Clackmannan County Cricket Club

By Craig Black

Clackmannan played host to Edinburgh based Kirk Brae on Saturday and a beautiful week of sunshine meant the Arns was looking in fantastic condition. On the morning of the game the heavens decided to unleash their worst, an all too familiar occurrence in Scottish cricket, but thankfully the pitch still appeared playable. With an unsettled forecast predicted and a damp wicket, the toss was crucial as to who would bat first. Clackmannan lost and were immediately asked to pad up.
Clackmannan opened with Ken Hutchison and Graham Oliver. A couple balls later and Kirk Brae were down to 10 men after their wicket keeper misjudged the pace of the wicket and was hit in the face, a nasty blow which left him unable to continue and needing several stitches. Play resumed and shortly afterwards Oliver (1) was clean bowled by Fredrick, an excellent delivery that nipped back off the seam. Craig Black (12) was next in and the score ticked over slowly until the 12th over when he feathered one behind off the bowling of Saleem. Hutchison (9) followed shortly afterwards when he was trapped LBW off the same bowler. Clackamannan looked to be in a spot of bother at 35 for 3 and in need of patient partnership to set the opposition a defendable total. Graeme Anderson and Keith Hefer started to push the ball around well, and excellent running by the pair saw the score progress to 60 before Anderson (9) was caught behind off the bowling of Saleem. Gordon Oliver strode out to the crease to join Hefer in the 23rd over with Clackmannan in dire need of something special to stop the game slipping away from them. The 2 batsmen found their rhythm quickly and started to increase the slow run rate. Kirk Brae were served another piece of bad luck when their opening bowler Fredrick tried to get behind a ferocious shot off Hefer’s willow. The impact tore the webbing between 2 fingers and resulted in another trip to the A&E for stitching. Oliver and Hefer continued unfazed and the runs started to come thick and fast. 93 for 4 after 30, 105 for 4 after 35, 149 for 4 after 40, 186 for 4 after 45. A truly brilliant match winning performance by the pair eventually came to an end when Hefer skied a shot off Pathania for an outstanding 86 and his debut FirstX1 half century. Sultan replaced him and continued his rich run of form, helping Oliver in blasting the Kirk Brae attack for 50 off the last 4 overs. Sultan finished with 21 off 10 balls and Oliver ended with a superb 82not out. The 147 run 5th wicket partnership was crucial in helping Clackmannan post a formidable total of 250.
The Cougars took to the field after the tea break with high hopes of defending such a daunting total and their confidence was boosted after a tight opening spell by Black and Rizwan Ashraf saw Kirk Brae reduced to 8 for 1 after 8overs. Paul Hooper taking an easy catch behind off Ashraf’s consistent bowling. Khalid Mutjaba replaced Black, but a wayward over saw him quickly replaced by Sultan, who struck gold in his first over. Blake looked to defend a short ball that clipped his shoe on the way down and then trickled back to dislodge the bails. Rizwan was amongst the wickets again in his next over with an LBW before he was replaced by Hefer, who also claimed a scalp in his first over leaving Kirk Brae in deep trouble on 29 for 4. Clackmannan were on fire and with the opposition missing 2 players, an early finish looked to be on the cards. How wrong they were! The 2 new batsmen, Sangster and Colvin started to take the attack to the home side on a wicket that continued to improve. Slowly but surely the tide began to turn and before we knew it we were staring down the barrel of defeat. A brilliant partnership of 159 was finally broken off the last ball of Alan Oliver’s excellent spell when Sangster was stumped by sharp work from Hooper after walking down the pitch and missing. The game was balanced on a knife-edge, 60 to win off the final 10 overs and 3 wickets remaining. Ashraf continued to bowl a great line and length, starving the batsmen of runs and finishing off his allotment of overs with figures of 3-14. Black was proving expensive at the other end and after 49 overs Kirk Brae could taste victory with only 10 needed off the final over but only 1 wicket left. The captain turned to Graeme Anderson for the last over and last years skipper stepped up to the plate and delivered the goods as Smith crushed a shot towards cow corner off the 4th ball and Hutchison took a well judged catch a few yards in from the ropes. Victory to Clackmannan by 7 runs!
Man of the match this week has to go to a brilliant effort by Keith Hefer with the bat together with a gutsy effort with the ball despite a nagging side injury. As for Dick of the Day, numerous nominations in the field means that this will be carried forward to next weeks game.
This was an exciting win for Clackmannan but credit must go to the opposition who never gave in despite being 2 players down. Brilliant batting by Colvin who finished with 102* and Sangster with 85 almost took them over the finish line but sheer grit and determination from the County players saw them home. A big thanks must go to the efforts of the groundsman, David Henderson, who prepared a great wicket that produced close to 500 runs on the day.

Match Report
Clackmannan County 1st XI v Kirk Brae
Click here to view scorecard
Date 6/6/2009	Venue The Arns	Result Win	Weather cloudy windy
By Craig Black Clackmannan played host to Edinburgh based Kirk Brae on Saturday and a beautiful week of sunshine meant the Arns was looking in fantastic condition. On the morning of the game the heavens decided to unleash their worst, an all too familiar occurrence in Scottish cricket, but thankfully the pitch still appeared playable. With an unsettled forecast predicted and a damp wicket, the toss was crucial as to who would bat first. Clackmannan lost and were immediately asked to pad up. Clackmannan opened with Ken Hutchison and Graham Oliver. A couple balls later and Kirk Brae were down to 10 men after their wicket keeper misjudged the pace of the wicket and was hit in the face, a nasty blow which left him unable to continue and needing several stitches. Play resumed and shortly afterwards Oliver (1) was clean bowled by Fredrick, an excellent delivery that nipped back off the seam. Craig Black (12) was next in and the score ticked over slowly until the 12th over when he feathered one behind off the bowling of Saleem. Hutchison (9) followed shortly afterwards when he was trapped LBW off the same bowler. Clackamannan looked to be in a spot of bother at 35 for 3 and in need of patient partnership to set the opposition a defendable total. Graeme Anderson and Keith Hefer started to push the ball around well, and excellent running by the pair saw the score progress to 60 before Anderson (9) was caught behind off the bowling of Saleem. Gordon Oliver strode out to the crease to join Hefer in the 23rd over with Clackmannan in dire need of something special to stop the game slipping away from them. The 2 batsmen found their rhythm quickly and started to increase the slow run rate. Kirk Brae were served another piece of bad luck when their opening bowler Fredrick tried to get behind a ferocious shot off Hefer’s willow. The impact tore the webbing between 2 fingers and resulted in another trip to the A&E for stitching. Oliver and Hefer continued unfazed and the runs started to come thick and fast. 93 for 4 after 30, 105 for 4 after 35, 149 for 4 after 40, 186 for 4 after 45. A truly brilliant match winning performance by the pair eventually came to an end when Hefer skied a shot off Pathania for an outstanding 86 and his debut FirstX1 half century. Sultan replaced him and continued his rich run of form, helping Oliver in blasting the Kirk Brae attack for 50 off the last 4 overs. Sultan finished with 21 off 10 balls and Oliver ended with a superb 82not out. The 147 run 5th wicket partnership was crucial in helping Clackmannan post a formidable total of 250. The Cougars took to the field after the tea break with high hopes of defending such a daunting total and their confidence was boosted after a tight opening spell by Black and Rizwan Ashraf saw Kirk Brae reduced to 8 for 1 after 8overs. Paul Hooper taking an easy catch behind off Ashraf’s consistent bowling. Khalid Mutjaba replaced Black, but a wayward over saw him quickly replaced by Sultan, who struck gold in his first over. Blake looked to defend a short ball that clipped his shoe on the way down and then trickled back to dislodge the bails. Rizwan was amongst the wickets again in his next over with an LBW before he was replaced by Hefer, who also claimed a scalp in his first over leaving Kirk Brae in deep trouble on 29 for 4. Clackmannan were on fire and with the opposition missing 2 players, an early finish looked to be on the cards. How wrong they were! The 2 new batsmen, Sangster and Colvin started to take the attack to the home side on a wicket that continued to improve. Slowly but surely the tide began to turn and before we knew it we were staring down the barrel of defeat. A brilliant partnership of 159 was finally broken off the last ball of Alan Oliver’s excellent spell when Sangster was stumped by sharp work from Hooper after walking down the pitch and missing. The game was balanced on a knife-edge, 60 to win off the final 10 overs and 3 wickets remaining. Ashraf continued to bowl a great line and length, starving the batsmen of runs and finishing off his allotment of overs with figures of 3-14. Black was proving expensive at the other end and after 49 overs Kirk Brae could taste victory with only 10 needed off the final over but only 1 wicket left. The captain turned to Graeme Anderson for the last over and last years skipper stepped up to the plate and delivered the goods as Smith crushed a shot towards cow corner off the 4th ball and Hutchison took a well judged catch a few yards in from the ropes. Victory to Clackmannan by 7 runs! Man of the match this week has to go to a brilliant effort by Keith Hefer with the bat together with a gutsy effort with the ball despite a nagging side injury. As for Dick of the Day, numerous nominations in the field means that this will be carried forward to next weeks game. This was an exciting win for Clackmannan but credit must go to the opposition who never gave in despite being 2 players down. Brilliant batting by Colvin who finished with 102* and Sangster with 85 almost took them over the finish line but sheer grit and determination from the County players saw them home. A big thanks must go to the efforts of the groundsman, David Henderson, who prepared a great wicket that produced close to 500 runs on the day.