Carlton U13s 82 for 6  v Watsonian Wildcats 70 for 9

Skipper, Jamie Cousin lost the toss, and Carlton elected to bat first on a hard and true wicket. Adam Hastings bowled an encouraging maiden for the first over of the match followed by an excellent wicket taking second over by Mattie Henderson, who went on to take another wicket in his second spell. The Carlton batsmen weathered the opening storm well, without scoring freely, but gradually managed to increase the scoring rate as they settled in.

Calum Young and Ali Middleton replaced the opening attack and still managed to exert some pressure on the scoring rate, but were unable to dismiss the excellent Harris Aslam who eventually retired having scored 30. Ali, in particular, bowled well taking two wickets, exposing the Carlton middle order to Jamie Cousin and the two opening bowlers who came back to complete their four over spells.

The final 6 – 8 overs were miserly, with the Carlton batsmen finding it very difficult to score runs against a fielding side who backed up the bowlers with some excellent fielding and catching, following the lead of Jack Hewitt, who took two terrific catches and looked the part behind the stumps.

Carlton finished on a total of 82 for 6, a score we would have taken at the start of their innings. Worth noting that we bowled 10 wides, more of which later.

Adam Hastings was promoted to “pinch hit” at the top of the Wildcat’s innings allowing Rory Evans to play his normal game. After hitting the Carlton opener, Euan Everett straight back over his head for a crashing 4, Adam was LBW soon after (with a sore foot), bringing Ali Middleton to the middle.

Having seen off the opening bowlers, Carlton decided it was time to introduce the spinners. This was the turning point of the match, as the leg spin of man of the match, Harris Aslam and the slow left arm of Mitchell, totally mesmerised the Wildcats middle order. With their six overs giving up only 13 runs, the pressure of not scoring also saw us losing four wickets during the best bowling spells I have seen all season.

Now behind the scoring rate and with few wickets left, it was always going to be difficult for the remaining Wildcats batsmen to win the match. Stoddart, Bryce, Cousin and Jones all perished in a desperate attempt to salvage the match and it looked all but over until Mattie Henderson arrived at the crease with different ideas. Along with Calum Hilton, who was run out trying to add another important run, and Jack Hewitt who scampered between the wickets, Mattie whacked a quick 12 not out but eventually ran out of balls, leaving the Wildcats on a final score of 70 for 9.

At the end, we had lost by 12 runs, probably due to some high class spin bowling, but a reminder that we bowled 10 wides to Carltons 1 wide. Plus of course any runs they scored off the extra balls – it would have been very close!!!!!!!

Coaching point from the match – try to get as much practice against spin bowling as you can. It is an area of the game which is often lost at the younger age levels. I know, as I never practiced hard against spinners and as Jamie Cousin will confirm, I still can’t play them having witnessed firsthand my dreadful dismissal recently for the 3rd XI – you guys are not alone.

So the season finishes on a disappointing note, but as I said to the team after the game, they have all had a great season with a record of Played 11   Won 7  Tied 1  Lost 3. Whilst it is great to win, it is as important to have some fun and enjoy the great game of cricket. Personally, I have certainly had great fun and enjoyed my time with a great bunch of young cricketers who I’m sure will all go far.

However, becoming good cricketers usually does not happen by accident and it takes a lot of hard work to become a better player. Work hard at training and nets, Winter and Summer, and make as much use of the coaching we can give you at Watsonians. Who knows, some of you could be playing for the Saltires within 5-6 years, under the current Saltires Captain, Gordon Drummond, who kindly came down to watch last night’s game.

Thanks to all the parents who have supported the team through the season and assisted with transport when required. Also to Keith Stoddart for running the Wasps team successfully and quietly accepting my late requests for players from the Wasps when the Wildcats have had late call offs.

And finally, special thanks to Mike Cousin, who has looked after the team when I have not been around and taken on the scoring duties at most of the matches.

Enjoy what remains of the Summer.

Steve Lockhart

Carlton 103 for 4 v Watsonian Wildcats 103 for 8

Carlton took first hit on a slow, green wicket and Jamie Cousin got the Wildcats off to a great start with a wicket in each of his first two overs, both clean bowled. Matty Henderson gave great support from the other end, bowling a tight line which restricted the scoring opportunities for the Carlton batsmen.

The good work was continued by Alasdair Middleton and Calum Young but we were unable to take more wickets at this stage. The Carlton batsmen began to find more confidence pushing the scoring rate along with both retiring having scored well compiled 30s.

With new batsmen at the crease, Kathryn Bryce and Rory Evans took over and bowled very well, losing only 14 runs in 4 overs which stalled the Carlton acceleration.  Jamie and Matty came back to finish off, losing only 6 runs off the last two overs with Matty taking a well deserved wicket with the last ball of the innings.

Carlton finished on 103 for 4 which could have been a lot more but for some excellent bowling and fielding at important moments through the innings.

Rory Evans opened the batting with a new partner, Kerr Stoddart. After a bright start, Kerr was quickly back in the pavilion and Rory was joined by Alasdair Middleton and between them, they put together a good partnership, working the ball well for singles and hitting the bad balls for 4. Unfortunately, just as they were getting their eye in, they were both out followed in a similar fashion by Calum Young and Jamie Cousin.

This put pressure on the lower order but impressively, the remaining batsmen worked out what they needed to do to put us into a position to win the game. Kathryn Bryce and Calum Hilton scampered quickly between the wickets with Kathryn being run-out in a sacrifice for that all important additional run. Calum struck an all important bondary before being bowled and David Mclean chipped in before also being bowled with 3 runs to win from 3 balls remaining.

Fraser Cousin and Matty Henderson were the batsmen facing the last 3 balls with 3 runs to win – no pressure!!!!  The first ball was a wide – 2 to win from 3. The next two balls went through to the keeper for no runs leaving 2 to win off the last ball. Fraser instructed Matty just to run, and he did just that as the wicketkeeper juggled the ball allowing us to run through for 1 bye.

A final total of 103 for 8 meant that the game finished in a TIE which was probably the right result in a very tight game of cricket. No-one deserved to lose and it was great to see both teams thinking very hard towards the end of the game about the tactics they needed to employ.

Coaching point for the week – a number of the top order batsmen gave their wickets away just when they were looking “set”. If two had gone on to retire at 30 we would have won the game easily, if one had scored 30, I suspect we also would have won easily. Remember, your wicket is precious, do not give it up easily. Concentrate hard, do the job yourself. Don’t hope that others will do it for you.

Now on to the return against Carlton this Monday where a win will probably put us in a league winning position.

Afterthought – nobody was more pleased at the end than Jack Hewitt who was sitting with his pads on waiting to bat. Jack had an injury and would have needed to bat with a runner, hard enough without the pressure of the match situation.

Well done lads!

The following article appeared on the Cricket Europe Website

http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES3/articles/000038/003803.shtml 

George Watson Primary School becomes the Scotland Asda Kwik Cricket Champion and proceeds to UK Final!

June 16th was an exciting day for over 10 primary schools from all around Scotland as this is when the Scotland Asda Kwik Cricket Competition culminated in the national final taking place at Doo’cot Park in Perth.

The Asda Kwik Cricket Competition has involved over 2,500 children in Scotland this summer. After enormous effort George Watson Primary School from Edinburgh beat James Gillespies Primary also from Edinburgh in the final to become a Scotland Champion and will proceed to the UK final taking place at Derby County Ground on the July 14th fighting 15 other schools from all over the country to become a UK champion.

Kwik cricket is a version of the game designed to introduce children to the game and is played by over 150,000 kids across the UK. Asda, entering their fifth year of sponsorship for the Kwik Cricket Competition, were present on the day to hand out drink and healthy snacks to young players and also provided free kwik cricket kit and T-shirts.

Asda Kwik Cricket competition is actively supported by the Scotland Cricket Team. Gordon Goudie, Richard Berrington, and Gordon Drummond all helped launch the event a month ago and hope that these players follow in their footsteps to international level.

Scotland grassroots cricket continues to grow and is currently the fastest growing cricket country in Europe!

For more details on the competition, go check out our brand new website that has everything you need to know about Asda Kwik Cricket. Check the results, fixtures, receive tips from the pros, play our online game and win great prizes at www.asda.com/kwikcricket!

Heriots won the toss and decided to bat first.  This looked like a brave decision, considering that they were bowled out cheaply in the opening fixture earlier in the season.  However the gamble looked to have paid off in the opening overs, with the Heriots top order scoring freely, aided by a fast outfield and a lack of boundary fielders.  A wicket each for Adam Hastings and Jamie Cousin slowed their progress and a run out from a direct hit from Calum Young precipitated a batting collapse.  Chief destroyers were Alex Boyd (4-0-10-2) and Calum Young (4-0-3-5) who both bowled an excellent line and length throughout their spells, leaving Heriots all out for 49 after 13 overs.

With only a small total to chase, the Watsonians openers Katherine Bryce and Jack Hewitt set about their task with gusto.  Jack fell attempting an ambitious shot over the top, but Katherine was ruthless in punishing the bad ball and raced to 20 before being bowled.  Calum Hilton (6) kept the scoreboard moving before being bowled, so it was left to Ali Middleton (15 no) and Andrew Cockburn (2 no) to knock off the remaining runs.  Watsonians reached their target of 50 runs in 6.2 overs.

Another comprehensive win for the team and they go into Monday’s crunch league match against Carlton U13 at Grange Loan with great confidence.

Watsonians batted first and the opening partnership between Andrew Cockburn and Rory Evans again got the boys off to a flying start.  It was somewhat of a surprise when Andrew was caught for 19, however the middle order all weighed in with useful contributions (Young 17, Stoddart 17, Hastings 30 no, Hilton 18).  By the time Rory’s wicket fell (26) it was clear that Watsonains were going to post a very large total.  After a bit of a collapse due to some poor shot selection, some useful late runs were added by Alex Boyd and Cammy Jones to take the final Watsonians total to 156 for 9 from 18.5 overs.

Adam Hastings opened the bowling and in a hostile first over removed two of the West Lothian batsmen the first with the help of a terrific slip catch by Calum Young.  Murray Blair bowled an excellent spell from the other end, finishing with one wicket for 10 runs.  Jamie Cousin then removed the other West Lothian opener and a further run out left the visitors in a very precarious position.  At this stage an excellent rearguard action was fought by two of the younger West Lothian players who repelled everything our boys could bowl at them.  In the end some excellent bowling by Cammy Jones (3-2-1-1), Calum Hilton (4-1-7-1), Alex Boyd (4-0-8-0) and Andrew Cockburn (2-1-5-1) restricted West Lothian to 42 for 9 from their allotted 20 overs.

A very professional performance from the boys overall, with all of the top order batsmen making runs.  One possible criticism is that only one of these six batsmen went on to fully exploit their good start and make their 30.  The performance in the field was excellent and we look forward to Wednesday night’s rearranged home game against Heriots U13.

Choosing to bat, Michael Williams (32) and Matt Little (30) got the side off to a terrific start with ‘Sonians eventually posted a useful 130 for 6 off our 20 overs.

Once again it was performances in the early stages time in the field that set the tone with opening bowlers Stuart Nimmo (1 for 9) and Michael Bunker (1 for 16) keeping the pressure on the Grange batsmen.

The side held their nerves in the middle section of the innings when the batsmen started to take the game to ‘Sonians and when wickets were hard to come by, however the bowlers were supported by some excellent fielding where Andrew McLean and Euan Mackay stood out.

The pressure to increase the run rate eventually told and Tom Gilchrist reaped the rewards with 3 for 15 from his 4 overs.

Another great win for the 15s , keep up the good work and hopefully your good performances for the 15s and senior 3^rd XI will continue!

Coach for the Pencuik game, Tim Bunker, was brutally jettisoned after the poor performance and relegated to umpiring duties. He said “This Club demands the highest of standards and someone has to take responsibility for the loss. I would have sacked the captain but his Dad wouldn’t hear of it.”

SMRH posted a not too taxing 44 all out and skipper Chris Cash rotated his bowlers cleverly so that there were wickets for most. However, the highlights were a stunning catch from Luke Grey running back at mid on and a deadly throw from Douglas Johnson for a terrific run out.

In response WCC knocked off the runs for the loss of 3 wickets, with Chris Cash (25) and Cameron Spiteri (10) doing the bulk of the hard work, reflecting after that they should have finished the job together  Head Coach Mike Cash said “The Sterner Tests are now upon us..”

Batting first, having been inserted, the Wildcats scored a reasonable 102 for 7 but were chased all the way to end by a Grange team who fell short on 95 for 9.

Having lost to Grange in the League and the Cup, this was the opportunity for the team to make amends and a very good, all round team performance, secured the win.

Rory Evans and Andrew Cockburn opened up with Andrew hitting a huge six off the Grange opening bowler before being unfortunately bowled by a “shooter”. With Calum Young falling LBW and Adam Hastings looking to punish the bad balls, Rory took up the supporting roll and held the innings together for a watchful 21 before being caught going for a big hit.

Kerr Stoddart supported well with a couple of boundaries towards the end of the innings which was closed at 102 for 7.

The total, whilst not hugely challenging, still had to be beaten and it was going to take a good bowling and fielding performance to prevent the strong Grange batting from passing our total.

An early wicket by Adam Hastings was well supported by his opening partner, Matty Henderson who bowled his four overs very accurately. Calum Young took over and really cut the scoring rate, bowling his four overs for 7 runs at a critical time. Unfortunately, at the other end, Jamie Cousin lost his rhythm before bravely returning later to bowl two very good overs at a critical stage, taking the wicket of the strongest Grange batsmen with a fantastic running catch by Rory Evans, right on the boundary.

As the pressure built, it was Rory who was given the task of bowling at the death and took us to the brink of victory with a great spell of 3 overs, 1 wicket for 8 runs. A great little spell by Rory who bowled a consistent line and length, thus preventing the batsmen from scoring heavily.

With one over to go and Grange needing 11 to win and most of the main bowlers bowled out, up stepped Andrew Cockburn to bowl the most important over of the match. The first two balls went for singles and the third was a wide. The pressure was on but “Wee C” proceeded to take 3 wickets in the final 4 balls assisted by three safe catches in the outfield to secure the victory.

This was a great team performance with all eleven contributing to a match that see-sawed backward and forward right to the end. It was good to see the boys starting to work out how to win tight games which will help them all greatly in the future.

Coaching point for the day and it is one of my regular gripes – too many extras, particularly wides. Both teams were guilty of gifting the opposition too many runs. Both teams conceded 25-30 extras, imagine how easily we would have won if it had only been 10 extras?????

Two games next week for the Wildcats, where we look forward to success against West Lothian on Monday and Heriots on Wednesday.

Put into bat by the opposition, the openers soon settled into their rhythm and made the most of some variable bowling to make a fine partnership of 45. Calum C confidently played his shots to make a quickfire 23 whilst Kathryn the Great punished all the bad ones in making another 30+ ret , her third such for the Wasps this year. Amazingly this takes Kathryn’s Wasps average for the season towards 100 -great application. As the Fauldhouse players were moved to declare in the field on Monday, ” This lassie’s good!”

The other batsmen moved the total along as only some sharp fielding by FH kept the lid on it with Calum H, Captain Matthew and Campbell all making double figures. Finally the Wasps posted a total of 126 which had the look and feel of a winning number.

Finlay and Cammy J opened the bowling for the Wasps as FH set about trying to achieve the total. Both boys got wickets in their two overs which was just reward for some tight, straight bowling. Matty’s aggressive field settings kept the pressure up on the FH lads with a special mention for Andrew Dumble who made the fielding play of the night with an amazing diving mid-air stop on first bounce to save a certain 4 – top drawer.

On came Scott who after a couple of looseners quickly found the confidence to give the ball some flight . Coaching tip for all the bowlers-it’s always more effective to get line and length right rather than try to bowl at 85 mph. Scott cashed in on this principle to hit timber 3 times, all delivered with guile and a bit of ai .

FH didn’t help their cause with one suicidal run out in top half of the order followed by a Hawkeye Jones direct hit to fell another. An amazing low catch at gully by Calum H just summed up the sharpness of the Wasps effort as the batsmen were counted in and counted out.

This left the FH tail needing far too many though two of their younger lads both played a few shots,in particular one 4 by their young no 10 which brought a smile to one and all and congratulations from the Wasp fielders .Nice touch, team, and that moment typified the spirit of the evening.

Well done also to Captain Matthew who selflessly made sure that everyone got a bowl before he brought himself on and promptly took the last wicket as FH were all out for 40 .

Very impressive one and all and remember to keep at it in the nets. All your efforts are bearing fruit!

No league match next Monday but we have arranged a friendly against SMRH down at Inverleith and we’ll try to get the team out asap.

Monday’s matches were cancelled due to the seriously inclement weather conditions.The only bright spot is that the Wasps take the points anyway as RHC had struggled to raise a team , consequently conceding the match early on Sunday.

Let’s hope the rain stops one day . Congratulations from the boys and girl to the big team for their fine win on Saturday !