Scorecard

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI v Strathmore XI on Sun 14 Aug 2011 at 1pm
Forfarshire Cricket Club Won 50 runs

Match report The rain finally relented on Sunday and Forthill XI took the field under sunny skies against Strathmore XI at Forthill. The ground had been underwater earlier in the week, so it was no surprise that the outfield was still damp and slow – and the wicket affected by the rainy conditions.

We had been disappointed the day before when the game at Dalnacraig had been cancelled in spite of it being dry all day in the City of Discovery. It is presumed that the fact it was Dundee FC’s first home game of the season had not impacted on skipper Hopkins’ decision to cancel the match – although given Dundee FC’s need for additional funds the boost to the gate from his attendance along with sundry Forthill players is certainly commendable in the eyes of this blue nosed correspondent. This however deprived us of the opportunity to knock Dalnacraig off of top spot in the league and we knew that 25 points were needed today to keep us in with a chance of promotion this season.

Fresh from his 50th birthday celebrations the previous evening; it was a slightly fragile Chief Inspector who made his way to the middle to undertake the toss. We were hoping for a belated birthday present of a winning toss; but it was not to be and we found ourselves inserted on a tricky track which seemed sure to improve as the day went on under sunny skies and a drying wind. It was a Strathmore side bolstered by several first team players who faced us and we knew we were in for a tough game.

The Cameron twins opened up and against some good bowling they were doing well until Andy got a leading edge and headed back to the pavilion. Clark joined Scott and they built a decent partnership in tricky conditions against some good bowling. Things were looking good until Clark fell to a wonder catch at mid off when the visiting fielder plucked a howitzer one handed from the air. The celebrations made it clear that this was more than just a great catch and subsequent enquiries revealed that the fielder in question had a habit of dropping the easiest of chances. So much so that one of his team mates had suggested that he would give him 50 pounds if he managed to take five catches in the whole season. It turned out that this was his fifth catch.

On the evidence of this catch it would be easy to question why such a wager had been placed, however when he clanked to two dollies later in the innings you could see why the bet had been offered. Adam fell LBW to the Chief Inspector and Glenn joined Scott at the wicket. They started to dovetail well and Scott played some fine cricket shots and Glenn adopted what were more akin to very effective old fashioned long handle tactics. Their partnership was crucial and when Glenn fell Carnegie Senior came in and also played well until the end of the innings.

The day however belonged to Scott Cameron. From the start he played with great sense given the conditions and built his innings beautifully. He passed his previous best score of 82 and then homed in on three figures. He was a little unlucky in not getting a lot of the strike in the last few overs and also with the damp outfield that turned certain fours into twos. On 95 going into the last over, he hit a beauty through extra cover which on any other day would have been four but only realised two runs and when we came to the last ball he was on 98. The bowler fired down a good yorker which could only be squeezed to point for a single and 99 not out was his closing total. On this evidence it will only be a matter of time before Scott hits his first century. With an above par total given the conditions of 199 for 4, the home side were satisfied with the final total.

The last home game of the season saw a stellar tea with tons of sandwiches, nice mixed fillings, the statutory sausage rolls and even a few cheeky wee pork pies. Lots of cakes were also on show and a good pot of well stewed tea. A season’s high mark of 7.5 out of 10 was awarded and put’s Forthill in pole position to win the Golden Urn. With a visit to Arbroath still to come the destination of the wining venue is still up for grabs – although we have already seen this season that away visits to historically magnificent tea venues can sometimes end in disappointment.

So, a suitably refreshed home side took the field, knowing that they needed to bowl well to secure the points. Samir and Andy opened up and once again provided the platform for victory. They both bowled accurate and effective spells and sent the openers packing early doors and made inroads into the visiting batting line up. Adam followed Samir into the attack and took two quick wickets and narrowly missed a hat trick and with Glenn bowling tight spell after Andy we were always in control. With the run rate climbing Craig and Mo finished the job off and in spite of their best efforts Strathmore finished up 50 runs short of the home total when the innings closed.

This was a fine bowling and fielding display and the troops were well marshalled by the veteran home skipper. Credit to Strathmore for a fine early bowling display in particular and for playing the game in a good spirit throughout. So a good 25 points were secured and we managed to keep the pressure on Dalnacraig and Arbroath at the top of the table. It is now clear that it will be two from three to take the step up to the first division next season and with three games to go for Forthill XI (including a last day trip to Arbroath – yummy cakes) it is all to play for.

Next weekend sees a double headed trip to Perthshire with away games against Glendelvine and Strathearn XI on the cards. Given the importance of these games compulsory net practice will be in force on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a warm down/massage session on Friday. We will be travelling to the Hilton Hotel, Dunkeld on Friday (luxury coach leaves Forthill at 5pm, Tay Ferries 5.15pm) for high altitude acclimatisation ahead of the games. Single rooms have been booked for the full travelling party and a double room for Davie and Freda.

The Man of the Match award was given to young Scott C and he receives a year’s supply of cones with flakes in them courtesy of Vissochis.

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 4 wickets
0
199		        
Andrew Cameron ct McDonald b Couston 7
Scott Cameron Not Out  99 1
Clark McConnachie ct Lumsden b Wilkie 20
Adam Hill lbw McDonald 4
Glenn Carnegie ct Taylor b McDonald 19
Scott Carnegie Not Out  21
David Sim   1
Mo Chatterji  
Samir Hill  
Craig McConnachie   1
Christopher Welsh  

Strathmore XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
F Couston8.0139139.004.88
D Sneddon8.002700.003.38
S Wilkie6.0212112.002.00
G Hewitson5.002300.004.60
C McDonald9.0039219.504.33
A Sturrock9.015200.005.78

Strathmore XI Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 7 wickets
0
149 (0.0 overs)		     
E Taylor b A Hill 19
J Blackie b S Hill 0
F Couston b S Hill 8
N Milton ct C McConnachie jnr b Carnegie 18
D Sneddon ct S Cameron b A Hill 0
G Hewitson ct Sim b Chatterji 38
S Wilkie b Carnegie 22
C McDonald Not Out  13
A Sturrock Not Out  16
   
   

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Samir Hill6.001728.502.83
Andrew Cameron7.002200.003.14
Adam Hill7.0124212.003.43
Glenn Carnegie9.0026213.002.89
Christopher Welsh2.00400.002.00
Craig McConnachie6.002600.004.33
Mo Chatterji6.0118118.003.00
Scott Cameron2.00500.002.50