2nd XI go down (Ooh missus) in a thriller at the Meadows.

[Nozzer's take on the match versus Morton 1st XI]

On the first Saturday in July the summer decided to make a welcome visit to the Meadows.

Norrie as usual elected to lose the toss and the Morton skipper perhaps learning lessons from the previous week decided to put the Cross into bat.

Irfan and Nipun were given the inevitable task of leading the charge at the Meadows on a pitch which historically can play tricks on the mind. Both seemed to find there feet in the early exchanges before Nipun -for the second week running -fell victim to the dreaded LBW rule. Smudger, umpiring took a bit of time before raising the finger which signalled the end of Nipun (on a footnote when asked later, why the hesitation –“I was thinking of anyway not to give him out however I could not find one”. Next up was JB the scourge of Morton the previous week however this week with 22 to his name a faint edge saw the keeper and everyone else in Morton go up in the air as did the finger of Mr Killey so back to the sidelines and the score was sitting at 25 for 2. Nawaz quickly followed, failing to trouble the scorers for the first time this season.

Norrie then came to the crease and after facing five deliveries an almighty shout went up for LBW. However, the skip had clearly hit even though it seemed he was the only man in the Meadows who was aware of this, after a short delay and to the total disbelief of the skip up went the finger OUT!!!!! Norrie made the point that he had hit it although it seemed to no avail. As the skip tripped off still protesting his bewilderment at the wrongdoing, in an act of great sportsmanship the Morton team beckoned him back to the crease and the decision was reversed. An act of fantastic sportsmanship which should be reflected on as this was a massive game for Morton; they showed competiveness throughout but mixed this with respect to both the game of cricket and to their opposition.

Irfan and Norrie then set about getting into the Morton attack and in the process Irfan reached his maiden fifty for the two’s. The score quickly got up to 120 + before Norrie was bowled for 33. Andy Millington arrived at the crease and he kept it safe [?] as Irfan kept finding the boundary at regular intervals. Two quick wickets fell -Millington and new man Trewartha following cheaply. This brought to the crease the inform Vikram, who was reminded that no sixes had been scored today. He promised the skip that this would not happen as it was playing ‘heavy’ today (????) A swashbuckling 29 then followed and you guessed it, it included two sixes, one of which- had it not hit the tree- may well have popped in for tea at Grange Loan. Irfan then fell, scoring a magnificent 83: batting beautifully in the process and cementing his place in the two’s - sorry Ken!!!, Vikram eventually went attempting another wee hit to the boundary!! Andy Killey and Smudger took us through to the end of our 45 overs (first time this season we have batted out) and giving us the grand total of 198 for 8 [one more than the 1sts score!].

All things considered, a very good score to defend.

Morton's openers came to the crease facing Gaware and Killey and they proved to be very hard to score off with Killey getting one of the previous week’s danger men caught sharply in the slips by Smudger. The bowling from the opening two was very tight especially from Vikram who was unfortunate to miss the bat more times than seemed possible. A couple of solid partnerships then swung the game in the favour of Morton: Karthick (39) and Veera (27) suddenly made 198 look a little vulnerable. Smudger was getting the ball to swing around and he got the scalps of Karthick and Veera both LBW. This brought Nathan to the crease.

After scoring 64 the previous week, we knew that he was the danger man and a very good bat. Unfortunately he did not let us his team down playing a series of well timed shots and scoring 48 in the process before falling to Vikram who at last got his rewards: edging through to the new keeper of the two’s our fourth in six weeks: Mr Millington [!!]. There is no misprint here Millington who in jest the skip thought offered to keep wicket and when realising the skip thought he was joking pleaded for the chance, when asked for his credentials to undertake such a mammoth task (ask Shifty or Spickers about that) gave the now famous answer for the Cross “I kept wicket at school".

The game was now getting to squeaky bum time as from cruising along at 116 for 4, quick wickets from Killey and one from Usama had the score sitting at 178 for 7: suddenly the game was in the balance and two wickets in two balls and Morton were 192 for 9 with 7 required. Try as we may we could not get the elusive last wicket despite several near misses and shout for a run out. Well played to Morton it was a very exciting spectacle where both teams gave it their all on a glorious summer’s day.

Special mentions go to Irfan for a fantastic knock, Andy Killey, Vikram for their aggressive and successful bowling and Gary T for a fantastic debut for the Cross and let’s not forget Mr Millington who took three catches behind the stumps.

Many plusses to take from the last two weeks where we have taken 30 points from 40 against a previously undefeated team who are top of the league lots to be positive on and that is what we should concentrate on for the rest of the season. A special mention and thanks to Nipun who returns to India this week before heading back to Aberdeen this may be his last game for the club for some time we wish him success for the future and thank him for all of the entertainment he has given us with the bat, good luck friend.

Batting:

Irfan 83

Nipun 4

JB 22

Nawaz 0

Norrie33

A. Millington 6

Gary 1

Vikram 29

AKilley 2

Smudger 1

Usama DNB

Bowling:

Vikram 9-2-17-1

A Killey 9-0-36-4

G. Trewwartha 9-3-29-1

JBates 4.4-0-33-0

Smudger 8-0-45-2

Usama 3-0-23-1