Clackmannan County Cricket Club

By Graeme Anderson

On Saturday the first eleven played host to Townhill, on another scorching day. Groundsman David Henderson had produced a good looking wicket, and after winning the toss the home skipper Graeme Anderson had no hesitation in choosing to bat.
The captain and Geoff Logan, headed out to bat, looking to get the innings off to a good start, and with 9 runs coming from the first over, they did just that. The two continued to play some good shots, and running well between the wicket, and brought up the 50 partnership early in the 10th over. This brought about a change to the Townhill bowling attack as the slow bowlers were introduced. Not finding much turn but bowling a nagging length was the order of the day for the visitors. This proved to be successful as the run rate slowed down throughout the next ten overs. Logan perhaps a little frustrated, miss-timed a drive and was caught at point for 36. Anderson followed on the 5th ball of the next over, having made 46. A maiden in the following over took the score to 83 for 2 from 20 overs. With Craig Black and Ken Hutchison at the crease Clackmannan were in a good position, but it also gave an opportunity for Townhill to further strangle the innings, with two new batsmen looking to settle in.
This opportunity, Townhill took, as 6 overs later that score was only 103 when Black tried to pull a delivery off his stumps, missed and was bowled for 13. Ken Hutchison was dismissed to a good catch at mid on for 8. So by the time the 30th over came along, Clackmannan were sitting on 106 with 4 wickets down.
Townhill had done well to reduce the run rate from 6 an over to a little over 3 an over. With 20 overs to go and 6 wickets in hand, Clackmannan were still looking towards the 200 mark.
Tom King and Graham Oliver stabilised the County innings, not pushing themselves too hard in the hot conditions, but keeping things simple and hitting the bad balls to the boundary. The run rate didn’t increase much, but King and Oliver guided the county to 135 from 40 overs. Some big hitting was needed in the last 10 overs, if Clackmannan were to set a good score.
The two batsmen did just that, and King passed 50 with a boundary over square leg. It was inevitable that wickets would fall and Graham Oliver departed for a well made 19, having played a key part in progressing the score to 180 before he was out.
Keith Hefer entered centre stage with 3 overs to go and after taking 4 balls to get his eye in, smashed 24 off 12 balls. The 13th ball proved to be unlucky for Keith, as he was caught in the deep on the last ball of the innings.
The innings closed with Clackmannan having made their way to 207, with 6 wickets down and Tom King on 57 not out.
After the break, Matthew Booth and Craig Black were looking to get in amongst the Townhill batsmen, and get some early wickets. After the past few games without two much joy on the wicket front that trend was to continue yet again.
Both bowlers bowled well and didn’t give away any easy runs, however Townhill were reluctant to offer many shots in return for their efforts. Only 20 runs were scored from the first 10 overs, with the only wicket to fall being Keith Battle bowled by Black for 2.
The slow scoring continued throughout the next 10 overs, until with Townhill now on 40. Having replaced Black in the 14th over, Rizwan Ashraf took the wicket of Andy Pringle, bowled for 8. Booth had bowled his full 10 overs, straight from the start. A great effort in hot conditions, he finished giving away only 22 runs, including 4 maidens in a good spell of bowling.
Keith Hefer replaced Booth, and the Townhill run rate soon increased, as Hynd and Murray hit several boundaries from both he and Ashraf. Ashraf was very unlucky on several occasions at the beginning of his spell. Bowling wicket to wicket, with the ball skidding through, both batsmen found it difficult to get bat to ball. By 30 overs Townhill had moved to 80. With 2 wickets down, Townhill had put themselves into a similar position to Clackmannan at the same stage of their innings. Clackmannan were slipping dangerously onto the back foot, frustrated by a lack of wickets and tired mentally as a result of the slow scoring.
Having bowled 9 overs, Ashraf was replaced by Anderson. However good running from the Townhill batsmen brought them a further 60 runs from the next 10 overs, moving them to 141 from 40 overs with no wickets falling.
Hefer was replaced by Black after bowling his 10 overs without a wicket, who like Booth earlier, was extremely unlucky. Black struck immediately, dismissing Alan Childs(39) with the last ball of the 41st over.
The second over from Black was more expensive, with 9 coming from it, putting Townhill on 157 with 7 overs remaining. Needing 50 runs from 42 balls, Townhills John Hynd, having made a very sensible and hard fought 71, skied one off the bowling of Anderson, which was gladly taken by wicketkeeper Logan.
Townhill were targeting the bowling of Anderson, but Black was making up for this at the other end keeping things tight and knocking over the off stump of Townhills Neil Duguaid (2).
Townhill, needed 41 runs from 30 balls as Anderson entered his 8th Over. Townhills Jeremy Murray, who earlier spent a spell on the sidelines having top edged one into his face off Ashraf, was looking solid at the wicket, and hoiking every ball he could to the leg side boundary. Having hit 10 runs from the first 4 balls, another skier went out towards deep square leg. Graham Oliver took a brilliant catch, the youngster moving some 15 to 20 yards in and to his right before diving full stretch to hold on to the ball.
The next over from Black was a double wicket maiden, as he made a big dent in the wickets column. Anderson was able to restrict Townhill to only 5 from his next over, to leave them needing 25 from 12 balls.
Ashraf returned for his last over and apart from a no ball which was hit for 4, and a single the over passed without much drama. So Townhill needed 18 from the last 6 balls, which they had a very good go at, managing to get 12.
So after a long hard day and two contrasting styles of play, Clackmannan had won by 6 runs. Black was the pick of the bowlers with 5 wickets for 20 runs from his 10 overs. Next week Clackmannan are playing against Watsonians third eleven at the Arns.

Match Report
Clackmannan County 1st XI v Townhill 1st XI
Click here to view scorecard
Date 7/6/2008	Venue The Arns	Result Win for CCCC	Weather Hot & Sunny
By Graeme Anderson On Saturday the first eleven played host to Townhill, on another scorching day. Groundsman David Henderson had produced a good looking wicket, and after winning the toss the home skipper Graeme Anderson had no hesitation in choosing to bat. The captain and Geoff Logan, headed out to bat, looking to get the innings off to a good start, and with 9 runs coming from the first over, they did just that. The two continued to play some good shots, and running well between the wicket, and brought up the 50 partnership early in the 10th over. This brought about a change to the Townhill bowling attack as the slow bowlers were introduced. Not finding much turn but bowling a nagging length was the order of the day for the visitors. This proved to be successful as the run rate slowed down throughout the next ten overs. Logan perhaps a little frustrated, miss-timed a drive and was caught at point for 36. Anderson followed on the 5th ball of the next over, having made 46. A maiden in the following over took the score to 83 for 2 from 20 overs. With Craig Black and Ken Hutchison at the crease Clackmannan were in a good position, but it also gave an opportunity for Townhill to further strangle the innings, with two new batsmen looking to settle in. This opportunity, Townhill took, as 6 overs later that score was only 103 when Black tried to pull a delivery off his stumps, missed and was bowled for 13. Ken Hutchison was dismissed to a good catch at mid on for 8. So by the time the 30th over came along, Clackmannan were sitting on 106 with 4 wickets down. Townhill had done well to reduce the run rate from 6 an over to a little over 3 an over. With 20 overs to go and 6 wickets in hand, Clackmannan were still looking towards the 200 mark. Tom King and Graham Oliver stabilised the County innings, not pushing themselves too hard in the hot conditions, but keeping things simple and hitting the bad balls to the boundary. The run rate didn’t increase much, but King and Oliver guided the county to 135 from 40 overs. Some big hitting was needed in the last 10 overs, if Clackmannan were to set a good score. The two batsmen did just that, and King passed 50 with a boundary over square leg. It was inevitable that wickets would fall and Graham Oliver departed for a well made 19, having played a key part in progressing the score to 180 before he was out. Keith Hefer entered centre stage with 3 overs to go and after taking 4 balls to get his eye in, smashed 24 off 12 balls. The 13th ball proved to be unlucky for Keith, as he was caught in the deep on the last ball of the innings. The innings closed with Clackmannan having made their way to 207, with 6 wickets down and Tom King on 57 not out. After the break, Matthew Booth and Craig Black were looking to get in amongst the Townhill batsmen, and get some early wickets. After the past few games without two much joy on the wicket front that trend was to continue yet again. Both bowlers bowled well and didn’t give away any easy runs, however Townhill were reluctant to offer many shots in return for their efforts. Only 20 runs were scored from the first 10 overs, with the only wicket to fall being Keith Battle bowled by Black for 2. The slow scoring continued throughout the next 10 overs, until with Townhill now on 40. Having replaced Black in the 14th over, Rizwan Ashraf took the wicket of Andy Pringle, bowled for 8. Booth had bowled his full 10 overs, straight from the start. A great effort in hot conditions, he finished giving away only 22 runs, including 4 maidens in a good spell of bowling. Keith Hefer replaced Booth, and the Townhill run rate soon increased, as Hynd and Murray hit several boundaries from both he and Ashraf. Ashraf was very unlucky on several occasions at the beginning of his spell. Bowling wicket to wicket, with the ball skidding through, both batsmen found it difficult to get bat to ball. By 30 overs Townhill had moved to 80. With 2 wickets down, Townhill had put themselves into a similar position to Clackmannan at the same stage of their innings. Clackmannan were slipping dangerously onto the back foot, frustrated by a lack of wickets and tired mentally as a result of the slow scoring. Having bowled 9 overs, Ashraf was replaced by Anderson. However good running from the Townhill batsmen brought them a further 60 runs from the next 10 overs, moving them to 141 from 40 overs with no wickets falling. Hefer was replaced by Black after bowling his 10 overs without a wicket, who like Booth earlier, was extremely unlucky. Black struck immediately, dismissing Alan Childs(39) with the last ball of the 41st over. The second over from Black was more expensive, with 9 coming from it, putting Townhill on 157 with 7 overs remaining. Needing 50 runs from 42 balls, Townhills John Hynd, having made a very sensible and hard fought 71, skied one off the bowling of Anderson, which was gladly taken by wicketkeeper Logan. Townhill were targeting the bowling of Anderson, but Black was making up for this at the other end keeping things tight and knocking over the off stump of Townhills Neil Duguaid (2). Townhill, needed 41 runs from 30 balls as Anderson entered his 8th Over. Townhills Jeremy Murray, who earlier spent a spell on the sidelines having top edged one into his face off Ashraf, was looking solid at the wicket, and hoiking every ball he could to the leg side boundary. Having hit 10 runs from the first 4 balls, another skier went out towards deep square leg. Graham Oliver took a brilliant catch, the youngster moving some 15 to 20 yards in and to his right before diving full stretch to hold on to the ball. The next over from Black was a double wicket maiden, as he made a big dent in the wickets column. Anderson was able to restrict Townhill to only 5 from his next over, to leave them needing 25 from 12 balls. Ashraf returned for his last over and apart from a no ball which was hit for 4, and a single the over passed without much drama. So Townhill needed 18 from the last 6 balls, which they had a very good go at, managing to get 12. So after a long hard day and two contrasting styles of play, Clackmannan had won by 6 runs. Black was the pick of the bowlers with 5 wickets for 20 runs from his 10 overs. Next week Clackmannan are playing against Watsonians third eleven at the Arns.