Cross Scrape Trophy Win

President's Trophy 2nd Round (at Arboretum-switched due to Dresselrig being unplayable)
played as 20 over match on June 14th.

Holy Cross 131-7 (C. Ellis 50 (46), R. Javed 36 (29), M. Collings 3-19)
Livingston 119-8 (S. Kumar 37, R. Bowering 24)

A good tight game played on a rare nice dry evening (could be the last game for a while given the rain falling at present..) Livi did well to limit HX to a sub-par 131.

cje-after a shaky start- batted solidly enough and Raja found a bit of form but no batsmen really dominated and Collings' good spell and a late rash of run outs prevented us from reaching a par total (given the fast outfield and firm pitch) of 150-odd. Bimbo's stumping (by half the length of the pitch!!) may well receive a mention at the awards night.

Then the impressive Kumar well supported by Bowering took Livi to 72 off 11 before a run-out and then  a reckless shot from Kumar put the game in HX's favour. Good batting from Duvvuri helped Livi to 104 off 16 -at which point they were marginal favourites. His run out and tighter HX bowling helped the home side close out the game. Given that we had a strong bowling unit on display, we perhaps could have kept Livi quieter earlier-and not allowed so many boundaries. But an impressive performance from Livi's talented team and hopefully a 'wake-up call' for the 1sts.

Club About To Get A Whole Lot Uglier

As our former part-time skipper and easily the best looking dude on Planet Arbo (apologies Nozza) is about to take his winning smile to Madchester in pursuit of some golden shekels, I thought what better a time could there be to run through some photo's to remind us in years to come of his impact at our great club.

After leaving university, E.C. launched his crooning career via the star making vehicle X-Factor, the show we all know and love. With the surname Smith already taken, E.C. had to come up with something snazzy and chose to adopt the psuedonym Joe McElderry.

Fame came with its downside though. Often seen around the city in his little red 'rooster' extension the ladies began to swarm all over our innocent hero. Despite his apparent happiness in the photo above, these smiling eyes hide the pain of a man looking for more than 365 different lovers a year (?). Bad times and persistent hair loss were just around the corner.

Celebrities queued up to get a piece of the action. Here is our former skip in 2009 with Fauldhouse counterpart Gok Wan. Relations cooled when Wan criticised the size of our man's shovels during a Tea Break. Fellow first teamers of the time are still unsure if this is the "psycho bird" he used to refer to around this time.

Here is our departing friend cosying up to the ex-wife of sabbatical wicketkeeper, Si Hackering of Geordie Shore fame. The pair have always denied tabloid claims that they "did it in the boot of Smudgers Volvo" although alleged cctv footage does exist of nocturnal goings on in the 'Arbo container'.

In 2007 the Smith clan were rocked to their foundations when a long lost son of Smudger appeared. Here is E.C. with his half-brother D.J. Like Papa Smudger, they share a love of Barry Manilow, facial hair and crack cocaine.

Once the celebrity lifestyle spiralled out of control, close friends, family and Crossers were shocked to see the above photo appear on the front page of the now defunct News of the World. Summoned by El Presidente to the Green Room for urgent talks, E.C. agreed to leave the vacuous pop world behind and apply himself to the game of cricket.

Now crooning purely for fun in his spare time, E.C. has rediscovered what makes him tick. Mainly this is repeating his one shot whilst batting, bowling comedy wides or belting out Manilow hits on the top deck of the 27 bus. Recently E.C. vowed 'never to take a catch again' and stuck to his promise with a rotten drop v East Academy.

That's surely enough for now folks. Although we've lost two young Smith's in as many months, when E.C. was reminded that our Constitution declares Smudger must provide a male heir for selection, E.C. quipped "I'm sure the old man's loins are still fertile".

On that note...

Shock News: Finally a Midweek Victory!

Because of our season of 20 over misery, Coco cleverly decided to shorten the game to 18 overs per side.

Though we had only 6 confirmed at 3pm; but as it was a vital league game a midweek friendly HX were able to scramble together a strong side (Bainbridge, EC Smith, CA Smith, S Bonfield, A Killey, C Ellis, I Astley, D Cartwright, S Robertson, C McGill).

Holy Cross 134/5 (18 overs)
the retiral point of 25 reached by Ellis, EC Smith and (most impressively) Killey.

E U Staff 128/6 (18 overs)

A thoroughly enjoyable game on a sunny evening on a fine (covered) Peffermill pitch (obviously a good groundsman...yes, it seems that Gavin does a good job). Some impressive hitting from the EUS batsmen took them ahead of the run rate before their retiral/ some wickets (including a nice overhead catch from Shannon and a run out via a Killey throw from the boundary over the bails) slowed them up. A few bowlers receiving some tap...though not Bonfield, Bainbridge or Astley.

The Doctor also took a crucial catch in the last over to dismiss one of their returning tonkers. They eventually needed 12 to win off the last over and then 6 off the last ball; but Coco hit the stumps.

Cheers to EUSCC for their hospitality.