No white smoke as Shifty stays on - AGM highlights....

Recently, in the bitterly cold Green Room the appointments were made ahead of the 2013 campaign.

 

Jon and Shifty held court and took the proceedings forward with a resume of all things 2012 and we also had contributions from the floor - most notably from Doogie with a light hearted (at times!) report of his thoughts on the year.

 

 

 

With no plumes of white smoke coming from the portacabins, it was clear that we were to be blessed with Shifty remaining as President.  Mahmood, in absentia, earned his stripes as Vice-President.

 

1st XI Captain: Simon McOscar will lead his charges into battle for the summer.  Peeling him bananas will be Gary 'Wiff-Waff' Trewartha.

 

2nd XI Captain: Smudger will front the Mighty 2s and he'll be joined by the effervescent Brian Fraser.

 

3rd XI Captain: It's all change at the top! He's been Captain of the 3s since the Pope was an alterboy however Coastal Ken hands over the baton to double-jobber Andy Graham who retains his role as Match Secretary.

 

Broonster was returned as Social Convenor, proving that Tories can win an election in Scotland after all...

 

After the twittersphere was brought up to speed, Jon and Broonster gave an update on the plans for Fortress Arbo.  This seemed to be very well received by all attendees with the two being able answer some questions posed by the Green Room posse.

 

hx-cricket-tweeters

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

Caption competition

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

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!!

Parks Trophy comes home to Fortress Arbo

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....

Action from Activcity Finals Day

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!

Cross knock out Widows with Semi win

Cross were cooking by Gaz to hold on for a Parks Trophy Final showdown with MDafs next Wednesday at Edinburgh Academy's New Field.

1st XI debutant Gary Trewartha took 5 for 6 off 3.5 overs as Cross tried their best to throw away the game after a strong bowling performance!

However, with the beautiful evening drawing to a close over Fortess Arbo, Charlie & Vikram held their nerve to see Cross through for the chance of some silverware this summer.

All the pictures from the Semi Final class are here on
Broonster's Facebook

Of course, if you dont want to wait until someone gets round to posting a story on the Blog, you can (normally) get up to the minute Crosstastic action updates on our Twitter Feed. Go to @HXCricket

Trewartha Triggers Trophy Triumph

Scottish Widows 71a0 (15.5 overs)

K. Ramischand 25, E. Pickmere 17*
S. Bonfield 3/012/0
R. Bainbridge 2/1/9/2
C. Ellis 1/0/10/0
P. Lynch 4/0/16/2
G. Trewartha 3.5/0/6/5
V. Gaware 1/0/9/o
C. A. Smith 1/0/8/1

Holy Cross 72-4 (17.3 overs)

C. A. Smith 25, C. Ellis 25*
E. Pickmere 2/6

Captain Andy shoulders blame for 3's Smellies stinker!

With the 3rds always the Bridesmaids and never the Bride, it was an honour bestowed on Captain Chaos Andy Graham to lead his 3rds to a day at Arbo.

The sun was shining but unfortunately it was an interested spectators SON that shone brightly. The teenage Allan was on fire, taking an incredible 5 Cross wickets for a miserly 6 runs! His dad reliably informing us that he doesn't even get a chance to bowl for the school....

Nevin was first back to the sheds and it was Allan who unsurprisingly took the catch! 5-1.

Mahmood was clearly missing his opening partner and decided to rejoin him, trapped LBW and Lohan gave him the finger without delay. 20-2 after 7 overs.

It went from 41-3 to 44-5 as Allan quickly despatched Cunningham & Williamson, with the former throwing his dummy out the pram, his bat to the ground and his batting gloves across Arbo!

Coco came - and Coco went. Reaching out for the unreachable and a slight nick was caught behind. 44-5 and it was looking grim.

Ellis Snr was next to fall, LBW to yip, you guessed it and seconds later Ghafur was gone for a duck.

Lohan was skittled and Michael from the Rugby Club done well to miss the ball as often as the bowler missed the stumps. Finally, the Cross were put out their misery.

Sunday sees the Stockbridge Duck Race and the 3s were challenging them for the amount of ducks on show in one afternoon. We saw 4 at Arbo....

After Tea, a Cross 3's team took to the field with an unusual look to it - there were at least 4 without a bus pass!

An early breakthough from Captain Chaos in the 2nd over gave hope but Andy was quickly showing signs of pain as he clutched his shoulder - was it a torn heart-ilage at the prospect of a crashing defeat? The Broonster twice asking if a replacement fielder was required such was the concern..

Sadly, in the 15th over, it was erm, over. Fortress Arbo had it's gates battered - but not breached.

When will Arbo see it's likes again? Judging by other comments on here, not likely for a while...

All the match photos on Broonster's Facebook

Pictures from Cross v Casuals now online!

Usama has an interesting bowling technique!

Pictures from FortressArbo are now available via Broonster's Facebook

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