|
MDCC 2008 MATCH REPORTS |
MATCH 1 - Suicidal Mackerels Smoked Out at Goldenacre
MATCH 2 - MDAFS Nail The Cross
MATCH 3 - Thunderstorms Cause Abandonment
MATCH 4 - Rained Off
MATCH 5 - Loss to Carlton
MATCH 6 - Mangesh and Raj Stand and Deliver
MATCH 7 - First Ever Win Over Grange 2
MATCH 8 - Hippo Park Happiness
MATCH 9 - Rain Forces Abandonment versus Fauldhouse
MATCH 10 - Wheeler Demolition of Heriots
MATCH 11 - Rain Forces Abandonment versus Holy Cross
MATCH 12 - Loss at Accies
MATCH 13 - Rained Off
MATCH 14 - Clench Exacts Revenge on Carlton
MATCH 15 - Rained Off v Watsonians
MATCH 16 - Rained Off v Grange 2
MATCH 17 - Rained Off v Glenrothes
MATCH 18 - Rained Off v Fauldhouse
MATCH 1 - Twos Mauled by Marchmont
MATCH 2 - Largo Snatch Victory in Nailbiter
MATCH 3 - Match Abandoned - Rain
MATCH 4 - Spilled Chances Cost Twos
MATCH 5 - Loss to Edinburgh 2s
MATCH 6 - Batting Collapso
MATCH 7 - Ankeet 87 in Vain
MATCH 8 - Glory at Last for Raj and his Crew
MATCH 9 - Loss at Stirling
MATCH 10 - Marchmont Complete Double
MATCH 11 - Rain Forces Abandonment versus Largo
MATCH 12 - Livy Lashing
MATCH 13 - Rained Off
MATCH 14 - Loss v Edinburgh 2
MATCH 15 - Loss v Boroughmuir
MATCH 16 - Rained Off
MATCH 17 - Rained Off
MATCH 18 - Rained Off
MATCH 1 - Thirds Caned at Fettes
MATCH 2 - Threes Crushed by Carlton
MATCH 3 - Match Abandoned - Rain
MATCH 4 - Threes Blow It (Twice)
MATCH 5 - Vesty Victory
MATCH 6 - Daddy's Debut Victory
MATCH 7 - Dunny Drubbing
MATCH 8 - Heriot's Humped
MATCH 9 - Loss at Falkland
MATCH 10 - Grange Crushed
MATCH 11 - Carlton Game Rained Off
MATCH 12 - Boroughmuir Blown Away
MATCH 13 - Rained Off
MATCH 14 - Loss to Leith
MATCH 15 - Broomhall Battering
MATCH 16 - Rained Off
MATCH 17 - Vital Win
MATCH 18 - Rained Off
MATCH 1 - Narrow Loss for Fours
MATCH 2 - Fours Lose by 79 Runs
MATCH 3 - Match Abandoned- Rain
MATCH 4 - The Pleasure and the Pain
MATCH 5 - Another Loss
MATCH 6 - Walkover Victory
MATCH 7 - Leonard Leads Way to Victory
MATCH 8 - Fours Beat Cross
MATCH 9 - Another Walkover Victory
MATCH 10 - Musselburgh Mauling
MATCH 11 - Rain Forces Abandonment versus Penicuik
MATCH 12 - Game off due to Waterlogged Pitch
MATCH 13 - Rained Off
MATCH 14 - Another Loss
MATCH 15 - Loss v SMRH
MATCH 16 - Rained Off
MATCH 17 - Batting Fails against Cross
MATCH 18 - Fours Go Down Fighting
MASTERTON Rnd 1 - MDAFS Out of Murgitroyd Masterton
PARKS Rnd 1 - MDAFS Bowl-Out Loss in Parks Trophy
LLOYDS TSB SCOTLAND TROPHY Rnd 1 - MDAFS Limp out of Lloyds TSB Trophy
COW CORNER 20/20 TROPHY: Rnd 1 - Asif's Massive Attack Sees off Fauldhouse
SUNDAY FRIENDLY 1 - Super Mangesh Stars as MDAFS Defeat Comrie
SUNDAY FRIENDLY 2 - Berwick Game Rained Off
SUNDAY FRIENDLY 3 - Bamburgh Victory
SUNDAY FRIENDLY 4 - Sunday Arran Adventures
SUNDAY FRIENDLY 5 - To be played
SUNDAY FRIENDLY 6 - To be played
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 1 - Currie and Balerno Too Hot for Midweek Mufburn
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 2 - Adeel Routs Edinburgh South
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 3 - MDCC Midweekers Hold the Casuals at Bay
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 4 - Merchiston Maul MDAFS Midweekers
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 5 - Unholy Hammering of The Cross
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 6 - Midweekers Widowed by Fast Eddie
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 7 - Midweekers Bank Job
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 8 - Belly's Midweekers Conquer Edinburgh South
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 9 - Bots Beat Mufs
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 10 - Charlotte has HBOS in a Pickle
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 11 - Banksy Thwarts The Gifford Goblins
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 12 - Contemptible Weather Prevents Game
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 13 - To be played
MIDWEEK FRIENDLY 14 - To be played
MDAFS 1 lost by 1 wicket
Report by Melv Clench
On a breezy and cloudy afternoon at Goldenacre, Heriot's 2's won the toss and put MDAFS 1's in to bat on a well-prepared wicket that promised much for both batsmen and bowlers willing to apply themselves in a professional manner.
Opening the batting, Ian and JP got off to a steady start, reaching 23 before JP got a leading edge to square leg for 12. Jeya was next in and promised much, reaching double figures before getting bowled playing a characteristically badly-chosen shot off a new bowler. Vimal was in at 4 and set about the Heriot's attack with some crashing boundaries including a big flat 6 over backward square. Together they put on 62 for the third wicket, batting sensibly and working us into a position of great strength at 102 for 2 after 23 overs.
Sadly, that's where the wheels fell off as Dougie Hamilton's usual menu of tempting airborne pies proved too much to resist for our middle order who hungrily swallowed his bait like suicidal mackerel, getting themselves out in an increasingly depressing sequence of ill-advised and badly executed shots that brought much delight to the Heriot's 1st team spectating from the pavilion.
When Ian finally fell for a determined 47, all hope of amassing a respectable score was lost as the last 7 batsmen failed to score more than 5 runs, with one solitary boundary between the lot of them. The limp tail eventually capitulated on 144 all out with 8 overs still to bat. There was an equally disappointing performance from the National League umpire who awarded 4 lbw decisions and 19 wides with rabid zeal, 3 of the lbw's reputedly coming off the bat.
Bowling figures of note were Hamilton with 3 for 16 and Hardwick also with 3 for 16. Ian Shiels top scored with 47 with Vimal the only other batsman earning a mention with 25. The atmosphere at the tea interval resembled a wet funeral in January.
MDAFS took to the field in improving conditions and were able to take to quick wickets thank to some tight threatening bowling from Melvyn and Raj. Heriot's rallied with an aggressive 3rd wicket partnership as stand-in skipper Thomson brought the attack to the bowlers with a series of boundaries before eventually being caught in the deep by Jeya for 41 with the score on 85 for 3 off JP's bowling.
Wickets began to tumble regularly as Heriot's slowly ground their way closer to the target of 145 runs. JP bowled the opener Bruce for a gritty 40 while Vimal and Raj also weighed in with valuable wickets, reducing the home side to 132 for 7 with 7 overs remaining.
Then, Rafic Settu came on for a second spell and promptly took 2 wickets in 2 balls, setting up the possibility of one of the most unlikely victories in MDAFS history. Alas, Hamilton slowly and sensibly picked off the remaining runs to give Heriot's victory by 1 wicket, ably supported by their no.11 McCraw who showed a straight bat, steady nerves and a total unwillingness to give his wicket away with a stupid shot at a time when his team were depending on him to produce a good performance. Enquiries will be made to find out if Mr McCraw is interested in the position of MDAFS 1st team batting coach, starting on Monday.
The vote for MDAFS Man of the Match went to Ian Shiels for his standout knock of 47, earning him a tidy £5.50.
Moron of the Week went to the Australian Heriot's spectator who asked if Ian would be getting fined for batting so slowly. When asked if Ian should be fined for not getting out and top scoring, our Moron shut up and walked off back to the pavilion. Hurray for our inaugural Moron of the Week.
Scorecard
MDAFS
Ian Shiels 47
JP Cruz Rocha 12
Jeya 10
Vimal 25
Raj Sampath 0
Danny 1
Mangesh 3
Tom 2
Rafic Settu 5
Paul H 1
Melvyn 4 no
Extras nb9, w19, lb6
J Shepherd-Burgess 4 0 19 0
P McCraw 7.1 1 12 2
M Butcher 2.2 0 10 0
S Reddy 9.4 0 39 2
N Barron 3 0 26 0
D Hamilton 10 0 16 3
T Hardwick 5 0 16 3
Heriot's FP 2
Bruce(?) 40
Reddy 5
Case 2
Thomson 41
Hardwick 13
Shepherd-Burgess 9
Barron 9
Butcher 0
Hamilton 10no
Hogarth 0
McCraw 3no
Extras w12, lb3
M Clench 10 3 18 2
R Sampath 10 4 15 1
M Akerkar 9.2 1 35 0
JP Rocha 9 0 32 2
V D'Souza 5 0 24 1
R Settu 4 0 22 2
MDAFS won by 6 wickets
At the Arboretum, MDAFS restricted Holy Cross to 101-9 off 50 overs with an excellent session in the field after the Cross openers Fraser and Pickering had initially looked well set with an opening partnership of 39. The MDAFS squeeze was led by Tom Wheeler (10-5-7-3) with the wickets of the top three (Pickering off Tom's first ball the first of two good catches by Vimal) ably supported by Jean-Pierre with a spot-on spell of 10-3-17-1. Then Rafic claimed 3 for 15 off 8 overs as MDAFS continued to strangle the Cross innings with a combination of tight fielding, great catching and pressure bowling plus shrewd captaincy by a fired-up skipper.
In the chase, MDAFS lost JP quickly for a duck to "Two-Dogs" but Mr Belly somehow managed to defy the fury of Bonfield in the lively opening exchanges before being run-out for 8 - weighed down by a considerable ballast of tea-time grub and, sadly, probably now relinquishes his title of "fastest fat-man" over 22 yards. Mangesh Akerkar, looking to atone for batting sins of the previous week, made amends and then more with an excellently paced 44 (6 fours) to take MDAFS near to victory with stands with Vimal (10 before being undone by Dr Astley's first ball) and then with Raj (17 not) before Danny clouts two successive boundaries to take us to victory and that precious, confidence-building first win. Mangesh was voted MDAFS Man of the Match. As ever, a game played in great spirit with the Cross.
More photos from Arboretum can be found at this link to MDAFS v Holy Cross photos.
Scorecard details available at this link to Holy Cross v MDCC Scorecard.
Game Abandoned
All of the Club's Saturday games eventually fell victim to the rain; at Muirhouse a bolt of lightning apparently hit the outside of the Clubhouse - it sure was some bang! On the pitch Edinburgh Accies had reached 169 for 7 off their 50 overs with Moffat and Raso both hitting 25 and Phil Taylor not out 37. For Mufs Ones, Melv Clench finished with 10-1-35-2; Dale Simpson 10-0-55-1; Tom Wheeler 10-3-25-2; JP Cruz-Rocha 10-3-15-2; Chris Banks 5-2-8-0; and Reagan Black 5-1-18-0. In reply, Mufs were 19-0 (Reagan 15 not and Mr Belly 3 not) when the rain got too heavy for further play.
Scorecard details available at this link to MDCC v Edin Accies Scorecard
"Rained??" Off
A frustrating day as the Ones clash at Craiglockhart/Myreside Watsonians 2s was cancelled due to the morning rain just as we rocked up... but the afternoon forecast was good and there was plenty of cricket getting played that afternoon. Grrrrrr.
MDCC (190-10 49.4 overs) lost to Carlton 2 (194-5 49.2 overs) by 5 wickets
At Muirhouse the Ones were seeing red at Muirhouse as they squandered (again) a good position with the bat (100-1 off 28 overs) to finish on 190 off 49.4 overs. Mangesh Akerkar top scoring with an excellent 79 (3 sixes), Ian Shiels 42, and Rafic a quickfire late 26. Unfortunantly the MDAFS middle-order just did not fire. In reply Carlton had been pegged back to 100 off 37 overs but had 7 wickets in hand (would have been less if they had the decency to walk after edging) and accelerated well to score 94 in 12 overs as MDAFS bowlers struggled to get it in the right areas to stem the flow nor did the fielding reach the necessary consistent high standards for this Division. In the end Carlton won by 5 wickets with 4 balls left. MDAFS bowlers: M Clench 9-2-31-1, R Sampath 8-2-25-1, T Wheeler 9-0-35-2, JP Cruz Rocha 10-2-21-0, R Settu 8-1-37-1, M Akerkar 5.2-0-40-1.
Scorecard details available at this link to MDCC v Carlton 2 Scorecard
MDCC 253-5 (50 overs) beat Freuchie 2 (134 ao 44.5 overs) by 131 runs
At Freuchie, MDAFS emerged as comfortable victors by 131 runs after being invited to bat first. MDAFS had started to throw away a solid start (again) but things were put right by a super 161 unbroken stand for the 6th wicket by Mangesh Akerkar, finishing on a magnificent 126 not out (14 fours and 3 sixes), and Raj Sampath 59 not out. Earlier Ian Shiels had hit 34 before holing out and Paul Hubbard 13 before being trapped in front.
From a promising 79-1 off 20 the wheels came off somewhat as we slumped to 92-5 and in a spot of bother on a pitch that you felt 220-250 was par. The middle order scores read somewhat grim as JP and Vimal both fell for 1 playing poor shots and Asif was run-out for 0 in a mix up with Maggy. Young Crighton claimed 4-24 for Freuchie in a good spell of bowling. But from this point onwards Raj and Mangesh played it just excellently and turned the game decively back our way. With caution at first they rebuilt the innings and then launched a savage charge over the last 10 overs to add another 103 runs - Maggy in full glorious flow.
So at 253 we felt we had the score we needed but at tea the talk was only of a job half-done. However, Freuchie were never really in the running thanks to really tight opening spells by Melv and Raj - Melv bowled through his 10 to finish 2-19 (welcome back our Angry Fast Bowler at near his best). JP took 3-31 in the middle section and Tom 1-27, both off ten, as we turned the screws. Rafic picked up 1-22 off 5 overs and also a super direct run-out hit. After having eased off a little bit too much (standards chaps!) at the death to allow Freuchie to 134, Raj returned to wrap up the tail and finish with 2-19 off 6.5 overs.
A much better all round performance by MDAFS - still room for improvement though (i.e middle order, running between the wicket and consistent fielding intensity!). Well done to Mangesh for a sublime knock- and has now picked up his third MoM award in a row. And no doubt made some MDAFS Fantasy League punters very happy.
More photos from Freuchie can be found at this link to MDAFS v Freuchie photos.
Scorecard details available at this link to Freuchie v MDCC Scorecard.
MDCC 146-9 (50 overs) beat Grange 2 (107 ao 35.5 overs) by 39 runs
Its been a while coming... but finally MDAFS Ones have beaten Grange 2s. Hurrah for us. At a sunny Muirhouse MDAFS were inserted into bat. Ian Shiels (25) and Paul Hubbard (20) got us off to a solid start with 44 added to the first wicket against some very accurate early seam bowling by Grange by Gordon Allan and Max Banks (yes son of Chris) and some spin-wizardry from ex-DAFS Keith Meakin (who finished on 4-37). Mangesh continued on in his prime batting form (40) but the middle order (Asif 5, Raj 1, Vimal 0) failed to fire with some dubious shot selection at play as Powell claimed 2 wickets in identical fashion (caught at square leg). We were rescued by an intelligent stand of 45 for the 6th wicket between Mangesh and Sutha (23), and then a flurry of wickets (Sutha and Maggy dismissed looking to accelerate and Adam, 4, and Rafic, 1, falling in quick succession) which looked as though it might derail us again until some sensible last wicket scampering by Skipper-Wheeler (10 not) and Melv "Notty" Clench (4 not) to finish on 146-9.
Grange started solidy with Max Banks looking to be aggressive but were pegged back by Raj dismissing the dangerous Hamish McClean for 3 (credit to Hamish for walking) who gloved a nasty delivery, looping it to Belly at first slip; and by an excellent spell of bowling by Melv, who bowled right through his 10 to finish with 3-20. Melv removed Max for 23 and both Hammond and Munro for 5 each . Adam kept things reasonably quiet in a 5 over spell for 18, and was unlucky to see a sharp slip chance grassed. Tom removed James Hearn just as he was getting going for 12, finishing with figures of 6-0-22-1. The game still remained in the balance as Grange were above the asking rate and had capable batters all the way down - but Raj bowled a super second spell of 4.5 overs to blow away the tail and finish with 9.5-4-21-4. Mangesh picked up the other late wicket with a catch at point by Scotty. Rafic was the other bowler used with 3-0-13-0. So a great team performance in the field earns us 20 points and that sweet historic MDAFS victory over Grange 2. Still room for improvement though!
Scorecard details available at this link to MDCC v Grange 2 Scorecard.
MDCC 189-5 (46 overs) beat Glenrothes (188 ao 49.3 overs) by 5 wickets
Hoping to keep our good run going we travelled to Glenrothes in what is always a tricky fixture against a tough opponent. MDAFS had lost Melv to a hamster injury but welcomed new boy Kedar Paul to our battery of bowlers after his impressive midweek nets display caught the skippers eye. Glenrothes elected to bat and Mike Boyd hit an aggressive 40 runs (8 fours, 1 six) after being dropped by Mr Belly in the slips on nought off Kedar's second ball (not a day to remember for a stiff and sore Belly, every Boyd boundary a dagger to the gut). Glens had reached 63 without loss in the 13th over. Enter Tom Wheeler to spin things back our way. First he ended Boyd's innings with a well flighted delivery as he did to the other opener, Sampson (20) (also dropped by Belly at slip but bowled soon after, thankfully). Morrison and the South African Arnold 49 took Glens to 94 before Morrison (23) is trapped plumb by Tom, who finished with figures of 10-0-36-3. Asif took over spin duties from the Hippo end from Tom and bowled an excellent spell of 10-3-26-2, as from a well set 118 for 3 off 30 overs the wheels came off the Glens innings as MDAFS applied excellent pressure in the field - aided by some crazy running. Arnold eventually falls for 49 to a well judged catch by Kedar to give Adam a well deserved wicket (5.3-26-1) as the Glens tail tried to wag (Sim 14 no) but fell away to 188 all out with 3 balls left. Thankfully those 3 spare balls provided us time to get off the pitch for an excellent tea as another heavy shower hit. Full bowling figures: R Sampath 10-4-22-1, K Paul 6-0-29-0, R Settu, 2-0-19-0, T Wheeler, 10-0-36-0, M Akerkar 6-0-25-0, A Mohammed 10-3-26-2, A Scott 5.3-26-1.
The tea-time downpour freshened up the ground somewhat - impressive clouds of steam drifting from the outfield gave a hellish look to the surroundings, and Mr Belly's nightmare continued with a nasty delivery off Iain Georgeson taking the shoulder of the bat and Arnold pouching the catch at gully at the second attempt. A duck and thus minus 20 in the Fantasy League for me - you get days like this! Regan and Mangesh steadied the ship (with a little good fortune as Glens matched our low standard of catching!) putting on another 42 before Regan is caught for 20 (4 fours) again off Georgeson. Sutha falls for 8, caught behind by G Sampson off the slow right-arm bowling of Arnold, and at 64 for 3 we are having a bit of a wobble. Enter Raj Sampath to play probably one of his best innings for us - as he batted with great sense to partner the more aggressive Mangesh in a 74 run 4th wicket stand. Mangesh eventually falls for 77 (11 fours)to Cammy Ross - caught smartly by the athletic M Sampson in the deep (off his belly, he confessed - that's not a proper belly I thought!). Asif departs for a duck bowled by Cammy and again a minor wobble for MDAFS. Old Mother comes out at number 7 and plays a innings akin to vintage Hubbard from his glory DAFS days - trademark cuts and even a slog-sweep in his 23 not (4 fours) and Raj finishes on 43 not (3 fours). In the end, with overs to spare, we canter to a 5 wicket victory off 46 overs. A really good win for the Ones in what is a tricky fixture - and a good barometer of where we are at. Room for improvement still (catching!! ... mea culpa amongst others) with the in-form crazy gang from Fauldhouse visiting Muirhouse next Saturday.
More pictures available at this link to MDAFS v Glenrothes pictures. At least getting out early provides plenty of photo opportunities!!
Scorecard details available at this link to MDCC v Glenrothes Scorecard.
Fauldhouse 164 all out (50 overs) MDAFS 53-2 (18 overs) - match abandoned - rain
Darren Mulligan top scored with 41 for FCC as Fauldhouse posted 164 all out - the final wicket falling off the last ball. Raj took 3-40 , Mangesh 2-23, JP 2-34 and Tom 1-23 off their 10, Asif 2-18 off 5. In reply we were 53 for 2 when the rain got too heavy. Regan well set on 30 not, Asif 14 not, OMH dismissed for 3 and Mangesh for 1. Interestingly poised one could say. I'm blaming Magners and their bloody promotion for the rain!
Scorecard details available at this link to MDCC v Fauldhouse Scorecard
MDAFS 182-8 (50 overs) beat Heriots FP2 103ao 37.3 overs by 79 runs
Victories don't come much sweeter than those over Heriot's - and Saturday's victory beer had an exceptionally pleasant taste to it for Tom Wheeler in particular with a first 5 wicket haul for the Ones. Batting first in tricky conditions MDAFS posted 182 for 8 off 50 overs. Raj Sampath top scored with a fine 66, Asif Mohammed hit 26, Mr Belly 19, Regan a rapid 15, and OMH 15 not out. In reply Heriot's were dismissed for 103 off 37.3 overs - with only David Ross hitting any runs of significance with 48 before being one of skipper Wheeler's 5 victims in his spell of 7.3-1-17-5. Asif took 2-11 off 3; JP, Mangesh, and Raj each took a wicket - catches for Sutha, Raj (2), Maggy (2) and JP. An excellent display in the field by MDAFS and a fine victory over a petulant foe.
Scorecard details available at this link to MDCC v Heriot's FP 2 Scorecard
Match Abandoned with MDAFS 60-4 (18 overs)
MDAFS, taking on old sparring partners Holy Cross, reached 60-4 off 18 overs - Raj Sampath 15 not, Jean-Pierre Cruz Rocha 11 not, Mangesh Akerkar 10, Belly 6, Regan 6, Asif 5; and Rob Worsnop with figures of 9-2-22-3 for Cross. Then the persistent rain just got too much and an early tea and beer(s) ensued.
MDAFS 131-9 off 40 overs lost to Edinburgh Academicals 132-5 off 34.2 overs
At Newfield in a match reduced to 40 overs, on as poor a Newfield track as I have ever seen - this used to be a batting paradise!?!, Ones reached 131-9 off 40 overs with Paul Hubbard hitting 39* and Mangesh Akerkar 36. Great last flourish from OMH as he takes 21 off the last Accies over to get us up to something partially competitive but it would prove insufficient against a tough Accies batting unit. Simply not good enough application by MDAFS batters - a couple of dismissals not helped by the pitch sure, but some just down to sheer rank shot selection against good bowling. Top bowlers for Accies: Matt Roskell with 4-22, Kean Woodmansey 2-32, and Andrew Cosh 2-38.
We started well with the ball as Raj bowls openers Andy Moffat and Mike Thomson for 1 and 3 respectively, and this brought the high scoring Aussie pro, Mick Raso, to the crease and the other Moffat brother. We had a golden chance to dismiss Mick early off Melv but the catch was grassed. Had it been taken that may have made the chase much trickier for Accies. Skipper Wheeler claims the prize of Raso's wicket LBW for 39 as he tries to reverse sweep Tom and Stuart Moffat is trapped LBW for 33 off Raj. With Cosh bowled by Tom for 4 and Accies at 95-5 we hoped that we could indeed put the rest of the order under the cosh. But it proved not to be as skipper Nick Murden with 18 not and M Stewart with 26 not batted sensibly to see Accies home with 5.4 overs and 5 wickets to spare. Raj Sampath finished with 3-28 and Tom Wheeler 2-29.
Match Cancelled - rain
MDCC 175 ao off 49.1 overs beat Carlton 156 ao by 19 runs
9 weeks simmering of fury was unleashed by Melv on Carlton 2 on Saturday as he and Raj hit Carlton with an astonishing opening spell to avenge the controversial defeat earlier in the season. Chasing MDAFS 175ao, Carlton were reduced to 19-6 with Melv claiming 4 and Raj 2 wickets in the opening assault. Then just as it seemed Carlton were going to be blown away for next to nothing, a couple of missed chances and then a great fightback by the home team with big Ferg Guppy (67) and young Stevie Elder (62) frustrating MDAFS with a 101 run stand for the 7th wicket. Just as you sensed the game had astonishingly tipped back in Carlton's favour, then with three catches safely pouched by Sutha (2) and Raj (right on the boundary!) MDAFS triumphed and heaved an enormous sigh of relief. MDAFS 175 built on innings of 39 from a vintage OMH, 34 from Maggy and a fine 45 from JP. Stevie Elder took 3 wickets. A game played in good spirit and normal cordial relations re-established.
Match Cancelled
The rain on Thurs and Friday meant the groundsman could not prepare a pitch - frustrating indeed as it was a generally sunny Saturday.
Rained Off
Rained Off
Rained Off again - means Ones take Div 1 Bronze !
MDCC2 lost by 101 runs
Marchmont defeated Mufs comfortably at Roseburn - Marchmont scoring 189 with Sam Preachey hitting 51. 2 wickets apiece for Rajnish (the pick of the bowlers with 10-2-26-2), Usman and Manan. Mufs struggled with the bat, bar 24 for Regan Black and a late 21 from Rajnish, slumping to 88 all out; E Granger taking 5-22 - link to match return.
MDCC2 lost by 1 wicket
Report from Rajnish....
Having decided to bat first, we had a batting collapse just like first week with 63 for 7. The only notable contribution till then was Sutha's 28 & Reagan's 16. Then Asif & Reyaz took the game to Largo and helped us reach 136 in the end with Asif scoring 36 & Reyaz 25. The bowling was equally flat at the start with few absolute shocking decisions (lbws /runout/wides) going against us. Again Dale brought us back into the game with his hatrick and ended up with 5 wkt haul. But in the end, a less than satisfactory 47th over by me helped Largo to cross the line with 1 wicket and 1 ball to spare.Gutted with the result - so close but so far.But some really good performances gave me enough hope that we should cross the last hurdle in the very near future (hope it would be the next week). I can see we are starting to settle as a team.Just some fine tuning & a little bit of application, we will be on the way.
Scores available at this link to MDCC2 v Largo Scorecard
Game Abandoned
Game Abandoned only a few minutes into the game due to rain.
MDCC lost by 51 runs
A number of spilled catches cost the Twos at Muirhouse as Westquarter and Redding with 176-6 off 50 overs (H.Mumtaz 43, R.Sutton 38*, T.Bashir 35, Mohammed Asif 2-42) beat MDCC2 125 a.o. (Mark Williamson 30, C.Fox 4-16, S.Farooqui 3-20, S.Fox 3-21).
Westy batting ...
MDCC2 lost by 4 wickets
Batting first MDAFS2 posted 153 ao with Mark Williamson scoring 34, Danny Abraham 30, but Edinburgh reached 157 for loss of 6 (A. Majeed 52, O. Mazher 38) with Mohammed Asif taking 3 for 42.
MDCC2 lost by 63 runs
Another batting collapse - 59 all out chasing a modest 122.
Boroughmuir: 122 ( S McGrath- 49, P Lister 32. R Singh 5/28, A Vora 3/19, A Scott 1/32, M Williamson 1/6)
MDAFS 2: 59 (Siva 19 not out. U Anilkumer 7/15, H Durrani 2/21)
Scorecard of horror available at this link to MDCC2 v Boroughmuir Scorecard
Report from Adam Scott .............
"The rarity of a delightful hot and sunny day in Muirhouse (so sunny and
so hot in fact, an umbrella was brought out for a sun shade) as well as the
usual tea feast were the highlights off the park.
Rajnish go off to a great start and won the toss and sent Boroughmuirians into
bat on a surface that was hopefully hiding the usual demons - The two openers,
clearly armed with instructions from the IPL manual of batting raced to 24 off
the 1st fours overs, punishing the short balls from Rajnish and Dale all to
easily.
Deciding it clearly was the correct decision to thwack, the 1st wicket came
curtsey of standard setting outstanding catch a long off by a diving Marcus.
Number 2 came shortly after, when opener 2 cut another short ball straight to
Adam at point. Two down and steps out a beardy master and with crease preparation
akin to an artist promptly pulled his 1st ball (yep short) straight to a juggling
Jeya. Suddenly it was 3 down and things looking a lot healthier for the Mufs.
Things got back on track for the Bs with a contrasting mix of test and IPL style
batting. Adam and Ankeet settled the innings down, both bowling the 10 overs
straight through. It was Ankeet who made the breakthrough sending a teasing
dobber down to the very patient test batter and who chipped it straight to Dale
at mid on. Next Adam got Mr 6 caught behind for a duck - so again honours were
even.
Ankeet continued to probe with his nagging length and Adam mixing the pace up
frustrated the Bs. It was then that Ankeet invited the batsman to pull for 6,
on it way it sailed towards the deep square led boundary only to be plucked
with one handed leap from Adam, providing the 3 highlights... No1 the catch,
No2 no six and No3 preventing an Ozzie getting his 50 (49).
Mufs were definitely in this.. a few edges here, a couple of close slipper catches
there and big blows from B no 8 knocked up a few more runs.. Ankeet still bowling
again dropped another short inviting the pull and pull Mr 7 did - in to orbit
and unfortunately straight in the direction of boundary patrolling Adam who
snaffles the monster hit comfortably near the boundary. Catch number 3 for Scotty.
Mr Williamson replaces Adam and quickly bowls Mr 9 for a pedestrian 1. Mr 9
is somewhat unluckily (although Westy claims full credit) for stumping him off
his knees for 32 off A returning Rajnish who then quickly gets Mr 11 caught
for another 0. The Bs are all out in under 37 overs for 122 Most 4s and 6s.
A seemingly very gettable target from a Muf team who bowled well and fielded
brilliantly to restrict them. A very well deserved Fifer for Rajnish in less
than 7 overs and credit to the rest of the team in the warm conditions.
Big early T next and off to Bat for the Mufs.
Unfortunately Westy and Ankeets' confidence soon evaporated in the heat as West
is bowled with his 1st ball by the MoM Anilkumer with his slow / medium Claypole
like in-duckers. The hidden talent of Jeya stroud in and watched Ankeet being
bowled in the 1st over - Another cracking start for the Mufs.
The usually reliable Mark next and went for the most frequent shot of (the pull)
but only succeeded in top edging for an easy catch. Not many for 3 after not
many. Jeya looks comfortable and goes for a hittable ball, but sadly only succeeds
in hitting in to mid on. Marcus hangs around for a bit and watches Abdul attempting
a reverse of his 2nd ball, much to the amused? and disbelieving skipper. They
both depart soon after to Mr Anilkumer.
Sivamsy and Adam again hand around and nurddle a few runs before Adam misses
another Dobber from Mr A.Then Rajnish swats a few, but straight at the fielders
and eventually cutting to point for 3. Dale is soon in and out. Mufs are now
humiliating less than 40 for 9. Sivasamy plays some lovely drives for 4 whilst
final man Raghavendra plays a few shots before being caught leaving Siv 19 no
and an ever so slightly less embarrassing total of 59.
A nightmare batting effort on a fairly good Muirhouse track. Fair play to Anilkumar
for his wickets, although 7 is a bit generous.
Perhaps an after thought - We need to re-hydrate more. A hot day like that makes
the concentration levels disappear quickly. http://www.medicdirectsport.com/athletictraining/default.asp?step=4&pid=60
Get those fluids in during before and during the game."
MDCC2 lost by 7 wickets
MDAFS 2 lost by 7 wickets at Scroggie Park versus Falkland 2 with Ankeet starring with 87 with the bat. MDAFS posted 181 all out (A Vora 87, Nadeem Amjid 21, T Brunton 3-40, B Watson 3-37, M May 2-25) and Falkland 2nd XI 185 for 3 (M May 49no, R Manson 45, B Watson 35, D Lawson 27; a wicket apiece for Ankeet, Sunny and Siva). But it was closer than the scores suggest.
MDCC2 won by 6 wickets
A Happy Captain...
A report by Ankeet....
The weather prediction said, 'RAIN'. The morning of the match was bright sunshine. By the time the game started, it was overcast. And the changing nature of the weather was consistent throughout the day with sunshine, overcast conditions, and rain being intermittently present.
The wicket for a change looked hard. With no moisture in it. Batting first would have made sense, but Raj lost the toss (for a change) and the visitors elected to bat first.
Dale opened the bowling with Nadeem at the other end. The left-right opening batsmen were taking risks from the word go and quickly reached 36 at the 9th over. At which point the leftie decided to test the speed and throwing accuracy of Siva's fielding at short(ish)-midwicket. This turned out to be suicidal, as Siva his usual lightning self was smart to simply run with the ball in hand rather than throw!! 38/1.
A few overs later, Nadeem by now in his rhythm, was making the ball to rise. One came up nicely to the other opener who only managed to get his gloves in between. Jigar takes a nice low catch and the batsman decides to walk. Number 4 batsman, taking guard on the 5th stump, decided to leave one from Nadeem only to see his off stump knocked back. 45/3 off 14.
Number 3 and 5 batsmen settled down, got their eye in and later on made runs at a brisk pace. Raj his usual stingy self conceded only 15 off his 7 but the batsmen took to the other bowlers Mark, Siva and Anks. 140/3 off 30.
Back comes Nadeem and in his second over of the spell bowls Number 5 for 48. The very next over number 3 skies one from Anks to Long-off where Raj takes it on his chest. 140/3 becomes 140/5.
Number 6 and 7 play slowly to take the score to 155, when number 7 skies one from Anks high up towards long-off. With only Raj able to reach the ball, there's no doubt its Raj's catch. Everybody's watching Raj in his (graceful!) run, in pin drop silence, when suddenly Raj shouts 'MINE' (what seemed to be five minutes after the ball was air borne.) Funny as it was, Raj takes a great high catch.
In between, Sid comes in to bowl at the other end with good pacy bowling. Knocks off the furniture of Number 8 with score at 167 with the off stump ending up ten feet behind the other two. Number 6 then gives a dolly to Reyaz at midwicket. And Sid's pacy bowling knocks back the stumps of number 9. With only 10 playing the innings wrapped up at 184.
Mufs started with Mark and Anks. Both started cautiously, watching the ball. Mufs scored 19 off the first 10 with both batsmen playing the ball on merit. Same story for 1st change bowlers, taking the score to 51/0 off 17. However Mark starts to tense up (dehydration???) especially after Anks forces a couple of three's; and ends up nicking one to 1st slip.
In comes Vimal and gets his eye in nudging ones and twos. One over before the break, Vimal decides to break loose and hits a huge six over deep-midwicket and its drinks at 75/1 off 25.
First ball after the break, comes a left arm spinner and Anks, with a loss in concentration, ends up missing a pull shot with the ball ricocheting off his legs onto the stumps.
However Vimal continues his stroke play taking 10 off the next over (a six and a four). The opposition now put two fielders on the ropes, and Vimal falls into the trap skiing a catch to deep-midwicket.
On comes Siva who gives company to Danny for a further 10, when occurs a misunderstanding. No not a run out. It's a misunderstanding of words. Danny tells Siva to 'hit the ball in the gaps and run' Siva thinks it's 'Hit the Ball'. Ends up giving a dolly to Mid-on for a duck!!!!!!! Strange one that!!!
Nadeem giving it back to the fast bowler...
75/1 is now 98/3 after 30 overs. However Nadeem and Danny come on to the pitch together and show some good batting. They run their ones and twos where possible and put off the loose balls to the fence at regular intervals. Danny hitting 5 fours including an excellent hook off the number 2 fast bowler. Nadeem also hitting 8 fours with some good lusty strokes. The two take Mufs home in the 45th over with Danny ending on 44 not out and Nadeem on 49 not out.
The excellent hook from Danny...
Scorecard details available at this link to MDCC2 v Leith FAB Scorecard.
MDCC2 lost by 8 wickets on net run rate
MDAFS II lost to Stirling in a rain curtailed match on the basis of run rates. MDAFS II batted first scoring 195/10 in 49.4 overs. Stirling made 171/2 after 37.2 overs when the rain, which was already pretty heavy, made the conditions too dangerous to play.
MDCC2 lost by 7 wickets
Two's played against Marchmont at Cavalry Park. Rajnish lost the toss and we were put in to bat.
MUFS II started with Jaya and Anks. Jaya was confident from the word go starting with boundaries for his first five scoring shots. However Anks at the other end got one to bounce up to his ribs and the very next one got one that kept low and was found to be lbw for a duck. Vimal went down the track to hit the bowler but was bowled. Scoreline 13/2 off 6.
Danny and Siva then played sensibly and utilised to loose balls to score at a decent pace. They took the score to 66 off 21 when Danny charged down the pitch but was stumped for 30. Jaya nicked one to the keeper who took a good catch for 36. Scoreline 75/4 at the drinks break.
First ball after drinks, Nadeem square cuts straight to point. On comes Abdul Reyaz, who tried to hit any ball he faced straight out of the ground, was caught for 5. 66/2 became 81/6. A batting collapse!!!!
That was not to be. Siva and Sunny batted very well, both of them taking to the spinners. Great to watch was a huge six from Sunny off a fulltoss on his legs. They took the score to 150 / 6 off 42 overs when Sunny was caught for a well made 37. Rajnish and Siva then added a further 25 when Siva (probably dehydrated) was caught for a focussed 36. Sid came in and scampered for a few quick singles and twos. He was however bowled for 7. The last wicket of Rajnish and Chris West added a further 23. Rajnish in the 50th Over went to hit the bowler but was caught at midon. With Mr. Extras providing 17 the innings ended on 205.
Marchmont started very cautiously. The opening combination of Sid and Rajnish conceded only 20 off the first 10 but without any wickets. Rajnish, again his usual stingy self conceded only 10 in his first spell of 7, with quite a few close calls for leg before being denied.
Subsequently, however there were probably too many loose balls from the bowlers which the batsmen put to the fence easily. The openers took the score to 71 when batsman nicked one and Chris West took a great catch standing up.
One over later, Anks got one to swing out which the batsmen missed and the ball took the bails. At 82/2 with two quick wickets there was suddenly a chance. However that was not to be.
The remaining opener and the number four batsman played very cautiously. Besides two half chances they did not provide any. They simply hit the bad balls to the fence. At 100/2 in the 30th over the match was equally poised but the next 15 overs bleeded 98 runs.
In the 46th over, when the runs were equal, a leg before decision made it a 7 wicket victory for Marchmont.
Match Abandoned
Twos had a fuller game at Largo than many as the rain hit later - Largo made 212/10 off 50 Overs - (Siddharth Wahi 10-1-50-5, Rajnish Singh 9-0-37-2, Ankeet Vora 10-2-26-0, Sunny Dahiya 10-2-32-2, Kedar Paul 9-0-44-0, Mark Williamson 2-0-12-0). MDAFS2 scored 120 for 2 off 26 overs when the match was called off due to rain: Siva Jayahanthan lbw 61, Ankeet Vora lbw 32, Vimal D'Souza not out 12, Danny Abraham not out 5.
Livingston 122 ao beat MDCC2 58ao
Twos woes continued as Raj reports. "Unfortunately, MDAFS 2 continued its poor run. Having bowled Livingston for 122 (exactly same as Boroughmuir in the early part of season), the chase gone exactly the same way (ward) with MDAFS 2 all out for 58 (1 less than B'muir) at the end of 23 overs." Mo Rafic can at least hold his head high as he was the only one to make double figures with 13 and earlier had figures of 10-5-9-3.
Rained Off
No play - rain.
MDAFS 2 (9 pts) lost to Edinburgh 2 (20 pts) by 19 runs
Edinburgh 2 - 215 for 8 in 50 overs ( A Colam 50,O Mazher 48. S Dahiya 3/49, M Rafic 3/56)
Murrayfield DAFS - 196 all out in 45.4 overs ( S Dahiya 55, S Sivasamy 35 not out. R Ahmed 3/27, S Ahmed 3/43)
MDAFS 2 lost to Boroughmuir by 27 runs.
Boroughmuir - 206 for 9 in 50 overs
MDAFS 2 - 179 all out in 47.3 overs
Great batting from Adam Scott, who scored 73. Mark and Kamath supported him with 23 and 27 to give us some hope after 36 for 5 at one stage. But a mini collapse prevented us from reaching the target.
Rained Off
Rained Off
Rained Off
MDCC3 lost by 7 wickets
D. Kidd b 1
S. Rangaswamy ct 17
M. Lyall ct 27
L. Towns ct 1
D. Bishton b 7
C. Donaldson b 0
N. Yelland b 4
P. Yelland st 18
M. Ward ct 7
A. Raza b 0
T. Simpson -- 0
EXTRAS 7
89ao
F.O.W. 2-1 46-2 50-3 53-4 53-5 57-6 65-7 76-8 76-9 89-10
N. Peet 5-29, J. Collister 3-9, R. Campbell 2-13
T. Simpson 5 0 21 -
M. Ward 4 0 23 1
A. Raza 3.5 0 24 2
D. Bishton 2 0 18 -
S. Rangaswamy 1 0 6 -
Grange 4s 92 for 3 from 15.5 overs
R. Campbell 37*, I. Potter 25, N. Peet 22*
MDCC3 lost by 6 wickets
A very disappointing batting performance saw us bowled out for 85. While last week our low total was largely due to coming up against a National League bowler in our first innings, but this week we collapsed through a poor shot choice, a lack of concentration and a lack of patience. The only bright spots were Andy Lacey's 30, Dave Bishton with 23, and Lindsay Towns. All showed that runs were there to be scored with some application.
In reply, we took four wickets with an early breakthrough for me to claim their young opener lbw, 2 to Tony, who was at his metronomic best again, and 1 to Henry who bowled an incisive spell of 7-2-18-1. Three dropped c & b chances, and catch behind turned down and one missed off Adeel cost us vital points. Who know, had those chances gone our way and we had taken 9 wickets we may even have rescued a poor batting performance.
More intelligence needed with the willow next time!
Match Abandoned
MDCC3 had Boroughmuir 2s 92 for 7 at Roseburn, with Dave Bishton having claimed a 5 wicket haul before the rains came.
MDCC3 3 lost by 1 wicket
Mufs 117ao from 36.5 overs (S. Dahiya 30, A. Lacey 25, M. Boyd 12; M. Schubert 4-15, S. Cavaliere 2-14, A. Hermens 2-18)
Accies 118-9 from 43.1 overs (M. Williamson 23*, M. Stewart 23, M. van Wijk 12; T. Simpson 3-14, S. Dahiya 2-16, J. Kapila 2-25)
Mufs (8 points) lost to Accies (20) by 1 wicket
Hats off to Accies who played a really tough game with great spirit, in the way it really should be played.
A real touch nail-biter of a game that went to the wire. Mufs top order were batting really well with Sunny and Jai putting on 38 for the first wicket in 10 overs, 20 overs seeing the score advance to 66-2. Then three quick wickets saw us fall to 89-5, but a vital partnership saw us to the dreaded Nelson of 111. From 111-5 we then lost our last 5 wickets for 6 runs, with the only runs off the bat being Neil Cummin's 3. A strong position thrown away by a combination of good fielding and bowling, but largely poor batting.
That collapse arguably proved the difference as the opening bowlers, Tony and I, both took early wickets with the first falling to Tony with the score on 6, then I claimed an lbw at 18-2, and Tony contributing a further two wickets to have Accies on 38-4. Jai entered the attack and immediately claimed two lbws in his first over to further reduce Accies to 51-6. Sunny bowled exceptionally well and claimed 2 wickets, and Accies were 87-9 and looking a long way off. But sensible, intelligent batting from Williamson and David Black (11*) took them home, realising that they had plenty of overs to spare to see out the good balls.
This was a game where we threw away a winning position in both innings. First with the collapse when batting, where another 10 runs would arguably have made the difference. Accies batted seven overs more than us, so scoring rate was not the difference, but length of innings. This is a 45 over game, and we haven't batted out the full innings yet! And then again in the field we had a winning position, but permitted the last pair to see Accies home. We missed a couple of chances in the field, with an easy catch dropped of me in the gully and a second harder chance missed at the wicket. And finally a run out chance missed very near the end. We bowled far too many poor balls and extras in such a tight game, conceding 25 extras in total, more than Accies top scorer managed.
We simply cannot afford to give so many second chances and freebies to the opposition, we need to bat with a bit more nouse and discipline. And to do this, we really need as many people as possible to make the effort to attend training sessions on Mondays and Thursdays.
MDCC3 won by 6 runs
The Threes provided the only note of cheer in an otherwise disappointing weekend to provide Martin with a victory in his last game as captain. Threes posted 232-8 at Leith Links with Sid Wahi hitting 83*, Darryn Kidd 56, Martin Ward 25 and Chris Donaldson 19. Leith FAB got close but finished on 225-9 with Pavan hitting 71; and for MDAFS Dave Bishton took 4-47, Stuart Coull 2-34 and Henry Collin 1-30. Hurrah for Vesty.
MDCC3 win by 70 runs
MUFS 177 all out. Dazza 45, Jigar 33, Adeel 30.New skipper Stuart "Daddy" Coull reports.... We won the toss and batted first and at 30-3 after 10 overs it could have gone oh so horibly wrong until a good stand between Dazza and Chris Banks settled us down, then Sid and Dazza, then Jigar and Dazza kept going to pull us up to a decent looking total. Decent became winning courtesy of an excellent 30 from young Adeel at the end.
In reply Broomhall were 0-1 losing a wicket first ball of the 2nd over then lost wickets steadily throughout the chase. All the bowlers used caused enough problems and created enough pressure that Broomhall were always just behind the required rate, and whenever we got to the stage that a wicket was needed, we got one. Tony bowled excellently and was unlucky not to have a wicket to his name at the end. Fielding was excellent and contributed too to the pressure. A really great all round team performance.
MDCC3 lost by 7 wickets
MDAFS 3 were beaten by 8 wickets by Dunfermline at McKane Park defending 110. Top scorers for the Threes were Chris Banks 24, Chris Donaldson 15, and Lindsay Towns 14 - wicket takers for Dunny S. Davidson 3-22 and C. Humphreys 3-32. Dunfermline reached 112 for loss of 2 wickets with Mushi Beg 75 not out and S. Campbell 16 not out. Dave Bishton took 2-27.
MDCC3 won by 43 runs
Murrayfield-DAFS 3s 143ao (45 overs) (Dave Bishton 34, Adeel Raza 20 not out, Chris Donaldson 17 E. Gosney 3-23, A. Hoggarth 3-29). Heriots 3s 100 all out (34.1 overs) (E. Gosney 32, C. Ogilvie 18, Tony Simpson 3-5, Chris Banks 3-16, Henry Collin 3-22)
MDCC3 lost by 2 wickets
MDAFS III made 201 ao off 34.1 overs - pegged back after a flying start from Sunny 34 and Bish 42, Chris Donaldson also scoring 30. Falkland 3s made 202-8 with 14 year old Steven Meikle's maiden 50 for Falkland the highlight for Falkland, Henry Collin 3-47 the main wicket taker for MDAFS.
MDCC3 won by 9 wickets
Grange 4s 45 all out in 25.4 overs. Ian Roberts 17. Tony Simpson 7-2-12-2, Dale Simpson 7-1-15-3, Stuart Coull 5.4-1-11-1, Henry Collin 5-2-4-2, Kedar 2-1-2-1.
MDCC3s 46-1 in 11 overs. Jigar Patel 26 not out, Andy Lacey 15 not out.
Match Cancelled - Rain
Match cancelled due to rain
Boroughmuir 2 32 ao lost to MDCC3 33-4
Daddy himself reports: "Let's not beat around the bush here. MDAFS 3s, Kicked. Ass. No two ways about it.
On a pitch tailor made for messers Allan, Simpson and Collins, Boroughmuir (having won the toss) batted first and were 32 all out. And, guess what? The aforementioned Allan took 4-10, Simpson took the top order apart with 3-11 and Mr. Collins finished it off with 2-1.
Slight wobble in the chase as we lost 4 wickets getting the runs but comfortable enough in the end. Chris Banks and Irfan Mahmud getting most of them but scores are not to hand. Well done to all, in particular the 3 bowlers mentioned. "
Match Cancelled - Rain
Match cancelled due to rain
MDAFS 3 (8 points) lost to Leith 2 (20 points)
Leith 136 all out. S. Coull 3-28, N. Allan 2-27, C. Banks 1-3
MDAFS 97 all out. D. Biston 27, J. Patel 14, C. Donaldson 13.
MDAFS 3 lost to Broomhall 2
3s slumped to 130 odd ao in reply to the Broomhall Batting Machine's 278. Only Banksy 50 not out and Andly Lacey 41 emerged with any credit from the batting. 3s cause not helped by dropping the opener first ball - who then scored 103 - and also the no.4 on 0 too who then smashed a quick 84. And 39 extras. Other than that then I guess we were all over 'em. Ahem.
Mufs 4 lost by 2 wickets - report by Paul Leonard
Won the toss, chose to bat, 2 down for 9 after 10 overs and 59 all out after 33 - a textbook start for the new 4s skipper...
Batting highlights included a solid knock from Graham Watson (12) and a brisk innings from Billy Sneddon (16) including a 6 launched over long on. However, the Musselburgh bowlers dominated and after a mean start from the openers (5 maidens in the first 12 overs) Khamal's quality leg spin and some accurate stuff from R. Tufail brought the innings to a halt in a hurry. Mufs last 6 conjured 6 runs from the bat between us as Khamal took 4 wickets in 4 overs and R. Tufail 2 in 3 at a cost of 1 run. Khamal caused all sorts of problems, bowling Graham round the back of his pads with a fiercely spun leg spinner (the first ball of his spell), and picking up 2 more wickets in his next 6 balls.
The match became an unexpectedly close-fought encounter thanks to some excellent new ball bowling from Billy (9-3-12-3) and Henry Collin (7-3-9-1). Tufail (15) and Burton (10) got Musselburgh back on track before falling to Paul, and 2 wickets from Asif reduced them to 47-8. However, Mufs couldn't take the last 2 wickets and Musselburgh eased home in the 30th over. The odd chance and half-chance missed, but generally a good fielding display, just not enough runs to play with on a pitch which offered plenty to the bowlers.
Full scores to follow.... maybe not.....sigh......
MDCC4 lost by 79 runs
Fours (with just 10 men due to late call-offs) were 100 all out chasing 179. No further details received I'm afraid.
Match Abandoned.
MDCC4 had reached 135-8 off their 45 overs; Graham Watson with 26 and Chris Richardson 39, before the thunder and rain made further play impossible.
MDCC4 lost by 2 wickets - report by Don Wilkie
The 4's headed to Largo minus skipper Paul, the victim of a freak back injury,
and despite driving through a heavy shower arrived to sunshine (pleasure). The
president, skippering for the day, won the toss (pleasure) and on a concrete
hard strip (pleasure), with a shaved outfield (pleasure) elected to bat. Nadeem
and Nick opened the batting and put on 54 for the first wicket (pleasure), Nick
being caught for 11. That brought the president to the crease for a front row
seat as Nadeem cruised past his 50 (pleasure) and continue onwards. However
in the 31st over the president spooned one to square leg (pain) and departed
for 15 with the score on 126 (pleasure). That brought Pav to the crease and
he did what was required putting on a quick 24 before being stumped in the 38th
over with the score on 169 (pleasure). Meanwhile Nadeem cruised past his 100
(pleasure). Next in was young Yelly, who despite looking a class act at indoor
nets seems to be suffering a confidence crisis and departed for a golden (pain).
This took Ali to bat for a father and son combination. All too much for Nadeem
who was bowled for 137 with the score at 206 (pleasure). Mamoun joined Ali and
they pushed the score to 213 from our 45 overs (extreme pleasure).
Time to convene to the church hall for a sit down tea which rated 10 on the
Piggott scale, enough said I think (pleasure).
The second innings is really far too painful to talk about, we had them 5 for
6 although these wickets were mostly their excellent junior players. After 40
overs they still needed 50 but they refused to panic. They got the required
214 with 3 balls to spare. Almost impossible to bare! No one bowled that badly
with Mamoun 9-27-1 the pick. The real difference was our old foe Mr. Extras
- they bowled 5 no balls and 7 wides to our 13 no balls and 17 wides. These
18 runs, on an excellent batting track where line and length were the order
of the day proved vital.
In conclusion a word about Largo Cricket Club - 1st class guys, 1st class pitch,
1st class juniors and a 1st class tea, in short, a model for all clubs in ESCA
to strive for. A pleasure to go there to play but the pain of the loss ohhhhhh.........
Back to Top of Page
MDCC Lost by 54? runs
The visitors scored 141 but the Fours could only reach 87(?) - Jigar top scorer in the 20s.
MDCC walkover victory
SMRH cannot raise a team so its a walkover victory for MDAFS 4s. A welcome 20 points but we would rather have been playing.
MDCC win by 4 wickets
The 4s were inspired by skipper Paul Leonard's four wicket haul as they beat Edinburgh CC 3s by 4 wickets chasing down only 87. Paul finished with 4-17 and Chris Grey 2-10. Graham Watson carried his bat with 29 not to see us home, well supported by debutant Irfan Mahmud with 18. Well done, chaps.
MDCC4 win by 76 runs
Murrayfield-DAFS 4s 172-7 (45 overs) (Ali Amjid 22, Ed Long 20, C Grey 25, S Alberts 39 not out, extras 49!; C Huston 2-17, O Shazhad 2-24). Holy Cross 3s 96 all out (36.4 overs) (R Ellis 18, D Sharpe 18; N Allen 3-22, M Shafi 2-17)
MDCC4 walkover victory
West Lothian 3 cannot raise a team so it's another walkover victory for MDAFS 4s and 20 points.
Musselburgh won by 125 runs
Musselburgh 2s 201-5 in 45 overs. Vic Kumar 51, Raja Tufail 46 not out, Chris Grey 2-35, Lindsay Towns 2-44, 1-19 for Norm Allan.
MDCC4s 76 all out in 32.4 overs. Ed Long 24, Colin Miller 3-15.
Game Abandoned
Match abandoned after 14 overs in drizzle becoming heavy rain. MDAFS batting had begun well with the score on 46-1 with Nick Hill out for 8, but Jigar Patel (26*) and Irfan (4*) and 8 extras moving the score along nicely.
Game Cancelled
Game cancelled due to waterlogged pitch.
MDAFS were eliminated from the Murgitroyd Masterton by Penicuik at Kirkhill. Batting first MDAFS posted only 90-9 as we lose our way badly from 50-3 at the 10 over mark; Jean-Pierre Cruz Rocha top scoring with 30 and Mark Williamson not out 13 next highest score. For Penicuik Ian Kirkhope took 3-13 off 4 and Hutton 2-12. MDAFS started well with the ball to peg Penicuik back and at one point the run-rate hit 6 an over, but with experienced heads at the crease in ex-internationalist Willie Morton (21) and Ian Kirkhope (20 not) a flurry of big hits (one taking out someone's greenhouse by Willie) put Penicuik back in charge and victory was secured by the home side with 7 balls left. Top bowler for MDAFS was JP with 3.5-0-17-3 - other bowlers: Melv Clench 3-0-13-0, Rajnish Singh 4-0-8-0, Tom Wheeler 4-0-26-1, Mark Williamson 4-0-27-2.
Currie and Balerno beat MDAFS 3-2 in bowl-out at Muirhouse, which had gone to 'sudden death' after Bob Irvine had squared it at 2-2 with the last of CnBs regulation 10 balls. For MDAFS Tom Wheeler and Mark Williamson had the only successful hits as we missed 12 shies in a row. The bowl-out went to the 16th delivery before Richard Scott got the decisive hit for Currie and Balerno who play Edinburgh CC in the next round. Good luck to CnB in that.
Earlier, the heavy rain had made further play impossible with MDAFS in a strong position on 77-2 off 11 overs (Vimal D'Souza on 42 not out off 34 balls and Danny Abraham 19 not out off 22 balls). Ce l'a vie! Bloody weather.
MDAFS travelled to East Kilbride for the Lloyds TSB Scotland Trophy match. Unfortunantly we were totally pants (which is probably an injustice to lingerie). We lost by 9 wickets defending only 118 which was awful given a solid, if cautious start, against some lively opening bowling. Veteran DAFS openers Ian Shiels scoring 38 and Paul Hubbard 23 respectively as they set a foundation of 65 runs off 22 overs for the first wicket. However the innings simply collapsed away appallingly, with the last 9 wickets falling for a woeful 53 runs as, what looked on paper at least, a strong middle order again failed badly. Nadeem was the only other batsman to hit double figures with 16. Saffa paceman R Vardy took 4-17 and veteran A Meikle 3-16 off his 10.
We fared little better with the ball as East Kilbride got away to a flier (42 off 5 at one point!) and then despite our spinners Tom (5-0-12-0) and Asif (5-0-10-0) pegging EK back, they cruised to victory with Kampman notching an unbeaten 52 and Dalgleish 42 not out to win in the 24th over. Raj took the only wicket. At least it was a marvellous tea, sunny day and friendly opposition.
Tom Wheeler reports.... Fantastic game of cricket with Asif (41 not out) hitting the first two balls of the last over for 6 to win the game. Excellent contributions also from Irfan Mahmud (36) and Sunny Dahiya (a quick 23 at the top of the order).
A win looked very unlikely when DJ Allan (45) was belting us to all corners of Roseburn (including two sixes into - or perhaps over - the Water of Leith off yours truly). Fauldhouse were 66 for 0 in the 7th over before DJ tried one hit too many off the skipper and Sunny took a good catch on the boundary. An excellent bowling and fielding effort dragged us back into the game, then we kept the momentum going after Sunny and Reyaz got us off to a flyer. Irfan and Asif played aggressively but sensibly, peppering the short boundary with a series of sixes, the brothers McDonald having a particularly hard time of it against Asif.
Wickets for Raj (1-16) and myself (4-27), and a comical run-out involving colliding batsmen gave us our other wicket. But everyone contributed with the ball and/or in the field.
Special mention to Neil Yelland in his first MDCC game at this level - he was unfazed by DJ's early onslaught and came back to bowl two superb overs at the death that had a lot to do with us winning the game. Well done kidda.
We're away to Leith in the next round - will let you know once we've fixed up a date for that one.
Cheers all, and well done again, Tom
At a sunny Sunday Muirhouse on a somewhat lively track(!), a MDCCXI defeated Comrie in a friendly match. MDCC posted 173-8 off 40 overs with Mangesh Akerkar scoring 62, Asif Mohammed a rapid 28 (2 sixes), Ian Shiels 25, and Jean-Pierre Rocha-Cruz 22. For Comrie, A Rogerson took 3-31 off 8 overs and A Dowse 2-4 off 2 overs including a pouching a superb CnB off a fierce JP drive. Comrie start well with Watters (25) and Keldie (21) putting on 40 before Siddarth (5-1-17-1) takes the first wicket and then Tom (6-1-14-1) and Adam (5-1-9-1) put the squeeze on Comrie. JP then single-handedly derails the Comrie middle-order by smartly running out the Comrie skipper, Charlie Gibbons for a duck, and then claiming a double-wicket maiden in a spell of 3-2-1-2. Daniel Henry's leg-spin accounts for Lamb, stumped for 10, the only other Comrie batsman to reach double figures. Daniel finishes with 4-0-11-2. Enter the Belly to apply the coup de grace with 2.3-1-2-2 as Comrie are dismissed for 86. Other bowlers used, young Gurjeet Singh with 3-0-20-0 and Martin Ward 2-0-11-0. And a well done to celebrity fielding captain for the day, Scotty..
Some photos...
Unfortunantly the Sunday friendly at Berwick-upon-Tweed was wisely cancelled before we set out beyond Edinburgh into a wall of rain.
On Sunday 3 August, we had a quite remarkable game away in Northumberland as MDAFS Sunday Daytrippers beat Bamburgh by 23 runs.
MDAFS batting first, start well with Phil Yelland hitting a quickfire 33 opening
(Irfan hit 5 batting at 2) and Melv Clench a steady 27 - elevated to number
3. Tom Wheeler hits 19 but then the wheels come off spectacularly as MDAFS lose
7 wickets for 5 runs (6 in 10 balls) to collapse to 96 all out - young off-spinner
Taylor taking the 3 last wickets in 5 balls on a pitch that was indeed helpful
to spin - as the bemused Belly discovered as he was the last man to go, castled
by Taylor for 0. After Tom the book reads, Charlotte 5, Chris D run out 1, Asif
0, Reyaz 0, Belly 0, Lea Tsui 0, Neil Yelland not out 3 !!
But fear not - suitably fired up and inspired by Skipper Bascombe, MDAFS fought
like tigers (sort of). Despite a battling 18 from opener A Curran and 19 from
B Wright, Bamburgh suffer their own collapse from 54-1 to end up on 73 after
their allotted 40 overs. Spin again did the most damage as Tom took 4-12 off
8, Phil Yelly 2-14 off 8, also Melv took 1-5 off 6, Belly 2-8 off 7. Other bowlers
Neil Y 3-1-8-0, Asif 8-5-11-0. Also highlight of the day was a stonkingly good
catch by Pav - catch of the season contender.
And at last a game actually finished at Bamburgh. Just the odd bit of fog to contend with.
For a change a sunny day for the annual MDAFS outing across to the Isle of Arran to play Sannox CC - though setting off from Edinburgh as 7.30am in driving rain brought back horror memories of last year's aquatic fiasco. Thankfully it had all cleared by the time we got through Glasgow. Fuelled by the Calmac fry up (for some of us) Belly and Yelly jnr open the bowling tidly for the tourists keeping the Sannox openers quiet before the introduction of The Wheeler Dealer who claims both openers, Pomeroy (7) and Manson (4) in his first two runless overs. Yelly snr has Haggerty fortuitously stumped off Andys pads for a duck before the Belly returns for his final 3 overs to take the wickets of Hackett (6), Marriot (14) (a second smart catch for Pickles) and Dunn for 18. Sannox now in trouble at 66-6. Ali Amjid then cleans up the tail with the wickets of Beardsley (9), Lees (3) and Dunn for 0. Charlotte administers the coup de grace with the wicket of Brown for 2. Sannox all out for 84 off 34.1 overs. MDAFS bowling figures: N Yelland 4-2-8-0, I Shiels 8-4-11-3, T Wheeler 7-2-14-2, P Yelland 5-1-6-1, A Amjid 4-2-6-3, D Barker 2-0-23-0, C Bascombe 3.1-0-6-1, J Gourlay (guesting for MDAFS) 1-0-3-0.
85 suddenly seemed far off after Andy is caught at point first ball, Ali is caught behind for 1 and then Charlotte LBW for 0 - all 3 wickets falling to Dunn. From 6-3 our position improves as Wheels and Belly steady the ship. But we are in trouble again at 39 for 5 as Tom is bowled for 14 (1 four, 1 six) by Pomeroy and Phil top edges a pull off Marriott to fall for 2. Neil Yelland is the last recognised batsman left but in a determined 41 run stand with The Belly, MDAFS chip away at the target until on the cusp of victory Belly falls for 35 (5 fours) CnB by Marriott going for glory and we are now 80-6. Drew joins Neill at the end but another 4 from Yelly jnr and a single sees us home. Neil finishing on a splendid 29 not out (6 fours). Lea and Jim DNB. Bowling figures for Sannox: E Dunn an excellent 8-6-3-3, C Marriott 7.4-1-28-1, S Mason 8-0-22-1, T Pomeroy 8-1-31-1.
As ever a most enjoyable game - more so without the rain in previous encounters. The traditional sampling of Arran ales etc and demolishing of Fish n Chips for the Ferry back to Ardrossan just topped off the Arran Adventure.
Teamshot of MDAFS Sunday Sannox Daytrippers with local guest
player (Jim -left)
Back to Headlines
A Mufs midweek XI took on Currie and Balerno at Roseburn in a 18/18 game - switched to the artificial due to the damp grass wicket. In a sporting contest played under retire-at-25 and 'everyone (almost) gets a bowl' midweek friendly protocols, the visitors emerged victorious after chasing down Mufs 95-1. Chief scorers for Mufs Chris Banks and Mangesh who both retired once past 25, Richard Scott top scoring (also retired) for CnB. A good, but slightly chilly, workout before retiring to the warmth of the Murrayfield Hotel for post match beers/juice and Chelski v Sorry Scousers in the CL on the telly.
In a friendly 18/18 played at Roseburn Park in sunny conditions, Mufs Midweekers defeated Edinburgh South by 15 runs. Stars of the show with the bat were Mark Williamson with 24, Lindsay "Bicycle" Towns with 25 (retired) and David 'DJ' Jamieson 11 n.o. at the end, as Mufs posted 95-5. For Edinburgh South, S. Ramakrishnan took 3-13 off 4 overs and M Dutton 2-18 off 4 overs. Despite an enormous number of wides conceded (22) Mufs bowled Edinburgh South out for 80 off 16.3 overs with Adeel Raza bowling a tremendous spell to first remove top scorer, P Reddish, stumped for a dogged 15, and then clean-up the lower order to finish with 6 wickets for 10 runs in just 2.3 overs. Other wicket takers for Mufs were Mr Belly with figures of 3-0-5-1; David Jamieson with 3-0-16-1; The Donimator with 3-0-15-1 and Sunny Dahiya 2-0-11-1.
A MDCC Midweekers XI, with representation right across the Club, emerged victorious by 1 run against what looked like a strong Casuals CC team in a midweek friendly at Roseburn. MDCC scored 91 for 9 off 20 overs with Asif Mohammed the main star with 35 not out (after initially having to retire at 25) and Mr Belly the main chump having managed to fall over backwards onto his stumps in a bizarre, nay comical, dismissal. Rupert James took 3-0-3-2 as the stand-out bowler for Casuals CC. In reply the Casuals were initially well placed reaching a third of their total after only 4 overs, then Dave Jamieson with a tight spell of 4-1-7-2 and then Tom with 4-0-16-3 and Sutha with two maidens bowling at the end secured a one run victory as Casuals CC finished on 90-8. Other MDCC wicket takers Wardy with 2-0-18-1 and Don with 3-0-19-1.
MDAFS Midweekers were given a right royal thumping on a gem of batting wicket/outfield by the Staff XI at Merchiston Castle, with the hosts hitting 197 (A Brown 76, H Van-Heerden 57, and P Osborne 50 not; MDAFS painful bowling analyses of Scotty 3-0-32-1, Sutha 3-0-17-0, Norman Allan the pick with 4-0-24-1, Tom 2-0-19-0, Don 3-0-30-0, Chris Banks 3-0-30-0, and Chris Brown 2-0-38-1 (ouch)). MDAFS finished on 108ao with OMH top scoring with 26, Lindsay 17, Tom 17 and Chris Banks 14. The post-match hospitality of beer and sarnies somewhat eased the pain of our thrashing!!
At a sunny and warm evening at the Arboretum, MDAFS Midweekers proved too strong for a Holy Cross X (no show from Shannon apparently), romping to a 87 run victory in a role reversal from last week's game. MDAFS batted first and reached 171-3 with Ankeet retired 27, Andy Lacey retired 29 - including a mammoth six into the road, Abdul Reyaz retired for 42 (20 balls), Mo Asif caught for 38, Dave Bishton bowled 7, Chris Donaldson 10 n.o. and Adam Scott run out off last ball for 6. Holy Cross reached 84 for 7 off 20 overs with S Malik reaching 20 before being splendidly run out by Mark and B Fraser not out 28. Bowling wise, top dogs were Scotty with 3-0-11-3, Tom with 3-0-10-2, and David Jamieson with 4-0-15-1.
MDAFS Midweekers took on Scottish Widows in a friendly 20/20 match at a blustery Roseburn Park. Batting first MDAFS posted 113 for 3 off 20 overs with Mark williamson scoring 22, Melv Clench 17 retired, Asif Mohammed 19, Sutha Rangaswamy 27 not and Don Wilkie 13 not. In reply Widows soared past the required total for the loss of only 2 wickets with Eddie (The Eagle?) Edwards smashing 78 not out off 60 balls (including 5 sixes) and Brian Forrester caught smartly by Asif off debutant Haroon for 23. Haroon took the other wicket to finish with respectable figures of 2-0-5-2 on debut.
At Roseburn, MDAFS midweekers defeated an HBOS XI, featuring our very own Scotty, by 54 runs. MDAFS elected to bat first and with DJ and Sutha mixing scampered singles and big shots we got off to a good start with Sutha retiring on 30. Pickles joined David and the running became more interesting until DJ is caught and bowled off C Brian for 25 with the score on 72 off 13. Charlotte is then run out for 10, Asif bowled by Adam for 9, and then Marcus Lyall (13 not) and Abdul Reyaz (21 not out including four 4s in a row) see us up to a healthy 129 for 3. In reply HBOS shed wickets regularly but reach respectability at 75 all out off 19.1 overs with Adam Scott top scoring with 32 before being caught by Belly off DJs first ball - next top scorer D Goodwin with 12. MDAFS bowlers - Neil Yelland 3-1-11-1, Mr Belly 3-0-8-0, Chris Banks 2-0-5-2, Marcus Lyall 2-0-8-1, Abdul Reyaz 3-1-12-0, Stephen Willis 2-0-23-0, Asif Mohammed 2-0-4-0, David Jamieson a tail-crushing 2-2-0-4, and Sutha 0.1-0-0-1. Game played in excellent spirit as midweeks should be.
The Belly Army beat Edinburgh South by 9 runs in a keenly but very sportingly contested friendly 20/20 match at the Inch Park on Tuesday evening. MDAFS negotiated batting first due to some stragglers yet to arrive on an interesting Inch wicket. With the quick loss of skipper Belly for 9 after a couple of successive boundaries, Chris Banks (4 fours) and Abdul Reyaz (4 fours, 1 six) , in particular, moved the scoring along nicely and both reached the 30 run retirement mark. Then Irfan falls for 8 (1 four), DJ for a brisk 19 (4 fours) and Don for a brisk duck (no fours) and so it fell to Charlotte with a measured 9 not out (1 four) and Neil Yelland with a positively hasty 14 not (including one large six, a three and a four) to take us up to 131 off 20 overs.
Edinburgh South start well with Khan and Leigh taking an aggressive approach and MDAFS are on the back foot until Abdul Reyaz takes a super running catch at deep midwicket to dismiss Leigh for 20 (2 fours, 1 six) off Paul. The scoring rate still soars along at 8 an over until Khan retires on his allotted 30 (actually it was only 27 - the scorers miscounted!!) and Suvarna is bowled by David for 18. Tahir has Glany caught by Chris Banks at mid-off for 17, Don Wilkie takes the scalp of opposition skipper Paul Reddish for 6 caught by Mr Belly in the covers, and, with the suicidal run-out of Bourke for 4, the wheels have come off the spirited Edinburgh South reply. They finish on 122 for 7 off 20 overs with a late 'flourish' from veteran sage Gus Mclean of 8. Bowling figures for MDAFS: Norman Allan 3-0-21-0, Paul Leonard 3-0-24-1, David Jamieson 3-0-22-1, Neil Yelland 2-0-15-0, Don Wilkie 3-0-15-1, Tahir Miraj the pick of the MDAFS bowling with 3-1-8-1, Abdul Reyaz a tight 2-0-9-1 at the end and Chris Banks with the penultimate over of 1-0-6-0. Good game played in excellent midweek spirit.
Report by Iain Martin:
RBGE won the toss and elected to bat.
Weather windy - sunshine and showers.
RBGE
Amjid Ct Barker Bwd Riyaz 6
Rafiq Bwd Banks 9
Arfan Bwd Banks 4
Clench Ct Bascombe B Riyaz 0
Leonard Ct Bascombe B Wheeler 0
C Brown Bwd Wheeler 0
Fotheringham Not out 3
S Brown Bwd Wilkie 3
D Knott Ct Barker Bwd L Tsui 10
I Martin Not out 10...... including straight driven 4 off Mr Belly ;D
Extras 18
Total 63-8 (20 overs)
Sutha 3-0-13-0
Banks 3-0-6-2
Riyaz 2-1-1-2
Wheeler 3-1-3-2
Wilkie 3-0-12-1
Tsui 3-0-13-1
Shiels 3-0-9-0
MDCC
C Bascombe Bwd Arfan 7
Riyaz Bwd Arfan 2
Wilkie Bwd Clench 13
Banks C&B Arfan 0
Barker Bwd Arfan 0
Wheeler Bwd Arfan 2
Sutha Ct Riyaz Bwd Clench 13
Tsui Bwd Leonard 1
Shiels Not out 1
Extras 13
Total 52 all out (17.2 overs)
S Brown 3-0-8-0
Arfan 3-0-6-5
Amjid 3-0-12-0
C Brown 3-0-7-0
Martin 2-0-6-0
Leonard 2.2-0-7-1
Clench 1-0-2-2
RBGE won by 11 runs
Thanks to all for a friendly and exciting game with a close finish.
MDAFS Midweekers beat a HBOS XI, featuring Scotty and Leonard, in a friendly 20/20 at Peffermill. Batting first MDAFS scored 139 for 6 off 20 overs - top scorers Tom Wheeler 31 retired, Jigar Patel 19, Neill Yelland 26, David Jamieson 30 retired - Adam Scott with 4-0-23-3 the pick for HBOS - Paul Leonard, with 3-0-21-0, not able to get revenge on flatmate Tom Wheeler in the latest 'washing-up' challenge. Other MDAFS batters: Belly bowled by Scotty for 2, Andy Lacey 0, Lindsay Towns not out 2, Abdul Reyaz bowled by Scotty for 4, Irfan Mahmud stumped off the last ball for 2. Asif, Charlotte and Broon DNB.
In reply, HBOS reached 120 all out off 20 overs - top scorers P Newton 20, B Dummone 23, R Newton 16, C Bryne 33 retired - Charlotte Bascombe the star of the show with a spell of 3-0-19-4 (on a hat-trick next game after bowling Mr Leonard first ball off the last delivery!), other wicket takers: Abdul Reyaz 2-0-10-2, Ian Shiels 2-0-7-1. Other MDAFS bowlers figures: Chris Brown 3-0-15-0, Asif Mohammed 3-0-12-0, Neil Yelland 2-0-15-0, Lindsay Towns 2-0-5-0, Jigar Patel 2-0-30-0, Tom Wheeler 1-0-8-0; and, there were 3 run outs.
A good game played in great spirit. Comedy moment of note was the Donimator (who was watching via CCTV while working his shift in the Peffermill office) using the PA system to berate Mr Brown in the field.
A really enjoyable game played at a sunny Gifford - we dodged the showers that deluged Edinburgh that evening. The rules to ensure the game was played in the right midweek friendly spirit were: retire at 20, bowl off 4 paces (ideal for Banksy!!), max of 2 wides per over (ideal for **insert bowler of choice**) [the batter then had to chase any further wides!], everyone bowls 2 overs. White ball used.
MDAFS elect to bat first and Banksy cuts the first ball for 4 but is smartly caught by P Bailey (no relation I think to PVB?) attempting a repeat off the 4th ball. Then 2 balls later Sutha is CnB by Ross and suddenly we are 2 down with one over complete! Fear not. The power running partnership of Jamieson and Bascombe steady the innings before David retires on 20 (2 fours) and Charlotte is CnB by Dimeck for 10. Andy Lacey hits a quickfire 20 and retires (2 fours, 1 six), Don is bowled by Mowatt for 4, then Melv (23 retired) and Mr Belly (16 not out) latterly helped by some late scampering by Cyclops (1) and Elsie (0 not) get us up to 108-5 off our 20 overs.
MDAFS take to the field with only 10 men/women as Spaceman Taxis had probably got diverted into picking up fares in Haddington. Andy is appointed "celebrity" captain. Bowling order is agreed at one over each in reverse batting order (bar Charl as she and Andy need to swap keeper role half way) and then repeated. So Iain Martin bowls the opening over to G Donaldson and P Bailey which goes for six runs, Charlotte's first ball (a carried-over hat-trick ball from HBOS game) is despatched for 4 by the merciless Bailey as is her last delivery. 16 off 2. Broon bowls next and concedes 10. 26 off 3 and the Goblins are gobbling up the required rate. Charlotte's 2nd over sees Donaldson run out by a direct hit by Sutha for 8 and next ball Gavin Dimeck is bowled by Charlotte for a goldie. The team hat-trick ball is a dot ball. Pickles finishes her spell with 2-0-13-1. Belly bowls next and bowls Logie for 2 and concedes only 3 off the over. Score now 32 for 3 off 5. Then Notty Clench bowls his curious loopy type of nets spin (career change from his fast seam stuff now required methinks) and bowls the dangerous Bailey for 18. 34 for 4 off 6 - but the home team still above the rate and young C Scott tucks into Don's first ball to slap it for 4, 7 conceded off the over. Sutha's over of spin goes for just 4 and DJs and Banks' overs 5 and 2 respectively.
So at just past the midway point the home team are on 56 for 4 off 11 with Scott and Skea well set.
MDAFS "play their joker" next - with Char taking over keeper duties as Andy Lacey is required to bowl given we are a man short. Only 10 runs are conceded (we were lucky). Then we repeat the earlier bowling order again (except Char). IJMs over only goes for 2, Broon's 5 plus a handy CnB of C Scott for 17, Belly's over concedes just 1, Melvs 4 and Don's over concedes 6 (including 2 drops - one an absolute dolly by himself and then another next ball by the still guffawing Belly...oops. Andy returns for his second over which goes for 11 and at 94 off 17 (15 off 18 balls) the home team just about look favourites as MDAFS cricket has gone ragged. Then it swings back again: Sutha's last over concedes 5 but Skea has to retire on 20. David bowls Mowatt for 13 and concedes just 1 off his over. 5 runs needed and "Two Step" Banks to bowl it in the gloom. A typically tight over concedes just 2 runs and MDAFS have triumphed by 2 runs.
A highly enjoyable game played in great spirit. Then a feast of pies and steak-sandwiches laid on in the bowling club afterwards - many thanks to Colin and his team for their hospitality and a definite repeat fixture on the next seasons MDAFS midweek schedules.
The incessant rain in midweek saw the match cancelled.