Scorecard

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI v Northern on Sun 21 May 2006 at 1pm
Forfarshire Cricket Club Won 147 runs

Match report With monsoon condition descending on Broughty Ferry on Saturday night, Forthill looked more like a venue for duck racing than cricket when the emergency ground clearing committee arrived at the ground early on Sunday morning.

Undeterred and in spite of continuing drizzle, a local radio appeal was met with a great response and a growing band of volunteers set to work to try and get the ground playable for the vital Second division clash with Perth Northern.

A couple of hours later and following extensive efforts with mops and sponges, the ground was transformed and in miraculous fashion the skies cleared, a drying wind got up and lo and behold Forthill was playable. The ground clearing volunteers were treated to free match tickets and some of Freda's home made tomato soup to make it al worthwhile.

After four overs the fans were beginning to wish they had stayed in bed when after being inserted Forthil slumped to 6 for 2 in the face of some hostile visiting bowling. Thankfully the fans saw the comforting sight of Ian strolling to the wicket and knew some calm would be restored. However, surprisingly and in spite of his experience, Ian decided in his wisdom that attack was the best form of defence and the scoreboard quickly changed to 6 for 3 after the rashest of shots.

Enter captain Sim who entered into a long partnership with Clark to try and rebuild the innings. Some quick running between the wickets was a key feature of their time together at the crease and in spite of their combined age of 87 they even managed to run a three once.

The pair put on 90 for the fourth wicket before Clark got an unplayable ball that shot up of a length and offered a return catch to the bowler. Once Clark had gone, thankfully the blocking stopped and Simmy and Asif got on with playing some shots. Asif was held up in traffic getting to the ground but there was nothing stop, start about his innings as he smashed the ball to all parts of the ground in a quickfire 56 not out.

In spite of Asif's fireworks, the real mainstay of the innings was Simmy. A combination of sound defence and deft flicks allied to some big hitting were all points of note, however the item that really caught the eye was the incredible hike in fitness levels shown by the big skipper this year. There can be no denying that the short time spent in the Priory and the appearance on Grampian TV's Celebrity Fit Club (yet to be shown) has had a great influence on his early season performances and the amount of female fan mail arriving at Forthill for Simmy is further testament to this. He scored 76 not out. The Forthill innings closed on 217 for 4 and the hearty tea of sausage rolls tasted all the sweeter.

With one of last week's new ball heroes, Andy, being rested by the
selectors, it was up to Dean to open the attack with Kean. The two
proved a lethal combination and early breakthroughs were made. Dean showed that his late night training sessions with the coaches at Dundee nightspots were having a positive influence and a tidy spell of pace bowling ensued. It was Kean however who once again caught the eye, not just because of his flowing locks or his troublesome knee injury, but because of the immaculate line he bowled throughout his spell. At one point the opposing skipper asked to check the ball
and the off stump as it appeared that Kean had inserted magnets in both, as they seemed to be so attracted to each other.

With the pace duo having made the breakthrough it was then to the spinners that Simmy turned and further wickets were taken. Teddy was in fine fettle with some magnificent appeals and a rather fetching sleeveless pullover which had never been seen before. Having left his white underpants at home, Ted was forced to wear a pair of luminous swimming trunks under his white trousers much to the amusement of his watching sons.

It became apparent that Northern were not going to threaten the huge total facing them and as wickets fell at regular intervals the only question was how long will it take before we can all get out of the increasing chilly easterly which is blowing in from the Michelin Windmills?

The answer quickly arrived when after another tight spell from Kevin which had built up huge pressure, the visiting skipper holed out at cover off the returning Kean to end the game.

So it's two wins out of two and a good start to the season for the Forthill XI.

The Man of The Match Award this week goes to Simmy for a brilliant innings, a solid wicket keeping display and some excellent captaincy. The MOM award this week was sponsored by Ryvita and a years supply of the sponsors products is on its way to Simmy.

Next week sees the team away to Breadalbane XI and supporters should note that buses leave Forthill at 10.30 and the Special Train will depart Dundee Station at 10am, stopping at Invergowrie, Errol, Perth, Dunkeld, Pitlochry, whereafter supporters will be transferred by a fleet of tractors.

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 4 wickets
0
217		        
Steven Sim Bowled  0
Gavin Martin Caught  4
Clark McConnachie Caught  55
Ian Potts Caught  0
David Sim Not Out  76 1 1
Asif Naseer Not Out  56
Dean Fearn   3
Danny Lamb  
Kevin Karan Singh  
Dean Fearn  
Gordon Walker  

Northern Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Northern Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
70 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Kean Martin7.421334.331.70
Dean Fearn8.021929.502.37
Danny Lamb7.0215115.002.14
Gordon Walker8.031125.501.38
Kevin Karan Singh4.02400.001.00
Asif Naseer2.00212.001.00