Scorecard

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI v St.Andrews University Staff on Sun 21 Aug 2016 at 1pm
Forfarshire Cricket Club Won 9 wickets

Match report Last weekend was the business end of the SPCU Championship 2016 – and with only six teams in the league, everyone had something to play for going into this penultimate round of fixtures. With Saturday’s games between other league participants both falling foul of the weather, Forfarshire 3rd XI and St Andrews Academicals both knew what they needed to do in this Sunday encounter. The home team needed four points to ensure that local rivals Dundee High Hurricanes would finish bottom of the pile; and the Accies knew that a win was required to keep them in the title hunt.

Under very welcome sunny skies the teams gathered at Forthill. The Tea Monitor was on hand to check in the home player’s tea contributions as they arrived in the dressing room - and he noted with some dismay that Midge supplied the sum total of just two cheese and ham rolls. He mumbled something about having brought copious amounts of sausage rolls for the previous day’s game….but this cut no slack with the Tea Monitor who dished out the expected reprimand. The offender was called “2 Rolls” for the rest of the game by his team mates…..and could well be called “2 Rolls” for the rest of his life!!!!

Clark won the toss and opted to field first much to the dismay of his younger and less educated team mates. He explained that the wicket had been rain effected the day before, had been covered overnight and that the drying conditions would see the wicket improve as the day went on. This cut no slack with some of the younger team mates who were looking to bat first purely on the basis they could have a sleep…

Kailas and Will opened up and both bowled well; with Will particularly unlucky as he beat the bat on numerous occasions. The visitors though got off to a decent start and a number of boundaries saw the score ticking along nicely. Craig came on and bowled a very tight nine over spell which saw the scoring rate slow down appreciably and he also picked up a couple of wickets. Harry replaced his elder brother and once again bowled a full spell of very good off spin – and James came on and also bowled very well and quickly picked up three wickets. He also picked up another “victim” in the form of visiting batsman Borsley who in trying to hit James into the leg side unfortunately took a nasty blow to the eye. In spite of some damage around the eye area and a pair of broken spectacles….he was thankfully OK although unable to take any further part in the match. The mainstay of the visitors batting was New Zealander Crooks (41) and this was definitely the best batting ever display ever seen at Forthill by someone called Crooks. He was last man out and the innings folded on 138 all out.

This was a fine bowling and fielding display by the young Forthill side and was another sign of the improvement the team has shown as the season has progressed.

Tea was taken and we were all looking forward to a massive plate of sausage rolls supplied by “2 Rolls”……..but to our surprise not a single sausage roll was to be found on the tea table. No explanation was forthcoming from an increasingly agitated “2 Rolls”…

This was however a fine tea. In spite of the lack of rolls from some quarters……..and one other tea misdemeanour (more of that later)…….there was a very nice selection of sandwiches featuring a fine array of mixed fillings. Pizza was as usual plentiful; and courtesy of Adam there was a tasty and plentiful bowl of pasta. The highlight of the day was however the cake display. Some fine home baking from easily the club’s nicest Sim family was of the highest calibre...…there were some other nice offerings of the chocolate variety…...and in overall terms this was a high class show. A nice drop of tea (and juice for the kiddies) all meant that a Golden Urn topping score of 91 out of 100 was awarded by a very happy adjudicator. This leaves the home team on top of the 2016 Golden Urn standings with just one match to go. The St Modans Sunrisers are now the only team that can take the prized title away from Chef Dave. It will be interesting to see if the Sunrisers rise to the challenge…

Very well fed, Adam and Callum opened up. Adam went after a wide half volley off the second ball and got a good edge on the ball which seemed to be flying towards third man; however Branston at first slip leapt like a salmon to get a hand on the ball and then by some miracle actually managed to clutch hold of it - and one of the best catches you will ever see meant that Adam had to go…. his head clearly in a pickle. This brought Will to the crease; and he and Callum then went on to build a match winning and ultimately unbroken partnership. Solid in defence and punishing anything loose they played very well indeed. Credit to the Accies who rotated the bowling and never gave up; but on a wicket which was becoming easier under drying conditions (please note youngsters who wanted to bat first) they found it hard going against two young players in fine form. The upshot was that Callum (81 not out) and Will (57 not out) were both unbeaten at the end and secured a fine nine wicket victory for the home team. This was an excellent overall display from the Ferry side; and credit goes to both teams for playing the game in a very sporting fashion. The result means the home team will finish fifth on this year’s ladder.

As the players packed up their belongings; it was young Callum who was last to pack his kit which as usual was strewn all across the dressing room floor. In packing up his belongings and retrieving them from all corners; he discovered a carrier bag and quickly realised that inside the bag was his contribution to the Golden Urn leading tea - which due to his personal inefficiency never made it to the tea table…….. The remaining players and Chef Dave decided to inspect the bounty- and discovered a nice bowl of wasabi nuts which would have been a fine addition to the fare on offer. They also found a selection of rather boring ham sandwiches; however the lack of excitement between the slices of bread did not stop them from being eaten. It was very interesting however when we got to the last “sandwich” at the bottom of the pile and found none other than two plain slices of bread……..with no filling whatsoever. Not even a coating of margarine was there to be seen. To think that this embarrassment could have possibly made it to the tea table……bearing in mind of course that the serving up of plain bread is an automatic 25 point deduction in the eyes of the tea adjudicator. Perhaps a slice of luck that Callum left his tea in his bag…..

The Man of the Match award went to Callum for his fine 81 not out and he wins some butter and a knife which he has kindly donated to his Mum.

So that is it in terms of Forthill fixtures for 2016 as far as the Forfarshire Thirds are concerned. Thanks to the weather, they only completed four home games and one can only hope that 2017 is kinder to us weather wise. The season’s finale is next week with the road trip to Bannockburn. The captain is unavailable for some lame reason – something to do with going to the pictures or something – so it is a big chance for Ted to take the reins………….and also for a substitute tea adjudicator to make the final pronouncement on the 2016 Golden Urn.

Special thanks go to Chef Dave for his great help throughout the season, to all of the players for their efforts, to everyone else who assisted during the season and to our opponents who visited Forthill.
We look forward to welcoming you again in 2017.



St.Andrews University Staff Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
138 (40.4 overs)		     
J Hey b  W Hardie 25
R McLellan b  W Hardie 15
S Franklin b  McConnachie jnr 23
J Crooks ct  Hill b Sim 41
D Branston st  Garden b McConnachie jnr 0
P Smith Run out  5
C Gibbs ct  McConnachie jnr b Sim 12
P Pass b  Sim 2
P Jess b  Narayanan 0
S Borsley Retired Out  0
A Stewart Not Out  1

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Kailas Narayanan7.0126126.003.71
William Hardie9.0224212.002.67
Craig McConnachie9.011326.501.44
Harry Hardie9.003800.004.22
Blair Walker3.002200.007.33
James Sim3.401234.003.27

Forfarshire Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 1 wickets
0
140		        
Adam Hill ct  Branston b Hey 0 1
Callum Garden Not Out  81 1
William Hardie Not Out  57
Fraser Ross  
Cameron Walker  
Craig McConnachie   1
James Sim  
Blair Walker  
Clark McConnachie  
Harry Hardie  
Kailas Narayanan  

St.Andrews University Staff Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
J Hey 7.0127127.003.86
P Pass 8.003600.004.50
J Crooks 3.001900.006.33
S Franklin 7.002300.003.29
P Jess 4.011000.002.50
A Stewart 4.002100.005.25
C Gibbs 0.10400.0024.00