Scorecard

Arbroath United v Forfarshire Cricket Club Forfarshire on Sat 29 Aug 2009 at 12 noon
Forfarshire Cricket Club Lost 51 runs

Match report The wind blew relentlessly across lochlands park in Arbroath, which spoiled an otherwise fine day of sunshine and dry weather. It’s been a ground of mixed fortunes in recent years and their recent form suggested it would be a tough game. Henry failed a late fitness test on an injury to his back that he picked up the previous day while rescuing a cat from a tree. Umair was a late call up from his bed and arrived five minutes before we took to the field. The wicket looked a little green and possibly a bit damp, not surprising given recent weather. This prompted Rhino to bowl first after winning the toss.

The Arbroath openers of McGill and Parker got them off to a steady start. Sam took the new ball for the first time this season after showing good form all season with limited opportunities. It was a decent start with runs hard to find on a slowish pitch but wickets didn’t come for the bowlers. Bowling changes at both ends still didn’t bring the wicket but chances started to go begging. Rhino replaced AB but still wickets didn’t come and further catches were dropped.

After 30 overs they had only scored 105 but with all 10 wickets still in hand they were in a good position to accelerate to the end. Blackie started well but seemed to struggle to find his length in the strong wind and with the batsmen starting to be more positive he was replaced by Dougie. Apart from a couple of wides and one big six that McGill got hold of it was a good spell from Dougie. He bowled some variations and hit a good area from the start and was unlucky not to pick up the first wicket.

At last someone took a catch as Dougie held onto one to give KP the first wicket. Rhino came back on to claim the second wicket and completed a good spell. He was replaced by AB for that last couple of overs and he picked up 2 wickets. Their total of 230 looked a decent one and had we held our catches it would have been quite a bit less. After a count back it was estimated at 8 dropped catches and a missed stumping.

We got off to a terrible start with first Howie out caught at point and Rhino out caught trying to hit a big shot over the top. McGill followed his half century with a tight spell of bowling. It seemed a bit easy for him to bowl at us for most of his 10 over spell. Conceding just six runs at the start of the innings is hard to come back from. Wally batted sensibly and completed a good fifty. AB was finding things tough and wasn’t timing the ball well but managed to pass fifty as well. An 87 run partnership between the two of them put us in a reasonable position.

After hitting Ramsay for a big six with the wind over mid-wicket, Wally took him on again over mid off but failed to connect well and was out caught. We needed 130 from the last 16 overs, which is a big ask in anyones book and it was hard for the new batsmen to come in and score quickly. When Dougie and Tony fell in the space of a few overs our chances looked very small. Despite a battling 14 from Umi there was just too much left to do. AB was then out stumped to give Stott his third wicket, KP was run out and Blackie was bowled by Calvin (not for the first time in recent weeks). A 21 run partnership between Sam, who was batting away nicely, and Q took the total to 179. Still a few runs short of stopping them get the full 10 points. It was a bizarre run out decision that ended the innings as Q was given out before the appeal even started. The bowler then started to put the bails back on and go back to his mark just as the umpire took them off again. It was in stunned bemusement that the batsmen and fielders then shook hands at the end of the game.

The result was a disappointing end to an otherwise good season for the Forfs. We managed to finish second by the slimmest of margins, just 0.19 of a percentage point, and will face Heriots in a play off for a place in the premier division.

There are a couple of people that have stood out this year in our bid for promotion. Wally would be at the top of the list. His third fifty of the season took him to a tally of 589 runs and finished as the highest scoring Scottish player in the division. He managed to out score a few professionals and notched up 2 centuries. He’s been great to watch opening the batting this year and I’m sure we’ve not yet seen the best of him. Howie had another excellent season and finished 77 runs behind Wally as second highest Scottish player. Kelbey’s tally of 25 wickets have been vital in our promotion challenge. The 2 Philip brothers deserve a mention too. Dougie’s handy average of 32 with the bat and 24 with the ball are a good return and I’m sure his season in Brisbane will benefit him greatly. After his season in New Zealand last winter, Henry was our best bowler for most of the season and his return of 16 wickets at an average of 20 was also very important.

Arbroath United Batting
Player name Runs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 5 wickets
0
230 (0.0 overs)
B McGill Caught  D Philip b Pickering 66
M Parker Caught  Wallace b Watson 81
C Burnett Caught  Watson b Bailwal 30
M Richardson Caught  Weed b D Philip 26
F Burnett Caught  Mohammed b Bailwal 2
K Ritchie Not Out  3
M Petrie Not Out  1
L McAulay  
C Ramsay  
K Stott  
   

Forfarshire Cricket Club Forfarshire Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Kelby Pickering10.0140140.004.00
Sam Tilston6.032300.003.83
Graeme Quinn9.013000.003.33
Aman Bailwal5.0024212.004.80
Ryan Watson10.0140140.004.00
Graeme Black4.002200.005.50
Douglas Philip6.0040140.006.67

Forfarshire Cricket Club Forfarshire Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
179
(0.0 overs)		    
Graeme Garden Caught  C Burnett b McGill 0
Craig Wallace Caught  McAulay b Ramsay 55 1
Ryan Watson Caught  F Burnett b McGill 4 1
Aman Bailwal Caught  Petrie b Stott 56
Douglas Philip Caught  F Burnett b Stott 4 1
Tony Weed Caught  Parker b Stott 3 1
Umair Mohammed Caught  Petrie b C Burnett 14 1
Kelby Pickering Run out  1
Graeme Black Bowled  C Burnett 2
Sam Tilston Not Out  7
Graeme Quinn Run out  5

Arbroath United Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
B McGill10.04623.000.60
L McAulay3.001500.005.00
C Burnett10.0136218.003.60
F Burnett5.402000.003.53
C Ramsay10.0050150.005.00
K Stott9.0046315.335.11

  • Umpire :
    L Horne & M Nash
  • Scorer :
    R Milne
 
Photos and video of Arbroath United v Forfarshire Cricket Club Forfarshire on Sat 29 Aug 2009 at 12 noon
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