SIoppy Cross punished by Van JaarsveId

Activcity Trophy Semi -at Meggetland

Marchmont 124ao
Van Jaarsveld 49
Loeffen 30

Bonfield 4/19/3
Bainbridge 2/24/0
Marsh 2/19/0
Trewartha 4/21/3
Russell 4/27/2
Ellis 4/9/2

Holy Cross 117-7
Ellis 43
Mahzer 37
Loeffen 3-13

Match report:
11 pIayers ready to pIay at toss time wouId heIp
Catches win Matches
Don't bowl short dross to a strong man with a 4lb bat!
Don't smack it straight to their best fieIder

But at Ieast it aIIowed  to enjoy the very entertaining finaI between
 Marchmont and MusseIburgh- Marchmont winning by 1 run
well done to them. report here

Cross Scramble into Activcity Semi

Activcity Quarter Final, Arboretum, 14th August

Murrayfield DAFS 119-7 (Sam Fergusson c30)
Holy Cross 119-6 (Owais Mazher c60, Charlie Ellis c30; Bharat Nussum 3 wkts)

Good game. HX scrambled a bye to the keeper off the last ball to tie the scores and win by losing one less wicket.

Cross squeaked through to the Activcity finals day (Sunday August 26th at Myreside/Craiglockhart) in an excellent game versus MDafs - adding to a long list of epic HX vs MDafs contests since THAT game in 2004.

A generally solid bowling performance with Andy K (plenty movement!) and Shannon's spells the pick and cje's the lowlight. Unusually we displayed some good fielding; especially from an unprecedentedly mobile cover field (Nawaz, Tom and Andrew R). We kept MDafs to 119: rather more than seemed likely at the 10 over mark - some good hitting from Fergusson helping their cause.

With a recently cut outfield and a decent pitch, 119 ought to have been more easily reached. But a slightly slow start put us behind the rate before some fine striking from Owais and steady play from cje seemed to have put HX in control.

But when cje and Owais were dismissed, the gloom descended further, the MDafs bowling tightened-up (Akerkar and Bharat) and we found ourselves struggling to pick up runs with any consistency (too many dot balls).

Some vital late boundaries from Jon and Shannon and energetic running from Tambo put things back in our favour before a late flurry of wickets made MDafs the favourites. With 2 balls remaining we needed 2 for the win and 1 for a tie but a swing and a miss meant that we had to rely on a scrambled bye to the keeper (would it have been a run if the keeper had hit? McGill said it would have required the 3rd umpire...).

Anyway, it all seems to suggest that Gary's long-distance running training has finally paid off..

This was exactly the scenario when we LOST the final last year. Indeed it will be Marchmont we play in the Semi-final (at Myreside).

Holy Cross Ignite Despite Absence of Bonfire!

 The newish look Holy Cross first team was missing cup final hero Bonfield but secured a well deserved victory against a rusty looking Watsonians.  The writer (EC Smith) was making unusually good time, aided by his father's car, and arrived at arboretum a full five minutes before play commenced!  Big hitting opening batsman Owais Mazher followed ten minutes later having, ingeniously, arrived fully clothed in his whites in order to 'save time'!  Flawed logic or genius, I'll leave it up to you to decide!

This question aside, play commenced on schedule and the firsts appeared to have pulled off their customary psychological trick of appearing like a bunch of reprobates while still starting the game strongly.  GT, buoyed by his promotion to vice-captain in the absence of the injured Keith Fraser, took on the responsibility of 'pack-leader' and performed with gusto in the opening overs.  Veteran Flannigan looked in determined mood but, after shaping a couple away, GT had him shoudering arms to one that nipped back and the middle and off bail went flying!  Queue high fives and celebrations coupled with cautionary warnings that the gritty Fox was arriving at the crease, no doubt wishing to continue his good record against the Cross.

Fox nudged and nurdled, along with Yellowless , in relatively benign early season conditions and skipper Russell shrewdly resisted the temptation to over attack at this point.  After ten overs, GT and Raja made way for McCoscar and Ellis, as the Cross looked to stifle the opposition in what was a slightly hesitant looking 2nd wicket partnership.  The skipper's patience was rewarded in the fifteenth over when Ellis teased Fox down the wicket and Shifty took a smart stumping chance to spark further celebrations.  At around 35-2 Holy Cross were amongst the wickets and had also kept things tight resulting in a sense of anticipation as to how Watson's would respond. 

However, apart from a couple of enterprising strokes from new batsman Fleming, the visitors continued to creep along at a fairly slow rate.  It must be said though, that this was largely to do with the quality of the bowling, as McCoscar and Ellis bowled with real control and intelligence throughout this period.  As a result, this sense of anticipation had started to give way to a sense of inevitability, as The Cross secured their third wicket when McCoscar trapped Yellowless lbw.  Holy Cross then pushed home their advantage, with McOscar grabbing two further wickets, to leave the visitors in real trouble at 60-5 during drinks. 

Having taken his match total to three wickets, McCoscar looked to be tiring slightly as he made way for a Raja 'blast' after drinks.  Holy Cross's new 'tough man' repaid the skipper's faith in him as he got rid of the dangerous looking number 7, after inducing a leading edge.  Raja then turned on the style in his next over when a well disguised slower ball, which would have done for many a batsman, was edged to gully.  A slightly unnecessary run-out of Fleming later, who probably represented the visitors last hope of posting a competitive total, meant the visitors were lurching badly.

At around 80-8, the vice-captain then demonstrated an innate understanding of the privileges which can come with power, promptly 'finding' himself back in the attack.  No one was complaining of Machiavellian methods, however, as GT burst through the tail to leave Watson's with a substantially under par total of 83 off 34 overs.

After a tea notable for both its quantity and quality, The Cross then set about their total in earnest...  However, after a couple of sound shots through cover, McOscar nicked one off Leggett and departed early on for just 4 runs.  Only one more run than wicket for the kiwi but, for those who have witnessed him in pre-season nets, one suspects it is only a matter of time before he gets to grips with the Scottish wickets and puts runs on the board. 

This wicket brought CJ Ellis to the crease to join the ever ready Mazher and the scoreboard soon started to tick over at a comfortable rate.  Progress was relatively serene, although Watson's should have seen Mazher depart on around 25, when he was dropped after miscuing a trademark stroke over the wide mid-on region.  However, a huge 6 from Mazher and some fluent stroke-play from Ellis saw Holy Cross complete a surprisingly straightforward 9 wicket victory, with Mazher finishing on 44* and Ellis 30*.

There will be greater tests for the first team, including (no doubt) Watson's themselves later in the season, but this continued a good start for The Cross under the stewardship of Dougie.  

         
EC Smith;