President's Plate Team Announced

The team as it stands for Thursday (Vs Casuals in the President's Plate) is:

Norrie Webb (c)

Andy Quinn (vc)

Brian Fraser (WK)

Abdul Ghafoor

Irfan Butt

Praveen Kumar

Nawaz Shazad

Smudger Smith

Coco McGill

Fin Clarkson tbc

Kevin Marsh tbc

Reserves Matt, Ross ,Sandy and Mahmood

Meeting at 5.40 at the Meadows for a 6 pm start. 

Remember Sunday !: -latecomers cannot be guaranteed a spot...

Russell turns the game at Arbo, 2s rained off, 3s ..... well!

Results digest:

Div 1 at Arboretum.

Grange 167 ao (48.1 overs)
K. Rae 52, W. Phillip 33, E Duboulay 24
D. Russell 3/27, S. Bonfield 2/37, R. Bainbridge 2/37

Holy Cross 169/3 (36.5 overs)
C. Ellis 65*, S. Bonfield 46*, K. Fraser 26, S. Pickering 23.
M. Enos 2/25
[cheers to Sandy R for scoring in the foul weather-and also for sending tweets from the 3rd XI and 1st XI games..!]

Div 5 (at Falkland-2nd ground): Holy Cross 2nd XI 154 (J Bates 64) : Falkland 3rd XI 32-1 Match abandoned.

Div 8 (at Campbell Park): Holy Cross 3rds lost to Mufs 4ths by a lot (108)-failing to chase down 214..

Mufs 4's perspective on this match in this thread:
http://tinyurl.com/44cpdyr

KF on ...... the Holy Cross Selection Committee

In his latest controversial* missive, KF turns his attention to the activities of the Selection Committee (current members: EC, SP(?), CS (?), MR (?), KL, CM plus match secretary).

Disclaimer: its contents do not necessarily reflect the views of Holy Cross ACC.

A reminder to all players:

1. The Selection Committee meets every Monday. To ensure total inaccuracy, this is conducted in a pub, preferably whilst taking part in the Pub Quiz. The process, documented in detail in the seminal 2009 document, Selection Problems No More, by the 1st XI skipper, involves pinning names of players (at least 51% must have unconfirmed availability) to a roulette wheel, spinning it and randomly allocating roles for the week within the club.

2. Players must make their unavailability unclear to someone who isn't Interim Match Secretary as soon after the fixture they are unavailable for has been concluded as possible. Accurate and timely information is frowned upon and may be dealt with sternly.

3. As soon as you become available, ensure you cast aspersions on every decision made by the carefree and thoughtless slackers who select the teams. These people insist on making a simple process incredibly complicated. to drive home the weight of your opinion, ensure that you cannot play the following weekend. Or the weekend after that.

4. Fit players are strictly forbidden. Any players reporting for a match in a fit state will immediately be put through a leisurely warm-up to rectify matters. For further reading see The Ecstasy & The Agony, the art of the celebration injury by Dr I Astley or Prof M Robertson's pamphlet, Marking out my run-up and other gunshot wounds, now featuring the bonus chapter The Pavement Sniper.

5. Any player unhappy with the team they are playing for is advised to wait a day until the teams are rejigged. To ensure total fairness this reselection is routinely performed on the evenings of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Also on the mornings of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. If a generally satisfactory outcome is reached by midday on Saturday, the allocated 3rd team skipper for the week (usually the 2nd team skipper) must take a bonus player from the 1sts or 2nds, especially if the 3rds only have 11 players.

6. When playing for the 1st XI, it is unsporting to beat any team in or near relegation difficulty. All victories must be obtained versus title-chasing sides only (but not Fauldhouse). In the 2nd XI, all victories are deemed unsporting and fielding with anything approaching competence is discouraged, especially by the bowlers who detest catches being taken off their bowling. In the 3rd XI, whilst victories are occasionally allowed, they should be restricted to those that are absolutely necessary to avoid relegation out of the league system altogether. It is also forbidden for the 3rd team to utilise a cricket pitch for games. Picturesque fields are preferred.

* you will recall that his previous post 'No Future' (still obtainable, whilst stocks last, from cje) was ruthlessly suppressed deemed a bit too controversial.

Thirds to appeal against ECB ruling

Third XI representatives have reacted angrily to the ECB's attempt to outlaw the double-bouncing delivery. Cricket Scotland have indicated that they too will ban this delivery.

This means that several weeks of practice by the third team bowling squad has been rendered a waste of time.

These bowlers had previously been inspired by the use of this delivery in test cricket and had found that it was ideal for surfaces such as that found at Campbell Park.

Fraser Flourish Can't Prevent Triple Loss for Cross

Given poor availability, 3 losses is not a major surprise - though still disappointing. 2nds were very unlucky with the infamous rain rule.

1sts
Holy Cross 141ao
D. Russell 55, R. Bainbridge 30, R. Worsnop 27.

Fauldhouse 144-3
D.J. Allan 50odd.

partial scorecard here

For the 2nd successive occasion, the 1sts failed in their attempt to beat Fauldhouse with less than 2/3rds of the 1st team. After an early collapse, Dougie and Bainbro put together a fluent partnership of 60 odd and got us back into the game. But despite Robin's efforts, the absence of our usual batting depth meant we were unable to get the near a competitive total. Hopefully availability will pick up next week and beyond.

2nds
PVB reports that:

Holy Cross probably lost to Edinburgh Accies by 0.002 of a run. Holy Cross scored 188 all out; their run rate is 4.17778. Accies scored 117-5 after 27.4 overs; their run rate is 4.17857. By multiplying the Holy Cross run rate of 4.1778 by 28 overs you get 116.98.

Is the target 117 or is it 118 if Holy Cross' score is rounded up to 117? Can you win by 0.002 of a run? Your views please!

There was no argument after the game - it was played in the most sporting manner possible. It does highlight the fact the old rule of a game counting after 24/27/30 overs of a second innings was made when we had the draw - without the draw it is a win/lose situation and unfair.

Ziggy will give his reaction at 3.17am.

3rds
Lost to Dalgety Bay by about 5 wickets - details below from Broonster.

Win, Lose or...Tie

1st XI
at Arboretum
Holy Cross 245/6 (50 overs) (20 pts)
C. Ellis 49, S. Pickering 47, E. C. Smith 42, S. Bonfield 39,
R. Dannreuther 36; B. Powell 3/32

Grange 2 181ao (50 overs)(8pts)
B. Parkinson 82; R. Bainbridge 4/ 29, S. Bonfield 3/22

further details to follow...
brief newspaper mention here

2nds tied with SMRH 2nds
91 for J. Bates
5 wickets Andy Killey
Believe we needed 1 to win off the last ball but a (direct hit) run out denied us. Fully story from Ziggy at about 3.34am

3rds had a narrow loss vs Teuchters
5 wickets for Gavin Morcom

details from? (bit of a lack of 3rd team reports-can someone volunteer-sounds like a good match)

3 wins..again!

Despite sustaining a suspected broken thumb, President Robertson was a contented man, gurgling with delight in the green room as all three sides won (yes even the 2nds!!) for a 2nd week in succession.

1sts beat Glenrothes by 3 wickets at Riverside Park.
Glenrothes 189/9 (G. Hopcroft 73, F. Khan 35, A. Millington 5-41)
Holy Cross 193/7 (S. Pickering 51, C. Ellis 48, C. A. Smith 43, F. Khan 3/25, G. Hopcroft 3/36)

2nds beat Leith FAB by 74 runs at Arbo
Holy Cross 206/9 (N. Metha 69, A. Cydzik 44, P. V. Bailey 20, Saeed 4/22)
Leith FAB 132 ao (McKean 69, Lohan 4/25, C. O. Smith 3/25).

3rds beat Preston Village at Polwarth Oval.Don't have full details
Think they made 170 odd (50 for Scott, 37* for Ellis Snr.....)
Bowling PV out for about 105 (4 wickets for Astley, 3 for Ellis Snr)

Rare Threesome for Cross on opening Saturday

All three sides gained victories on the opening Saturday of the season (though the thirds had begun in week 0).

1st XI
At Arboretum.
Holy Cross 204-7 (S. Bonfield 59, C. A. Smith 34, A Fleming 3/52)
Watsonians 2nds 160ao (R. Crosby 58, D, Breach 32, R. Worsnop 4/34, C. Ellis 4/19).

2nd XI beat Watsonians 3rds by 5 wickets at Craiglockhart.
see Ziggy's match report above.

3rd XI beat Kirkbrae 2nds by about 120 runs at Inverleith.
(with Coastal absent, can we have a guest match reporter? Scott, Smudger?-you have permission to mention your 3 wickets in 4 balls...or was it the other way round?).

3rds Lose Opening League Match. 1sts Lose Friendly.

The 3rds narrowly failed to defend 137 at Inverleith Park against DT 2nds (Norrie make 49 on debut and also - I hear - being the pick of the bowlers - and fielders!). 65 odd from one of the DT batsman made the difference. No doubt Coastal will fill in the details. Report by DT here; in which the Thirds are described as having several 'tedious slow bowlers'-is this a description of their bowling or their personalities.

At Arbo, the 1sts played out an enjoyable friendly vs Marchmont, Cross making 151 on their 40 overs, with Shannon making a good 50. Batting was difficult early on against some fine bowling from Marchmont's openers but there was some fairly fluent batting in the middle overs before a late collapse. Not a bad score given the soft wicket (it was an end strip) and the long grass in the outfield.

Despite generally tight bowling, a few expensive overs got Marchmont back into it and a flurry of boundaries helped them pass the total with a couple of overs to spare. Marchmont's Kiwi Matt Loeffen impressed with bat and ball (including a hatrick).

Holy Cross: 151 for 8 (40 overs) - S. Bonfield 62, D. Russell 35, C. Ellis 20, K. Fraser 14;
M Loeffen 4-9 (incl. Hattrick)
Marchmont: 152 for 7 (38 overs) - M Loeffen 52, N Chetty 34, N Ghandi 31*
S Bonfield 7-2-14-1
A Graham 4-0-14-0
P Kumar 8-3-19-2
C Ellis 8-2-20-1
A Millington 3-0-21-0
Co Smith 4-0-32-0
D Russell 4-0-26-2
Most importantly, after last week's wash-out, several 1st teamers had some 'middle time' and got through some overs. As could be expected, fielding was rusty....... The 1st XI will hopefully be up to full strength next Saturday when they take on Watsonians 2, at Arbo.Good luck to Marchmont for their 2010 season.

Frosty reception for Ziggy as 'Graveyard' slur mars AGM

Mr Admin will in due course be communicating the main outcomes of the AGM, held today in sub-zero conditions.

The only moment of controversy (we’ll leave aside the President’s 3 hour address) was an entirely unprovoked attack, by our re-elected 2nd team skipper, on the 3rd team. His description of the 3rds as a ‘graveyard’ provoked uproar, especially amongst the more mature 3rd-teamers (Ellis Snr was provoked into phoning his lawyer during the meeting). Given the President’s warning’s about ‘factionalism’, one presumes that Ziggy will not escape punishment.

Breaking News...Cross to open with May Day Matches against Myreside Men

Leaked documents from ESCA seem to suggest that the 1st XI will begin their season at home to Watsonians 2nds (May 1st), while HX 2nds will be away to Watsonians 3rds (presumably at Craiglockhart).

The 3rds begin a week earlier (April 24th)-at home to Drummond/ Trinity.

Final Positions Published

The Final League Tables have now been published on the ESCA site.

1st team: http://tinyurl.com/nrc6zh

2nd team: http://tinyurl.com/lb2uje

3rds: http://tinyurl.com/kmn5ut

A few Crossers also appear in the 'Top Performers' section:

Div 1: http://tinyurl.com/l4a5to

Div 5:http://tinyurl.com/kkekr2

Div 8 (yet to be finalised): http://tinyurl.com/ktob8y

...3 wins...yes, even the 2nds

a great day for Ziggy and Coastal

1sts beat Largo (keeping them 3rd)

Holy Cross 184/7
E. Smith 72, S. Bonfield 60*
C. Barclay 3/29

Largo 117ao (6 points)
S. Bonfield 3/14, C. Ellis 4/ 24.

A solid victory built upon a partnership of 103 between Euan 'one shot'**
Smith and Shannon 'back playing like the pro' Bonfield which helped give
us an above-par score on a soft track.
Our strong bowling unit then squeezed their batting line-up (Shannon
taking the key wicket of Stinson) and forcing into them into some
over-ambitious shots on this type of surface.

2nds beat Falkland 2's (which may well have secured their Div 5 status)

Holy Cross 2nd XI beat Falkland 3rd XI by 6 wickets
Falkland 138-9 :(Biswas 4/24)
Holy Cross 2nd XI 142-6 ( A Quinn 50odd*, A Graham 36*) (having been 15-5, all to Alistair Melville whose 1st spell was 5-5)

3rds beat Edin South 2's (putting them 2nd)
Holy Cross 3rd XI beat Edinburgh South 2nd XI by about 65 runs scores- HX3 about 164-6 (R Ellis 67*, S. Russell 38) ; Edin South 2 about 99.

**most unfair- he only scored 87.5 % of his runs with a pull.

further details to follow

Holy Crocks (Youth Side) Snatch Victory from the Jaws of ..

Hi Folks

The game ..... (PS the youngest team for ages, we had one 16 year old and a few still in their 20's)

Home game to us! Promptly lost the toss and the oppo decided to bat, first blood to us!

As titular captain I "cleverly" delegated minor issues such as setting the field, bowling changes and general tactics to Scott (VC today) and concentrated on the vital matter of clapping, encouraging and such like! (Know your strengths eh!)

Andy G and Popey started really well - with no luck - but not too many runs on the board (even better return spells later on) - then Usama and Fazal came on - Usama first - bowled really well, throttled his runup back and got the rewards - excellent 2 wickets in two balls top of off stump and top of leg stump with beauties! Fazal - what can one say - a little reminiscent of the 'King' air, air and even more air, I swear there was ice and bits of sputnik on some (the team looked at me oddly when I mentioned it, it's an age thing!) 2 wickets, sharp stumping to Scott, and a total bamboozler - charge down the wicket, full speed retreat, attempted shot and bowled, boy he was pi**ed - both openers gone! steady runs, steady wickets, Richard cracking spell 8,2,17,2 and an amazing return catch (high left hand plucked a rocket)! Then the Broonster 3 overs 2 for 10! It was death bowling at its best! they only made 40 off the last 15! - Fielding everyone was great new guy Nigel excellent in the field as was Usama, Brian F and Popey (despite dropping 3 rediculously hard ones, took a cracker off Richard though!) some collosal stops too from everyone Mike running tirelessly despite his calf injury saved a packet of runs too, some great dives by Coastal, Broonster, Nigel, Popey and Brian too, high artisitic value all round.

Result - 138 for 9 off 40 (extras ca 25)

Good Tea back at Arbo (best part of Inverleith artificial by miles.)

Innings 2 (Andy G leaving early) Mike and Andy opened Andy out quickly trying to launch a straight one out of the ground and Mike out to a great catch low in the gully. Saviour Scott to the crease (38 I think), Brian stuck around and score ticked on, then Coastal - too many deliveries for 6, thankfully out trying to accelerate. Richard magnificent innings 23. Usama to the crease (a great 18 in tight circumstances, we need roughly 30 odd of the last 5 overs, followed by 9 off the last 12 balls Usama run out magnificently when we needed 3!) Nigel and Popey ran a wide to tie the scores and Popey gloved a ball to short third man to win it with one ball to spare!

What a team, what spirit, what an effort, what a result. Oppo were great, sporting and very friendly. It was a great game even for the neutral! Many thanks to the 1's who came down en masse to cheer us on!

We're on 79.67 % - played 12 won 8 go the CROCKS! 3rd or 4th I reckon.

Here ends Coastal's sporting report!

Wins for 2nds and 3rds; Bad Loss for 1sts

Results summary-details to follow.

1sts (at Arbo)
Holy Cross 131ao
C. Ellis 70
A. McDonald 4/22

Fauldhouse 136-3
Z. Ali 66
Bainbridge 2/23

brief mention in the Evening News:
http://sport.scotsman.com/cricket/Fauldhouse-see-off-Holy-Cross.5496312.jp

2nds (At Roseburn -artificial)
Won by about 8 runs
S. Bonfield 38, A. Cydzik 36, J. Bates 23
S. Bonfield 5/14.

3rds (at Inverleith Park-Artificial)
Drummond Trinity 2nds 138-9
Holy Cross 3rds 139-8
S. Russell 38, R. Ellis 23, U. Shazad 18


very exciting match won with 1 ball to spare: with Popey hitting
the winning runs via a glorious...er...gloved nurdle to short third man.
From the few overs I saw, some good batting and running by Usama and
Ellis Snr, with the latter doing his best 'Dean Jones in the 2nd tied test' impression.
Good to see the thirds up at Arbo-though a bit dissapointing that none of their opposition
made it.