With beautiful sunshine forecast for the week, hopes are high that all three teams games will go ahead as planned this weekend, as well as the U13 match at the Arns tomorrow! The 1st XI travel to play Edinburgh CC whilst the 2nd XI host table-topping Tranent at the Arns. Sunday sees the Alloa XI travel to Dollar for a friendly. All selections can be found here.

The season witnessed it's first wash out this weekend, no team in action. President Henderson's birthday weekend marred by torrential rain! Onwards and upwards to next weekend! The Junior U13 Team has their first game this Wednesday, playing Kinross U13's at the Arns, starting at 6.30pm. Juniors that are playing are asked to arrive at 6pm, to allow Ando time to get everything sorted! Ando has prepared a quick guide on junior gear and what to look for, the file can be downloaded here. Keep an eye on the junior section as it's being updated regularly with fixtures and information!

Well, four weeks into the season and I've already run out of generic titles for the news bits. Still taking bets on how many reports will have the phrase "captains innings needed" in it at some point, Blair added to the tally with his report from Sunday! As for cricket, all three teams have fixtures again. The 1st XI travel to Dunnikier whilst the 2nd XI host OCCC at the Arns. Sunday sees the Alloa XI on the road for a third consecutive week, this time trailing to St. Andrews to play St. Andews Uni Staff. Selection can be found here. Thursday sees the annual Primary School Kwik Cricket tournament at the Arns, anyone available to help out would be greatly appreciated. Come along and support your primary school, or if you were fortunate enough to be educated outwith Clackmannanshire, just back any random team or join me in supporting Team Sunnyside.

Well, for the first time this season, both XI's played on a Saturday. Unfortunately, neither team were able to claim a victory, both losing fairly comprehensively to their respective borders teams. The 1st XI lost by 7 wickets at the Arns. Batting first, Clacks were all out for 138 (A. Rasul 33*). Gala chased the total down with around 12 overs to spare for the loss of three wickets (R. Ashraf 1 for 23) (Scorecard | Report). The 2nd XI ventured down to play Hawick and Milton. Batting first with 10 bodies, Clacks were all out for 57 (N. Bryant-Nichols 24, A. Alamgir 22). Hawick made quick and easy work of the total, winning by 8 wickets (K. Dodds 1 for 19) (Scorecard | Report). Sunday saw the Alloa XI win again at Rossie Priory. After being bowled out cheaply for 72 (B. Campbell 24), Blair's side were able to bowl Rossie Priory out for 31 (K. Dodds 4 for 2) (Scorecard | Report).

This years school kwik cricket comp will be held down the Arns on the 16th May from 11am - 2pm. A total of 17 teams have entered and the winners will go to the national finals in Perth. Any club members that are free on this date and fancy helping out are more than welcome to come down and help with the organising of games, setting up the pitches, umpiring etc. Asda Alloa will also be helping out. Ando also has a couple of fixtures lined up for the juniors already, those can be found here!

Week three of the seasons fixtures and we're still waiting for a magical weekend with all teams in action! Much like the previous two weeks, all three teams have fixtures but the weather may prove their downfall yet again. The 1st XI host Gala at the Arns, looking to build on their solid week one win over West Lothian. In a Borders theme, the 2nd XI head down to Hawick for their game. On Sunday, the Alloa XI travel to Rossie Priory. Team selections are up and can be found here.

The more observant amongst us may have noticed the new "Parkside Driving School Man of the Match Awards" section I've added just above this piece of news. If not, here's a link to the page - updated after week 2 fixtures! Basically, it'll highlight the best player each week for each team. It was Buna's idea and I think it's a good incentive for those playing each weekend. Man of the match will be chosen by the captain or whoever writes the reports! On a cricketing front, all three teams should be in action this weekend (again!). Once again, I jinxed the prospect of all three teams playing. The 1st XI game against Fauldhouse was called off on Friday - Fauldhouse ground was unplayable. The 2nd XI hosted Heriots 3rd XI at the Arns but were unable to claim a victory, as Heroits scored 153 (N. Bryant-Nichols 5 for 24) before Clacks were all out for 99 (N. Bryant-Nichols 24) (Scorecard | Report). Sunday saw the Alloa XI travel to Bannockburn to play St. Modans, batting first Clacks scored 198 (T. Mehboob 60) before bowling St. Modans out for 99 (D. Crumpton 3 for 22) (Scorecard | Report).

The first big weekend of the season didn't turn out to be as big as promised. Strathmore cancelled the friendly against the Alloa XI on the Sunday and the 2nd XI had to pull out of their game against Melrose due to a lack of numbers. This left the 1st XI's game against West Lothian 2nd XI as the only fixture to be played this weekend. Thankfully, the sun was out and both teams were raring to go, with Clacks being put in to bat after Noor lost the toss. Things were looking ominous for Clacks as they struggled to 31/4 after about 20 overs. An excellent innings from Graeme Anderson (64) and some valuable runs from Zeb (26) and Buna (12*) down the order helped Clacks recover to post a total of 153. The Clacks bowling attack proved too good for West Lothian, no batsmen making it to double figures and Clacks bowling them out for 55 (K. Hefer 4 for 15, R. Ashraf 3 for 5), giving Noor and co a comfortable 98 run victory (Scorecard | Report). An excellent start to the season for the 1st XI! Next weekend sees the 1st XI away to Fauldhouse whilst the 2nd XI host Heroits. On Sunday, the Alloa XI begin life in Division 2 - South with a trip to St. Modans.

Firstly, a huge thank you to everyone who attended the Fish and Chip Quiz Night, it was a very successful night and it was good to see the club as busy as it was! Now on to the cricket side of things, the 1st XI travelled through to Forfarshire to play Strathmore in a pre-season friendly. Clacks lost the toss and were put in to bat, but struggled and were all out for 75 (A. Alamgir 25; G. McLaren 4 for 19). Strathmore were able to chase the total down without losing a wicket, winning by 10 wickets with a score of 76 (M. Simpson 38; B. Campbell 0 for 2, K. Dodds 0 for 3) (Scorecard | Report). The 2nd XI game against SMRH was called off due to rain!

Junior convenor Graeme Anderson has been hard at work getting everything ready for the relaunch of the junior section next Friday. A group of players (Ando, Blair, Alan D and Tom) gave up their Saturday to post leaflets through doors to let people know about the club and the junior section. The leaflets were made by Wee Print, a printing company based in Menstrie, for which the club is very grateful. Ando is hoping to see an increase in the number of kids interested in and playing cricket, beginning next Friday at 6.30pm. Any senior players available are welcome to come down and help out with the coaching! All parents of kids taking part are also welcome to make use of the clubs lounge and bar and club members will be there to answer any questions they have! More details on the juniors can be found here!

A reminder that on the 19th of April, the club will be holding a fish supper quiz night. The night will cost £7 per person which includes your fish supper! Please let Buna or Marie Campbell know if you intend on coming so they can get an idea of numbers!

Next Friday (April 12th), the clubs annual pre-season players night will be held at the Arns from 7.30pm. Please make an effort to attend if you intend to play this season, even if it's just to let Noor, Nick or Blair know you intend to play! Also, outdoor practice is underway and will now be running as usual (Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6.30pm).

This afternoon, a few hardy souls helped get the nets up and ready for use. On Tuesday, there's a little bit left to do with the nets, but after that we'll hopefully be able to get some sort of training session going. If it's as cold as it was today, I'd advise people to invest in long johns or thermals! So training will be up and running as of Tuesday, at the usual time of 6.30pm!

Well, well, well, the 6 nations sweep results are in. Click here to see where you finished. Anyone who finished beneath me should feel ashamed, oh wait, that's all of you!

Well, with all fixtures now available, I felt it time to start the 2013 news and archive the previous items! All fixtures can be found by clicking here! If you are lazy and want to save yourself a click or two, here are the individual links to each teams fixtures: 1st XI, 2nd XI, Alloa XI. With SPCU having been restructed into a north and south division, we now have four Sundays free throughout the season, so these dates may be filled with friendly so more fixtures will probably be announced, but all league fixtures are there! A couple of social events are in the pipeline for April, those being a Fish and Chip Quiz Night as well as the usual pre-season Players Night. More information on those events can be found on the Social Events page. Training will begin on Tuesday April 2nd, weather permitting! Players are requested to come down at some point during the previous week to help put up nets, move the sightscreens etc in preparation for the season!