Clackmannan County Cricket Club

Written by Greig Taylor [Magenta bits by the webmaster]
A bright cloudy freezing cold day graced the skies of Alloa on the first day of the Strathmore Union season. Clackmannan County entertained St. Modans which was no doubt going to be a close fought game. After pre-game preparations, skipper Alan Oliver won the toss and elected to field. The skipper opened the proceedings by using his two youngest bowlers. The pairing of Jamie McCann and Elliot Milton seemed to work for the home side as the latter took the first wicket of the game, having Wilson caught behind for 0. Turner joined his captain, Hammond, at the crease and got off the mark by slashing an uppish ball which ended up bouncing into the next field. Even the batsman was surprised by this shot! After, the opening pair bowled their age-restricted allotted over’s, the skipper brought on the experience of Craig Black and Tippu Sultan. Black struck immediately, bowling Turner for 21. Unfortunately, the bowler split the leg-stump, showing his pace or the rubbish stumps that only lasted a season (...you should have seen the look on David Henderson’s face! [You must have good eyesight, oh! young wicketkeeper]). This wicket brought Shagiri to the crease, who took the attack to the home side, steering the ball delicately to the boundary on occasions and sometimes just by sheer brute force. The captain decided a change of attack was needed and brought in the young spinner, Graham Oliver. In Oliver’s first over, he bowled a wide bowled which the stubborn Hammond (19) latch onto. However, the batsmen only thick-edged the ball and as a result was caught behind (instinctively) by Taylor, who had now clung onto “two in two”. Pusalkar now joined Shagiri and the partnership blossomed into being the best for the away side, by a long margin. The home-side skipper realised that taking the pace off the ball seemed to work and decided to make another change, bringing himself on to ball. This change worked, as the bowler seemed to contain the batsmen and gradually reduced the run-rate. In his third over, Oliver bowled a beautiful ball that took the edge of Shagiri’s bat and again Greig Taylor took the catch (much to the amusement of his team-mates who couldn’t understand why he was taking catches standing up to the wicket). The wise words of the keeper (that’s a change then, [webmaster]) “... one brings two...” seemed to work as the next ball of Oliver’s next over, Kashif Ali - at square-leg - threw a good return to the keeper which resulted in the new batsmen, Gard, being run out not facing a ball. Pusalkar (47) decided that he must carry his bat through and began to play more circumspect shots. His downfall was brought by this new approach, as he swept a ball that gifted Ali an easy catch. CCCC thought they were in for an early tea as the new St.Modans batsmen didn’t seem to have the same panache as their predecessors did. Unfortunately for the home side, the batsmen manoeuvred the ball around well, scoring the occasional boundary, and ensuring that the scoreboard was kept “ticking” over. Some late resistance, along with 25 extras ensured that St.Modans did not commit the cardinal sin of cricket and used up their allotted over’s, finishing on 194 for 9.

After a somewhat overwhelming tea, the teams took to the field for the second half of the game. If CCCC were hopeful of chasing down the score, they would need partnerships and a good batting display from the top order. Clackmannan opened with Graham Oliver and Craig Black, who found it tough going at the beginning due to some tight bowling from the St.Modans bowlers, Crook and Wilson. Things began to pick up until a failure in communication resulted with both batsmen being at the same end. Alas, Oliver was the one to go and departed for 6. This brought the introduction of CCCC belligerent batsman Tippu Sultan. Instantly, the tempo of the innings increased and both batsmen started to score freely. The away side skipper tried to change things around but to no avail as the two continued in a confident fashion thrashing the ball to all parts of the ground. At this point, the game was getting away from the visitors and it wasn’t until the 19th over that Black was caught on the long leg boundary, going for another six. The batsman hit the ball so straight down the fielder’s throat that he didn’t have to much an inch. Black departed for a well constructed 40 and ensured that he had given his side a good chance at winning the game. Neil Ramsay joined Sultan, who had now passed his half century with an almighty shot that graced the top of road, by the “Welcome to our ground” sign. Ramsay didn’t stay long as a ball ‘kicked’ from the surface, hit his gloves and resulted in him being caught at short-midwicket for 6.

Auranzeb Alamgir joined his older brother at the crease and the two continued with the run chase. Sadly, for the enthusiastic crowd, Sultan was caught at point, a steepling ball hitting the splice of his bat as he went for another big shot. The batsman left the field having scored a well compiled 80 runs, this proved to be the difference between the sides. Greig Taylor joined Alamgir at the crease, requiring just fewer than 40 runs to win the match. Luckily for the home side, they still had 15 over’s to bat. Taylor found batting hard (mainly due to poor technique!!), [Jings coaching as well, what a clever wee author, I’d have thought lack of practice rather than problems with yer technique, but what would I know] and was bowled for 4. The home skipper, who dropped himself to number seven, came and steadied the ship. Alamgir continued on his swinging ways but after a few ‘connections’ he missed a ball bowled by the left-handed slow bowling of Pusalkar. The St.Modans keeper took the bails off, in comfortable fashion, and sent Zeb back to the changing room for 21. Alan Oliver took it upon himself to seal the victory for his side and did so, with the help of Milton and McCann, by scoring 27 not out. Clackmannan finished on 197 for 7 and recorded their first win of the season by 3 wickets.
Good performances by Black and Alan Oliver with the ball set up a gettable target for the batsmen. The batting of Sultan and Black was sublime and their partnership of 105 was the difference between the two sides. All in all, a good close fought game than resulted in a home side win. The 3rd XI travel to Cupar next week to try and make it two out of two in what looks like it’s going to be a tough division.

Match Report
Clackmannan County 3rd XI v St Modans 2nd XI
Click here to view scorecard
Date 20/4/2008	Venue The Arns	Result Win CCCC	Weather cloudy, cold
Written by Greig Taylor [Magenta bits by the webmaster] A bright cloudy freezing cold day graced the skies of Alloa on the first day of the Strathmore Union season. Clackmannan County entertained St. Modans which was no doubt going to be a close fought game. After pre-game preparations, skipper Alan Oliver won the toss and elected to field. The skipper opened the proceedings by using his two youngest bowlers. The pairing of Jamie McCann and Elliot Milton seemed to work for the home side as the latter took the first wicket of the game, having Wilson caught behind for 0. Turner joined his captain, Hammond, at the crease and got off the mark by slashing an uppish ball which ended up bouncing into the next field. Even the batsman was surprised by this shot! After, the opening pair bowled their age-restricted allotted over’s, the skipper brought on the experience of Craig Black and Tippu Sultan. Black struck immediately, bowling Turner for 21. Unfortunately, the bowler split the leg-stump, showing his pace or the rubbish stumps that only lasted a season (...you should have seen the look on David Henderson’s face! [You must have good eyesight, oh! young wicketkeeper]). This wicket brought Shagiri to the crease, who took the attack to the home side, steering the ball delicately to the boundary on occasions and sometimes just by sheer brute force. The captain decided a change of attack was needed and brought in the young spinner, Graham Oliver. In Oliver’s first over, he bowled a wide bowled which the stubborn Hammond (19) latch onto. However, the batsmen only thick-edged the ball and as a result was caught behind (instinctively) by Taylor, who had now clung onto “two in two”. Pusalkar now joined Shagiri and the partnership blossomed into being the best for the away side, by a long margin. The home-side skipper realised that taking the pace off the ball seemed to work and decided to make another change, bringing himself on to ball. This change worked, as the bowler seemed to contain the batsmen and gradually reduced the run-rate. In his third over, Oliver bowled a beautiful ball that took the edge of Shagiri’s bat and again Greig Taylor took the catch (much to the amusement of his team-mates who couldn’t understand why he was taking catches standing up to the wicket). The wise words of the keeper (that’s a change then, [webmaster]) “... one brings two...” seemed to work as the next ball of Oliver’s next over, Kashif Ali - at square-leg - threw a good return to the keeper which resulted in the new batsmen, Gard, being run out not facing a ball. Pusalkar (47) decided that he must carry his bat through and began to play more circumspect shots. His downfall was brought by this new approach, as he swept a ball that gifted Ali an easy catch. CCCC thought they were in for an early tea as the new St.Modans batsmen didn’t seem to have the same panache as their predecessors did. Unfortunately for the home side, the batsmen manoeuvred the ball around well, scoring the occasional boundary, and ensuring that the scoreboard was kept “ticking” over. Some late resistance, along with 25 extras ensured that St.Modans did not commit the cardinal sin of cricket and used up their allotted over’s, finishing on 194 for 9. After a somewhat overwhelming tea, the teams took to the field for the second half of the game. If CCCC were hopeful of chasing down the score, they would need partnerships and a good batting display from the top order. Clackmannan opened with Graham Oliver and Craig Black, who found it tough going at the beginning due to some tight bowling from the St.Modans bowlers, Crook and Wilson. Things began to pick up until a failure in communication resulted with both batsmen being at the same end. Alas, Oliver was the one to go and departed for 6. This brought the introduction of CCCC belligerent batsman Tippu Sultan. Instantly, the tempo of the innings increased and both batsmen started to score freely. The away side skipper tried to change things around but to no avail as the two continued in a confident fashion thrashing the ball to all parts of the ground. At this point, the game was getting away from the visitors and it wasn’t until the 19th over that Black was caught on the long leg boundary, going for another six. The batsman hit the ball so straight down the fielder’s throat that he didn’t have to much an inch. Black departed for a well constructed 40 and ensured that he had given his side a good chance at winning the game. Neil Ramsay joined Sultan, who had now passed his half century with an almighty shot that graced the top of road, by the “Welcome to our ground” sign. Ramsay didn’t stay long as a ball ‘kicked’ from the surface, hit his gloves and resulted in him being caught at short-midwicket for 6. Auranzeb Alamgir joined his older brother at the crease and the two continued with the run chase. Sadly, for the enthusiastic crowd, Sultan was caught at point, a steepling ball hitting the splice of his bat as he went for another big shot. The batsman left the field having scored a well compiled 80 runs, this proved to be the difference between the sides. Greig Taylor joined Alamgir at the crease, requiring just fewer than 40 runs to win the match. Luckily for the home side, they still had 15 over’s to bat. Taylor found batting hard (mainly due to poor technique!!), [Jings coaching as well, what a clever wee author, I’d have thought lack of practice rather than problems with yer technique, but what would I know] and was bowled for 4. The home skipper, who dropped himself to number seven, came and steadied the ship. Alamgir continued on his swinging ways but after a few ‘connections’ he missed a ball bowled by the left-handed slow bowling of Pusalkar. The St.Modans keeper took the bails off, in comfortable fashion, and sent Zeb back to the changing room for 21. Alan Oliver took it upon himself to seal the victory for his side and did so, with the help of Milton and McCann, by scoring 27 not out. Clackmannan finished on 197 for 7 and recorded their first win of the season by 3 wickets. Good performances by Black and Alan Oliver with the ball set up a gettable target for the batsmen. The batting of Sultan and Black was sublime and their partnership of 105 was the difference between the two sides. All in all, a good close fought game than resulted in a home side win. The 3rd XI travel to Cupar next week to try and make it two out of two in what looks like it’s going to be a tough division.