Clackmannan County Cricket Club

By Craig Black

Bottom of the league Watsonian 3rd’s made the trip through to The Arns on Saturday to take on the league leaders on their home turf. Clackmannan suffered a disappointing loss in their previous match and were hoping to make amends for that performance on what was a cool, overcast afternoon. Having won the toss, Clack’s skipper Craig Black decided to bat first against the 10 men opposition.

The county opened proceedings with Richard Passe, promoted from the 2nd X1, and Graham Oliver, who has looked in great form in recent matches. A 30 minute rain delay caused the captains to reduce the number of overs to 45. Clackmannan opted to lend the away team a fielder for the duration of the game, but this didn’t seem to stop the opening pair, most notably Oliver, unleashing carnage on the Watsonian’s opening bowlers. The score raced to 54 after 10 as Oliver took a liking to the pace of the wicket and was finding the ropes with regularity whilst Passe played the supporting role by giving his partner the majority of the strike. A change in bowling brought the first breakthrough, with the score on 74, Passe looked to take on the slow bowling of Salapani but only succeeded in lofting it to mid off for 15. Black was next to the crease and unfortunately from a Watsonians point of view this didn’t help the situation. Oliver and Black (34) quickly put on an additional 50 run partnership in 7 overs before the latter pulled a short ball, only to succeed in hitting it straight to the on loan Clackmannan fielder. Dan Smith joined Oliver at the wicket, who by now had passed his 50 and was settling into a beautiful rhythm, as he rocked back and dispatched anything short with his trademark and picture perfect pull shot. Another good partnership saw the score progress to 182 off 30 over’s before Smith (12) was trapped LBW. Hefer (5) was next in, and next out after falling to sharp catch in the covers. Oliver Snr joined his youngest out in the middle, who by now had moved into the nervous nineties. Any batsmen who has reached these figures will recall how the 3 looming figures can cause havoc on your concentration. Graham Oliver looked unperturbed and soldiered on as the gathering crowd sat restlessly on the edges of their chairs. The wait was finally over in the 36th over when a delicately played sweep brought up the promising youngsters maiden, chanceless ton to the joy and jubilation of all involved. A few over’s later saw the mammoth innings come to an end when Oliver was bowled for a splendid 111. The remaining batsmen did a superb job as they helped themselves to 40 runs off the final 7 overs and move the total to 278 off 45 overs, Oliver Snr contributing 19 and Paul Hooper chipping in with a quick fire 28.

The Cougars took to the field after teas brimming with confidence. The new ball was passed to Rizwan Ashraf and Keith Hefer for the first time. The first and most vital breakthrough was quick in coming when in the 3rd over Lockhart drove a ball off of Ashraf, only to find the grateful mitts of young Graham Oliver who pouched a brilliant reflex catch at short cover. A couple overs later and Clackmannan had a second, Rainey top edging a cut shot to Sultan at gully off the bowling of Hefer. A double change saw Black and Sultan introduced into the attack. Black struck in his first over, catching the remaining opener LBW, before picking up another 2 scalps in his next over, both bowled. Sultan determined not to be outdone quickly picked up 2 wickets of his own in 2 overs, one of which saw the batsmen having his furniture rearranged after deciding to leave a huge off cutter. The damage had been done and Clackmannan could afford to relax and enjoy the march to victory with the scoreboard reading 43 for 7. Black picked up his fourth wicket with a wicked slower ball that left the batsmen well and truly at sea before Matthew Booth put the lid on the coffin, another catch being taken by Sultan at point. Wasonians finished on 53 all out, Black being the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 10 but all the others ably assisted him, especially Sultan who ended with 2 for 7.

A comprehensive 225 run victory for Clackmannan this week relieves the dull ache of defeat from the previous week. Hopefully this will buoy the team on for their encounter with Townhill next week.

Man of the match this week was Graham Oliver for producing arguably the best innings of the season so far.

Match Report
Clackmannan County 1st XI v Watsonians 3rd XI
Click here to view scorecard
Date 20/6/2009	Venue The Arns	Result Win	Weather Sunny showery
By Craig Black Bottom of the league Watsonian 3rd’s made the trip through to The Arns on Saturday to take on the league leaders on their home turf. Clackmannan suffered a disappointing loss in their previous match and were hoping to make amends for that performance on what was a cool, overcast afternoon. Having won the toss, Clack’s skipper Craig Black decided to bat first against the 10 men opposition. The county opened proceedings with Richard Passe, promoted from the 2nd X1, and Graham Oliver, who has looked in great form in recent matches. A 30 minute rain delay caused the captains to reduce the number of overs to 45. Clackmannan opted to lend the away team a fielder for the duration of the game, but this didn’t seem to stop the opening pair, most notably Oliver, unleashing carnage on the Watsonian’s opening bowlers. The score raced to 54 after 10 as Oliver took a liking to the pace of the wicket and was finding the ropes with regularity whilst Passe played the supporting role by giving his partner the majority of the strike. A change in bowling brought the first breakthrough, with the score on 74, Passe looked to take on the slow bowling of Salapani but only succeeded in lofting it to mid off for 15. Black was next to the crease and unfortunately from a Watsonians point of view this didn’t help the situation. Oliver and Black (34) quickly put on an additional 50 run partnership in 7 overs before the latter pulled a short ball, only to succeed in hitting it straight to the on loan Clackmannan fielder. Dan Smith joined Oliver at the wicket, who by now had passed his 50 and was settling into a beautiful rhythm, as he rocked back and dispatched anything short with his trademark and picture perfect pull shot. Another good partnership saw the score progress to 182 off 30 over’s before Smith (12) was trapped LBW. Hefer (5) was next in, and next out after falling to sharp catch in the covers. Oliver Snr joined his youngest out in the middle, who by now had moved into the nervous nineties. Any batsmen who has reached these figures will recall how the 3 looming figures can cause havoc on your concentration. Graham Oliver looked unperturbed and soldiered on as the gathering crowd sat restlessly on the edges of their chairs. The wait was finally over in the 36th over when a delicately played sweep brought up the promising youngsters maiden, chanceless ton to the joy and jubilation of all involved. A few over’s later saw the mammoth innings come to an end when Oliver was bowled for a splendid 111. The remaining batsmen did a superb job as they helped themselves to 40 runs off the final 7 overs and move the total to 278 off 45 overs, Oliver Snr contributing 19 and Paul Hooper chipping in with a quick fire 28. The Cougars took to the field after teas brimming with confidence. The new ball was passed to Rizwan Ashraf and Keith Hefer for the first time. The first and most vital breakthrough was quick in coming when in the 3rd over Lockhart drove a ball off of Ashraf, only to find the grateful mitts of young Graham Oliver who pouched a brilliant reflex catch at short cover. A couple overs later and Clackmannan had a second, Rainey top edging a cut shot to Sultan at gully off the bowling of Hefer. A double change saw Black and Sultan introduced into the attack. Black struck in his first over, catching the remaining opener LBW, before picking up another 2 scalps in his next over, both bowled. Sultan determined not to be outdone quickly picked up 2 wickets of his own in 2 overs, one of which saw the batsmen having his furniture rearranged after deciding to leave a huge off cutter. The damage had been done and Clackmannan could afford to relax and enjoy the march to victory with the scoreboard reading 43 for 7. Black picked up his fourth wicket with a wicked slower ball that left the batsmen well and truly at sea before Matthew Booth put the lid on the coffin, another catch being taken by Sultan at point. Wasonians finished on 53 all out, Black being the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 10 but all the others ably assisted him, especially Sultan who ended with 2 for 7. A comprehensive 225 run victory for Clackmannan this week relieves the dull ache of defeat from the previous week. Hopefully this will buoy the team on for their encounter with Townhill next week. Man of the match this week was Graham Oliver for producing arguably the best innings of the season so far.