First XI Match Reports

Rained off

Saturday 1 May. MDCC v Grange 3 at Muirhouse

Pitch was too wet to prepare so game cancelled.

Dizzy Whacks Clackmannan

Saturday 8 May. MDCC v Clackmannan 1 at Arns Park, Alloa

Thanks to Clackmannan's artificial wicket at the picturesque Arns ground and our steadfast refusal to bow to the elements, MDCC Ones completed a 8 wicket victory in their first Division Two fixture. Clackmannan batted first and posted only 133 (all out) due to a fine bowling performance all round from Duncan, Keith, Norman, a semi-fit Rich, and Sleepy Rogers. Only slight blot was some spilled chances (mea mosta culpa for one very easy one - sorry "Nasty"!) but overall a very fine and merciless team performance.

With a quick win in mind a tactical switch at the top order and the very same Mr Peake elevated to opening the batting with Liberty Knight. And the plan worked well with Dunc hitting a quickfire 26 - many a boundary turned into a 2 by the damp outfield- before succumbing to the first sucker ball from Ash Rasul. And so enter the Skipper. After a brief steadying of the ship, Sickie opened up with the drizzle starting to slightly worsen, departing for 29 (bowled round legs by Rasul - off the 7th ball of the over Mr Umpire!). Enter Jaya to finish the job with some glorious strokeplay and a 35 not with the serene Knighty continuing his fine early form with 32 not out. Job well done and the first 25 pints (sorry points but pints came later at a packed Berts Bar) safely tucked away. Jolly good show chaps. Thanks to Iain Martin for 12th man duties, Andy Piggott for soggy umpiring duties and Don Wilkie for scores of the doors and general support.

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Bowling - Clackmannan 133 all out 48.3 overs. 13 Extras

MDCC Batting

Mufs shot by the Shariff

Saturday 15 May. MDCC v Largo at Muirhouse

After the Lord Mayor's show there is often a fair pile of horse-shit left lying. And a foul and reeking pile of excrement was what Mufs Ones batting resembled on Saturday as they threw away a promising position at 88 for 2 off 25 overs to slump to 132 all out. Fair dos to Largo as they played solid and proper league cricket to bring us back to reality and teach us a stern lesson about how to bat in Division 2. Too many of us were stuck in 20-over mode or just got stuck - the number of dismissals by cross-batted shots was simply abysmal. Probably good to get this smack in the face early on so we can learn from it and learn we must otherwise we will be back to where we came from. Here endeth the sermon.

Positives were the way we bowled and how we started the batting - Duncan - who will be sorely missed with both ball and bat - with a quick 40, Sicknote was looking comfortable at 19 (before starting the rot with a silly swish!), Jeya with 32 (but needs to go back to playing straight again) and then a horror show of 0,4,6,1,3 as we got stuck after passing 100 in the 27th over, finding ourselves 15 overs later on a mere 117 with 9 down. Thanks to Richie Sorrell, with a late 15, we at least got up to 132 and something to defend - but 50-60 short of par. Largo's bowling (Ritchie and Shariff) did the basics right -bowl straight - you miss - I hit. And so it proved that 132 was not going to be enough as Largo batted sensibly too- Shariff in particular- and despite a late wobble won the match by 3 wickets. Top marks to Dickie for bowling very well on his first League outing with 7 overs and 2 for 15. Dunc on his swansong with 2 for 40 from his 15, Phil ("Behind You") Rogers with 0 for 6 off 3, and the wounded warriors also bowled tightly.. Rich with 1 for 15 from 8, Norm Allan 1 for 24 of 11, and JNB with 16 for 1 off 5. Losing hurts - lets learn the lesson quick. Congrats to Largo.

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Batting

MDCC Bowling - Largo 136 for 7 49.2 overs. 26 Extras

Masterful Jaya Rescues Mufs

Saturday 22 May. MDCC v Marchmont at Muirhouse

On a beautiful day for cricket The Masterful Jaya single-handedly rescued the Ones in a thrilling victory against Marchmont at Muirhouse. Invited to bat first, Mufs found themselves deep in trouble against a Marchmont attack that bowled with both fire and discipline. As the Mufs batsman were being washed away, Jayahanthan single-handedly kept Marchmont at bay and so the tide began to turn. Accelerating past his first 50 for the club, Jaya was the immovable rock upon which the waves of Marchmont bowling broke. Boundaries came with greater frequency and Jaya closed on his century - into the late 90s - then a huge hit to the longest boundary hung in the air just short- his team-mates hearts stopped - skipper prayed (we were 1 run away from another batting point with 9 wickets down you see - actually I had no-idea he was so close!!) but the chance is spilled. Next ball Jaya's century is claimed. A truly marvellous knock. 101 (18 fours and 1 six) out of 156 all out. Good stuff by the guys who kept him company.

Now with a total to defend we were in good heart against the legendary Marchmont Batting Machine. And an excellant start as Dickie, with his first ball, bowls a tremendous off-break to dumbfound the arms-shouldering Marchmont skipper for a goldie (not a good day with the bat for captains as Sicknote had fallen second ball). Now we believe but they are a tough outfit and do not crack despite the excellant efforts of the Beast and Dickie. Enter an often unsong bowling hero: Renta-Rogers. Ol Claypole made the Marchmont batting look like the court jesters in a mesmorising spell of swing bowling from the Caravan Park (Burnt out Motor) End at the 'Hoose. 10 overs 2 wickets for only 16 runs from Sleepy puts us on top as Zorba and The Stormin Rook (10-2-32-3) put us in the ascendency. Still Marchmont won't crack and at 90-6 off 36 overs the game is poised for a cracking finish as The Beast of Sorrell and Dickie Park are unleashed again. A flurry of runs by the dangerous Ramon and then a six from Sutton tips the game back to Marchmont. 4 overs left - 3 wickets in hand- 18 needed. Tense. But the Beast's 14th over is critical. First ball he traps Ramon plumb in front. Fourth ball Sutton spoons one to the Skipper. But 7 runs are conceded, including a very odd no-ball. 11 off 18 balls. Dickie (14-0-45-1) keeps his nerve and only concedes 3 off his over. But it is 8 off 12 balls and The Beast summons up energy for a final assault. A missed run-out opportunity - have we blown our chance. No. With spearingly accurate deliveries a full fast yorker is too good for the tail-ender and joy all around for Mufs. The Beast finishes with 14.3-2-47-4.

A tremendous morale boosting win against a tough Marchmont unit. Great bowling to claim the win - the victory set-up by Jaya. All Hail the Master.

Jubiliant Sicknote

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Batting

MDCC Bowling - Marchmont 149 all out 48.3 overs. 15 Extras

Record 195 stand by Jaya and Sicknote lead Mufs to victory

Saturday 29 May. MDCC v SMRH2 at Inverleith

Mufs Ones continued their strong showing in Div 2 with a hard-earned 23 run victory over SMRH2 at Inverleith. Batting first (shock horror yet another toss won!!) Mufs found themselves in the deepest of doo-doos as the unplayable Brown took out Murdo and Milne in the same over with only 6 on the board. Brown found both movement in the air in the humid conditions and assistance off the artificial pitch as Mufs (Shiels and Jaya) simply dug in to survive the onslaught. And in time dogged defence paid its dues as Mufs accelerated strongly from overs 20 to 40 in particular to set a new club record stand for all wickets of 195. Sicknote finally succumbed to his various ailments and sheer exhaustion for 74. Jayahanthan played another magnificent knock under pressure - a display of batting that so deserved another century but sadly the Sri Lankan Master was caught off the impressive Brown for 99. Mufs, thanks to some fine low order batting from Dickie (14 not) and Richie see us through to 222-5 in the end. Brown finished with 5 wickets for 36- all caught by keeper Farquarhson.

SMRH reply was dominated by Stuart Farquarhson who had scored a 50 before the scoreboard had even registered 45. Once Stuart had been dismissed for 55 the match swang our way with good tight bowling. SMRH battled hard, Parker 41 and MacColl 31 not and put us under pressure but we held firm, excellance indeed in the field from Phil Rogers generally with a great catch as did Norman Allan. And so in the end a victory by 23 runs. Bowling heroes were Rich Sorrell (15-3-66-3); Dickie Park (9-2-26-0); Keith "Nasty" Lawrence (9.5-0-43-4) and Stormin Norman Allan (15-1-60-1). A great victory for the Team which will cement our place at the top end of the league table. Great hard competitive cricket guys. Take a bow.

Sicknote

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Batting

MDCC Bowling - SMRH 199 all out 48.5 overs. 7 Extras

NEW LEADERS AS CROSS CRASH TO FIRST DEFEAT

Saturday 5 June. MDCC v Holy Cross at Muirhouse

Guest match reporter "Sleepy" Phil "Claypole" "Dino" di Rogers writes.....

The top of the table clash went the way of the MUFS as Holy Cross were taken apart in a competitive but fine-spirited game at Muirhouse.

Batting first has become as predictable as heavy metal guitar riffs, with Sicknote, despite firing himself up with a dose of Korn thrash, losing another toss. And at 12-2, it looked like set for a second consecutive Shiels/Jaya recovery job - Knighty plays an overambitious shot at the inswinging Worsnop and is bowled, then the G-Man cops a leg before. But Sickie is soon to follow, second victim of the Worsnop/Park lbw combination and the front-footed skipper’s scowls were not the only thing casting an additional cloud over the home side.

On this weekend of wartime commemorations, Monty enters the fray and helps lead us towards victory. Keeping the Masterful Jaya more than adequate company, Westy hits a fine 24 and even outdid "Geoff" with the game’s only six. Having seen off the dangerous openers including former MUF Shannon Bonfield, Chris finally returns to a much happier bike shed. With Jaya looking well set for another big one and Dazza returning to the big time after last week’s 78 for the 2s, things were looking rosy.

But the keeper takes a sharp one off Kidda, then the Beast scoops up a first baller and suddenly it was 107-6 and trouble. Your correspondent only realised at the last minute that it was a hat-trick ball but it passed without incident - unlike the next two to three overs from Gallagher and Astley, who shaved a stump, saw a potential caught behind end up as stumping chance and generally had di Rogers in trouble.

When Jaya was bowled shortly after for a crucial 46, we were looking well short of a winning total. But Dickie played another important knock, the runs were beginning to come at a steady rate and with Keith ‘Harold’ Lawrence (quick bowler from Nottingham, Larwood, Bodyline and all that) continuing the job, you could feel the league leaders’ frustration. Then in the last over, with your reporter trying to get on the strike and add to his 24, a superb Stormin’ Norman cameo saw two fours and a two that edged us past the fourth batting point.

But would we need it? 176 was a much better total than had been looking at and the Holy Cross mood was certainly a bit deflated. Pies were back on the Muirhouse menu after the sausage roll experiment and the game was evenly poised.

The opening bats went off quickly, but the skipper Fraser was brought down to earth and bowled by a searing yorker from the Beast. Dickie started to hit the spot too, then Harold replaced Sorrell for what turned out to be an extraordinary spell. He got rid of the number 3 with a screaming catch at second slip by Knighty , which brought the in-form Shannon to the crease. Rogers then came on for a wild opening over that featured wides down each side, an edged four and, incredibly, the prized Bonfield wicket as Chris took a good catch down legside.

Harold followed this with the other opener Russell (37), caught by Dickie who looked to have misjudged it only to recover superbly. In the same over Keith caught the inside edge, Chris palmed it up and Kidda took the rebound brilliantly from first slip. Stormin’ replaced your out of sorts correspondent, and the latter took a sharp one at midwicket. A skied chance was also taken by Rogers shortly after which gave Harold his first MUFS Michelle. His devastating spell include a sequence of 9 balls, four wickets for two runs and knocked the stuffing out of the league leaders. The only real doubts over the result were a nasty looking cloud and whether Cross would get the batting point that would have meant joint leadership. But Stormin’ finished the job to end up with 3-7 and they were all out for 80.

Keith took the headlines with cracking figures of 5-15, but this was a fabulous team performance with everyone playing their part and the skipper making all the right decisions. We certainly deserved our beer with the good-spirited Holy Cross boys.

But let’s not get carried away. It was never easy and there were a few turning points that could easily have gone the other way. Andy rightly said that the next game is our biggest of the season and we must keep on playing hard and intelligent cricket if we are to keep up the momentum in what is a consistently tough league.

Phil ‘Too Many Nicknames’ Rogers

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Batting

MDCC Bowling - Holy Cross 80 all out 31.5 overs. 7 Extras

Tetchy Mufs Stay Top in Run Fest at Penicuik

Saturday 12 June. MDCC v Penicuik 2 at Penicuik

On a batting paradise at Penicuik, Sicknote calls right and elects to bat ignoring half of his team who bizarrely were wanting to bowl first. Mufs run up 279 in 50 overs - which could and should have been more. Sickie was first to depart with 55, Knighty collected 72 (significantly most of his runs coming after Sickie had gone and therefore stopped moaning at our somewhat out-of-sorts Liberty!). Andy Gray picked up 10 before being run-out. Debutant Mihir with a fine 29 and Jaya, not quite at his fluent best, with 72. Chris West sacrificed himself to spare Jaya from a run-out and Phil Rogers late-on scored a quick 10 not. Mufs put on 100 in the last ten.

An' boy did we need it. With the exception of Normie Allan who bowled his 15 right through and a promising debut with ball from Mihir the Mufs performance with ball and in the field simply was far too sub-standard and with nothing to lose Penicuik, particularly Fraser and Taylor, batted aggressively to run us far too close, finishing on 237 for 9 (Morton hurt in the field) after Claypole ignoring his iffy shoulder cleans up the Penicuik youth at the tail. Phil also pouched a vital boundary catch to dismiss Fraser which effectively ended Penicuik very fine counter-attack. Against a better team we would have lost plus Morton's misfortune to damage his hand in the field was fortunate for us as he is a good bat. Lessons to be learnt all round, me included (I apologise (not) for being particularly grumpy on the day). Anyway another 25 bagged, top spot retained, and thankfully the Beast will be back next week - and more fine new recruits soon ready to be sent out to battle. Well done to Mihir who have slotted in really well on his debut- honestly we do play better than that, mate (and argue amongst ourselves less)!

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Batting

MDCC Bowling - Penicuik 2 237 all out (9 wkts) 47.3 overs. 34 Extras

Rained Off

Saturday 19 June. MDCC v Falkland 2 at Muirhouse

Rained off but given shooting incident with travelling folk nearby we might have not been able to get near the pitch anyway!!

Rained Off

Saturday 26 June. MDCC v Haddington at Haddington

Rained off !!

Rained Off

Saturday 4 July. MDCC v Grange 3 at Newfield

Rained off again!!

Bushmeister and Beast Crush Clackmannan

Saturday 11 July. MDCC v Clackmannan County at Muirhouse

A welcome return to cricket after all this rain of late. On a soft and slow wicket at Muirhouse Mufs simply had too much fire-power for Clackmannan.

Sent in to bat, Clackmannan had no answer against the pace and guile of The Beast of Sorrell and debutant Clayton "Bushmeister" Burne spearheading the Mufs attack - some combination is this! If only for a faster track!

Clackmannan showed some stubborn resistance at first but essentially it was survival that seemed uppermost in their minds against Rich bowling tightly and Clayton putting in a very promising debut performance. Once Rich had the in-form Oliver trapped in front for 7 and Clayton cleaned-up dangerous skipper Ash Rasul for 12 then County were always up against it. A stubborn knock by the veteran David Mudie, who cut well for his 12, was ended by the returning Beast who cleaned up the tail in a professional demolition job. Richard finished with 11.4-6-11-4 and Clayton 15-5-25-3 bowling right through. "Nasty" Keith Lawrence picked up 2 wkts (8-2-15-2) and our other bowler used was Stormin Norman Allan with 3-0-9-0.The other wicket was a run-out where at first we had seemed to reprieve Kashif Ali with a wayward throw only for him to get his bat stuck running it in and ending up somewhat bizarrely run-out. Clackmannan County all out for 67 in 37.4 overs.

With an hour to tea an pies we turned right round, and with an eye on the skies a bit (luckily all the threatening stuff missed us) we closed our target of 68 down with only a wee stumble - "Liberty" Knighty caught for 0 off Zahid Hussain, Mihir bowled for 4 by Mudie and Sicknote dismissed for 20 also by Hussain taking a very sharp return catch (the sod!). Zahid finishing with 9-1-31-2. The Masterful Jaya (24 not) at first look a bit uneasy with his new "Butt Sports" equipment (sounds like one of Liberty's films), but once his bat was replaced normal service resumed. Partnered by Dickie Park (13 not) we were home and hosed in 22 overs. Jaya's tremendous form this season sees him now passing 400 runs with an average now over 100. But challenge now laid down by Kidd whose average now rises to over 120 !! Over to you Mr Jayahanthan!

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Bowling - Clackmannan County 67 all out 37.4 overs. 12 Extras

MDCC Batting

Liddle Lashes Largo

Saturday 18 July. MDCC v Largo at Largo

Another week of cricket defying the earlier rain and another impressive debut League performance, this time by Alec "Chariots" Liddle who spearheaded Mufs Ones to another victory and avenged our only defeat earlier this term by Largo. Largo were dismissed for 117 with only Shariff (34) really troubling us - though we did give him three lives. Shariff eventually shot down by "Nasty" Keith Lawrence. Mihir bowled a fine spell taking 2 wickets but it was the speed-kings Liddle and The Beast of Sorrell that wreaked havoc on Largo, Richie finishing with 3 for 29 and Alec 4 for 18. Mufs flew out of the trap as Kidda unleashed a merciless attack on the Largo opening bowlers smiting 29 from only 18 balls before falling to the accurate Bob Mowat. Sicknote followed for a scratchy 11, caught behind off Shariff. But Liberty Knight with 34 not and The Masterful Jayahanthan with 39 not (taking his season's tally to 448 and average to 112) saw us home and an early trip to the pub - to debate the meaning of Salt and Vinegar crisps amongst other things... Nasty just cannot understand them apparently. Thanks to Largo for their good spirit and friendly hospitality. Mufs Ones thus still top the Division 2 pile - hats off to you boys - but now we are in the business end of the season and we simply have to keep this hard work and good application going. Up the Mufs!

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Bowling - Largo 117 all out 45.5 overs. 18 Extras

MDCC Batting

Gale-force Burne on fire as Ones march on at Marchmont

Saturday 25 July. MDCC v Marchmont at Marchmont

What wind? Even the strongest of gales were unable to extinguish the fire of Clayton Burne as the Bushmeister destroyed the fabled Marchmont Batting Machine at a blowy Cavalry Park. Once again the opposition were inserted and the Mufs speed-kings unleashed on their prey. This week's headline grabber Clayton with an awesome return of 11.2-2-22-7 including a hat-trick with the first 3 balls of his third spell. Great support provided by Mihir with a spell of 9-1-26-2 - another mighty oak that refused to bow in the face of the gale. The Beast of Sorrell (9-3-15-0)and Alec "Chariots" Liddle (8-2-17-0) provided fine accurate pace work with the wind at their backs and although surprisingly finished wicketless (though Rich had in theory bowled out the last man... unfortunantly the square leg umpire was still changing at long-on...) they kept Marchmont pinned-down. Dickie Park also bowled tidily and claimed the dangerous Mathers in his 4-1-11-1 into the wind before Clayton returned to castle the stubborn Srinivason for 22 and claim a superb hat-trick as part of a devasting final spell of 4 wkts in 14 balls for only 6 runs. Marchmont blown away by the Bushmeister and Co for 105 from 41.2 overs.

Following a very fine tea (methinks they were trying to get us so full we couldn't move) out strode Darryn "Lager Bar" Kidd and a strapped up Liberty Knight. Kidd was again in no mood to show mercy as he raced to 47 from 38 balls with some fine strokeplay (2 sixes) before a heave across saw his stumps re-arranged but a mighty fine start with 63 on the board. A similar shot across the line saw Sicknote depart LBW for 7. Knighty was joined by Jaya but our hobblin Baggie fell to a fine catch for 30 just before the end. Jaya (9 not... average now to 114 !!) and Mihir (6 not) with a lovely cover drive saw us to a fine victory. Mufs stay top with Holy Cross still hard at our heals after their comfortable-ish win over Clackmannan. Great stuff chaps again and congratulations Mr Burne.

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Bowling - Marchmont 105 all out 41.2 overs. 23 Extras

MDCC Batting

Monty to the Rescue as Mufs Escape to Victory

Saturday 31 July. MDCC v SMRH2 at Muirhouse

Despite a bit of a stinker with the bat against "The Smellies" of SMRH, Mufs extend their winning sequence to 8 games in a row to stay at the head of Div 2. Holy Cross remain hard on our heels and Le Crunch is nicely set up at Arboretum next week.

At a hot and sticky Muirhouse, Mufs were sent into bat. Kidd unleased his usual ferocious assault on the bowling and raced to 25 before an all too familiar yahoo saw him castled. Sicknote (4) suffered his second c&b dismissal in a row at home (note to skipper: drive along ground), then Old Mother (3), Masterful Jaya (1), Tiger Vagh (1) and Claypole Rogers (0) all fell in a horrendous slump from 37-1 to 44-6. Charlie Butcher (no, not Barry's wicked widow from Eastenders... actually what am I on about... she was of course Janine, as played by Charlie Brooks, doh...anyway back to the cricket) now sitting on a Pfeiffer that had looked most unlikely when Dazza had taken 24 off his first 11 deliveries!

Enter the Parky and Monty West to the rescue. Dickie shows great patience early on but just as the shots begin to flow Dickie is bowled for 12. Westy doggedly battles on, watches The Beast of Sorrell (16 off 5) clobber 6,4,4 off the spinner McCall only to be deceived next ball and trapped plumb LBW. Clayton departs for 5 and we are not sitting pretty at all at 90 for 9. But you can't ask for a much better number 11 than Stormin Norman. And with what may have proved in the end to be a most vital partnership of 32, Mufs reach 122 and at least something to defend. Chris finishes on a very fine 31 not out and Stormin last man out for 8.

With an hour to tea we turn around. The Beast of Sorrell opens up from the Crazed Gunman End and The Bushmeister from the Bizarre Suicide Inferno End. We are keeping things tight and the dangerous opposition skipper, Stuart Farquharson, goes for the aerial route off Clayton. Unfortunantly for him Sicknote's pre-tea, and thus empty, Belly allows him to just stretch far enough to pluck one out above his head and the first vital early breakthrough is made. Samson is caught by Jaya, again off Clayton as the Smellies are finding it hard to time their shots on the Muirhouse surface. Now its 12-2 and we are right back in it. Then just before the tea-break another vital strike - immediately after a spilled c&b chance the fired up Bushmeister traps Foubister LBW for 13. We go off at Tea to a most excellent of spreads (maybe Big Frank has seen the ESCA website Best Tea poll) feeling that we are right back in it.

But SMRH are a tough nut to crack and with Kevin Azam showing good form and application the score ticks up to past 50 before Mihir traps MacColl LBW for 10. Still SMRH creep closer. Stormin Norman then takes the vital wicket of Azam for 23 and now SMRH are 5 down for 69. Still they won't crack and at 88 for 5 we are beginning to stare down the barrel. But panic or give in this battle-hardened Mufs unit will not. Taking inspiration from Monty's earlier knock we fight to the end. And enter into the combat-zone Mr Rogers (8-3-15-2) and Mr Park (5-2-8-2) who bowl with great discipline and cunning to claim 2 wickets each and turn the match decisively back our way. With SMRH 20 runs short and 4 overs left the Beast of Sorrell returns for the kill and he swiftly despatches his prey with his second ball. Richie finishes with 9.2-2-23-1; Mihir had 6-1-16-1 and Clayton 13-1-32-3. Great bowling and fielding chaps.

Mufs have escaped to victory and a vital 25 points bagged. Hopefully another timely kick up the ass for our batsman before next weeks titanic blockbuster at Arboretum. Up the Mufs!

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Batting

MDCC Bowling - SMRH2 102 all out 45.2 overs. 15 Extras

Arboretum Armageddon for Mufs

Saturday 7 August. MDCC v Holy Cross at the Arboretum

It pains me to write any more than what was in the news article so here it is again...however if it is any comfort then Holy Cross subsequently described this as one of the best games they have had in years.

It was not quite to be and well played Holy Cross who proved, particularly with their batting, that they have just that extra depth in a close fought encounter at the Arboretum. But looking back, Mufs will reflect that they had their opponent on the ropes not once (HC 24-4), not twice (HC 112-ish for 8 before a 62 run 8th wkt stand between Clifton-Bligh 31 and Astley 28 not) but thrice (Mufs 74 needed off 18 with 7 wickets in hand) but we could not land the killer knockout blow. In the end, chasing 174 Mufs fell 24 short as we could not break the stranglehold their bowlers created and Holy Cross thus knock us off the top of the table. But three games to go and still all to play for. We all , especially with our batting, just need to apply ourselves better (shot selection was not the best at times) and for the challenges ahead maybe some of us might wish to come down to nets to practice either rusty or misfiring technique and the latter applies to me as well!!

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Bowling - Holy Cross 174 all out 49.3 overs. 30 Extras

MDCC Batting

Rained Off

Saturday 14 August. MDCC v Penicuik 2 at Muirhouse

Rain during the week had meant mission impossible for groundsman. Pools panel verdict : Home win. However the cancellation means Mufs will be promoted to Div 1. Hurrah for us and well done all.

Rained Off

Saturday 21 August. MDCC v Falkland 2 at Falkland

Again the heavy rain during the week had meant mission impossible for groundsman at Falkland. Pitch was under water in midweek!

Finale Pfeiffer for the Beast as Haddy Routed

Saturday 28 August. MDCC v Haddington at Muirhouse

And so the end is here as the season ends. And a new beginning beckons as Mufs Ones will be playing in the promised land of Division One next year. A fabulous effort by all. Well done. Thoughts should now turn to how we can strengthen ourselves further for the challenges ahead. But we should allow a wee time for a bit of celebration. Back-to-back promotion and the Parks Trophy is a great haul for a club that has suffered a terrible run of injuries. Through that wall of pain for many indeed this year. I salute your spirit. Raise your glasses and toast the mighty Mufs.

And so to yesterdays game. Haddington call wrong and are inserted to bat on a typical Muirhouse sponge. The Beast of Sorrell starts well and soon has opener Lawson's stumps shattered for a duck. Stormin Norman keeps the shutters down at the other end. Richie then re-arranges Talbot's stumps for 9 with a peach of a leg-cutter and Haddy are soon in more trouble as skipper Cruickshank is castled by The Beast. Stormin and Beasty take a break and enter the Fabulous Baikie and Dino de Rogers show. The Haddington innings is strangled of runs as their batting legend, John Hiley is tied in knots. JNB bowls 7 maidens in a row and finishes with a magnificent spell of 10-7-6-1. The under-bowled Rogers gets a good run-out with a tidy 10-4-11-2. A clearly bleary (now who used to do this I wonder...!!) Mihir switches from spin to seam with 6-0-19-1 taking a very sharp return catch. The Beast returns for his second spell and cleans up the tail-end, including the promising youngster Chas Legget for 18, to finish with a magnificent 15-8-15-5. Stormin Norman administers the coup de grace with a second fine catch for JNB. Haddington 80 all out off 49.3 overs.

Another super tea from Big Frank and Co. with this weeks surprise ingredient being coffee which made the cake slip down even easier! Back on the pitch Kidda and Jaya are paired up with Jay needing 33 runs to finish with 500 runs for the season. Sadly it is not to be as, despite a great six, Jay is trapped LBW for 11 by the young Legget. Knighty joins Dazza and Kidda opens up with consecutive sixes to break the back of the total. However a flourish of wickets sees Mufs wobble as Andy (2), Darryn (37) JNB (4) and Mihir(4) all fall against the wiley slow stuff of Hiley (8.2-2-20-3) and Skipper Cruickshank (6-1-1-20). But Sicknote (7 not) and Old Mother Hubbard (9 not) ensure no further alarms with OMH having the honour of hitting the season finale winning runs. All that was left was for jubliant skipper Sicknote to spray a bottle of Bolly over his troops in best Formula One fashion. Thankfully one had brought a second bottle of champers to quaff! Many thanks to Wille Ritchie for his consistent support and diligent scoring and match return filling in all season and thanks to Don and Tom H for support on the day representing 3s and 2s respectively plus a flying visit from El Yellys and Mr Watson. Cheers chaps. Some photos of the day to follow soon.

Second XI Match Reports

Game Off

Saturday 1 May.

Recent bad weather had put paid to the game.

Rained off

Saturday 8 May.

More rain misery

Mufs v Westquarter

Saturday 15 May at Westquarter

Finally action for the twos but a defeat at the hands of the gentle country folk of Westquarter.

Report from Iain Martin... from this link

Classy Sasi brings Twos back from the dead

Saturday 22 May.

Report to follow of a semi-miraculous recovery from Mufs Twos

Defeat by Holy Cross 2

Saturday 29 May.

Report to follow of a defeat at the hands of Holy Cross 2

No game

Saturday 5 June.

No pitch at Stenny or elsewhere and thus no game

Mufs Hammer Heriots

Saturday 12 June. Muirhouse.

A crushing win. Maybe a report will get written? Maybe not. As OMH would say... Buck Up Twos

Rained Off

Saturday 19 June. MDCC v Preston Village 2 away

Rained off !!

Rained Off

Saturday 26 June.

Rained off !!

Rained Off

Saturday 4 July.

Rained off !!

The Lager Bar Kidd is strong and tough.. but the Twos are just not good enuff.

Saturday 11 July. MDCC2 V Edinburgh CC 2 - Leith Academy

Deserved headline grabber this week was Darryn "Lager" Kidd with a fantastic display of strokeplay in an unbeaten 136 not out which took the Twos close to chasing-down Edinburgh CC 2, the Div 4 leader's, 260 a.o.

Prior to his innings Kidd had been wagered by OMH that if he scored 150 then Old Mother would buy him beer "all night". The Hubbard wallet was under the most serious threat but with seven balls left Kidda ran out of partners and Twos all out 236 and short by 24. Kidda's 136 all the more remarkable as he had a runner (which probably for Dazza was a bonus! -well run Hairy Monster Watling) but also that several cans of Tennants lager were being consumed agonisingly close to Dazza by the watching Ones (we at least saved him one tinny!) Kidda had earlier been top wicket taker with 3-77. However, a fielding performance which was described as comical had let ECC off the hook - having been 5 down for 70 odd at one stage- it was estimated that as many as 20 chances were missed, not attempted or spilled. Full report to follow (if anyone writes it or can hold a pen long enough).

Norman(s) Conquest of Westquarter

Saturday 18 July. MDCC2 V Westquarter - Muirhouse

Twos defeated a predictably gobby Westquarter at Muirhouse in a low scoring match. Westquarter were evicted for 80 unable to cope with the Two Normans Show - Messers Allan and Baikie taking 4 wickets each and Nightbus the other 2. Stormin' finishing with 15-8-18-4, JNB 6.3-2-12-4 and Tony 15-4-25-2 I believe. Mufs stumbled in the chase - but were steadied by a patient 12 from Andy "(ex)Daybus" Gray but with wickets falling it was Wardy with 10 that provided valuable support to Bicycle Towns (22) that took us close to victory, sealed in the end with a big straight hit by Simpson. And a most enjoyable victory against a most unlovely foe. Well done Tom and his chaps. Hopefully, he says without hope, someone will write a full report....

Wheeler deals Mufs a winning hand

Saturday 25 July. MDCC2 V Grange 4 - Muirhouse

Mufs Twos were indebted to a fine skipper's knock by Tom "The Dealer" Wheeler whose 56 was complimented by Andy Lacey's 34 as they rescued Mufs from 42-5 to get us up to a fine 180-9. JNB added 19 and Scott Taylor a valuable 17 not out. Grange 4 finished 25 short, dismissed for 155 with "Stormin" Norman Allan taking 4 for 44 from his 15. Tony chipped in with 2-46, JNB 1-18, Carl Trahms 1-31 and The Dealer 1-14. The other wicket a tremendous run-out by "ex-Daybus" Andy Gray who otherwise did not have the happiest of days with a first-baller. On Sunday the Twos lost by 4 wickets to Stenhousemuir in a re-arranged League game. Mufs top-order collapsed again but this time Tom couldn't work his magic as Mufs slumped to 111 all out.

Not their Sunday Best for Mufs

Sunday 26 July. MDCC2 V Stenhousemuir - Stenhousemuir

Twos were unable to make it back to back weekend victories after another batting collapse and this time no Skipper's rescue mission. Mufs slumped to 111 a.o. but managed to get Stenny 6 down before defeat.

Bates goes Psycho on MUFS 2s

Saturday 31 July. MDCC2 V Holy Cross 2 - Arboretum

Kerrr..Crunch.... Mufs concede an awesome 306 to lose by plenty v Holy Cross. Ow. I think we made 160 odd. Details to follow once provided (but don't hold your breath for a report)... way-hey here it is...!!

It was suggested at the toss that it may have been a good one to lose; the pitch looked good but the overhead conditions suggested the ball would swing. Unfortunately, that thinking proved wrong as the Holy Cross skipper won the toss and had no qualms about batting first on his home track, and amassing no less than 306 for the loss of 6 wickets against a weakened Murrayfield DAFS attack.

The early cloud soon cleared to provide another hot day, taking away any swing, while the pitch offered little in the way of seam movement. Tony 'Love God' Simpson, bowling from the Ferry Road end found opener Mair's edge early on, only for the chance to be grassed by Andy Lacey behind the stumps. A change of keeper (with Andy struggling with a foot injury) saw Mair's edge, again off the reliable Nightbus, held in the next over by Lindsay 'Super Shorts' Towns. That was to prove less of an advantage to the fielding team as out strode Bates who then went on to make an unbeaten 130. Together with the remaining opener - the Holy Cross wicketkeeper, Dannreuther - they put on 81 for the second wicket, although Dannreuther was caught at fine leg off a Simpson no ball. Karl Trahms eventually found Dannreuther's edge with successive deliveries. The first evaded the catchers to run to the third man boundary, taking the batsman to 43, but at the second asking the chance was snaffled at first slip by Chris 'Hairy Monster' Watling, caught brilliantly one-handed diving to his right.

71 runs were then added for the third wicket, with Bates offering his only chance steepling a catch to mid-wicket off a Martin 'No Vest Again' Ward slower ball only for it to be put down. David 'No nickname' Philpott eventually broke the partnership by bowling Cydzik for 30, the first of three victims - all bowled - in a spell of 13 overs broken only to change ends. Bates continued with some fearsome cuts combined with sweetly timed shots off his legs and drives down the ground. The only other batsman to make a significant score was Clifftonbligh who made 34 with some controlled and powerful late hitting to push the total over 300 until being bowled by Philpott.

The ground at Arboretum Road is by no means an easy one to field on with a noticeable slope both across the square and along the wicket - the keeper and slips are considerably lower than the stumps when at the Ferry Road end, while the boundary on the rugby ground side being particularly short. It was, however, not surprising that as the runs stacked up the Murrayfield DAFS fielding fell away and there were a number of misfields even by those who are normally considered safe. Particularly telling were the catches missed that could have swung the game to Murrayfield's favour. The bowling, lacking the two Normans and other regulars, was also loose with no less than 37 bowling extras given away, giving the Holy Cross batters an extra six overs, David Philpott being a real wide-boy with no less than 14. However, all tried their best in the 'unseasonable' heat and all 4 main bowlers at least got a wicket to secure 3 hard earned bowling points.

In reply, Murrayfield got off to a good start with the two Andys, Gray and Lacey, putting on 55 for the the first wicket - a Two's record for this season - inside 15 overs until Andy Lacey (29; 3 x 4s) mistimed a shot off Smith to be caught at mid-off. Andy 'Off the Buses' Gray followed two over later when he played around a straight delivery off the same bowler to see his stumps rearranged having scored 26 (2 x 4s). Graham 'The Doctor' Watson continued the good work, taking a particular liking to the leg spin of Hill who extracted some turn but whose length was variable, before Hill got his revenge to bowl Graham around his legs for 18 (3 x 4s). The same bowler had dismissed Lindsay Towns earlier as he tried to sweep him through square leg, and with the dismissal of this pair went Murrayfield's chances of chasing down the awesome target. David Philpott, batting at 5, had a Tino Best moment as he gave Hill the charge to be stumped for just 3, but Karl 'Night Tram' Trahms found some form hitting a quick 21 (3 x 4s) before edging to slip off that man Hill. Tony Simpson enjoyed himself at the end with 23 (3 x 4s) before being bowled to become Hill's fifth victim, finishing with figures of 14-1-63-5. An injured Chris Watling strode out as last man but was only to face the one ball as Iain 'Union Pacific Big Boy' Martin was the last man out with the score on 161.

Murrayfield could have done better in all three departments, the fielders by taking the catches, the bowlers by being more disciplined, and the batters by building on the starts to post a better score. That said, 161 is the second highest 2nd innings score by the Twos so far this season. The match might also have seen Sasi's last appearance for the club - we hope not, but he is working all hours to help pay for a vital bore-hole to provide water for the Coconut Plantation his family run back home in India. Good on you Sasi! After the game a plethora of jugs of beer were distributed as Holy Cross had seemingly broken every record in the book... who said we didn't know what we were doing! HX 1st team arrived shortly after having secured another win and to start the hype for next weeks crunch 1st team Division 2 decider. Shannon has had his hair cut specially! hopefully not the magnificent beard though -webby

M. Ward (with additions by Rickaaay).

MDCC Bowling - Holy Cross 306 for 6 from 50 overs. 55 extras. "Pyscho" Bates a splendid 130 not out.

Bowler (overs mdns runs wkts ave econ)

T. Simpson 15- 2- 71- 1- 71.0- 4.73

I. Martin 13- 0 -77- 1 -77.0- 5.92

D. Philpott 13- 1- 75- 3- 25.0 -5.77

K. Trahms 5 -0- 30- 1- 30.0- 6.00

M. Ward 2- 0 -20- 0 --- 10.00

Sasid 2- 0- 15- 0 --- 7.50

MDCC Batting

A. Gray bowled 26

A. Lacey caught 29

G. Watson bowled 18

L. Towns bowled 4

D. Philpott stumped 3

K. Trahms caught 21

Sasid caught 4

M. Ward lbw 6

T. Simpson bowled 23

I. Martin bowled 2

C. Watling NOT OUT 2

Extras 23 TOTAL (40.2 overs) 161 all out

Sorry too lazy to html tag it up properly!

Rained Off

Saturday 14 August. MDCC2 v Heriots 3 at Goldenacre

Rain during the week had meant mission impossible for groundsman at Heriots too.

Victory v the Village People

Saturday 21 August. MDCC2 v Preston Village at Muirhouse

At Muirhouse the Twos earned what was in the end a comfortable victory against Preston Village nagged and cheered on in equal proportions by the watching Ones. But boy did you guys make it hard for yourselves with Fringe worthy comedy cricket at times.

Mufs spearheaded by Stormin Norman and The Nightbus get PV in a "Stone Cold" Steve Austin worthy tightest of strangeholds from the off. Incredibly it took PV 9, yes 9, overs to score a run off the bat and with 2 wickets lost in the process one a comedy run-out. The Count picks up another to leave PV at 8 for 3. In the end Tony bowls right through his 15 overs with an incredible 10 maidens and only 10 runs scored off him for his two wickets. Stormin takes a breather after 9 overs with 3 runs (and 2 of them wides!) conceded. Tremendous stuff by the Count. It takes PV 30 overs to pass one run an over. However, the PV mid and tail order wags and near enough 100 runs put on in 18 overs to take them to 128 aided by not the sharpest fielding performance as Mufs seem to go to sleep in the sun - where was the intensity and focus in the field lads?? More victims for Mihir's Fielding Academy at Nets I think. Seriously, a big thing the whole Club needs to work on next year big time.

128 on a very pedestrian Muirhouse wicket now poses a challenge that simply should have not been there. And Mufs pedestrian approach to the reply simply added to the pressure. Thankfully Old Mother, riding his luck somewhat (to the angst somewhat of Boris who offered one chance and was caught of it- with OMH surviving the most comical of drops by the PV keeper who tripped over one of his own fielders going for the simplest of lobbed catches - you had to be there to believe it) and The Wheeler-Dealer (30 not) craft a perfectly timed partnership to take Mufs to the cusp of victory. OMH's luck runs out as he perishes with just 2 needed for 46 runs and some well needed practice in the middle for the old DAFS premier batter. Out comes The Wierdy Vested One. The comedy cricket is not over as Martin scampers yards across the pitch to block the widest of wide deliveries. Cue guffawing all round. He makes amends by clipping the next ball for the winning two runs and the curtain falls on the entertaining theatre of cricket.

Some photos from the game are available at this link to Mufs2 v PV match photos. Sorry Tony but didn't get a chance to photy thee in bowling action. Our lady readers probably could not contain themselves if I did anyway.

Walkover

Saturday 28 August. MDCC2 v Edin Uni Staff at ??

A softball tourney at Pfeffermill and no alternative pitch saw Mufs 2 awarded the 25 points.

Third XI Match Reports

Thirds Defeated by Dunbar

MDCC3 v Dunbar - Sat 1 May

Report by Paul Leonard...

Mufs 3s began this season's league campaign against a strong Dunbar side at Roseburn. Dunbar batted first, but tight Mufs bowling on a damp pitch saw Dunbar start slowly, with wickets falling. Ali Amjid and Carl Tramms bowled good opening spells, well backed up by Mike Seddon and Henry Collin. Six down with less than 70 on the board, Dunbar looked in trouble. However, either they were inspired by the rousing support of the Murrayfield cup final crowd, or M-Dafs were put off by the streaker (male, with an alarming mullet), as Wanless (51) and Paxton put on a vital stand. Dunbar were eventually all-out for 148, with Mike and Carl the best of the bowlers, taking 4-45 and 3-22 respectively.

Mufs 3s reply stuttered early on, with Paul, Don and Amjid going quickly. Mike, opening, batted well for his 24. Carl and Vijay - who overcame two bat breakages - put together a decent stand in the middle order. However, despite vocal support from the crowd for Graham Tait (....you're indestructiblllllle...) and some resilient batting from Frank Boyd (12) Mufs fell short by 60.

No play - waterlogged pitch

MDCC3 v Livingston- Sat 8 May

No play due to Livy pitch being waterlogged

Narrow Friendly Victory

MDCC3 v Mitre - Sat 15 May

We are privileged to have a Match Report written by a pro journo... Niall Aitcheson...

SPRINGBOK all-rounder Carl Trahms went from sinner to saint as Don Wilkie's 'Thirsty Thirds' snatched a dramatic one-run victory over Mitre 2nds in a 35-over friendly at Liberton last Saturday.

Trahms, one of several Murrayfield-DAFS batsmen to sell their wickets cheaply in a modest total of 95, responded to the embarrassment of suffering a golden duck -- a top edge off an injudicious attempted pull -- by claiming four second innings wickets to give 'The Don' his first success of the season.

When Trahmns returned for his second spell with five overs remaining, Mitre looked to have the edge 82-8 with No7 bat Richard Henderson well-set on 20. But he could only look on helplessly as the South African teenager castled his tail-end partners with a couple of real jaffas.

Earlier, Murrayfield-DAFS quickly lost their way -- and their captain -- as the Mitre new-ball pair harnessed the cross-wind to deadly effect. A bemused Wilkie was first to go, playing up the Central Line to one that was going down the Northern, as Mitre's left-arm seamer, Iqbal, tormented the batsmen with his full-length in-swingers.

Ali Amjid then decided that aggression was the way forward and smashed four boundaries in a whirlwind 18 before he too joined the skipper back in the hutch. After that, it became a procession, Cliff Graham the only other batsman into double figures.

But thanks to top scorer Mr Extras weighing in with a priceless 36, they eventually posted a defendable total.

It then left to Trahms and his bowling partners to pull Murrayfield-DAFS back from the brink.

Match summary: Murrayfield-DAFS 3rds 95 (23.2 overs, A Amjid 18, C Graham 15, Iqbal 5-0-18-2, Henderson 4-3-12-2). Mitre 2nds 94 (32 overs, Iqbal 22, Henderson 20 no, Trahms 5-0-8-4, Stewart 3-0-7-2). Murrayfield-DAFS won by one run.

Murdo 50 Inspires Threes to Victory

MDCC3 v Peebles - Sat 22 May - Peebles

Report of a comfortable victory by Andy Piggott... from this link

Threes March On

MDCC3 v Drummond 2 - Sat 29 May - Roseburn

Report of another victory for the Thress by Paul Leonard at this link

Narrow Loss

MDCC3 v West Lothian 3 - Sat 5 June

Report of narrow loss for the Threes by Paul Leonard at this link

Another Narrow Loss

MDCC3 v Penicuik 3 - Sat 5 June - Roseburn

Report of another narrow loss by Paul Leonard at this link

Rained Off

Saturday 19 June. MDCC3 v Morton 2 at Roseburn

Rained off !!

Rained Off

Saturday 26 June.

Rained off !!

Rained Off

Saturday 4 July.

Rained off !!

Rolled over by the Cask and Barrell

Saturday 11 July. MDCC3 v Cask and Barrell at Roseburn

Chasing 171, Mufs fell short by 76 runs at 95 all out. Report by El Brownio

Taking the field first in cloudy and overcast condition the 3's got off to a good start with Ali taking a wicket in the first over. A good passage of play for Cask followed with very quick running between the wickets ticking their score over at 4 an over with the occasional boundary. Some sterling work from Rob Fotheringham behind the stumps mean that Matty could toil at the Roseburn End unluckily without reward. The Cask number 3 swished at most things but failed to get an edge on anything apart from one onto the fingertips of a leaping skip at slip.

Runs were now coming quite quickly. Some pep talks from the returning vice-captain told the bowlers to hit if he missed and eventually he did just that. A Debut wicket for 'Babs'. At the other end the opener kept playing straight to everything and didn't offer up much. Enter Nadim into the fray and he was soon on his way c&b. After a dropped catch or 2 (1 sitter by Brown the younger) wicket 4 was claimed by Babs with an LBW. Porter arrived at the crease and played some good shots and runs were still coming at a good rate with the quick singles were becoming irritating and costly. With some pressure applied by Nadim and Babs they were becoming more risky, with one narrowly missed shy from Brown the Elder. In the next over they tried it again and weren't going to get away with it a second time. A coconut for Browny, every one a winner. That brought Raj to join his big hitting team mate at the crease and runs became a lot easier. Brown and Piggott joined the attack and were knocked to all corners with a couple of chances going down then Piggott struck with an LBW with the score ticking towards 140. After a couple of false shots and a good catch from Vijay the rest of the Cask side were claimed with Ali taking 2 in the final over. Cask and Barrel all out for 171 in the 38th.

Mufs were suitable filled by the tea on offer and began to reply in slow fashion. Wickets tumbled in a regular manner but the score was helped along by a mounting number of wides. Some good shots from Nadim took the1st bowling point and his personal score to 14 the highest of the innings. The duo of Porter (finishing with 4 wickets) and Raj were doing the damage and removed the first 5 batsmen. The skippa was hanging in on his way to 8 but the damage was already done. As the younger Brown was replaced by the other for 1 the score was teetering just over the 60 mark. Now there are some ways to get out but given caught behind by your brother must rank fairly low on the list. The 2nd Brown going for 2. Rob and Scotty provided some resistance but with the wides mounting the 2nd bonus point was claimed. With the score perilously close on 87/9 Mr Piggott took to the crease. A couple of nice shots off the legs for 2 and a single brought the 3rd and final point up. Wides finishing on 32. Innings closed on 95oa at the end of the 38th over.

C.Brown

Last Ball Horror for Mufs

Saturday 18 July. MDCC3 v Holy Cross 3

Fuller report maybe to follow but perhaps too painful for Don and Co to recollect.... as Mufs 3s collapsed from a promising 110-5 to 114 all out and suffered in the end an agonising last ball defeat with Holy Cross down to their last pair. Earlier Ali Amjit had hit 40, Mamoon 25 and Ian Volante 13 not on his debut. However a spell of bowling of 4 wickets in 5 balls had wrecked the Mufs innings - which included 3 golden ducks. It was almost enough but despite 4-33 by Chris Wigan HC just scraped home in a tight finish - 6 being required from the last over with just the one wicket left. Hard luck guys.

Report of yet another narrow loss now written by Paul Leonard at this link

Friendly Victory for Mufs Threes

Saturday 25 July. MDCC3 v Mitre XI- Friendly

Mufs Threes outplayed Mitre in a friendly match, Mufs declaring on 176 off 27 overs (lots of retirals on 25) and then bowling out Mitre for 56.

Threes Done For by Dunbar

Saturday 31 July. MDCC3 v Dunbar - Roseburn

Mufs3 were defeated by Dunbar by 64 runs. Dunbar reached 183-5 and Mufs reached only 119-6.

Match Cancelled

Saturday 14 August. MDCC3 v West Lothian XI (away)

West Lothian could not raise a team for this friendly fixture.

Midweek Match Reports

Mufs Defeat Widows in Parks 1st Round

Thursday 6 May. Parks Trophy - MDCC v Scottish Widows at Muirhouse

MDCC defeated a strong Scottish Widows side comfortably by 7 wickets at Muirhouse in the Parks Trophy. Widows batted first and started strongly with Robertson in belligerent form with 46, though de skipper missed a run-out chance to claim the danger man earlier on, never was much good at me double sixteens. From a promising position at the half-way point of 54 for 1 for Widows, despite excellant bowling from "Nasty" Keith Lawrence with 5-0-18-1, MDCC staged a storming fight-back over the next 10 overs; JNB to the fore with a most excellant 5 overs claiming 4 wickets and costing only 22. A wicket a-piece also for Darryn Kidd and Norman Allan, two stumpings for Chris, catches for Phil, Jaya and Lindsay; plus 3 run-outs with excellant work from Jaya and Lindsay, saw Widows finally dismissed for 105 off their final ball of the 20 overs. Phil R was the other bowler used (3-0-20-0), with the Beast rested for the night. A good fight back as early season rust in the field was shaken off in the second half when Mufs showed solid team work.

And so to the chase, with Rich Sorrell partnering Knighty at the top of the order. Rich blasted us out of the blocks with a most entertaining quick-fire knock, including one bowler demoralising 6, before departing bowled to the lanky and rapid Hansen for 27 out of the 34 on the board. After a period of careful chipping away at the Widows total (a polite way of saying yours truly couldn't lay bat on ball), Mufs exploded back into life and built up some impressive "Manhattans" with Knighty putting the wayward Bobb to the sword (19 off one over) and then Sicknote finding his range with 10 taken off the hitherto impressive Hansen. Mufs reached 82 of 14 when Sickie departed going for a heave for 18. Jaya joined Knighty and once atuned drove immaculately to bring us to the cusp of victory. 1 required to win, the ball strikes Jaya's pad, Knighty charges down for the winning single, Jaya is unmoved, nay unaware even of his partner's rapid approach and somewhat comically the Baggie is run-out for a fine 34. Enter Westy for the final rites and victory claimed with a leg-bye, Jaya not out 16.

Overall a very fine team performance to stun the Widows - excellant bowling by John Norm and Keith- good opening batting blast by Rich, with Knighty showing his class with the bat. Maybe work needed on this running malarky though. And so to the next round of the Parks Trophy for the Mighty Mufs. Jolly well done all. Sickie

Masterful Jeya Slays Edinburgh CC

Thursday 13 May. Masterton Cup - MDCC v Edinburgh CC at Muirhouse

Masterful, wonderful. Absolutely terrific. This is akin to Stoke City beating Arsenal in the Cup as the champions of the East League are beaten by Mufs. A wonderful result for the club as we show, nay we prove that we have the depth of talent, conviction and belief to not only mix-it with the Big Guns but to vanquish them. Jeya was indeed most masterful in a superb knock of 44 not out that took us to victory - though it was a great team effort as a whole that set up victory by restricting the talented Edinburgh CC to only 117 for 3 off their 20 overs. Great credit to Dunc "Dizzy" Peake (5-0-17-1), Stormin' Norman Allan (5-0-27-2), "Nasty" Keith Lawrence (5-0-31-0)and John "the Sultan" Baikie (5-0-29-0) for keeping ECC in check despite chance after chance getting spilt in the field - bar a most vital catch by Duncan in the deep to remove the dangerous Raja just when he looked set to punish us.

And so to the chase - a circumspect and solid start by Gavin Richmond (13) and Liberty Knight (17) set us on our way. Then enter Dizzy and The Masterful Jeya with a stand of 64 that swung the game our way. Dizzy bowled for 21.... and then it got hairy-scary....with 6 needed to win of 10 balls all of a sudden Towns (2), Park (0) and Shiels (0) disappear in a hat-trick and then its 6 from 6 deliveries needed. Thankfully The Master is on strike and with a 4 and a 6 Jeya drives us to a glorious victory - surely one of the greatest since merger of the clubs and for those of a Dafs hue, the greatest since "That" Heriots game. Who's up next in the draw... why Heriots. A great night that sends out a stern message to our rivals. Up the Mufs.

"Delighted" Sicknote

Mufs Demutualise Standard Life in Parks Trophy

After the disappointment of Saturday this was a welcome morale booster as Mufs showed no mercy (well a little with the Beast rested from bowling duties!) in brutally crushing Standard Life by 108 runs in the 2nd round of the Parks Trophy.

Skipper Sicknote kept up the run of lost flips (useless tosser) - now 6 in a row and was invited to bat by the opposition. With a beaut of a Newfield wicket to bat on Sicknote unleashed full pent-up fury upon the SL opening attack, aided and abetted in the slaughter by Richie Sorrell, 50 smashed off the first 6 overs. Things slightly cool down and Rich departs for 16; then Knighty and Sicknote put on 71 in 8 frantic overs before Sickie perishes for an angry 68 with one clubbed shot to long-on too many (and there were plenty in a "10 to 10" batting chart !!). Next ball Knighty also disappears for 26 (18 of which he bludgeoned off one over) - caught by Kirkland as well- and with a sense of deja vue Dickie Park is in the midst of a hat-trick. Dickie survives and scores 9 with a mix-up on the way with Jeya run out for 7. More run outs in the final stages with Andy Lacey (0) and a comical run-out of Lindsay Towns (8) final ball... having driven the ball into the covers for a single, Lindsay continues his run towards the Pavillion... unknown to him Rogers (0 not)has called him back for a second and Bicycle Towns now has some 35 yards to make! Not in the picture frame in the end. So Mufs finished with 156 off 20 just under the 8 an over mark and a fine destructive effort.

In reply, SL never got going at all - Dickie (3-0-10-3) and Phil (3-1-6-3) bowl most cunningly up front and between them reduce SL to 17 for 6 off six overs. Simlo showing brief resistance with 3 boundaries before Dickie cleaned him up. Enter The Wheeler Dealer and Karl "Kid" Jansen for 4 overs and a wicket apiece (Tom- 4-1-10-1 and Karl 4-1-8-1). SL tail shows a bit of fight to survive as The Masterful Jeya and Liberty Knight are unleashed for a couple of overs of fire and brimstone (partic from Liberty). Lindsay pops up for an over - nearly claims a wicket first ball - gets one next ball - and then nearly another with a hard return catch almost taken. Finally and perhaps fittingly the coup de grace is delivered by Sicknote himself by bowling out the last SL wicket with his second delivery. A professional Bank job done by a ruthless gang of Mufs- never mind demutualisation this was demolition. And so we progress to Round 3 of the "Rumblelows" Cup.

Mufs too hot for Currie and Balerno

In a friendly match on Thursday at Muirhouse a Mufs midweek team with many faces new and old took on Currie and Balerno.

Batting first (shock horror Sicknote actually wins a toss!!!!) Mufs start steadily before losing openers Andy "Daybus" Gray (5) and the Rev McLeod (6) to the accurate Rudd and Irvine. Enter Andy Lacey and Monty West who put on 32 at a good rate before Chris falls to Cairns just below the 25 retirement point for 23. Sasid clubs his first ball for 4 then popped up a c and b back to Scott. Vijay is run out for 0. Andy retires on 25. Jeya, at an unusually low no 7, belts 5 boundaries before being bowled for 20 (a prize scalp for Scott), Gentle Freddy Robson rolls back the years and hits 13 before being caught off the athletic Masden, (Fred- it's still being out to a girl) , Paul Leonard lbw for 0 to Barry. Karl Jansen shows some good strokeplay for 9 not before Sicknote, coming in at last man, clubs 12 of the last 4 deliveries to take us to 126 off our 20 overs.

Shades of groundhog day from Tues as Mufs obliterate the C&B top order with 2 overs apiece from Kid Jansen (finishing with 3-1-8-3) and Sicknote (2-1-3-3) reducing C&B to 6 for 5. The bowling is rotated around the field and confuses the life out of the scorers! Ms Madsen (21) shows good grit and determination with Bob Irvine (28 not) to stop the rot and they keep Mufs at bay for 12 overs and add 60 or so to the C&B score (aided by Mr Wides with 15). D Barry adds a quickfire 23 not at the end. In that time Mufs bowlers figures were (we think): F Robson (2-0-11-0), P Leonard (2-0-7-0), Sasid (2-0-10-0) plus two catches for Sid with fingers numbed by discovering Scottish stinging nettles, Vijay (2-0-14-0), Daybus Gray (2-0-10-0), Rev McLeod (2-0-16-0), Monty West (1-0-9-0) and Jeya (1-0-10-1). Karl returned at the very end and bowled Madsen to end her solid innings. Currie and Balerno finish on 96 for 7 off their 20 overs. A victory by 30 runs and everyone a bat and bowl or keeping. Mission accomplished. Over and out.

Raj Exacts his Revenge in Run-Fest

Not a day for bowlers or fielders at a chilly Muirhouse as 301 runs are smashed in 36.3 overs as Raj inspired Maccabi Globetrotters to a 9 wicket victory. And, no doubt a small amount of personal revenge for Edinburgh CCs Masterton exit at the hands of Mufs. Earlier Raj himself had been mashed by a hobbling Sicknote - 45 runs including 2 sixes taken from our spicy ECC quick off his five overs - a wee taste of his own medicine but probably only served to make him even keener for revenge!! Sicknote retires on 50 (almost retired himself on 49, doh !!). West (11) and Sasid (16) had provided support before Jaya hit a quickfire 31 before being bowled by Raza. Vijay provided next top score with 14 and Wardy not out 9 (would have been double figures if V-"One Short"-J would only run his bat in!). 9 man Mufs finish with 150 for 6.

Then the awesome barrage starts as Raj and Welsh (from Boro'muir) destroy the Mufs midweek attack. Its On the Buses to start with as Nightbus and Daybus open the bowling. Tony starts well and could have had Raj LBW early on before taking a bit of flak (finishing with 5-0-33-0) but Andy Gray disappears for 36 off just 2 overs at the gifted hands of Raj. Norman Allan fares no better - nothing that loose but Raj and Welsh smash it anyway... The Rook finishes with a painful 56 off 5 overs. A mix-up of Hussein/Strauss standards sees Welsh run-out for 29 in the interim before the limping Hauldom joins Raj and inflicts more damage with 39 not. Jaya (3.2-21-0) and Wardy (1-0-4-0), who perhaps should have been brought on earlier in hindsight, attempt some damage limitation but Maccabi All Stars cruise home with 21 balls left. Mercifully short given the biting cold wind! Raj finishes on 77 not out. A retirement at 50 to give his team-mates a shot at batting may have been sporting but to be fair nothing had been agreed in advance.

Mufs Defeat Scotsman Wide-Boys at Aquatic Muirhouse

How we actually managed to squeeze this game in at a wet and stormy Muirhouse still amazes me. In the end a comfortable victory for Mufs against a Scotsman XI (featuring "Monty" West) in this glamour friendly. Mufs batted first with a 25 and retire rule. Unfortunantly the 25 and retire rule didn't apply to Mr Wides as the Scotsman bowlers sent down an extraordinary 38 deliveries wide of the mark in the 20 overs (and believe me, one was being ultra-generous while umpiring... with my bowling stint later in mind perhaps). "Liberty" Knight (7) and "Dealer" Wheeler (8) opened but fell in the 4th and 5th overs to the accurate Bevan and Staples. Enter "Bicycle" Towns (17) and debutant Reza (pal of Jaya) who adjusted quickly to the very opposite of Dubai cricket conditions to score a fierce 25 retired including one booming 6. One could sense that The Beast of Sorrell, waiting to bat, was clawing away at the ground, desperate to be unleashed on his prey. And merciless he was with a quickfire 30 retired (one 6).

In between Aussie Daniel Franklin bowled with good zip - recruitment operation went into overdrive later. "Nasty" Keith Lawrence entered the fray with skies laded with rain. A huge downpour was inevitable and as the majority of Mufs Ones sheltered from the lightning storm in a metal shed (errrrm...) we were treated to a glorious double rainbow across the wicket. Where was that camera. We resume as the rain stops, but the batting storm continues despite the slip-slidy conditions. Nasty is bowled by the returning Bevens for 15 (one 6) and Vijay again by Bevens for 9. Enter The Masterful Jayahanthan who can't quite adjust to the soggyness and his most prized wicket is claimed by Wallace for 7. Paul Leonard finishes on 4 not and Stormin Norman Allan on 0 not. Yours truly, Sicknote, lurking at 11. Mufs finish on 166 for 6 from 20 soggy overs plus the 39 extra deliveries!

A quick turnaround and enter Sicknote to bowl only like an opening batsman can. 14 conceded off opening over as Franklin and Staples tuck in with some good drives but a missed nick behind flies to the boundary of the 7th ball(?) of a somewhat bizarrely umpired over. Then Nasty concedes 8 of his... is the fightback on? Sadly for our Scotsman Scribes, not. Sickie tightens up as much as his hamstring and bowls Staples for 8 to finish with 2-0-17-1. Nasty finishes wicketless with 2-0-10-0 but in his last over a slip does for Mather on the turn and he is mercilessly run out for 1. Enter the skidding Paul Leonard who sprays Cullen's stumps for 4. The collapse continues next over as Lindsay T, bowling to a cunning 3-8 field, claims the dangerman, Franklin, LBW for 20 (ahem, perhaps a tad high). Next over, next wicket as Leonard spears another one through the defences to bowl Judge, guilty of failing to defend his wicket with malice aforethought, for 1. Paul finishes with 2-0-9-2 (and fields superbly and bravely in the wet). Lindsay then claims Bevens (7) with Normie pouching a skier. Mr T finishes with 2-0-11-2.

Scotsman Skipper, Lawson Brackpool shows some defiance with 12 as the wicket every over sequence is broken for 2 overs. But Vijay bowling straight and zippy bowls Brackpool to claim his maiden wicket in Scotland. Well done Vijay, wee fella. (VJ 2-0-9-1). With skies darkening again the black clouds again descend on The Scotsman batting as the Beast of Sorrell, bowling an assortment of tweakers and odd nippy one just to keep the wicket-keeping Jaya on his toes, applies the final dagger thrust in a mayhemic second over for him. Third ball Wheeler takes a fine sliding catch to dismiss Lowe for 2; fourth ball Caroline Macdonald chops on. Enter Monty West who was guesting for the opposition to a barrage of ribbing from his hitherto colleagues and a hat-trick ball. Kidology in play as the Beast retreats back to what is a normal run-up for a quick but delivers (sensibly) only at slow-medium. Lunatic LBW appeal first ball rightly turned down. Then another huge shout and the finger of death is ever so slowly lifted and the Beast has his 3rd and prized victim. Scotsman dismissed for 69 of 12 overs with 9 extras. A fun game played in great spirit despite the soggy conditions. Well done all.

Sicknote

Marchmont Muffed in the Parks

Mufs steamrollered the Parks Trophy holders, Marchmont, out of the Parks Trophy with an awesome display of Mufs power at Cavalry Park.

Bar Chetty (18) and a late aggressive flourish from the entertaining Sutton (25), Marchmont's batting was blown away by Mufs, posting only 102 from 20 overs. Bowling heroes all round from Mufs with "Stormin" Norman Allan (5-0-21-2); fine and fast debutant Alec "Chariots" Liddle (5-1-23-1); Mihir "Luke(?)" Vagh (5-0-34-4); and Richard "Beast of" Sorrell (5-1-21-2). A tremendous display in the field and well done stand-in skipper Monty (Sicknote too incapacitated by injury at last to take the field). Thanks too for "Hard" Don Wilkie for 12th man and more-than-temporary fielding duties.

Would 103 prove any problem for Mufs against our fellow Div Two-ers? Nope. Gavin and Knighty get us off to a solid start before Gav falls for 17 at the halfway mark, and then... and then it was simply the Andy "Liberty" Knight show. After seeing off good bowling from Collier and Sutton, Liberty flailed the Marchmont change bowling to all parts to prove what a batting talent he has (not that we disputed that on sat (ahem)). Liberty finally falls for a majestic 66 just before the death having totally dominated a stand of 55 with Mihir (2 not). Not that Mihir saw the strike much as the rampant Baggie-one went nuts with the bat. A couple of 4 wides and byes and that was it with Jaya 0 not out; for once having a bit of a rest. Mufs 105 for 2 off 16.4 overs. And Marchmont well and truly... Muffed.

Sicknote

Mighty Mihir Stars at Murky Merchi Castle

Had to say that as I bussed it up Colinton way after the footie that I expected to see empty playing fields. Somehow the guys perservered at a wet, gloomy and not too warm Merchiston Castle. Maybe it was the promise of beer and sandwiches in the staff room to come?? Anyway Merchi bat first and post an impressive 137 from 20 overs - wickets for Norman Allan (2) and The Beast (1) in the main (hard to tell exact bowling figures from the book). Merchi opener, Johnston, retired himself on 69.

The Mufs chase starts quickly as a chilly Jaya immediately hits a 6 and a 4 but then skies one and is caught for 10. Mihir comes in at 3 and continues the pace. Lindsay and the returning JNB both fall for 0. Mihir is on a solo mission and reaches his debut 50 for the club from 35 balls. Then falls LBW immediately after lining up another four. The baton is passed on to The Beast of Sorrell and the sprint continues despite the shedding of wickets. Rich is joined by Westy at 8 wickets down but 3 boundaries by Chris see us dash across the line. Richie finishing with a fine 28 not out. And so to the splendid beer and sandwich fest and a chance to warm up the chilled bones. Well done Mihir and thanks to Merchi schoolboy, Andy Knox, for standing in for us. Andy, with just a single boundary to his name, unfortunantly unable to whack any of his teachers around as he hoped. We spared him the birch. What fate befell him later in the dorms, is unknown....

Mufs March into Parks Final

Mufs march onto the Parks final after a victory over arch-rivals Cramond at Roseburn. Cramond were restricted to 120 for 3 off 20 with Mihir Vagh top star conceding only 22 off 5 great overs - the Beast bowled well too to help Mihir put the brakes on what was looking a bit like a runaway Cramond, Alec showed again good pace and promise (if only for a fast track). Chasing Dazza and Andy set us off really well and kept right up with the rate before both fell for 31 and 30 respectively. Sicknote, despite being told to calm down on several occasions, splayed and slogged leg side for 38 not - most ably supported by the ultra calm Mihir who had the honour of hitting the winning runs to finish 13 not out. Sweet sweet victory and a final date for Mufs v Maccabi Globetrotters a week on Monday at Newfield. Well done guys. Up the Mufs.

Vagh and Rogers “Double it” in Cairn Dow win

Sunday 25 July. MDCC v Cairn Dow at the Civil Service Ground, ‘East Cramond Village‘

Fifties by Mihir Vagh and Phil Rodgers saw a MUFS XI defeat a visiting team from Cairn Dow by four wickets in a 40 over friendly game. Phil in particular found the firm, sun-drenched wicket at Muirhouse to his liking, putting in a fine all round performance finishing with two catches and a wicket to complement his runs.

Having won the toss and decided to bat, the Cairn Dow captain, Dalby, was soon rueing his luck when he was well caught by Mihir at short mid off from Martin 'sans Vest' Ward’s first ball, having scored just a single in Phil Rodger’s opening over. Further wickets in the fifth over, bowled by a muftastic Claypole inswinger; and eighth overs, bowled again to a full inswinger from Wardy, having been set up by the three previous deliveries which cut away from the left-handed batsman. The visitors were struggling at 27 for 3.

Ed ‘Ted Schlong’ Long, taking a break from his career as an Avid Merion look-a-like to play today, replaced Martin and made matters worse for Cairn Dow as he had Brocklehurst caught at the wicket by Phil 'El Presidente' Yelland (scorchio), the score now 34 for 4, but then a partnership of 33 steadied the ship.

Batting at number three for Cairn Dow, Nelson (51; 6 x 4s) made a the first of three fifties in the game with some lusty shots through mid-wicket before falling to a fine running catch by Phil Rodgers off the bowling of Andy 'Giddy-up' Piggott. It was apparently his first fifty since school days!

MUFS’ wrist spinner, Neil Yelland, also found some turn from the Muirhouse wicket with a mufilicious first ball to the dangerous looking Hemmings (12) that bowled him round his legs.

Mihir also found some turn and bounce for his off breaks that forced a false shot from Lyburn (41; 6 x 4s) - who was batting with a runner - to be caught at cover by Don Wilkie.

The bowling was shared round between all ten of the MUFS men, with Martin finishing with 2-21, Phil Rogers very economical figures of 8-2-12-1, and a wicket each to Ted Schlong 4-0-15-1), Andy Piggott (5-0-17-1), Rupert ‘Yule’ Brunner (4-1-8-1), Neil ‘ Warney’ Yelland (4-0-21-1), and Mihir (3.1-0-8-1). Don ‘The Silver Fox’ Wilkie was particularly unlucky having the Cairn Dow wicketkeeper missed twice at cover. Phil Yelland put in a good performance behind the timbers before handing the gauntlets to Rupert, who was making his MUFS debut and playing in his first proper game for ten years.

In reply, MUFS got off to a shaky start with Martin (3) being dismissed to a fine caught and bowled effort by Tierney (7-3-21-1) in the sixth over with the score on 6 - perhaps due to sleeves obstructing his arms; then Ted Schlong (3) being bowled by the captain, Dalby (10-2-19-3), in the ninth over having reached just 15.

But this brought out Phil Rogers (55) whose lack of batting opportunities in the 1s had obviously made him hungry for runs, as he unleashed a fearsome series of cuts and pulls to outscore Mihir, who was building a very professional and composed innings at the other end. Together they put on 90 for the third wicket until Phil (7 x 4s)was caught on the boundary to become the first victim of Nelson’s (4.2-0-26-2) left arm finger spin. Mihir had at this point only scored 35, but another succession of wickets (Don 4, Rupert 5, and Yelland Snr 4) gave him the impetus to unleash a series of silky drives through the off side and down the ground, including a huge straight six. The Tiger was roaring! Mihir was to be denied the reward of hitting the winning runs as he was partnered by Neil Yelland (4*) who hogged the strike, hitting Nelson to the fine leg boundary for two runs to hand the Murrayfield-DAFS a win by four wickets, leaving Mihir on 60* (7 x 4s, 1 x 6).

Martin Ward

MDCC Batting

Mufs are 2004 Parks Association Trophy Champions

Murrayfield-DAFS CC v Maccabi - Newfield - 26th July 2004

Phil Rogers reports on an epic night for Mufs...

If you came to Newfield looking for an evenly contested cup final with a nail biting finish, you were to be sorely disappointed. If you wanted a lesson in aggressive limited-overs batting, fiery seam bowling, sharp fielding and tremendous team spirit, you were in the right place. Inspired by man of the match skipper Ian Shiels, Murrayfield-DAFS thoroughly outplayed Maccabi in every department and claimed the 2004 Parks Trophy by a breathtaking 101 run margin.

The only thing Shielsy did wrong was to lose the toss, and the early loss of run machine Andy Knight for five to a disastrous run-out was not the start we anticipated. Darryn Kidd made up for this by continuing his recent artillery onslaught, and, together with the Skipper, moved the score along nicely. There were not too many fours - Dazza, unusually for him, hit only two in his 24-ball 28. But although coming too late for Knighty, some well-judged singles and quick twos showed that the Bert’s beer & pie diet and good running are not mutually exclusive.

When Darryn finally skied one, we were well set for the Masterful Siva Jayahanthan to take us on to a big score. But the crowd, swelled by the massed MUFS ranks and assorted local cricket worthies, instead saw the rare sight of his first dismissal in two months. Jaya’s departure for five was quickly followed by those of Mihir Vagh and Dickie Park for one each and we were making a bit of a mess of things.

Then a quick 17 run partnership between Sicknote and Phil ‘Jonty’ Rogers helped regain the momentum, before Rogers fell for a five-ball ten that included successive fours. Richard ‘The Beast’ Sorrell helped take things on a stage further and hit a four in his unbeaten 13 off nine balls as part of a valuable, unbroken 44-run stand in five overs. Shielsy finished off the innings in style with his second boundary, ending with an excellent 67 not out from 56 balls and taking the total to a competitive 140-6 from 20 overs.

Now what we needed was a storming start from Alec ‘Chariots of Fire’ Liddle and Keith ‘Nasty’ Lawrence. And that’s what we got. Alec’s opener kept them pinned back in their crease, then Nasty’s stunning first ball was edged to ‘Liberty’ Knight who took a very sharp low catch to ignite the fielding team. Mihir ‘Tiger’ Vagh then took a spinning catch in the deep off Alec and Maccabi were 4-2.

As if we weren’t already fired-up enough, then the came the incident that further inspired us. Off the last ball of Alec’s second over, a skier was falling to the usually safe-handed Jaya when the Australian non-striker yelled and the catch went down. The neutral umpire turned down our appeal for obstruction after lengthy deliberation with his colleague and the recriminations continued with Aussie Alec leading the sledging of his countryman. But justice was swiftly done when the other batsman, who had taken a single instead of being caught, skied the first ball from Keith’s next over to Tiger at long on and he pouched a comfortable catch amid total silence.

The Aussie offender was soon dispatched for a plumb lbw duck to give Keith his third victim, Chariots claimed a deserved second and Maccabi reached the half-way point on a mere 19-5. Nasty’s spell ended with devilish figures of 5-1-15-3, with soon-to-become ‘Two Pies’ Liddle finishing on an awesome 5-3-4-2.

There was to be no respite for the batting side however, as they now saw the Beast and the Tiger bearing down on them. Razza did play a couple of good shots to start a mini-revival but Richard, winding up the pace, comprehensively bowled the stunned (by ducking into one of Chariots deliveries) Radford and then Bargon next ball. In his next over The Beast ended Razzas stay and was only prevented from adding to his 3-0-10-3 by Mihir. Not to be outdone, the Tiger cleared up the tail with his own two in two, finishing with 2.3-0-10-2 and ending the Maccabi reply on 39.

The final word went to Jaya who swooped and took a fine match-winning catch to spark joyous scenes amidst the jubilant MUFS players. Cheered by our vociferous supporters, who had lifted the team that bit higher by roaring their appreciation for every run and wicket, this was a moment to savour.

Shielsy proudly collected the David Williamson Man of the Match trophy for his superb 67 not out, then stayed on to receive the Parks Trophy. It was a touching moment for the modest Skip and a just reward for his, and the whole squad’s, immense efforts during the season so far.

The squad ethic was summed up in the team photo where the club stalwarts unlucky to miss out on the night - Norman Allan, Paul Hubbard, John-Norm Baikie and Tom Wheeler - took their place alongside the 11 following their efforts in previous rounds.

Naturally it was back to William Street to celebrate with a few rounds of hearty Bert’s pies and an ale or two. Behind every good man there’s a woman, and Gilly reflected in Ian’s glory while clutching our lucky shark mascot. The ancient cup was examined with pride and the many past glories of our club’s previous London Road and Murrayfield incarnations were noted as Murrayfield-DAFS put its mark on Parks Trophy history.

Football clichés abounded all evening from the mouths of Knight, Shiels and Rogers, and it’s fair to say, Brian, that the boys done exceptional and are halfway towards the double. Still lots of hard work to be done this season, but really well done to the players on the night, those who contributed to us reaching the final and our Muftastic supporters.

Phil Rogers

Scoreboard extracts:

MDCC Batting

MDCC Bowling - Maccabi 39 all out 15.3 overs. 1 Extra