Scorecard

Match Report After a spell of wet weather which left the wicket soft and the outfield soggy the desire to play at least some cricket was certainly strong in the second team. Starting on a pitch which was not going to take much more in the way of moisture and with overhead conditions which predicted exactly that, this game was always going to be a triumph of hope over experience. Clackmannan started well enough through some tight bowling by Tipo Sultan and Alistair Band, although the youngster was having some problems bowling with a slippy ball. By the time Band was replaced by Graham Bayes Cask & Barrel were 18 for 2 wickets after 6 overs. Rain interupted the game with Cask & Barrel languishing at 24 for 4 wickets. From the restart the visitors began to take more control of the game as aided by some indifferent bowling and difficult fielding conditions the Clackmannan side let them off the hook. By the end of their innings Cask and Barrel had amassed 174 all out in 43.2 overs, an excellent effort considering the score when rain interupted play and the wet state of the field. The Clackmannan innings opened with wicketkeeper Jeff Thomas and young Graham Oliver and they put on 10 runs before Thomas was LBW to Taylor for 1. Ian Davies suffered a golden duck, LBW off Taylor. Nnext over Oliver was caught at mid-on for 6 runs, having impressed with his steady sensible batting. Jim Craig(0) fell foul of the same bowler, bowled two balls later, but, by the end of the over, the threatening clouds stopped threatening and started delivering. The match was abandoned in monsoon conditions, the new Plastic Pavilion served its purpose wel,l creating a much needed dry viewpoint. The game finished and the cars pushed from the ground, as the rain continued to mock the idea of a match result. Cricket nil, weather won! The scores on the day count for nothing in the averages because the game was incomplete but Graham Bayes 5 wickets for 30 runs in 13 overs was notable in difficult bowling and fielding conditions. His car also proved useful for towing some of the non-four wheel drivers from the ground at the end.