West
of Scotland Young
Cricketers
Junior Awards
2007
Junior Report 3rd to 9th Sept. 2007
The final week of the season saw only the Under 11s in action as they
finished on a high with two victories to cement 4th place in the league,
behind only the three teams that tied for the title, Poloc, Prestwick and
Ferguslie.
On Monday 3rd September, West welcomed Ayr to Hamilton Crescent on a lovely
sunny evening. The home team batted solidly, losing only four wickets, and,
with the aid of a mountain of extras, scored over 100, resulting in a net
83. The boys then gave their customary tidy display in the field, bowling
and fielding superbly. Ayr could only manage 55 runs while losing 13
wickets, to give West a resounding win. It should also be mentioned that a
20 over per side game was achieved, before the light faded.
Scores: West 283 (C Roberts 7no, P Thorpe 7no)
Ayr 193 (B Terrell 3-12, C Roberts 2-3, A Ewing 2-5)
By contrast, it was a dull and damp evening at Coatbridge on Tuesday 4th
September and it was quickly agreed that the best that could be managed
would be a 15 over per side match. The game started with West batting in
light rain on a green, green uncut wicket. Batting was difficult and West
struggled to 79 while losing 8 wickets in bowler friendly conditions. Both
Ian Wheel and Tom Donnelly took some bruises for the team as they battled
bravely to a net 39. At the interval, the boys were positive, feeling that
if they stuck to their usual bowling routines and fielded well, they could
defend that total. And so it proved. Wickets tumbled and the boys threw
themselves around the damp outfield to stop everything. (Sorry about the
state of their kit Mums!) Drumpellier were restricted to a net 24 and West
bagged the final win of the season.
Scores: West 239 (J Muir 2-2, H Sabri 2-4))
Drumpellier 224 (B Terrell 2-5, C Ewing 2-7, I Wheel 2-9)
Congratulations to Iain Wheel and his team on a very good season.
Indeed, all our junior sides performed well this year. Miro Ralston led the
Under 13s to 3rd place in the league, while Gavin Smith’s Under 15s ended in
equal 4th place, and reached the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup. After
crashing out of the Frank Smith Trophy in their first match, the Under 18s
went on a run of league wins that led them to believe they were invincible.
Even a home defeat at the hands of Poloc, didn’t phase them and they were
left with four matches in a week to clinch the title. Three wins were
needed, but only one was achieved as the crunch games against our main
rivals were lost. However, that one win at home to Ayr turned out to be
enough to secure 2nd place at the end of the campaign.
Scores: West 111 for 7 (A Galloway 32no, M Ralston 25, J Livingstone 2-15)
Kelburne 66 for 7 (L Dickson 3-21, S MacAulay 2-13)
There are many people to thank for another great junior season at West:
the players, the coaches, the team managers, the scorers, the parents,
volunteers, drivers, providers of tea and coffee, the ground staff, the
fundraisers, and a cast of thousands. It is a real team effort at West, and
it is a very big team. Thanks to you all.
As your scribe may have other duties to fulfil next season, it may be that
the weekly junior reports will have to be sacrificed but we will do our best
to at least maintain a regular results service.
Junior Report 27th August to 2nd Sept. 2007
This was a week of Under 13 and Under 18 multi
matches. It was the week that one lot needed to bite the bullet and win the
league while the others were simply playing for pride. Unfortunately, they
got it all bits of the anatomy about other bits of the anatomy. While the
Under 18s lost their bottle, the Under 13s showed us all how to finish a
season. And so to the detail.
Your scribe was surprised to receive an e mail from Mr Stanger, the Laird of
Clydesdale last week intimating that his Under 13s were looking forward to
thrashing West and Poloc this week. He obviously had forgotten to take his
anti delerium medication, as, come the appointed day, Monday 27th August,
West Under 13s reported to Toytown, only to be confronted by the M Mouse XI.
The homesters “batted”, if that’s the right expression, first and 12 overs
later were all back in the hutch, extras top scoring with 9. In all, there
were six Duddles in a total of 22. The chief destroyer was West’s prodigal
son, who took 5 for 1 in four overs. In fairness, Clydesdale bowled very
well, but could not possibly defend such a meagre score, and West were able
to give some batting practice to a couple of players who are not usually
required to put the pads on.
Scores: Clydesdale 22 for 10 (A Umeed 5-1, M Ralston 2-10, L Dickson
1-2))
West 23 for 1 (A Galloway 10no, S Turnbull 1-13)
By the way, Poloc pumped them too!!
However, despite enjoying a weekend of beating Clydesdale at three different
age groups, the clean sweep could not be achieved at Hamilton Crescent on
27th August. This time the Dale held on for a narrow, but deserved, win over
West Under 18s and inflicted the first fatal blow to West’s title chances.
On a good deck, West elected to bowl first (why??) and performed tidily
enough to restrict the visitors to 93, a target that should have been well
within the reach of the West batting line up. However, what followed was a
perfect example of how not to go about a run chase. The early tempo was too
slow, perhaps provoked by losing a couple of wickets early on, but this over
cautious approach was then replaced by insane thrashing (and missing) at
every ball, despite the fact that singles were all that were required. Only
Max Ralston appeared to know what he was doing as collective madness
overtook the remaining batsmen. Clydesdale fielded exceptionally well in the
closing overs, holding a couple of important catches, and generally showed
more bottle than the home boys. If this was to be the game that blew away
West’s chances of the title, the boys would spend all winter wondering how
they failed to score 16 runs off the last 18 balls with 7 wickets in hand.
Instead of cruising home, they managed only 11 runs while losing another 3
wickets.
Scores: Clydesdale 93 for 10 (A Scobie 18, O Thorpe 4-16, C Hawkins 3-23)
West 89 for 6 (M Ralston 39no, C Hawkins 25, D Ferry 2-6)
On Tuesday 28th August, West Under 18s entertained their main rivals
Prestwick and again gifted victory by winning the toss and insanely (again)
choosing to bowl. Prestwick enjoyed the daylight conditions to the max,
dispatching west’s change bowlers for a massive 75 off the last eight overs.
West tried to respond in the gloaming but early promise quickly turned to
another self inflicted doing. End of title hopes.
Scores: Prestwick 118 for 3 (D Thomson 38no, C Morrison 26)
West 86 For 10 (C Gibb 30, C Morrison 4-15)
At least the Under 18s made the right decision on Wednesday 29th August when
skipper Thorpey won another toss and batted first against an Ayr team that
were rejected as hobbit extras in Lord of the Rings because they weren’t
tall enough. Ayr Under 11s are due at West next week. Did they misread their
diary? A comfortable win gave the team a bit of much needed confidence.
Scores: West 141 for 2 (C Gibb 60, D Hettle 39no)
Ayr 41 for 5 (D Hettle 2-5, J Bissland 2-7)
That same evening West Under 13s travelled to Paisley and dispatched
Kelburne in very professional fashion, apart from the mad prodigal son who
ran himself out in the first over of the match. How can such a gifted player
have such a huge blind spot about running 22 yards? This early loss did not
halt West’s remorseless run accumulation as Messrs Ralston and Galloway took
the attack to the home team. An impressive 111 off 16 overs was always going
to be too much for Kelburne and so it proved. An all round bowling and
fielding performance made sure of a very competent win.
Scores: West 111 for 7 (A Galloway 32no, M Ralston 25, J Livingstone 2-15)
Kelburne 66 for 7 (L Dickson 3-21, S MacAulay 2-13)
On Thursday 30th August, West Under 13s were due to play at Ayr. Due to your
scribe’s incompetence (getting boxed in a car park and then struggling
through roadworks), the team left Glasgow late and by the time everyone was
at Ayr, there was only time for a 12 over per side match. West quickly
reduced the home side to 9 for 4, thanks to more spin wizardry from the
prodigal son, but, bizarrely, skipper Ralston removed Umeed from the attack
in favour of a number of apparently trained expert wide half volley
merchants. This was much enjoyed by Ayr’s Stewart, whose one shot was (yes,
you’ve guessed it) the off drive. We were being treated to another glimpse
of the arrogant West that we saw at Greenock the previous week. Anyway, Ayr
recovered to reach 50, which, in the gathering darkness and rain, was quite
a target. Full marks to Ayr and their coach as they stayed out in the rain
to get the match finished. The prodigal son committed his customary suicide
dash first ball but Messrs Barnes and Ralston, batting cautiously at first,
gradually stepped up the tempo, before both falling with the score on 35.
The last four overs were extremely tense, but the Queen Bee used the edge of
her bat to just enough advantage to sneak a win with one ball to spare.
Scores: Ayr 50 for 5 (S Stewart 29, A Umeed 2-3)
West 51 for 6 (M Ralston 15, C Gordon 2-10)
Friday 31st August was the evening that West Under 18s had earmarked for a
title clash and celebration, but of course events earlier in the week had
put paid to that. However, Accies were not to know that would happen so it
was absolutely astonishing to pitch up at New Anniesland for what might have
been a title decider, only to have to play on a wicket “worse than
Kilmarnock”. Pretty damning. Maybe West should have hired the Ayr hobbit
rejects to play for them, but none of the West batsman could get down low
enough to play the Barnes Wallis Accies style offensive.
A low scoring ugly match and another defeat was the outcome. What an anti
climactical end to the season.
Scores: West 51 for 8 (D Kelso- back stabber – 2-9)
Glasgow Accies 52 for 3
On Sunday 2nd September, West was one of 30 sides attending the Cricket
Scotland National Under 10 Kwik Cricket Festival at the magnificent new
cricket facility at Stirling County. This was a superbly entertaining and
well organised day, with each team playing five matches during the day. The
west squad performed superbly and have really moulded into a “team” during
the course of the summer. Although they were well beaten by an outstanding
Forfarshire side, West enjoyed excellent wins over Corstorphine, Prestwick,
Biggar and Dunfermline.
As the season draws to a close, West Under 11s will complete their programme
in the coming week with games against Ayr and Drumpellier. The under 18s
have finished (in some disarray) and while both the Under 15s and Under 13s
have one fixture each outstanding, there is no sign of East Kilbride or
Drumpellier wanting to play us.
Watch this space for a season summing up next week.
Junior Report 20th to 26th August 2007
As the season rolls towards its climax, the fixture list becomes clogged up
with rearranged matches. The next few weeks will be hectic.
On Monday 20th August West Under 18s travelled to Kilmarnock to play the
local outfit on what the previous day had been a duckpond. Only David Hettle
showed any grasp of what was required to survive on the soggy surface,
scoring 48 out of 85, the only support coming from Sunny Ahmed with 15.
However, the meagre total proved sufficient as Messrs Ralston and Hawkins
strangled the home batsmen, who came up short despite a late flurry of runs.
Scores: West 85 for 8 (D Hettle 48, D Hamilton 3-12, J Conway 3-12)
Kilmarnock 75 for 6 (C Sharpe 22, O Thorpe 3-25, M Ralston
2-10)
Meanwhile, Kilmarnock Under 13s travelled to West, but were well beaten by
the Partick squad. The usual suspects, aka Umeed and Roberts put runs on the
board and the Ayrshire boys had no answer. At least it was a sunny evening.
Scores: West 113 for 4 (A Umeed 31ret, G Roberts 24no, O Raine 1-5)
Kilmarnock 42 for 8 (J Berry 11, G Roberts 4-7)
On Tuesday 21st August, West Under 18s took on Greenock at Hamilton
Crescent, and despite a late batting wobble, eased to a comfortable win to
stay top of the table. Good, tight bowling once more restricted the
opposition until an uncharacteristic last over from the governor yielded 16
runs and made the target slightly more distant. Chasing 74, West reached 62
without loss before stumbling over the line with just over two overs left.
Scores: Greenock 74 for 8 (T Cahn 33no, M Ralston 2-12, C Hawkins 2-13)
West 75 for 3 (C Hawkins 43, P Sharman 2-15)
The following evening, Wednesday 22nd August, West enjoyed a double fluke.
First, when your scribe contacted Drumpellier to rearrange some fixtures,
Drumpellier’s junior convener said he thought the early season Under 15 Cup
match had been a league and cup double header. Your scribe was happy to go
along with this since West won, and another three points were in the bag.
Next, it was West Under 13s turn to travel to Greenock, where they somehow
came away, in masks and striped jerseys, with a one run victory, from a game
where they were outclassed and incompetent (with a few exceptions) for
almost the whole match. West performed in a disappointingly arrogant manner
for much of this match, but Lynne Dickson had something to say and made the
important breakthrough with two wickets in two balls. Thereafter Jed Stubing
bowled out of his skin with support from the metronome aka Graham Roberts,
and as batsmen of ever decreasing size (Russian dolls?) came to the wicket,
West grabbed victory from the funeral pyres of defeat.
Scores: West 86 for 2 (A Umeed 25, G Roberts 21no, M Ralston 20no, J Terras
2-9)
Greenock 85 for 9 (A Baum 30ret, S Anderson 28no, J Stubing 4-4,
L Dickson 2-18)
And then on to the joys of Friday 24th August and a double victory over the
southside has beens, Clydesdale.
At Hamilton Crescent, on a real size cricket pitch West Under 11s came out
on top in a game dominated by excellent bowling and fielding, the homesters
showing great determination to defend a fairly low score with outstanding
teamwork.
Scores: West 240 (I Rehman 3-8, P McInnes 2-5)
Clydesdale 231 (C Roberts 3-11)
Meanwhile, in the southside Lillipution realm that somehow has ODI status,
West Under 15s wafted a brisk 176, with the help of a boundary that was
nearer than the stumps at the bowler’s end. Once Clydesdale’s Gulliver (P
Barbour) was removed, the match was nailed.
Scores: West 176 for 5 (A Lloyd 49,S Ahmed 43no, J Bissland 37, S Tariq
1-12)
Clydesdale 148 for 9 (P Barbour 52, S Tariq 29, A Umeed 3-27)
To prove the sun shines on the righteous, West’s Under 10 Kwik Cricket
festival on Sunday 26th August was blessed by superb weather and a great
turnout as over 100 enthusiastic kids blazed a trail across the Hamilton
Crescent acres. West achieved their standard two wins and a defeat, and the
Taggarts Trophy was awarded to Prestwick for absolutely no reason at all. Junior
Report 13th to 20th August 2007
Weather again features strongly this week, with Monday’s Under 18 fixture at
home to Ayr, and the Under 13s visit to Ayr both falling foul of the rain.
The main casualty was West’s Junior Section reputation, as a communication
failure resulted in one young player and his parents travelling to Alloway
for a non existent match. Grovelling apologies required.
On Tuesday 7th August, West Under 15s and Under 11s should both have been
playing East Kilbride. The Under 15s match in deepest Lanarkshire was called
off by the hosts due to ground conditions, but there were no such problems
at Hamilton Crescent. That proved too much for East Kilbride, who conceded
the match after failing to find enough players to travel.
On Wednesday 15th August, your scribe was enjoying himself at a Cricket
Dinner, while, at Hamilton Crescent, West Under 15s lost a B League match
against Poloc. Details from Poloc website.
Scores: Poloc 105 for 7 (F Mustafa 53no, R Finnie 3-3, S Lynch 2-15)
West 65 for 10 (S Ahmed 21, F Mustafa 2-9, A Alam 2-17)
Another Under 15 rearranged match took place on Thursday 16th August, this
time at home against Ferguslie. Again your scribe was neglecting his duties
by enjoying another jolly, so all that can be reported about this match is
that the visitors only had seven players and West, batting second, won the
match. It is believed that Sunny Ahmed was the main run scorer. Sorry guys.
On Friday 17th August, West Under 15s travelled to Prestwick and suffered
only their third league defeat of the season, while Prestwick Under 11s
visited West and also enjoyed success.
By all accounts the Under 15 match was a low scoring match, which the home
team, batting second, won with a couple of overs to spare.
West Under 11s found it very hard to score against a disciplined and
accurate Prestwick bowling attack, spearheaded again by the ginger midget
(see earlier reports). It was easy to see how the visitors had won all ten
of their previous fixtures and a total of 227 was never likely to be enough.
And so it proved, but West gave the Ayrshire lads a fright in the second
half with some outstanding bowling, fielding and catching. In fact the Under
13s should have been made to watch this display in the field. The same
Master Khan, who blasted them to all parts a few weeks ago, may have scored
15 in this game, using what must be his dad’s bat, but was out twice, to two
superb catches, and was nearly caught a third time
Scores: West 227 (G Cairns 3-6, G Midget 2-5)
Prestwick 252 (C Roberts 2-9, B Terrell 2-19)
Clydesdale’s Kwik Cricket Festival was washed out on Sunday 19th August, to
disappoint the Club’s Under 10s who are restless for more action. We must
hope for better luck next week, when West takes its turn to host a Festival.
Junior Report 6th to 12th August 2007
Judicious advance planning (it had been pouring for a whole day and night)
by the respective junior conveners saw the Monday night U13 and U18 matches
between West and Hillhead postponed until Wednesday 8th August. Better
advance planning might have been to scrap the whole season!
On Tuesday 7th August, West Under 18s travelled to Weirs for a rearranged
fixture and secured another comfortable three points. Your scribe umpired
the match but as he was then heading off to London for a jolly he parted
company with the scorebook after the match. From memory Weirs scored
approximately 72 off 18 overs, thanks largely to the elderly H Akram. West
bowled tightly with skipper Thorpe eventually picking up some wickets.
Despite Chris Hawkins’ early departure, waddling off with Duddles, West
racked up a winning response with overs to spare.
And so to Wednesday 8th August, and the Hillhead double header. The Under 18
match at Hughenden was a complete mismatch as West crushed the home team –
sweet revenge for a ridiculous defeat at their hands last season. Batting
first, West finished just short of 100 off 18 overs, before dismissing the
opposition for a meagre 26. Details are based on a text report from Chris
Hawkins.
Scores: West 95 for ? (C Hawkins 26, D Hettle 24)
Hillhead 26 (D Hettle 3-6, M Ralston 3-7, C Hawkins 2-7)
Meanwhile at Hamilton Crescent, West Under 13s completed an excellent
evening’s work by putting their west end neighbours to the sword. (Oops,
that cliché was also used in last week’s report. Replace “putting” with
“sending and “the sword” with “think again”.) West’s total of 106 was
largely due to skipper Miro Ralston holding the innings together early on,
before an exhilarating partnership between Jed Stubing and Chris Barnes
added 33 in the last 3 overs. Despite losing an early wicket in reply,
Hillhead scored freely early on through Messrs Cairnduff and Ali, but
thereafter wickets fell steadily and the challenge fizzled out.
Scores: West 106 for 5 (M Ralston 31ret, J Stubing 19no, C Barnes 14no, H
Azhar 2-9)
Hillhead 77 for 10 (R Cairnduff 14, H Ali 13, J Steedman 13,
A Graves 3-11, M Ralston 2-13)
The Under 15 B League match against Inverclyde, scheduled for Thursday 9th
August, was postponed at the opposition’s request.
On Friday 10th August, it was the turn of West Under 15s and Under 11s to
enjoy double header success, this time against Renfrew.
The Under 11s went a wandering through the Renfrew meadow lands, and enjoyed
one of their easiest outings of the season against a less than interested
home squad. West lost only 1 wicket, and that was a run out, in amassing
338, then took 12 wickets in restricting the home team’s reply to 213.
Scores: West 338 (I Wheel 22no, B Terrell 18no, C Ewing 14no)
Renfrew 213 (P Thorpe 2-3, T Donnelly 2-3)
Details are sparse regarding West Under 15s home win against Renfrew on the
same evening. Again your scribe is relying on a text report to advise that
Renfrew scored 144, with West reaching their target for the loss of 4
wickets, thanks largely to 49 from Gurjit Singh. He was bound to score runs
eventually.
Poloc’s Kwik Cricket Festival fell foul of horrendous weather on Sunday 12th
August to bring a nice symmetry to the week.
Junior Report 30th July to 5th August 2007
Monday 30th August saw a win for West Under 18s but a real thumping for the
Under 13s. At Hamilton Crescent, West Under 18s restricted Kelburne to 89
and comfortably reached their target with overs to spare. Nice to play our
Paisley cousins in daylight for a change.
Scores: Kelburne 89 for 6 (R MacLean 20, M Donaldson 20 no, O Thorpe 3-24,
C Gibb 2-18)
West 90 for 2 (C Gibb 56, C Hawkins 22)
At Prestwick, West Under 13s were humbled for the second week in a row, this
time by an eight year old ginger midget, who smashed what passed for bowling
all around the Henry Thow Oval.
Scores: West 70 for 6 (M Ralston 18, G Roberts 15no)
Prestwick 71 for 1 (Z Khan 31ret, SR Paterson 28no)
On Wednesday 1st August, West Under 15Bs visited Poloc and came second best
in a very close and entertaining encounter.
Scores: West 77 for 6 (S Ahmed 27, J Sajjad 2-7, F Mustafa 2-12)
Poloc 77 for 6 (A Graves 1-5, A Chowdhury 2-6)
West Under 11s finally tangled with Hillhead on Thursday 2nd August in a
match postponed from April and moved to Hamilton Crescent. The Wheel Deal
marched on with another impressive win, demonstrating yet again the
importance of bowling straight and fielding aggressively. The home boys only
lost 3 wickets but took 10 to secure victory.
Scores: West 274 (C Ewing 11no, Adil 1-13)
Hillhead 241 (Adil 12no, A Ewing 3-13, J Mott 2-7)
Continuing in the same vein, West Under 11s picked up another three points
by demolishing Weirs at Albert Park on Friday 3rd August. This was another
classy all round performance, but the game gave even more credence to
rumours of in breeding in Scottish cricket. West fielded two Wheels and two
Ewings, while Weirs retaliated with two Forresters and three
Watson-Sweeneys.
Scores: West 303 ( I Wheel 11no, B Terrell 11no, C Roberts 10no)
Weirs 225 (D Forrester 16no, I Wheel 2-3, C Ewing 2-7, A Ewing
1-1)
The same evening, West Under 15s put Hillhead to the sword at home with
Andrew Umeed warming up nicely for Scotland under 13s trip to Denmark next
week. Hillhead’s reply flattered to deceive as West experimented with their
bowling attack, which delayed the finish until well after dark, at which
point Gurjit was let loose to spray wides and no balls all around Partick.
Scores: West 203 for 2 (A Umeed 70no, A Lloyd 37, G Smith 31, C Ross 24no)
Hillhead 129 for 7 (N Majeed 43, S Ahmed 3-10)
And then came the Parents v Kids much hyped encounter on Sunday 5th August.
This time the Gods were not with us as the rain poured down, so it was
really encouraging to see such a big turn out in such terrible conditions.
Thanks to everyone who made the effort and played for over two hours in the
Partick monsoons. An interminable number of kids kept appearing as the game
progressed and somehow they amassed 105, which proved just too much for the
parents. Many thanks also to Janis and Annette who improvised with an indoor
barbeque, which kept the bedraggled players happy after their exertions.
This is exactly the sort of event that epitomises the spirit of West’s
Junior Section.
Junior Report 23rd to 29th July 2007
The annual West Junior Summer Camp was held from Monday 23rd to Friday 27th
July. Many thanks to Stewart Leggat and his coaches for another successful
event. Comments from many of the parents suggest that the Camp is so popular
it should be extended next year.
Double disaster was the order of the day (or evening) on Monday 23rd July as
southsiders Poloc put West Under 18s and Under 13s to the sword. At Hamilton
Crescent, West Under 18s’ unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt. The
visitors bowled tidily and fielded superbly to restrict a poor home side to
a paltry 69. Only Liam Howgate and Sunny Ahmed could muster double figures
as the rest of the top order threw their wickets away. In reply, Noman
Kenneth indicated that he was in a hurry to get home by smashing the West
bowlers to all parts. Despite skipper Thorpe’s efforts, it was all over in
less than 10 overs.
Scores: West 69 all out (L Howgate 21, H Mahmood 3-19, K Mughal 2-9, Z
Mirza 2-10)
Poloc 72 for 3 (N Kenneth 55no, O Thorpe 2-9)
At Shawholm, matters were almost as bad. West Under 13s started solidly
enough but managed to stumble from 47 for no wicket to 72 for 8 in ten overs.
Saif Habib, playing in his last match, bade his colleagues farewell by
running three of them out. Six players scored zilch and only Graham Roberts
challenged the opposition bowlers, except for Scott MacAuley who smacked the
last two ball sof the innings for boundaries. When Miro picked up a wicket
with the fourth ball of Poloc’s reply, it looked like game on, but Messrs
Saleem and Choudhry thought otherwise. Proceeding to treat the West bowlers
with disdain, both raced to 30 before retiring with victory assured. This
was a worryingly disappointing performance from a West side that showed none
of its early season composure.
Scores: West 72 for 8 (G Roberts 30ret, S Saleem 2-16)
Poloc 76 for 1 (D Choudhry 31ret, S Saleem 30ret)
Friday 27th July saw the reappearance of the real West Under 11s, in place
of the shambolic imposters who turned up at Glasgow Accies last week. The
real deal welcomed Motherwell to Partick and won with some ease thanks to a
steady bowling performance backed up by great fielding, including three run
outs. Although West’s batsmen struggled to set a target, their bowlers gave
little away, with 5 maidens out of 20 overs. Jonathan Mott again contributed
well and the return of JR and Bobby, the Ewing brothers, gave the team a
real boost.
Scores: West 254 (D Hayden 2-10, J Kennedy 2-13)
Motherwell 234 (K Greig 12no, C Roberts 1-1, C Ewing 1-2)
This week’s Kwik Cricket was at Weirs on Sunday 29th July. A ruthless West
outfit secured a 100% success rate with crushing victories over Inverclyde,
Weirs, and Kilmarnock. The unsolved mystery, though, is why did Rebecca and
Kaitlin fail to turn up. Answers next week perhaps.
Junior Report 16th to 22nd July 2007
Monday 16th July was another thoroughly wet and miserable day, like so many
others this season, so the Under 18s match at Weirs was sunk without a
trace.
On Friday 20th July, the Under 11s and Under 15s returned to action against
west end neighbours Glasgow Accies. Somehow, West Under 11s travelled to New
Anniesland and contrived to lose against six players. Although on paper a
close match, it was a thoroughly disappointing display by a team that had
previously shown great improvement since the start of the season. The
batting was ponderous and lacked any conviction, but even with very few runs
on the board, the game would have been won if the fielding had been remotely
adequate. A number of stunningly easy run out chances were spurned with
remarkable incompetence. A new low for the season!! On the plus side,
however, Jonathan Mott made an encouraging debut.
Scores: West 249 (A Baria 2-27 (very dodgy action), D Satpuke 1-4)
Glasgow Accies 255 (D Satpuke 11, I Hettle 2-12)
Luckily, West Under 15s were more successful with their run out attempts at
home to Accies, and it was the Accies outfit that managed to throw away
their chance of victory. West batted like clowns, with the exception of
James Bissland’s fighting effort, and were all out in 16 overs. James was
the only batsman to reach double figures and, astonishingly, all 10 wickets
were clean bowled. Straight shooting Accies were just as inept with the
bat, apart from Mr Malik. West bowled tightly and three run outs eventually
secured a narrow win.
Scores: West 76 for 10 (J Bissland 26, C McNaught 3-9, H Malik 3-10, E
Crawford 3-19)
Glasgow Accies 73 for 6 (H Malik 40no, G Smith 2-15)
Tony Mott stepped into the breech on Sunday 22nd July and took the Under
10s to East Kilbride’s Kwik Cricket Festival in the absence of your scribe,
who was attending a wedding at Airth Castle. Details are scant, but rumours
abound of two defeats and a tie. Luckily, details of the wedding weekend are
even more scant.
Junior Report 9th to 15th July 2007
This was another relatively quiet cricketing week for Partick’s finest
juniors. On Monday 9th July, West Under 18s maintained their unbeaten league
status with a last over win at Ferguslie. Details are sketchy as the players
have not yet returned the scorebook, but, chasing 88, thanks to 3 wickets to
the Hawk, 2 to Supergate and 2 to new 1st XI star Max Ralston, West
eventually won by 7 wickets.
Approximate scores: Ferguslie 88 (R Torrance 46, C Hawkins 3-8, M Ralston
2-14, L Howgate 2-24)
West 89 for 3 (C Hawkins 32no)
The previous weekend saw 16 year old Max Ralston enjoy his 1st XI debut,
picking up 2 wickets in a good spell against Ferguslie in the SNCL on
Saturday, and another wicket in West’s Scottish Cup win at Poloc on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Andrew Umeed scored a very mature 60 for Scotland Under 12s
as in their impressive victory over the border against Northumberland Under
12s.
The only other junior cricket this week for West was Kwik Cricket at sunny
Prestwick on Sunday 15th July, where our enthusiastic squad beat Kilmarnock
and then Ayr, before losing to a Prestwick/Ayr select and a host team,
featuring the son of the Prestwick Pro, an outstanding prospect at only 8
years old. To emphasise how enthusiastic our kids really are, on Sunday
Peter Dennis travelled to Prestwick to play in the first three games before
he had to dragged away on a family holiday, while your scribe arrived at
West at the early morning meeting time to find James Wilson and dad, just
back from their holiday. Next Sunday we are due at East Kilbride and one
family is already planning to go there on the drive home from a holiday down
south.
West's Summer Camp runs from Monday 23rd to Friday 27th July. Please
contact me asap if you have not yet booked your place for this super
week of cricket. The
annual Parents v Kids kwik cricket morning is set for Sunday 5th
August, to be followed by a BBQ. Veterans of previous years will vouch
that this is an extremely popular evrent. The outcome of the cricket can
cause family feuds which will simmer all year until the next match! Junior
Report 2nd to 9th July 2007
Our old friend rain won the first battle of the week, washing out Monday’s
Under 18 fixture at Glasgow Accies, and with the younger age group fixtures
on hold as the holidays kick in it’s been a quiet week. The Under 18s were
also due to play Kelburne on Friday 6th July, but that had already been
postponed by the opposition before fresh downpours arrived.
The real story of the week was in Edinburgh where the two Andrews featured
in the West District Under 12 team competing in the Inter District Festival.
Because of this appalling summer, West only played one match out of four
scheduled. That was on Wednesday against the East District and was notable
for an astonishing innings of 149 off 110 balls by the prodigal son, Andrew
Umeed. Andrew is only 11 and will still be eligible for the District Under
12 team again next year.
Fortunately, the weather improved over the weekend, allowing the Kwik
Cricket Festival at Renfrew on Sunday 8th July to go ahead. Your scribe
felt like Rambling Syd Rumpo as he warbled through the flowering meadows
that passed for Renfrew’s cricket outfield. Another fun morning saw the
Partick maestros fumble their way to defeats at the hands of Clydesdale,
Hillhead Rejects, and Ayr, before redeeming themselves by actually taking
wickets and demolishing the Hillhead A team. Junior
Report 25th June to 1st July 2007
To begin with some more housekeeping, here are the scores from the Under 15
B League match at Inverclyde on 14th June. A brief report appeared in an earlier epistle and it is not worth any further mention, unless you are a
fan of Solzhenitsyn.
Scores: West 119 for 9 (S Ahmed 20, H Prince 14, E McLean 3-21, D Laing
2-11)
Inverclyde 87 for 6 (G Llowles 26no, S Anderson 16, A Roberts
2-12, B Burslem 2-13)
On a familiar theme, the weekend rains left Langloan waterlogged, so West
Under 13s were idle again on Monday 25th June. Luckily, Hamilton
Crescent drains much better so West Under 18s welcomed the rag, tag and
bobtail outfit otherwise known as GHK for a league fixture. RT&B had, of
course, already knocked West out the Frank Smith Trophy so, one would
imagine, West would be pumped up for this one. Yeah, well imagine on. By the
7th over West’s suicide squad was 24 for 4. At that point there stepped
forward someone who, apart from his habit of wearing his underpants on the
outside, seemed a most unlikely superhero, but young “Clark” Howgate
proceeded to dispatch the RT&B bowling to all parts. Liam’s 74 was stunning
and his unbeaten partnership of 62 with “Cymbals” Mowat (9 not out) proved
to be a match winner. Not that Supergate was content to rest on his laurels.
Singlehandledly, he did his best to keep RT &B in the game by shoulder
charging Cymbals as he was about to pouch RT&B’s batsman. However, that only
delayed the inevitable, and who should pop up with a cheeky three wicket
haul but Supergate! Another three points for the mighty.
Scores: West 114 for 6 (L Howgate 74no)
GHK 85 (J Fleming 39, L Howgate 3-28,D Hettle 3-23, O
Thorpe 2-17)
Your scribe held another Girls’ Cricket session on Tuesday 26th June.
Slowly, slowly we are building a team.
Then more blooming rain wiped out the Under 15 B League fixture at Poloc on
Thursday 28th June.
However, Friday 29th June was more like old times as West Under 11s
and Under 15s racked up double success against Greenock. The Under 11 match
at Hamilton crescent started badly for the home boys as they lost three
wickets in the first nine balls of the match. If you are going to have a
nadir, have it early. From that point, West fought back and took control,
scoring 110 runs and only losing one more wicket. Brinley started the
fightback with three boundaries after he’d twice been bowled. A good all
round batting performance followed. Conor Ewing top scored with 6 and Calum
“one L” Roberts added 10, but their partners also made important
contributions. West then got in about Greenock’s batsmen early and Greenock
never looked likely to get near their target. The bowling was pretty
accurate, with Iain Wheel and Alex Ewing proving particularly effective. The
fielding was passable, with a couple of good catches and four run outs. The
only downside of the evening was a paucity of headwear. Short memories!
Scores: West 290 (110 for 4) (C Ewing 16no, C Roberts 10no, D MacQuat
2-12)
Greenock 226 (76 for 10) (I Wheel 4-6, A Ewing 1-9, C Ewing
1-14)
Meanwhile in Greenock, West Under 15s secured a fine win. Having been set a
challenging target of over 140, West took full toll of a weakened home
bowling attack to cruise home by 9 wickets. Full details will follow when
the book is recovered but, in the meantime congratulations to James Bissland
and Andrew Umeed, both of whom notched unbeaten half centuries.
West did not attend Greenock’s Kwik Cricket Festival on Sunday 1st July,
partly because of players taking off on holiday, and partly because your
scribe was at Grange, freeloading at the Scotland v Pakistan match. No
cricket, but a superb lunch!
Junior Report 18th to 25th June 2007
West Under 13s returned to winning ways on Monday 18th June when they
steamrollered the visitors from East Kilbride. Your scribe,aka “the special
one” rotated his squad and rested a few of the stars. Graham Roberts took
full advantage of his chance to open the batting, scoring an undefeated 33
before retiring. The two Andrews also scored heavily, which was just as
well, as skipper Miro and the queen bee both got first balls. 133 was a
solid total, and once West broke the visitors’ opening partnership the game
was over. Graham secured his man of the match status with a five wicket
spell and all 10 outfielders got a bowl. Miro also pouched an excellent slip
catch.
Scores: West 133 for 5 (G Roberts 33ret, A Galloway 30ret, A Umeed 26, J
Dalgleish 3-30))
East Kilbride 57 for 9 (ao) (L Cooke 20, G Kelly 18, G
Roberts 5-2, A Galloway 2-9)
On the same evening, West Under 18s travelled to Motherwell and returned
with another victory. Taking first dig on Motherwell’s artificial track,
West found it very hard going against an impressive home bowling attack. Leg
spinner Husafa was particularly devastating, picking up 5 wickets in his
spell. 86 looked well short of a decent score, but West bowled and fielded
exceptionally well, and the home boys were skittled for 59. The champagne
moment was keeper Alfie Lloyd’s superb one handed catch off skipper Owen
Thorpe.
Scores: West 86 (D Hettle 15, Husafaa 5-11, P Keay 3-20)
Motherwell 59 (L Howgate 4-16, O Thorpe 2-2)
On Tuesday 19th June West Under 15s hosted Drumpellier in the Portman
BS Cup. It was a low scoring affair on a damp, soft wicket, but the
homesters held their nerve in the field to pinch a narrow 6 run win. Skipper
Gavin Smith was the batting hero, scoring 32 of West’s meagre total. M
Stewart produced a similar performance for the visitors but Omaar Habib
bowled out of his skin, and the fielding was top class, to ensure West’s
progress to the next round.
Scores: West 89 for 5 (G Smith 32, J Connelly 2-12)
Drumpellier 83 for 6 (M Stewart 34no, O Habib 1-6)
The next round took place at West on Thursday 21st June, with Ayr the
visitors. Alfie Lloyd saw West off to a blistering start but after his
retiral the scoring rate slowed and wickets fell to halt the home team’s
progress. Ayr started slowly in reply but West’s appalling fielding (was
this the same outfit who performed so well on Tuesday?) helped them to gain
a foothold, and although Messrs, Smith, Habib and Bissland bowled well, the
supporting cast was cannon fodder and Ayr eventually cruised into the semi
finals.
Scores: West 113 for 9 (A Lloyd 51ret)
Ayr 114 for 4 (M McClymont 53ret, N Smith 30)
Revenge was on the menu as West Under 15s headed down to Ayr on league duty
the following evening, Friday 22nd June. A decent batting performance was,
however, once more undone by shocking fielding. Both the Ayr batting stars
were dropped early in their innings and West were sent home to contemplate
another self induced defeat.
Scores: West 101 for 3 (C Ross 25, A Lloyd 22, A Umeed 22)
Ayr 105 for 3 (M McClymont 49no, J Kerslake 33)
On the same evening West Under 11s hosted Ayr at Hamilton Crescent as
thunder and lightning crashed and flashed on all sides. After half an hour
the inevitable downpours arrived, and another match was lost to the
elements.
Scores: West 237 (52 for 3) after 9.3 overs.
The weather remained miserable all weekend and led to cancellation of
Renfrew’s Kwik Cricket Festival on Sunday 24th June.
11th to 17th June 2007
Every report seems to be dominated by the weather this season and this will
be no different. However, first a bit of housekeeping. Your scribe has
repossessed the Under 18 scorebook and can confirm that West, indeed beat
Uddingston on 28th May as the players claimed.
Scores: Uddingston 113 for 3 (J Johnson 77, A Baxter 29)
West 115 for 2 (C Gibb 39no, C Hawkins 25, D Hettle
25)
Also, in his delirium, although your scribe reported on last week’s U11
victory over Kelburne’s Saga squad, he omitted the statistics.
Scores: West 271 (C Roberts 13no, M Geddes 3-19)
Kelburne 216 (B Terrell 4-13, I Hettle 3-5, I Wheel 2-11)
And so to a baking hot evening on Monday 11th June. Junior practice had to
be interrupted for drinks breaks to prevent over exuberant weans
overheating. Meanwhile West Under 13s utterly demolished a visiting seven
from Weirs. Three more points for West but a meaningless exercise as far as
playing cricket is concerned. If anything it made the squad far too cocky
prior to their cup visit to Titwood later in the week. Any report on the
game would be equally meaningless.
Scores: West 179 for 1 (M Ralston 31ret, A Umeed 30ret, A Galloway 30ret,
L Dickson 29no, J Stubing 27)
Weirs 12 for 6 (all out) (J Stubing 3-7, M Ralston 1-0, L
Dickson 1-0)
Meanwhile West Under 18s made the short trip to Renfrew worthwhile with a
very comfortable win. On the eve of his holidays, Chris Hawkins was already
in relax mode, strolling to an unbeaten 40. This is often referred to as
carrying one’s bat, except with the mighty Hawk, you’d imagine some poor
little oink having to carry it for him. The innings was galvanised by Max
“Wilson” Ralston and breath was much baited to see if 122 would be enough.
No worries. The governor made sure of victory with another smooth bowling
masterclass, with the Hawk snatching some late glory.
Scores: West 122 for 3 (C Hawkins 40no, M Ralston 35)
Renfrew 86 for 8 (B Fahim 45, G Smith 3-11, C Hawkins 3-21)
By Wednesday 13th June, Titwood had turned into Siberia as Clydesdale
“welcomed” West Under 13s to the south side for an Under 13 cup tie.
Ironically, this centre of cricketing excellence recently stole, sorry
borrowed, an area of ground from its neighbouring school to enlarge the
playing area to One Day International standards. Yet, this national cup tie
was played on an area of full length but no wider than three lanes of a
motorway, while some joke BBC bounce match was on the main square. That West
managed to lose this tie was entirely their own fault. Skipper Miro Ralston
ran out Andrew Galloway before he had faced a ball and Andrew Umeed and Jed
Stubing surrendered their wickets in horrendous fashion, to leave West 9-3,
including a joke six that Miro blew over the boundary. A recovery was
fashioned by the queen bee, but that was going too well so Miro ran her out
as well. Courtesy of a sequence of dropped catches, Miro reached 30, and
Imran pushed the score along, before some tight bowling at the end of the
innings put the brakes on and 94 didn’t look enough.
Thanks to skipper Lyle Hill, Clydesdale reached their target in the
penultimate over. However, the batting looked thin after the first three and
West had to head home with the realisation that semi sensible batting would
have put this game well beyond their hosts.
Scores: West 94 for 6 (M Ralston 30ret, I Habib 16, S Turnbull 1-7)
Clydesdale 95 for 5 (L Hill 32 ret, J Beg 21, I Habib 1-1, A
Galloway 1-11)
The weather was no warmer on Thursday 14th June, when Hamilton Crescent
hosted the Glasgow Primary Schools Kwik Cricket Competition. Despite the
conditions the seven teams all thoroughly enjoyed their day out and the
final ended in a last ball victory for Hyndland Primary over St Peters
Primary. Many thanks to all coaches and helpers.
That evening, West made its debut in the Under 15 B League at Gourock, one
of the new Baltic States. Your scribe needed gloves to keep his hands
functioning as he umpired and scored the match against Inverclyde. This was
an encouraging win and performance from West’s “fringe players”, with the
exception of the fielding, which was crap. Sunny Ahmed top scored with 20
on debut and played confidently on a very tricky and damp strip. The scores
will follow when the score book is retrieved.
Friday 15th June saw the return of the rains and West’s Under 11 and
Under 15 matches against Drumpellier were both non starters. The weather did
not dampen spirits at The Junior Parents buffet evening and a fine time was
had by all. Indeed, it is possible some parents were in more jovial mood
than usual because they didn’t have to watch any cricket. The grub was all
prepared and produced by the parents and there was more than enough food on
display, thanks mainly to the absence of Chris Ross on Duke of Edinburgh
award duty. Your scribe is grateful to all parents who contributed to the
success of this evening, especially Helen Dickson, who made all the menacing
phone calls, and Bridget, Anne Marie, Beverley, Paula, Geraldine and all the
many others who responded!!
Better weather returned in time for Drumpellier’s Kwik Cricket Festival on
Sunday 17th June, and West’s troops, now augmented by three girls, performed
admirably to secure the traditional two wins and a defeat. The hosts beat
West in the first match, but thereafter West bounced back to beat
Drumpellier/Ayr and Hillhead/Kilmarnock “mongrel” teams.
4th to 10th June 2007
The rains referred to at the end of last week’s report were sufficient to
wipe out West’s Under 13 and Under 18 matches against Greenock on Monday 4th
June. At least we managed a useful practice session for all age groups.
On Friday 4th June, West Under 11s picked up more points by beating Kelburne
at Hamilton Crescent. Kelburne are struggling to put out a team at this age
group and by prior arrangement conceded the points but travelled with an
Under 13 squad of six players. Your scribe elected not to alert his team to
this agreement, so the outcome was doubly pleasing as Wheel’s Suitably
Hatted Mercenaries wiped out the opposition. Callum “crasher” Roberts again
led the way with the willow, and special mention must be made of Ian
Hettle’s career best figures of 3-5. If this boy could bat, run and field,
he’d be a genuine all rounder.
The evening reached a perfect conclusion with news of West Under 15s
commanding win at Kelburne. That seemed an unlikely outcome when West’s
innings got underway as both openers were sent packing without a run to
their name. Skipper Smith and that quiet spoken chap Ross then took command
and set about establishing a match winning partnership, with Chris
eventually reaching his maiden half century. The nine man home side was
never going to chase down 130, but they managed to delay the inevitable
until the penultimate over. This West side are beginning to enjoy serial
winning.
Scores: West 130 for 4 (C Ross 50, G Smith 38)
Kelburne 71 for 8 (J Smith 29, O Habib 2-7, J Bissland 2-12)
And so to Hillhead’s Kwik Cricket festival on Sunday 10th May and West was
delighted to include Rebecca and Kaitlin from our newly formed Girls’
Section. Both girls proved their worth in another morning of fun cricket as
West beat Renfrew and Inverclyde/Hillhead, but lost to Greenock. We hope to
have even more girls in next week’s squad at Coatbridge.
28th to 3rd June 2007
On Monday 28th May, Uddingston Under 13s returned to the scene of
last week’s cup defeat, only to suffer a similar fate. Bowling first, West
Under 13s found wickets hard to come by but kept things tight, and only
Messrs Eyles and Saltwell caught the eye for the visitors. A target of 75
was never going to trouble the prodigal son, and, with the help of Andrew
Galloway and the queen bee, victory was assured with five overs to spare. A
decent all round performance, but tougher challenges await.
Scores: Uddingston 74 for 4 (D Eyles 31 ret, A Saltwell 24, M Ralston
2-23)
West 75 for 4 (A Umeed 30 ret, A Galloway 12, L
Dickson 11no)
On the same evening, West Under 18s travelled to Bothwell for the opening
league game of the season and easily disposed of the six man Uddingston
outfit. Followers of these reports will recognise this as something of an
achievement given West’s recent efforts against numerically challenged
opponents. For the moment, let us dream of a glorious victory. The scorebook
is currently outwith your scribe’s possession so the truth, and any details,
will come out in a future report.
On Friday 1st June, West enjoyed yet another visit from Uddingston.
This time it was the turn of the Bothwell club’s Under 15s to taste defeat
at the hands of West’s minors. For once, the whole top order, led by Biffer
Lloyd, fired and the result was a very satisfying 131 for 4. Despite some
resistance from D Eyles (see Under 13 match above), the outcome was never in
doubt and the visitors were routed in less than 16 overs.
Scores: West 131 for 4 (A Lloyd 38, J Bissland 24, C Ross 19)
Uddingston 52 for 8 (all out) (D Eyles 19no, C Roxburgh 2-1,
G Smith 2-10, J Bissland 2-11)
West Under 11s were the odd team out this week. As Uddingston don’t have an
Under 11 team, they had to find someone else to beat on Friday 1st June.
The selected target was Helensburgh and the troops set off for Ardencaple in
the early evening. Your scribe has rarely seen such a vicious thunderstorm
as was experienced on the journey through Dumbarton. The sky was a constant
flicker of electricity as we ploughed through flooded streets under a
bombardment of giant hailstones. The weather didn’t relent until Loch Lomond
appeared in front of us, but bizarrely, the storms had by passed Helensburgh
and the match was played in lovely evening sunshine, under a haze of less
lovely evening midges. While the storm was undoubtedly the highlight of the
night, West’s all round performance was not far behind, and the
spectacularly multi hatted Partick boys thoroughly deserved their first win
of the season. Batting first, each West partnership contributed to the
cause, with Callum Roberts and Alex Ewing proving particularly productive.
Helensburgh’s response never got going as five wickets fell in five overs.
The skipper was “wheely” mean, taking 3 wickets for 1 run in his four overs.
The supporting cast all did their job, and the kids all discovered the art
of fielding was so much easier, thanks to their new visual aids. The next
step will be to have them wearing matching caps, but the present motley
display is the first step of a long journey.
Scores: West 277 (D York 2-15, J Keating 2-19)
Helensburgh 218 (I Wheel 3-1, B Terrell 2-7, C Roberts 1-8)
The all too prevalent rain returned on Sunday 3rd June, putting paid to the
Greenock Kwik Cricket Festival.
21st to 27th May
On Monday 21st May, West Under 11s visited one of those environs to
take on Ferguslie in a match that had been abandoned earlier in the month.
This time, the home outfit batted first and Brinley Terrell set them back on
their heels with a couple of miserly overs and two wickets. However this is
a very strong Ferguslie team that is looking to emulate its success as
league winners last year and some powerful batting saw them reach a daunting
292, scoring 112 runs for only 4 wickets. Brinley was the outstanding bowler
but everyone played his part. Unfortunately, the ground fielding continues
to be a concern (or should that be disgrace). Memo to the boys: You all have
headgear. Why did only one player wear a cap on a sunny evening with the sun
low in the sky? Think about it. The West reply started disastrously, with 5
wickets falling in the first 4 overs. The subsequent fight back to
respectability was therefore the “positive” that the boys will take from
this match, but the outcome was still a comfortable win for Ferguslie. One
of the “negatives” was probably young Donnelly’s dissent at being adjudged
run out by your umpire scribe. Yet again choosing to ignore everything he
has been taught over the last few years, he was actually running with his
bat held daintily in a vertical position about two feet above the ground. At
least he won’t get it dirty. Your scribe sometimes thinks that young Tom’s
ears are only there to stop his cap falling over his eyes; except he doesn’t
wear his cap.
Scores: Ferguslie 292 (E Rousen 16no, R McCrae 14no, B Terrell 3-10)
West 229 (A Preston-Jones 4-9, M Addie 2-10)
On the same evening, Ferguslie completed the double as their Under 13s came
to Hamilton Crescent and won a close encounter against West Under 13s. Poor
fielding contributed to this defeat for the homesters as catches were
spilled and run out opportunities spurned right, left, and centre. Ferguslie
started relatively cautiously but kept wickets intact. This allowed them to
push on and after 14 overs, the total was 64 for 1. Led by Messrs Galloway
and Habib, however, West started to make inroads and Ferguslie finished on
94 for 7. West’s response was led by Andrew Galloway, but he received very
little support, until Graham Roberts held the middle order together.
However, when six players get ducks, you are unlikely to win, and so it was
for West, who were all out in the last over, still 11 runs short. The home
team was not at full strength, but it was still a disappointment to drop
points at this stage of the season.
Scores: Ferguslie 94 for 7 (M English 30ret, J Rutnagur 19, S Habib 2-5, A
Galloway 2-8)
West 83 all out (A Galloway 30ret, G Roberts 16, D Sarodi
4-8, C Armour 3-10)
West Under 13s had an early chance to bounce back as they hosted Uddingston
on Tuesday 22nd May in the Under 13 National Cup Competition. West
won the toss and batted first. The team was even weaker than the previous
evening, so there was considerable alarm, as some of the more experienced
batsmen threw their wickets away to leave West at 29 for 4 in the seventh
over. Thank goodness for the queen bee who batted superbly and marshalled
the remaining batsmen, all of whom deserve praise for their part in the
recovery. Although Lynne was out in the last over, West finished with a
respectable total. Uddingston’s reply started strongly, with Messrs Eyles
and Greenshields dispatching the ball to all parts. However, at 34 for 0 in
the sixth over, who should come to West’s rescue but the queen bee again.
The dangerous Eyles was clean bowled, and although the away batsmen
continued to bat well, pressure in the field meant they were dropping behind
the run rate. West nibbled away with wickets at critical times, including a
direct hit run out from the boundary by skipper Miro Ralston. Who would have
thought that his horrendous mis-field was actually part of a cunning plan?
The match finished with West taking victory by 9 runs and the teams will
resume battle next week in the league.
Scores: West 117 all out (L Dickson 28, A Graves 10, D Eyles 3-9, G Main
2-11)
Uddingston 108 for 7 (J Greenshields 24, D Eyles 19, G Blake
12, I Habib 1-8)
On Friday 25th May, West Under 18s started their season with a home
tie against GHK in the Frank Smith Trophy. Following recent tradition, West
promptly exited the competition in the first round, due in the main to
batting poorly against a disciplined GHK bowling attack. It all started so
well as, after being inserted, West progressed at a run a ball for the first
four overs. Then came an all too familiar batting collapse. Cammy Gibb has
perfected a shot unique to him, where all in one movement, and on the walk,
his bat moves from high backswing through an arc, not quite in line with the
ball, just enough for a nick, and follows through to finish tucked under his
arm, and the walk continues all the way to the pavilion. That was followed
all too quickly by Messrs Ralston and Thorpe getting bowled on the back foot
when they should have been forward. Liam Howgate rode his luck to keep the
score moving and Alfie Lloyd started to put bat to ball, but the match
changed in the pivotal twelfth over. West had GHK rattled as 12 runs came
off the first four balls. Instead of settling for that, Messrs Lloyd and
Ross then gave their wickets away in horrendous fashion to the next two
balls. Advantage GHK! Liam and the tail carried on as best they could, but
the damage was done and 95 was a poor result on a super batting surface.
GHK responded very positively, with an opening stand of 60 from Messrs
Alcock and Thomson in 11 overs. Ian Thomson was particularly impressive and
it was his unbeaten half century that eventually won the game in the last
over as West produced an impressive fight back in the field. This fightback
almost pulled the game out of the fire, but GHK just made it over the line.
For the upcoming league campaign, West must take heart from, and build on,
the fighting spirit in the field, and they must learn from their batting
errors and play in a more disciplined from now on. Hopefully, it is just an
early season transition from indoor practice, where batters can play back
foot shots, to outdoor cricket in May/June, where the same ball requires the
batter to get on the front foot.
Scores: West 95 for 8 (L Howgate 23, C Gibb 16, A Lloyd 16, I Hussain
2-16, U Afzal 2-19)
GHK 97 for 4 (I Thomson 55no, S Alcock 26, O Thorpe 2-23)
And so to Ayr on Sunday 27th May, as the Under 10 Kwik Cricket season
finally got underway. Although it was a cold morning, there was only one
brief shower of rain and that was not enough to stop the entertainment. West
pitched up with a squad of five players, and promptly amalgamated with the
Clydesdale five to play against Prestwick. In turn, Prestwick adopted two
Renfrew players to make it ten a side and proceeded to hammer the
West/Clydesdale combo. Normal hostilities were then resumed as the second
fixture saw West take on and soundly thrash the Clydesdale five. As thoughts
drifted towards the burgers being provided by our generous hosts, the kids
had to endure one last match. This time, West’s titans were assisted by the
aforementioned Renfrew two and a spare Ayr lad, and this produced a team
that comfortably dismissed the challenge of a youthful Kilmarnock side. Two
wins out of three meant the burgers tasted even better. Next week, West will
have a bigger squad available for the trip to Greenock.
14th to 20th May
On Monday 14th May our Under 13 guests from Ferguslie had just
arrived at West when the heavens opened. On Wednesday 16th May, our first
Girls’ Coaching Session was washed out, although it was pleasing that eight
new recruits came along despite the conditions. We will try again on 29th
May.
On Friday, the Under 11 and Under 15 double header against East
Kilbride also fell victim to the elements, although your scribe knows for a
certainty that, had the weather been alright, one of the games would still
have been off because East Kilbride had selected 5 or 6 of their Under 11s
to play for the Under 15s!
To cap a great week, the first Under 10 Kwik Cricket festival of the season,
scheduled for Sunday 20th May at Helensburgh, was abandoned due to a
waterlogged pitch.
And so to some actual cricket.
On Tuesday 15th May, West Under 15s hosted Prestwick in the Portman
BS Cup match, postponed from the previous week. The visitors batted first
and, with the aid of some horrendously erratic bowling and indifferent
fielding, finished with a challenging total of 109 for 7. It was a poor half
of cricket really, but the second half was a complete contrast. Prestwick
bowled much better than West but West’s batsmen, especially Chris Ross and
Andrew Umeed, rose to the occasion. Chris in particular played one of his
best ever innings, with an array of attacking shots on both sides of the
wicket. With victory in sight, both boys fell, and panic gripped the home
side. The last over began with West needing four to win with five wickets
left. Three runs were scrambled off the first four balls. With the scores
tied, West were in a winning position because they had lost fewer wickets,
but the players in the middle were unaware of the position. The penultimate
ball saw Harry Prince bowled trying to heave the ball away for the winning
run. Enter Ramesh to face the last ball. Before going in, Ramesh was told
exactly what the situation was, i.e. “We have won if you don’t get out to
this ball. Just block it.” Ramesh, who was later to claim that he thought
there were five balls left, promptly patted the last ball back to the bowler
and charged off mindlessly towards the other end. (Just a thought but this
all too common lack of awareness amongst those of our players whose seat of
learning is at Old Anniesland makes one wonder if CDR Mair might be taking
money under false pretences.) The resulting run out gave Prestwick a seventh
wicket and your scribe an apoplectic fit. As managers and umpires then
examined the scorebooks, it became clear that West had scraped through as a
result of the “countback” rule. The home team’s score at the end of the 19th
over had been four more than Prestwick’s at the same stage. It couldn’t have
been much closer but this was West Under 15s first win for over a year, and
all the sweeter for that. It augurs well for a better year, especially as
this result was achieved without skipper, Gavin Smith, and wicket keeper
Alfie Lloyd.
Scores: Prestwick 109 for 7 (F Rodger 23, A Donald 18, O Habib 2-20)
West 109 for 7 (C Ross 39, A Umeed 22, R Patterson
2-21)
West win on countback and will now host Greenock or Drumpellier in the next
round.
If the weather relents, we will try to tackle the fixture backlog by
playing Under 11 and Under 13 matches against Ferguslie on Monday, and the
Under 13s have a home cup tie against Uddingston on Tuesday. Then it’s time
for the big boys to start their season with an Under 18 Frank Smith Trophy
match against GHK on Friday, and on Sunday, the kwik cricket circus rolls in
to Ayr.
Remember last week’s forecast? Well:
Monday 7th May. It was a dark and stormy night everywhere. So no
Under 13 match at Kelburne.
Tuesday 8th May. It was a dull and damp night in Glasgow. So no Under
15 match against Prestwick.
Thursday 10th May. It was a wet and windy night in Glasgow. So no
Under 13 match against Uddingston.
Friday 11th May. It was a dry but cold and overcast night in Glasgow.
However, the wicket was still a pudding so no Under 15 match against
Ferguslie.
Friday 11th May. It was monsoon time in Paisley. So West Under 11s
played Ferguslie. Bizarre! However, the rains eventually won after 9 overs
and the game was abandoned with West on 30 for 1, or 225 as we tell the
kids.
The joys of cricket in Scotland.
Once more, the coming week should be busy with junior matches on Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, but the weather forecast is less than
encouraging.
The other highlight of the coming week is West’s first dedicated girls’
cricket night on Wednesday.
Friday 27th April 2007. It was a dark and stormy night. Well no,
actually, the sun was splitting the sky and the heat was wonderfully welcome
for late April, but still West’s hosts, Hillhead, found a way to cancel the
first Under 11 fixture of the season. Apparently, our Hughenden neighbours
were blissfully unaware the cricket season was starting and their ground was
“under prepared”. “So what’s new?” mused your scribe. “Why scrub this game
in particular?”
So, a normal start to a West junior season was endured, i.e. your scribe and
his better half set off to enjoy a few libations in the West End.
The season finally started in earnest on Monday 30th April, when West Under
13s welcomed Glasgow Accies to the home of cricket.
Last season West Under 13s closed their campaign with a solid win at Accies,
and in a nice piece of symmetry, they produced a similar performance and
result to kick off 2007. To boost their ranks this year, West were pleased
to welcome Andrew Umeed back to his spiritual home. The player formerly
known as Judas in previous reports will henceforth be referred to as the
prodigal son. That being said, Andrew’s first contribution with the willow
was shortlived. However, this did not stop West, led by excellent
contributions from skipper Miro Ralston, Andrew Galloway, Lynne Dickson and
Graham Roberts, from setting a challenging score. Although Accies matched
the run rate for the first half of their reply, they lost too many wickets
and a home win was soon secured. Newcomer Scott MacAulay was the pick of
the home bowlers.
Scores: West 111 for 4 (M Ralston 32ret, L Dickson 17, G Roberts 14no,
A Galloway 13)
GA 67 all out (C Allen 13, S McAulay 3-7, M Ralston 3-13, A
Umeed 2-14))
On to Friday 4th May and a familiar occurrence. A double whipping
from our southside rivals Poloc.
West Under 15s made the short journey to the picturesque Poloc ground and
were making comfortable progress at 45 for 1 off 10 overs when Poloc
produced their “ned” diversion tactic. A full scale ned v ned gang fight
broke out in the park, leading to all sorts of mayhem and the intervention
of the local constabulary. This apparently normal spectator sport at
Shawholm had no effect on the homesters, but for the shellshocked (as
opposed to shellsuited) West boys, this was a major intrusion on their
cosseted sense of normality. Quickly, they subsided to 61 all out and Poloc
cruised to a well deserved win. Alfie Lloyd kept tidily on his West debut,
picking up a catch and a stumping to make the result a little more
respectable.
Scores: West 61 all out (A Umeed 21,A Lloyd 20, U Amin 3-9, S Hafeez
3-10))
Poloc 62 for 3 (D Chaudry 28, A Umeed 2-8, G Smith 1-10)
Meanwhile, at Hamilton Crescent, Poloc completed the double with a
relatively easy win against West’s Wheelers. At the end of last season,
Bridget, better known as mum of Max and Miro, kindly donated three brand new
bats to the juniors. Our extremely caring Under 11s obviously intend to look
after these new acquisitions. Out of a total of 72, 5 runs were scored off
the bat, and one of those was an overthrow. The positives to be taken from
the first half were that we only lost 4 wickets and the forward defensive
shot has been perfected. Poloc, by contrast, laid bat to ball, perhaps
because West bowled straighter, and won the game with plenty to spare.
Second half positives were that West took 8 wickets and gave away relatively
few extras. On the downside, with the exception of Alex Ewing, the fielding
was horrendous. Unfortunately, Alex only came along to watch his big brother
play, but ended up fielding for Poloc, who were a player short!
Scores: West 252 (J Singh 1-6, W Saeed 1-9)
Poloc 295 (S Saleem 18no, I Wheel 3-20, C Ewing 2-24)
The coming week should be busy with junior matches on Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday, and Friday, but the weather forecast is less than encouraging.
© West of Scotland
Cricket Club 2006
At West's Junior Section Awards evening on Monday 17th December, the
following trophies were presented for season 2007:
Junior Player of the Year, recipient of the TW Kerr Prize, and also Under 13
Player of the Year: GRAHAM ROBERTS
Under 10 Player of the Year: JONATHAN MOTT
Under 11 Player of the Year: BRINLEY TERRELL
Under 15 Player of the Year: GAVIN SMITH
Under 18 Player of the Year: OWEN THORPE
Junior Team of the Year: UNDER 15s
Special Achievement Award: ANDREW UMEED
Sensational news for followers of West juniors! For the first time in many a
moon, this week saw West win all their league fixtures at every age group.
Your hallucinating scribe will provide the details.
A little bit of history was made on Tuesday 29th May when West held
its first junior coaching evening for girls. Enthusiasm was high and a
second session will follow shortly. Hopefully, we will have a girls’ team
playing kwik cricket on Sunday mornings before long.
The most surprising feature of this week was that West juniors’ matches all
actually took place as we finally saw a bit of sporadic sunshine in Glasgow
and the environs.
Another week of miserable weather prevented much cricket being played this
week, the exception being a miraculously sunny Tuesday, which allowed west
Under 15s to begin their National Cup quest. Apart from that brief interlude
it was yet another week of frustration all round as the fixture backlog
mountain casts its ever increasing shadow over Hamilton Crescent.
