News Archive

Once again, many thanks to all of the kind hearted individuals who have kept us all informed as to the latest developments in the recent cricket tournament that has apparently been going on down under recently. I know the steady stream of match updates has surpassed even some of the quickest news agencies, so thank you all for the most interesting observations & comments. Now please stop it 'No Runs'.

Australia news: Chopper, after his brief flirtation with the SNCL, is back in Oz and will be lecturering the poor unsuspecting students of Melbourne's finest remand centre/education establishment about the fascinating subject of concrete. Rumour has it that he'll be 'rooming' with another former Edinburgh Accie stalwart, Dylan 'Technical' Saunders. Expect long discussion into the night about the standard of umpires and the fact that 'Technical' was the greatest player ever to not have scored above 30 for the Accies in 3 years. Don 'Legend' McLay has been in touch and has the frightening news that he's to be a father. Many congratulations to the McLay family and we wish them all the best for the forthcoming event. The temperament of the little mite will be interesting being half Aussie/half Scottish, but lets not dwell. Congrats again. Nick Lyell has confirmed that he's in negotiations with Avon for a new lipstick contract and will also be back at Raeburn Place, wreaking havoc with the opposition, early August. Jock Hough (Aussie [aren't they all!] & 2nd XI stalwart) was responsible for introducing Mike 'Posh Boy' Keen to the mighty Accies as he thought that Mike would enjoy himself at RP. Luckily for Jock, he's back in Oz and is apparently 'unavailable' for games for a 'while'. He did want to remain on the distribution list for the hilarious match reports and to catch up on the general p*ss taking of Mike.

2nd XI Match report v Kirk Brae (who won toss & batted):
KB 177 all out. Simon Thomson 2-34, Abdul Khader 2 for 40 (2 off 2 ball), Marcus Stewart 8-5-12-0 (superb), Ken Thomson 9-1 -29-3. Excellent bowling & fielding performance that reduced the run rate from over 5 an over at 18 overs to under 4 an over at the end. Once again great team effort and support.

EACC 178 for 9 with Arsad 63, Will Lutton 21, Wayne Coggan 20 and last 11 winning runs being struck by the twae tommos-unlikely Anzac partnership of Ken and Simon. Accies won by 1 wicket. Kirkbrae previously unbeaten and top of the league (we lost earlier game by 1 run off last ball of game).

2nd XI Update
Saturday 10 June - Lost to Kismet by 7 wickets. After a long delay crossing the Forth Road Bridge for a first ever visit to Kismet, a sight seeing tour of Eastern Fife was the prelude to the afternoon’s activities and as a consequence the start was somewhat delayed. Batting first, Accies were quickly 37 for 7 after 15 overs and never really recovered. Opener Marcus Stewart struck 19 and Dan Pring top scored with 25 not out, entertainingly assisted by Wayne Coggan’s 20 not out, right at the end. However, 100 all out was never going to be defendable. Kismet knocked off the required total in 25 overs, leaving Accies with just 4 points to take home.

Saturday 14 June – Beat Dalgety Bay by 103 runs. Determined not to be late again, the team set off promptly from RP. Encountering no problems on the bridge this week, Accies arrived at Dalgety Bay more than an hour before the scheduled start and embarked upon some unaccustomed fielding practice to pass the time. Having won the toss, Accies elected to bat first and a slow but solid start saw 57 reached at the fall of the second wicket in the 23rd over. From this platform a total of 166 all out was reached in the 44th over. Virtually everyone got into double figures, with Alex Valentine hitting 27, including a couple of towering sixes before being caught going for his third, and Dave Black with 25. Some genuine fast bowling from Accies opening bowlers (some of which was downright hostile on the hosts’ plastic pitch) reduced Dalgety Bay to 37 for 5 after 11 overs. Jason Dawes with 4 for 24 terrorised their top order and Abdul Khader and wily Ken Thomson both chipped in with a couple of wickets each. Despatching the opposition for 63 in the 22nd over ensured a maximum 20 points and an early return to RP in time to witness the 1st XI securing a hat-trick of wins.

Spoljaric Update - Immediate past president 'Baron' Ostrowski was on a driving holiday in Devon weekend of 10 June and due to a ghastly map-reading error fetched up in Budleigh Salterton. It transpired that this is where Spolly plied his trade, and on a glorious summer’s day he was witnessed racing effortlessly to 84 before being caught behind off his shoulder. A splendid cream tea was enjoyed by all, and when he returned to action it was to take 4 wickets for not many in an impressive all round performance. B. Salterton are 'delighted' with his performances as, reportedly, are the "ladies" of Exeter, whose night clubs are a popular haunt for our former colleague. Now known as Spolls, he is enjoying life and cricket and (which must seem alien to him after 7 years in Scotland) playing on hard pitches in warm weather.

Other news - Chopper, after a brief visit, is in Germany berating referees, Harry Paton is back (well we think its Harry but this version is fatter) and sleeping until 5 PM unless there's cricket involved. More new players have been spotted at RP 'Home of Cricket' and no doubt the warmer weather will tempt some of the Accies stalwarts to make themselves available. A possible 3rd XI could be on the cards if numbers continue. We will keep everyone informed. The News of The World has vicious rumour of the possibility of a daring transfer bid by EACC to an unnamed Goldenacre Premiership side for a lager fuelled off spinner/middle order bat. These rumours are completely unsubstantiated…...

Professional & Overseas Amateur - EACC are currently negotiating with the crème de la crème of the antipodean world who may be fortunate enough to be chosen as the new Pro & Overseas AM at the Accies. There has been no shortage of 'quality' applicants (as you can imagine) and the new signings will hopefully be announced in the very near future. Steven Spoljaric, the Pro for the past six years, has decided to try his luck south of the border…….

Spoljaric update - Spolly continued his fine season with South Melbourne and was selected to represent a 'Premier XI' side to play vs a State Squad XI. Averaging 43+, with three centuries and claiming 28 wickets, it was another good season for Spolly. As mentioned he has decided to try his luck south of the border and will be playing for Budleigh Salterton in the Devon Cricket League - Premier Division. Apparently its Peter Roebucks (ex Somerset CC Captain) club and Spolly has informed me he'll be living with him. We wish them both luck……. Spolly was spotted in Edinburgh at a recent Indoor Net session and an unnamed Accies member commented that it was an 'unexpected pleasure to see him again'.

Nick Lyall - extract from 'The Secret Diary of Nick Lyall'. Some restrictions on the wording have been imposed due to the content of the report and the recent UN Sanctions. He spent a week with Spolly & Harry end of Jan' - unfortunately the libel laws prevent us elaborating this part. He's now somewhere in Sydney pretending to be a teacher for a few months. The thought of Nick 'educating' unsuspecting young Australians brings a tear to my eye.

'Chopper' watch - apparently he's been to Buenos Aries (no doubt berating the locals about the 'Hand of God' goal, Beckhams sending off and the loss on penalties in the WC) Rio de Janeiro and is now somewhere near Panama. See his Web Blog which is surprisingly good. Due back in the UK at the end of April and will allegedly be making his way to Edinburgh to continue his friendship with most of the Scottish Umpiring community.

Stuart 'Alpha Male' Moffat - it has been politely pointed out that the 'Alpha male' has one cap for Scotland (cricket & five for rugby apparently). He was upset that it wasn't mentioned on the website. Happy to put the record straight and to also mention his charity work with underprivileged children, his time in the Peace Corps and the time when he single handed saved the universe from total destruction. Au revoir mon ami?….

Andrew 'Lager' Moffat - we are including Andrew in the latest news to ensure that he knows that everyone at EACC still loves him and he shouldn't consider moving to Budleigh Salterton this year…….

New Players - thanks for all of the recent enquiries from the various players. As stated, all standards welcome at EACC. All enquires should have received a rambling response so if you haven't, please get in touch again. With a new clubhouse planned, the prospects of a shiny new Pro & Amateur, quality coaching & nets and free beer all season (OK this may be a lie), there's never been a better time to join the home of cricket in Edinburgh. Please contact .