Blood, sweat and beers. A Saturday in the life of Holy Cross

There were mixed fortunes for the men of Fortress Arbo across the Capital and points were won, earned and gained in day of eclectic cricket.

Six boundary rope clearances in an unbeaten 97 by Kashif Parvez and a cracking 62 from Dougie Russell set next door neighbours Stew Mel a total of 240 to chase at Fortress Arbo.

In response, the visitors went from 54-1 to 115-8 and an early night looked on the cards. A. Khan and J. Chapman clearly didn’t read the script as the pair went on a late salvage operation attempt with a decent partnership of 82.

Both men were finally despatched by Bainbridge, with SMRH finishing on 209.
Captain Si McOscar picked up 4 wickets for 27 runs with Russell, Parvez joining Bainbridge in grabbing braces at a sunny Arbo.

Meanwhile, a few hundred yards down the road, the 3s were involved in a typically surreal afternoon of Cross cricket.

With the start of the clash against Edinburgh South fast approaching, the numerically disadvantaged ‘Fuds’ spotted a familiar face sitting on an Inverleith Park bench with a carry-out in Matthew Cunningham.

The 10 men of Holy Cross (working title) were first to field and restricted South to 71-2 at drinks. By close of play, they had amassed 150-6 in the crudely cut out oval. It could have been mistaken for a dress rehearsal for a comedy show for the forthcoming Fringe as the makeshift side stuttered to 40-2, although technically for 3 with a forced retiral seeing one of the yoofs departing early.

Whilst Cunningham was hitting the ball for fun, unfortunately it was no laughing matter when Russell Eberst hit the ground in dramatic circumstances after twirling round like a spinning top attempting to play a Dodson dolly. After treatment for a grazed head (from our self-styled Florence Nightingale that is Dave Munroe) and bruised ego, the 72 year old was helped off the field to be replaced by ‘youngster’ Keith Geddes.

Geddes rolled back the years to hit a peach of a boundary as the 3s looked to be on the brink… oh, wait… sadly it wasn’t to be and despite a brave return to action from Eberst, it was to be an agonising 5 run defeat.

Across town at Peffermill, Edinburgh Uni Staff batted first and made 179 AO with Vik Gaware grabbing a 3-fer with Gerry Lohan, Smudger Smith and Nipun Mehta all taking two wickets a-piece.

In response, Vik Gaware continued his fine return to action with a half century (53) whilst Mike Nevin recorded a solid knock of 39 as the 2s reached 153-8.

A defeat on the road however the batting points gained may prove to be vital come the end of the campaign.

Reports from individual captains detailing the trials and tribulations in greater detail may or may not appear online any time soon.