Scorecard

Norwood v Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI on Sat 26 May 2012 at 1pm
Forfarshire Cricket Club Won 163 runs

Match report
The sun shone brightly for the first time this season as the players of Forthill XI made the short journey to take on local rivals Norwood at Dawson Park. Both sides have endured a difficult start to the season and whilst it seems strange to talk of relegation encounters in the month of May – this one had a fifty pointer written all over it.

Dawson Park is maintained by the Dundee City Council and whilst they do a fine job of maintaining putting greens and bowling greens, it seems they generally lack a certain expertise in the preparation of cricket wickets. That having been said, the strip prepared for use for this particular game was among the best seen at Dawson for many years. The grass on the strip was a noticeably different colour from the rest of the park - which suggested it had been cut a couple of times which was encouraging, the wicket amazingly even looked as if it may have been rolled at some point and especially encouraging was the lack of dog poo on view. One wondered if the groundsman had been duped this week and been told he was preparing a mini bowling green rather than a cricket pitch such was its splendour?

As the players started to gather, one female dog walker’s pooch did indeed deposit a large poo on the outfield which she expertly picked up in one of these little green bags that the canine lovers can go nowhere without. Most players made a mental note however not to find themselves at third man down at the Arbroath Road end... The video of the dog doing its business can be seen on You Tube under the title “Minging Doag Keechs on Cricket Pitch”.

The players prepared in the pavilion which now has some nice spray painted colour on the outside which one suspects was not done by Banksy. Inside the young lads were given a reminder of how important it is to behave and never get on the wrong side of the law – as they got changed in a large prison cell. Once back out in the sunlight the players went through the newly introduced warm up routine whilst skipper Sim Senior tossed up. The call of tails once again failed...........and perhaps surprisingly we were invited to use the hard track first on the sunniest of afternoons.

The experienced opening bowlers of Dixon and Sadler opened up and induced some movement and the openers Andy and Craig had to be watchful. Craig unfortunately got a nick behind and was replaced by the older but better looking McConnachie. Andy fell next when he clipped one into mid wicket’s hands and Adam came to the crease. From the outset, Adam played his shots and there were some mighty fine shots in amongst them. From imperious cover drives to back foot bludgeons over mid on we saw the lot and he quickly accelerated the scoring rate. The home skipper made various bowling changes to try and stem the flow of runs but nothing was working. Clark was playing a supporting role thus far and in trying to emulate Adam he inside edged an over expansive off drive which then ran very slowly back in the direction of the stumps. Being a man of experience he could see that he simply needed to kick the ball away from the stumps, but as he started to do this his studs stuck in the turf and he almost fell over. Agonisingly he aimed a kick at the ball as he tried to stay on his feet and missed it completely. The ball continued to roll towards the wickets slower than Simmy running three and then barely touched the stump, but the force was enough to dislodge one bail and it toppled to the ground. Much laughter ensued among the home team, especially as the veteran batsman who should really know better threw a strop, picked up the ball and chucked it to the turf before storming off in the huff.

Adam continued unperturbed and got good support from Glenn and completed a fine century before succumbing to the heat and the clear need for a fag. This was a great attacking innings full of fine shots and once again showed the tremendous hitting power that Adam possesses. One can only hope that the club coaches work hard with Adam to harness this talent and help him to progress into the higher teams. The latter batsmen all played well to help the score along and this included a fine cameo from Bryce which was full of good shots and entertainment. Christian also played nicely. Norwood stuck to their task, but when the innings closed Forthill XI had posted a massive total of 288 for 8 and were well in control of the game.

Tea was taken in the prison canteen and the inmates provided a mixed fare. A very tasty plate of pakoras was quickly devoured and this left sundry egg and tuna sandwiches, some sausage rolls and various Mr Kipling inspired sweet treats. The tea was poured by Mr Norwood himself Gordon Galloway who was minus his flowery pinny on this occasion. In an interesting twist the home side sidled over and took sandwiches away from the visiting team’s plates to munch themselves which was slightly unusual, however we said nothing for fear of being slashed. Given the surroundings, the lack of variety in the fillings, the fact the home team stole some of our sandwiches and Mr Galloway’s lack of pretty attire - the mark awarded was a four out of ten. In fairness, this is Norwood’s highest tea mark in the history of the game.

Craig and Andy opened the bowling and we suspected that the homesters would come out swinging in pursuit of the large total. However our fears were quickly allayed when we noticed that Dundee cricketing legend Dicky Miller was in first for Norwood. I think it is fair to say that throwing the bat in pursuit of quick runs has never been his strong point. The opening overs passed quietly, the scorers were not overly troubled and any chance Norwood had of getting 25 points seemed to be evaporating quickly.

Eventually the breakthrough came and when Miller and his opening partner were dismissed by Andy, we returned to the IPL 20/20 approach when Messrs Sunil and Kamlesh arrived and went hard at the bowling. The run rate increased and three figures approached, however it would have needed Dohni and Tendulkar to be at the crease to give Forthill any major concerns. So it transpired, as both fell and thereafter there was regular procession of wickets. Morgan came on and bowled a nice accurate spell and was awarded with two wickets in consecutive balls. Whilst narrowly missing out on a hat trick, he finished with the fine figures of 3 for 5 from 6 overs. Christian also bowled a very fine spell and had figures of 1 for 7 from 5 very accurate overs. The game folded, Norwood were 122 all out and Forthill XI had earned a fine 163 run victory and 25 points went into the bag.

It is worth mentioning the interesting mid innings drink that was dished out by the home side. The visitors had never tasted such a concoction and were seen to be asking what might be inside the plastic cups? Many were worried that perhaps the lady with the dog we had seen earlier; had accidentally popped her little green bag into the Norwood flask by mistake and this had become mixed up with the Robinsons Barley Water......!!! However this theory was dismissed and the main focus of the enquiry now centres on a large man with a moustache, who was seen hurrying away from the scene of the crime on a tractor in the direction of Inchture. Anyone who swallowed any of the mid innings liquid should immediately report to the tractor fuel disease unit at Ninewells Hospital.

Credit goes to Norwood for a good game of cricket played under sunny skies and whilst I often have a pop at Dawson Park – as a genuine Grove Academy former pupil who spent many happy days playing sport at this ground – I retain a soft spot for the park and hope that cricket is played here for many years to come. I also hope that the real Gordon Ramsay might open a restaurant in the pavilion, call it Alcatraz and provide cricket teas free of charge on Saturday’s.

The Man of the Match Award was an easy one and the prize goes to Adam for his fine century. He wins a season ticket to visit the flower gardens of Scotland. This prize is in recognition of his pre match visit to the Dawson Park flower gardens on Saturday and the clear benefits that resulted from this horticultural experience.

Next week sees us reverting to a Sunday fixture when we welcome the Perth Do’ocot XI to Forthill. Players are reminded that they can meet at the earlier time of 11.30am for some extra pre match practice if they want to. Steven can turn up at 12.55pm as usual if he wants to.


Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
9nb 21w 13b 3lb 
for 8 wickets
46
285		        
Andrew Cameron ct MacAleer b Saddler 3
Craig McConnachie ct Williams b Saddler 6 1
Clark McConnachie b Jones 36 6
Adam Hill ct Harshall b Sunil 102 12 2
Jack Hogarth ct & b Warrell 15
Glenn Carnegie ct & b Sunil 33 3
Steven Sim b Harshall 5
Christian Robertson ct McAleer b Saddler 14 1
Bryce Robertson Not Out  22 2
Morgan Sargeant Not Out  3
David Sim  

Norwood Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
D Saddler9.0041313.674.56
M Dickson9.003800.004.22
S Warrell9.0045145.005.00
C Jones3.0027127.009.00
Harshall6.0043143.007.17
Sunil7.0069234.509.86
D Miller2.00600.003.00

Norwood Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
5nb 8w 7b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
21
122 (0.0 overs)		     
D Williams b Cameron 4
R Miller lbw Cameron 4
Kamlesh b Hogarth 31
Sunil lbw Sargeant 31
Harshall b Hogarth 4
C Jones Run out  0
Arnab b Cameron 10
M Dickson b Sargeant 0
D Saddler ct D Sim b Robertson 0
G Warrall ct C Robertson b Sargeant 0
S MacAlear  

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Craig McConnachie6.002600.004.33
Andrew Cameron8.132237.332.69
Jack Hogarth5.0129214.505.80
Glenn Carnegie3.002400.008.00
Christian Robertson5.01717.001.40
Morgan Sargeant6.02531.670.83