1st XI v Merchiston Castle
I hate the cricket season.
Merchiston opted to bat first on Saturday and having not been bowled out yet this season, were confident that they could post a very good total on the small, quirky field on which the match was played. After five over they had eleven runs on the board and were looking quite confident. Then Dougal struck. Twice. His first wicket was thanks to a steady build up of pressure and came when the batsman tried to pull a shorter ball. The ball rocketed to Cuthbert at fine leg and he took a couple of steps forward before pouching a fantastic catch that came straight out of the sun. Five balls later Dougal had Merchi’s star batsman trapped LBW. Ollie F and Caspar took over bowling duties and Ollie soon struck, trapping his man LBW which left Marchi on 19 for 3.
Merchiston staged something of a recovery and it wasn’t until the 17th over that the next wicket fell. Douglas bowled a full, straight ball that the batman tried to launch to the boundary - he missed and paid the price. The next wicket came when Merchi were on 74. It was a blinder. Once again that man Cuthbert was involved. The ball was hit firmly to him at mid off and the matsmen set off for a run. Cuthbert swooped on the ball, gathered it up in one smooth action and hurled it at the stumps. Nothing but a direct hit would have been good enough. No problem, he knocked them out the ground. Out.
No further wickets fell until the final over when Ollie ran a man out off his own bowling and then had their highest scorer caught well, by GIK, off the final ball of the innings. That left Merchiston on 127 for 7 after 30 overs and I was satisfied with that. Although we did let them off the hook a little bit, it was not a big total on such a small field. Our fielding, for the greater part, was excellent. Cuthbert and Will P are outstanding in the field (unlike many fielders who are simply out there, standing in the field) but most of the team are alert and active. Stods does a tremendous job of keeping up the chat and encouraging the team. The bowling was good. We could have attacked the stumps a bit more but there were really only three wayward balls.
Once again, my advice was simple: get on the front foot as the pitch was playing up a bit with short balls frequently staying low; stay in and we will get the runs. Once again it didn’t work. Henry swung and missed, GIK blocked and missed, Ollie blocked and missed, Geordie missed, Douglas stepped away and missed, Fred missed, Caspar missed and Will missed. All were bowled.
Merchiston did bowl well, and mostly accurately, the number of ‘bowled’ players is testament to that but Stods came in and showed how easy it was to score runs off the occasional bad balls. He even gave us a moment of hope. Unfortunately hope faded when he played across to a short ball that kept low. Cuthbert did well, taking some quick singles and hitting some good fours. Dougal carried on where he left off last match and hammered the ball around the field. His best was a hit that carried the ropes and earned the maximum – 6. Dougal did more than just smash the ball, he also played some very sensible defensive shots. Unfortunately it was never going to be enough and we ended up being bowled out in the 17th over for 73 runs. A pity as it is clear that the runs were coming; all the batsmen had to do was stay there.
This was yet another very frustrating match with some good excellent performances but also some disappointing ones. There is no doubt that if I can just manage to persuade some of our batsmen to stay in and realise their potential, then we could be a very good team. It is the frustration that has me tearing my hair out during the cricket season and the knowledge that boys are not performing as well as I know they should do. Of course I don’t really hate the cricket season; it is all the twists and quirks that make cricket such a complex and fascinating game.
I love it.
Batting Bowling
|
George IK
|
4
|
Bowled
|
|
Henry
|
0
|
Bowled
|
|
Ollie
|
4
|
Bowled
|
|
Geordie
|
0
|
Bowled
|
|
Tom S
|
18
|
LBW
|
|
Douglas
|
1
|
Bowled
|
|
George C
|
13
|
Caught
|
|
Fred
|
0
|
Bowled
|
|
Dougal
|
21
|
Not Out
|
|
Caspar
|
3
|
Bowled
|
|
Will
|
0
|
Bowled
|
|
Extras
|
9
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Overs
|
Maidens
|
Wides
|
NBs
|
Runs
|
Wkts
|
|
Fred
|
6
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
26
|
0
|
|
Dougal
|
6
|
2
|
5
|
2
|
13
|
2
|
|
Caspar
|
5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
22
|
0
|
|
Ollie
|
5
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
25
|
2
|
|
Douglas
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
17
|
1
|
|
George
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
19
|
0
|
Merchiston Castle: 127 for 7 (30 overs).
Total: 73 for 9 (17 overs)
Result
Match lost by 54 runs.
Man of the match: Cuthbert. Great catch, stunning run out, fine effort with the bat.
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