Clackmannan County Cricket Club

By Scott Malcolmson

Clackmannan travelled to Corstorphine, Gyle. Corstorphine won the toss and elected to bowl.
Clackmannan usual opening pairing of Neil Ramsay and Dan Smith got Clackmannan off to a solid start befoe Smith was caught for 17 off the bowling of McConnachie. Ramsay(9) soon followed and this left two new batsmen in Ken Hutchinson and Scott Malcolmson at the crease.
West replaced McConnachie, who had Malcolmson brilliantly caught by Arun Jay, with the ball travelling to the fielders right he stuck out his hand and the ball stuck. Paddy Mitchell was next in and out bowled by Jay for one.
Hutchison and Nick Bryant-Nichols started to repair the damage before Hutchison who was playing well was caught off a full toss to give Jay his second wicket. After his heroics last week Greig Taylor came back down to earth with a bang, bowled for 5 after playing onto his stumps via his bat and then pad.
Bryant-Nichols was holding the innings together playing a mixture of unexpected defensive shots while putting away the bad ball in his usual swashbuckling manner. Alistair Band was next in but only lasted a few overs before playing around a straight ball, out lbw. Alison Ramsay joined Bryant-Nichols and helped tick the scoreboard along before she was out to a juggled catch.
Muktar Ahmed came in and only lasted a few balls before he was caught at slip. Young Blair Campbell was last man in and helped Bryant-Nichols to his well earned 50. Blair played two excellent cut shots that raced to the boundary and finished on 9 not out while Bryant-Nichols ended up on 53 not out after the allocated 40 overs.
After a nice outdoor tea, Clackmannan felt confident after amassing 148. This confidence soon evaporated after the Corstorphine 2 openers raced to 33 off the first 6 overs. Chances were coming with both batsmen offering opportunities. Jay was dropped off the 3rd ball of the first over with the score on nought. Lawrie edged Band several times through the slip area.
RHC soon gained control of the game, Bryant-Nichols replaced injured strike bowler Ramsay and Ahmed replaced the ineffective Band. Ahmed was taken to the cleaners with 23 runs coming off his 3 overs. Bryant-Nichols was faring better at the other end but both batsmen were starting to hit the boundary with regularity.
With Clackmannan struggling with the wet footing disaster struck when Band rolled over his ankle in a rabbit hole in the outfield and had to leave the field. Band was replaced by scorer Morven Ross.
With no breakthrough in sight skipper Malcolmson brought himself on and this worked a treat as Lawrie was out lbw to a straight ball for 43. West was next in for RHC and was run out in the next over off the bowling off Mitchell after composed work by Bryant-Nichols at point. A superb pick up and throw allowed Taylor to whip the bails off for Clackmannans second wicket.
Malcolmson struck again soon afterwards after the batsman played a defensive shot which rolled back and hit the stumps. This brought RHC skipper Moore to the crease who after a few lusty blows was eventually bowled by Mitchell.
At this point RHC had the run rate at over 5 an over. Jay was dropped on 48 and next ball brought up his fifty. RHC brought up victory at the end of the 29th over WITH Jay unbeaten on 67.
Clackmannan will look back and wonder how the game might have turned out but for that 30 minutes of rain that made bowling and fielding difficult. Well done to RHC.

Match Report
Corstorphine 3 v Clackmannan County 2nd XI
Click here to view scorecard
Date 14/6/2008	Venue The Gyle	Result lost	Weather Scottish
By Scott Malcolmson Clackmannan travelled to Corstorphine, Gyle. Corstorphine won the toss and elected to bowl. Clackmannan usual opening pairing of Neil Ramsay and Dan Smith got Clackmannan off to a solid start befoe Smith was caught for 17 off the bowling of McConnachie. Ramsay(9) soon followed and this left two new batsmen in Ken Hutchinson and Scott Malcolmson at the crease. West replaced McConnachie, who had Malcolmson brilliantly caught by Arun Jay, with the ball travelling to the fielders right he stuck out his hand and the ball stuck. Paddy Mitchell was next in and out bowled by Jay for one. Hutchison and Nick Bryant-Nichols started to repair the damage before Hutchison who was playing well was caught off a full toss to give Jay his second wicket. After his heroics last week Greig Taylor came back down to earth with a bang, bowled for 5 after playing onto his stumps via his bat and then pad. Bryant-Nichols was holding the innings together playing a mixture of unexpected defensive shots while putting away the bad ball in his usual swashbuckling manner. Alistair Band was next in but only lasted a few overs before playing around a straight ball, out lbw. Alison Ramsay joined Bryant-Nichols and helped tick the scoreboard along before she was out to a juggled catch. Muktar Ahmed came in and only lasted a few balls before he was caught at slip. Young Blair Campbell was last man in and helped Bryant-Nichols to his well earned 50. Blair played two excellent cut shots that raced to the boundary and finished on 9 not out while Bryant-Nichols ended up on 53 not out after the allocated 40 overs. After a nice outdoor tea, Clackmannan felt confident after amassing 148. This confidence soon evaporated after the Corstorphine 2 openers raced to 33 off the first 6 overs. Chances were coming with both batsmen offering opportunities. Jay was dropped off the 3rd ball of the first over with the score on nought. Lawrie edged Band several times through the slip area. RHC soon gained control of the game, Bryant-Nichols replaced injured strike bowler Ramsay and Ahmed replaced the ineffective Band. Ahmed was taken to the cleaners with 23 runs coming off his 3 overs. Bryant-Nichols was faring better at the other end but both batsmen were starting to hit the boundary with regularity. With Clackmannan struggling with the wet footing disaster struck when Band rolled over his ankle in a rabbit hole in the outfield and had to leave the field. Band was replaced by scorer Morven Ross. With no breakthrough in sight skipper Malcolmson brought himself on and this worked a treat as Lawrie was out lbw to a straight ball for 43. West was next in for RHC and was run out in the next over off the bowling off Mitchell after composed work by Bryant-Nichols at point. A superb pick up and throw allowed Taylor to whip the bails off for Clackmannans second wicket. Malcolmson struck again soon afterwards after the batsman played a defensive shot which rolled back and hit the stumps. This brought RHC skipper Moore to the crease who after a few lusty blows was eventually bowled by Mitchell. At this point RHC had the run rate at over 5 an over. Jay was dropped on 48 and next ball brought up his fifty. RHC brought up victory at the end of the 29th over WITH Jay unbeaten on 67. Clackmannan will look back and wonder how the game might have turned out but for that 30 minutes of rain that made bowling and fielding difficult. Well done to RHC.