Summer finally showed her sunny face this Saturday as the 1
st's wound
their merry way to the
pleasant surrounds of
Fettes School to renew
acquaintances with our old friends Grange 2's.
With the sun shining down on a flat deck the skipper decided bowling first was the order of the day and stuck the Grange in. EC decided to open up with
Shanners and Gary following his midweek
michelle.
Unfortunately he momentarily forgot the plan and threw yours
truly the ball,
fortunately he realised his error and made amends after one
solitary over.
Shanners continued his great form of the season and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket or two in his first spell. Gary also continued his great start to his Cross career picking a up a couple of wickets in his first tight spell. Conditions weren't that easy for the bowlers especially in light of some solid Grange batting (apologies no book so I don't have names). The Grange opener hung around for quite some time surviving
several appeals and the Grange no3 looked a very solid and handy bat, clattering a couple of big cover drives for 4.
If memory serves Grange had built a decent platform around drinks only 2 0r 3 down. Cross had bowled tightly without too many runs being added but without many wickets falling. Some very ropey
fielding wasn't helping our cause, your
author was
particularly guilty when I rather
worryingly lost control of my body somehow allowing the Grange to run a 5. Perhaps it was the heat but there was a
definite air of
lethargy in the first half of the Grange knock and at one point they looked to be heading towards a score of 250 plus.
Thankfully we were snapped out of our malaise, got a bit of fight and a very tight spell from Charlie backed up by Dougie and Pa.........The Bishop kept the run rate down and restricted the big no3's scoring (think he finished up with 70odd). As a result the other Grange batsman came in looking to up the run rate, whilst a few
boundaries were dispatched we managed to contain any serious scoring and Stag wickets began to fall
regularly. I think Gary picked up 3, and the rest were shared around equally amongst
Bonners,
CJE,
Dougs and
Bish? Special mention to
Spickers who held 4 (5?) catches behind the stumps.
The skipper set the target of keeping Grange under 225 which was duly accomplished as at the end of the 50 overs they finished 210 for 8. In recent seasons we might we have let teams such as Grange off the hook in the second half of the game so it was pleasing to see us up our game in the 2
nd half, even in the blistering heat.
After a splendid tea
KF and
Owais opened the Cross account in equally splendid fashion. Both Cross openers flayed the Grange bowling around the ground and we rushed to about 70 for no loss inside 10 overs (or thereabouts).
Unfortunately Owais fell on 30 odd to a peach of a delivery from Philip and same bowler also did for Charlie with an equally
commendable delivery. With
KF and CA also falling around the same time we quickly tumbled to 90 odd for 4.
Grange had
thier dander up, sensing a win and memories of the
Crosslapso cricket of previous seasons began to creep into Cross minds.
Spickers supplied further evidence to the hacking enquiry and despite the fact we batted all the way down, at drinks Grange were on top and we had undone
KF and
Owais good work.
It was imperative to stop
hemorrhaging wickets and Shanon and EC did
exactly this, cutting out the chances and just keeping the board ticking over. Just as they were
beginning to open up again
Shanners holed out to mid off for a good 30 odd to be replaced by Dougie. The skipper took up the need to hit a few
boundaries displaying admiral
spanksmanship with a number of hearty pulls.
Unfortunately he failed to convert as well later on in the evening but that is another story.
Well supported by
Dougs the skipper was
caught on the
boundary for a very good 40 odd. I can't remember exactly but at this point we needed just a above a run a ball for the last 6/7 overs. With your
truly now in
Dougs took up the challenge playing some admirable straight drives, good running and regular
boundaries managed to see us home in about the 48
th over, a well timed run chase. Credit in particular to Philip who looked like he has the makings of a good bowler and the Grange spinner who kept things very tight and bowled with lovely flight.
Pluses and minuses to take from the game from a Cross point of view, both in the field and with the bat. Our response when we were getting under the cosh was admirable as was people putting
their hands up when required. Whilst this wasn't our best performance for a number of reasons it's a good sign to play poorly and still win. The next few weeks will define the season so lets hope we keep wining and have saved up a few good performances!