Scorecard

Clackmannan XI v Forfarshire Cricket Club Forthill 2nd XI on Sun 22 May 2011 at 1pm
Forfarshire Cricket Club Lost 4 wickets

Match report Forthill XI’s latest game saw an away trip to face Clackmannan County XI. It was some years since a Forfarshire team had visited Clackmannan County who used to be regular foes in the old Scottish Counties league which the first team played in prior to league reconstruction. Since these halcyon days, the Clackmannan club have slipped down the rankings in Scottish cricket and even fell into abeyance some years ago when flooding of the ground and a lack of players saw them unable to carry out fixtures, however they now field two elevens on a Saturday and a combined Sunday team and with the ground looking in fine condition better days have come to the ground known as The Arns.

Located just outside Alloa, the ground is not the easiest to find – and Clark decided to rely on his memory from the last time he played there as opposed to new fangled modern technology since invented e.g. sat nav or gps. With a start time of one o’ clock looming and it having become apparent that his memory had failed him in the last twenty five years, he turned to modern technology and contacted the match secretary ( I Potts esq.) by sms and got the ground postcode to punch into his sat nav. Problem solved you would have thought, but with the sight of Stirling Albion football ground passing on the right and the entering of Stirling services roundabout a few minutes later, panic set in and when Sally Sat Nav suggested taking the third exit to Glasgow it became apparent that duff gen had been provided by the match sec via sms in the form of a dodgy postcode. A quick call to skipper Sim (the start time having now passed) gave us a suggested route back towards Alloa which bore some fruit and we approached the aforementioned town. Further assistance was needed and PC Plod (skipper Sim) suggested we look for a particular roundabout after which ground discovery would be a breeze. All fine if you know how to find the roundabout. At 1.35pm precisely and some two and a half hours after leaving Forthill the ground was located and play could commence.

After very heavy overnight game the match proceded on Clackmannan plastic and Forthill were asked to bat first. The visiting batsman used to the lush grass of Forthill found the skiddy surface tricky to bat on and early wickets fell. Clark (40) and Adam (67) fashioned a recovery and a reasonable total looked possible. Adam in particular played well in reaching his highest ever score which bodes well for the future. A further late flurry of wickets in the face of some tidy bowling saw Forthill reach 158 all out in the last over. The feeling was that on this tricky surface and with a slow outfield the score was at least competitive.
Tea was held in the pool room and memories came back of a previous visit to the ground. On that occasion the man who now dispenses dodgy postcodes was filling the role of young club scorer and shared the score box with Clackmannan bean counter Len Bell (sadly deceased) and Len’s Jack Russell.

Ian was somewhat incapacitated due to a plaster on his leg and seemed distressed when he arrived for tea mid innings. When we asked what the problem was he mumbled something about Len’s dog. To try and assist him we sat him down and brought him tea, sandwiches and cakes and it was at this point we witnessed what the problem had been. Len’s dog showed his liking for Ian’s plaster cast by making advances towards it of a very friendly nature and attempting to jump on Ian’s plaster in a very friendly way. I am sure readers of this report will get the idea….

This caused great hilarity amongst the assembled players and gave great enjoyment to the dog, but it has scarred Ian for life and he still runs a mile at the sight of a Jack Russell.

Subsequent visits to The Arns tearoom always bring back memories of the Pottsy Plaster Cast Love In and it is difficult to take an objective view of tea. On offer was a reasonable selection of sandwiches and cakes – an unusually large basket of muffins and the highlight was a nice plate of Indian snacks which this correspondent would like to have sampled again but found himself behind the Sims in the queue so that was the end of that. Overall; 6 out of 10 was the award.

Forthill were in need of a tight start and that was blown away within the first few balls as our first sight of opener Sultan showed a player of some hitting power. When he departed in the sixth over he had 45 to his name and that included various maximums including one on to the A907. I know it is the A907 because I had spent a few hours earlier in the day looking for it.

Once he departed things calmed down a bit until Sultan’s little brother came in and played in similar fashion. Forthill were always playing catch up after that and in spite of a fine spell from Glenn (2 for 19 from 9 overs) and a couple of wickets for Scott and Craig the home side finally got over the line and a six wicket victory. Overall a disappointing defeat – although credit goes to Clackmannan for adapting better to the conditions, having the ability to attack our early bowling and having their ground in the middle of nowhere.

The biggest challenge post match was getting home and a call to Ian suggested a route via Galashiels, however we stuck to our tried and trusted road home and went via Fort William instead. Man of the Match award went to Adam for his fine innings and he receives a season’s supply of Brut.

Next week sees the first of three consecutive home fixtures with the visit of Strathearn XI to Forthill. In an effort to spice up tea the skipper has nominated this as cold kebab day and all players are asked to provide cold kebabs for two.

Lastly, an information notice for all players. It has become apparent that the white Volvo has been traded in for a new model as the Chief of Counter Subscription activity has been seen in an alternative vehicle. Players are requested to be on guard as information about this vehicle is limited at this stage. Early surveillance suggests that it still possesses credit card facilities, a small tool shed, a cricket ball safe, a secondary bail tin, a wine rack and a machine gun turret. It is suspected that this vehicle can also convert into a helicopter as needed. Any further information that players have on this vehicle can be forward to Subs Stoppers on 0800 202020.



Forfarshire Cricket Club Forthill 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
158
(0.0 overs)		    
Steven Sim Bowled  McCann 5 1
Samir Hill Bowled  Kay 4
Scott Cameron Caught  Sultan b McCann 3 1
Clark McConnachie Caught  Ashraf b Shangir 40 1
Adam Hill Caught  Kay b Ashraf 67
Glenn Carnegie Caught  McCann b Ashraf 12
Christopher Welsh Caught  Alamgir b Ashraf 3
Scott Carnegie Caught  McCann b Campbell 6
David Sim Caught  Rasul b Ashraf 0 1
Craig McConnachie Not Out  2
Priyanaz Chatterji Bowled  Campbell 0

Clackmannan XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
W Kay7.0024124.003.43
S McCann6.011628.002.67
B Campbell9.0035217.503.89
T Sultan7.002800.004.00
N Shangir7.0030130.004.29
R Ashraf8.031543.751.88

Clackmannan XI Batting
Player name Runs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 6 wickets
0
160 (0.0 overs)
T Sultan Caught  D Sim b Cameron 45
A Rasul Caught  S Sim b McConnachie 13
B Campbell Bowled  Cameron 7
A Alamgir Caught  C McConnachie b C McConnachie 37
S Bisid Bowled  G Carnegie 0
S McCann Not Out  22
K Ali Caught  Cameron b G Carnegie 5
N Shangir Not Out  16
R Ashraf  
W Kay  
C Ross  

Forfarshire Cricket Club Forthill 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Samir Hill4.002500.006.25
Adam Hill7.013300.004.71
Scott Cameron7.0028214.004.00
Glenn Carnegie9.031929.502.11
Craig McConnachie5.0125212.505.00
Priyanaz Chatterji2.40900.003.38
Christopher Welsh2.001900.009.50