League Weekend 14 and the Week Ahead

Saturday's fixtures -

• 1sts vs Dunfermline at Arbo.
• 2nds vs Selkirk, away.
• 3rds vs Tranent 2nds, home at Campbell Park.

Midweek -

• Thursday, Activcity Presidents Plate QF vs Inchcolm, at Arbo - 2nds and 3rds only.

Good  luck to all.

Peebles Wobble? No. 2nds go 3rd.

In barbecue weather, Peebles won the toss and put us in. Despite a fine spell from the enthusiastic Maxwell (9-3-24-2) and the distraction of the wicketkeeper pulling his calf muscle in the second over, Brian and Irfan proceeded fairly calmly in putting on 50 for the first wicket. I say fairly calmly because Brian had a Joe Root moment early on, perfectly bisecting keeper and first slip at a catchable height. Cormack, the stand-in keeper who later took an excellent catch to dismiss Irfan, can console himself that Brad Haddin would have done, indeed did, no better.

The introduction of Webb (9-1-33-4) caused us problems and 52 for 0 became 72 to 3, but Brian and Ziggy rebuilt. Brian was on top form and looked to be heading, Root-like, for a huge score, adding three legside sixes (he even kept both hands on the handle for two of them) to his characteristic nudge-cuts, before he was out oddly tamely for 68. When Ziggy, who has been practicing jug avoidance in recent weeks (32, 45, 45 not out and now 34), fell to the returning Maxwell, we were 160 for 6 and looking to push on to 190+. A final score of 178 for 9 represented a slight disappointment for the Cross and a good fightback from Peebles.

After another fine Arbo tea, the visitors set about the chase with some vigour. Gray (59) in particular was hitting cleanly and powerfully to leg, although he should have been caught twice off Gerry (sorry, mate). At 94-1 there was no sign of a wobble and Peebles were, if anything, favourites.

But one of the best features of our play this season has been a certain relentlessness in the field and, as at Meggetland when Boroughmuir looked to be cruising, one wicket proved crucial. Abdul (9-6-12-1) had already reeled off several maidens in an excellent spell when he finally got a chance to bowl to Gray and lured him into hitting the ball Ziggywards. When batsmen hit the ball Ziggywards there is one inevitability (a warmer Cydzik chest area) and one near-inevitability (a wicket). Finally Gray was out.

Elmondt (6-2-11-3) and JB (6.1-1-14-4), who was apparently being mercilessly sledged all the while by his goddaughter from the boundary (see Quote of the Week below), then mopped up as Peebles subsided from 94-1 to 127 all out.

Thanks to Mandy and Michael for manning the post-match barbie, to El Pres for gracing us with his presence and to Nozza for returning to the 2nds' fold.

Invitation to the Inaugural Holy Cross Family Sports Day and Barbecue - 7th September 2013

Dearest Crossers,

You are all invited, whether you have a family or not, to an afternoon of unrivalled sporting opportunity in the bucolic idyll of darkest Dalkeithshire.

Events on offer will include:

Cricket - soft ball double-wicket competition
Target Golf
Croquet
Throwing the Wellie
Fishing (small river, small fish, lots of trees but very pretty)
Frisbee
Badminton
Boules
Skittles
Giant Rope Swing (not suitable for scaredypants)
Tight Rope
Trampoline
etc.
Other activities, toys and games also available for children and Vogrie adventure playground is nearby
Exquisite countryside and woodlands all around for walks and inspiration (!).

Feel free to turn up from 12.30pm and start having fun.  The cricket competition will start at 2.00(ish).  There will be a barbecue arranged for late afternoon.

This event is free to all Crossers.  Please bring your wives and girlfriends (AKA designated drivers) and kids if you have any.  We will lay on some food and soft drinks but please bring food for the barbie and your own booze - plenty of booze.  Transport to and fro is up to you.  Anyone who volunteers to come early to help organise or to man the barbie will be lavishly rewarded.  The festivities will continue as long as anyone wishes to keep partying and if anyone fancies pitching a tent and staying overnight they are welcome to do so. 

PS Please don't tweet or Facebook this - it's for Crossers only.  I will e-mail out directions closer to the date.  It's 30 mins drive from the Old Town.

Please come - the more the merrier!  Pip Pip.

Shifty

1 XI get batted again!

Grange 2 v Holy Cross

20 July 2013, at Fettes College

As the first Crosser to arrive at the ground I was met with the sight of the majority of the Grange team warming up for the match by either partaking in a vigorous game of football or striking some breakdancing poses.  An early indication perhaps that this was to be a contest between two teams with contrasting styles and fitness/mobility levels….

In the corresponding fixture from the first half of the season the Cross had been well beaten by Grange 2, with only a knock of 99 from Raja giving the scores a look of any respectability.  A review of the team-sheets from that game indicates that the opposition fielded a team with 7 changes from the first fixture.  However, strength in depth seems not to be an issue and the two Grange teams we have faced this year are likely to be the two best teams we will face.

Holy Cross were invited to have a bowl first and with almost a complete team ready for 13:00 hrs we took to the field in glorious sunshine.  Shannon and Raja got us started, both bowling good opening spells, with Shannon in particular beating the bat on a number of occasions.  However, the first wicket didn’t arrive until first change with Dom taking, I believe, his debut league wicket for the 1s with a classic left-armers’s delivery getting an edge that was comfortably taken at slip by Bonners.  Dom and GT bowled the next 10 overs or so with the batsmen generally on top and ticking along at about 7 an over.

A change was required, with Dougie and Charlie brought into the attack.  As has been the case for much of the season, both bowlers bowled tidy spells with the pace being taken off the ball resulting in a reduction in the run rate.  It was still tough work in the field though with all Grange batsmen being able to hit a powerful ball.  Nevertheless, Dougie picked up the wicket of the Grange no.3 for 52 (caught Owais), and Charlie the wicket of Pillai for 83 caught at deep long-off by GT.   At the second drinks break Grange were around 210 for 3 wickets off 34 overs.

Shannon and Raja returned to the fray to bowl the final 10 over stretch and despite 2 more wickets falling, both to Shannon (caught CJE and Spickers), the momentum stayed with the home side and they finished their allotted 50 on 315 for 5 wickets.  Undoubtedly a big total, but not one that disgraced us given the quality of the batting and an expansive out-field on one side.  Tom J in particular threw himself around with purpose making a number of good stops.

A fine spread awaited both sides, with strawberries and ice cream the undoubted highlight.

The Crossers reply got off to a bad start - CJE heading for the showers after 3 deliveries for 1 run, after an impressive piece of aggressive fast bowling from T. Sole.  Shannon joined Raja, using the pace of the ball and calmly caressing the next two deliveries over the rope for four.  Some lusty blowing from Raja followed and at an early stage the Cross were right up there with the run rate. 

However, Raja was out for 38 having not quite connected with one, and despite Owais joining Shannon and a fine partnership of close to 100 being put together the required run rate started to increase.   At the second drinks break (34 overs) the run chase already looked a forlorn one. 

Shannon departed for a well-constructed 63 bringing to the crease Andrew Robertson who batted very nicely for 30 before being last man out.  In between times Owais  was stumped for a good 42, Nawaz and Tom didn’t trouble the scorers and Dougie was run out for 1 after an excellent piece of fielding from the opposition skipper. Si Pickering had joined Andrew and elegantly hit across the line for a fairly rapid 23 that helped us across the 200-run mark for only perhaps the third time this season.  The innings closed with Cross well short of the target at 210 for 8.

After two losses on the trot, the Crossers will be looking forward to trying to get back to winning ways this weekend with the visit of Dunfermline to Arboretum Playing Fields.

40 point weekend

Good wins for the 2s & 3s on Saturday but the 1sts once again fell victim to the Grange batting steamroller.. (612-9 versus us this season..)

more details to follow...they may be the last games of the season as the monsoon season may now be upon us..

Quote of the week

From the President's 9-year-old daughter, watching her godfather Lord Admin commence his spell of bowling:

"Daddy, Daddy, Jonathan's started doing some really stupid dance."

From the mouths of babes...

League Weekend 13 and the Week Ahead



This photograph in no way constitutes a guarantee that Mr McGrath will be in attendance.

Saturday's games -

• 1sts vs Grange 2nds at Fettes.
• 2nds vs Peebles County at Arbo.
• 3rds vs SMRH 4ths at Inverleith.

Don't forget - barbecue at the Club in the evening.

Midweek -

• Tuesday, friendly vs the Woodcutters at Arbo.

Good luck to all.

Preston Panning

Our 2012 visit to the Polwarth Oval must rank as one of the strangest and most shambolic days in Cross history as our then skipper was, ahem, "detained", leaving BAF and JB stranded at Arbo until Andy G lent them a car. We started with seven men and ended with ten - and a six wicket defeat.

This year it was the Village People who were in some disarray, calling off their 2nds' game against our 3rds on the Thursday, as injuries and holidays took their toll. It soon became clear that most of the 2nds had been called up into the 1sts and we were particularly pleased not to see Ramzan who scored two excellent fifties against us last season.

PV won the toss and put us in. Adam Smith (9-3-11-2) bowled an admirable, economical spell (there's a joke there somewhere, but it won't quite come out) using the pronounced slope to bring the ball back into the batsmen. But none of the other seven bowlers really settled and the biggest brakes on our progress were JB's growling Achilles which produced some interesting "running" and the uncanny ball magnetism of Keith Clark at extra cover.

After the early loss of Irfan, Brian (35) and JB (75 on the match return, 76 in the book and 78 in his head) rebuilt before Ziggy (45no) and Andy G (32) accelerated nicely. 235 for 5 was easily our best score of the season, but it could easily have been more.

Gerry kneels before the sacred teapot.

After a good tea in the sunshine, we opened up with Andy K (6-1-9-3) and Amjid (6-3-9-1) and they immediately extracted some pronounced movement and lift, and looked set to take plenty more wickets. Then, shockingly, with four down, both were taken off as Smudger, riding high in the divisional wicket-taking charts, sniffed scalps.

And so on came Gerry at the railway end and Smudge at the pavilion end. But the cricketing gods, offended by the skipper's self-serving move and answering Gerry's teatime prayers, decreed that all the remaining wickets should fall at one end while Smudger bowled barely a ball at anyone but Gary Nisbet who tucked in for 33 not out. Gerry ended with the startling figures of 6.3-4-6-6, due reward for his excellent form this season, and Preston Village were all out for 52.

Thanks to PV for making the most of a beautiful day by bowling first, for the excellent humour in which the game was played throughout and for their hospitality in the Goth afterwards. We hope availability improves soon.

End of the road in search for Cup/Trophy glory

On a stunning Thursday evening, Holy Cross took on Livingston (who are quickly turning into our bogey team) on a hard and dry Arbo deck in the quarter final of the Activcity Trophy T20 competition.

With the toss won by the Livingston Skipper, he elected to bat first.

Shan & Bimbo took the new ball for the Cross, with Shan picking up wickets in his second and third overs and Bimbo bowling a tidy spell.

Livingston kept the scoreboard ticking over with a mix of  positives strokes and a number of edges that could easily have gone to hand or skittled the stumps.

Newman took over from Bimbo and was very unlucky not to finish his 4 overs with 3-4 wickets, but still nabbed a valuable brace. Raja copped a bit of tap from the other end and didn't look comfortable in his delivery stride. At that point it looking like Livi might get through to 120+

However, Charlie and Dougie took over and kept things relatively quiet, both picking up wickets at regular intervals, with the odd boundary thrown in. Shan cleaned up the 10th wicket in his final over ending Livingston's inning on 113. Which on that deck and with a very fast outfield, looked to be a few short of a challenging total.

The Cross got off to a good start with 29 on the board before the fall of the first wicket, Charlie heading back to the sheds. Raja followed in quick succession an over later, chopping one back onto his stumps with the Cross still going at 5 an over and looking comfortable.

With 2 new men at the crease in myself and Tom Jordan, we ticked things over at a reasonable rate picking up about 4 an over and moving the score through to 63-2 off 11. Still some work to do but with plenty of wickets in hand, we were looking good to push on for victory.

A change in bowling at both ends saw a rapid drop in scoring rate. The Livi bowlers kept things tight and both Tom and myself just couldn't get bat on ball or beat the field. Before we knew it, with 7 overs left we needed roughly 8 per over.

In the 16th over after 4 dot balls, Tom decided to have a crack and just didn't quite get enough on it and was caught very well on the deep mid-on boundary for 12. I fell the very next ball LBW for 13,  I very nearly tucking my bat under my arm and walked it was that plumb!

So with 4 overs left and 2 new men at the crease in Newman and Nawaz we needed 10 per over. The 17th over was a good one from the Livi bowler, leaving us needing 34 off the final 18 deliveries.

Nawaz ticked things over at about a run a ball and Newman with a mix of cricket and hockey shots took 16 off the 18th over, which gave us all some hope of a mighty comeback.

Newman finished with an impressive 32 off probably about 12-15 balls but it unfortunately it just wasn't quite enough, with Shan being bowled on the final delivery of the 20th over. Holy Cross stranded on 102-7.

It must be said that this was definitely one that got away, as we were looking very good at the half way point. Good luck to Livingston in the next round!

And in other news

1st XI Skip Simon McOscar has been invited to take part in a selection day on Sunday the 21st July in London after entering the Strongbow 'Earn It' challenge. He will be up against 9 other weekend warriors selected from around the UK.

The winner will face an over from test bowling ace Jimmy Anderson, seen here struggling to hit a can of Strongbow off the top of middle - http://sport.uk.msn.com/cricket/jimmy-anderson-takes-on-the-strongbow-challenge

The winner will be announced after an event on Sunday 28th July, with the over against Jimmy Anderson to take place in August.

I'm sure Jimmy has been keeping an eye on the weekly ESCA Div 1 results page and will be confident he can skittle McOscar (if selected)! Or perhaps just bowl one outside off for him to play an attempted late cut and edge it back on to his stumps!

1's go down to Edinburgh Accies

Holy Cross v Edinburgh Accies, penned by stand in Skip GT!

Played at Arboretum on 13/7/2013

Edinburgh Accies (20) beat Holy Cross (7) by 2 wkts

The players arrived at Arbo in glorious July sunshine with the track looking hard, but dry, and the outfield cut short and of a minimalist size.  It seemed scoring runs was not going to be an issue today….. Skipper-for-the-day GT accompanied his opposite man to the middle hoping to lose the toss to avoid having to make a decision.  Much to his chagrin, this was not to be case, and with the toss won the Crossers were batting first.

CJE and Raja got us started.  Any delivery off the bat that missed the fielder generally scooted for four and it seemed that occupation of the crease by the Cross for the full 50 overs would inevitably lead to a decent total.  However, Accies had a different plan.  A. Carmichael and Jones bowled a good opening spell, with Carmichael getting the first of what would be 5 victims of the day when he got one to move a lot to CJE not offering a shot.  Shannon made a nice steady start before edging one.  At the other end Raja looked in fine nick. Some sweet striking allowed him to get to 29 in quick order before a short delivery that didn’t bounce found him trapped in front of his stumps LBW.  A harsh end to what was building to be another entertaining innings.  Owais and Spickers fell to the same fate – caught C Carmichael, bowled A Carmichael, with the latter removing the top five batsmen (9-1-58-5), a great effort.

The Crossers needed a partnership to steady the ship and got this in the shape of Julius and Dougie.  Both looked to play sensibly but punish the bad ball, and had added 46 to the total before Dougie mis-judged a full toss to be caught.  Julius needed some partners to hang around but Tom, GT and Vikram disappeared quickly (GT very quickly) with only 15 added for the three wickets, so it was left to Usama to play very well keeping the ball out at one end and nicking the odd single while Julius looked to add as many runs as possible.  The last wicket added 31 runs, with Jules, having to force the issue, finally popping one up to the Accies skipper Moffat who had bowled a good spell for 4-23.  Julius finished with 58, a classy innings peppered with a high proportion of boundaries.

The teams retired to the clubhouse for the customary fine spread with a total of 160 looking at least 80-100 runs short of par.
After re-fuelling and the inspirational appearance of former 1^st team skipper E.C Smith (conveniently just in time for the troughing), Holy Cross took the field aiming to make a decent fist of things.  They got off to the best possible start, Vikram removing the Accies no.2 with his first ball of the day.  Unfortunately, this success was shortly followed by Vikram breaking down with injury no. 73 of the season thus far, limiting his spell to only 2 overs.  The Cross needed wickets to fall regularly and this was the case with Accies reduced to 74 for 5, with Shannon claiming two wickets and GT and Dougie one apiece.  The outcome was by now not a foregone certainty and one or two more quick wickets would put us in the driving seat.  It wasn’t to be – the Accies middle order realising that getting the runs was never going to be an issue started to nudge the ones and twos and waited for the four-ball rather than going looking for it.  Rive, Paton and Moffat all made good contributions with Banerjee also supporting well.  Some last minute excitement was provided with Shannon having his last over at the newly-arrived-to-the-crease Jones with Accies still needing 8 to win.  There followed an inside edge for 4 that just missed leg stump and a sharp chance dropped in the slips. Had either of those deliveries gone differently the Cross may still have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.   In the end Accies finished 161-8 and took the 20 points.  One that got away…

*insert from the absent Skip - luckily for the Cross, on Saturday MDAFS and St Boswells were both defeated by the other 2 teams at the tail of the league table! So fortunately we hold on to 4th place by tooth and nails!!!

Holy Cross win the inaugural Martin Flynn Memorial Trophy

A beautiful day for the coming together of two clubs to celebrate the memory of a man who contributed much to both organisations.

The Martin Flynn Memorial Trophy was played in spectacular sunshine and fantastic spirit with the Carlton side littered with youth and pace and the Crossers a fine blend of misspent youth and pacemakers.

A match report from this celebratory day of cricket may appear online shortly however in the interim, a big shout out to Fin Thornton from our hosts.  The pint sized (- maybe half-pint sized?) 8 year old (yup EIGHT) picked up what we hear was his first ever senior wicket as he trapped Tom Jordan LBW. Guest umpire Sandy Scotland taking no time in lifting the finger!

It was a slow start too for HX, with the score trundling along from 18-1 (EC Smith making a guest appearance) to 67-4.

Highlight of the Cross innings saw Charlie Ellis reach 50 Not Out with a single on the last ball of the session. 

Once again, our thanks for the fantastic match teas go to the Carlton club.  It was difficult for some to leave the comfort of the clubhouse to get ready for another 40 overs in the sunshine.

 

 

Bonfield took an early wicket as HX chased Carlton's total of 167-5 and this was followed by a C&B from Smudger the skipper.



 

Grange Loan's small boundary wall once again causing a few oohs and aahs from the sidelines as Kapp was despatched over it twice in relatively quick succession. 

 

Big hitting Leigh Kasperek taking the game by the scruff of the neck and a couple of wall clearing huge sixes put a bit of life back into the Carlton comeback.  She fell short of her 50 after having a stump uprooted by a classic piece of Bonfield bowling.

 

As the early evening sun started to fade, so did the Carlton comeback and as the wickets fell and the runs to win target became impossible to reach, causing the home side to fall short.

 

All that was left post-match was for Smudger to pick up the Martin Flynn Memorial Trophy.  We are  looking forward to 2014's match already.

 



 

Dunfermline Car-nearly

In the opening fixture of the season, Carnegie had beaten us handily at Arbo. This time things were a lot tighter, but sadly we again ended up on the wrong end of the result.

On a blazing day, Smudge won the toss and elected to bowl first on a pitch that proved slow and bouncy and on which few batsmen found it easy to score. We started well with Ziggy taking two nicely judged catches at mid-off as Daughtery and Callen looked to hit over the top. Gerry (9-4-12-1), Dom (8.4-1-23-3) and Abdul (9-0-27-2), returning from exile in the 3s, bowled fine spells and it was particularly good to see late wickets in Dom's second spell giving him the sort of figures he's deserved most of the season. Of the batsmen, only Honeyford seemed fully at ease, scoring a composed 57no to add to 45no in the Arbo game. It's unlikely anyone knows the Pitreavie wicket as well as Martin.

Carnegie were all out for 154 which they felt was 20-30 light, but it probably should have been a fair few less. Towards the end as the batsmen tried to steal runs we missed four fairly straightforward run-outs in as many overs, until Lafferty was finally run out when JB, who'd bowled an expensive spell earlier on, dropped him at mid on (sorry, Smudge) and then, lying on the floor, threw the stumps down more or less accidentally.

The Cross reply was built around good innings from Ziggy (45) and Ross (35). Ziggy was in fine form, particularly after being "caught" off his hip and enjoying some banter with the fielding side. Once he was out, trying to hit another bowler out of the attack, Dom joined Ross and with the hundred up and only four wickets down, we looked well placed.

But then suddenly two of the Carnegie players sprinted off the field to intercept some local youths who were heading into the changing rooms. Brave youths - Carnegie must be one of the most physically imposing sides in the East League. A long "discussion" followed before play resumed, but only one more ball was bowled before a smaller group came onto the pitch. Eventually they decided that the neighbouring golf course was a better bet and they and their pals bothered the golfers for the rest of the evening.

Ross, cooling down during the interval, almost immediately tweaked his hamstring. He was denied a runner (was Irfan really a wise choice?) in the mistaken belief that the international ban extends to club cricket, and eventually retired hurt. Andy Q, back from Tennessee, added valuable runs with Dom but wickets were falling and when Ross returned we needed 20 to win with just four in hand. Ordinarily we'd have been favourites but with anything other than a single or a boundary now almost impossible, progress, so rapid earlier on, was glacial and Sharukh Ali and Gavin Ross giving little away. With two wickets remaining, four runs required and four overs to go, Nelly returned to the attack and took the last two wickets.

A disappointing end to a good, tight game which showed some of the progress we've made this year. Thanks to Keith and the Geddes boys for their support, to Nelly for his diplomacy and physio skills and to James Honeyman for helping us with the scorebooks. Good luck to Carnegie for the rest of the season.

League Weekend 12 and the Week Ahead

Saturday's games -

• 1sts vs Edinburgh Accies at Arbo.
• 2nds vs Preston Village, away.
• 3rds vs Preston Vilage 2nds - walkover.

Sunday -

• Friendly vs Carlton in memory of Martin Flynn, 2pm start at Grange Loan. Mystery star turn from a returning Crosser. All support welcome.

Midweek -

• Thursday, Activcity Trophy QF vs Livingston at Arbo. Winner through to finals day at Myreside/Craiglockhart on Sunday 18th August.

Good luck to all.

Another Record maker at Holy Cross this summer....

This time, it's the Daily Record...

 

 

The Glasgow-based paper have started to run an insert on a Wednesday called "Edinburgh Now".  In today's edition, there is a double-page spread on Robin's hugely successful and award winning business, Rabbie's Trail Burners.

 

You can read the article in full by clicking here 

Changing at Arbo

We heard yesterday that Erskine Stewart Melville Schools will be taking over responsibility for the

management of Arbo from Edinburgh Leisure as from Monday 15th.

Planning permission for redevelopment of the old changing rooms has been secured and a building warrant is now being sought. Applications are in progress for permission to replace the fencing along Ferry and Arboretum Roads.

This news is another important step forward in some exciting developments at Arbo and for the club. A lot of people, most of them not connected with either HX or the rugby club, have put a lot of hard work in to get us to this point. We thank them all.

Too Friendly

Tuesday: HX lost a very enjoyable friendly versus @MDAFS by about 30 runs at Arbo.

Farcical middle order collapse didn't help! 30+ for Vik & cje but F-all for virtually everyone else.

In general the bowlers all took some tap as MDAFS made 140. Despite Vik's late flourish, we made about 108.

Despite one decent run-out, some of the fielding was comically bad...good job we never see anything like that in league matches..

But it was lovely weather and a revived Coco McGill was also in attendance - he hopes to play on Saturday...

Activcity Trophy

Quarter final vs Livingston now confirmed for Thursday 18th July at Arbo.

Bonfield Inspires 1sts' Victory

Scorecard HERE

A top-class allround performance by Shannon helped us win a good match versus Musselburgh. In truth, the victory should have been much more comfortable...our fielding again worse than mediocre; and costing Shannon a 5-for (Shannon himself showing how it should be done with 3 slip catches-two of them real crackers). One of the recipients of an extra life (MCC skipper R. Tufail) batted well and received good support from Dilly and took Musselburgh to 149-4 off 33 and with a chance..

A couple of lucky wickets helped us at key moments: full bungers from Raja and Bainbridge leading to wickets. In general our bowling was competent  but too many 4-balls released the pressure. cje again bemused the MCC batsmen with his slow swinging tempters and picked up only his 3rd 5-for in senior cricket but 2nd versus Musselburgh in 2013..! (though he wouldn't have had he not butchered a run out in farcical fashion...was it deliberate??)

Given the weather, wicket & outfield a big score was always on-but at 125-5 it looked like we might blow it (Raja, Spick & KF had all scored useful runs but we needed a big score from someone..).  A fine 92 run partnership between Shannon & Julius (who received a well-deserved promotion after his 91 for the 2's) took us beyond 200 and with Bimbo & Alex C (no really!-a 4 through extra cover!!) chipping in with useful runs (but not Vik who disappointed his fans with just 3 off 12 balls). But Vik didn't disappoint with the ball: conceding just 12 off his seven overs to ensure that MCC were behind the required rate from the start.

So, as with the performance at Myreside, the 1sts did enough with the bat to dominate the match but a sloppy period in the field allowed their opponents back into the game. We need to play better for LONGER..

newspaper report HERE
 

Activity Trophy

On a cool and blustery Thursday night, the Holy X 1st XI took on Westquarter at Arbo Rd in a T20 match.

For possibly the first time this season and possibly in my Holy X career, we had 11 men changed and ready to go before the opposition had a full squad at the ground.

A rather late 6:30 start with Westquarter batting, saw  2 maidens in a row from the opening partnership of Bonfield and Bainbridge. The third over broke that pattern with Shannon going for 14 runs, including 2 wides signalled by the Westquarter skipper, who also happend to be batting at the same time.

Shannon took the first wicket, a straightforward chance to Si Pickering, finishing with 1-15 off 3 overs. He was replaced by Raja who bowled very well again and ended with 2-14 off his 4!

The Cross fielding effort left a lot to be desired, with more than the usual number of catches being dropped and not even attempted. Newman managed to clutch a brace of catches, as did Pickering.

Charlie chipped in with a good spell of 3-15, which started with him being hit for a huge 6 over mid-on off the first ball he bowled. Vik also picked up 2-31 off 4 overs and yet again complained about his sore back. I also rolled the arm over and finally managed to hit the stumps with the penultimate ball of my third over, finishing with 1-4.

Westquarter finished 96 for 9 off their 20 overs.

Owais and Raja set about the run chase in a cautious fashion, with Westquarter opening up with a very handy leggie who finished with figures of 1-6 off his 4 overs. Owais was the first man to fall for 1 in the 3rd over with the score at 12.

In came Charlie and he and Raja set about providing the Westquarter fielders with some catching practice, for once this season I think the opposition put down more chances than us! There were also a number of near run outs and not taking singles when an easy run was on. The pair seemed desperate to bat out the 20 overs and make as hard work of it as possible, with our run rate dropping to just 3.2 at the end of the 9th over!

However the boys picked things up from the 10th over and Raja fell just short of another milestone, bowled for 47 in the 16th over with just 10 runs required for victory.

I joined Charlie at the wicket and managed to slap one behind square for 4 off the first and only ball I faced. Charlie then eased us home hitting 8 runs of the first 2 balls of the 18th over to finish on a respectable 39* and taking Holy Cross to 99-2!

On to the next round with a comfortable victory.

League Weekend 11 and the Week Ahead

Saturday's fixtures -

• 1sts vs Musselburgh at Arbo.
• 2nds vs Dunfermline Carnegie, away.
• 3rds vs Edinburgh South 3rds, away on the Cavalry Park artificial.

Midweek -

• Tuesday, McGill's Midweek Men vs Murrayfield DAFS, friendly at Arbo.

Good luck to all.


PS If you're wondering why there's a picture of a Blackcap cricketer illustrating this entry, it's Chris Martin, who retired this week. As well as being New Zealand's third highest Test wicket taker (233), Martin has the third worst Test batting average by any player with at least 10 Test caps (2.36),the second most Test ducks (36) and the most Test Pairs (7). A truly great number 11 for Week 11.

Julius Caes-es the Moment, Almost a Centurion - 2nds Win Again

(Et tu) Brute force - Julius scores VI.

It was groundhog day on Saturday as the 2nds played Edinburgh Accies 2nds for the second weekend running. Once again the Accies batted first and set off quickly. Once again they looked in command at the drinks break in the first innings. And once again we overhauled them to win in the end.

But in truth there was a lot more that was different, starting with the teams. The HX selection committee had axed the previous week's bowling hero Amjid for only taking five wickets and every week's bowling hero Gerry for conceding two runs an over and taking a brilliant catch. Instead of the veterans we had a (relatively) youthful hotshot pace(y) quartet of Newman, Marsh, Killey and Welsh.

They bowled well, but unfortunately the catching, so good last week, was another thing that had changed as we put down three or four chances and failed even to go for two further ones (I was involved both times). Even the catches we did take were dicey - twice fielders collided. At this stage it seemed only too fitting that out on Arboretum Road a bloke was slowly changing into a Mickey Mouse costume out of the back of his Range Rover.

I've suggested that the opposition's batting hadn't changed over the week, but that isn't really fair. It was similarly attaccie but a good deal less haccie. Captain Sehgal (40) unleashed some big hits down the ground and Colam (52) played really well, particularly through the covers, until being told that he only needed three for his 50. He immediately announced that he was now jinxed and would be out next ball and proceeded to pull a Smudger long-hop tamely down square leg's throat. Somehow by the time he reached the boundary his score had risen to 52 - counting isn't the Accies' strongest point - but he deserved it.

With 5 down for a little over 120 and a number of youngsters sitting on the Arbo benches waiting for a bat, we had some hopes that Accies would collapse again. But we hadn't reckoned with Irshid (29) and the late-arriving-thought-he was-just-spectating Ramsay senior (25*) who mixed aggression and stoicism (mostly Irshid who was hit several times) to good effect in a fine stand and took Accies to 190 for 8.  In amongst it all, Smudger took a further 4 wickets, leaving him joint second in the divisional bowling charts.

Last week a late mini Cross collapse had offered the Accies a sniff of victory. This week we decided to collapse early, partly prompted by some good bowling from Ramsay senior (9-2-26-2) whose action looked as fluid as in his Grange pomp and Irshid (7-0-20-1), but possibly also by some generous umpiring. Whatever the cause, 40-4 didn't look good and while Accies weren't repeating last week's raucous post-wicket huddles (they were probably the sadly missing Blackie's idea), their tails were certainly up.

But then Julius, ably assisted by first Ziggy (32) and then Milly (16), gradually took charge and his 91 not out, which mixed calm intelligence, well-judged running and clean hitting (two consecutive sixes were particularly memorable), settled the game in some style and with five overs to spare. A really excellent innings and a fine team fight-back.

Thanks to the Accies for another game played in good, neighbourly spirits. We hope to see you again next season.

Catches really do win matches! Oh and another 60 point weekend for the mighty Cross

Sat 29^th the return leg vs Watsonian’s 2’s.

Saturday dawned another reasonable day for our 10^th league fixture of 2013, already one or possibly two more than we played all last season!

Facing a vastly different Watsionain’s 2’s team from the week before, I again lost the toss and we were asked to bat first, which is what I had planned on doing had I won the toss.

Charlie and Raja opened up and set about getting the innings off to a slow but steady start, until Raja fell for 8, caught yet again playing across the line and chipping one up to be comfortably caught. I then continued the fashion of repeating previous dismissals, chopping one on to my stumps yet again.  I played another nothing cut shot to a ball that didn’t need to be played at. Again not troubling the scorers, other than to add a couple of dots and write Bowled - Yellowlees for another duck – surely making me odds on favourite for the much envied award of ‘Most Disappointing’ season for 2013.

Owais and Charlie then batted through and picked up the run rate, not without a few agricultural heaves from Owais and some fine shots from both. Owais was the next man to fall for a typically quick (and no I’m not talking about his running between the wickets) 26. Good to see him back in the runs.

Next man in was Dougie, promoted to 5 with the lack of “batting” in the team on Saturday. He yet again played extremely well and kept the strike turning over and dispatching the bad balls to the boundary. He has surely cemented his place in the top order, had he not been off sunning himself in France next weekend!

By this stage Charlie had progressed to 43, again showing his class and ability to stick it out and punish any bad deliveries, as well and a number of good ones too. Then possibly the most unfortunate wicket of the season so far, Dougie absolutely clattered a full toss back towards the bowler low and to his right. He only had time to throw a hand out at the ball. He managed to ricochet the ball into the stumps, leaving a backing up Charlie high and dry, probably his own fault as everyone knows that at Holy Cross you just simply don’t back up or run quick singles for that matter!

Bonners, GT and Dougie all added runs in quick fashion 22, 29 and 33 respectively pushing our total up well past 150 for only about the second time this season.  With us 9 men down, Bimbo and Vik put on a 10^th wicket stand in the order of around 45 runs. Vik showing his ability to absolutely smash pretty much anything that was thrown down the wicket finishing on an impressive 31* off probably about 15 balls. The highlight was seeing bimbo push him to run numerous 2’s, which ended in Vik heaped on the ground panting like a Labrador. Vik started complaining that he couldn’t go on and his back was hurting. He then dispatched the next ball for a mashoove 6 over extra cover! Bimbo supported Vik extremely well, turning several singles into doubles and turning over the strike to end on 11*.

A very respectable 222 for 9 up on the board after 50 overs.

Now off for the much anticipated lunch, I think something got lost in translation last week, with stories of sumptuous meals in the Watsonian’s clubhouse. There waere plenty of sarnies, bhaji’s and a delicious chocolate cake and fruit platter, but not a curry or stew in sight.

Watsonians got off to a strong start with two men opening the innings that weren’t in the team last weekend. Both scored at a good pace, dispatching the bad ball and defending the good. With the score creeping up to 40 odd without loss, it took what is quite possibly a contender for the catch of the season, to remove Yellowlees off the bowling of Worsnop, who was playing in his final game before swanning off for his annual summer sojourn to Spain. With myself at mid-wicket Yellowlees clipped one off his legs and initially I didn’t think it would carry. After a couple of steps forward, I decided to throw myself to my right and chucked out a hand, managing to clutch the ball between my thumb and little fingers.

Robin again bowled extremely well and finished with figures of 10 overs 3 for 30 and will surely leave big boots to fill until his return from Spain for the last game of the season!

As I mentioned in the title, catches really do win matches with us taking 7 in total throughout the Watsonian’s innings.

Of note, Raja holding what I think is his first league catch of the season after a run of uncompleted catches. Shanton holding a very sharp chance diving low to his right at first slip, Spickers taking a diving one handed catch off Vikram and Owais clutching the final catch running a long way to his right on the boundary, I like most, thought he probably wasn’t going to make enough ground to get to the ball on the full, but did so comfortably and took a great running catch.

The Watsonian’s innings suffered from a Holy Cross like lack of application from a number of key top order batsmen, just when they built the start of a good partnership we seemed to take a wicket. We did however let them get a lot closer than they should have, after being 6 down for about 90odd. One of the new faces in their team, a young lad Cockburn, put together a very well compiled innings, before being tempted once too often by a very well flighted ball from the old master Dougie and being bowled for 47.

Dougie mopped up the tail taking 3 wickets for just 8 runs off only 18 balls. He took Watsonian’s last 3 wickets in his third over, including 2 row off the last 2 deliveries!

Watsonian’s all out for 175 after 41 overs, ending a very enjoyable match that again was played in very good spirits. 20 more points in the bank and 2 wins in a row.