Holy Cross Cricket Club

The President Calls on All Loyal Members

2012-02-08T18:23:00.004Z

You thought I dead! I fool you big time!

Eleven days lying in a state. I tell you that some hangover.

That French Cognac sure got big kick. Serve me right for drinking cheap stuff - that muck only $10,000 a bottle. No wonder I Kim Jong very bloody Il. I sick as dog (mmm...that making me peckish).

Anyway, you get message. You stuck with same old President whatever happen, get it?

So now you come to annual general plenary session of people's socialist representatives thingy...whatever...and you clap me for like, six hours or something. Then I get back to brandy 'cos you so boring.

I so lonely.

Maybe you hear last captain of our armed forces have unpleasant...err...accident. Anyway he not going to be captain no more, so now we need some other jump-up peasant to play big general. It terrible job, trying to win with only rusty old pea-shooters, but someone got do it.

So you come to annual general thingy and you volunteer, OK? Some people think I going to choose, but I too busy. Can't be bothered, OK? So you choose, I not care. Whatever.

So lonely.

Disappointment as AGM doesn't coincide with Scotland playing in 6 Nations

2012-02-08T16:07:00.000Z

Two posts in a row without any visual stimulation??? There shall be no hat-trick for the texties on my watch!!!

Be there or be compost

For anyone new to Presidential re-elections (HX AGM's), here is a photo of last years stitch-up. The Green Room seldom looks this good. Although there is nothing at all sinister in these jovial gatherings, Messrs Astley & Dannreuther have not been heard from since when they were rumoured to have 'apologised' for their non-attendance and 'left' the club.

El Presidente may come across as a happy-go-lucky, port swilling, be-bearded, gardening teddy bear, but the evil capitalist oinker that he has tried to stuff deep back inside can rear it's ugly head without any warning. It is my understanding that poor Roland (who survived a brush with Patsy Putin) is pushing up the begonia's in Shifty's new town allotment whilst The Good Doctor gets a monthly rotate in the Presidential Compost Heap.

Dearest Leader ever

Those previous Presidential Elections results in full:
(Candidates ~ share of vote)

2008
E Presidente ~ 106% (record share topped up with postal votes)
S Russell ~ 2% (dispatched East to Siberiapans)

2009
E Presidente ~ 112% (record share of the vote as popularity rises)
D Craig ~ 0% (banned from the club sine die)

2010
E Presidente ~ 107% (obviously thought 2009 winning margin may be viewed as suspicious)
S Saunders ~ -3% (told to go away, but likely to turn up out of the blue at any time)

2011
E Presidente ~ 118% (record breaking share of the vote)
M Din ~ 3% (greatest ever runner up score, but record margin of defeat to boot)

AGM

2012-02-07T17:15:00.001Z

Saturday 18th February, 5pm at Arbo. No 6 Nations, no excuses.

Nets and AGM

2012-02-03T17:04:00.001Z

And back down to earth with a bump ..... Winter nets will again be held at the Galleon sports centre at George Watson's on Colinton Road. 2pm-4pm on Saturdays 25th February, 3rd March, 10th March, 17th March and 24th March. As usual, new players are very welcome. Just turn up on the day or, if you prefer, email us at this address.

AGM details will be released shortly - basically as soon as the Dear Leader and I have stitched up the 1st XI captaincy election and got our contacts in the Asian gambling syndicates to put the club funds on the ~~sacrificial victim~~ lucky winner down at Honest Keith's bookies. (Of course, keen readers of this blog may remember that the captaincy was actually decided over a year ago.)

Top Job In Scottish Cricket Still Up For Grabs

2012-01-30T15:20:00.000Z

EVEN MORE NEW ODDS ADDED - 01/02/12
~~NEW ODDS ADDED 31/01/12~~

It's been the hot topic in Tanning Salon's and Nail Bar's since last August when Western Union bound E.C. Smith (???) announced he was abdicating from the exalted post of Holy Cross 1st XI Capitan.

With the new season now only 82 days away and no sign of an AGM to settle matters, the bookies have been in meltdown trying to sort out odds as potential candidates jostle for position.

God smote, The Bish merely sledges

Bishop Lynch - 5/4
With one full season under his belt and any notions of bettering us well & truly kyboshed, the best & worst sledger in the club holds the fatal 'early front-runner' tag. The Bishop has promised to maintain the standards set in recent years and not be available as often as possible to allow sniping and side-plotting against him to prosper out of earshot.

Maddoug Russell - 7/4

Slapper

As Scottish as The Krankies this candidate also shares many other characteristics with Scotland's first couple. He has maintained an open relationship with HX over the years, often moving out of the family home at Arboretum to sample the delights on offer elsewhere before returning to his true love.

How can you not love this man???

Sir Thomas Sheridan - 5/1
A surprise inclusion for some, Scotland's most famous swinger (usually away swinging) has, this very day been uncaged and is available for selection. Known to favour the Cross, having no cricketing ability, but, being born to lead, Sir Tam is an almost perfect fit for the current vacancy.

PVB batting with Spickers

P.V.B. - 5/1
While all Crossers bar one mature with age, this candidate is improving faster than most. Sharp analysis, erudite comments, flawless manners and an understanding of how our great game should be played, what an ambassador we'd have if PVB (as he's known) could garner enough support to launch a campaign.

Geeza job?

Straussy Strauss - 8/1
Don't tell anyone but Straussy will soon be looking for a job. Obvious deficiencies on the field are made up off the field as a consummate engager with the gentlefolk of the press. While he might be 6th or 7th choice to open the batting for us, at least there'd be less inaccurate guff in the local rag.

Ziggy getting ready for work

Anzlm Cydzk - 25/1
There is surely one more season of captaincy left in the popular (once he became) former 2's skip. A lack of vowels have always hindered Zggy with Crossers on the far right and it's unclear if he could now raise enough votes from the left with the appearance of Sir Tommy in the race.

Two good for the 1's

Nozzer Webb - 33/1
Clearly a star on the rise, probably the 3rd most popular new player at the Cross in a decade behind Shambles and Gawarawalapindi Express. However there is still unfinished business for Noz in the 2's where he'll struggle to raise support for a move to the 1's.

Andy 'Hahaha' Coulson - 50/1
Driven out of his job at Downing Street (by a chauffeur in a Bentley no doubt), Coulson has been looking for a change of career and may be up for some unpaid voluntary work (at his old chum Call-Me-Dave's insistence). The type of guy who loves being taken under the wing of a megalomaniac dictator to anonymously do his bidding and take the hit when it inevitably goes tits-up, I'm sure he'd nuzzle into Lord Admin in no time.

Admin pictured in 1893

Lord Admin - 100/1
Were Coulson to pull out due to unfounded press smears about his propriety, Lord Admin may have to accept a shortening of the odds. When asked about the captaincy, retorts like "f*** off" and "stick that right up yer bahooky" don't deflect some observers from thinking that 1st Team Captain is the job he covets most of all. The more vociferously he says no, the more some folk seem to think he wants it.

Frazerio - 100/1

Another game, another jaffa first up!!!

Unlikely to make a return to mediocre captaincy any time soon due to an equally unlikely Rider List. Conditions include 'pushing back starting times to 1400 hours', 'complete and total player availability' and 'being carried to and from the field of play in a green & gold Sedan Chair'.

Mug Shot!!!

McGill - 1000/1
In good grace Coco has once again agreed to lend us his considerable skills (both cricketing and oratorial) in spite of the constant abuse and ridicule we heap upon him and big money offers from elsewhere. If we weren't 99% stupid, we'd realise the gem we have in our midst and promote the Honorory Midweek Captain to the position he (says he) well and truly deserves. At 109 years old though, time is catching up on the old dear and there are lingering concerns he may have lost a yard of pace since his heyday in the 1930's.

Due to a flurry of betting activity (i.e. one person saying 'where's GT on the list?') the following odds are now added.

Gaz ThreeforFourforFiveforWartha - 9/4

Ye couldny make it up - meet Michelle Trewartha

The most obvious difficulty with GT's sudden promotion to third favourite in the running is, would his name even fit on the Captain's board (especially if he starts taking 6-for and more)? Logistics aside, doubts remain whether GT could lead a side to victory against the East Academy after recent Wif Waf pics appeared on a sleazy website. Does he have the killer instinct to bowl fast & short at kids - probably not? The Bishop & Maddoug wouldn't think twice!!!

CA's real twin already down under

C.A. - 150/1
C.A., which is short for 'Standards' might prove a controversial choice. He's known to accept conventional coaching wisdom and a is a favourer of established club no-no's like warming up (pointless) and warming back down again (doubly pointless - fact - end of). However with the imminent relocation to Oz, his availability should be a bit better than it's ever been. Still has kudos in spades after a legendary 'tour fine' when, as a fledgling powerlifter he joined the Astley-era Cross on tour in Bampton and incurred a penalty for being a 'Drain on the Safety of the Club'.

Dennis 'Spick' Pickering - 20/1
2011 was a tough year for the VC. Plagued by hacking allegations during the whole NotW fiasco and then pretty much becoming full-time skipper whenever E.C. couldn't be ersed (every week). But with the appointment of Martin O'Neill on Wearside it could be a whole new era for Arbo's favourite (only) mackem. Could he too be rejuvenated, or will the big money lure of London leave Crossers wondering 'What if...?'

Sir Shanton John/Bimbo Furnish (Joint tickets) - 12/1
Our favourite new gay Dad's initially thought they'd be missing most of the season after Sir Shanton John recently gave birth, however their Relate counsellor suggested they share baby duties taking it Saturday about. So although they will only be available half the season each, I'm assured there will always be a Bonfridge available if selected (although Sir Shanton looks different without the beard would Rab Bonfridge really fancy the preening Diva if he wasn't a multi-award winning, globe-trotting, sporting superstar feted wherever he goes - doubts always linger with such celeb match-ups)!!! Who is the Daddy??? I actually don't want to know!!!

Smokin Hottie - 5/2
All joking aside now, time to get super serious. I'm sure you'll agree there isn't enough filth on here so I couldn't help typing 'smokin hottie' into t'internet and finally settled on this, er, smokin hottie. Gratuitous it may be, but this sort of journalism should propel me into the employment of a national title in no time. My skills are quite obviously wasted on here, but when aren't they??? Ms Hottie tells me her main campaign point will be to try to convince PVB that lighting up on the field of play is no bad thing and I'd like to see that Club Legend try and disagree (while another aforementioned Club Legend starts his engine).

STILL more odds available on request.

(not) Breaking News (any more) - President to be challenged!!!

Reports in the News of the World yesterday linked retired hitman Roy 'Wotthefeckurulookinat' Keane with a move for the Presidency itself. Keane told Screws insiders "I've got the feckin beard for it so I have".

Arm-wrestling contender

The Abu Dhabi Downfall Postulation

2012-01-29T16:57:00.000Z

'Scuse me umps, what did you think of that one?

I've been formulating a kernel of an idea for a while now and I'd like to put it out there and invite your thinkings on the subject.

As 'Village Standard' cricketers, we've all been involved in collapses or on the receiving end of hidings. Mostly this is easily explained away because the Oppo 2nd XI vice skippers mate happened to be in Edinburgh that week and he is the third Waugh twin, or maybe the pitch became unplayable at Tea after a seasonal downpour. Sometimes the 13 year old 4th change bowler in Division 7 will go on to become Murali or Warne and never better the 9-1 he took at Arbo. Simply put, there are usually very obvious reasons why one team trounces the other.

Scaling up now to the international stage. The number 1 Test ranked nation have been our southern cousins* for a wee while now (not that you ever hear them mention it). While this noble achievement was reached including the hiding of Australia** down there, the point is often made that there have been no victories over India, Pakistan or Sri Lanka in the back yards of those nations where Pace and Seam fade in the shadow of Turn. While this England mob are rightly ranked at number 1 just now, to move into the more transcendental all-time-great-sides lists, they're going to have to win a series or two against those sides, in those countries.

Therefore the series v Pakistan on neutral, but surely more Pakistan friendly turf has to be viewed as a stern test in the progression of this England side towards the pantheonic debates of all-time great status.

Received wisdom around the first test was that the pitch was decent for batting, but England simply couldn't cope with the regulation spin of Mr Ajmaal and took a horsing inside 3 days. Nothing too irregular, just an age old weakness being exposed once again.

However, in the 2nd Test, as a more professional and resourceful package than sides of yesteryear, England looked to have improved or acclimatised enough to the point where after 3 innings, Boycott (never wrong, ever) had bet his property portfolio on them levelling the series. Ajmaal was no longer a great threat and the England bowling and fielding performance and attitude were more or less at the level they have been for the last 3 years or more. There was very little to suggest what was about to happen.

England's new number 3?

As with all arguments, one can select the stats to back up the personal beliefs. I'll stick to just one. Between them, 9 England batsmen could muster only 13 runs in that 4th innings. Once the rot started, there seemed to be a collective infection of the English team and it wasn't just likely that they were rushing headlong towards calamity, but that there was absolutely nothing any of them could do to arrest the decline. The pitch wasn't spitting, the bowlers weren't on fire and the batsmen weren't Chris Martin's. Yet total defeat had somehow become inevitable.

Finally, you will be pleased to know, I'm reaching my point!!!

When a side is in meltdown and it is apparently nothing to do with ability, conditions, history, injuries, circumstance, coaching etc, when there is no obvious reason why an able side, in good mental health and with a track record of dealing with adverse situations begin to absolutely implode, I think there needs to be a name for the syndrome and I'm going to propose the following definition:

Abu Dhabi Downfall - when a sporting team, especially in cricket, succumb to a catastrophic loss of ability and form at the same time leading to inevitable defeat long before the end of the contest.

There is obviously the possibility that you think there was a more obvious reason for such an inept capitulation, I'd counter that any cricket team in any conditions would struggle to do that badly even if they tried to, never mind ones whose players are on about £300k a year.

Thoughts appreciated.

Apologies for those with a shorter attention span, I couldn't fit that into 140 characters.

* I've stated before, do so again now and no doubt will again in the future, that I think the England cricket team has to be renamed. Robert Croft, Eoin Morgan, Mike Denness etc show quite clearly (to me) that it's a British side, not an English one (no need to mention any overseas born 'Englishmen').
**Albeit a transitional Australian side beset by injuries and operating under a Selection Panel that would make its mid-80's English equivalent appear like enlightened tactical genuises.

GT 2nd in TT

2012-01-22T22:34:00.000Z

Allround sportsman Gary Trewartha had a fine run in the Division 2 event at the Edinburgh table tennis championships on Sunday...unfortunately in the final he met his match...

Exclusive Big Match Footage - LiveSportOn.TV Indoor 6's

2012-01-21T11:29:00.000Z

HOLY CROSS V BOROUGHMUIR COMPLETE
ONE OR TWO CLIPS PENDING FROM THE TRANENT GAME.

The future is finally here. In case you didn't notice the link in Charlie's comment in the previous report, herein lies surely the first ever representation of a Cross innings on a Manhattan Skyline style graph. Essential viewing!!!

Sensational Statisticals

Also essential viewing for any dedicated Crosser's are the following clips documenting the matches pretty much in their entirety.

Allowance must be made for the initial stop-start nature of the clips which are sometimes a ball or two at a time. By the end HX Productions managed to film the action an over at a time.

HX v BOROUGHMUIR
1st Innings (Boroughmuir)

2nd Innings (HX)

HX v TRANENT
1st Innings (HX)

2nd Innings (Tranent)

Indoor 6's - Breaking News

2012-01-20T22:41:00.003Z

Six of the Best

Bishop Lynch's 6-a-side reign began in spectacular fashion at Liberton High School on Friday night as the race for the Big Vacancy hotted up. However, in his absence (work commitments), skipper for the night, Dougie Russell stole the glory with a masterly display of skipmanship, leading his charges to two wins out of two.

Full details shall be posted on ESCA website in due course and relayed to this very place.

Fans of Cross cricket will surely be ecstatic to learn that all the action was captured and shall be posted in due course for future perusal. For the time being, surely no need to tinker with the SuperSonicSix that coldly and clinically dealt with the opposition. Even McGill would struggle to get in this side (is he being saved for the final, or is he unable to play inside due to smoking laws?)!!!

Scores went something like this:

HX v Boroughmuir (HX won toss, bowled first)

Boroughmuir 45 all out
Holy Cross 46-0 (8th over, Ellis/Millington)

HX v Tranent (Tranent won toss, bowled first)
Holy Cross 129 all out (10th over)
Tranent 55 all out (this is an approximate total, S Russell not out)

Rules:
Bowlings - 10 overs per side, 5 bowlers, 2 overs each. Leg side - wide, miss the mat - no ball/wide. Can catch batter out if ball bounces off the side wall on the full or roof.
Battings - Hit side wall - 1 run, hit wall behind bowler on the bounce - 4 runs, hit wall behind bowler on the full - 6 runs. Hit roof - 1 run. Take a run - 2 runs.

Report - In the three team group, Boroughmuir & Tranent faced off first allowing the Cross boys to get an idea of tactics. A plethora of run outs, as the games hall was reasonably tight, forged the idea not to take silly runs. This later resulted in no runs being taken by Ellis & Millington until the 7th over of our doughtily accomplished chase.

But first, despite a few lusty blows, Boroughmuir were unable to stay at the crease long enough. Gaware produced ball of the night with a full inswinger to empty one poor 'Muir man. Trewartha (loosish) & Russell (tight) kept it tightish enough before back to back Millington overs ended the Boroughmuir innings in the 6th over.

Ellis & Millington then built a solid base, giving nothing away and reaching the late 20's after 6 overs. The 7th over excellently brought the scores level and Milly (I think) hit the winning 1.

Straight back on we were put in by Tranent. Probably no need to remind folks that this pitted Russell v Russell. While Scott probably won the battle by carrying his bat, it was Dougie what won the war with the Cross victory!!! Ellis & Millington continued, the former battering 3x6's before retiring (mandatory) at 30. Milly perished, I holed out to square leg, but Dougie then reached 30, putting two not-outers back in the hutch. Vik fell with a trademark blast off the roof that got pouched. I think Gary was then run out bringing the incomparable Ellis and the indomitable Russell together. However Ellis sacrificed his wicket in the chase for runs and we finished with a well nice, but not spectacular 129. Tranent whapped 18 off the first over, but within 3-4 overs a couple of wickets fell and the scoring subdued and the result became inevitable.

All in all a very calm and assured performance. We weren't tested to our limits perhaps, but we were very happy with our poise (?) and I'm sure I speak for the whole team in saying it was a very enjoyable run-out.

Indoor 6's preview

2012-01-19T09:03:00.002Z

As published in the Evening News on the 17th of January.

Crossers Are Revolting

2012-01-16T18:33:00.002Z

Fidel - not serious enough!!!

Late last season I was set the task of sorting out the apparent shambles that's being made of the way things are run by our democratically elected representatives. My response was that when the Uni-educated intelligentsia are asking unemployed slackers to come up with answers, we must be in even more trouble than we thought. The intelligentsia replied that a certain Karl Marx was unemployed when he came up with his stuff, and so I set to work.

I'm nearing the completion of my Masterplan (don't worry Mr Admin, I'll email it rather than post it here), but as a taster, I thought I'd leak my Interim Cabinet to the public. I've been delighted to be able to populate my Revolutionary Government almost entirely with noble Brothers of the Cross. In fact, I suspect we'd possibly make a better government than cricket team!!!

I would also like to make it clear that availability issues shall not be tolerated. Once selected for your country, you must serve. This isn't a dumb system where egotistical power-hungry megalomaniac's are allowed to fight tooth and nail to gain office through a 'democratic' process. This system relies on your Benevolent Dictator (me of course) picking the best talent and getting the job done good and proper!!!

One Country

Many Regions

The only actual politics I'll state as a precursor to understanding the appointments is, the UK shall remain as a whole (see physical map (left)), but it shall be devolved (see political map (right)). This logic shall, in due course be applied to the Island of West Britain, as yet I'm undecided whether to give the north back to the south, or whether to annex the whole flamin lot of it!!! Either way, you just know they won't be happy.

Head of State
Ceremonial Queen - King Alex (House of Salmond)
Ceremonial Heiress - Prince Colin (House of McGill)
Welcome to your new royal family. They are purely ribbon-cutters and hand shakers and must travel around together at all times in case there's an accident!!! Also, until we come up with a system for selecting these puppets, Prince Tommy (House of Sheridan) is 1st reserve as soon as he is released from the clink for bringing down the News of the World (I still don't understand how Sheridan lied and got the jail, whilst Bird, Coulson etc also lied but walked free, but hey, our Revolucion will stop such injustices occurring in future).

Head of Government
Party Chairdude - J.K. Fraser
Deputy Chairdude - M Broonster

Treasury
Chancellor of the Exchequer - Mr Admin

Chief Secretary to the Treasury - C.O. Smith
Paymaster General - Bishop Lynch
Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Chief Whip) - A Graham

Treasury Concern - Where can we possibly make savings???

Home Office
Secretary of State for Home Affairs - C.J. Ellis

Minister of State for Safety - S.M. Bonfield

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs - R Dannreuther

Secretary of State for Defence - N Chomsky
This should free up a large chunk of the budget for other things as I doubt he'll be much of a fan of threatening to nuke folk.

Secretary of State for Justice - E.C. Smith

Secretary of State for Health - C.A. Smith
This post shall likely be transferred to S.M. Bonfield once C.A.S. is deported & S.M.B. has implemented his Safety reforms (for which, you must await the manifesto itself).

Secretary of State for Education - PVB.

Secretary of State for Business - R Worsnop

Secretary of State for Work & Pensions - Comrade Geddes

Benefit Scroungers - first task for Comrade Geddes!!!

Secretary of State for Transport - N Webb

Secretary of State for Energy & the Environment - El Presidente

Department for Culture, Media & Sport

Secretary for Culture Media & Sport - Pat Nevin

Minister of State for Culture - Lauren Laverne
Minister of State for Media - Ian Hislop
Minister of State for Sport - Baroness Grey-Thompson

Secretary of State for International Development - M Din

Secretary of State for Rural Affairs - R Bainbridge

Minister for Women & Equalities - Gorgeous George Galloway

Department for Tourism

Secretary of State for Tourism - King Alex

Assistant Secretary of State for Tourism - Prince Colin

Parliament of South East Britain

Regional Chairdude - S.G. Pickering

Location - Yorkshire

Parliament of Northern Britain

Regional Chairdude - J.Douglas Russell

Location - Holyrood

Parliament of Offshore West Britain

Regional Chairdude - A Quinn

Location - Stormont

Parliament of West Britain
Regional Chairdude - to be decided
Location - to be decided

Secretary of State for the Commonwealth - V Gaware

All suggestions and comments shall be considered, but should they not be 'right-minded', you may get a visit from my Head of Secret Police, a certain Michael De La Rugbyclub (no picture supplied as I've discovered it's quite difficult to get a picture off the internet of secret police).

Apologies to any able bodies who haven't received a ministerial brief. First of all, the Home Secretary is going to have his work cut out when I unleash my Manifesto so you may get roped into helping 'roll the wicket' or 'put out the flags' at the Home Office. If that's not your bag, I doubt it will be long until I have to start sacking folk for breaches of the Ministerial Code so there should be some vacancies soon enough.

CA's memorable moments

2012-01-12T08:30:00.000Z

To commemorate CA's departure, it has been suggested that a list of his finest performances be placed on the HX blog. However another Crosser ~~Bainbro~~ has insisted that the focus should be on those moments which others will remember more vividly. As EC once commented, when CA is dismissed he looks completely baffled...as if the laws of physics had momentarily been suspended (something to do with Higgs boson??) or as if he'd had a black-out at the key moment. Some of the moments that Bainbro insisted I list include:

*On the Tour of 2000: getting dismissed lbw at Powerstock (was smacking it to all parts at the time after 1 hr in the nets with the Dr) then taking a trip to the local church-1/2 mile away- to reflect on the justice or otherwise of the decision.

*Making a 3ft by 2ft divot in the Glenrothes square after being dismissed in 2010-as recounted in the match report: 'Amid this collapse Calum played brightly and scored at a good rate. But, after missing with the same shot twice in the over, he tried to pull a short ball from Khan and was lb - at least he took it in good grace (I hope repairing the crater in the Glenrothes’ square won’t take too many hours/months…C. A. Smith clearly the early leader in the 'race' for the Bradley Trophy).'

* Blame the umpire! Ranting after nicking a very wide delivery in a cup match in 2011. The previous delivery had been slightly wide (but correctly not wided by umpire Pickering)...CA went off complaining about Spick's umpiring: "you forced me to play at that one".. Spicker's reply: "No, but that one really was a wide".

*D'oh! Playing like Ian Bell on steroids at Freuchie, getting himself to 40 odd with a series of superb attacking strokes-holing out to a deep square leg who CA hadn't spotted being deployed....at the rate he was going he might well have broken the 1st XI record (132) in about 80 balls...

*CA misfields on the mid wicket boundary (turning a single into 4...)...who does he blame?...his brother for disturbing his concentration!

* Telling Robin off for not giving him NOT out lbw at Glenrothes in 2011.

* Berating the umpire at Carlton in 2011 regarding a run out decision..the umpire was at least 13..

Feel free to add your own CA memories.

STOP PRESS:
Another senior HX player KF insists this be mentioned:

'There was one, maybe v Fauldhouse at home when I was captain. KF/CA opened the batting and I got hit on the toe and was manfully persevering, hardly able to walk. I inside edge/padded one straight at square leg in the same over. As I tapped my bat down behind the crease I was startled as CA suddenly appeared by my side, all red faced and screaming YES!!! I replied 'no' and he made off for his second run to try to make it back, but, despite his obligatory full length dive, he didn't make it (I've watched Dougie try to run me out in this exact way too). I made sure I was well out his way as he walked off before getting myself out next over. The sensible thing, with hindsight, would have been to leave my crease once he arrived and sacrifice me, the injured player but I wasn't sure if the ump knew I'd nicked it or if it might have been given as a leg bye to extras so I stayed put'.

hx-cricket-tweeters

2012-01-09T10:10:00.003Z

Those who wish to follow the ~~narcissistic outpourings~~ wit and wisdom of the growing band of Crossers on Twitter can now do so here:

https://twitter.com/#!/HXCricket/hx-cricket-tweeters

Farewell to CA

2012-01-04T19:51:00.000Z

As you'll be aware, Calum is heading off to Australia this month.

To bid him farewell, the soc sec has suggested that Crossers convene at St Vincents on St. Vincent Street on Friday 13th Jan - from 7pm onwards.

Pre-history

2011-12-30T13:32:00.000Z

A slide show of Holy Cross cricket teams is available here. Admittedly, most are of the school's teams, rather than the Club's. But some signs of the Club to come can be discerned in this photographic pre-history.

For alongside such well-known faces as umpire and Carlton secretary Martin Flynn, arts impressario Richard Demarco and Cross legends Alan Reid and Hugh Kilpatrick, can be found P Lynch (sadly a Paul rather than a Pat), Ian Ashley and, most intriguingly of all, Wieslaw Pitulko - the Ziggy of his day?

Vaughan and Parky on Captaincy

2011-12-29T13:04:00.001Z

On this morning's Today programme Michael Parkinson interviewed Michael Vaughan on the subject of leadership in cricket. Pretty interesting stuff. Here's the link to the extended (seven minute) version.

99* - Catchin' Sachin?

2011-12-29T12:59:00.002Z

At long last HX has something in common with Tendulkar - we're both stuck on 99. Admittedly, Sachin is on the verge of achieving the astonishing feat of a hundred international centuries while the HX Twitter team is one short of the slightly less astonishing feat of gathering a hundred followers.

The Little Master scored his 99th international century during the World Cup in March, just around the time that HX Twitter was born.

Can we pass him before his next chance comes with the start of the 2nd Test on Tuesday? If there are any blog readers who haven't yet signed up to Twitter for even more, even faster, (and perhaps most importantly) even shorter HX news, here's the link.

Something Else Fishy

2011-12-28T12:47:00.000Z

A pike & two googlies

In another of what may now be characterised as an occasional fishing/cricket cross reference, I thought I'd share this Prize Letter of the Month from September's Cricketer magazine.

~

Toby Codd, Devon County Under 13's captain, earned a place on The Cricketer's Honours Board earlier in the season with a magnificent hundred against Isle of Wight. He rates another mention, for an altogether different reason, following his dismissal against Hampshire U13's at the ESCA U13 County Festival at Kings College, Taunton. Codd went fishing outside off stump and was snapped up by Hampshire keeper Alex Bass off the bowling of Robert Pike, resulting in the unusual piscatorial entry:

Codd c Bass b Pike 2

League Reorganisation - 2012 Divisions Released

2011-12-16T17:12:00.001Z

Division 1 - Holy Cross, Carlton 2, Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Grange 2, Largo, Marchmont, Murrayfield DAFS, Musselburgh, Watsonians 2.

Division 5 - Holy Cross 2, Edinburgh Accies 2, Edinburgh South 2, Livingston 2, Murrayfield DAFS 3, Musselburgh 2, Penicuik 2, Preston Village, Stirling County 3, Watsonians 3.

Division 8 - Holy Cross 3, Carlton 4, Dalgety Bay, Dunfermline 3, Hawick & Wilton, Kirk Brae 2, Largo 3, Morton 2, SHRH 3, Tranent.

Fauldhouse have joined the National leagues. Stirling 2nds and Stenhousemuir 2nds have joined the West.

Five Borders clubs have joined the East, including Hawick & Wilton in Division 8 with our 3rds. Leith FAB 3 are no more. Edinburgh have failed to convince the ESCA Committee that they have access to a ground suitable for Division 1 cricket and so their 1sts will rejoin the East leagues in Division 2 and their 3rds will not rejoin the leagues this season.

Indoor Fireworks ?

2011-12-15T17:48:00.002Z

Don't worry, we're not going to report on Mario Balotelli's latest visit to the bathroom. Instead we bring you news of the draw for the inaugural LiveSportOn.TV ESCA Indoor 6s.

We're in Group A along with Boroughmuir and Tranent. Games will be played at Liberton High School on Gilmerton Road on the evenings of Friday 20th January and Friday 17th February. The group winners will go forward to a Finals night on Friday 16th March.

In further indoor news, watch this space for details of pre-season nets which will be starting in early March.

John Arlott in Conversation with Mike Brearley

2011-12-14T14:33:00.004Z

You may be interested in this programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018gwvh on BBC4 tonight at 10pm.

If you miss it or don't have access to BBC4 (the only TV station really worth having...) , it will available onIPlayer soon after.

If you don't have time to watch that you may enjoy the conclusion of the 2nd test at Hobart:
http://youtu.be/I3y_MtcBle8 http://youtu.be/I3y_MtcBle8

Four Pacemen of the Apocalypse

2011-12-10T18:17:00.001Z

Something Fishy???

With a variety of intellectual powers on show, the results of the 2nd Annual Holy Cross Quiz Night were;

1. Four Pacemen of the Apocalypse - 47pts
(Professor McGill, Doctor Bonfield & Bishop Lynch)

2. FC Clam Idea* - 40pts
(Prez, Andy G, Michael from the Rugby Club & Ross (?))

3. Simple Minds - 34.5pts
(EC, Vik, Chuckie, Doogs,)

4. Three Dogs - 28.5pts
(PVB, Two dogs, Bimbo)

This means Dr Bonfield is the only mortal being to participate in the winning team twice. Allegations of favouritism levelled against Quizmasta K by this author will be fully investigated by an Independent Panel chaired by myself.

* not actual spelling

Reminder from Bimbo

2011-12-09T11:56:00.001Z

Brother Crossers!

A gentle reminder that tonight (Friday 9th) is Quiz Night/Festive celebrations at Arbo.

Gates open at 6.30 for a 7pm start, looking forward to seeing you all there!

Quiz Goes OLD SKOOL

2011-11-29T20:14:00.001Z

A Catholic Education

Yo Homies!!!

Accusations of dumbing down accepted!!!

This years HX Quiz goes straight back to the Old Skool!!!

After last years HNC level onslaught from a Quizmasta wot overjudged his Peeps, this year subjects will dip down into the High School syllabus including:

(translations in brackets for U30's)

Quizmasta K

Maths (counting)

English (txts & twitter)

Geography (places)

Science (totally crazy s***)

Music (choons)

Spelling (spelling)

Be there or don't be square!!! Friday 9th December for a 7pm start. Canny wait.

Quiz night!!!

2011-11-24T21:25:00.004Z

Crossers!!

A call to arms!! The second annual quiz night shall be hold on Friday 9th December at Fortress Arbo!!

Along with the quiz, which promises to be another superb affair, a number of additional awards for gallantry shall be presented and the impending festive season shall be roundly toasted.

As always please feel free to bring additional brainpower along with you. Squadron Leader Fraser shall be in charge and after last years victory by the all the Presidents men has promised a far more rounded line of questioning.

We shall commence the evening from 6.30. Questioning starts some point after when sides have been drawn.

Tally ho!

HX Skipper comments on the new league structure

2011-11-22T16:15:00.001Z

Sorry folks, EC's post has suffered the same fate as KF's infamous post about *******.

Inverleith RFC - Race Night

2011-11-20T18:57:00.001Z

Crossers are invited to a Race Night at Arbo next Saturday 26th.

Starts at 7:30pm, hosted by Inverleith Rugby Football Club.

It's in aid of Mike Gordon's daughter's charity.

Entry £5.

League reconstruction update

2011-11-13T11:30:00.001Z

Yesterday Paul summed up the situation on the ESCA forum -

In today's Scotsman Roddy Smith is quoted as follows - "We have received the views of the WDCU which are not unexpected. There is a situation where about half the country is very pro-regional and Cricket Scotland itself is very strongly of the opinion that a National League serves no real purpose. We will now sit down and take everyone's views on board before deciding what the future structure of club cricket in Scotland should be."

ESCA representatives will meet Roddy on Thursday morning. The Borders teams are meeting on Wednesday night. I would expect significant progress to be made sooner rather than later.

Because we will have leagues of ten whatever happens, I am confident fixture lists will be much easier to compile with far less clashes and competitive cricket for all.

ESCA AGM

2011-11-09T18:02:00.000Z

As expected, last night's ESCA AGM was somewhat inconclusive and there will probably have to be an SGM before next season. Here's what we don't know -

The composition of ESCA's top flight - The West meet on Thursday night to decide their response to changes in the National League (ie the move from three divisions with 32 teams to two divisions with 20 teams). As things stand, I think nine of the twenty clubs in the continuing National League are from the West. The West agm may decide to ask all of them to withdraw from the National League, but, if it does, not all of them may agree. If any West clubs withdraw from the National League, it is anticipated that they will be replaced by some of the seven East teams who were in the National League last year and who will otherwise join the top division of the East League. To add a little further complication, one of those seven, Falkland, will wait until after the West's vote to decide whether to join the East or the Strathmore; and Edinburgh 1sts will only be readmitted to the East's top flight if they can secure a home venue acceptable to the ESCA committee by the end of the year. All clear?
The rules for the top flight - A number of the teams who may be coming down are keen to make sure that they are on the same footing as teams in other Leagues who aspire to (re)joining the Nationals. The most pressing issue seems to be whether they would be allowed two overseas players (only one is currently allowed in Div 1), but they may also want to try to change some of the playing conditions, in particular by introducing fielding circles, even though a motion from Carlton to introduce these was overwhelmingly defeated last night. Changes would require a special general meeting.

And here's what we do know -

Three new teams were admitted to the League - Morton 3rds, SMRH 4ths and Edinburgh South 4ths. It is anticipated that Edinburgh South 3rds and 4ths will play on a new artificial wicket at the Inch, although this may not be available immediately at the start of the season.
Two teams were readmitted to the League - Edinburgh 2nds and 3rds. (Musselburgh 3rds were also reelected).
A number of Borders teams have expressed interest in joining the East - There are currently seven 1st XIs in the Borders League. One (Langholm) is joining an English league. Between three and five of the remaining six are said to be interested in joining the East. None of them is thought strong enough to be likely to feature in the top couple of divisions and none of them will bring their Reserve teams with them. A special general meeting will be required to approve entry.

PS - Many thanks to the East Committee for all their hard work over the last year. Thanks also to ESCA President, Bruce Dixon, for noting the passing of the great JLRB in his report to the agm.

PPS - I've disabled comments on this post to avoid generating a massive Rampant Lion-style thread. If you have any thoughts on the above, send me (but, please, not the whole club) an e-mail.

The Crumbling Face of Italian Cricket?!?!?

2011-11-04T18:13:00.001Z

Anyone requiring cheering up for the weekend need look no further!!!

After the grim snapshots of the erse end of our decrepit and crumbling institution please enjoy this much more uplifting photo of the erse end of another decrepit and crumbling institution clapping his peepers on the Danish PM.

If this doesn't make you laugh, nothing will.

PS: Her name is Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

Arboretum Pavilion - now a danger.

2011-11-03T15:30:00.001Z

Sad to see the old pavilion at Arboretum in such a state. The pictures (taken on Nov 1st) clearly show that people are accessing it at the rear-and posing a danger to themselves and others-including by removing various objects from the pavilion; some of which may be hazardous.

Scottish cricket makes the front page...

2011-10-27T12:30:00.003+01:00

http://www.scotsman.com/news/cricket_star_faked_his_own_death_1_1933694

Indoor cricket.

2011-10-19T13:02:00.002+01:00

Holy Cross haveentered the inaugural ‘LiveSportOn.TV ESCA Indoor 6's’.

For some, the words cricket, indoor & league may summon up memories of this (surely-alongside The Ascent of Man, The Singing Detective and Threads- the crowing glory of British television), in fact this competition involves something akin to cricket...

Now we just need a team…

Gary T and Cje play a proper athletic indoor sport but since the rest of you spending thewinter evenings slumped in front of the XFactor, you could perhaps do with someexercise.

Can anyone interested please leave acomment to that effect-or email Jon.

We need a volunteer to organize theside…go ahead-seize the opportunity! …if might influence the selection committee currently engaged inthe task of nailing down a captain for the 1sts for next season.

Details of the competition:

‘The competitionwill take the same format as the cricket Scotland tournament with 4 groupscontaining 3 teams in each. The 3 teams in each group will attend on thesame night and play round robin, each team will take part in 2 nights thusgetting gets 4 games in total throughout the tournament. Each of the 4group winners would then attend the finals night for 2 Semi-Finals and a Finalbeing held.

This will be run every Friday nightfrom 20th January to 16th March 2012 at Liberton High School, the 1st game oneach evening will start at 6.30pm prompt’.

teams entered are:

Glenrothes CC

Edinburgh Schools Academy

Penicuik

Edinburgh South

Musselburgh

Holy Cross

Boroughmuir

Tranent

Marchmont

Edinburgh Accies

Fauldhouse

Morton

Pretty prizes

2011-10-18T14:26:00.000+01:00

One Crosser celebrates his birthday today. In addition to the vast array of gifts, he's also received this ~~monstrosity~~ lovely trophy.

It's That Time Of Year Again..

2011-10-08T12:50:00.001+01:00

Another snapshot from Portobello

...when I return to a familiar theme and repeat the same old same old.

I've blustered fruitlessly in the past about a dislike of playing our noble game in sub-zero temperatures during April whilst reaching for the BBQ sauce after the last game of the season and soaking up some rays.

Some well meaning souls mutter mitigatingly about seed germination prior to dropping temperatures or of having to share pitches with other sports teams.

But I shall not listen to reason for no man!!! I have a bee in my bunnet and in my bunnet the bee shall stay!!! I feel so strongly about this issue I've never once attended a meeting with it in mind, let alone raised it at a meeting I've not attended.

I don't think we'd have actually managed a game this September as there was a lot of rain about at times that would have put Saturday matches in doubt (good for the fishing though, I've been howking them out good style).

However, we've just enjoyed/endured our hottest September since the thermometer was invented inspiring headlines such as;

'Its Too Hot'
'Why Is It So Hot'
'When Will It Stop Being So Hot'
&
'Coldest October 1st Since Records Began'

Britain-bakes-hottest-October-day-100-YEARS

I have to apologise that this post has been delayed, but it took me a while to decide on a photo from the range available. I'll start reviewing photo candidates for next years rehashed article this afternoon.

Those past 'articles'.
2010
2009

Golf afternoon postponed

2011-09-28T22:12:00.003+01:00

Due to slightly unforseen circumstances this Fridays golf day has been slightly postponed. Watch this space!

Making Waves

2011-09-28T14:53:00.000+01:00

Were RCAHMS aware that their advert for their Open Doors day event (which focused on sporting/ leisure buildings; existing and lost) related to a significant ...er incident in the ~~addled mind of a veteran Crosser~~ history of HCACC?

Dumb Brittin

2011-09-23T12:10:00.003+01:00

Too obvious

It appears that not everyone in our Grate Cuntry is as clevur as yuo and me.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01529m9/Pointless_Series_5_Episode_18/?t=37m39s

Club Night 23rd September

2011-09-22T12:56:00.002+01:00

You may have heard that Gerry's band has run out of Sanatogen and will not be able to play tomorrow. Mercifully, that is true. So we have made a slight change to the evening's entertainment.

As originally billed, King Kerr will be telling some tall tales about the mighty Cross of yore, after which we will be showing the recent cult cricket movie "Fire in Babylon" about the day McGill dived in the field and landed on the box of matches in his pocket (or was that "Fire in Nylon"?).

In spite of this clear upgrading of the entertainment fare, the entry price has been slashed to a mere £2, for which you will still be getting a run at Mandy's excellent finger buffet.

See you there!

Fair play to the 2's and 3's...1sts...er

2011-09-18T21:44:00.001+01:00

The table for the 2011 Fair Play awards have been released. Full league tables available here

The 2's and 3's are also near the top of the 'all divs' table here.

Congrats to the 2nds and 3rds. The 1sts may need to have a think about why we slipped so far from our placings in previous seasons.

ESCA Awards for Two Crossers

2011-09-17T09:40:00.000+01:00

Two Crossers up for ESCA end of season awards: http://tinyurl.com/5wq8crd

Post-season maintenance

2011-09-15T10:03:00.000+01:00

[The Grounds Commissar writes]

It's that time of year where we need to do some post-season maintenance on the Arbo square. This involves spreading 80 x 20 kg bags of loam over the square. This year, there is an added complication, because the loam has been delivered to Peffermill and not Arbo. Therefore we need:

1) People with cars (and even better, trailers) to transport the bags up to Arbo.
2) Volunteers to carry the loam to the Arbo square and spread it.

Weather permitting, we're want to do this on Saturday afternoon, with the bags of loam being picked at Peffermill from 12.00 onwards. Depending on reasonable numbers, we should be able to transport the material up to Arbo by 1.00, with the loam spreading finished about 4.00.

This is an important job. The Arbo square has improved greatly in recent years and we want to carry on that improvement. So, if you can spare an hour or two on Saturday, please do this important thing for the club. If, due to bad weather, the operation is cancelled, an all points e mail will be sent out.

Don't leave it to others, get stuck in.
Looking forward to seeing many of you on Saturday,

Smudger
Grounds Commissar.

Another date for your diary...no live band this time

2011-09-14T14:39:00.000+01:00

A reminder that there is a ESCA meeting regarding the proposed restructuring of Scottish cricket on Thursday (Sept 15th) at Myreside -starting at 7.30.

The focus of the meeting will be on the The National Reconstruction Report HERE

Clear Your Diaries - Friday 23rd September, Arbo, 7pm till Bedtime

2011-09-08T18:31:00.011+01:00

Crossers, it gives the Management great pleasure to announce a Club Evening of which Jake and Elwood would be proud.

Making a very welcome return to Arbo will be former Club President and underarm leg-break legend Chris "the King" Kerr. Chris has agreed to regale us with tales from the days of rampant substance abuse and embarrassing facial hair. Now who wouldn't be interested in that? According to Chris, if you can remember the Seventies you're old enough to have forgotten them, so he will no doubt be bringing back some memories long since emotionally blotted out by the Club's senior players. As a congenial raconteur of great wit, King will delight Crossers of all ages and IQs.

A tough act to follow, for sure, but headlining our Crossational evening will be none other than the Grandaddy of Groove, the Veteran of Vibes, the Gerryatric Plank-Spanker himself and his ensemble of other folk whose children have stopped paying the maintenance.

Watch out for these kicking covers of venerable British Rock:

"Dazed and Confused"

"Ramble On"

"I'm Alive!?!"

"Who Are You?"

"Magic Bus Pass"

"Back From the Dead" and

"When I was Sixty-Four".

Mandy has kindly agreed to supply a suitably extravagant finger buffet (with all the crusts cut off) and a jumbo bag of Werther's Originals. The bar will of course be open for Horlicks and Lucozade with a two-for-one on Harvey's Bristol Cream.

Entry for over-21s only at a cost of only four pounds ten and six (or a fiver for cash). Come one, come all, because it's coming to all of us one day.

Caption competition

2011-09-07T21:25:00.000+01:00

Footage of GT's helmet discovered

2011-09-05T09:50:00.000+01:00

http://youtu.be/BhTN8eayySY

but both batsmen seem to be using it? How come?

Top Runs

2011-09-03T18:52:00.004+01:00

In response to public demand, here is a list of top 1st XI run makers (league). Do check for possible errors.

Those wondering about the absence of CA Smith...he's currently 10 short of the 1000 mark! (990 at 17.68) -if only he'd turned some of those 2's into 3's....

Photos and Golf day

2011-09-01T23:11:00.002+01:00

No it's not EC's score from his last round at Prestonfield, it's the £'s worth of damage done to some poor punters car as a result of a snap hook.

None the less he's keen to sort out a golf day for Friday the 30th of September. Let me know if you are keen and we'll get the ball rolling towards the hole.

On another note, a few photies from the last couple of weeks of the season are available here

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=Bainbro&target=ALBUM&id=5647510398104887249&authkey=Gv1sRgCL7niIiAieiEpAE&feat=email
None of that on field nonsense just good behind the scenes action.

64 more Robin..

2011-08-31T14:49:00.008+01:00

Robin has been on at me recently about how many more 1st XI league wickets he needs to overtake Geoff Barratt. The figure is 64....so 3 more seasons at least Robin!

Derived from Hugh K's stats programme and McGill's averages, an updated list of the top wicket -takers is available here.

Presidents Trophy 2011

2011-08-29T14:31:00.002+01:00

The replay of the final will now take place next season.

Rain reigns at Arbo as commonsense prevails in President's Trophy Final

2011-08-28T21:33:00.001+01:00

It was a clash of the Division 1 Titans as 1st played 2nd in the end of term President's Trophy.

A coin toss went the way of the Cross and home advantage of hosting the tie at Fortress Arbo was awarded.

Rain overnight had left the square soft underfoot and as the Captain's went out to toss, it was clear that conditions above and below were likely to play a heavy part in the outcome of the game.

Fauldhouse were out the traps fast with their opening bowlers doing some fine damage. Owais run out, KF bowled, Spickers and CJE also returning to the Portacabin early on and it was 24-4 after 12 of the allocated 40 overs.

KO for KF

EC Smith was caught on the boundary as the cold and lonely scribe and photographer went for a heat in what had become a wet and perishingly cold day.

Calum joined his sibling after the Umpire took a long and hard look at an LBW shout before the trigger went up.

Bimbo then sent words of encouragement via Twitter from his Maternity Ward shopping trip with Mrs Bimbo and the BimboBump.

118 after the 40 overs - not a great score - but with the rain continuing and the light fading, who knew what the matchplay ball from Lords could do.

Tea was a feast of hot and cold foods and once again we thank Mandy for her efforts - often taken for granted.

Back out on the oval and Fauldhouse were in combat against the Cross and the Conditions, the latter to finally be their undoing.

Shannon, fresh from picking up his Player of the Year award the night before, was in fine form, unlucky not to get off the mark with some top class deliveries.

Jumping BeJesus

Pat has an LBW shout turned down

Lynch did manage a breakthrough when Owais held on to a drive from a Fauldhouse opener however as the conditions continued to deteriorate, the Umpires consulted each other and took the players off.

The Umpires decide enough really is enough

Naturally, both Teams were keen to get their hands on the silverware on offer however with the rain continuing to fall early into the Edinburgh evening, to have carried on would have been unsafe and not in the interests of the game of amateur cricket.

The rain clearly visible as is the punter on Ferry Road with their brolly!

For me, it was a poor end to a great season at Fortress Arbo for the Cross. On a personal note, it has been a tough season of no play due to injury. But beware, the Broonster will be back in 2012!!

Hat Trick for Mandy & Michael at Awards Night

2011-08-28T01:10:00.001+01:00

Has Shifty Proposed to Mandy? Has he whispered something sweet to make her clutch her chest? Is El Presidente's breath caused Mandy's reaction?

Quick answer to all of the above sadly is No - in fact here we see Mandy & Michael being presented with exclusive Holy Cross Baggies as a token of appreciation for their unrivalled and outstanding services to the Club this season. Mandy then produced a stunning buffet after the Awards were over.

Before the Players were allowed to tuck in, Mandy reprimanded Charlie for bringing his mucky cricket shoes into the Clubhouse and reminded everyone that all the dishes and all the cups go back into the kitchen when finished!! You have been warned.

Bonfield is Top of the Crossers!

2011-08-28T00:58:00.000+01:00

With 204 runs, 1 catch & 22 wickets, the Player of the Year Award for 2011 went to Shannon Bonfield.

Here we see EC Smith offering congratulations to 'Bonza' and one can only note the strong handshake on show here....

Bimbo wins in tense Holy Cross Arm Wrestling Championship climax

2011-08-28T00:39:00.000+01:00

Bimbo was last night crowned as the Arbo Arm Wrestling Champion of the World in the historic surroundings of the Green Room.

He defeated the Mighty Quinn in a 3 bout final by 2-1.

On his route to winning the Tankard he'd bought to replace the one he thought he'd lost, Bimbo defeated Calum 'Big Guns' Smith in the Semi.

The Mighty Quinn delivered a knockout blow to the Smith Dynasty of Arm Wrestling prowess, taking the bookies by surprise with a Semi Final win over Smudger.

One delighted punter was spotted celebrating with his winnings shortly after the Bimbo win.

League Weekend 19

2011-08-25T17:13:00.001+01:00

Saturday's fixtures -

2nds vs Preston Village at Arbo.
3rds vs Dunfermline 3rds at Campbell Park.

Saturday/Sunday -

Awards Night in the Green Room.

Sunday -

Presidents Trophy final vs Fauldhouse at Arbo from 1pm. Bar open at about 5.

Restructuring, Promotion and Relegation

2011-08-25T17:02:00.000+01:00

As you'll all be aware, the structure and composition of next year's leagues is very unclear. However, our own PVB is doing his best to keep East League cricketers up to date with all the latest developments here.

Coming soon...

2011-08-25T09:59:00.005+01:00

Apparently the 1st XI skipper has been interviewed by the gentlemen of the Edinburgh sports press ... the 3 hr interview is bound to produce some interesting material...

It's likely to appear here over the next couple of days.

but before we see that...did this 'information' derive from the interview??

Presidents Trophy Final

2011-08-22T17:33:00.001+01:00

The Presidents Trophy Final vs Fauldhouse will be played at Arbo this coming Sunday, the 28th.

Or at least it will be unless Fauldhouse's SNCL play-off has to be postponed from the Saturday. If no play is possible, for whatever reason, on Sunday, there will be one further attempt to play the Final this season on the following Sunday, the 4th, although not at Arbo as it will have been turned over to winter sports by then. If the 4th also falls through then we'll try again in 2012. Still with me?

All support welcome. The Social Secretary is commencing negotiations to get the bar open from around 5pm so that those 2nds and 3rds who have a drink the night before at the awards can get a hair of the dog. The Final XI will, of course, abstain.

Maz drops bombs

2011-08-22T15:58:00.007+01:00

[CA reports on the 1st XI match versus Marchmont- additional comments from CJE]

Arriving for the final game of the league season was largely similar to every other home game; the opposition all there, warming up, whilst various Crossers stood outside the changing sheds smoking and chatting. As ever, Charlie was setting everything up [GT was there too - and Mandy and Michael assisted too]. In fact Charlie and McGill were largely responsible for the game being on [the sunshine on Friday and Saturday helped too], both in terms care of the wicket all summer and in the last week.

On closer examination though, there were subtle changes. The flags had a uniform distance between them thanks to Gary T's debut on the flag distribution. He will learn that this makes for rather repetitive boundary golf. Other changes were that Euan and Keith were on time. Indeed, the opposition skipper didn't need to ask at least 3 times if the skipper had arrived yet [Pietsch asked 4 times..] Out they went to toss at quarter to 1 no less. Now the common cliche is to say that 'eyebrows were raised' when the opposition skipper wins the toss and chooses to bat. EC dispensed with the eyebrows [a quick trip to Roshan’s??] and said 'that’s not what I would have done' when the opposition elected to bat.

Bat they did and out came Macgregor and Sardesai to face new new ball [a new ball belong to Marchmont CC..] combination Bonfield and Trewartha. They were appropriately circumspect, with Aaron quickly on to a couple of short balls, MacGregor chipping away patiently, with them taking singles well when the opportunity arose. This combined with some sloppy fielding [any particular examples spring to mind?] meant that Marchmont made a steady start. They were on about 30 odd before Shanton got Aaron with an absolute beauty: swinging and then holding its line on a perfect length to just flick the top of the off bail and clean bowl his man. Breakthrough made and in came Loeffen, Marchmont’s gun player who has made plenty of runs this season [652 in the league in total]. He played and missed a few times early but also a played a few class shots, including a nice flick of his legs from Shanton. This nearly proved his undoing when he flicked one off Gary that fell just short of Dougie.

Macgregor and Loeffen saw off the openers and on came Charlie and Pat. Charlie didn't seem to be proving too difficult to play but Pat (notwithstanding one nice flick for 6 from Loeffen) was finding nice lines and exerting good control. Dougie replaced Charlie and bowled a beautiful spell. Straight from the off he was on the spot, bowling with nice flight and a lot of turn. He had a big shout turned down against Loeffen and Marchmont took drinks at roughly 75 odd for 1 - very much their session.

After drinks, Russell and Lynch continued and eventually Lynch got Macgregor LBW and suddenly things seemed to change. Peachey was out stumped; well bowled by Dougie [full bunger..? but it did drift.]. Collier who has had a good season came out and was caught by Lynch - a superb catch at a sort of fly gully. Someone described this as athletic; Pat has subsequently misinterpreted this as someone calling him an athlete.

Next up was urban street philosopher Keith 'Kay Eph' Fraser with a brace of catches. One a good one in a similar position to Pat's (he didn't make such a meal of it as he fell forward) and one at deep square leg (‘claimed’ by EC as he had posted Keith exactly there). Pat had bowled out (a solid 1 for 27 spell especially considering the marsh he was running up through) and Bainbridge came on at the Castle End. He induced Maksimyck to play on and GT, back on after Dougie had finished (figures of 1-30 not doing his spell justice) cleaned out Davi Sardesai with a yorker.

Throughout all this Loeffen was continuing nicely and made a solid 50. Number 10 came in, a big unit, and hit a few lusty blows. He smacked one straight back to Gary who (mostly out of self preservation) caught it before it re-arranged his face. Loeffen saw this as his cue to hit out and hit a big 6 before trying a repeat (perhaps to a slightly slower ball?) and skying one to the safest [KF ??] mid-off in Scottish cricket for a well made 60. GT finishing with 4 for single figures in his return spell.

A strange collapse from a Marchmont team that have had a good season. The scorecard reads; 33, 10, 60, 0, 5, 2, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0. These type of things used to be referred to as 'England style' collapse or, in the Green Room [circa 1998], as a 'Holy Cross style' collapse. Still, 131, although perhaps 20-30 runs short of what would be considered par, was still going to be a hard chase.

Owais Mahzer went out to bat sporting a grey Yankees cap in the style of legendary golden age MCer Rakim. Indeed, there has been some beef over who first used this 'look'. This feud has now been retired with Rakim agreeing to re-release the seminal single 'Shif - T for president (the Eric B remix)'. This will be used in the celebrations for the diamond jubilee of our Dear Leader. Out he went with Kay Eph and the fireworks started. After having a look for a couple of overs, Mahzer Maz started dropping bombs all over the shop. It was whack. Meanwhile Kay Eph was reflecting philosophically on his bat at the other end with the occasional spat out line. He 'spat up' a full length ball to mid off who [somehow] put him down [on a par with Big Pat’s dolly at Grange Loan]. Mahzer Maz eventually ‘nicked off’ to keeper for 36 off 28 odd balls [what was odd about them??] before stating something like 'I was jus gettin ma grove on' or 'just getting my eye in'. Still, braggadocio has always has had a role in hip hop culture.

In came Charlie (more Fresh Prince than Rakim) who batted with intent. Not only had the openers put on 50 odd with their fast paced rhymes but had used up many of the Marchmont openers' overs. The Fresh Prince and Kay Eph saw off the rest of Loeffen and Maksimyck and Charlie 'whacked' Davi Sardesai's first ball and basically took it from there. Scoring a well tempo-ed 62 whilst Kay Eph dropped the anchor (managing to see off an off spinner in the process (!)) and finished 34 no. The Fresh Prince playing some pretty 'fresh' shots (in the sense that they have not been seen before very often [fair enough…not in this country anyway...]) including a hoick over cow for 6 and two lofted drives straight for 4.

A 9 wicket win then means that we finish 2nd. A well deserved reward for a good season especially considering that we lost our first 2 games - we have gone 9 and 1 since then. Characterised by batting and bowling depth and consistency and backed up by good catching and (generally) high [KF again?] fielding standards. Its been good to have Marchmont back in division 1 and also congratulations to Fauldhouse who won the league and have gone this league season unbeaten - a notable achievement. Good luck to them in their play-off next Saturday. We have our final game (against Fauldhouse) in the President’s Trophy next Sunday at Arbo and all are welcome to support.

1997 vs 2011....

2011-08-21T21:34:00.007+01:00

Having matched the performance of the 1st XI of 1997, questions have been raised about the relative merits of the two sides...

Derived from Hugh K's stats, here is the core side that represented the club in the 1997 season (number of appearances in brackets-15 matches in total):

Bates (15)
Barker (13)
Bradley (15)
Willey (5)/ Begg (4) / Wheatley (5)
Ellis (6)/ E. C. Smith (5)/ Afzaal (5)
Russell (11)
Robertson (c/ wkt) (11)
Dyer (15)
Worsnop (8)
Fisher (10)
McGill (15)

How does this line up compare with that fielded on the last Saturday of the season (and also not forgetting Two Dogs). 4 players (plus Bates-one 1st team league appearance in 2011) feature in both...but are they the same players...

Mazher
Fraser
Ellis
C. A. Smith
E.C. Smith
Bonfield
Russell
Pickering
Trewartha/ Worsnop
Bainbridge
Lynch

feel free to comment...especially keen to hear the Pres' views.

1sts 2nd in 1 in 11

2011-08-21T11:12:00.013+01:00

Scores Digest.

1sts (at Arboretum)

Marchmont 131ao
M. Loeffen 60, S. McGregor 33.
Bonfield 6-2-9-1
Trewartha 9-3-34-4
Ellis 4-0-13-0
Lynch 10-2-27-1
Russell 10-0-30-1
Bainbridge 4.3-1-10-3

Holy Cross 135-1
C. Ellis 62*, O. Mazher 36, K. Fraser 34*
Loeffen 8-3-22-1

Report from the Marchmont website here.

This surprisingly convincing victory means that Holy Cross 1st XI finish 2nd in Division 1.
This equals their performance (in a differently structured East League: after the formation of the SNCL but before the Leagues and Grades were amalgamated) in 1997, when they finished 2nd to Cupar (and, as in 2011, just above Marchmont in third. Funnily enough Fauldhouse finished bottom of Div 1 that year!). Good stuff guys.

2nds

Div 5 - Largo 2nds vs Holy Cross 2nds at Largo.

Largo 126 all out - runs for Alex Anderson, 4 wickets for Colin Smith.

Holy Cross 127-6 - runs for Butt and Bates.

3rds

Division 8 on Inverleith Arti
Holy Cross Academicals 3rd XI 38 all out in 21.2 overs
(Kevin Casssidy 3-3, Craig Goold 3-6, James Crispin 2-17)

Stewart's Melville FP Royal High 3rd XI 42for 3 in 17.1 overs
(Umar Malik 14 in 11 balls: R Ellis 8-4-5-2)

League Weekend 18

2011-08-18T17:25:00.001+01:00

Saturday's fixtures -

1sts vs Marchmont at Arbo in 2nd-place shootout.
2nds vs Largo 2nds, (quite far) away.
3rds vs SMRH 3rds, (not very far) away.

Hollywood Legend Pictured In Edinburgh

2011-08-15T12:37:00.003+01:00

Family Day Out

It could have been any father out for the day with his boys to watch some cricket at Portgower Place on Sunday. But this wasn't just any family outing. Original James Bond star, McGill Collins, took his boys to the set of 90's blockbuster 'The Masterton Files' and regaled the youngsters with the tale of how he bowled Don Bradman twice with one ball in the semi final.

Young Chuckie McGill (back row, left) was overheard openly questioning his fathers version of events having recently studied the account of a witness to the filming who wrote everything down in a scorebook.

Without pausing for breath, the ageing megastar explained to the first twins he had out of wedlock, EC & CA Hurley (back row centre & middle row centre) how, despite winning multiple Oscars every time he makes a movie, studio bosses keep freezing him out of summer blockbusters and forcing him to turn out in low budget B-movies.

Despite this marginalisation, ‘Cocko’ Collins still manages to direct some independent movies of an evening. He recently cast Bollywood sensation Vikramabawz Groweary in ‘75’, a short film about a street urchin who buys a magical shirt on the internet and turns into a run machine.

Cocko’s other twins, Shane (beard) & Prat Blanchett (back row right) announced they hope to shoot a movie at Portgower Place one day, though due to legal wrangles, all sets have been moved to nearby studios 20^th Century Fettes until further notice.

Geordie McGill (middle row left) appeared to be yet again engaged in his addiction to voicemail interception.

Cocko is probably best known for his role as ‘Mitch McGill’ a Portobello lifeguard in the Scorcese epic Deep Slippy Gully.

Another Final...

2011-08-14T19:32:00.002+01:00

President's Trophy Semi-Final-at Arboretum

Leith FAB 42ao
I Davies 19*
S. Bonfield 5-18, P. Lynch 4-12

Holy Cross 44-2
G. Trewartha 22*
O. Mazher 14*

HX will play Fauldhouse in the final. Date/ venue tbc but NOT Sunday 21st

The Croscars - Awards Night, 27th August

2011-08-14T11:45:00.001+01:00

Hmmm. Normal service resuming - you know, stuff about cricket and the Cross, although the photo of the Grange night out was very nice.

To celebrate another successful season, Awards Night will be held in the Green Room at Arbo after the last league games on Saturday 27th August. No need to dress up like a member of the Bullingdon.

Many of the awards (eg Most League Runs, Most League Wickets and the highly prestigious Quack, Quack Oops award for most ducks) are awarded on the basis of Colin McGill's statistics. Others (such as the one involving the very snazzy Hawaiian shirt) are awarded entirely at the President-compere's discretion.

However, most awards need your participation, so please vote for as many or as few of the following as you like, and feel free to provide a little explanation/description where necessary. Votes to Mr Admin/JB/the Secretary by Thursday 25th, please.

Club Player of the Year.
2nd XI Player of the Year.
3rd XI Player of the Year.
The Wolrige Tankard - for the player with the best team spirit.
Clubman of the Year.
Most Improved Player.
Most Disappointing Season.
Most Memorable Team Performance.
Best Younger Player.
The WG Grace Award - best older player.
Most Entertaining Moment.
Trigger - the worst player-umpire.
The Botham Award - most heroic individual performance.
The James Bradley Memorial Princess Hissy Fit Award - best tantrum.
Catch of the Year.

If there are any other incidents from the season that you remember with amusement or affection, please let me know about them and we may create a one-off award to commemorate them.

Just Not Cricket

2011-08-13T14:15:00.003+01:00

What, no cricket, oh well, are we allowed politics on here? No, oh, never mind, here are some thoughts on the UK Riots (sic) anyway.

A good place to start, Peter Oborne in the Telegraph;

Telegraph Article

Looters and Rioters?

Next up, some Bullingdon photos; I say

“…But within hours of the photo (right) being taken, the 10 young men were wreaking havoc on Oxford, where they were all at university.

One of them, said to be Ewen Fergusson (4), threw a plant pot through a restaurant window and the police were called…”

David Cameron

About the destruction of peoples businesses during the riots;

“criminality pure and simple”

About the trashing of a restaurant by the super rich student members of the Bullingdon Club;

“Like many young people, I did things when I was young that I should not have done and that I regret”.

About Andy Coulson

“I decided to give him a second chance”

About looters and rioters

“Law-breaking has to be punished. One of the heartening things we are seeing now is because the courts have been sitting round the clock we are seeing a much tighter timetable between getting your collar felt by a police officer, going to a police cell, appearing in front of a court and being sent to prison”

Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson

About the destruction of peoples businesses during the riots;

“This behaviour was criminal behaviour”

About his days in the Bullingdon Club;

“The blissful sponge of amnesia has wiped clean the slate of memory,”

It's not just the tories, top Labour brain, Hazel Blears stands during the school holidays and asks;

“Why are these kids not in school?”

I can’t do her herioic expenses claims justice. Here is a link.

Fill your boots hen

Yup, she's still an MP. Just the sort of person we need to clamp down on people who think they can just take mod cons for free.

Coming soon, the Broonster/Frazerio dream ticket.

1st XI match OFF

2011-08-13T09:22:00.003+01:00

The match vs Glenrothes is off. In fact the square is merely soft but about 60 % of the outfield is waterlogged-with two small ponds at the Ferry road end (within the boundary): some ducks were swimming in it yesterday evening. An inspection will be made later today (Saturday) regarding the possibility of play on Sunday.

Saturday Cancellations - 2s, 3s OFF; 1sts ON.

2011-08-12T11:57:00.001+01:00

Because of the heavy rain of recent days, Edinburgh Leisure have been unable to prepare most of their grass pitches, so the 2nds' game at the Meadows and the 3rds' game at Campbell Park are off.

Because we are key-holders at Arboretum and because we can cut, roll and mark strips ourselves, the 1sts' games on Saturday and Sunday are still on at the moment.

Minotaur vs McEldrey

2011-08-11T22:44:00.016+01:00

Crossers may be aware that the Australian selectors have been searching far and wide for prospective test cricketers and have been made aware of the our long term success of Shannon and more recently Pat. As a result they have demanded either their return or Cross provide an equal replacement.

A straw poll revealed one CA Smith to be our most "Australianesque" member and we have opted to ship him off for an initial two year tenure. He'll be working as a doctor to augment any potential lack of runs.

As a result CA is determined to end 16 years of hurt and finally overall his twin in the run scoring stakes. Rumours that his initial goal of outscoring The Prince (CJE) was quickly downgraded to out-scoring EC have been denied by his "people".

As it stands there is 1 league game and one cup final left

League runs:

EC Smith: 223
CA Smith: 165

Non League runs:

EC Smith: 83

CA Smith: 187

EC - 306

CA - 352

I'm unsure which carries more weight, league runs? Cup runs are still "first class" so do they all count?

Either way it's game on for the next two matches.......................SMITH OFF!!!!

Presidents Trophy

2011-08-09T10:08:00.001+01:00

Last Sunday's washed out semi-final vs Leith FAB rearranged for this Sunday (14th) at Arbo.

1sts v Watsons 2's - Skipper Arrives Early For Next Seasons Match

2011-08-07T15:21:00.002+01:00

Quick Quiz Question (answer at end of report):

Which letters are missing? A, B, D, F, G, J, K, L, N, O, P, Q, R, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

The skipper at around 1pm on Saturday???

The first sign that things weren’t all they should be was when I received a text from Bainbridge at 12.57 saying “Starting, I won the toss”. Worrying. The skipper had asked me during the week if I could keep wicket, so I knew vice-skip Simon wasn’t playing, but where was The Skip?

One minute later, when I arrived, I discovered I was one of the lucky few to keep my place after the Parks Trophy victory three days earlier. Out went Pickering, Webb, Gaware & Lynch in a Romanov style cull. In were Morcom, Jones, Killey & Trewartha. Nick Jones, who I’d never met before, had his pads and gloves on ready to keep. So I assumed he was a Watsonian and thought we must be batting. That we only had 10 men and no match ball, batting would be the only sensible choice really. Until introductions were made and I realised my assumptions of normality were going to be tested to the max. Our 12^th game of the season and our 4^th keeper in the ongoing mass rotational experiment that we call Selection. And we were bowling.

Bimbo, now with a 100% record of winning tosses, immediately ceded control of proceedings to Frazerio. A dumb move. Any fool (or uncle Jo) knows that as soon as you get a sniff of power, you hang onto it and begin plotting the downfall (or preferably death) of any close rivals. If he’d held on to the mantle of power, he could have been opening the bowling for years to come. But as soon as I resumed the role, all the old insecurities of high office came flooding back. Immediately spotting the threat of Bainbridge to my acting position of command, I had to put him in his place (deepest fine leg and not opening the bowling).

With Lynch and Warsnap somewhere else and Bimbo in purdah (definition; the seclusion of women from the sight of men) on the boundary, I chucked our ‘borrowed’ ball (for we had none of our own) to Bonfire and asked Gary ThreeforFourforFiveforWartha (a name of Cornish origin apparently) to take the second over.

Papa Bonfield, suffering a bit from writers block struck with his very first ball (is that too obscure a cross-reference from last Saturday’s report?) enticing a snick that Jones happily snaffled and the Cross juggernaut was on the road again. Bonf proclaimed the virtues of the very short lived innings as, usually, the East League hackers aren’t good enough to nick his pearlers. About time somebody was good enough to do so!!!

Our favourite Watsonian now entered the fray and struggled against Trewartha, edging a couple through the burgeoning slip cordon before tickling one to your vice-vice-skipper at gully. Flannigan was next to go, tied down by Trewartha, he had a flail at one and missed, before losing his off stump next ball.

Er, still no skipper at this point. Brian ‘the one-armed bandit’ Fraser was in attendance in spectator mode and offered to do sub fielding duties. However this just reminded me of an old family story. My Grandad once told me, over a Werthers Original, that during the Second World War, one of his brothers was late back to his barracks after a period of leave. His CO had uttered the immortal words “I’d rather go into battle a man down than take Fraser”. The regiment then went off and were almost wiped out in one of those glorious futile gestures. So Brian was given a Coms role as we requested he found out where the F the skipper was. Difficult as he wasn’t answering his phone (/awake yet).

On the battlefield, the carnage continued. Yellowlees was next up. Looking good, he became ‘engaged’ in some ‘chat’ with a simmering Bainbridge (the ghost of the Bish alive and well?). When the Bimbo replaced Bonners, he thought long and hard about which of his arsenal of deliveries he’d deploy to dismiss his verbal nemesis. He decided on a hybrid of the half tracker and the long hop. A gleeful Yellowlees threw his bat at it, but could only chop it onto his timbers and off he went wondering if there were better ways to spend a Saturday.

The wireless operator reported at 1345 that contact had been made with the skipper and he sounded “groggy”. He was at his folks and would be going to Arbo to get his car and kit and should be half an hour.

Gary T scalped another in the meantime and the hosts were 41 for 5 against our charging one man Light Brigade.

After 3.5 overs of mediocrity I decided to relieve Bainbro of his toil, before he produced the first good ball of his spell to end his fourth over. Cue the first Hissy Fit of the day when I thanked him for his contribution. The tiara was thrown to the ground as he wailed something or other about just having found his rhythm. Dabbing his tears away I agreed to allow him to continue while Killey replaced Trewartha at the other end.

Sim & Boorman had now began a counter offensive. Defying the evidence of what went before, although the ball was quickly losing its shine in the drizzle, they continued to play shots when they could and kept the score ticking along at a healthy rate. Hissy Fit #2 arrived in the form of young Ellis. Asked to bowl at the Colinton Rd end, he was inconsolable. So Dougie offered himself up instead allowing Precious Prince Charles to get his way. I’m going soft in my old age.

Drinks came and went, but still no Dear Leader, until, in the 27^th over, our spirits were lifted. Out of the drizzle appeared that small red fanny magnet (the MR2, not Euan) and our cup winning skipper, like Marty McFly emerging from the DeLorean (Back To The Present???), arrived pitchside. In the 28^th over we were a team again.

Scrabbling around looking for a partnership breaker, I decided to ask Morcom to bowl an over, but first tried Gary T who still had two overs left. Three wickets later (figures of 6-39 for Trewartha), Morcom’s brief was truly defunct, though he still got one over as consolation anyway. Watsons had made a more than useful 92 for their 6^th wicket.

A further change recalling Russell and Bonfield was enough to take the final two wickets in 9 balls and Watsonians were all out for 145 in the 38^th over. Considering we had 10 men for most of it, a changed team, no office bearers and the quality of the opposition, I thought we did pretty well, although there was a murmur or two that we should have got them for less. If only I’d brought myself on 1^st change eh…

A mightily splendid, but disappointingly meagre Tea was then taken at Myreside where the increasing rain chased their 1^st XI off at Myreside just as we settled down to watch some ‘proper’ cricket being played.

And that was it.

In summation, another great performance by Gary T, averaging less than 7 with the ball and a strike rate under 12 in all 1^st XI games this year (it also transpired that Gary scored his "first" hundred against Watsons, not bad for our number 11). Shannon getting a batsman to nick a ball also deserves a second mention. Good efforts in tough conditions by the other bowlers too. And yet again in the field, it doesn’t seem to matter who is playing, our fielding was excellent once more, the only drops were two toughies behind the stumps by a useful looking stand-in keeper. The total lack of nets seems to be paying off spectacularly!!!!

S. Bonfield 6.3-2-16-2

G. Trewartha 10-1-39-6

Bainbridge 7-1-25-1

Killey 3-0-23-0

Russell 5-1-17-1

Ellis 6-0-17-0

Morcom 1-0-7-0

Quick Quiz Answer: E.C.S.M.I.T.H.

"It was one of those nights that just gets away from you and you can't bring it back"

Puzzle Solved

2011-08-07T14:40:00.008+01:00

CJE has long wondered whether he would ever discover the solution to the title of one of his favourite albums:

Fortunately this has now been solved...the man himself turning up at Craiglockhart on Saturday...and claiming a neat catch off the very 1st ball of the match and going on to have a very solid innings behind the stumps. He then left soon after the game...perhaps off to entertain an audience with his acoustic guitar...

Sunday Game OFF

2011-08-06T22:01:00.001+01:00

Sunday's President's Trophy match between HX and Leith at Arboretum is OFF.

Rain the only winner

2011-08-06T21:34:00.009+01:00

Saturday scores digest.

1sts

Div 1 -At Craiglockhart.

Watsonian 2nds 145ao (38.3 overs)
A. Sim 54, T. Boorman 33

S. Bonfield 6.3/2/2/16
G. Trewartha 10/1/6/39
Bainbridge 7/1/1/25
Killey 3/0/0/23
Russell 5/1/1/17
Ellis 6/0/0/17
Morcom 1/0/0/7

match abandoned at Tea-persistent heavy rain.

2nds-at Arboretum

Murrayfield-Dafs 3rds 134ao
S. Tahir 24
C. Smith 3-30, N. Webb 4-20

3rds-at Double Hedges

Kirk Brae 2nds 199-9
G. Moss 49, T. Dodd 53, Tahir 26, A. Raja 25
A. Mohammed 4/36

Pick of the Pics from Parks Trophy Final

2011-08-05T00:21:00.001+01:00

The 'pick' of the pics from Wednesday Night's Parks Trophy Final victory over MDafs can be found on Broonster's Facebook page

League Weekend 16 and the Week Ahead

2011-08-04T17:53:00.002+01:00

Saturday's fixtures -

1sts vs Watsonians 2nds, away at Craiglockhart.
2nds vs Murrayfield-DAFS 3rds, at Arbo.
3rds vs Kirk Brae 2nds, away at Double Hedges.

Sunday -

Presidents Trophy semi-final vs Leith at Arbo.

Midweek -

Tuesday 9th, the last evening friendly of the season, vs Tranent at Arbo.

Caption Competition Results

2011-08-04T10:18:00.001+01:00

Congratulations to Replayer on winning a pint of creamy, foaming indulgence. If she would only step forward and reveal her true identity...

Parks Trophy comes home to Fortress Arbo

2011-08-03T23:52:00.002+01:00

Dougie Russell hit the winning boundary at New Field on Wednesday night to give Holy Cross a 5 wicket win over Murrayfield Dafs in the final of the Parks Trophy.

After the last ball heartache at Myreside at the weekend, the 11 Men of Holy Cross produced a display of sheer bouncebackability (always wanted to type that in a report!) skittling their opponents out for 72.

MDafs took the the crease first and an early breakthrough saw Bimbo deliver and Euan taking the catch.

It was good to see young Gavin Morcom down watching. He was commenting about how he hadn't been able to make it down much this season due to a number of ~~excuses~~ valid reasons. It showed. A well placed MDafs strike was heading to the boundary with a Crosser giving chase. "Is that Norrie chasing that ball?" he enquired. "Erm, no Gav, it was Vikram", I replied. "Ahh, they are about the same height, I just thought it was him", he continued....

On with the show. A Bimbo bullet saw an unfortunate batsman knock the ball onto his stumps, then a rush of blood - not once, but twice in consecutive deliveries, saw an ever eager MDafs batsman run up the track but on his second excursion, he simply kept on running back to the sheds.

Charlie, the Man of the Match, got in on the action in the 8th over. His delivery saw Ellis Jnr appeal for an LBW before the ball dislodged the bails! 37-4.

Dougie was now in on the act, his opening delivery of the 9th saw another LBW shout and the Umpire duly obliged by lifting a solitary digit in agreement.

Ellis picked up another three wickets in quick succession with the help of EC Smith, once with a catch and the other with a throw of sublime accuracy for a run out and also a catch by KF out on the ropes. 58-8.

Shannon took the varnish off the edge of the bat of batsman No.9 and he headed back to the sheds and he wasn't to feel alone for along as Shannon ended the MDafs line up with a wicket that saw KF swoop like a seagull on chips to take the catch. 72 All Out.

A beautiful night for cricket in the Capital under the watchful eye of Edinburgh Castle, saw KF and Spickers head to the middle to kick off the Crossers stint.

Bimbo models the new HX Polo Shirts

It was all going well for the first over or so before Spickers was back in the sheds after nicking the ball into the hands of the energetic keeper. 9-1.

KF & Charlie were working in tandem and looked as if they were having fun, knocking off the odd cheeky run or two here and there, taking the score to 43 before KF was trapped LBW.

Charlie was missing Keith and he was despatched shortly afterwards. A swing and a miss was his un-doing. 49-3 and perhaps a bit of squeaky-bum time about to creep in...

Vikram took control and starting playing some delicate strokes, a wagon wheel of culture, but he lost his partner in crime C Smith who trudged off in disbelief after a LBW call from the Umps.

Vikram got an inside edge to take the ball onto his stumps in the 17th and it was 60-5, Cross just 13 away from winning the trophy.

Alas, it was Cross Legend Dougie Russell who hit the final runs - and in some style with a lovely boundary - and the Trophy made the very small trip up the road to Fortess Arbo.

The 2011 Parks Trophy Winners - Holy Cross CC

Pictures from the game to follow soon....

Parks Trophy Win

2011-08-03T22:42:00.005+01:00

Murrayfield-Dafs 72ao (18.4 overs)
A. Jaffrey 20, R. Bainbridge 3/19, C. Ellis 3/12, S. Bonfield 2/12.

Holy Cross 75/5 (17.5 overs)
K. Fraser 23, C. Ellis 21.

report to follow...looked like some were going for a big night in the green room...

brief Evening News report here.

Action from Activcity Finals Day

2011-08-02T23:04:00.001+01:00

Relive the heartache from Sunday's 'Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory' final including the last ball drama online now at Broonster's Facebook

In the Semi, the Cross put Morton to bed with overs to spare. All the action is here!

Parks Trophy Final (2nd attempt)-WEDNESDAY

2011-08-02T07:29:00.003+01:00

Confirmation that Holy Cross take on Murrayfield-Dafs in the Parks Trophy tomorrow (Wednesday 8th) at Newfield.
Game starts at 5.45.

supporters welcome.

It is hoped that the Arbo bar will open at 8pm.

Kiwi Whine house as England go Back to Black

2011-08-02T00:09:00.000+01:00

With the Rugby World Cup only a month away, there has been controversy from the England camp who have unveiled their new 'All Black' shirt which gets it's first outing against Wales this weekend.

This has stirred the people of New Zealand, including legend Jonah Lomu who has accused England of being 'disrespectful' to the World Cup hosts and Holy Cross legend Dougie 'Heketoro' Russell who can be seen here at the Activcity Finals day practising his very own Haka.

The Silence Of The Lambs

2011-08-01T22:37:00.003+01:00

The Bish

Largo visited Arboretum on Saturday scrapping for their first division lives. However the hosts continued to show the form that has driven them onwards and upwards this season and showed no mercy to the promising, but ultimately too inexperienced visitors.

The Cross batted first on a bogeyish track (soft, green & a bit runny) that required application from the batsmen. Well, ordinary batsmen. Rintoul, opening the bowling from the North Pole end, chided Owais for not being able to reach a wide in a surreal attempt to draw the batsmen into a war of words. Mazher’s response was to let his back take the flak and his bat do the chat. Owais appears to play the game on a strip of his own blasting his way to 22 from 17 balls before mistiming one of his booming off-drives to mid off. A little appetiser before the main course on Sunday as it turned out.

Future Hall-of-Famer, Ellis Jr joined the entrenched KF, who continued in a sort of supporting role before being emptied by “probably the ball of the decade” (my words) in the 23^rd over with the score on 79 for an unattractive 20 from 64 balls. This brought the skipper into the middle.

CJE, already in his stride and ECS building steadily began to put a really solid platform in place. Whilst the young Largo bowlers lacked any real bite (plenty bark), Frohlich apart, they showed good control and excellent variation to keep our 3 & 4 honest. Over time, our patience was rewarded. 200 would’ve been nice, 220 probably more than enough and anything else a bonus.

As the Largo kids began to wilt, the skipper in particular punished any loose balls. Charles was next to fall as we moved up through the gears for 85. Shannon added 17 in no time, refusing to face a dot ball for most of it, giving Spickers three deliveries at the end to make 2 not out. The skipper meanwhile stayed right to the end, succumbing only to a suicidal run out off the last ball. His knock of 78 included 4 (four, yes FOUR) maximum’s, three of which received heckles from the non-striker that he only had one shot. The 4^th six dispelled such notions disappearing back over the bowlers head.

The innings came to rest at 238-5. This after passing 100 in the 32^nd over illustrates how well we built on a solid start. I was impressed with the crop of Largo youngsters who all bowled and fielded well. I’m going to mention Ryan Brown (7-1-31-0) in particular, but that’s a little unfair on the rest. They’ll be a much tastier adversary in 3 or 4 years time as, I’m led to believe, they have plenty more youngsters throughout their 4 XI’s.

After another fine Tea by Eminem, Smith opted to open with Bimboridge at the South Pole End. He struck with his third ball getting Speering to ‘do a Ziggy’, raising arms to a jab-backer that clipped the off peg. If not a fatal blow to the reply, it sprang a proverbial leak at the waterline.

The other opener was soon removed by The Bimbo (10-1-30-4) before, in one fine spell, a trail of destruction was scorched through the Fifers middle order by our own Fifer, Gary T (10-2-23-4).

Bonfield (9-1-22-0) used his two spells to write another thrilling chapter in his 1,001 Ways To Avoid Taking A Wicket. It fell to third change chucker, auxiliary Bishop Lynch (5.3-0-11-2) to bounce out the last two little lambs, both pouched behind by the ever reliable voice mail interceptor, Si Hackering.

Dougie (3-0-12-0) was the only other chucker on the day. 100 all out and more points in the bank as we look for our best league finish in over a decade.

Final Ball Drama with Old Friends Marchmont

2011-08-01T17:32:00.002+01:00

[By E. C. Smith]

Gone was the beautiful sunshine from Saturday to be replaced by a slightly more overcast day at Myreside. However, pitch conditions looked good and all four teams were eager to take advantage of the rare opportunity to play on a national league pitch. The ActivCity ‘finals day’ pitched favorites Marchmont and Holy Cross against lower league opponents in the form of Drummond Trinity and Morton.

Inserted into bat by Morton, Holy Cross recovered well (after the early wicket of Keith Fraser) and pushed to around 60 after 10 overs. Although not capitalizing fully on this position Holy Cross got to a respectable total of around 125, helped by thirty odds from Owais and Charlie and a very elegant 18 not out from Vikram. Highlights of the innings included 2 towering sixes from Owais which was a sign of the pyrotechnics to come later in the day!

The instructions for the second half were to bowl quick and straight in the search for early wickets and ‘Aussie Pat’ duly obliged with a season best of 5-4 off his 4 overs! After Morton’s top order had been ransacked the result was never really in doubt but some good catches and disciplined support bowling meant that Morton were dismissed for around 60. While this was a resounding win for Holy X credit must also go to Morton for the spirit they showed and the variety and skill of (in particular) their bowling attack.

This not only led us into the finals against Marchmont but also to a hearty tea which included prawns which were devoured with remorseless vigour by c.g.j mcgill (I was impressed)! Captain E. C Smith then repeated his ‘tactic’ of losing the toss and we again found ourselves inserted onto a quickish (but lowish) Myreside track. What then happened was a stellar batting effort spearheaded by Owais who moved to fifty not out off around 10 overs, leaving the score at around 75-1. At this point Owais began to struggle with a leg injury but that did not prevent him carving a succession of Marchmont bowlers for 4’s and 6’s to all corners of the ground. It truly was a majestic effort and he found able support in the form of Pickering, C, Ellis and Keith Fraser, with Holy Cross closing their innings on 152-3.

While we knew this was a score that was around fifteen runs over par we were also aware of the threat posed by a Marchmont side which included recent recruits to support the experience of Collier, MacGregor and Sardesai. McGregor and Collier got off to a solid start and hit enough 4’s to make sure they were not too far behind the rate after the first few overs. However, a good catch on the boundary by Keith (from the bowling of Shannon) brought top league run scorer Matt Loeffen to the crease. The danger man was keen to get on with things and could have found himself run out early on before he started to pepper the boundary - Mazher style! The overseas man got to 36 in triple quick time but a good catch by Charlie, off the bowling of Dougie, saw him dismissed around the same time as MacGregor – with the score on around 75-3 off 11 overs.

Although slightly behind the rate, at this point, the experienced Sardesai manipulated the ball well behind square and made sure his team were not too far behind the curve. However, he was out going for one shot too many and his dismissal brought captain Sam Peachey to the crease with 60 needed off the last 6 overs. The captain produced an extraordinarily composed innings and resisted the temptation to go for suicide runs, whilst still pushing the Holy Cross fielding to its limits. He also started to find the boundary with increasing regularity and his potence was such that the Marchmont men required only 9 to win off the last over.

Aussie pat was given the task of dragging the impetus back in our direction and produced some fine deliveries under pressure. However, he was very unlucky to see an inside and outside edge cost 6 runs off two balls and a rushed leg bye left Marchmont one run off victory with one ball remaining. Pat then produced an exceptional delivery which was too good for the batsman (and the stumps) but Marchmont pushed through for the run with Simon’s throw missing the stumps by about an inch.

This was an incredibly exciting game played in the best of spirits and congratulations must go to Marchmont for a thrilling run chase! While there was no official man of the match award this surely would have gone to Owais whose innings of 93* was stamped full of swashbuckling quality.

Thanks also to the organisors of the tournament and to Colin McGill for doing the scoring in both matches. One that we will have to reluctantly put down to experience and take what we can out of in advance of Wednesday. Little doubt that if we produce the same sort of performance on Wednesday we should get the right result to reward us for what has been a very good season!

As with Sunday, all supporters are welcome with the game starting at 17:45 at Newfield…

Brief Evening News report here.

Skipper Smith's Smackathon Sets up Success in the Sunshine

2011-07-31T07:55:00.010+01:00

Saturday results digest.

1sts

Holy Cross 238/5
C. Ellis 85, E. Smith 78 (including 4 sixes!!) , O. Mazher 22, K. Fraser 20.

Largo 100 ao (37.3 overs)
S. Warrender 19
G. Trewartha 4/23, R. Bainbridge 4/30.

2nds

Edinburgh Accies 2nds beat Holy Cross 2nds by 4 wkts. HX 105 ao, Accies 107-6. 4 wickets for Gerry, who is on a hattrick the next time he bowls.

3rds

Holy Cross 3rds beat Leith FAB 3rds by about 101 runs. HX 230-9 : LFAB 129. 70-odd for PVB.

Jugs Galore - Caption Competition

2011-07-28T15:49:00.006+01:00

Lohan: I bowled my socks off, you know.

Comely Barmaid: That explains it. I thought the drains were blocked.

Or...

Lohan: I've got five kids you know.

Comely Barmaid: Jug!

A pint of gassy yellow stuff for the most humorous contribution, as judged by me. Smut welcome but no filth please.

Tonight's Friendly - OFF

2011-07-28T08:53:00.002+01:00

EU Staff unable to get a team out.

Media Hype

2011-07-27T21:28:00.004+01:00

Here The Scotsman previews this Sunday's Activcity Twenty20 clash and the Holy Cross skipper heaps praise on his "slower" bowlers.

http://sport.scotsman.com/cricket/Cricket-Trinity-pin-hopes-on.6808398.jp

Excellent to see three good reports from this weekend's bangathon!

League Weekend 15 and the Week Ahead

2011-07-27T17:53:00.001+01:00

Saturday's fixtures -

1sts vs Largo, at Arbo - umpire, Bruce Dixon.
2nds vs Edinburgh Accies 2nds, at Newfield.
3rds vs Leith FAB 3rds, at Leith Links.
Club barbecue at Arbo in the evening.

Sunday -

Activcity Trophy Finals Day at Myreside - 12.30, semi-final vs Morton, with the winners progressing to the final against Marchmont or Drummond-Trinity at 4.00.

Midweek -

Tuesday night, friendly vs Scottish Widows at Arbo.
Wednesday night, Parks Trophy final vs Murrayfield DAFS at Newfield. Prompt 6pm start.

Bang 3

2011-07-27T17:41:00.000+01:00

PVB writes - Drummond arrived early but Ken kept them waiting until 1.50 - good tactic that! Ken looked like an overloaded mule as he arrived with several holdalls carrying mugs, kettle, food, drinks, kit and everything but the kitchen sink - such are the joys of captaincy.

We won the toss and decided to bat on an extremely slow wicket. Ken missed an early one which cut away and clipped the offstump - I reckon it was good enough to get Tendulkar out (with or without a virus? - Ed) - and Irfan was soon lbw. Meanwhile PVB got off the mark with a streaky inside edge and it was left to Amjid to show his batting ability with sound defence followed by several lusty blows including an almighty straight six which brought a huge smile to his face and allowed PVB to prod and poke until drinks.

Following Amjid's rapid 24, it was time for Mike. The first thing he said to PVB was that he thought cover was a little deep and maybe the odd quick single was on. Saner Crossers might have urged caution but PVB, throwing caution to the winds, said "Go for it". Sure enough, Mike's first ball was hit straight to cover and a nippy single ensued, followed by ever more ludicrous runs including one to short gully. OK, maybe we should have been out a few times but it livened up proceedings. At the other end, PVB was applying the long handle until he trudged off, caught at mid-off. But no, Pietersen-like, he was recalled from the dead by the astute umpiring of Lawrie and McGill who spotted that an Alan Matthews-style beamer had caused his downfall.

PVB (83) and Mike (32) could see Matt warming up with intent on the boundary so as soon as the 100 partnership was achieved, PVB made way for the Kiwi who hit the most glorious six in an undefeated cameo.

Only a good team would get 193, we thought. But the Drummond openers were stylish, as if showing the coastal-eroding Cross openers how to take command of an innings. It was impressive stuff as first the odd pie and then good length balls were skilfully dispatched. But, fortunately, they kept losing wickets - the first when Abdul held a very good catch at deep mid-on. Dave got the three key wickets, helped by a smart catch by Irfan who kept wicket admirably and let no byes through - how many keepers do we have? Time, then, for McGill and Ellis to slow things down. Then we saw the benefits of youth (What? From McGill and Ellis? - Ed) as Iain Oliphant (Oh, I see - Ed) took two catches, one diving full length, and whipped in a return to run out the DTs' best bowler - rather like some of Billy Bowden's decisions on day 5 of the Test, the call of not out was met with astonishment. Perhaps it shouldn't have been such a surprise - Richard had already been no-balled for not having any part of his foot in front of the return crease ......

Enter the smiling Abdul, now nicknamed Deadeye, as he threw the stumps down three times, one of which resulted in a run out as the batsman hesitated. All in all, the team spirit was marvellous, just as one would expect from any HX side, and the fielding first rate (just as one wouldn't expect - Ed), helped by Ken and Coco who set an astute field. Coco kindly gave Drummond some hope with his first ball which was carted for six, but no more gifts ensued and he and Richard put a stranglehold on the opposition. Iain then showed us his skill with the ball by taking the last wicket and the leaders, all out for 128, had lost for the first time this season and sportingly acknowledged that they had been beaten by a better side. Crosstastic!

Bang 2 - Swing Lohan

2011-07-26T18:18:00.001+01:00

After weeks of rain, it was a beautiful Arbo day for once. The Skipper won the toss and put Falkland in, hoping that a slightly sticky wicket would get easier as it dried out. This was surprisingly sensible - the sun was so strong that Shifty, returning from touring the Dordogne as a Mr Creosote tribute act, almost immediately issued a Presidential decree that drinks (and the odd fag) should be taken every 15 overs.

Vik and Andy K opened up with impressively tight spells but the young Falkland openers responded with some dogged defence until one stolen single too many led to a run out. Then, with the run-rate hovering under three, the key phase of the game began. As Mr Admin bowled "incredibly boringly" (according to the umpire) from the Newfield End, Gerry replaced Usama at the Ferry Road End and, finally gaining proper reward for his consistent excellence this season, took 5-18, helped by fine catches from Nawaz (over his shoulder) and Mr Creosote (standing up). This was a superb spell of swing bowling and, crucially, included the wicket of the dangerous Mel Lowe who had started to up the run rate with some sweetly struck boundaries. Andy K returned to pick up a couple of wickets and the Falkland innings closed on 130-8.

After a table-groaning Arbo tea which seemed to have everything except the wafer thin mint, Cross set about the chase at a fierce pace, as if determined to impress our distinguished visitor, past-President Bill Bauermeister. Norrie fell early to a ball from Porteous that either kept very low (according to the Skipper) or was far too full to pull (according to just about everyone else). With Mr Admin joining Nawaz there were no more 3s but the pace barely slackened as the outfield dried and the boundaries came more easily. Nawaz continued his excellent recent form with a very stylish 48 (why do left-handers look so much more elegant than the rest of us?) and Mr Admin scored a rather less classy 50, before Ziggy and Andy Q saw us home to a seven wicket win in just 21 overs. Top work, celebrated, as part of a Cross clean sweep, with many jugs. More of the same next week might be enough to finally lift us out of 7th place.

Bang 1

2011-07-25T21:03:00.008+01:00

Summer finally showed her sunny face this Saturday as the 1st's wound their merry way to the pleasant surrounds of Fettes School to renew acquaintances with our old friends Grange 2's.

With the sun shining down on a flat deck the skipper decided bowling first was the order of the day and stuck the Grange in. EC decided to open up with Shanners and Gary following his midweek michelle. Unfortunately he momentarily forgot the plan and threw yours truly the ball, fortunately he realised his error and made amends after one solitary over.

Shanners continued his great form of the season and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket or two in his first spell. Gary also continued his great start to his Cross career picking a up a couple of wickets in his first tight spell. Conditions weren't that easy for the bowlers especially in light of some solid Grange batting (apologies no book so I don't have names). The Grange opener hung around for quite some time surviving several appeals and the Grange no3 looked a very solid and handy bat, clattering a couple of big cover drives for 4.

If memory serves Grange had built a decent platform around drinks only 2 0r 3 down. Cross had bowled tightly without too many runs being added but without many wickets falling. Some very ropey fielding wasn't helping our cause, your author was particularly guilty when I rather worryingly lost control of my body somehow allowing the Grange to run a 5. Perhaps it was the heat but there was a definite air of lethargy in the first half of the Grange knock and at one point they looked to be heading towards a score of 250 plus.

Thankfully we were snapped out of our malaise, got a bit of fight and a very tight spell from Charlie backed up by Dougie and Pa.........The Bishop kept the run rate down and restricted the big no3's scoring (think he finished up with 70odd). As a result the other Grange batsman came in looking to up the run rate, whilst a few boundaries were dispatched we managed to contain any serious scoring and Stag wickets began to fall regularly. I think Gary picked up 3, and the rest were shared around equally amongst Bonners, CJE, Dougs and Bish? Special mention to Spickers who held 4 (5?) catches behind the stumps.

The skipper set the target of keeping Grange under 225 which was duly accomplished as at the end of the 50 overs they finished 210 for 8. In recent seasons we might we have let teams such as Grange off the hook in the second half of the game so it was pleasing to see us up our game in the 2nd half, even in the blistering heat.

After a splendid tea KF and Owais opened the Cross account in equally splendid fashion. Both Cross openers flayed the Grange bowling around the ground and we rushed to about 70 for no loss inside 10 overs (or thereabouts). Unfortunately Owais fell on 30 odd to a peach of a delivery from Philip and same bowler also did for Charlie with an equally commendable delivery. With KF and CA also falling around the same time we quickly tumbled to 90 odd for 4.

Grange had thier dander up, sensing a win and memories of the Crosslapso cricket of previous seasons began to creep into Cross minds. Spickers supplied further evidence to the hacking enquiry and despite the fact we batted all the way down, at drinks Grange were on top and we had undone KF and Owais good work.

It was imperative to stop hemorrhaging wickets and Shanon and EC did exactly this, cutting out the chances and just keeping the board ticking over. Just as they were beginning to open up again Shanners holed out to mid off for a good 30 odd to be replaced by Dougie. The skipper took up the need to hit a few boundaries displaying admiral spanksmanship with a number of hearty pulls. Unfortunately he failed to convert as well later on in the evening but that is another story.

Well supported by Dougs the skipper was caught on the boundary for a very good 40 odd. I can't remember exactly but at this point we needed just a above a run a ball for the last 6/7 overs. With your truly now in Dougs took up the challenge playing some admirable straight drives, good running and regular boundaries managed to see us home in about the 48th over, a well timed run chase. Credit in particular to Philip who looked like he has the makings of a good bowler and the Grange spinner who kept things very tight and bowled with lovely flight.

Pluses and minuses to take from the game from a Cross point of view, both in the field and with the bat. Our response when we were getting under the cosh was admirable as was people putting their hands up when required. Whilst this wasn't our best performance for a number of reasons it's a good sign to play poorly and still win. The next few weeks will define the season so lets hope we keep wining and have saved up a few good performances!

Activcity Trophy Tonight - OFF

2011-07-25T10:37:00.005+01:00

After the bang, bang, bang of Saturday, a whimper. Our opponents haven't got a side out for tonight, handing us a walkover into Finals Day on Sunday at Myreside/Craiglockhart. Semi-final vs Fauldhouse with the winners to play Marchmont or Drummond-Trinity.

Tuesday update - Fauldhouse have had to drop out of the Finals Day as they have already have an SCU Trophy tie and a League game that day, so we'll be playing Morton at Myreside at 12.30.

Bang-Bang.....Bang!

2011-07-24T00:17:00.006+01:00

Saturday results digest (July 23rd)

Div 1-At Fettes
Grange 2nds 210-8
Holy Cross 211-7

Div 5-Arboretum
Falkland 3rds for 130/8. G. Lohan 5-18.
Holy Cross 2nds 131-3 (21 overs) J. Bates 53, N. Shazad 48.

Div 8-Campbell Pk
Holy X 3rds 190 for. PVB 83.
DT 128 all out after 32 overs.

Further details to follow.

Presidents Trophy

2011-07-22T17:02:00.001+01:00

Presidents Trophy semi-final vs Leith confirmed for Sunday 7th August at Arbo.

Bishop Lynch...

2011-07-22T10:07:00.005+01:00

CA somehow came across this whilst searching for this blog. He refers readers to paragraphs 3 & 4!!!

Holy Cross 50^th Anniversary

In October 2007, Holy Cross Church celebrated its 50^th Anniversary.

Bishop Peter Doyle, Bishop of the Northampton Diocese, celebrated Mass on Saturday 20^th October. The church was consecrated with the sprinkling of holy water, the anointing with blessed oil and with incense.

The evening was also a celebration for Billy Walsh, who was awarded the Bene Merenti medal by Bishop Peter Doyle, for forty years of service to the church.

Mass on Sunday 21^st October was celebrated by the Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark, Pat Lynch ss.cc. The Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Order (ss.cc.) had served Holy Cross parish for over 25 years.

Bishop Pat Lynch also blessed and formally opened the new Pastoral Centre, built during the summer of 2007.

We give thanks for the achievements of the last 50 years, and look forward to the next.