Uddingston v LOC Hire Stenhousemuir Cricket Club
At Bothwell, Stenhousemuir won the toss, and surprisingly, asked Uddingston to bat first. A bold captaincy decision by Nicky Rodgers given that Yaseen Valli is seeing the ball the size of a football so far this season with 393 runs from 4 league innings with an average of 98.25%. But Nicky Rodgers is an astute captain – his role of ringmaster marshalling the Stenhousemuir troops has been successful in the league to date, and his decision to bowl first quickly appeared to be justified.
The evergreen Nick Lister opened the bowling with young Husnain Atif, who prior to today’s match, had only bowled 15 league overs this season with 3 scalps to his name. Bowling up the hill, Atif struck in his first over when Areeb Umeed (3) was caught behind by Valli. In the 5th over, Mo Awais (4) was caught behind by Valli (good catch by the way) off Lister’s bowling and the following over saw Uddingston’s Mr. Reliable with the bat, Amaan Ramzan (0) caught behind by Valli off Atif’s bowling. In the 8th over, Bryan Clarke (0) popped up a simple catch to Peter Hamilton at mid-on and Uddingston were now 11-4 and young Atif had taken 3-2 from 4 overs.
For the second week in a row, Uddingston played their pirate card with another swashbuckling innings from Adbul Sabri (54). In a partnership of 79 with Zaighum Ahmad, he sworded the Stenhousemuir bowling in an almost disparaging manner – his 39 ball innings featured seven 4s and three 6s and got the faltering Uddingston total up to 90-4 in the 24th over when the Uddingston fortunes changed again with Calum Grant proving to be a vital component of the Stenny bowling armoury. Nicky Rodgers had brought him on in the 14th over to halt the batting assault that was taking place – Calum’s 10 over spell of left-arm spin saw 4 maidens and 3 wickets fall for 11 runs. He accounted for Sabri caught out in the deep, then bowled Ben Wilmott (0) four balls later to leave Uddy on 90-6. When he had the ever-dangerous with the bat, Ross Lyons (4), caught behind by Valli, Uddy were now 100-7 after 33 overs.
The intermittent showers of the afternoon had seen a stop/start impact on the proceedings and the Uddingston innings eventually concluded after 38 overs bowled with them 142-9. Zaighum Ahmad was undefeated with 66 not out and had slaughtered a number of vital boundaries in the final few overs of a rain-affected innings to bring up his 50 but also get Uddingston to a total that would be DLS impacted but defendable if their bowlers did their job.
The Stenny bowling was Atif 3-21, Grant 3-11 and Smith 2-11.
The revised DLS total for Stenhousemuir was set at 115 off 27 overs – certainly doable but requiring the initial batting to build platforms, but also a challenge to the Uddingston bowling to be line and length, up to the bat and nothing errant or wayward.
Unfortunately for Uddingston, Stenhousemuir got off to a good start and were 43-0 after 6 overs when big Clarkey decided to change the bowling and introduce the spin twins of Mo Awais and Ross Lyons. Mo Awais had Yasin Valli (24) caught by Nathan Umeed in his 3rd over and then had Peter Hamilton (46) LBW in his 5th over and Stenny were 76-2 after 15. But Uddingston had no futher luck with the ball thereafter.
Stenhousemuir got to their target total of 115 in the 24th over without loss with Asad Izaz 16 not out and Zander Smith 18 not out. Mo Awais’s bowling figures were 2-23 off 6 and Ross Lyons had 0-16 off his 6 over spell.
Another frustrating day at the office for big Clarkey and another week ahead of him rallying the villagers into battle – different departments and different aspects are slowly clicking into place and one week they will all come together and somebody is going to get a doing with the bat and ball – big Clarkey and Uddingston just need it to happen now.
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An interesting confrontation lay ahead at New Cambusdoon with the unavailability of Ayr’s key batting in the likes of Michael English and Neil Flack and perhaps the weather conditions forcing Ayr to implement a new dynamic to their tried and tested Saturday league cricket game-plan – win the toss and stick Kelburne in to bat first.
For Kelburne, they could take comfort from their performance of last week and have confidence in their batting posting a score that their bowling could defend even without the services of Ross McLean and Jamie Cook at their disposal.
However, Mohammad Kamran (0) was trapped LBW in the 2nd over by David Bains Jnr. In the 3rd, Calum McLean (08) gifted a catch up to Ollie Jones in the covers off Woodhouse. In the 10th over, Ryan Murray (9) was caught by Richie Borland for Jones to take his 1st wicket of the innings. In the 15th over, Kyle Northend flat-batted swiped square of the wicket a loose delivery from Hamza Tahir and the batsmen set off on a quick single – Alexander Gilmour (15) was two yards short when he was run-out and Kelburne were now 57-4. At the end of the 18th over, Kyle Northend (22) went back and across to a shooter from Jones and was LBW to a ball that was probably going under the stumps.
In the 21st over, the Kelburne innings began to derail itself when Tahir bowled Zain Mohammad (0) and then two balls later had Rahim Roghani (0) LBW. Lucas Farndale (20) then moored a delivery from David Baines straight down the throat of Woodhouse lurking out at deep mid-wicket. Kelburne were now 83-8 in the 26th over. A spirited partnership by Pashtoon Mohiagha and Gurveer Singh scored 58 vital runs to the Kelburne score. When Singh (12) was bowled in the 38th over by Matthew Baines, the Kelburne total was now 141-9. The Kelburne innings came to a close two overs later when Blair Cameron (1) was caught behind by Miller off Matthew Baines to leave the final Kelburne total as 149 all out. Hats off to the batting of Pashtoon Mohiagha who was 49 not out at the end. His innings hadn’t dug Kelburne out of a hole, it was more like a JCB excavating them out of an ever-deepening crater that they had fallen into. He deserved a 50 to his name for his efforts batting at No. 10 and hopefully he’ll get one soon and also further up the order. On the Ayr bowling front, Jones 2-50, Tahir 2-18 and M Baines 2-8.
Ayr needed Jones, Jake and the M&Ms (great name for a boy band tribute act as a fund-raiser one night at Cambusdoon) to step up and perform – Ollie Jones, Jake Woodhouse, Marcel Marconi, Michael Miller and Michael Maxwell normally form the top order of the Ayr batting after the openers, but today, in the absence of that blunt instrument strikeforce of English and Flack, the fortunes of Ayr’s reply rested upon their shoulders. Chasing a revised DLS total of 150, they had to prove that there is more to Ayr’s batting than people think.
Kelburne’s defence of their total got off to a good start when Richie Borland (1) was caught by Gilmour off Mohiagha in the 2nd over. And his dismissal obviously triggered a T20 mindset into the Ayr batting – score as much as you can and get 20 overs completed to force a completed result viz DLS computations.
Jones (39) was caught by Singh off Farndale’s bowling in the 17th over and the total was now 88-2 with a bizarre mix of meteorological conditions of rain falling and sunshine. In the 20th over, Marconi (54) played a slash drive off Singh and was caught at mid-off by Farndale to leave Ayr 98-3. In the 24th over, Michael Maxwell glided one off Singh down to 3rd man and set off for a single, was sent back, slipped on the turn and was on his knees halfway down the wicket when the bails were whipped off to run him out and Ayr were now 105-4. It was reminiscent of the Willem Dafoe scene in the 1986 film Platoon. Never a great way to be out and I could relate to his annoyance – at least he didn’t do what I did – slipped, went arse-over-tit, broke my shoulder, dislocated my elbow and broke my thumb thus ending my cricket career – always wear studs.
In the 26th over, Michael Miller (2) left a delivery off Singh that seemed to jag back and take his leg stump and Ayr were now 112-5. You could sense a bit of nervousness creep into the game and when Lloyd Jefferson (4) was bowled by Farndale in the 29th over, Ayr were now 121-6. First ball of the 34th over from Zain Mohammad and Woodhouse (20) slapped it into the mitts of Farndale at mid-off. Two balls later and Hamza Tahir repeated matters and Ayr had suddenly become 139-8 with 11 runs to get. Matthew Baines (4 not out) and a Jonathan Baines swat for 4 (12 not out) saw Ayr home to victory in the 36th over (150-8).
A team performance by Ayr to get a needed result and hard lines to Kelburne with a spirited performance – they were a bowler light today and that probably was the unfortunate circumstance that counted against them.
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Today was the much anticipated clash between these two rivals but it was also the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ trophy match in memory of Sandy Strang and Con de Lange with a number of fund-raising events with proceeds being shared between the Brain Tumour and Marie Curie charities.
Unfortunately the inclement weather prevented any play but your donations to these charitable causes are welcome.
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Dumfries v GHK
At Nunholm, GHK won the toss and asked Dumfries to bat first. Dumfries were 12-0 after 4 overs when the umpires halted play due to the falling rain. It never stopped and the match was eventually abandoned.
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Shimla Cottage Drumpellier Cricket Club v Prestwick
Drumps opted to bat first after winning the toss and began brightly. Gordon Shaw (10) was the first wicket to fall when the total was 25 in the 9th over. To be fair to Shawsy, he looks to have been bowled by a very useful delivery from Kuhn that did a bit off the pitch. At the beginning of the 10th, Adnan Bukhari (1) was caught by Thayne off Ronan Alexander’s bowling. In the 11th, Jordan Pryde (11) was cleaned bowled by Kuhn and now 26-3, there was the fear that Drumpellier could lose a few more in the coming overs.
But not for the first time, Chathuranga Kumara and Supeshala Jayathilake grafted a partnership together that would be crucial come the end of the game. Both batters dug in and for the next 15 overs nudged and nurdled 1s and 2s about in a partnership of 43. When Kumara was dismissed LBW to the bowling of Sachin Chaudhary at the end of the 26th over, Drumps were now 69-4 and a lot healthier than they had been nearly an hour earlier. Only 30 more runs were procured in the following 7 overs as Drumpellier finished up 99-7 off 33 overs. Supeshala Jayathilake ended up 34 not out after playing an outrageous shot at the end of the innings – dancing down the wicket to the bowling of Declan Botes, one would be forgiven if you could hear the Glenn Miller classic ‘In the Mood’ playing in the background as a monstrous cleave sent the poor wee pink baw over midwicket for 6.
An innings affected by rain stoppages, over reductions and wet conditions, the pick of Prestwick’s bowling was Tiann Kuhn 2-20, Sachin Chaudhary 2-14 and Declan Botes 2-17.
Prestwick were set a DLS target of 109 off 33 overs but got off to a difficult start. Indy Singh (0) was LBW to Bukhari at the start of the 2nd over. Gurupreet Singh (2) was caught by Jayathilake off Bukhari at the start of the 4th over while Declan Botes (7) scratched around before falling LBW to Kumara at the end of the 11th over. Prestwick were 21-3 and in need of composure and sensible batting, however, a further wicket fell in the 15th over when Sachin Chaudhary was LBW to Darren Pryde and the total was 33-4. Tom Fleet and Ewen McBeth had a stabilising 50 run partnership until Fleet (11) was LBW to the bowling of Mohsin Khan and the total was now 73-5. 10 runs were added to the total before a seven ball period beginning in the 26th over effectively killed the Prestwick reply – Kuhn (6) was run out at the non-strikers end backing up by a sharp piece of fielding by Josh Allison. The 27th over saw 3 more Prestwick wickets fall in the space of 4 balls to the bowling of Khan. McBeth (34) was caught and bowled with Fletcher Rao (0) LBW the very next ball, and two balls later, Ronan Alexander (0) also fell LBW. Dylan Thayne (2) spooned a soft catch up to Darren Pryde at mid-off as Jayathilake had the final say in the innings, just as he had in the 1st.
Prestwick were 87 all out in the 28th over with Bukhari 2-17 and Khan 4-27 the pick of the Drumpellier bowlers.
As I have reminded folks since the start of the season, Drumpellier are an obdurate, defiant and committed opposition that will fight to the very end – they proved that today. But I cannot put my finger on what is wrong with Prestwick this season. A top 5 finish in the last three seasons and now down at the foot of the table after 6 weeks? Are Messrs Pitt, McDonald and others needed to be cajoled into playing a couple of games in the coming weeks? I don’t know the answer but Prestwick need to find it soon or July and August could be difficult months for them.
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Please Read – Important news to consider
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A final and worrying piece of information for the cricket of the west to consider – we lost a treasured and much-loved club in Poloc in 2023 and the demise of that club still hurts two years on. In 2025, a smaller, but just as important club within our cricketing circle needs the support of its fellow clubs, the cricketers, the members, the enthusiasts and anyone else involved with the game or has a passing interest in sport – Vale of Leven Cricket Club.
The Vale enters 175th anniversary year next year and is historically one of the founder clubs of our cricket after being established in 1852 through its connections to the India Dye works in Renton as a recreational outlet for the workforce. Over those 175 years some 5000+ people have taken the field under the banner of this great club, and they hold the unique distinction of being a cricket club that won the Scottish Cup at football (a competition they helped create) and after Queen’s Park, Rangers, Celtic and Aberdeen, the only other club to win it three-in-a-row. In recent times, they been involved in a project to create a new and exciting “Community Sports Hub” at Milburn Park, an amalgam of football and cricket with new facilities, a new clubhouse with bar and top class changing facilities.
But it has gone awry – the dynamics of the original concept have changed with a 4g artificial surface being proposed to be put on top of the pitch and the cricket have now been confronted with the following: Find a new home or give up , “there are only 20 of you guys anyway…”
Those 20 will not give in and will try their best for the 5000+ members before them who loved their club dearly. Those 5000+ cannot be simply forgotten and sent to the annals of Scottish sporting history, and there must be a way for our cricket to be a voice for them, to help them fight this, oppose planning, go to the press, engage with those in power, whatever and whenever and support them at every crossroads, junction, hinderance and obstruction to save this club, especially as their sesquicentennial approaches.
We are a union of clubs and together we are our cricket – we must support it, irrespective of who or what – it is ours.
Siggy
