Clackmannan County Cricket Club

By Graeme Anderson

On Saturday Clackmannan’s first eleven travelled to Musselburgh to take on the undefeated league leaders. With the county sitting in third position, a good contest was in store.
Losing the toss, Clackmannan were asked to bat with the opening partnership of Graeme Anderson and Geoff Logan restored. The innings got off to a slow start, as the ball nipped around off the seam, combined with some good fielding from Musselburgh, made it very hard for the openers to pick up many runs. From the first ten overs Clackmannan had managed to get to 25 without loosing any wickets.
This situation soon changed as Logan (16) was judged LBW first ball of the 11th over. This brought Craig Black to the crease who quickly got off the mark with a boundary hit straight back past the bowler. This seemed to spur Anderson on as he started to find the gaps, and as the openers were replaced the run rate raced along. With the county making it to 78 For 1 after 20 overs.
The pair continued to make good progress until Anderson(32) was caught by the bowler, with the score on 109, from 25 overs. Gordon Oliver followed soon after, having been trapped LBW, bringing Graham Oliver to the crease. Oliver and Black produced a splendid partnership with both batsmen playing some top shots. The only chance offered by either batsmen, was by Black, who skied the ball while on 49. Fortunately for Black the fielder couldn’t hold on to it, and he was able to bring up another half century for the club. Jings more drink! The pair moved the score from 120 in the 30th over, to 179 in the 40th over.
Sadly the 40th over was to be Blacks last, having come down the wicket to attack the bowler, he missed and was stumped for a well made 79. Alan Oliver was introduced; he wasted no time in getting up to speed, but was bowled by their returning opener, having hit 8 runs off only 5 balls. This brought Keith Hefer in who took a few overs to get his eye in, and assist Oliver in seeing off the last of the opening bowler.
Taking the score to 199 from 45 overs, they achieved this goal. Oliver (33) was the next man to depart, after an excellent innings he snicked one to the keeper and sportingly walked without waiting for the umpire’s decision. Tipu Sultan followed soon after and it was up to Richard Passe to support Hefer. Hefer seems to enjoy these kind of situations, with not many overs left and runs needed. Passe worked the singles well as he gave Hefer as much of the strike as possible. Hefer was able to smash his way to 34 with four fours and two sixes. With two balls to go, Hefer was run out trying to get back on strike, meaning that Rizwan Ashraf was at the non strikers end for the last ball which Passe worked for a single. A good effort from the County batsmen as they set Musselburgh 234 to beat, having lost only 8 wickets.
After the tea break, the counties opening bowlers Ashraf and Black set about looking for a few wickets, or failing that to keep the runs down. This neither of them were able to do, as Musselburgh’s opening batsmen Bhaktor smashed every bad ball to the boundary. Black was replaced by Matthew Booth after bowling only 3 overs, and Booth suffered the same fate as his predecessor. Although he was unlucky not to remove Bhaktor with his first ball, after some lightning quick work from Wicketkeeper Logan, being denied a leg side stumping. By the tenth over Musselburgh were on 44 without the loss of any wickets, and were looking fairly comfortable.
The 11th over was bowled by Ashraf, who was doing a great job at keeping the runs down from his end. He was rewarded with the wickets of Musselburgh’s number two and three batsmen, both bowled and both in the 11th over. It was game on, and destined to be a close game from this point on.
For Musselburgh, Verma had joined Bhaktor at the crease who hadn’t changed his style of play at all. Alan Oliver replaced Ashraf, and he did a great job in containing the batsmen. Sultan replaced Booth, who had been struggling, with the batsmen unable to score from Ashraf or Oliver, he was the man they were targeting. Sultan found the same problems as Booth, as Bhaktor put both bowers to the sword. From 20 overs they had worked their way to 88 with two wickets down.
Musselburgh were pretty much tied with where Clackmannan were at the same point in the match, and the pressure was starting to show on a few of the County faces, especially when Bhaktor changed from a right to left hander and hit Oliver to the cover boundary. Oliver had started to concede a few runs, as the batsmen were figuring out how to play him. Hefer replaced Oliver, but suffered the same fate. He was quickly replaced by Ashraf at the same time as Black replaced Sultan. Who had managed to tighten things up at the end of his spell.
Bhaktor brought up his hundred, in the same way he had played the rest of the innings as the two Musselburgh batsmen had worked their way to 161 after the 30th over. Needing only 74 runs to win from 120 balls, things weren’t looking good for the County. Then Bhaktor (107) hit Black high back over his head in the direction of long on, where Graham Oliver happened to be fielding. Having run quickly to his left, Oliver took yet another astounding catch in the deep. Watching the ball coming over his left shoulder he was able to twist and take the ball on his right hand side, and was quickly congratulated by his team mates.
Quick wickets were what was needed from the county, with Black duly obliging. Having Verma(42) caught by Sultan at slip and four balls later Musselburgh’s number 6 batsmen was caught behind by Logan. Musselburgh were 186 for 5 after 35 overs, but with the dangerous Tucker at the crease, they were still the favourites. Tucker did the majority of the scoring as his partner Ullah, was content in just hanging around. When Black held onto a return catch from Tucker the county were right in amongst the tail.
At 196 for 6 from 40 overs, Black had used all of his 10 overs, finishing with 4 wickets for 36 runs, and Matthew Booth was reintroduced to the attack. Sultan had also replaced Ashraf 10 overs, 2 wickets for 39 runs.
Going into the last 10 overs, Musselburgh were needing roughly 4 runs an over which was always increasing as Ullah struggled to get the counties bowlers away. Sultan capitalised on this pressure providing a catch for Black at cover with a slow ball and then taking another wicket by knocking over leg stump. It was still 196 for 8 by the 43rd over. By now Sultan had used his full ten overs finishing with 2 wickets for only 28 runs.
Alan Oliver replaced Sultan as the batsmen had started to work a few singles, but when Oliver bowled the opposition captain Robertson with 212 on the board, it was finally looking like Clackmannan had made the game safe. As the two remaining batsmen tried to run a second to Anderson at mid off, after the ball had been skied over his head. A sharp throw back into Hefer who had come into the stumps saw the batsmen short of his ground by a long way. With Musselburgh all out for 216.
A terrific performance from the county, who had put everything into the game. Another great team performance, with everyone contributing and clearly giving their all. There was a good atmosphere after the match, as both sides enjoyed several drinks at a local bar, which isn’t something that happens too often these days. Especially after such a competitive match. Despite the victory it’s a little disappointing that some inconsistent performances, mistakes made in previous games are going to cost the club promotion this year. When the team play as they did here they are a match for any side.

Match Report
Musselburgh 1st XI v Clackmannan County 1st XI
Click here to view scorecard
Date 26/7/2008	Venue Fettes	Result Win for CCCC	Weather Sunny
By Graeme Anderson On Saturday Clackmannan’s first eleven travelled to Musselburgh to take on the undefeated league leaders. With the county sitting in third position, a good contest was in store. Losing the toss, Clackmannan were asked to bat with the opening partnership of Graeme Anderson and Geoff Logan restored. The innings got off to a slow start, as the ball nipped around off the seam, combined with some good fielding from Musselburgh, made it very hard for the openers to pick up many runs. From the first ten overs Clackmannan had managed to get to 25 without loosing any wickets. This situation soon changed as Logan (16) was judged LBW first ball of the 11th over. This brought Craig Black to the crease who quickly got off the mark with a boundary hit straight back past the bowler. This seemed to spur Anderson on as he started to find the gaps, and as the openers were replaced the run rate raced along. With the county making it to 78 For 1 after 20 overs. The pair continued to make good progress until Anderson(32) was caught by the bowler, with the score on 109, from 25 overs. Gordon Oliver followed soon after, having been trapped LBW, bringing Graham Oliver to the crease. Oliver and Black produced a splendid partnership with both batsmen playing some top shots. The only chance offered by either batsmen, was by Black, who skied the ball while on 49. Fortunately for Black the fielder couldn’t hold on to it, and he was able to bring up another half century for the club. Jings more drink! The pair moved the score from 120 in the 30th over, to 179 in the 40th over. Sadly the 40th over was to be Blacks last, having come down the wicket to attack the bowler, he missed and was stumped for a well made 79. Alan Oliver was introduced; he wasted no time in getting up to speed, but was bowled by their returning opener, having hit 8 runs off only 5 balls. This brought Keith Hefer in who took a few overs to get his eye in, and assist Oliver in seeing off the last of the opening bowler. Taking the score to 199 from 45 overs, they achieved this goal. Oliver (33) was the next man to depart, after an excellent innings he snicked one to the keeper and sportingly walked without waiting for the umpire’s decision. Tipu Sultan followed soon after and it was up to Richard Passe to support Hefer. Hefer seems to enjoy these kind of situations, with not many overs left and runs needed. Passe worked the singles well as he gave Hefer as much of the strike as possible. Hefer was able to smash his way to 34 with four fours and two sixes. With two balls to go, Hefer was run out trying to get back on strike, meaning that Rizwan Ashraf was at the non strikers end for the last ball which Passe worked for a single. A good effort from the County batsmen as they set Musselburgh 234 to beat, having lost only 8 wickets. After the tea break, the counties opening bowlers Ashraf and Black set about looking for a few wickets, or failing that to keep the runs down. This neither of them were able to do, as Musselburgh’s opening batsmen Bhaktor smashed every bad ball to the boundary. Black was replaced by Matthew Booth after bowling only 3 overs, and Booth suffered the same fate as his predecessor. Although he was unlucky not to remove Bhaktor with his first ball, after some lightning quick work from Wicketkeeper Logan, being denied a leg side stumping. By the tenth over Musselburgh were on 44 without the loss of any wickets, and were looking fairly comfortable. The 11th over was bowled by Ashraf, who was doing a great job at keeping the runs down from his end. He was rewarded with the wickets of Musselburgh’s number two and three batsmen, both bowled and both in the 11th over. It was game on, and destined to be a close game from this point on. For Musselburgh, Verma had joined Bhaktor at the crease who hadn’t changed his style of play at all. Alan Oliver replaced Ashraf, and he did a great job in containing the batsmen. Sultan replaced Booth, who had been struggling, with the batsmen unable to score from Ashraf or Oliver, he was the man they were targeting. Sultan found the same problems as Booth, as Bhaktor put both bowers to the sword. From 20 overs they had worked their way to 88 with two wickets down. Musselburgh were pretty much tied with where Clackmannan were at the same point in the match, and the pressure was starting to show on a few of the County faces, especially when Bhaktor changed from a right to left hander and hit Oliver to the cover boundary. Oliver had started to concede a few runs, as the batsmen were figuring out how to play him. Hefer replaced Oliver, but suffered the same fate. He was quickly replaced by Ashraf at the same time as Black replaced Sultan. Who had managed to tighten things up at the end of his spell. Bhaktor brought up his hundred, in the same way he had played the rest of the innings as the two Musselburgh batsmen had worked their way to 161 after the 30th over. Needing only 74 runs to win from 120 balls, things weren’t looking good for the County. Then Bhaktor (107) hit Black high back over his head in the direction of long on, where Graham Oliver happened to be fielding. Having run quickly to his left, Oliver took yet another astounding catch in the deep. Watching the ball coming over his left shoulder he was able to twist and take the ball on his right hand side, and was quickly congratulated by his team mates. Quick wickets were what was needed from the county, with Black duly obliging. Having Verma(42) caught by Sultan at slip and four balls later Musselburgh’s number 6 batsmen was caught behind by Logan. Musselburgh were 186 for 5 after 35 overs, but with the dangerous Tucker at the crease, they were still the favourites. Tucker did the majority of the scoring as his partner Ullah, was content in just hanging around. When Black held onto a return catch from Tucker the county were right in amongst the tail. At 196 for 6 from 40 overs, Black had used all of his 10 overs, finishing with 4 wickets for 36 runs, and Matthew Booth was reintroduced to the attack. Sultan had also replaced Ashraf 10 overs, 2 wickets for 39 runs. Going into the last 10 overs, Musselburgh were needing roughly 4 runs an over which was always increasing as Ullah struggled to get the counties bowlers away. Sultan capitalised on this pressure providing a catch for Black at cover with a slow ball and then taking another wicket by knocking over leg stump. It was still 196 for 8 by the 43rd over. By now Sultan had used his full ten overs finishing with 2 wickets for only 28 runs. Alan Oliver replaced Sultan as the batsmen had started to work a few singles, but when Oliver bowled the opposition captain Robertson with 212 on the board, it was finally looking like Clackmannan had made the game safe. As the two remaining batsmen tried to run a second to Anderson at mid off, after the ball had been skied over his head. A sharp throw back into Hefer who had come into the stumps saw the batsmen short of his ground by a long way. With Musselburgh all out for 216. A terrific performance from the county, who had put everything into the game. Another great team performance, with everyone contributing and clearly giving their all. There was a good atmosphere after the match, as both sides enjoyed several drinks at a local bar, which isn’t something that happens too often these days. Especially after such a competitive match. Despite the victory it’s a little disappointing that some inconsistent performances, mistakes made in previous games are going to cost the club promotion this year. When the team play as they did here they are a match for any side.