Dorset Tour 2000 - An Old Git Remembers

Since there has recently been some reminiscence of the club's 50th anniversary tour to the South, I have dusted off a few grainy old photos which I didn't even realise I had.  There follows a short photo-journal documenting three of the four games as well as some of the 'recreations' and 'characters' to be found on tour.  It should be remembered that there is no such thing as a bad cricket tour - they are all hilarious in their own way.  This one was a doozey.

Hambledon, Hampshire:  The Cradle of Cricket.  Two of the club's elder statesmen absorb the atmosphere of the mythical Broadhalfpenny Down.  The Bat and Ball supplied the opposition.  Oddly their opening bowlers didn't have the physique of regulars.

The tour party.  Even at 2.00 we were late starting.

Eeyore and the Duchess of Bradley take the hallowed field - the first time a Scottish Club has ever played at Hambledon.

Meanwhile the rest of us soaked up the ambience.  After some early wickets I splintered the sightscreen on the way to a bloodcurdling half-ton against the second string.  A handy partnership with Euan took us to a respectable score.

Hambledon:  a ground steeped in history...

...beauty...

...and melancholy.

Sadly or luckily, rain spared us the inevitable cuffing, but that meant an early start in the Bat and Ball.  Great mirth - even Broon was seeing the funny side.

Also the brothers Palmer and King Kerr.

Must have been one of Nick Fisher's bons mots.

Chuckie dishes out the fines.  All revenues were used for charitable purposes, i.e. they were put straight over the bar.

.

Next day in picturesque West Bay, Bridport

I think this is Calum.  It's certainly not me.  Not his last ducking of the tour.

I send Dr. Astley to walk off my hangover.

A local sea dog scans the horizon for treasure ships.

The joys of the seaside.  I believe this was the day we were due to play Palmer's Brewery, following a tour of the brewery itself at 11.00.  Colin and I couldn't manage the early start so instead had a lie-in before having a plate of cold mussels, followed by a shot on the dodgems and a spin on the centrifuge at the fairground.  What better way to start the day?

North Perrott, Somerset.  "It's nice".  "Yes, too nice,"  "Have you seen the far boundary".  "No.  Pass the binoculars.  Crikey, it's in Dorset"

HCACC XI and Palmer's Brewery XI.

B. Palmer (ours, not theirs) evades a hostile volley.  His remonstrations received short shrift from the oppo, who appeared to be targeting his panama.  I think someone ran a five to that boundary. Not Brian though.

Euan gets his marching orders.

B. Palmer simulates having had an energetic match by taking a very, very hot shower.  The much cooler character in the suit is Mr. Cleeves Palmer of Palmer's Brewery.  I had hit another 50 that day:  44 runs through second slip and a six onto the roof of Mr. Cleeves Palmer's Volvo.  "Sorry to have dented your Volvo," I crowed.  "Not to worry - I'm trading it in this weekend for an Aston Martin."   Bastard.

E. Smith and Nick Fisher model the "Madchester" look popular among the yoof of the period.

Pitch inspection at Powerstock, Dorset.  Astley determines precisely where to locate his landmine.  Lord Admin saunters by.

The quaint village of Powerstock, including the Medieval church visited by one penitent pilgrim that day.  Having opened without troubling the scorers, Calum Smith left the ground in an epic strop for over an hour, during which he paid a visit to inform the angels that there was no f*cking way he was LBW.

The changing facilities at Powerstock.  Not sure who's behind the lens here.  Perhaps he was trying to obscure my identity.  Perhaps he should have noticed the message on the boot of the car.

Astley tries to locate the middle.  Waste of time.

With Broon as skipper we began amassing a solid total.  And continued.  On and on we batted.  And on.  Deaf to the entreaties of his team-mates he withheld our declaration until all hope of  a close game had been completely vaporized.

The fielder in the foreground would soon be hospitalised when Astley activated the landmine he'd planted on a length.  The next ball, to the new batsman who had organised the game and the teas and had missed his wife's birthday to play us, landed in the very crater made by its detonation and literally burrowed its way to the base of middle stump.

Palmer, a study in concentration.  Kerr, a study in relaxation.  It couldn't be any other way.

Yes, that's McGill in a tie, and he wasn't even getting married.

The evening's activities begin.  The smartness was due to our appointment at Arthur's, Bridport's celebrated seafood restaurant, where Colin amused the waitress immensely by ordering one main course, two starters and three bottles of wine.

Dr. Bradley savours the unfamiliar sensation of warm evening sunshine.  Or perhaps he was letting one go - by this stage of the tour the minibus was beginning to take on the miasma of Bombay pokey.

Broon, flushed with the kind of joy that can only be obtained by inflicting a 150-run draw on a friendly village team.  Bless.

Finally a pictorial composition of which Rembrandt would have been proud:  Last Night of the Dorset Tour, 2000.

KF on the 2015 Ashes (part 1 of 1)

Rejoice!!! Fans of the seminal erstwhile series 'KF on the Ashes' can sook from my proverbial cricketing teats once more.

I know, I know, the highlight of your Ashes series are my dynamite Ashes waffles. A series of comment pieces veering from incoherence to searing insight and very quickly back again.

I take this opportunity to welcome myself back to the pages of our esteemed/knackered old website and hope your time reading this is not totally wasted!!! My time writing it certainly was!!!

Since starting a job that keeps me down the pit 23 hours a day, 6 days a week, my opportunities for playing and watching our beguiling sport have become rather limited. I've not watched more than a few minutes of this series live, but have caught all the highlights on council telly and listened to a fair amount of slavering from the Anachronistas on TMS.

This adequately qualifies me to load up the old scattergun, fail to take proper aim and begin spraying grapeshot indiscriminately. Where to begin?

I suppose the short summation of the 2015 series would simply read 'inconsistency and unpredictability'.

The closest match was a 169 run margin.

1st Test - Eng win by 169 runs

2nd Test - Aus win by 405 runs
3rd Test - Eng win by 8 wkts

4th Test - Eng win by an innings & 78 runs

5th Test - Aus win by an innings & 46 runs

England won the series, as the home team usually does. Quelle surprise amongst most of my favourite easy targets, the commentators, who mostly backed the Ozsters pre-series.

Here and now I predict Australia will win back the Ashes down there the next time.

What transpired isn't what anyone understands to be proper Test cricket. I'm not saying what we got was better or worse than the 'proper' way. Indeed, I'd say we're simply witnessing a change in cricketing era. It will have good points and bad. Don't fear change, embrace it I say (are you listening No voters, ha, no doubt more of this sort of stuff later, but just remember, vote Yes next time).

For a while there Test cricket was treated to the odd session where a maverick like Sehwag or Gilchrist would shake things up by hitting two balls in the same over for 6. Two overs in a row. It seems things have turned full circle. The curiosity now is the innings-building, leaver-of-the-ball. We were even just 10.2 overs shy of a seeing two day Test. So much for the argument in favour of 4 day Tests, they're currently barely lasting 3 (when typing this paragraph, away off in the distance I can hear Smudger rumbling something like 'bring back the bloody draw').

The easiest ways to explain this of course are the emergence of big money 20/20 tournaments, better bats and contractions of boundary ropes (think I heard that Bradman only hit two sixes in his Test career, totally over rated obviously, indeed I see on Wiki his best bowling was just 3-35, giving me the chance to repeat my figures of 4-3 just this season and still not a single peep from CricketScotland).

Within all this lie Australia's fundamental weaknesses. The basic organisation and cohesion of Australian cricket just doesn't seem to be there. Firstly, the pool of under 35 talent to choose from is shallow. Then the selectors make incoherent selections in which the captain seems to have little say. Lets look at the visiting skipper.

"At 4 there is a patently unfit Michael Clarke"

KF on the Ashes 2010-11: (Part 1) - England Win the Ashes! 04/12/10

Clarke is a shadow of the player he was/could have been, primarily due to injury. I was telling the Aussie selectors years ago to pick fit players. But they know best. That Clarke has played when nowhere near fit displays both his own can-do attitude and the lack of fit or able alternatives. I think his decision-making has been quite average with his retirement looming inevitably causing some distraction (eg his review after nicking it).

But, and this is a big but, the Phil Hughes tragedy also appears to have taken its toll on Clarke. When one person primarily shoulders the burden of a national sporting tragedy, how can any normal measurement apply to their subsequent sporting performance? His demeanour these last few months is very reminiscent for me of the way Kenny Dalglish shouldered so much of the burden after Hillsborough. Clarke's retirement has been overdue I think, but he's more than earned it and now deserves to rest his body and mind as much as anyone.

Going forward without Clarke and Rogers (and Harris) and hearing precious little banging on the door, you wonder what the future holds for Australia. But is it really so bad? A 3-2 defeat in seemingly alien conditions.

Lyon is an able spinner for any Test team. Johnson, Starc, Hazlewood, Siddle & M Marsh give them tidy bowling options with Cummins also in contention. Nevill hasnt done much wrong (as opposed to the always whinging Haddin who obviously dropped the Ashes (Root on 0 in the first Test) then created backroom unrest when fairly dropped, team game mate, get over it).

Its the batting they need to sort. Warner and Smith have the ability to obliterate attacks in no time, but who else? Watson and Voges are 34 & 35, but even with this imperfect pair they'd still need two more batters just to field a top 6. S Marsh might eventually step up, but we're already clutching at straws. S Undries did well in the 4th Test, but not heard from him since. Where is that Nathan Agar these days?

England on the other hand seem quite settled. Cook has deflected most captaincy criticism for the time being alhough I think he's no better than average as an on field skipper, a role woefully under rated at the top level. Cook handing Australia the Oval Test a good example. Everyone knows why he chose to bowl, but he shouldn't have. Here is me six years ago;

"How on earth can teams, in such supposedly enlightened times, have absolutely no clue how to read conditions? I plead now for any qualified academic’s out there to get a PhD arranged to look into this. It might even be as simple as just procuring a barometer. "

KF on the Ashes p4 12/08/09

Alex Tudor told me via the radio that during his 9 years at the Oval, no matter what, it was ALWAYS a bat first pitch. Cooky bowls. England lose. Hardly mentioned. Criminal.

Elsewhere Root has been wonderful and always provides some immature mirth due to the antipodean connotations with his name. If only England could uncover a Jack Pump, Harry Jump or Julian Onenightstand to keep the theme going.

Moeen Ali is a real pleasure to watch while Broad and Anderson have been their usual selves, superb when conditions suit, humpty when they don't.

Two looming problems are the 'other' opening slot where Lyth will obviously struggle to continue. And a spinner. More on this in a minute.

Only two points left for anyone still reading!!!

I’m sure the use of ‘technology’ will force players to play more fairly, a process I think has already started. Surely a good thing. Bottom line is that more correct decisions are being made, games aren’t being spoiled by howlers from the umpires and players are in the main being forced to be more honest or being exposed when they aren’t"

KF on the Ashes 2010-11: (Part 4) - World Domination Beckons 08/01/11

DRS is proving to be excellent. Umpires seem to make less bad decisions. Matches are not unduly affected by wrong calls. And maybe most importantly, players behaviour, almost unnoticed, has markedly improved. You never see bowlers screaming and charging at the umpire any more. There is simply no advantage to be gained by it.

Further improvements I'd really like to see is where for instance an umpires not out call is upheld when the ball is shown to be 'only' 49% hitting the stumps, this should surely be out. Or at the very least a team shouldn't lose a review. If a ball is reasonably predicted to hit a stump reasonably enough to dislodge the bails, it should be out. Yes there was enough doubt for the ump to say not out, but Hawkeye predicts the likelihood it would have been out, so out it should be.

Lastly, looking forward for England, they're off to be trounced in the desert by Pakistan. The series will be lost the instant they announce their squad. It won't have the tools required to win. Namely spinners.

Pakistan will pick 2 or 3 average spinners (in their XI) who will tear England to shreds. England will start the series with Moeen Ali as their only spinner. The seamers will take none for plenty. Maybe in the second test, but probably not that soon, England will pick a second spinner. Still too little, too late. This is not rocket science, I leave you with my final dredged up quote from a previous blog.

"I'll make my view crystal clear. The four best spin bowlers in England right now should be in that Test XI. There is no sane argument against this. Not sure about that I hear you insanely say. OK. Chew on these series aggregates for the England bowlers in India so far:

(Overs/Maidens/Runs/Wickets)
Seamers   96   14   354    2   (r/r - 3.69, s/r 1 wkt every 288 balls)
Spinners  154  25   421   12  (r/r - 2.73, s/r 1 wkt every 77 balls)

If they played four spinners and they performed to those averages (those spin stats include part timers Patel & Pietersen too) and then someone said 'bring back Broad, Bresnan and Anderson in place of these keepin-it-tight-wicket-takers, you'd be locked up. And yet, that's where we seem to be.
One Spinner or Two - 23/11/12

Whatever happens, just remember, don't blame me, I voted Yes so what do I know!!!!! Tony Blair wouldn't listen, Jim Murphy was never going to listen, Cameron certainly won't listen, gadzooks, I even thought Coulson was guil...

Thats enough for now, go back to sleep - Lord Admin.

League Weekend 17

Saturday's fixtures -

• 1sts vs Murrayfield-DAFS, at Arbo, noon start.
• 2nds vs Watsonians 3rds, at Craiglockhart, 1pm start.
• 3rds vs RHC 3rds, home on the Inverleith Park arti.

Largo Conquer Arbo - 2s Lose

We lost the toss and were put in. If I'd been asked on, say, Thursday night, I'd probably have taken 189 for 4. I certainly would have once I'd seen the cracks in the track. But it proved not to be enough - Bob Mowat, clearly a better judge than me, said later that Largo would have been very happy with any score under 200.

Every batsman got a start and Owais (34)  and Alex (37) in particular looked like they might have a big innings in them but, until an undefeated stand of 58 between Vik (38 no) and Quinny (21 no) at over seven an over, we never quite got going. Which is a bit of a mystery. The pitch, for all the cracks, played true. Indeed both Owais and JB contrived to get out to full tosses. But we struggled to get on top of the Largo bowling, with the Baddeleys particularly effective (9-0-34-2 and 9-3-32-0 in order of seniority). It was all rather frustrating and TJ was sufficiently disorientated that he was mystified when given out stumped by two yards and had to retire to a far corner with a beer to regain his usual equanimity.

Largo's reply was rather more businesslike than our effort, more or less up with the run rate for the first dozen overs. We began to squeeze the required rate up a bit with JB (9-1-27-2) and Elmo bowling in tandem and with 17 overs remaining and Dom Coates out for a good 51, Largo needed 5 an over. They got there with three overs to spare thanks to a very good fifth wicket stand between Ben Coates (62 no) and Chris Barclay (22 no).

As usual it was a pleasure to play Largo. We wish them well for the rest of the season, although not too well as losing leaves us looking over our shoulders and even keener for Glenrothes to win the East play-off. Still, our fate remains in our own hands - a win against Watsonians on Saturday would be very handy.

PS - Broon often refers to Arbo as "the Fortress" in his tweets. He may need to find an alternative, at least when the 2s are playing at home. Four of our five wins this season have been on the road. "Arbodise" has a nice ring to it .....

2015 Active Edinburgh Finals

After a comfortable win earlier in the week, Holy Cross took on MDAFS on finals day on Sunday 9th August.

With the usual Holy Cross availability issues, we went from having 13 names last week to 10 men confirmed on Saturday evening, then to get a txt from KF at 11:32am on Sunday asking if we had 12 men available, as he was severely hungover, typified this seasons unavailability.

Luckily Owais had popped down to watch and quickly raced home to drop off his son and get his kit!

First up was MDAFS in the semi-final. Winning the toss, it was an easy decision to bat first on what looked to be a quality wicket at Myreside. We put on 136-5, with every man getting in to double figures – Zia with 39, Raja 27 and Kashif 21. Calamity struck off the last ball when Bacon turned to come back for a second. He crumpled to the ground faster than Dougie walking around the boundary playing boundary golf! The early prognosis wasn’t looking good, could that be a season ending injury…

Kashif picked up a 3 early wickets, as well as us getting a suicide run out, which left MDAFS struggling at 29-4 at the end of the 6^th over. Charlie came in to the attack and gave me some catching practice at deep mid-on, leading to me dropping an absolute sitter. 2 balls later, I managed to hold on to the next one, which required a lot more running and distance to be covered.

MDAFS then mounted a mini comeback, but with 7 wickets down and 38 required from just 18 balls, they were always going to struggle. The final 3 wickets were shared between Raja, Charlie and myself. MDAFS all out for 110 in the 19^th over.

 

The final would see us coming up against Saturday’s Championship foe, Edinburgh CC.

Another toss won, Holy Cross were to set Edinburgh CC a target to try and chase down in the final.

Raja and myself got off to a good start, 23-0 at the end of the 4^th over. After a lovely boundary, Raja then chipped one straight to mid-off, out for 18 in only the 5^th over. Zia and then myself donated our wickets, hitting boundary balls straight to a fielder, Holy Cross stuttering to 40-3!

Kashif blasted some quick runs and was then caught in similar fashion, 66-4 off just 8.3!

Charlie took over and batted superbly. Thanks must go to the ECB’s Steven Finn, as Charlie was caught out off a no-ball after Razak’s slinging action had displaced the bails during his delivery stride. KF came and went for 2. Dougie was next man out, hitting a well-paced 20 and took us through to 114-6. Charlie batted extremely well and finished with 39 (ish), which included a big 6 off the last ball of the innings to take the Cross to a defendable total of 134-7!

Again Kashif started us off on the right foot, taking 2 wickets in the 2^nd over, Edinburgh CC slumping to 15-2! With fielding restriction in place for the first 6 overs, I struggled a bit and leaked several boundaries. The 3^rd wicket partnership raced to 56 before a disastrous run out – 56-3.

In the 9^th over Charlie took the 4^th wicket, courtesy of a very good catch from Euan, Edinburgh CC now 56-4. Some late hitting and another spilled catch by myself, which took one bounce before crossing the rope, saw Edinburgh CC reach 99-7 with 5 overs remaining. 36 required of 30 balls, it was going to be tight!

Zia removed his keeping pads and took a critical wicket in his first over, 115-9. With 2 overs to go and one wicket remaining, Dougie bowled a great over that included 3 dot balls, meaning Edinburgh CC would require 11 to win off the last 6 balls.

7 runs were taken off the first 4 deliveries from Zia’s over, which took it down to the wire. Off the fifth ball the batsman missed, Euan fumbled behind the wicket and the non-striker took off. Euan calmly collected the ball and rolled it back to Zia who took off the bails at the non-strickers end, the umpires finger went up and that was all folks, Holy Cross were 2015 Active Edinburgh Champions!

I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the guys who played in the game’s leading up to and on finals day. By my calculation we used a grand total of 20 players over the 4 games, many who were from outside of the 1^st XI squad!

It’s that sort of contribution that to me epitomises Holy Cross! A bunch of guys who perhaps don’t have the skill or flashy 1 day coloured uniforms other clubs have, but still willing to give it their all. As skipper, I loved the fact that every guy on the field put in 100%, even those who were half crocked by the time the final came around on Sunday!

All in all, the day was a brilliant experience and a real team effort. Yes there were a number of guys making significant contributions at critical points in both games, but as a whole we won as a team!

I’d also like to mention the contributions of Costal and Elmondt, who both stepped up to play in the quarter final and then again in the semi-final on Sunday! Thanks also to Quinny who answered an 11^th hour call to play in the final, as he fielded particularly well and made some vital saved on the boundary. Without you guys, I have no doubt that we probably wouldn’t have made the semi-final let alone have gone on to be champions without your efforts!

I look forward to celebrating the win with you all at the awards evening on the 22^nd August in the Green Room (more to follow from JB on that subject)!

Cheers,

One very happy Skip J

And it's a tie....

Holy Cross v Edinburgh CC – Sat 8^th August

The 1’s ventured to Campbell Park on Saturday to take on Edinburgh CC in a vital game to sure up our position mid-table. Win and we would virtually secure our place in the Championship, lose and we’d then enter the relegation zone.

Winning the toss, I put them in to bat on a green and very soft wicket that proved to be pretty difficult to bat on. Shan opened up and running down the hill seemed to throw his stride off, with the first 3 balls being no-balled, in what ended up as an 11 ball over!

Kashif came on from the club house end in the 10^th over and bowled yet another amazing spell, cutting the heart out of the Edinburgh CC batting line up and finishing with 10 overs, 6 maidens, 4 wickets for only 12 runs (incidentally, the same number of runs that came off our first over)!

Charlie took the other end and bowled really well, coming in for a bit of tap in his last couple of overs from # 10 Haider, who blasted 35 swinging everything across the line to cow corner. CJE finishing with 4-38 off his 10.

At one point it looked like we’d restrict them to 70odd, however with the late hitting and some sloppy fielding, including Haider being caught of yet another Bonfield no-ball, Edinburgh CC lost their last wicket having progressed through to 125.

After a sparse tea, with a banana the only thing on offer for resident vege Bonfield, we took to the pitch to chase down 126 for victory.

We started off poorly with a controversial run out of Dougie. Umpire Smith initially giving it not out, as he couldn’t see if the ball was taken cleanly or when the bails were removed by the keeper. The other umpire then adjudged that Dougie hadn’t grounded his bat and the decision was changed to out.

Raja and I both departed for 12 each and 125 looked a long long way off!

This paragraph available to Crossers only on request by order of Lord Admin.

My departure saw us struggling at 47-4 in the 15^th over. We kept losing wickets just as it looked like a partnership was building, taking our score to 83-6 at drinks. The break unsettled the boys as we lost wickets with the score on 83, then again on 97, The Cross reeling, now 97-8.

Still loads of work to do, as Bacon and Bonfield put on 24 for the 9^th wicket. Bacon was everntually caught very well at first slip, which on most other days I’m sure would have been missed and gone for 4!

Euan walked out as our last man, with the Cross still needed 19 for victory. 

He and Shan batted very well, playing out the good balls and ticking over the scoreboard. Edinburgh CC also helped us a long way bowling a lot to wides and no-balls. The boys inched towards the target and with the score at 120-9, the Edinburgh CC skipper Kash bowled a terrible ball way down leg that ended up going for 4 wides up the hill at the far end of the ground! 

Scores tied at 125, could the Cross pull off an unlikely victory???

Sadly not, the very next ball the umpire was very quick to adjudge Euan LBW, out for a valiant 2. 

But more importantly Euan 2, Shan 8* and E.X. Tras 36* ensured we picked up a valuable 15 points.

So disappointing not to get a win, however given we needed 43 runs with only 2 wickets in hand, I’d happily take a tie and 15 points every time!

Mystery Solved - Stu Isn't Poo

As noted in our report of the 2nds' drubbing at the hands of Grange 3rds, someone had left us a message on the scoreboard. We wondered what "Stu is Poo" could possibly mean. We couldn't remember the last time we had a Stuart in our ranks. Had a lovelorn local lass left the message after being dumped or betrayed by the caddish Stu? Had a Nail slipped across from Goldenacre to express his contempt for our landlords, Stew (sic) Mel? Had FFS, our long-time long ago blog troll, reemerged? No one knew.



That once-mysterious message again.

But yesterday there was a breakthrough as BAF advanced a new theory. The message isn't "Stu is Poo" at all, but "Stu 8 15 Poo", or in full "Stu[art Broad] 8 [for] 15. Poo [!]" Left five days before Broad's Trent Bridge heroics, this is clearly the work of a clairvoyant Australian cricket fan.

If he or she wants to leave us any more predictions, can we suggest Twitter which allows nearly 16 times as many characters? That way there will be less scope for confusion and misinterpretation and the Treasurer can make a profitable trip to the bookies.

Stu Wasn't the Only One - 2s Lose.

The first fixture against Grange remains one of the highlights of the season so far as 10 Crossers (9 for a couple of hours as Elmo took one of his regular trips to A&E) managed to chase down a target of 230 with four wickets and seven balls to spare on a glorious Goldenacre afternoon.

The mysterious message awaiting us on Saturday.

We were better prepared for this game in one respect at least (we had 11 men throughout). But, while the selectors had done a remarkable job in the face of terrible availability to produce three elevens, this was a second XI that, even more than the Australians yesterday, was likely to prompt chants of "Are you Holy Cross thirds in disguise?".

In fact, "Are you the midweek eleven in disguise?" might have been even more appropriate as the game set off at T20 pace. We'd lost the toss and been put in - one of those tosses that a captain (stand-in, naturally) of a weakened team, knowing that his best chance of points is to bowl first and see what happens, is almost pleased to lose.

We went along at five an over for quite a while with Ross (29 - runs, not years) in his first game of the season, JB and Andy G all playing (too?) aggressively. Duncan Player (5.4-1-24-3) took two early wickets but it was the introduction of Ross Patterson's off-spin that destroyed the innings as he recorded figures of 9-3-19-5 and we subsided from 64 for 3 to 87 all out, three short of a batting point.

A nasty shower and a threatening sky briefly prompted the Grange skipper to enquire about turning straight round, but then the rain got worse and we took an early tea. Many of us then had an early (or at least earlier than usual on a Saturday) supper too, as Duncan Player (58 no off just 38 balls - 7 4s and 2 6s) almost singlehandedly chased down our total. Zeeshan bowled very well on his welcome return after a couple of  years away and deserved his wicket, and Grange finished 91 for 1 off just 74 balls.

Thanks to those who stepped in (and up) at short notice to make sure we got sides out. Thanks too to Grange for another game played in very good spirits and with lots of good chat. We'll try to make it last a bit longer next time.

League Weekend 16 and the Week Ahead

Saturday's fixtures -

• 1sts vs Edinburgh CC, away, 12 noon.
• 2nds vs Largo 2nds, at Arbo, 1pm start.
• 3rds vs Clackmannan County 2nds, home on the Inverleith Park arti, 1pm start.

Sunday -

• Active Edinburgh Trophy SF vs Murrayfield-DAFS, 12.30 start at Craiglockhart/Myreside. Winner to play Edinburgh or SMRH at 4pm.

Midweek -

• Tuesday, final midweek friendly vs Murrayfield-DAFS, away at Roseburn Park.

The Cross progress to Acitve Edinburgh semi-final

Holy X v Livingston - 4th Aug

On yet another bleak evening in Livingston, our T20 match was shifted to the artificial as the pitch was sodden, as was the outfield. It was critical to get the game completed last night, as finals day is this Sunday, so both teams endured fielding in the rain.

Winning the toss, it was an easy decision to bat first on the artificial and on a gloomy evening that would surely see the team batting second finishing in the near dark.

Looking to get us off to a fast start, I absolutely middled a lofted straight drive off the second ball of our innings. When it came off the bat, it felt pretty good and I was sure it was going to sail well over the boundary for a 6. However, it seems the ball doesn't travel as far in Livingston as it does at other grounds or was it the moisture in the air?

Raja and I survived several early let offs, both of us being dropped a number of times in the first 4-5 overs, in fairness several were extremely difficult chances, but a couple were absolute dollies. We set off at a pretty rapid pace, the artificial offering noting in the way of assistance for the bowler and the wet outfield turning the ball in to a bar of soap.

Contrary to Cross etiquette, we were running well, with a lot of 1's and 2's, as well as slashing the odd boundary. We kept the run rate at about 6 an over. The 8th or 9th over saw a rapid rise in the run rate, with Raja and I taking 20 run off it, with myself brining up 50 with consecutive 6's off the first 2 balls of the over.

Raja and I put on 122 for the opening stanza, which ended with me chipping the ball straight back to the bowler - disappointingly out for 70 off 41 balls at the start of the 15th over. Kashif following a couple of balls later for 1. The cross now 124-2 at the end of the 15th.

Raja fell in the next over for a well played 44 and was followed immediately by Jules, clean bowled for a Golden Quacker! 129-4 after 16.

KF and Dougie kept things going and progressed our score with some good running between the wickets. Could Holy Cross finally be beginning to understand that you can do more than jog between the wickets?

We finished our 20 overs on 151-5, setting Livingston a touch over 7.5 an over for victory.

With the light fading and more rain about, Kashif and Bacon were handed the ball to open the bowling. I managed to drop an easy catch off Kashif's 3rd ball, I'll blame the wet conditions.

Both bowled very well and we quickly picked up 3 wickets in the first 3 overs. Kashif finishing with 2 for just 9 runs off his 4 overs!

The Livingston Skipper came in at 5 and batted extremely well, hitting plenty of 1's and 2's, which led to the Livingston #4 retiring ahhh tired!?!? when they were 3 for about 90 odd and looking like they might push our total close.

Their Skipper kept score ticking over pretty well going at 5-6 an over, however Dougie and I chipped out a couple of wickets at the other end. Coastal Ken was like a panther fielding at a short mid-wicket, throwing the stumps down with 3 throw's that narrowly missed out affecting several run outs.

Dougie and I had fairly similar bowling figures, finishing with a couple of wickets between us and conceding about 30 runs each off our combined 8 overs.

It's true, catches do win matches and that was something we did very well. Other than my drop in the first over, I can't recall any other catches going down - I think we took 3, possibly 4 catches on the boundary, including the vital wicket of their Skipper, who was well held in the deep by Kashif - out for an impressive 54!

Having just lost their Skipper, they needed about 38 off the last 4 overs and ended coming up short, finishing on 137-6 off 20.

Raja and Jules both bowling tidy 2 over spells to close out the match, with Raja finishing with 2 wickets for 9 runs off 2 overs.

So a pleasing result which sees us progress to the semi-final vs MDAFS at Myerside on Sunday 9th August starting at 12:30pm.

The final will follow at 4pm @ Myerside, with the winner of our game playing either SMRH or Edinburgh CC.

So get on down to support the Cross!!!!

1's let 20 points slip through their fingers

Holy X 1's v Marchmont Saturday 1st August

After back to back losses to league leaders Glenrothes and Grange 2's, the 1's were hoping to get back on the right side of the ledger in a middle of the table clash vs the old frenemy Marchmont.

I'd like to say a big thanks to BAF, Vik and Nipun who all stepped up to help us out on Saturday, with the clubs dismal availability and late call offs yet again causing major headaches for Dom, Andy G and myself from Thursday onwards.

I won the toss and put them in to bat on what looked like a green seamer, which proved not to be the case. The pitch played pretty well, with good bounce, if not a bit slow.

Myself and Charlie opened the bowling, Charlie somehow managing to get the wind behind his back! we started off reasonably well, bowling some tight lines. We had a huge shout for caught behind denied in my 3rd over, which caused some frustration and led to a couple of costly overs!

Charlie was beating the bat regularly, but just couldn't seem to find the edge. After 5 overs, I introduced Kashif who bowled extremely well from ball one.

In my 6th over, I managed to snare the opening wicket, a well held catch to Vik at mid-on. In my next over, off a terrible ball donw leg side, the other opener managed a slight edge, and Euan took a quite brilliant catch down the leg.

The next partnership put on 38 (mostly coming off my bowling!) until Kashif made a double breakthrough off consecutive deliveries. He finished with the impressive figures of 10 overs 4 maidens, 2 wickets for only 9 runs!

Mat Loeffen batted very well for Marchmont, scoring a well paced 52 before Charlie had him caught well by Raja at mid-on.

Marchmont has progressed from 87-4 to 131-5. Some big hitting from their skipper Pete, saw them reach 183-7 off 50, just as the rain arrived. It was a top effort in the field, with a number of our regular bowlers not in action this weekend.

Again the 3 men who came up from the 2's made a huge difference in the field with BAF, Vik (2 very good catches) and Nipun putting in brilliant shifts in the field. I can't thank them enough and really appreciate them working so hard to support the bowlers.

An extended tea was then taken, which was excellent I might add, saw the game resume just after 4pm. no reduction in overs, as we'd rapidly gotten through our 50 overs!

With Dougie on holiday, Adnan stepped in to open the batting and looked like he had settled in and finding some of his lost touch. He was adjudged LBW in the 4th over with the score on just 15.

After some early lusty blows, I tried one too many and the ball took a leading edge, which was well held by Dalton running backwards at point - out for 15, The cross now 26-2 and in some early strife.

Kashif and Zia then looked good, putting on 36 until Kashif holed out for a solid 23. Charlie was next man in and took a long time to get going, at one point was pushing C Graham's costal of the weekend effort, with only 1 run from his first 19 balls.

However he soon found his stride and the pair added 71, until Zia was well held, out for 50. The Cross looking reasonably comfortable at 133-4 with plenty of overs left to knock off the remaining 51 runs.

Calamity struck a few overs later, with Charlie chipping one straight to mid-off, out for a fine 32 and the Cross now 157-5.

2 overs later Raja smashed Maksimczyk straight back over his head for a towering 6, reducing the target to 20 run off 44 balls with 5 wickets in hand. Surely the Cross were now well on target to take out 20 points.

Sadly not, 2 balls later Raja tried to repeat the does he'd just dealt out and was clean bowled, gone for 23! In his next over Maksimczyk took identical wickets, trapping Spickers and BAF both LBW off consecutive balls.

Holy Cross now struggling, needing 14 off 22 balls with 1 wicket remaining.

Vik and Nipun tried valiantly, adding 8 runs for the final wicket stand, but leaving us 6 runs short of victory.

It was a case that we lost a few too many early wickets and one of the top 6 (other than Zia or Charlie) needed to knuckle down and see the inning through. Looking back, I don't think any of the top 6 can really say they got out to a Jaffa.

We left far too much for the lower order to deal with, against a good bowling unit that was well managed by Maksimczyk, bringing on his bowlers at the right time and building good pressure, leading to some silly shots in the top order.

So another very tight loss, the 4-5 by my count this season and 8 more losing bonus points. So we still have some work to do in the last 3 weeks to solidify out place in the middle of the Championship table.

League Weekend 15 and the Week Ahead

Saturday's fixtures -

• 1sts vs Marchmont, away, 12 noon start.
• 2nds vs Grange 3rds at Arbo, 1 pm start.
• 3rds vs Tranent 2nds, home on the Inverleith Park arti, 1pm start.

Midweek -

• Tuesday - Active Edinburgh Trophy QF vs Livingston, away.

Bacon Boys Still Fabulous but 2s Lose Unbeaten Record in Fife.

I described last week's defeat to Penicuik as a game that we could have won, with a little more self-confidence. This was a game that we should have won.

On paper that seemed unlikely. Glens are a strong second in the division and they absolutely caned us earlier in the season. Admittedly that was at Holy Cross peak unavailability, but still the omens looked about as good as the weather forecast.

When we went off for rain after 14 overs, Glens were 53 for 1 and, while there had been some alarms, Guy Robinson (40), who is riding high in the divisional batting charts, was beginning to tuck into the bowling. After about an hour and a half and an early tea, we were back out and, with the Bacon boys bowling in tandem, the game was beginning to turn our way (literally as Robbie turned from cutters to join his twin in spin). They had combined figures of 18-2-45-2 and were backed up by decent spells from JB and Keith Geddes. The fielding was decent too - three run outs and a splendid low catch from Coastal in the gully to dismiss Scott Lucas, who very sportingly walked. Alasdair Sim ground out 28 and Ross Mearns a useful 20 not out, but we were pretty happy to have contained Glens to 158 for 9.

The beginning of the end? Robbie trudges back after dragging on. Photo: Glens.

An excellent opening burst from Dodds junior (9-3-15-2) left us 29 for 2 in the 10th, but that just brought the Bacons back together. Robbie scored 44 and when John was out for 41 we were 126 for 4, requiring 33 to win from a little over 11 overs. A little under 11 overs later we were all out for 146. Our last tweet of the day congratulated Glens on their win but then asked "How. Did. That. Happen?" I'm not sure I'm that much clearer almost a week later.

The Glens match report attributes it to an inspiring team talk at drinks. While it seems to have taken a while to work its magic, with runs flowing at around 4 an over for the ten overs immediately afterwards, there's clearly some truth in that, with Glens buzzing in the field and Kris Glen (8-3-11-3) bowling an inspired spell.

But the other truth, sadly, is that we bottled it. Thanks to Glens for a good game played in good spirits, despite the frustrations of a long rain break and a very late finish. As we drove back through a glorious, golden evening offering splendid views of the windmills and fields, the bridges and the Forth, we were left to reflect that, however tired and hungry you are and however late it is, evenings like these are made perfect by a victory.

Too Many! Cuik Spoil 2s' Day.

It was a funny day. Perhaps only two or three batsmen ever looked completely comfortable all afternoon, yet nearly 450 runs were scored, at nearly 5 an over, and only 12 wickets fell, four of them in a single over.

The key to Penicuik's total of 230 for 7 was two huge stands: 99 for the second wicket between Steve Thomson (64) and Ross Liddle (38) and 101 for the fourth between David Adams (36) and Cameron Crawford (60). Thomson's was a canny, intelligent innings, Crawford's brutal and the 'cuik scored at 6.5 an over after drinks and nearly 10 an over off the last five.

We made and missed a few half and quarter chances (and one dolly), but our attack was a little out of sorts. Gerry was still struggling with a yoga injury (Lord of the Dance pose? Plank?) and managed only three overs. Dave Sharpe, a late call-up for his once-every-seven-years game for the 2s, bowled valiantly. But only Vikram (9-1-24-4) really got on top of the batsmen. Indeed he was in such fine fettle that his first burst was a full five overs rather than the usual four. Just as against Marchmont the 45th over yielded two bowling points - this time four wickets fell as Vik followed a BAF run-out with three wickets in the last four balls.

BAF nicked off in the first over to Crawford (9-2-35-2) and JB (54) and Ziggy (66) set about rebuilding in a stand of 85. JB in particular rode his luck early on, but when he was out, trying to push on, in the 23rd over, a platform of sorts had been built, even if we now needed to accelerate as dramatically as 'cuik had done earlier. With Ziggy becoming a little becalmed, Tom (38) looked most likely to provide an innings to match Crawford's. But by the time he was bowled by Liddle (9-2-43-2) in the 38th, the required run rate had mounted to double digits and we needed some Vik fireworks.

Against some disciplined bowling (special mention here to young Murray: 7-0-27-0) and a deep-set field, that never quite happened - indeed, most uncharacteristically, there wasn't a single boundary in Vik's 20 not out. We finished on 211 for 5. Nine points pretty well-earned and a big improvement on the first game against the Kirkhill men, but perhaps the main impression left behind is that with a little more self-confidence this game could have been won.

Thanks to Penicuik for another game played in good spirits and with plenty of good chat. We hope to see you again next season.

League Weekend 14 and the Week Ahead

Saturday's fixtures -

• 1sts vs Grange 2nds at Arbo, noon start.
• 2nds vs Glenrothes 2nds, away.
• 3rds vs RHC 3rds, away at the Meadows.

Midweek -

• Tuesday, friendly vs Maccabi at Arbo.

Midweek Rearrangement

The evening friendly at Roseburn against Murrayfield-DAFS has had to be moved again. It will now be played on Tuesday 11th August.

Smells Like Team Spirit. League Leaders Beat 2s Again.

I can hardly summon the energy to write this. It's not because we lost, honest - at Holy Cross I hope we sing even when we're not winning. But the sheer quantity of cricket this summer (12 weeks, 11 games, 10 match reports - I was away for the Glenrothes humping) is wearing me out.

And not just physically. In a proper season with a normal number of rain-offs I can trot out my tired puns on the opposition's names once and trust that my tiny readership will have forgotten them by the time they appear again next season and that promotion and relegation will have provided me with new victims.

But this year we're playing teams a second time and the puns resemble someone who's promised to do a sit-up every time Michael asks a question on a Saturday or Vikram self-diagnoses a new injury - not so much tired as shaking uncontrollably with exhaustion.

Marchmont huddle as the HX openers look on unimpressed.

Anyway, this week was the return game against Marchmont. Smudge won the toss and, with Vik initially reluctant to bowl, he (9-0-37-2) and Gerry (9-1-23-1) opened up. Eleven overs later Marchmont were 38 for 3, but that was about as good as it got for us as first Healy (26) and then Grainger (53) joined Ramachandra (63). Remarkably Chips' half-century was his first in League cricket - and a very good one it was. Ramachandra, by contrast, rode his luck hard and while our catching was generally decent, especially Mike Nevin's three, some important half-chances were missed. Shifty (7-0-34-5) took three wickets in the last over to secure maximum bowling points and Marchmont finished on 210 for 9.

Our reply never really got going. Euan (22) and Ziggy picked out fielders with confident shots and JB was strangled down the leg side. Vik (34) was again the pick of the batsmen scoring at nearly a run a ball and Gerry and Smudge finished the game with the bat as well as they had begun it with the ball to snatch an extra batting point. 136 all out in the 44th and a rather generous 8 points.

At Arbo we had been largely undone by Mansoor's spin. This time the leading bowler was Simon Marr (9-2-20-3) and Mansoor, along with six others of the nine (yes, nine) bowlers, had to be content with a lone wicket. That may give a clue as to why Marchmont are unbeaten this season. Unlike many of the sides I've seen run away with divisions over the years, this doesn't seem to be a case of two or three dominant players dragging their team mates along for the ride. Rather there's plenty of good, stuffy strength in depth, a real team. Good luck to them for the rest of the season.

League Weekend 13 and the Week Ahead

Saturday's fixtures -

• 1sts vs Glenrothes, away.
• 2nds vs Penicuik 2nds at Arbo.
• 3rds vs Morton 3rds, at home on the Inverleith Park arti.

Midweek -

• Wednesday, Parks Trophy final vs Murrayfield-DAFS at Newfield.
• Thursday, friendly vs SMRH Trojans at Arbo.

Parks Trophy semi-final vs Boroughmuir

A batting masterclass from Zia saw Holy Cross progress to the final of the Parks Trophy last night at Meggetland.

Losing the toss, we were asked to field which didn't go so well. It was a lacklustre effort, with a couple of dropped catches and a number of misfields. Boroughmuir were swinging at everything and made it through to 124-8 off their 20.

Kashif with the pick of the figures 2-15 off 4!

We got off to a flyer, with myself hitting the first ball for 4. Then I managed to edge a ball on to my pads, then on to leg stump.

A couple of overs later, Raja fell to a bizarre caught and bowled. He smashed a straight drive on the up and Zia didn't have time to move, the ball hitting him on the arm and ricocheted up for the bowler to take an easy catch. We were in trouble 2-21 in the 4th over.

Owais then joined Zia at the wicket and steadily built an impressive partnership. Zia dominated, however Owais scored a run a ball 28*, including hitting a 6 to finish the game! Zia ended on 81* off only 60 balls and the pair put on 104!

In the end a comfortable victory with 2 overs and 8 wickets in hand.

MDAFS await us in the final on Wednesday 22nd.

Two wins, twos lose. Week 12 Round-up

As Meatloaf once proclaimed, two out of three ain’t bad.

Holy Cross were in tune with the hairy rocker as the 1s and 3s secured maximum points whilst the 2s went down but not without a fight.

At Fortress Arbo, the 1s defeated Penicuik by 110 runs. A sterling performance with the bat saw Si’s men amass an unbeatable 232-5 including a fine innings from Zia, with the tourists making 122 at a muggy Arbo.

Meanwhile, at Cavalry Park, the 2s lost out to their Marchmont counterparts. The hosts lost the toss and batted first, reaching 210-9 at tea, with Shifty taking a ‘Michelle’ and Mike Nevin making a trio of catches. Unfortunately the league leaders' total was too rich for the Cross who reached 136 in response.

Whilst at Inverleith Park, the 3s won in emphatic style. Glenrothes 4s, who had done a remarkable job in getting together an XI at all, won the toss and elected to bat. However they may have regretted that decision early in proceedings as they staggered to 27-6 before adding just two more runs to complete their total - Dom taking a second 5-fer in as many weeks. A quick turnaround was in order and it took just 6.5 overs to surpass the Fifers total, allowing the lads to head up to Arbo for nets and cheer on the 1s to victory.

A big thanks to all Crossers who contributed via twitter during the day for the above.