Clackmannan County Cricket Club

By Greig Taylor

A sunny, blue sky graced the Arns when Almond Valley made their way to the Arns to take on Clackmannan County 3rd XI in the next S&PCU Division 3 match. The men from Doo’Coot Park asked Clackmannan to bat.
The opening pair of Alan Oliver and Craig Black started in cautious fashion with only 11 runs coming from the first 5 overs. However, Black (13) opened his shoulders and cracked three boundaries before he was caught going for another shot with the score on 31. Graham Fraser came to the crease as he tried to continue on the form he found against Cupar. With the score only progressing to 36, AV bowler, McKenzie, removed Fraser for nought. Charlie McNish strode to the crease at number four and along with Oliver (20) took the score to 45 but unfortunately for the county skipper, he received a good ball from Iqbal and gave the keeper an easy catch. Next man in, Tippu Sultan, was a little worse from wear after his heroics the previous night. With some tight bowling, McNish and Sultan defended the good ball and dispatched the bad ball, which came very rarely. With the score on 69, Tippu Sultan top-edged a ball from Michie and it looked like it was going to be safe but a superb diving catch by Williamson ensured the number 5 was heading back to the pavilion after scoring 11 runs. Richard Passe joined McNish at the crease and the two looked very comfortable against a drained bowling unit. Some good hard running between the two allowed Clackmannan to reach 98 before McNish was caught behind for a well constructed 26. After retrieving his pads from Dulloch Park (Kismet’s ground) before the match, Greig Taylor came to the crease with only 12 overs to go and 60 runs short of a defendable total. Passe and Taylor started to flourish against the weakening bowling of Almond Valley. The baking heat was now taking its toll on everyone and the sharp running between the wickets did not help the warring fielders. Passe was playing the perfect innings of nudging the ball and taking the single and ensuring that the scoreboard kept ticking over. Meanwhile Taylor was timing the ball very nicely as well as striking them with some ferocity. The partnership had now moved to 55 and with 4 overs to go, Taylor decided to hit out and was caught for an energetic 35. Ali came in and departed 3 balls later being bowled for 0. Milton joined Passe at the crease and the two picked the gaps in the field and ran very hard with a comical 4 runs included. The batsmen ran 2 and going for a third, they ended up out the crease at the bowler’s end (the ball was returned to this end) and the bowler threw the ball to the keeper, not taking the bails off, who missed it and allowed the third run. However, the alert Milton saw this fumble and called Passe through for a fourth. After such hilarity, Passe went again for a suicide run and was run-out, well short of his ground. McCann and Milton closed up proceedings with the total on 170 for 8. A good all round performance to get the score up to 170 after being only 98 with only 12 overs to go.
After a fulfilling tea, Clackmannan took their turn to field. Although 170 was a good score, some tight bowling and fielding was required to ensure Clackmannan another victory. McNish and McCann opened the bowling for the home side and both bowlers did not disappoint their captain as they restricted Almond Valley to only 27 off their first 10 overs with the loss of 2 wickets, McCann snaring out J.McKenzie for 5 who was caught by Black at cover. A.McKenzie played well for 11, but was McCann second victim being adjudged LBW. Opener Taylor and new batsman, Michie, put on 47 for the 3rd wicket which added some substance to the Almond Valley score. Kay and Milton contained the batsmen but failed to take a breakthrough, so Alan turned to Tipu who duly provided the wicket second over after drinks, bowling Michie for 21. As seventh bowler, Craig Black bowled an over off beautiful off-spin and he removed the dangerous Taylor for 27. Alan Oliver bowled tidily and was denied a wicket by the inadeaquate keeping of G.D.Taylor who dropped a catch and missed a stumping off the same ball. Almond Valley required 73 runs off the last 10, but Clackmannan couldn’t get complacent as they had seen what Taylor and Passe did in the first innings. With that in mind, Alan kept the faith with his young opening pair (both under 16) and they did not let down the team with McNish coming very close to a wicket. After McNish bowled his quota, Will Kay came back on and he continued in fine form, claiming two wickets, one caught behind and the other stumped. However, the star of the day and most undoubtedly, man-of-the-match, Jamie McCann bowled a great second spell of bowling, which brought him 3 wickets and in addition to the 2 in his first spell, he came away with his first ever five-wicket haul for the club. His third was particularly special as he clung onto a screamer off his own bowling with the batsman looking to up the ante. Having bowled the last 2 batsmen, with balls that were full and straight, he finished up 5 for 22 off 8 overs. A fine spell of bowling.
Clackmannan won by 38 runs and hope to continue their winning ways against strong opposition Kinross next week who are also unbeaten at the top of the Strathmore and Perth Cricket Union Division 3 league table.

Match Report
Clackmannan County 3rd XI v Almond Valley
Click here to view scorecard
Date 27/7/2008	Venue The Arns Alloa	Result win for CCCC	Weather HOT , sunny
By Greig Taylor A sunny, blue sky graced the Arns when Almond Valley made their way to the Arns to take on Clackmannan County 3rd XI in the next S&PCU Division 3 match. The men from Doo’Coot Park asked Clackmannan to bat. The opening pair of Alan Oliver and Craig Black started in cautious fashion with only 11 runs coming from the first 5 overs. However, Black (13) opened his shoulders and cracked three boundaries before he was caught going for another shot with the score on 31. Graham Fraser came to the crease as he tried to continue on the form he found against Cupar. With the score only progressing to 36, AV bowler, McKenzie, removed Fraser for nought. Charlie McNish strode to the crease at number four and along with Oliver (20) took the score to 45 but unfortunately for the county skipper, he received a good ball from Iqbal and gave the keeper an easy catch. Next man in, Tippu Sultan, was a little worse from wear after his heroics the previous night. With some tight bowling, McNish and Sultan defended the good ball and dispatched the bad ball, which came very rarely. With the score on 69, Tippu Sultan top-edged a ball from Michie and it looked like it was going to be safe but a superb diving catch by Williamson ensured the number 5 was heading back to the pavilion after scoring 11 runs. Richard Passe joined McNish at the crease and the two looked very comfortable against a drained bowling unit. Some good hard running between the two allowed Clackmannan to reach 98 before McNish was caught behind for a well constructed 26. After retrieving his pads from Dulloch Park (Kismet’s ground) before the match, Greig Taylor came to the crease with only 12 overs to go and 60 runs short of a defendable total. Passe and Taylor started to flourish against the weakening bowling of Almond Valley. The baking heat was now taking its toll on everyone and the sharp running between the wickets did not help the warring fielders. Passe was playing the perfect innings of nudging the ball and taking the single and ensuring that the scoreboard kept ticking over. Meanwhile Taylor was timing the ball very nicely as well as striking them with some ferocity. The partnership had now moved to 55 and with 4 overs to go, Taylor decided to hit out and was caught for an energetic 35. Ali came in and departed 3 balls later being bowled for 0. Milton joined Passe at the crease and the two picked the gaps in the field and ran very hard with a comical 4 runs included. The batsmen ran 2 and going for a third, they ended up out the crease at the bowler’s end (the ball was returned to this end) and the bowler threw the ball to the keeper, not taking the bails off, who missed it and allowed the third run. However, the alert Milton saw this fumble and called Passe through for a fourth. After such hilarity, Passe went again for a suicide run and was run-out, well short of his ground. McCann and Milton closed up proceedings with the total on 170 for 8. A good all round performance to get the score up to 170 after being only 98 with only 12 overs to go. After a fulfilling tea, Clackmannan took their turn to field. Although 170 was a good score, some tight bowling and fielding was required to ensure Clackmannan another victory. McNish and McCann opened the bowling for the home side and both bowlers did not disappoint their captain as they restricted Almond Valley to only 27 off their first 10 overs with the loss of 2 wickets, McCann snaring out J.McKenzie for 5 who was caught by Black at cover. A.McKenzie played well for 11, but was McCann second victim being adjudged LBW. Opener Taylor and new batsman, Michie, put on 47 for the 3rd wicket which added some substance to the Almond Valley score. Kay and Milton contained the batsmen but failed to take a breakthrough, so Alan turned to Tipu who duly provided the wicket second over after drinks, bowling Michie for 21. As seventh bowler, Craig Black bowled an over off beautiful off-spin and he removed the dangerous Taylor for 27. Alan Oliver bowled tidily and was denied a wicket by the inadeaquate keeping of G.D.Taylor who dropped a catch and missed a stumping off the same ball. Almond Valley required 73 runs off the last 10, but Clackmannan couldn’t get complacent as they had seen what Taylor and Passe did in the first innings. With that in mind, Alan kept the faith with his young opening pair (both under 16) and they did not let down the team with McNish coming very close to a wicket. After McNish bowled his quota, Will Kay came back on and he continued in fine form, claiming two wickets, one caught behind and the other stumped. However, the star of the day and most undoubtedly, man-of-the-match, Jamie McCann bowled a great second spell of bowling, which brought him 3 wickets and in addition to the 2 in his first spell, he came away with his first ever five-wicket haul for the club. His third was particularly special as he clung onto a screamer off his own bowling with the batsman looking to up the ante. Having bowled the last 2 batsmen, with balls that were full and straight, he finished up 5 for 22 off 8 overs. A fine spell of bowling. Clackmannan won by 38 runs and hope to continue their winning ways against strong opposition Kinross next week who are also unbeaten at the top of the Strathmore and Perth Cricket Union Division 3 league table.