Clackmannan County Cricket Club

By Dave Watkins

A muggy and overcast day greeted table-topping Clackmannan 2’s as they chased a fifth league win in a row against Fauldhouse at The Arns. There were four changes from last week’s win at Dalgety Bay with Rich Passe, Ken Hutchinson, Auranzeb Alamgir and Ash Rasul replacing Noor Jhangir, Rik Odendal, Graham Fraser and Will Kay
The home side batted first and openers Rich Passe and Ken Hutchinson, helped by some indifferent fielding, took the score comfortably to 43 before the latter was caught at backward point for 24. With Passe dropping anchor at the other end, number 3 Neil Ramsay took the attack to the bowlers and the home side took the mid-innings drinks sitting on 93/1, a solid platform to up the scoring rate.
However, the drinks break proved a turning point and the first ball after the resumption saw Passe caught behind for 27. Shortly afterwards Ramsay skied a catch to cover, shortly after which captain Scott Malcolmson was caught at mid-off for a duck. Clackmannan had lost three wickets for four runs and stood on 97/4.
However the home side’s form batsman Auranzeb Alamgir, once again began to impose himself with his blend of huge hitting and tennis shot defensive strokes. However he was beginning to run out of partners as Dave Watkins and Nick Bryant-Nicholls came and went and, with the score at 149/6, Alamgir was joined at the wicket by Ash Rasul, fresh off the night flight home from Dubai.
Jetlag and a 30-degree drop in temperature were not enough to stop the former club captain hit his game, after Alamgir was trapped in front for 40, Rasul and Greig Taylor combined to take Clackmannan’s total towards the 200 mark.
Rasul’s clean hitting and Taylor’s mix of classic drives and leg glances had the Fauldhouse fielders scratching their heads and questioning the pair on what they had done to annoy the captain to cause him to move them down the order.
The pair put on a classy 52 before Taylor holed out to deep long on to leave Clackmannan on 203/8. Rasul carried on adding the runs and with one ball of the innings remaining the home side were bowled out for 226, with Rasul finishing unbeaten on 40.
Neil Ramsay opened the bowling as Fauldhouse began their reply and, possibly as a tribute to the discarded England quick Steve Harmison, started off with two wides, one to leg and one to off. The master plan worked perfectly as the opener, startled to see the ball within a furlong of his stumps, played all round Ramsay’s third delivery and was bowled. Ramsay struck again in his next over taking a fine return catch off a full toss from his own bowling.
Despite these wickets Fauldhouse had made a brisk start but were soon checked by consecutive maidens from Alison Ramsay. Auranzeb Alamgir, buoyed by his earlier knock of 40, was brought on as first change and in his third over removed Fauldhouse’s number 4, Taylor, leg before wicket.
With the required run rate rising, the skipper turned to Kash Ali, fresh off a man-of-the-match display at Dalgety Bay, and he bowled very economically and got his reward in his fifth over as the stubborn Paul Lee drove straight to Neil Ramsay at cover.
Rich Passe was also brought on from the Road End and he took two wickets in his first four overs, one to a sharp catch by keeper Greig Taylor and the other to a perfectly flighted ‘moon ball’ which yorked the unfortunate batsman.
Despite losing wickets regularly Fauldhouse were scoring quickly enough to stay in the hunt and Darren Crumpton, who had bowled tightly, began to push the score along with excellent placement and aggressive running.
The seventh and eight wicket partnerships began to worry the home side and the pressure told as catches were dropped and runs conceded to overthrows. When Taylor stumped Jamie McIlduff off the bowling of Passe, Crumpton was joined by number 9 Ronnie Currie and the pair got Fauldhouse to within 40 runs of victory when Neil Ramsay returned and bowled Currie for 18. Ramsay struck again with his next ball, but was denied his hatrick by young 12 year old Darren Allan who kept his wicket intact to finish on 4 not out. Neil Ramsay finished with 4 for 34, however the final wicket fell to his sister Alison as Darren Crumpton was stumped by Taylor for an excellent 47. Clackmannan won by 34 wins to maintain their momentum at the top of ESCA Division 7. Next weeks game is against Largo 3 at home.

Match Report
Clackmannan County 2 v Fauldhouse 2
Click here to view scorecard
Date 27/6/2009	Venue The Arns	Result Win	Weather Cloudy
By Dave Watkins A muggy and overcast day greeted table-topping Clackmannan 2’s as they chased a fifth league win in a row against Fauldhouse at The Arns. There were four changes from last week’s win at Dalgety Bay with Rich Passe, Ken Hutchinson, Auranzeb Alamgir and Ash Rasul replacing Noor Jhangir, Rik Odendal, Graham Fraser and Will Kay The home side batted first and openers Rich Passe and Ken Hutchinson, helped by some indifferent fielding, took the score comfortably to 43 before the latter was caught at backward point for 24. With Passe dropping anchor at the other end, number 3 Neil Ramsay took the attack to the bowlers and the home side took the mid-innings drinks sitting on 93/1, a solid platform to up the scoring rate. However, the drinks break proved a turning point and the first ball after the resumption saw Passe caught behind for 27. Shortly afterwards Ramsay skied a catch to cover, shortly after which captain Scott Malcolmson was caught at mid-off for a duck. Clackmannan had lost three wickets for four runs and stood on 97/4. However the home side’s form batsman Auranzeb Alamgir, once again began to impose himself with his blend of huge hitting and tennis shot defensive strokes. However he was beginning to run out of partners as Dave Watkins and Nick Bryant-Nicholls came and went and, with the score at 149/6, Alamgir was joined at the wicket by Ash Rasul, fresh off the night flight home from Dubai. Jetlag and a 30-degree drop in temperature were not enough to stop the former club captain hit his game, after Alamgir was trapped in front for 40, Rasul and Greig Taylor combined to take Clackmannan’s total towards the 200 mark. Rasul’s clean hitting and Taylor’s mix of classic drives and leg glances had the Fauldhouse fielders scratching their heads and questioning the pair on what they had done to annoy the captain to cause him to move them down the order. The pair put on a classy 52 before Taylor holed out to deep long on to leave Clackmannan on 203/8. Rasul carried on adding the runs and with one ball of the innings remaining the home side were bowled out for 226, with Rasul finishing unbeaten on 40. Neil Ramsay opened the bowling as Fauldhouse began their reply and, possibly as a tribute to the discarded England quick Steve Harmison, started off with two wides, one to leg and one to off. The master plan worked perfectly as the opener, startled to see the ball within a furlong of his stumps, played all round Ramsay’s third delivery and was bowled. Ramsay struck again in his next over taking a fine return catch off a full toss from his own bowling. Despite these wickets Fauldhouse had made a brisk start but were soon checked by consecutive maidens from Alison Ramsay. Auranzeb Alamgir, buoyed by his earlier knock of 40, was brought on as first change and in his third over removed Fauldhouse’s number 4, Taylor, leg before wicket. With the required run rate rising, the skipper turned to Kash Ali, fresh off a man-of-the-match display at Dalgety Bay, and he bowled very economically and got his reward in his fifth over as the stubborn Paul Lee drove straight to Neil Ramsay at cover. Rich Passe was also brought on from the Road End and he took two wickets in his first four overs, one to a sharp catch by keeper Greig Taylor and the other to a perfectly flighted ‘moon ball’ which yorked the unfortunate batsman. Despite losing wickets regularly Fauldhouse were scoring quickly enough to stay in the hunt and Darren Crumpton, who had bowled tightly, began to push the score along with excellent placement and aggressive running. The seventh and eight wicket partnerships began to worry the home side and the pressure told as catches were dropped and runs conceded to overthrows. When Taylor stumped Jamie McIlduff off the bowling of Passe, Crumpton was joined by number 9 Ronnie Currie and the pair got Fauldhouse to within 40 runs of victory when Neil Ramsay returned and bowled Currie for 18. Ramsay struck again with his next ball, but was denied his hatrick by young 12 year old Darren Allan who kept his wicket intact to finish on 4 not out. Neil Ramsay finished with 4 for 34, however the final wicket fell to his sister Alison as Darren Crumpton was stumped by Taylor for an excellent 47. Clackmannan won by 34 wins to maintain their momentum at the top of ESCA Division 7. Next weeks game is against Largo 3 at home.