Mixed fortunes for the Cross.

Given that it was a sunny afternoon I decided to wander down and see how the Cross were getting on. I was impressed by the young athletes flinging themselves around the park...but I soon moved on from The Grange and arrived at Arbo.

There, a familiar looking 2nd XI were in confident mood having bowled out Glenrothes 3rds for 103. Despite arriving late (forcing Michael to sub field) Smudger picked up 5 wickets.

I nipped over to Inverleith to catch the final 7 balls of the match.. The firsts had recovered from 35/6 thanks to a decent partnership between Owais and Robin but 84 was never likely to test SMRH 2's (especially on a true artificial pitch..)-they surpassed HX's total in just under 20 overs. Disappointing after last week's good start to the season.

Back to Arbo. Coastal Ken had been dismissed (a lengthy duck) but Ziggy (47no) and JB (35no) knocked off the runs with relative ease (even if Jon did receive a couple of let-offs). Confidence building win for the twos.

Post match drinks in the Arbo sun made me think I'd stepped through a wormhole...same people*, same view... same chat..
*in fairness there were a few new faces, which is encouraging to see.

But where is McGILL?????

Undercover photography reveals Mufs' desperate measures

In order to counter the HX pace seam quintet, Mufs have been panicked into acquiring a bowling machine capable of recreating the speed and movement of the Cross attack. Unfortunately it isn't able to recreate the deliveries of the '5th man', as it doesn't have a setting below 40 mph.

The other picture shows the dry, grass-less surface that is being prepared to subdue the Cross seamers. Luckily we can counter this by fielding at least two front-line spinners with Ziggy's mystery variations as back up.

Cross 1- Largo 1, 3rds Won!

Saturday results digest:

1sts.-at East Drive, Largo

Largo 92ao
R. Worsnop 3/19
S. Bonfield 3/22
P. Lynch 2/22

Holy Cross 93/1
E. Smith 30*
S. Pickering 24
C. Ellis 29*

2nds (Arbo)
Holy Cross 2nd XI 139 (R Samuel 37; R Mowat 3-5)
Largo 2nd XI 140-8 (G Lohan 3 for not many but more than Bob Mowat).

Reports on the above matches (from Largo perspective)
http://tinyurl.com/6ksepmj

Admin adds: A brisk start against the Largo openers took us to 60-1 after about 12 and briefly sparked dreams of 200+. The introduction of slower change bowlers, notably the evergreen Bob Mowat, brought wickets and slowed the scoring so far that 100+ now looked good. Big hitting from Roshan (two 6s this week) made 150+ look possible before the last two wickets fell in two balls.

Vik and Roshan then bowled tight, accurate opening bursts before Gerry took three wickets in a typically skillful and miserly spell. With the opposition 60-odd for 4 and later 100-odd for 7 20 points looked on, but some sensible and spirited batting from the young tail saw Largo home. Certainly better than last week, especially the catching, but still much room for improvement. PS - nice to see Popey on a flying visit from Leeds.


3rds (Inverleith)

SMRH 3rds 177-8
Robin MacQueen 45, David Naper 32, Ewan Campbell 25*
Keith Geddes 2-30

Holy Cross 3rds 178-6 in 36.3 overs
Mike Nevin 39, Brian Fraser 31*, Ken Lawrie 25
Oscar Ball 2-32

...further details to follow...

'We have to get rid of old attitudes' says Two Dogs

http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Robin-Worsnop-We-have-to.6326118.jp

Think what he's saying is while our teas have improved in recent decades, the food offered in the Arbo Green Room could be better. Bags of out of date crisps, crumpled sandwiches and broken biscuits are no longer likely to attract the discerning visitor.

btw, for once the Scotsman spells his name correctly!

Two Dogs or Two Shots?

Apparently Mr Worsnop has (again) been the subject of attention in the Scottish press.

Given that he seems reluctant to associate his business with the HX blog (...), we won't link to it here.

But Crossers may be interested in this biographical article:

http://tinyurl.com/yz6ba8e

Those who played with him at Craigmillar Park may be surprised by his comment: 'I occasionally play golf very badly.' Seems like 'occasionally' he also plays it very well - especially when hitting a 4 iron uphill...