Smudger contributes to CS Blog

http://www.cricketscotland.com/cricket-scotland-bloggers-page/groundsman-blog/

Cross beat the rain...and their opponents as Psycho goes on the rampage!

Div 1 (Grange Loan)

Holy Cross 1st XI 144ao (S. Bonfield 45, C. Ellis 38; H. Aslam 4-26)
Carlton 2s 121 (N. Pietsch 48, Majumder 30).
Worsnop 7-1-20-2
Bonfield 8-1-20-1
Lynch 10-3-22-2
Russell 10-1-18-1
Ellis 6-0-21-2
Bainbridge 6.2-1-15-0

On a tricky wicket we were soon 16-3 as Owais (after starting nicely) played across an straight one and the two Smiths were undone by extra bounce from Mackay. Bonfield and Ellis put together a solid partnership of 62 before (just as he found some fluency against the Carlton spinners) Ellis tried to cut one too close to him. The lower middle order failed to build on this decent platform, with only Dougie (a v nice 18) and Lynch (10) getting past 1. When Bonfield fell for a very handy 45 the innings rather subsided with several ill-advised lofted strokes against Aslam's well-flighted leggies; we were all out in the 44th over about 30 short of a good score.

Carlton also started badly in the face of testing opening bursts from Bonfield & Worsnop. Shannon getting McPherson ct behind for 0 for the 2nd time in 13 days (6 balls in total) and Robin getting Barrett (who was unable to take advantage of a horror drop by Pat in Shannon's 1st over) and then Hunt. But Carlton had depth in batting and Majumder and Duerden played some fine shots as a few looser deliveries were sent down. They put on 48 before Pat had Duerden lbw and this sparked a collapse: from 57-3 to 66-7. Pat was in the middle of a hostile spell: the highlight the bouncer that Well's gloved behind. However our momentum was somewhat checked by the frequent interruptions for rain-thankfully none of the showers lasted too long and the covers kept the pitch and footholds in a playable condition.

Dougie also bowled very nicely, including a fine c & b off Majumber who had seemingly targeted him. However Pietsch (who had scored a good 60-odd in similar conditions/ circumstances at Arbo recently) remained. Bimbo bowled a good late spell to ensure that the required run rate remained high-a late maiden by Shannon also helped in this regard. Only Aslam offered him much support, but once they were 9 down Pietsch found another gear and he put on 24 with Mackay (1*) before a mix up left Pietsch scrambling in the mud just short of his ground (the equation at this point was 24 req of 4). Hardly a perfect performance (as well as a disappointing batting performance, there were 2 v bad drops that might have cost us badly on another day) but a good game to win versus able opponents.

Div 5 (Arboretum)
Morton 229-8 (Nathan 64) lost to Holy Cross 2nds 230-3 (J Bates 129*)

Div 8 (Station Road, St Andrews)
Holy Cross 3rds 122 : Largo 3rds 116.

further details to follow....

CA knock can't prevent Cross loss in Masterton

EC reports that in the Masterton Trophy 1st round (at Goldenacre):

Heriot's 187 for 3 - Bainbridge was pick of bowlers and V Gaware looked dangerous, clean bowling a former Scotland international.

Holy X 96 for 8 - Confident and stylish knock of 57 from CA Smith.

Good luck to Heriot's in the next round.

Holy Cross Cricket Glossary (part 1)

Playing for the Cross can be a confusing experience: things are not always what they seem. For new and old Crossers alike, a glossary explaining commonly used euphemisms phrases may prove useful. The composition of the glossary is currently in its early stages and so would benefit from the input of the Cross membership.

• “Thanks for now” - you might get another spell-but after that dross, not today.

• “Unlucky, Good effort” - a drop

• "Good finish" - the last two were ok but a shame about the three pies that you began the over with.

• “You deserved that” - yes but not with that ball, Ian.

• “Unlucky, it did keep a bit low” - yes but why the hell were you trying to pull a good length ball on off stump, Smudger.

• “Good areas” - no pace, no swing, no threat-but at least you pitched somewhere near where it should be.

• “A bit more flight” - give him one he can really smack.

• “Good chase” - but why couldn’t you simply have stopped it instead of letting it go under you, necessitating the 50 yard chase and three unnecessary runs.

• “Good backing-up” - you did well to cover a shy at the stumps that was 10 yards off target.

• “Good arm” - 10 yards wide of/over the keeper’s head

• “Unlucky, those chances either stick or they don’t” - they never seem to stick with you.

• “Sorry, I thought there was two there” - I knew I could make it back at least.

• “Sorry, I thought there was one there” - yes but not for you Richard.

• "good pick up Coco!" - Shame you weren't as adept at picking the ball up as picking up your lighted fag.

Cross Fisted by Arrows

The 1st XI turned up at Grange Loan unsure whether the weather would allow any cricket to be played, as it turns out the rain only rained on the Cross parade as Carlton ran out comfortable winners.

After a brief rain delay Carlton batted first and wickets proved hard to come by for the Cross bowlers with the Morningside men getting of to a steady start. Things might (might) have been different if a couple of very difficult chances off the opener Lockie (to be fair Spickers did well to get a glove to one chance and the other was a cover drive crashed at KF at sillyish mid, who did well not get injured) had stuck. They didn't however and Lockie proved the anchor of the innings putting together a creditable and composed 106.

Things never got out of hand though with some tight bowling from Andy K, Vikram, Charlie, yours truly and Praveen who narrowly missed out on a hat trick. At about 45 overs HX were looking at chasing a total of circa 225/230 which would have been acceptable, however some serious tap from the remaining Carlton batsmen, (Bhopal in particular putting the ball out of the ground on several occasions) meant they finished with a total of 255.

With our batting looking slightly weak this was always going to be a bit of an ask however when Habib who produced an excellent, pacey 10 over spell, ripped through our top 5 for very few on the board we were done for. Some resistance was offered by captain Pickering and a good knock from Praveen both scoring 27, however Habib was backed up well by the other Carlton bowlers especially Walker and we were scuttled for a disappointing 87.

Despite a poor week for availability no excuses should be offered, in truth Lockie's knock and the best spell of bowling I've seen in a good while from Habib won the game for Carlton. On this performance one wonders how Carlton aren't higher up the league and I look forward to seeing us demonstrate bouncebackability away to Grange next Saturday.

Steadyish 1sts overcome hatrick but are the only winners

1st XI
Holy Cross 215/7
E. C. Smith 58, C. Ellis 54, K. Fraser 21, D. Russell 19*
Thomasen 3/43

Largo 183/ 5
C. Kinnear 66*, C. Barclay 20, A. Warrender 29.
S. Bonfield 2/20 (10 overs), C. Ellis 2/26 (off 10)

2nd XI
Stirling 3rds 297/4
G. Taylor 105, G. Gardner, Morton 31

Holy Cross 142ao
A. Quinn 49, T. Wright 20.

3rd XI
Murrayfield/Dafs 4ths 146 for 7
R Mehta 48, C. Richardson 25

Holy Cross 3rds 124
C. McGill 24, R. Ellis 17
E. McDonald 3 for 13; R Kneebone 2 for 15.

Urgent Appeal

Recently lost at Arboretum.

If found please return to the club Secretary, as it remains unclear which Crosser it belongs to (the youngest members of the Robertson, Fraser, Worsnop and Russell families have denied that it belongs to them).

perhaps it belongs to this man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrp53wKHgb0