Ayr hosted Stenhousemuir in a clash to see who would probably be runners-up and who will be third in the league when the season ends. An opportunity for the younger Ayr players to showcase their talents for the coming seasons while for Stenhousemuir, a fixture to utilise for ideas as a start for building strategies for 2026 and assessing the strength of the squad for that campaign. For Yaseen Valli, a batting track to post another score on as he targets the possibility of a 1000 runs in the league.
Stenhousemuir batted first and scored 218-8 off their 50 overs. . Top scorers were Yaseen Valli (52), Zander Smith (37) and Bahadar Esakhiel (35). The pick of the Ayr bowling was Robbie Walsg with 2-43 and Ollie Jones with 2-48.
The Ayr reply started well with Michael English (25) the first wicket to fall at 68 when he was caught behind of Nick Lister in the 15th over. A further 30 runs were added when Ayr suddenly suffered from a middle-order batting shambles with 5 wickets falling for only 19 runs. At 98, Ollie Jones (10) was caught off Callum Grant with Marcel Marconi (57) dismissed by Zander Smith a few balls later. On 99, Jake Woodhouse (1) was dismissed by Grant with Brayden Riggs (3) then bowled by Smith taking Ayr to 110-5 off 28 overs. Ayr suddenly became 117 -6 after 31 overs when Gavin Murray was bowled by Grant.
And yet again, an Ayr game became compelling viewing with them needing 100 to win off 18 overs and 4 wickets to hand. And again, as seems to be the theme with Ayr’s recent batting, Neil Flack, donned his superhero outfit and came to the rescue with 46 not out ably assisted by another caped crusader for the Ayr cause in Michael Miller who top-scored with 64 not out. These two hit a 102 unbeaten partnership to win the game for Ayr with 4 overs to spare.
For Stenhousemuir with the ball, Callum Grant took 3-35 with Zander Smith taking 2-37.
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Clydesdale would be commencing this game in the knowledge that a victory would technically make them uncatchable with 2 games left to play, but they would not be underestimating a Kelburne side that desperately needs wins to escape the threat of relegation.
I popped into Titwood and watched the first innings and was supra-impressed at the urgency in the field by Kelburne and that they were certainly giving Clydesdale an unexpected challenge. There have been some that have recently questioned and aired their views about Clydesdale’s batting depth, and unfairly so in my opinion, yet today’s performance with the bat without the services of the likes of Craig Young and Mo Ghaffar to call upon, proved once again, that from a difficult position of 87-4 after 23 overs, there is a lot more to the Titwood batting than has been considered. Sizwe Masondo (59) got a lot more time at the crease in a league game than he has been accustomed to this season and batted well for his score and demonstrated his skills that we have been deprived of watching through no fault of his own. That alone is an indicator of the strength of the batting line up in itself but its depth was proven with Kallum Dhami’s (65) measured innings. A 59 run partnership between Dhami and Ali Khan (22) took Clydesdale into the 200s, and although there was sprinkling of wickets in the final few overs, the innings ended with the home side 229-8.
Taking nothing away from Kelburne though – they bowled and fielded admirably and showed what a capable team that they are. They too were missing players that bowl the bulk of their overs but only 5 bowlers were used today with Lucas Farndale taking 4-47 and Gurveer Singh 2-52.
Kelburne’s reply stuttered with early wickets but Evan Fouche (45) and Kyle Northend (66) rallied the total along. When Northend was dismissed in the 30th over, Kelburne were 157-6 and 72 required off 20 overs. Until Rahisk Kafle (24) was LBW to Ali Khan in the 40th over, Kelburne only needed 38 to win in 10 overs and were still very much in with a chance of beating Clydesdale on their patch. But 192-9 made those 38 runs become a difficult task to procure and Kelburne were finally all out for 202 in the 43rd over.
Rafay Khan’s 5-44 and Zeeshan Bashir’s 2-35 were the telling figures in the Clydesdale bowling but the spirited performance of Kelburne with the ball and bat belied their table positioning and gave Clydesdale a run for their money in a league game that the rest of the league have struggled to do this season.
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Uddingston had Dumfries at the policies with both sides needing a win to improve their league positioning. For Uddingston, a win today and a favourable result at Titwood would leave them with the knowledge on what to do to avoid relegation in the final two games. Dumfries need to play all three of the final fixtures and win them all and wait to see what happens elsewhere and what their final fate is.
Dumfries opted to bat first, lost Chris Bellwood (4) trapped LBW to Tom Willmott when the score was 13 then got to 41-2 off 18 overs when Munro Cubbon played all over and around a top-spinner from Ross Lyons and was smartly stumped by Bryan Clarke. This was Ross Lyons’ first over of a 17 over tandem spell with Raj Kamaraj at the other end that stopped the Dumfries train firmly in its tracks. If ever a spell of bowling was deserving of a soundtrack, Glenn Miller’s ‘Chatanooga Choo Choo’ would be the perfect choice – 17 overs bowled, 42 runs conceded and 5 wickets taken by Ross Lyons – at one point, around the 30th over, Dumfries were 65-6. But hats off to Dumfries and two stands that got the innings engines going again.
Ben Plowman and Wahid Jabarkhil (13) had a stand of 26 followed by a stand of 35 between Plowman and Scott Beveridge (17) that took the final Dumfries total up to 145-10 off 49 overs with Plowman finishing 34 not out.
Uddingston’s bowling was dominated by Ross Lyons 10 over spell of 5-16 with Keerat Singh chipping in with 2-27 at the death.
This was not going to be an easy task for Uddingston to complete though – although Dumfries were missing regulars, they were not going to be an easy opposition to bat against. Uddingston struggled and were an uncomfortable 71-5 after 22 overs when Amaan Ramzan (22) was was bowled by Chris Bellwood. It was going to take the patience and time-served experience of Ross Lyons to see them through the inning to victory. A further three wickets fell before Tom Willmott (3 not out) hit the winning runs in the 43rd over, but Lyons’ 41 not out had been crucial in giving the Villagers a victory that changes their table position with 2 games to go.
For Dumfries, the pick of their bowling was Alan Davidson 3-22 and Adam Malik with 2-7, but Dumfries also used two under 16 bowlers as well in Billy Morgan and Munro Cubbon, a refreshing feature to see giving nippers a chance to play 1st team league cricket but also using them.
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GHK v Prestwick Cricket Club
GHK would have been fancying themselves to win at home against Prestwick but both clubs have played most of this season’s cricket as if they were suffering from a Dissociative Identity Disorder – they haven’t a Scooby what match day performance personality is going to appear when the game actually takes place: an affliction that has caused both clubs to be very inconsistent and prevented either of them to genuinely challenge for a title – the medication to cure it can be swallowed in some large doses over the winter in indoor nets and also remembering that it is 50 over-a-side cricket they are playing on a Saturday and not midweek thrash stuff – just an observation on my part – the different types of club cricket played need the players to implement a distinct change of application when playing them.
Maybe I’m a cricketer from a different epoch, but, as the visitors to a wicket and outfield very different to the Henry Thow Oval, and given the alternate week fragility of their own batting performances, Prestwick winning the toss should have seen GHK batting first – you bowl them out for hee-haw, you know what you are chasing, you see off the blitzkrieg and you pace the response over the course of 50 overs as the runs will come.
But no – win the toss and bat first and suddenly find yourselves 47-7 after 17 overs then slip to 67-9 off 24 overs. Had it not been for a last pair stand of 43 coming from Gurupreet Singh (25 not out) and Ronan Alexander (17), and top scorers with the bat also, Prestwick would have been scoffing their tea at 70 odd all out off 25 overs instead of reaching 110-10 after 40 overs and sprinkling some Sertraline in about their sandwiches.
The GHK bowling figures were as follows – Azeem Akbar 4-30, Zain Ullah 3-25 and Muhammad Majid 3-17.
Prestwick had to get their bowling spot-on from the start if they were to give themselves a chance of defending a lowish total – and they certainly gave it a good go. The defence came in two distinct bursts with some clever inter-changing of the bowling causing problems for the GHK batting. The initial burst saw GHK 7-3 after 4 overs followed by another 4 wickets being taken between the 16th and 20th overs leaving GHK 56-7. Another wicket fell in the 26th over leaving GHK 61-8 but sensible batting by Izzy Hussain (20) and Muhammed Majeed (25 not out) saw a 47 run partnership take the home side to 108-9 in the 44th over and three runs required for victory. Majeed saw them home in the following over to record another win for the Old Anniesland club.
Prestwick’s bowling figures of note were Ronan Alexander 3-17, Indy Singh 2-15 and Sachin Chaudhary 2-21 in pursuit of an admirable defence.
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Ferguslie’s second-last home game at the field of dreams took place against their old friends Drumpellier. Ferguslie invited their visitors to bat first, however, the Drumpellier innings never really got started as wickets fell continuously throughout. Praise has to be given to Jordan Pryde (61) who opened the batting, occupied the crease at one end and ran out of partners at the other. He was the second last wicket to fall at 97 when he was stumped by David Stafford off young Armaan Ahmed’s bowling with the final wicket falling at 101 in the 31st over.
Feguslie’s bowling was Taimoor Ahmas 2-27, Ethan Hebberman 2-29, Muhammed Mayet 3-25, Uzair Ahmad 2-10 and Armaan Ahmed 1-6.
The Ferguslie reply was brisk with David Stafford providing another ‘Staffy’ autograph innings of 55 not out as the target score was passed in the 16th over with Ferguslie 102-3. Under 14 age-group player, Satvik Varunkumar, was 0 not out at the other end.
Chathuranga Kumara took 2-32 in his brief spell.
It is always nice to see young players getting 1st team league cricket and I admire Ferguslie giving Armaan Ahmed, Ethan Hebberman and Satvik Varunkumar, just three names from their homegrown youngsters conveyor belt, a taste of that level of adult competitive cricket.
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Sunday saw three cup finals featuring clubs from the WDCU participate in and also played on WDCU grounds.
I was a visitor to Whitehaugh for the two cup finals being held there, and Whitehaugh looked magnificent in the sunshine.
The first final was the Under 16s Girls Scottish Cup Final between Watsonians and Stewart’s Melville with the Under 16’s Boys Scottish Cup Final a short time later.
Under 16 Scottish Cup Final – played at Whitehaugh on Sunday 17th August.
Dumfries 173/2: Lachlan Osmond (29), Munro Cubbon 50 retired not out, Billy Morgan 46 not out and Nairn Cubbon 27 not out.
Aberdeenshire 99-10: Leo Wood(30) – Lachlan Osmond 3-19, Munro Cubbon 4-20 and Finley Trigg 2-31
Dumfries win by 74 runs.
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Stenhousemuir was another ground that looked fantastic in the sunshine as it hosted a final today.
Cricket Scotland Challenge Cup Final – played at the Tryst, Stenhousemuir, on Sunday 17th August 2025
Edinburgh 154-10: Muhammad Sohaib Butt (42), Mateen Butt (57) – Muhibullah Ahmadzai 4-18.
Greenock 155-7: Will Jenkins (35), Chiraginder Pandher (38 no) – Hazrat Bilal 2-12, Muhammad Sohaib Butt 2-18.
Greenock win by 3 wickets.
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Prestwick was the welcome host of a final as well and was another superb venue in the sunshine.
Western Cup Final 2025 – played at the Henry Thow Oval, Prestwick on Sunday 17th August
Titwood 161-3: Wasim Qureshi (78), Lukas Fischer-Keogh (43)
Dean Park 127-6: Hijratullah Omarkhil (59) and Sahil Chopra (32) – Gregor Anderson 2-21
Titwood win by 34 runs.
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Richard S Young