2nd XI v Craigclowan

by Our Scot in a box - Jock Strap

Won by 72 runs

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At last the sun broke through to deliver a beautiful day for the first match for this 2nd XI. Crewed by a majority of penultimate year boys, the 2009 membership was packed with talent and character. Only 4 leavers had made it into the side - testament to the coaching techniques of Little Coach last season (some would say the bribe to get rid of them had worked. Ed).

Winning the toss, Captain Heck chose to bat. This had been discussed at length in the Short Room of BHCC the previous night and the drawn conclusion of high level meetings was that if everyone was going to get a bat this season it would be better to bat first, as we were a much stronger bowling side.

And so it proved in this match. Douglas ‘The Bug’ Donaldson (see pic) and old stalwart Brewer Gladwin took to their respective creases and, knees knocking, faced the onslaught.

Had it not been for The Bug’s eye for a ball the runs would have dried up very quickly. The predominant shot of the day was the slash across the line, but only The Bug could make contact regularly using this special batting technique - the others failed miserably. Or was it, perhaps, that they were not allowed to get their eye in as the average time at the wicket per batsman was a meagre 10 minutes - hardly time to gather one’s thoughts, let alone score any runs! The Bug stayed in for an hour, thus proving that it is possible, with luck and fortitude, to graft a long innings.

The Brewer slashed and slogged a quick 7 and was then bamboozled into taking a run when it wasn’t on. The Bug missed a ball and it went past the keeper and into the hands of long stop. Rather excitedly he called for a run and The Brewer set off, realised that he wouldn’t make it, hesitated, carried on but never made it. Early season frolics, really, and won’t happen again. (I’m not so sure! Ed)

And then‘Lefty’ Henry came and dabbled a bit. Not looking terribly comfortable, he swished and swatted and he also decided to test a fielder close to the wicket by running one that was not really on - and so made his way back to the shade of the tree. But being left-handed he will at least keep the umpire fit!

The other batsmen looked very uneasy and were not making solid contact with the ball. All wanted to swipe the thing to square leg and thus, most of the time, missed or got lucky.

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One batsman, though, showed style. Andrew ‘Flourish’ Watson would make a forward defensive stroke to all deliveries and end up with the bat over his left shoulder in a gesture of defiance to the bowler. It looked so professional - only thing now is that he has to strike the ball a bit harder. Sadly he was another victim of going for a run that wasn’t there and so joined the ranks of Run-outs.
What can I say? Had it not been for The Bug scoring a fantastic 44 our score would have looked a little dismal. But never mind, there were runs on the board and we had talented bowlers.

The opening bowlers, Ali Johnston and Lefty Roberts, bowled their allotted 2 overs but the batsmen were making contact and thumping the ball in front of them and finding gaps in the field. The score crept to 28 before the Run-outs began.
Good fielding by all those who found the red object coming towards them and even better by those who hurled it unerringly at the stumps when the batsmen were struggling to make their ground.

Add to this three stumpings by Cap Heck and 7 of the opposition wickets had fallen through their own misjudgements. The stumpings showed just how quick Cap Heck is behind the stumps. With the batsman wandering about all over the place, a casual saunter to the stumps and a quick snap of the wrist to dislodge a bail was all it took to get his name in the scorebook three times. Just breathtakingly good! (Watch out 1st XI keeper, Heck is on your case! Ed)

There was a wonderful moment when George Cuthbert launched himself, at first slip, to his right and made a desperate grasp at the ball coming his way, but sadly, although he got his hands onto it, the ball did not stick. Shame, really, as his leap into the air was spectacular - just have to catch the thing next time, George!
All the bowlers turned their arm over with varying degrees of success - the best figures coming from ‘Flourish’ Watson who took 1 for 0 runs - look forward to seeing more of this chap’s bowling.

In the end the match petered out because Craigclowan ran out (Ha! Ha! Ed) of batsmen, seven of whom scored nought! One of their batsman scored the first 6 of the season - a low powerfully struck ball that did not go above 1m all the way to the boundary. Why didn’t we do that sort of thing?

And so the match came to an end - all the players delighted to have secured a victory and it will be interesting to see if any of them play again what they will do next match. Well done all of you for an entertaining afternoon’s cricket. Now enjoy the photos (beautifully snapped by our resident photographer Tom ‘Snapper’ A-W).