Crosser stars in Champions Trophy

Those following the India vs West Indies match may have noted that our own Praveen Kumar is playing for India...

While he only gets on as first change for the Cross he is opening the bowling for India:

http://www.cricinfo.com/iccct2009/engine/current/match/415284.html

Champions Trophy Highlights

For those unable to believe yesterday's result (or without access to Sky), highlights
are available here:

http://cricket-online.tv/sri-lanka-vs-england-highlights-champions-trophy/

Winter Social Scene

Gentlemen,

As predicted the social side of the club rather looked after itself during the regular season however it's over winter that the social secretary really earns his crust, so coming up over the winter months we'll try to sort out a few events. I'll not let on what's planned but a few folk have come up with quality ideas.

However to kick things off.......Holy Cross Winter Golf League!!

"League" implies some degree of organisation which might be stretching things, however let's kick things off by all those who are up for playing every now and then let me know and I'll take it from there.

Coming very soon - social stuff that involves beer/nippy sweeties.

Another attempt at restructuring

Further proposals have been made to restructure the upper echelons of Scottish Cricket.

http://www.cricketscotland.com/TwoDivisions

Unlike the previous proposals, this one would appear to have no impact on HX, as the National League would remain as 30 clubs: albeit in two divisions rather than three.

Leagues for 2010

Now that the result of the playoff is known, the make-up of the East League divisions for 2010 is as follows.

Division 1
Boroughmuir
Carlton II
Edinburgh II
Edinburgh Accies
Fauldhouse
Glenrothes
Grange II
Holy Cross
Largo
Watsonian II

Division 2
Freuchie II
Heriot's II
Kismet
Leith FAB
Marchmont
MF-DAFS
Musselburgh
RH Corstorphine II
Stirling Co. II
Westquarter

Division 3
Clackmannan Co.
Drummond Trinity
Dunnikier
Falkland II
Grange III
Haddington
Livingston
MF-DAFS II
Penicuik II
West Lothian II

Division 4
Broomhall
Dunfermline II
Dunfermline Carnegie
Edinburgh South
Edinburgh Univ. Staff
Kirk Brae
Peebles Co.
Preston Village
Stenhousemuir II
Townhill

Division 5
Carlton III
Edinburgh Accies II
Falkland III
Holy Cross II
Leith FAB III
MF-DAFS III
Musselburgh II
SMRH II
Stirling Co. III
Watsonian III

Division 6
Boroughmuir II
Clackmannan Co. II
Dunfermline Wanderers
Edinburgh III
Glenrothes II
Heriot's III
Largo II
Morton
Old Contemptibles
Penicuik III

Division 7
Broomhall II
Dunbar
Edinburgh South II
Fauldhouse II
Largo III
Livingston II
Marchmont II
Peebles Co. II
RH Corstorphine III
West Lothian III

Division 8
Carlton IV
Dalgety Bay
Drummond Trinity II
Dunfermline III
Holy Cross III
Kirk Brae II
Kismet II
Largo IV
Leith FAB III
Musselburgh III
Morton II
MF-DAFS IV
Preston Village II
SMRH III
Teuchtar's*

*Subject to formal approval

(no) Caption Required (No. 4)

It has been suggested that our 2nd team skipper has too often been the
focus of adverse comment on this blog.

Hence I implore Crossers not to suggest a caption for this photo.

Succesful Renovation

Under the supervision of our Facilities Commissar (Smudger), our Autumn Renovation was completed successfully on Saturday. The superb weather made things easier than in previous years.

The square looks in good shape and - with further efforts in April - it should (especially with a dry summer....) play well next season.

Thanks to all those who helped: Mr Admin, The Pres, Coco, Andy Q, (plus Robert and Michael) plus Spick on the container roof, and Mike N transporting loam.

PS If anyone's looking for some nice material for composting, there's a big pile of material in the South West corner of the ground (where we had our infamous 'unsafe' bonfire a few years ago).

Father & Son

Richard has joined his son Charlie as an award winner for his bowling in Div 8 - here are the top six

Richard Ellis Holy X 31
Colin McGill Holy X 25
Gerry Dodson Edinburgh South 24
Keith Geddes Holy X 24
Mak Raja Kirkbrae 22
Keiran Ramsay Peebles 22
Cheyank Gosain Carlton 21

The top 6 batters are

Mak Raja Kirkbrae 604
Scott Russell Holy Cross 415
Marc Swan Peebles 351
Mike Warren Broomhall 336
Shaun Barrett Carlton 296
Mike Nevin Holy Cross 290
Bill Hewitt Drummond 289

Crossdressers Required !

Assistance is required with maintenance work on the Arbo Square
this Friday (11th) and Saturday (12th).

Our Facilities Commissar has outlined the following timetable:

Fri 11 Sep from about 4.30 pm: scarifying commences
Sat 12 Sep from 9am: scarifying continues & square is spiked
Sat 12 Sep from app 12am: worst of the ends dug up
Sat 12 Sep from app 2pm: square is seeded then top dressed

All assistance (even if for an hour or two) appreciated.

UPDATE

work has been canceled this afternoon (Friday) due to problems with the scarifying equipment.

Smudger plans to start early on Saturday morning
(around 9.15), so any assistance then would be extra welcome.

Final Match Report

Carlton have posted a match report on the match between their 4ths and our 3rds on August 29th:





http://www.carltoncc.co.uk/fixtures_2009_4.htm#Aug29

The scorecard suggests that Scott DID get his 50.

BTW, did anyone leave their Cross cap at Grange Loan?-Ellis Snr seems to have picked up an extra one.

2nd team skipper delivers end of season message.

Having had his Blackberry confiscated by Mr Admin, he's been forced to post pseudonymously on the Cricket Scotland website in order to communicate to his clubmates:

click here
(see in particular the section below the photograph).

Final Positions Published

The Final League Tables have now been published on the ESCA site.

1st team: http://tinyurl.com/nrc6zh

2nd team: http://tinyurl.com/lb2uje

3rds: http://tinyurl.com/kmn5ut

A few Crossers also appear in the 'Top Performers' section:

Div 1: http://tinyurl.com/l4a5to

Div 5:http://tinyurl.com/kkekr2

Div 8 (yet to be finalised): http://tinyurl.com/ktob8y

Statto Reveals All

The final set of HX stats for the 2009 season have been produced by Colin McGill-and distributed via the email list.

Anyone who didn't receive them but who wishes to should make a comment to that effect below (though we bar non-Crossers given the useful insights they might give opposition teams).

There's an extra 'bonus' set of stats which include 'All-rounders by Wicket-Rate Ratio' and 'most slip catches per cigarette this Millennium'.

Awards for East League Men...it was all due to HJK

http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/features/Cricketing-coach-and-umpire-are.5608688.jp

Coaching Corner (No. 1: the Forward Defensive)

With the season now over, it's now time for every Crosser to focus on the areas of their game that will need to be worked on with the club coaches in our indoor net sessions. Such 'technical audits' ought to begin with the essentials of the game:

'The forward [defensive] stroke is one of the most important in cricket. Not only does it enable a batsmen to survive against good deliveries but it forms the basis of all the drives. Learn to play it correctly and you are half-way to becoming a good batsmen...[g]et well forward; bend the left knee; get onto the toes of the right foot. These are the three basics which must be observed'.
(Boycott on Batting, London: Stanley Paul, 1980, pp21-23)

Here Ellis Snr (batting at Grange Loan last Sunday) demonstrates decent technique, though some might suggest that his bat and pad could be closer together.
Perhaps blog readers can spot other technical errors revealed in this photo.