1st XI v Marchmont

Ellis jr sporting his new blonde rinse

With the temperatures barely into double digits and rain up until the previous Wednesday, Holy Cross 1st XI turned up for their maiden game at Campbell Park expecting a sloping bog on Saturday due to reports from those who often play there. Instead we found a lovely wee ground in excellent condition considering the time of year. It would have been ideal if someone could have turned the wind down a bit and maybe a couple of obliging truckers (I said truckers) had jack-knifed their lorries to block the traffic noise on the bypass.

The gentlemen in charge of the teams agreed to allow HX to bat first in a 40 overs aside thrash. Marchmont were somewhat under strength without Loeffen, Aaron or that South African dude whose name escapes me with the 4lb bat that takes out low flying planes.

Owais and Raja were invited to start us off and so they did. Raja raced to 48 (46 balls) before becoming the first man out. I joined Owais who perished missing a straight one on 63 (57 balls). Owais hit 7 sixes in total, 4 of which were his first 4 scoring shots including the second ball of the game!!! Raja despatched a couple too whilst clattering a few 4's as well. If this continues we'll be able to charge at the gate this season as the crowds flock to Arbo.

Jimmy McOscar arrived at number 4 and I left him to it on 22 (25 balls), politely chipping a dolly up to short cover. This brought 'the other' McOscar to the middle and a period of calm consolidated the scoring somewhat. Jimmy eventually holed out to square leg for 19 (36 balls) and the skipper was stumped by a good couple of yards after charging and missing for a nice 32 (37 balls).

The pitch was playing OK, a bit of a tennis ball bounce, but as I said earlier, for the time of year we had no complaints.

Gary T was now at the crease with new man to the club Julius Newman (see wot I did there?). They were able to keep scoring around a run a ball both ending unbeaten in early double figures giving us a total of 218-5. With Russell, Bonfield, Bainbridge and Worsnop not required, never mind the wiffwaffing Ellis, we appear to have a lot to be confident about in our batting this year. And not forgetting a delightful little footnote to Saturday with the news that 'legendary' Cross keeper Simon 'Hacker' Pickering will be available again this year.

Bonfield and Bainbridge began our attack meaning Worsnop and Raja would have to wait until first and second change. Shannon's 2-11 from 5 overs included the usual slew of stump-skiffing deliveries and batsman-confusing shimmiers before he removed opener Rees LBW. Bimbo (1-22 off 4) then took the most apologetic wicket of his career to date with a comedy bouncer which looped up over a whirling batsman before sagging down and onto middle stump. Both bowler and batsmen slumped and shook their heads in embarrassment as the rest of us cracked up.

Robin kept the comedy going when he came on. The first ball was a full bunger so he requested his specs back off the umpiring McGill. His next delivery was bang on the money, but his glasses became detached in the follow through and were handed back to Coco. 3rd ball is another full bunger much to our amusement, but after that he seemed to align with the force and get back to the Worsnop we're used to, finishing with 2-13 from 5 overs.

Then Trewartha and Dougie got a shot. The latter took a bit of tap in his 3 overs ending with 1-19. However he was turning it the proverbial mile and struggling to find a useful line, eventually switching to around the wicket. Meanwhile, at the other end, Michelle Five-for was helping himself to the tail with a typically devastating 4-5 from 20 balls. This meant no chance to see Julius turning his (left) arm over not to mention the skipper. And, like the batting line-up, not forgetting the absent dibbly-dobblying paddle-monkey from Morningside.

Our opponents succumbed on 92 and we were unleashed onto Saturday night a couple of hours early.

Almost forgot, we spilled about 5 catches too and I was dropped twice (woohoo).

1sts back on track with win against Largo

Holy Cross sought to arrest a run of recent loses by entertaining Largo on Saturday, on what Charlie had a earlier declared a good track to bat on. EC duly won the toss and opted for a knock.

We started well with Chuckie and Spickers hitting regular boundaries assisted by a few extras. Going against KF's pre match prediction of three, Si was only dropped twice this week but didn't quite capitalise as he has done previously this season and was eventually caught, bringing the skipper to the crease. To their credit Largo's youngsters came on, tightened up the bowling and proved difficult to get away. Charles fell next after scoring a 54 of classy shots, bringing KF to the fore in about the 35th over, (no book I'm afraid) too late to break club records but he added a good 21 followed up by a quick 19* from Dougster. When the skip fell for a gritty, nuggety, determined 58 the late flourish failed to appear thanks in no large part to a hat trick from Thomason. A change of ends worked wonders for the Largo OA producing three good deliveries to remove EC, Bonfield and Bainbridge. After our quick start certain commentators thought 215 might have been a touch light but the skipper's view that the pitch was a bit tricky and that 215 should be fine proved to be true.

Shanton and Charlie were the pick of the bowlers with Bonfield producing some superb deliveries and Chuckster on the spot for 10 overs. Both were rewarded with 2 wickets. The match was finely poised for quite some time but the required run rate gradually increased and when Spickering removed Thomason with a quickfire stumping things appeared to be going our way. Kinnear batted through with a good 66* and despite a good few catches going down ourselves Largo wickets fell and tight bowling from Dougie, Andy K, The Doctor and occasionally from Bainbridge left the Fifers needing 8 - 10 an over from the last 10 overs. It wasn't to be and we ran out victors.

I haven't got the figures but between the wides and no balls there must have been a huge amount of extras in the game. Credit to Largo for a good game played in the right spirit and some tight bowling from their youngsters (a couple of 16/17 year olds). It's always enjoyable to play against them and I'm sure we look forward to our visit to the Kingdom later in season.

Cross Cross defeated despite Spicker's Ton

Holy Cross 261-7
S. Pickering 117, K. Fraser 62.

Edinburgh CC 2nds 264/4 (48.2 overs)
Mazher 127*
Jaffrey 84

Worsnop 10/ 1/ 54/ 2
Bonfield 10/ 1/ 41/ 0
Ellis 9/ 1/ 33/ 0
Russell 4/ 0/ 28/ 0
Millington 6/ 0/ 51/ 0
Bainbridge 9.1/ 0/ 45/ 2

2nds lost:
Div 5 at Peffermill

Carlton 3rd XI beat Holy Cross 2nd XI by about 100 runs
Carlton about 220-6. Holy Cross about 117.

3rds beat Kismet 2nds
Believe McGill and Ellis Snr were in the wickets

Thirds get a mention here.

Last ball win for Cross in Masterton.

MDafs 124/8, 20 overs
L. Hayes 26, S. Rangaswamy 21*
S. Bonfield 4 overs 3/20
V. Gaware 4 overs /18
A. Killey 4 overs 1/33
C. Ellis 4 overs 2/20
A. Millington 4 overs 0/30

Holy Cross 125/2, 20 overs
S. Pickering 48, S. Bonfield 37*

A good solid bowling and fielding performance led with tight opening spells by Shannon and Vikram. Good to see Andy Killey back and bowling well - he was unlucky that several of his best balls went for edged boundaries. We took most of the chances and never let the MDafs batmen get into striking rhythm ('only' 11 boundaries conceded), though there were a few too many wides. Andy G's bloodied knee illustrating the efforts made in the field. Their 124 was a little under-par given a decent firm deck (though the outfield was a little thick).

Spickers got the reply off to a positive start, smacking his first ball for 4 and scoring a fine 48 off 39 balls. Shannon continued his good recent form, playing the anchor role. The Cross seemed to have a easy task when needing 3 to tie (which would have been enough - us having lost fewer wickets) or 4 to win from the last over. A series of dot balls caused some tension amongst the watching Crossers (especially the next batsman) before a wide and then a scrambled leg bye secured the tightest of victories.

We will play Stenhousemuir or Marchmont (away) in the next round. Revised draw here

A very pleasant evening's cricket and as always against the Muffers a good-natured game. Their VC's view of events here.

Casual Cross 1sts Claim 2nd Win

The lack of the promised umpires and then the lack of stumps (!) set the scene for a slightly sluggish start to the match. The pitch was shaved low and firm on top but it was clear from Shannon’s first short ball that bounce would be slow and a bit low. With Simon delayed, it was fortunate that Shifty could take over behind the stumps; doing well and leaving EC with a Clegg-like choice: go with the slightly grumpy incumbent or choose the younger man. Shifty's injured thumb relieved the skipper from taking this tricky decision.

Despite a couple of early wickets, the Cross were rather passive in the early stages as Hopcroft and the experienced Dale put together a solid partnership. A missed chance and some other misfields didn’t help and though Dougie trapped Dale lbw (and - following the Dr's example - injuring himself whilst celebrating!), this only brought in the dangerous Farooq.

He smacked 5 big sixes in his 35 and Glens were soon in the ascendancy. Andy got him with a short one that kept a little low and his skiddy bounce helped him gain figures of 5-41 (a week after taking 5 for the 2nds…hope he’s in your fantasy side). Among his wickets were two good c & b’s. Hopcroft finally fell for an excellent 73, mixing good defence with strong cuts and his trademark lofted drives. 189 was a competitive score and perhaps 40 more than would have been achieved against a tighter bowling and fielding display.

Openers Ellis and Pickering were given some gifts by some erratic Glens bowling and were soon on top. Pickering in particular was busy and ran well until running out of puff and falling for 51 out of an opening stand of 90. Charlie lost a bit of concentration and fell to a good nut from Hopcroft.

As the ball got softer and the Glens bowling got tighter, the Cross batsmen started to struggle and the run-rate fell to a trickle. Shannon lofted one to mid-off and Euan and Praveen were dismissed by Khan, returning with a good spell from the top end. 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…C. A. Smith clearly the early leader in the 'race' for the Bradley Trophy). The Cross run-rate declined to a trickle before specialist tonker Vikram joined the action and struck his 4th ball for a big straight 6 to complete victory.

Some good play from Cross but far too much sloppy stuff. A better standard of play (especially in the field) will be needed this Saturday at home to Carlton 2nds.

scorecard here

brief mention for Spick here

Gloomy Finish for 1sts

In a game which finished in near darkness at Myreside, the 1sts ended their Division 1 campaign with a heavy loss vs Watsonians 2.

Watsonians 227-9
4 wickets for Bonfield

Holy Cross about 155-9
Ellis 35, Pickering 32.

After a good start with the ball, our bowling and fielding dropped off badly against some good batting from Learmonth and Fox. At about 80-2 we were in a the game before a fine spell of quick outswingers by Learmonth (3/13) helped settle the game. Combined with Carlton 2's comprehensive win over Glenrothes, the 1sts will (I think) finish in 4th place-equal to our perfomance in 2005.

KF on the Cross - Cup Final report.

Bimbo fires one down.

After much pleading, KF has contributed this report on Sunday's cup final.

A lengthy warm-up, a huddle and even a pre-match sing song couldn’t give Musselburgh the impetus required to defeat Holy Cross who were having their second crack of the year at the Presidents Trophy. Winning the toss, Holy Cross opted to bat first on a cup final standard Myreside pitch (with just a few low spots). A pity the groundsman couldn’t do anything about the strong wind but this just made it feel a bit more like Arbo.

Ellis (4) was out lb to the 4th ball of the game, so Bonfield arrived to play the anchor role while Pickering flashily set about the bowling at the other end; their partnership was worth 48. When Bonfire (6) was bowled, CA Smith (39) joined the free hitting Spickering taking the score to 131 before the fall of the 3rd wicket. At one point Calum was dropped by the keeper before smacking the next ball for our only 6 of the innings. Si also cashed in on his luck, dropped 3 times and bowled off a no ball but posting what was effectively a match winning score of 73. The Musselburgh fielding had begun poorly and hardly improved, with countless dropped catches as well as a few extra runs from overthrows. I think this was the difference between two evenly matched batting and bowling sides. There certainly isn’t a two division gulf between the clubs, illustrated by Musselburgh’s previous defeats of Division 1 pace-setters Fauldhouse & trophy holders Watsonians 2’s. With such a good platform (131-2 off 30), the Cross hoped to post 200+, this was then revised to 180, but some good spin bowling by Bhardwaj (5-32) and a trademark collapse by Cross batsmen (E Smith 4, J Bates 13, K Fraser 6, R Bainbridge 0, V Gaware 0) kept the Division 1 side to 172, Astley (4) being run out on the very last ball leaving Nawaz on 5 not out. I refuse to have a go at neutral umpires so shall not make any mention of my own (ct behind, lbw/ stumped) dismissal.

Like HX, Musselburgh lost their top league run scorer in the 1st over: an over ambitious pull against Bonfield (1-29). Musselburgh then set about the opening quicks. The left-handed Tucker (30) in particular caught the eye but he chipped one up in Charlie’s first over and was well held by the skipper. Despite a solid and impressive 49 by A Tufail, the Cross bowlers, particularly with a great spell -though hampered by his now traditional hand injury-either side of drinks by Ellis (2-16) & Gaware (0-30) reined in the run rate and with some uncharacteristically good fielding, the pressure began to mount on the seasiders. From 113-4, they tumbled to 126-9 as veteran Astley (2-30) joined in the fun. Bainbro (4-36) also found his form with 2 lbs in two balls (including the key wicket of Tufail-a tight decision-the 2nd totally plum) and the dismissal of the 7-foot tall opening bowler (Collins) who was bowled by a slower full toss and felt the ball had passed him above waist height causing much mirth (very, very unlikely). The final wicket, after a very decent last wicket stand of 19, came via a run-out-mix-up and the Cup was finally in green and gold ribbons.

Video (courtesy A. Graham) depicts: Dilly ct E. C. Smith bowled Astley 17 (Musselburgh 126-9)

Spickers and Bainbro the Key Men in Final Victory

The winning team.

Back row: Michael (12th Man), N. Shazad, S. Bonfield, C. A. Smith, J. Bates, R. Bainbridge, C. Ellis, C. McGill (Scorer).
Seated on Bench: K. Fraser (Vice-Captain), S. Pickering (Wkt), E. C. Smith (Captain), I. Astley.
Seated on Grass: V. Gaware.

Presidents Trophy Final at Myreside
Holy Cross won the toss and elected to bat

Holy Cross 172-10 from 40 overs
Pickering 73, C Smith 39, J. Bates 13,
Bhardwaj 5 for 32, Anderson 2 for 15.

defeated

Musselburgh 145-10 from 38.1 overs
A Tufail 49, Tucker 30, Anderson 19*,
Bonfield, 7 overs, 1/29
Bainbridge, 8 overs, 4/36
Ellis, 8 overs, 2/16
Gaware, 8 overs, 0/30
Astley, 7.2 overs, 2/30

2 catches for E. C. Smith, 1 for V. Gaware.

Champagne moment: Bainbro's slower ball to dismiss their hard-hitting No. 9.

More details to follow but it was an excellent game against a good Musselburgh side in a superb setting. Many thanks to the many Crossers (past and present) and our lucky mascot (Michael) who came along to support.

Press report here:
http://sport.scotsman.com/cricket/Cricket-Holy-Cross-in-.5559513.jp

1st XI Edge Roseburn Thriller

Though failing to reproduce the tight bowling and fielding performance of the previous week, the 1st XI began their East League campaign with a victory against Mufs at Roseburn (on a pitch already showing signs of improvement - having been rolled for the first time in a decade).

We made 189-6, failing to fully capitalise on a superb opening partnership between Simon and Calum but giving us a good total. We should perhaps have defended it more easily after taking early wickets but Mufs' lower order batted with skill and determination.

Holy Cross 189/6 (50 overs)
(Pickering 58, E.C. Smith 42, C. Ellis 35*, C. A. Smith 25)
M. Asif 2/13
M. Clench 2/20

MDAFS: 174ao (45.2 overs)
(Patel 45, Asif 35, Devangere 27, Hubbard 22)
Bonfield 10 overs, 4/24
Ellis 7.2 overs, 2/29
Worsnop 7 overs, 2/35
Astley 8 overs, 2/34

A super game of cricket-with a good atmosphere created by the Rugby League supporters. Game interrupted for about 40 mins when some local youths stole 2 of the stumps while we were having drinks (1 stump retrieved by chasers)..