And so another season comes to an end and in a similar fashion to the 2021 season. A winner takes all clash between M8 Driving Ferguslie and Prestwick CC at Meikleriggs. The heavy rain on Friday was to play a big part in the outcome and as soon as the rain stopped at 3pm the Ferguslie Grounds team got hard at work preparing the pitch and outfield for the game.

Greeted with fine weather on Saturday morning and drying conditions the game was in no doubt and started at noon as scheduled. On winning the toss Prestwick captain Fraser MacDonald opted to bat in what proved to be a pivotal decision. Prestwick  got off to a slow start on a pitch that was giving the bowlers a little help and wickets fell steadily. Ferguslie captain Riyaad Henry was first to strike removing the dangerous Sachin Chaudery caught behind for nought by David Stafford. This was to be one of three fine catches for Stafford in what  turned out to be a Man of the Match performance.

Next to fall was Inderjit Singh who unlike most other Prestwick batsmen was timing the ball well and his innings of 24 had five fine boundaries. He was dismissed by a fine delivery from Adil Ghaffar who clipped the inside edge and Stafford moved nimbly to the leg side to pick up the chance. Henry then struck again removing young overseas star Matthew Van Dyk who nicked an outswinger again to Stafford who at this stage was standing up at the stumps and he took probably his best catch of the day.  Euan MacBeth was dismissed to a sharp caught and bowled chance by off spinner Haroon Tahir. He struck it well but Tahirs reactions were a match for the strike and MacBeth was gone for a duck. Fellow countryman Donovan Du Randt was next at the crease and his stay was not long. Ferguslies overseas player Elliot Moses, having recently joined the attack, enticed an outside edge from Du Randt which was comfortable pouched by veteran Omar Hussain in the slips.

Prestwick CC then enjoyed their best partnership of the innings with captain Fraser MacDonlad leading from the front. He batted with great patience, no little skill  and maturity and reached a well earned half century eventually finishing on 54 not out. He was ably supported by Mitchell Rao who also displayed great patience notching 24 as the pair added a valuable 59 for the sixth wicket. A late flurry from Gurupreet Singh (14) and Shaz Rafiq ( 6 no) saw Prestwick close their innings on 157 for 6.

The Ferguslie attack performed well all day maintaining great discipline and making it hard for the Prestwick batters to settle. Pick of the hard working bunch were Riyaad Henry with 3 for 38 and Adil Ghaffar with 2 for 28 both off 10 overs.

At the change of innings the large crowd that had assembled in Paisley would probably not be sure if Prestwick ‘ had enough’ runs on the board and whether or  not their team was on top!

For the large crowd from Prestwick it became clear relatively early on that they may be a bit light. A cautious but assertive start from Adil Ghaffar and David Stafford seemed to indicate that the drying out pitch was now a bit easier to bat on. Both players timed the ball nicely and despite some fine early bowling from the Prestwick bowlers the early breakthroughs that were needed did not materailise.

The first and only wicket of the innings fell to Inderjit Singh who enticed a loose shot from Ghaffar (13) which was calmly caught by Mitchell Rao with the score on 26.

That brought Ferguslies South African Elliot Moses to the crease who along with opener David Stafford batted with great calmness and authority to compile a match winning partnership of 132. Stafford and Moses in contrasting batting styles stroked the ball on both sides of the wicket and achieved their target of 158 in the 34th over. Both were to hit many fine boundaries and a couple of fairly hefty sixes in their innings.

The Prestwick bowlers stuck manfully to their task but could just not find a way through and a mixture of seam and spin from both ends proved fruitless.

So after the crushing disappointment of their loss to Clydesdale in 2021 Ferguslie secured the 2022 Western Premier League title in an assured fashion. Great credit must also go to Prestwick for a fine season challenging in all cups and at the top of the league for most of the summer.

Andy Baird of the WDCU presented the cup in front of a raucous Paisley crowd and in doing so thanked all clubs, umpires and supporters for their contribution to a great summer of cricket.

Celebrations went on well into the night with players and supporters from both clubs enjoying the festivities. This is as it should be!

Picture courtesy of Bill Wilson