Scorecard

Forfarshire Cricket Club Under 23 v XL Club on Mon 18 Jun 2007 at 12.30pm
Forfarshire Cricket Club Won 7 wickets

Match report The Forfarshire U23’s third annual fixture against the XL club was eagerly anticipated by many of the youngsters at Forfarshire Cricket Club. Several of the young players had prepared immaculately and had even brought extra sandwiches. A selection of pancakes and éclairs brought by Elliot were consumed even before the game had started.

In similar fashion to previous years we lost the toss and were asked to field. Alec, captaining the XL Club, also convinced us that it would be a good idea to play a timed game, in memory of days gone by. Little did we know that Tea was not being served until 3.30pm and so it was likely that we would have to field a bit longer than our opponents.

So after waiting around for a while for our 10th and 11th men to show up, we decided to just take to the field with 9 as we had been assured they were on route as was Blackie (making his debut for the XL Club) in the Spider-Submarine. Mo and Sam opened up the bowling and found some swing with the new recoup and beat the outside edge a few times. Finally in the 3rd over Dean and LJ appeared at the sidelines, Dean straight from an exam in Edinburgh and LJ straight from somewhere on South Ward Road. LJ was looking slightly less sprightly than usual, but was still keen to go directly into second slip. With the added encouragement of the extra slip Mo quickly found the edge of the bat. For some reason though LJ didn’t pick it up as it dropped short and managed to get his whole body out of way of it, except for his left temple that is, and the noise could be heard all the way to the night spots in the centre of Dundee. The blow seemed to wake him up a bit and he felt he would be of better use in the covers.

After a few more steady overs we created a breakthrough when Mo bowled a juicy full toss, which was missed by the batsman as he tried to dispatch it for a boundary. We gathered in for the huddle and received some constructive coaching from the umpire on how to play a full toss straight down the ground, through the V. After a couple more overs LJ went of for a comfort break to what appeared to be behind the scorebox, and so we continued with 10. Deano subsequently came into the attack and quickly picked up two valuable wickets in a tidy spell. We then brought on a few more of the change bowlers with, Elliot, Gav, and Simmy Jnr all trying to break the partnership of Sandy Baird and the rather under 40 Dougie Kyles. After a few more overs we realised that LJ had not returned to the field after his comfort break. It was suggested he didn’t realise there was not a substitute to replace him until he was discovered to be catching forty winks on the floor of the scorebox, dreaming of some of his notorious dance moves.

So we carried on with 10 men and bowled and fielded pretty well under the conditions confining them to few boundaries. The 100+ partnership wasn’t broken until a fairly fortunate run out. Deano and I returned to bowl at the death and Kyle’s innings was ended with Sam’s second caught and bowled in two games. So after 47 overs we finally went off and were fairly pleased to have restricted them to 185 for 5.

During Tea we decided on the batting order and it was determined under popular consensus that LJ didn’t open up due to him still seeming slightly “tired”. So the honours were left to AB and Neily, who both began the innings fairly well and were looking to build a fairly solid platform until AB was caught behind, A. Steele, off the bowling of A.G. Walker. The arrival of Gav brought the Martin brothers together and we were unsure of which way this might go. They have obviously recently put up a training net in their back garden for some extra practice though and did well to keep the scoreboard ticking over. They may have been playing a few too many games of non-stop-cricket in the garden though as the tip-and-run tactics looked sure to provide a run out. However it didn’t and the two of them put on an excellent 100+ partnership, both reaching the 50 mark. They both later perished though and it was left to Simmy Jnr and Finbar to strike a few blows as the time approached 6pm and Alec got his field placings accurate. After a slightly shorter 37 overs, Simmy Jnr lofted a drive over mid wicket for the winning runs.

Verdict: An enjoyable day’s cricket and good to see the first glimpse of sun since April. The day also confirmed to some players that occasionally it’s best to just stay in bed.



Forfarshire Cricket Club Under 23 Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 3 wickets
0
186		        
Aman Bailwal Caught  34
Neil Martin Lbw  57
Gavin Martin Caught  65
Steven Sim Not Out  17
John Findlay Not Out  7
Mo Chatterji  
Elliot McCandless  
Sam Tilston   2
Dean Fearn  
John Brown  
David Salisbury  

XL Club Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
JK Bennett8.0128214.003.50
A McPherson6.012900.004.83
G Black8.002800.003.50
D Anderson4.002800.007.00
A Baird3.002600.008.67
AG Walker5.0028128.005.60

XL Club Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 5 wickets
0
185 (0.0 overs)		     
DH Johnston Bowled  17
D Anderson Bowled  15
JK Bennett Caught  7
A Baird Run out  51
D Kyles Caught  59
G Black Not Out  16
AG McLaren Not Out  0
   
   
   
   

Forfarshire Cricket Club Under 23 Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Mo Chatterji10.0139139.003.90
Sam Tilston8.0117117.002.13
Dean Fearn8.0226213.003.25
Elliot McCandless8.012500.003.12
Gavin Martin6.003100.005.17
Steven Sim7.003900.005.57