Scorecard

Montrose v Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI on Sun 03 Jul 2011 at 1pm
Forfarshire Cricket Club Won 89 runs

Match report
It is official.

Montrose is the new centre of global warming. After years of being the butt of jokes about duffle coats, icicles and freezing fog – for the second year running Forthill XI have ventured North and been met with sub tropical temperatures more in line with Waikiki Beach than Warsaw. A detour along the beach front en route to the game unfurled a lovely sandy beach, a little play park, an ice cream parlour and masses decked out in shorts and swimsuits. The golf course was packed with players in natty polo shirts and the whole place was like being transported to the Algarve.

The drive into the confines of Union Park did bring a slight reality check and whilst the temperatures remained in the sweltering category, the surrounds were more in keeping with expectations. One half of the outfield was in decent shape; the other resembled a ploughed field that rendered fielding on that side rather dangerous. The wicket (of the plastic variety) was in its normal condition and the standard brushing of the seagull poo was carried prior to proceedings commencing. The dressing rooms are of the ample size and overall playing at Union Park on such a nice day is now verging on the enjoyable.

It was widely recognized the London Pride was on this particular weekend and any unavailability was going to be taken as a sign that inability to play would lead to conjecture that the player concerned was in London for a weekend of fun.
With skipper Sim unavailable; Sim junior was once again in charge. A vote was taken pre match whether to call heads or tails and the team voted resoundingly for a heads call. In previous weeks the skipper’s attire and appearance for the toss have come in for some criticism so he made a special effort and tucked his shirt in and tied his shoelaces but somehow still seemed somewhat disheveled.
The skipper informed us the toss had been lost and the team blamed him roundly for not having the courage of his own convictions and calling tales. To this correspondent’s surprise we had been asked to bat first on this most sunny of days. Normal protocol (unless the wicket is likely to deteriorate which in the case of Montrose plastic seemed unlikely) is to bat first and make the opposition sweat in the field. It did seem strange to me that our skipper was going to opt to bat second but that is for another day.

Andy and the captain opened up against the left arm spin of D. Gourlay and the left arm spin of G. Hutchison. A tentative if solid start was achieved, however the introduction of B. Gourlay (a talented cricketer) lead to the immediate fall of Andy. Clark and the Captain proceeded to put on a large if somewhat uninspiring stand and the game started to move away from the home side.

Noticeable visitors to the ground were Dave T and Ian whose unavailability was noted but who made a point of being there. More significantly, the normal skipper (Chief Constable Sim)appeared with good lady in tow and thus dispelling rumours that he was in London for the weekend with his friend Cecil.

Clark fell – caught at long off for the 500th time of his career – and Adam came to the crease. Adam this season is unrecognizable from previous years. Stout defence is there when needed, good shot selection is being shown and brutal power against the loose ball all in evidence. His 60 not out took the game away from Montrose and on this and other recent displays surely he should be given a chance in the middle order in the second team. He was well supported in particular by Scott who played a nice cameo at the end and the visitors finally racked up an impressive 242 for 6 at tea.

Tea was served whilst we took in the tennis from Wimbledon on the hooky Sky Plus Box– however our hopes of tennis style strawberries and cream were not fulfilled. It has to be said the tea was in the pleasant category. Assorted sandwiches, sausage rolls, a nice continental touch with some exotic wraps (the skipper introduced us to the delights of a Twix wrap) and a large selection of cakes and biscuits. The placing of blackcurrant juice in a teapot flummoxed the tea adjudicator and once again it is sad to report from the trenches no ladies at tea time, however overall a season’s best equaling 6 out of 10 was awarded. It was noted that the skipper was unable to remove the wrapper from a health bar and had to ask one of the younger team members for assistance. One wonders if he has the same issue with unwrapping kebabs….

So on to the field we went and Samir and Glenn opened. A good combination it was - Glenn with his inswingers and Samir with good pace and away movement. This correspondent is going to have a word with the Hill brother’s Mum to see what she is feeding them for breakfast. Samir too must surely be ready for a chance to shine in the second team on his showings this season. This means having a bowl and not just fielding for the avoidance of doubt.

Craig ran out danger man Christie with a direct hit from mid on and when B Gourlay followed him back to the pavilion any chance Montrose had of chasing the large total all but disappeared. It was good to see a pair of left arm spinners in action for Forthill with Adees and Chris bowling in tandem and they both bowled tidy spells. The club is not blessed with any spinners below the first team so these two must be encouraged.

The younger duo of Abdullah and Craig then came on and took a couple of wickets apiece which was also good to see. Andy C cleaned up the tail and a resounding victory was secured. This was achieved without the services of Adam’s bowling and this saw him throw a wobbly post match and suggest that Sim Junior should indeed have been in London.

So a good 25 points keeps us in the promotion hunt which is good news. Thanks go to Montrose for a good game played in the right spirit, a nice tea and a general good day out.

So we made our way back down the North Sea coast and left behind Costa Montrose. It left this correspondent thinking that maybe a couple of weeks there next year might be a nice holiday option – sun, sea and Twix wraps for a fortnight sounds good…

All players are reminded to let the selection committee know in advance if they are unavailable for any reason so that teams can be picked correctly and limit any need for call offs.

Particular thanks go to Jim Inglis for letting us know in advance about his trip to London last weekend and we trust he had a lovely time.



Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 6 wickets
0
242		        
Andrew Cameron b Gourlay 17
Steven Sim ct Donnelly b Petrie 34 1
Clark McConnachie ct Christie b Petrie 62
Adam Hill Not Out  60
Glenn Carnegie b Petrie 0 1
Abdullah Awan ct & b Galt 0
Craig McConnachie b Galt 5 1
Scott Carnegie Not Out  27
Samir Hill  
Christopher Welsh  
Adees Ahmed  

Montrose Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
G Hutchison9.022100.002.33
D Gourlay7.013900.005.57
B Gourlay9.0154154.006.00
A Baxter3.002200.007.33
G Galt8.0033216.504.13
C Petrie9.0058319.336.44

Montrose Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
153 (0.0 overs)		     
G Soutar b Carnegie 7
K Christie run out (C McConnachie jnr) 10
C Holland ct Sim b Hill 3
B Gourlay b Carnegie 9
G Galt ct Carnegie b Welsh 28
C Petrie b Awan 29
G Hutchison b McConnachie 16
C Donnelly b Awan 6
A Baxter b Cameron 2
E Taylor lbw McConnachie 15
D Gourlay Not Out  0

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Samir Hill7.0026126.003.71
Glenn Carnegie7.001728.502.43
Adees Ahmed8.022600.003.25
Christopher Welsh7.0032132.004.57
Craig McConnachie6.0033216.505.50
Abdullah Awan3.01321.501.00
Andrew Cameron2.11515.002.31