Scorecard

Norwood v Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI on Sun 13 Jul 2014 at 4.15pm
Forfarshire Cricket Club Won 46 runs

Match report Glorious sunshine greeted the players of Forthill 2nd XI as they gathered on the steps at Forthill ahead of their “Finals Day” outing to Perth. The skipper had especially washed his black tracksuit bottoms in honour of the occasion, but stopped short of tying his shoelaces. I guess if we ever make it to Lords he might go the whole hog.

With Rojo sadly being sidelined at the age of 15 years and seven days we scoured our youth ranks for a replacement and that came in the form of Butts. His late inclusion meant we had no fewer than three father and son combos in the line up in the shape of the Sim’s, McConnachie’s and Garden’s which was surely a record of some kind?

The road to Perth was a sedate one and we arrived to see a ground looking in great shape and assorted gazebos and benches were on hand to accommodate the ample crowd which had gathered. With two pitches, Do’ocot Park is perfect for this Finals Day format and pitch 1 saw the semi final of the Three Counties Cup in motion when we arrived and we watched some of the action before changing and beginning what is the rare event of a warm up for the third team. Skipper Sim lead the intensive fielding drills which quickly moved from the sun to the shade when we realised how hot it was. Our preparations were rudely interrupted at one point when DHSFPCC President and local sports shop owner Spider McLaren yelled excitedly from the balcony, that out of date pear cider was on sale from the pavilion at a pound a bottle. Never have I seen a cricket administrator so excited by the sale of out of date merchandise.

Warm up over, the skipper headed to the middle for the toss and after coming second in that event we were invited to bat first on a decent looking pitch. Andy and Callum opened up and Andy unfortunately fell in the third over, caught behind with the score on 6. Clark joined Callum and if ever there was a “youth meets experience” partnership then this was it. In the face of some tight Norwood bowling and fielding, the two picked off the rare bad ball and rotated the strike. By the time drinks came in the 10th over the score was a healthy 60 for 1. I doubt if a batsman had ever been more in need of a drinks break than Clark. With his face like a tomato, it was clear that the warm weather and need to scamper one’s and two’s was taking its toll on his ageing limbs as he devoured a jug of blackcurrant squash in record time.

At least partly refreshed the two set off again. Callum played an innings of great class and maturity as he continued to pick of the odd loose delivery that came his way and pushed the ball around the field with great cricket shots. His older partner simply shut his eyes and swung at every ball in the vein hope that at least one might reach the boundary to avoid more running..........or even better he might get out and return to the shade. Norwood stuck to the task well and with Clark on his knees and contemplating retiring through exhaustion the innings closed on what seemed an above par 136 for 1.

Forthill knew they would have to bowl and field well to defend the total as the Norwood side are full of dangerous attacking batsmen. We knew as well that the Norwood top order held the key to the game and with the fielding restrictions, the first 6 overs would be vital. Craig was entrusted with the first over and proceeded to pick up an early wicket when with the second ball of the game he trapped Shoaib in front LBW. The very dangerous Saeed was next in and having plundered 80 odds off us a few weeks ago we knew how good a player he was. An inswinging yorker beat his defence and he was bowled first ball. Aman came in and narrowly avoided the hat trick but next ball holed out to mid off and the first over finished with three of Norwood’s top batsmen back in the hutch and Forthill seemingly with the game in the bag.

The skipper produced a tactical surprise when he opened with the slow left arm spin of Chris at the other end and he also bowled well. After a couple of quieter overs..........Chris picked up the next wicket and Craig also picked up another to finish with four on the day. Jack, Andy, Morgan (2 wickets in 2 overs) and Fraser also all bowled well and in spite of a valiant effort from Norwood they were always behind the clock; and it was left to Andy to take the final wicket in the final over to seal a 46 run victory.

This was a fine win for the young Forthill lads and added to previous Two Counties Cup victories for the club in 1980, 1984 and 2008.

Congratulations go to Norwood for bowling and fielding well and for playing the game in a great spirit. They are a good club and have some fine players and will I am sure get their hands on this trophy in the future. The presentation took place on the pavilion steps in front of a healthy crowd and skipper Sim collected the silverware and gave a faultless acceptance speech. Craig deservedly won the Man of the Match Award, with his only blemish on the day being his wavy hairdo when he removed his cap for the prize winner’s photograph.
This was a fine all round team performance and everyone contributed to a great win.

Thanks go also to the SPCU and especially the good people of Perth Do’ocot CC for hosting an excellent day’s cricket; and hopefully “Finals Day” can become a growing piece of the SPCU calendar in future years. Some champagne was sipped, before the cars were loaded up and we headed back to Forthill to catch the second half of the World Cup Final and have a drink and some food. Midge expertly organised some pizza via cyberspace and when the bounty arrived it was well devoured by all on hand.

The skipper got the drinks in.........and Andy then got himself a drink.
Callum decided to announce to everyone early in the second half that Mario Gots (that is the way he pronounced it) would come on and score the winning goal for Germany. Gots arrived off the bench and to the amazement of everyone; Callum’s prediction came true when Gots did indeed snatch a late winner. We all wished we had stuck a fiver on that happening.....

So a fine day was had by all.

Some of the youngsters who have contributed handsomely to the success of the Forthill 2nd XI in recent years will perhaps move on to bigger and better things in the future, but the memory of this trophy win will live with them all throughout their careers. Skipper Sim and Clark looked worryingly at the trophy, when they realised that no less than 34 years earlier they had played together as teenagers in a previous Two Counties Cup victory under the tutelage of Brian Wilson. Now (in the blink of an eye)they are the “old guys” looking after the youngsters, and it can only be hoped that some of today’s crop will be filling the same role in 2048......by which time messrs Sim Sr. and McConnachie Sr. will have DEFINITELY retired!!!!





Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 15w 4b 3lb 
for 1 wickets
24
136		        
Andrew Cameron ct Thistlewaite b Singh 4 6 9 44.44
Callum Garden Not Out  43 86 53 3 81.13
Clark McConnachie Not Out  65 79 60 6 108.33
Jack Hogarth  
Fraser Ross   2
Lindsay Garden   1
Morgan Sargeant  
Craig McConnachie  
David Sim  
Steven Sim   2
Christopher Welsh  

Norwood Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
D Sadler2.001200.006.00
A Singh4.0021121.005.25
B Ramalingham4.002500.006.25
S Saeed4.002900.007.25
S Sharma4.002800.007.00
H Deshmukh2.001400.007.00

Norwood Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 12w 3lb 
for 10 wickets
17
90 (19.2 overs)		     
B Ramalingham ct Ross b Welsh 8 23 10 80.0
M Shoaib lbw McConnachie jnr 0 1 2 0
S Saeed b McConnachie jnr 0 1 1 0
A Singh ct S Sim b McConnachie jnr 0 1 1 0
H Deshmukh b Hogarth 37 40 36 4 102.78
S Sharma ct L Garden b McConnachie jnr 0 5 4 0
S Boarder ct S Sim b Sargeant 2 11 8 25.00
C Bowen b Ross 11 36 24 2 45.83
D Allsop ct Ross b Sargeant 0 4 3 0
C Thistlewaite b Cameron 13 29 25 52.00
D Sadler Not Out  2 3 3 66.67

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Craig McConnachie4.001944.754.75
Christopher Welsh4.0023123.005.75
Jack Hogarth4.0018118.004.50
Morgan Sargeant3.001226.004.00
Andrew Cameron3.20818.002.40
Fraser Ross2.00919.004.50