Clackmannan County Cricket Club

By Greig Taylor

In 1965 Norman Stingley revolutionised the toy industry, by inventing the the bouncy ball, however it was Clackmannan 2nd XI who needed to bounce back to form and get their league campaign up and running with a victory over Heriots. With high hopes of calling correctly, skipper lost the toss and Heriots chose to bat on a very good looking strip.

County opened proceedings with Blair Campbell and Ally Band, the latter getting in the mix with a wicket in his second over. Although the wicket should really have been awarded to the fielder as the ball, as it rocketed to the boundary, it was intercepted in its path by Rich Passe, who stuck out a hand, only for the ball to stick. Simply a stunning catch. Even after picking up that wicket, Band struggled to get into a rhythm and was soon replaced by Will Kay, the resident “Dr.”. of the team. In contrast, Campbell hit his stride from ball one, bowling in that “corridor of uncertainty”, just back of a length, moving the ball both ways and thus, causing the home side some real problems. The frequency of the ball passing the edge almost became monotonous. However, the change up ball ( full on the stumps) did the trick, and removed Tony “Mr Scotland” White for seventeen. Matt Booth took over from Blair and only bowled one over from the Ferry Road End. It wasn't because he was expensive is mainly due to the fact Matthew was a little tender from the previous nights escapades at the Alloa Beer Festival and made the excuse that he found the glare of the sun too much for his head to handle.

After regaining the feeling back to his hand, Richard Passe came onto bowl, and the marvel is that he is removed the dangerous number three with the straighter ball in his first over. This trend continued as he folllowed up with another wicket maiden, removing number four for a single. Meanwhile, Dr. Kay was working hard at the other end, tying up the batsmen, with metronomical regularity. Doc and Rich really squeezed the life out of the Heriots innings, as the runs dried up, or the scoreboard ran out of petrol? Who knows? This drought of runs continued as Passe removed a third batsmen, is his 3rd over for a duck. Passe then removed another two batsmen, one LBW and one caught and bowled to record his first ever five-wicket haul for the club. Booth, who had now regained his "equilibrium", by his own omission, came on from the Rugby end (with the sun at his back now) and bowled a great spell of out-swing bowling. Wicket-keeper Greig Taylor, standing up to the stumps made life difficult for the batsmen, as they were tied down in the crease, and as a result, Heriots found scoring difficult. After surviving a stumping decision, the Heriots skipper soon heard the clatter of timber, but this time, it wasn't the work of Taylor it was Booth, bowling the arm ball, who bowled him. Booth deservedly claimed another wicket, having Ashkay caught very intelligently by Muktar Ahmed at fly slip. The innings was wrapped up when opening bowler, Campbell, came back on and struck with his first ball, trapping number ten in front of middle. The ruthlessness of the Clackmannan attack, lead by Richard Passe who ripped out the heart of the middle order, contained Heriots to only 94.

W.G.Grace, was famously quoted as saying “Every cricketer knows that in the early stages of a batsman's innings i.e. before he gets his eye in -- luck plays an important part”. This statement couldn't have been more truer today when Rich Passe, opening the batting with Ken Hutchison, latched onto a short ball by the bowler, only for the square leg fielder to see the ball bisect his hands. Somehow, if felt as if the luck was going to go Clackmannan's way today. After some crunching drives, both straight and square of the wicket, Hutchison sucummbed to the finger of umpire Malcolmson for 8. As luck goes, the next over we stopped for teas as Heriots did not use up their 45 overs. At this stage, Clackmannan were sitting pretty at 29-1, off only 10 overs. However, this scheduled stop was to be detrimental in Clackmannan's major mini-collapse ! that followed suit. After teas, Campbell followed up a glorious on-drive by swooshing at a straight ball and in doing so, had to depart for 6. Passe was caught down the leg-side for 23 by keeper Petrie. In the next over, Sawyers removed Taylor and Malcolmson, both LBW with successive balls. Nick-Bryant Nicholls faced the hat trick ball, and the entire Clackmannan side prepared for the worst, when the ball thundered into the pads. Fortunately, the ball hit the skipper outside off stump. A major mini collapse indeed, as a comfortable position of 29-1, soon was a very unconformtable 44-5. The buoyant appeals from the home side, made the lives of the umpires very difficult. In spite of this barrage of appeals, Ali Band and the skipper plowed on, picking up the singles and punishing the occasional bad ball that the Heriots bowlers gave. The lack of depth in the Heriots attack was apparent, as the home skipper kept on rotating his three main bowlers, but the stubborn pair blocked out the majority of their spell. Nevertheless, Bryant-Nicholls perished to a wide ball, in the final over of the openers spell, and thus left Clackmannan with 14 to win, and 4 wickets in hand. A superb partnership off 37 had moved Clackmannan from a potentially embarassing position into a very strong one.

Imran Khan expressed “Cricket is a pressure game...” and a method to combat pressure is having confidence in your teams ability. Such confidence usually stems from the leader of the squad, down to his men, but how could Clackmannan be confident when their skipper, their leader was hiding behind the scoreboard, unable to take the tension of the close finish on the cards. However, as each run was scored by Band and new batsman, Matt Booth, the feeling of uneasiness began to lift. The total was now in touching distance, and true to the words of W.G.Grace, luck this time was with Ali Band as he sliced a ball, just over the leaping fielder and with it having just the legs to clear the boundary, secured the victory for the visitors.

Today was the 65th anniversary of the V-E day, where the Germans forces agreed to an unconditional surrender in WWII, but I am glad to say that Clackmannan did not surrender themselves to defeat today,especially after such an inspiring performance in the field.

Match Report
Clackmannan County 2nd XI v Heriots 3rd XI
Click here to view scorecard
Date 8/5/2010	Venue Goldenacre	Result Win	Weather Sunny cold
By Greig Taylor In 1965 Norman Stingley revolutionised the toy industry, by inventing the the bouncy ball, however it was Clackmannan 2nd XI who needed to bounce back to form and get their league campaign up and running with a victory over Heriots. With high hopes of calling correctly, skipper lost the toss and Heriots chose to bat on a very good looking strip. County opened proceedings with Blair Campbell and Ally Band, the latter getting in the mix with a wicket in his second over. Although the wicket should really have been awarded to the fielder as the ball, as it rocketed to the boundary, it was intercepted in its path by Rich Passe, who stuck out a hand, only for the ball to stick. Simply a stunning catch. Even after picking up that wicket, Band struggled to get into a rhythm and was soon replaced by Will Kay, the resident “Dr.”. of the team. In contrast, Campbell hit his stride from ball one, bowling in that “corridor of uncertainty”, just back of a length, moving the ball both ways and thus, causing the home side some real problems. The frequency of the ball passing the edge almost became monotonous. However, the change up ball ( full on the stumps) did the trick, and removed Tony “Mr Scotland” White for seventeen. Matt Booth took over from Blair and only bowled one over from the Ferry Road End. It wasn't because he was expensive is mainly due to the fact Matthew was a little tender from the previous nights escapades at the Alloa Beer Festival and made the excuse that he found the glare of the sun too much for his head to handle. After regaining the feeling back to his hand, Richard Passe came onto bowl, and the marvel is that he is removed the dangerous number three with the straighter ball in his first over. This trend continued as he folllowed up with another wicket maiden, removing number four for a single. Meanwhile, Dr. Kay was working hard at the other end, tying up the batsmen, with metronomical regularity. Doc and Rich really squeezed the life out of the Heriots innings, as the runs dried up, or the scoreboard ran out of petrol? Who knows? This drought of runs continued as Passe removed a third batsmen, is his 3rd over for a duck. Passe then removed another two batsmen, one LBW and one caught and bowled to record his first ever five-wicket haul for the club. Booth, who had now regained his "equilibrium", by his own omission, came on from the Rugby end (with the sun at his back now) and bowled a great spell of out-swing bowling. Wicket-keeper Greig Taylor, standing up to the stumps made life difficult for the batsmen, as they were tied down in the crease, and as a result, Heriots found scoring difficult. After surviving a stumping decision, the Heriots skipper soon heard the clatter of timber, but this time, it wasn't the work of Taylor it was Booth, bowling the arm ball, who bowled him. Booth deservedly claimed another wicket, having Ashkay caught very intelligently by Muktar Ahmed at fly slip. The innings was wrapped up when opening bowler, Campbell, came back on and struck with his first ball, trapping number ten in front of middle. The ruthlessness of the Clackmannan attack, lead by Richard Passe who ripped out the heart of the middle order, contained Heriots to only 94. W.G.Grace, was famously quoted as saying “Every cricketer knows that in the early stages of a batsman's innings i.e. before he gets his eye in -- luck plays an important part”. This statement couldn't have been more truer today when Rich Passe, opening the batting with Ken Hutchison, latched onto a short ball by the bowler, only for the square leg fielder to see the ball bisect his hands. Somehow, if felt as if the luck was going to go Clackmannan's way today. After some crunching drives, both straight and square of the wicket, Hutchison sucummbed to the finger of umpire Malcolmson for 8. As luck goes, the next over we stopped for teas as Heriots did not use up their 45 overs. At this stage, Clackmannan were sitting pretty at 29-1, off only 10 overs. However, this scheduled stop was to be detrimental in Clackmannan's major mini-collapse ! that followed suit. After teas, Campbell followed up a glorious on-drive by swooshing at a straight ball and in doing so, had to depart for 6. Passe was caught down the leg-side for 23 by keeper Petrie. In the next over, Sawyers removed Taylor and Malcolmson, both LBW with successive balls. Nick-Bryant Nicholls faced the hat trick ball, and the entire Clackmannan side prepared for the worst, when the ball thundered into the pads. Fortunately, the ball hit the skipper outside off stump. A major mini collapse indeed, as a comfortable position of 29-1, soon was a very unconformtable 44-5. The buoyant appeals from the home side, made the lives of the umpires very difficult. In spite of this barrage of appeals, Ali Band and the skipper plowed on, picking up the singles and punishing the occasional bad ball that the Heriots bowlers gave. The lack of depth in the Heriots attack was apparent, as the home skipper kept on rotating his three main bowlers, but the stubborn pair blocked out the majority of their spell. Nevertheless, Bryant-Nicholls perished to a wide ball, in the final over of the openers spell, and thus left Clackmannan with 14 to win, and 4 wickets in hand. A superb partnership off 37 had moved Clackmannan from a potentially embarassing position into a very strong one. Imran Khan expressed “Cricket is a pressure game...” and a method to combat pressure is having confidence in your teams ability. Such confidence usually stems from the leader of the squad, down to his men, but how could Clackmannan be confident when their skipper, their leader was hiding behind the scoreboard, unable to take the tension of the close finish on the cards. However, as each run was scored by Band and new batsman, Matt Booth, the feeling of uneasiness began to lift. The total was now in touching distance, and true to the words of W.G.Grace, luck this time was with Ali Band as he sliced a ball, just over the leaping fielder and with it having just the legs to clear the boundary, secured the victory for the visitors. Today was the 65th anniversary of the V-E day, where the Germans forces agreed to an unconditional surrender in WWII, but I am glad to say that Clackmannan did not surrender themselves to defeat today,especially after such an inspiring performance in the field.