saturday with Michael Castle (42), Kyle Macpherson (30), Rory McCann (85), Tom Simpson (37) and Arun Pillai (29*) all contributing to a healthy total of 260 for 6. The home side’s reply was strangled at birth with Omar Ahmad dismissing skipper Marc Petrie first ball, then picking up a second wicket in the course of an opening double wicket maiden. Michael Castle then pitched in with his first Carlton fivefer as Carlton raced to a 178 run win. [Scores]

Next up for Carlton is the Murgitroyd Masterton Trophy at Grange Loan on Thursday evening against RH Corstorphine.

At Grange Loan a young Carlton 2nd XI were unable to stop high flying Grange 2s posting 227, although Scotland u17 spinner Harry Simpson returned impressive figures of 4 for 23 from his 10 overs. The home batting found the going tough and skipper Gordon Drummond’s 64 was the highlight of a total of 129 all out. [Scores]

The Threes halted a run of five defeats with an excellent win at Westquarter, Brad McKay’s 4 for 18 helping to skittle the home side for 69 and set up a 5 wicket win. [Scores]

The Fours won again, with Alan Murray and Mo Nouman each picking up three wickets at Peffermill as Bob Irvine’s side rolled over Livingston 2s for 87. A quick unbeaten 50 from Eric Edwards saw his side to 9 wicket win after just 17 overs. [Report]

On Sunday, the Fives had the run of Grange Loan as they took on an experienced Drummond Trinity 3rd XI.  The all junior Carlton bowling attack toiled manfully to restrict the visitors to 250 for 4, with Jamie Beattie (1 for 31) and Ivan Dawson (3 for 47) in the wickets.

The Fives’ reply was blighted by a number of runouts, although David Simpson (below) led the way with 38 in a total of 146 all out. [Scores] [Photos]

The weekend had begin with a win on Friday evening when the Carlton Under 13s recorded a comfortable win over their Grange counterparts in their Scottish Cup Quarter Final. [Report]

Carlton maintained their fine league form with a home win over second placed Heriot’s, while the Twos and Fours were also successful.

At Grange Loan, the potentially destructive Heriot’s top order were soon back in the pavilion after excellent work from Ali Evans and Shiv Gupta. Despite solid resistance from the lower middle order, the best the visitors could muster was 180 for 8.

With run rate never likely to be an issue it was all about retaining wickets and at 83 for 5 the game was definitely in the balance. However, a fine partnership between Tom Simpson (61*, left) and skipper Ali Evans (45) took their side to the brink of victory as Carlton eventually ran out comfortable winners by 4 wickets. [Scores]

At Murrayfield, the Twos earned a three wicket win over their hosts. Fittingly, it was departing skipper Guy Hudson who was the main man, taking 5 for 19 as MDAFS were dismissed for just 117.  The reply wasn’t all plain sailing but 42 from Ali Shah and 29 from Gordon Lamb saw their side to a 3 wicket win. [Scores]

The Threes had to accept second best against the high-scoring Edinburgh CC 2s at Peffermill. Despite 3 wickets for Duncan Sutherland, the visitors scored 217 for 9. Opener Zaki Yusaf attempted to hold the reply together, but when he was 8th man out for 51 with the score on 114 the game was gone. [Scores]

The Fours continued their promotion push at Kirk Brae with an impressive 9 wicket win over the home side’s 2nd XI. No fewer than 6 bowlers were in the wickets as Kirk Brae were all out for 147, before Eric Edwards (69*) and Anish Amin (67*) combined to seal the win in the 25th over. [Report]

The inexperienced 5s continued to gain valuable experience rather than points as they tackled Leith FAB 2s. Deploying 9 bowlers, they did well to restrict the home side to 261 for 9, before sliding to 50 all out. The good news is they have a home game to look forward to at Grange Loan next week. [Scores]

On Sunday, the previously unbeaten Carlton under 13s travelled to Kendal in the next leg of their Vitality ECB Cup adventure. As always for Scottish sides in this cup, they struggle to put out their strongest XIs due to school holidays and this year was no exception. Nevertheless, the Carlton youngsters did themselves proud, pushing an impressive Netherfield side all the way before losing out narrowly. [Report]

Also on Sunday, a Carlton XI hosted old friends Woodcutters in a T20 ahead of watching the World Cup Final. Mikey Brown, Rob Grisenthwaite and Cameron Keatinge were in the runs, while wickets for Mo Nouman and Ewan Hutchinson were enough to see their side to a 27 run win. [Scores]

Carlton had two KwikCricket teams in action on Sunday morning. We sent an u12 team to the Peebles festival, and they won all three of their matches. A youthful u10 squad also played a friendly match with SMRH and beat them by over 100 runs. There were lots of impressive performances and it was great to get two strong teams out in the middle of the holidays. 

Peak holiday season meant another tough week for the Carlton selectors, but eventually 55 players were gathered together on a Saturday that brought wins for the 1s, 2s and 4s and heavy defeats for the 3s and 5s.

The recent history of matches between Watsonians and Carlton hasn’t featured too many comfortable run chases, and so it proved again on Saturday at Myreside as Carlton faltered in the latter part of their innings against their neighbours. Earlier, Watsonians had been restricted to 202 for 8 in their 50 overs, with leggie Adeel Raza again in the wickets with 4 for 21.

Michael Castle came blazing out of the blocks reaching his 50 in the 9th over, and was well supported by the returning Kyle Macpherson. Even after Michael was dismissed on 90, quickly followed by Shiv Gupta, the score soon moved on to 166 for 2 with only another 37 required. However, the standard batting collapse for this fixture took place with Carlton contriving to lose their next seven wickets for just 26 runs. It was left to the injured Parker Neame, batting at 11, to crash a quick 10 to see Carlton home by the skin of their teeth and take them to 4th in the league. [Scores]

There was another dramatic finish at Grange Loan, where Carlton 2s just saw off Edinburgh CC. Ahmad Shah took 3 wickets, but the big-hitting Edinburgh batsman kept playing their shots to see their side post 260 for 7 in their 50 overs. Good knocks up top from Mikey Brown (28), Chris McAllister (40) and Ben Thurman (29) set the innings on track, before departing skipper Guy Hudson (59) and Gordon Lamb (47*) kept the momentum going and made full use of the parched outfield. However, it was that man Ahmad, hitting out for the second home match in a row and now surely a ‘genuine all-rounder’, who took Carlton to a 4 wicket win with 3 balls to spare with a rapid unbeaten 25. [Scores]

The Threes’ batting failed on Saturday at Inverleith against Drummond Trinity with only Nick Thomson (31) and Alex Fedenczuk (17) reaching double figures in a total of 94 all out. The home side wasted no time in passing that total against Carlton’s inexperienced bowling attack, reaching the target in the 14th over for the loss of one wicket. [Scores]

There are all-rounders … and then there are all-rounders.  Carlton’s talented scorer, photographer, social media expert, wicket-keeper, opening batsman and bowler, Gavin Murray, helped the Fours keep up their Division 5 promotion push with a win over Dunnikier 2s. The 13 year old, who handed over the gloves to the returning Kevin Whitaker, contributed 4 wickets for 15 runs in his 5 overs to help restrict the Fife side to 144 for 9 at Inch Park.  Not content with half a day’s work, Gavin then hit 53 up top to ensure the Fours’ reply got off to a fine start, leaving Kevin to see the Fours home with an unbeaten 30. [Report]

That the Fives managed to put 11 players out on Saturday was a victory in itself, but they found themselves chasing 393 at Cavalry Park against Stewart’s Melville 4s. A decent reply in the circumstances then, with Stuart Dawson’s 51 the highlight of a respectable 164 for 7. [Report]

Carlton earned their fourth league win of the season with a comfortable victory over basement side Glenrothes on Saturday while there was also a good win for the Fours. Unfortunately, Sunday saw Carlton bow out of this season’s Scottish Cup, while the Threes lost out off the last ball at Grange Loan.

Saturday’s league match at a sun-kissed Grange Loan (below) pitted Carlton against Premier Division strugglers Glenrothes. The visitors won the toss and elected to bat and got off to a solid start despite an early wicket for Ali Evans. However, when Safyaan Sharif was dismissed for 37 by Arun Pillai courtesy of Rory McCann’s third catch of the day, Glenrothes fell rapidly from 135 for 4 to 175 all out, with Arun Pillai finishing with 4 for 13.

Arun (67*) then put on 127 for the first wicket with Tom Simpson (54) as Carlton knocked off the runs in the 34th over for the loss of just one wicket. [Scores]

At Newfield, a fighting 64 from skipper Guy Hudson was the main highlight of a disappointing Twos’ total of 167 all out against Edinburgh Accies. The Accies’ reply recovered from the loss of two early wickets as an unbroken third wicket partnership passed the Carlton total with almost 20 overs to spare. [Scores]

The Fours batted first again – and won again – at a low scoring Musselburgh (below). Valuable partnerships between Ewan Hutchinson and Cameron Keatinge, and Duncan Sutherland and Callum Sibley, saw Bob Irvine’s side post 120. They then defended this admirably, dismissing the home side’s 2nd XI for just 102, with Duncan and Callum each taking 3 wickets. [Report]

Not for the first time the 5s’ bowling attack suffered at the hands of the strong Broomhall 2 batting line up as they conceded 250 runs in their 50 overs in Fife, despite 3 wickets for young Euan Keatinge. A good opening partnership between David Simpson (25) and John Beattie (28) got the reply off to a solid start. However, despite a fine 43 from Abi Aitken, well supported by her international colleague Hannah Rainey, the 5s finished on 171 for 8. [Report]

On Sunday, Carlton were forced to relinquish their hold on the Scottish Cup when a century from Michael English proved the difference between the teams in Paisley. Ferguslie’s total of 245 always looked just out of touch, especially when Michael Castle departed caught behind with the score on 103. Parker Neame continued his recent good form with a fine 54 but his Carlton were eventually dismissed for 205. [Scores]

At Grange Loan, the 3s took on neighbours Edinburgh South in tropical conditions. George Lamb top scored for Carlton as his side hit what was probably a slightly under par 177 for 7.

Despite fighting all the way, Carlton lost out off the final ball as the visitors sneaked home by just 1 wicket. [Scores]

Also on Sunday a number of the Carlton women’s side got in some very welcome extra cricket in Stirling as their team won a T20 friendly at Stirling.

The return of dry weather saw all 6 senior sides in action at the weekend, with a harvest of four wins and two losses.

On Saturday across town at Barnton, Carlton were once again indebted to Michael Castle for holding their innings together, as he compiled an invaluable 54 while wickets tumbled around him. When his was the 8th wicket to fall with the score on 115, things looked bleak but some aggressive hitting from Shiv Gupta (17) and Adeel Raza (21) saw Carlton through to the end of the 48th over before they were dismissed for 158.

After a quick start, the home side were pegged back by regular wickets as they fell to 136 for 9. With Majid Haq batting at 9, Corstorphine were still in with a strong chance. However, Callum Dutia was run out trying to keep the ex-Scotland spinner on strike and Carlton won by 10 runs. [Scores]

At Grange Loan, the 2s’ bowling attack again got off to an impressive start as they pegged back Gala early on, before allowing the visitors to recover to 159 for 8. The bandana-sporting Chayank Gosain, freshly back from a six month stint in the land of Trump, eased himself back into form by taking 3 for 23.

Once again the 2s’ reply wasn’t particularly impressive as they fell to 91 for 7 despite a mature innings of 31 from teenager Mikey Brown. With all smart money on the men from the Borders, another teenager, Ben d’Ulisse, played a vital knock, aided by some judicious hitting by no.10 Ahmad Shah (below), to drag his side back into contention. When Ahmad was out, his side were still 12 runs short and Ben was joined by Callum Sibley. Relying on Callum to play his trademark blocks at one end, Ben continued to compile at the other, hitting the winning runs to end on a fine 47*. [Scores and photos]

The Threes headed north to Fife and found themselves in the field at Largo. Under 13 seamer Rua McIntyre was the pick of the bowlers, returning an impressive 2 for 16 from his 5 overs as the home side posted 254 for 4 from their 40 overs. Opener Ruairidh Main kept things interesting by hitting 71, supported by Nick Thomson (28) and skipper Paul Kentish (32), before the 3s subsided to 198 all out with an over to go. [Scores]

Through at Clackmannan the young Fives’ bowling attack stuck to their task well, with Finn Gibb earning two wickets early on and Ivan Dawson and Dougie Firth collecting one apiece. Chasing 185 in 40 overs was always going to be a big task, particularly when experienced openers Keith Murray and Paul Bailey were dismissed early on. Ikra Farooq continued her recent good form with an unbeaten 27, but her side were all out for 94. [Report]

On Sunday, Ikra was in action again as the Carlton women’s side defeated RH Corstorphine in their national premier league match at Peffermill. Young Caitlin Hutchinson took two wickets as RHC were all out for 138. Ikra and Charis Scott got the reply off to a good start, and when Charis was dismissed for 48, Annette Drummond finished the job with a brisk 51* to take Carlton to a 9 wicket win. [Scores]

Meanwhile at Grange Loan, the Fours won the toss and chose to bat against Largo 2s. Regular readers may wish to read that one again. The Fours won the toss and chose to bat. Eric Edwards and 13 year old Gavin Murray weren’t about to waste the opportunity and put on a century opening stand in 19 overs. Eric powered on to his hundred before Gavin was eventually caught for an impressive 63. After their 40 overs the Fours had scored 253 for 3, with Eric carrying his bat for a mighty 154*. The Largo reply ended on 174 for 7, with skipper for the day Alan Murray returning the best figures of 2 for 26. [Report]

On Sunday morning three teams of Carlton Kwik Cricketers turned out at the Watsonians’ u10 festival on a glorious sunny day at Myreside. There were an impressive 16 teams, with 4 pools of 4. The three Carlton teams, composed of P3 - P5s, won 8 out of their 9 games, with the Leopards and Pumas both winning their pools, thanks to narrow last over wins against Grange and Watsonians respectively. Well done to all and thanks to Watsonians for an excellently run festival. [Report]