Saturday 4th May saw the Accies 1st XI take on local neighbours Holy Cross at the not so local Peffermill Playing Fields. Due to a larger than normal number of absentees that week, both 1st and 2nd teams were left with 9 players each. Not ideal but after the win last week the boys wanted to put in a good performance none the less.

Keeping to his good form at the toss, Ryan Williams again lost the toss and for the second week running the Accies were put into bat on a difficult early season wicket. With the numbers against us this week the batsmen were told to be conservative in stroke making as we couldn’t lose wickets too early. Alex “Pricey” Price decided to ignore this which saw him make a fairly fluent 13 before being judged LBW. Andrew Maclaren however did take the captains words in and saw him take over 20 balls to get off the mark. After this slow start for Macca, who was joined by Tom Speller, saw a solid partnership form which took the Accies to 80-1 at the drinks break. The drinks break went against us as it saw Macca (36) was caught out whilst Rich White was also out LBW for a duck. Speller continued his good work until both he (31) and new man at the crease Marcus Stewart (9) were out. With the latter walking after a thin edge on what was a very windy day and difficult day for the umpire. With two new men at the crease in Jak Purkiss and Ali Colam, an improvement on last week’s middle order collapse was needed. Jak followed in Rich’s shoes with a well earnt duck whilst Ali walked after another thin edge whilst on 9. So with the score on 102-7 (final wicket due to lack of numbers) and still 12 over’s to go Ryan and Tamal needed to bat well to at least give the Accies a chance when it came around to bowling. More attritional batting saw the team edge up to the 130 mark when Ryan then let Tamal off the leash who was keen to do some slogging in the final over’s. This increased scoring rate saw the Accies post 157 off their 50 over’s which isn’t too bad considering the numbers we had that day.

With another modest total to defend and with only 9 men it was a tall ask for the Accies to get anything from the match. Things didn’t start too well when Ryan took himself off after three over’s after leaking 24 runs, but Tamal did a great job with the ball to take a couple of early wickets and after a suburb run-out from Rich White at square leg, the pressure was really on Holy Cross. The pressure continued to build Rich bowled his ten over’s with figures of 10-3-15-1. This was an incredibly tight spell just when the team needed it and took the ‘Cross to the drinks break at 60-3.

With Tamal leaving for work after his equally tight spell of 9-2-16-2 the Accies were down to 8 in the field, but they were given hope when Ryan bought himself back on to bowl and looked to make up for his waywardness in the early over’s. In his 1st over of his second spell Ryan took the wickets of the two set batsmen and the Accies were given a glimpse of hope.

With each man fielding like a hero, diving stops were everywhere and the pressure was really on the batting side now. Even more pressure was applied to Holy Cross when Alex Price got a thin edge to Macca early in his spell. This left Holy Cross at 95-7 with 20 over’s to go. The Accies men were really putting their bodies about in the field now and even change of keeper to bring Macca on for a bowl worked well for the Accies. Macca bowled with good control until he had to be removed from the attack for bowling two accidental beamers. With bowling options running out and the two men at the crease looking unmovable, Ryan turned to the part time bowlers to try and give the team a bit of luck. This luck almost came to fruition but the boys were just unable to take the two sharp chances. Still with the half chances going down the boys never gave up hope of an unlikely win. This impressive attitude continued all the way until the 47th over when the Holy Cross batsmen scored the winning runs.

This was a great effort from everyone who played; each of them really set a standard of play and determination and pride that has been lacking in previous matched. Each of them should be very proud of their achievements that day. It was impossible to pick an individual man of the match that day as all 9 players gave everything they had an more to the team. With this attitude the Accies will surely be a strong force to be reckoned with this season, especially with a full team.

So let’s see if this we can keep this run of great performances going when the Accies take on Carlton at Grange Loan next week.

Saturday 27th April D-day for the new season and the Accies 1st XI faced Dunfermline CC away. The day started by a meet up at Newfield and a pleasant drive to our opponents. Captain Ryan “Rhino” Williams got his outdoor captaincy off to a flying start by not only turning up late to the opponents ground; due to getting lost, and when he did arrive he decided to lose the toss. So, on a very green wicket Accies were put into bat.

The match got underway with Cameron De Haan and Ali Colam opening the batting but what they didn’t know a curse was put upon one of them by Andrew Moffat. With only 2 balls into the new season Moff declared “I think we are going to lose a wicket in the first over,” the big question who was it going to be? The unfortunate victim was Ali who went back to a ball he should have gone forward to and also left a ball he should have really played a shot at as he was left bowled with the scores at 4-1. This bought Marcus to the crease. He and Cameron rebuilt the innings with some fine shots including the first 6 of the season by Marcus. After a rather swift 29 Marcus was adjudged LBW with the scores at 51-2. Tamal and Cameron continued the good early work but when Cameron was bowled the middle order had to stand up and be counted.

Like many time last year the loss of early wicket put the Accies batting on the back foot. But with the hard work in the close season and a good run in the indoor competition the middle order looked to have a bit of steel about it. But looks can be deceiving. A flurry of wicket fell with Moff, Sammy, Ryan and Lawrence Mann falling for a combined effort of 7 runs which really left the team in a hole with the scores at 89-7. Ryan continued his great start to the season as captain by playing a strong captains innings, just when it was needed. With wickets falling like flies, how better to dig your team out of a hole by getting a duck. A strong rear guard was put up by Geraint Jones (13), Ryan Miller and Pip Thompson, who frustrated the bowlers and got the Accies up to 115. This was a fairly disappointing innings after such a good start, but the players knew that with our bowling anything could happen after lunch.

The new ball was given to Geraint who looked to continue a good game for him after a decent knock with the bat. His first over didn’t quite go to plan, with the radar a little rusty and a hefty blow from one of the openers, Dunfermline scored 8 in the over. After quite an appalling day so far Ryan decided to open from the other end, but his day was about to change. With a wicket with his first ball of the season and another later in the over Dunfermline were left shocked as the score was 9-2 after the second over. Geraint then got in the act by taking the outside edge of the new batsman only to see Ryan return to his original form and drop the catch at gulley. So instead of using the field Geraint decided to take it upon himself to get the wickets and bowled the same batsman next ball. Ryan then made up for his dropped catch a couple of over’s later by taking another outside edge off Geraint, who was on a bit of a roll after his earlier wobble. He was on such a streak that wickets were falling on a regular basis for very few runs and before we knew it Geraint had his first five-fer of the season with the scores at 31-5. This didn’t stop Geraint who pushed on through the Dunfermline batting line up and narrowly missed out on a hat-trick. Geraint finished his ten over spell with figure of 10-5-22-7 which is an early benchmark for performance of the season especially considering the match situation. So with the scores at 34-9 it was just a matter of time before Accies clinched their first win of the season. The wait for the wicket was a long one with the last batting pair putting on 15 for the last wicket. Sammy was unable to make the break through after replacing Ryan, so we turned to spin. After a maiden from Ryan Miller, Moff came on and took the wicket with only his second ball.

So, with the Accies back to winning ways in a hard fought game, next week see the 1st XI take on local neighbours Holy Cross at Peffermill. Let’s see if the boys can keep the winning run going.

A couple of changes to Accies fixture list have been made due to clashes;

1st XI home game v Holy Cross now Sunday 5th May NOT Saturday 4th May;
2nd XI home game v Musselburgh 2nd XI now Sunday 5th May NOT Saturday 4th May; and
1st XI away game @ Carlton now Sunday 12th May NOT Saturday 11th May.

The start times for all the games above have not changed.

The full Accies fixture list can be seen here.

If you haven’t already, make your availability known for the upcoming friendly match against Edinburgh University via the club email. This will be a great opportunity to blast any cobwebs out of the system prior to the first game of the season.

After progressing to the finals night undefeated the Accies were quietly confident against a dangerous Musselburgh side that had put on some big scores in their own group stages. After winning the toss Ryan decided to have a bowl first and try and contain their aggressive opponents. This plan was to try and restrict and frustrate the batters and force them into playing a false shot or taking a risky single. This however didn’t quite go to plan. With the normally reliable Ryan, Alastair and Richard to get the game underway some wayward bowling got Musselburgh off to a flyer with 41-1 off the first 3 over’s of which 17 were extras. The only wicket coming as a runout in the third over. Richard did however get a wicket by bowling one of the Musselbrugh openers only for it to be called a no-ball. A difficult half chance off the wall was also put down in the opening over but the Accies felt that they were still in the competition and knew that they had to fight back. With one opener out and another retired, the Accies were into the Musselburgh middle order and two tight over’s from Andrew and Ryan put a bit of pressure onto the batsmen with them on 50-1 after 5. This pressure showed in the next over as Moff took two in the over with Alex taking a difficult chance to dismiss the dangerous Rene Collins and it looked like the tide was about to turn. But the Musselburgh batsmen showed they too were up to the challenge and after a good couple of over’s from Alex and Richard the scores were 78-3 off 8 over’s. With Alex being hit for a 6 off the first ball of his final over he responded with claiming the wicket of the batsman bringing the retired opener back to the crease and left Alastair to bowl the final over. With the field set for the big shot the batsman decided to chance his arm and should have paid the price when he hit the ball straight to Richard who was unable to hold the catch and to rub salt into the wounds further, pushed it onto the back wall for 6. After hitting another six in the over and some risky running the Musselburgh side put on 114 in their 10 over’s.

So with the target of 115 set to reach the final the openers of Alex and Richard were told to bat sensibly and make sure we bat out the 10 over’s. This plan was all going to plan with the boys laying a solid foundation as they were going at 6 an over for the first three over’s. It was in the 4th over that disaster struck with both Alex and Richard falling in three balls with the score stuck on 18. Richard was a touch unfortunate in his dismissal has he was run out by the wicket keeper whilst batting out of his ground. This brought Ryan and Cameron to the crease who had to steady the ship whilst scoring enough runs to keep the Accies in contention in the later over’s. As runs were needed Cameron went for a straight 6 and it looked like it was going all the way until Rene stuck a hand up from nowhere to take catch of the match. With the pressure really on now the last thing the Accies needed was to lose Moff who came to the crease to replace Cameron. But the Accies worst nightmares were realised when Moff was also run out in similar fashion to that of Richard, being run out by the keeper. At this point the Accies realised that their ambition of a place in the final was all but over but that didn’t stop Ryan and Alastair trying to restore some pride with Ryan hitting a straight drive for 6 and Alastair trying to hit the cover off any ball with a bit of width. This however didn’t last too long and Alastair was caught behind and wrapping the Accies innings up with the total at 43.

So, the Accies were knocked out at the semi-final stage and were left feeling “what if” the half chances had been taken and for a couple of unfortunate run outs. But on a positive note this is an improvement on last year’s competition and we can take these early wins into the beginning games of the season.

The final was eventually won by defending champions Marchmont CC who bowled with unbelievable control and restricted Musselburgh to 40 and knocked the runs off in quick fashion. So congratulations go to the winners Marchmont and too all the Accies players who took park in this years competition. Hopefully with another hard indoor winter training session next year the Accies can come back stronger than ever and try and prize the title away from Marchmont CC.

Sessions will be held at Newfield every Sunday between 1000 and 1130.

For more information, please download the Kwik Cricket Flyer 2013

The team to try and bring home the win will be Ryan Williams, Andrew Moffat, Richard White, Cameron De Haan, Alex Price and Alastair Carmichael. With the Accies being drawn in the semi-final against Musselburgh CC and the other semi-final consisting of Holy Cross and last year’s winners Marchmont CC the finals night is going to be fiercely contested. Let’s hope the Accies can put in a strong performance and build on the early season momentum generated from their earlier wins!

The first game of the afternoon was against Fauldhouse who was strong competition last time around. Accies lost the toss and were put into bat. Openers Andrew Maclaren and Rich White who was on debut were told a victory in this game would guarantee a place in next week’s final and were told to get the team off to a steady start and don’t play any silly shots. This team talk lasted 3 balls when Rich called Andrew down for a an incredibly sharp single, and even though he put the dive in Andrew was judged to be run out leaving the Accies 4-1 after 3 balls. This brought another debutant Cameron De Haan to the crease with the Accies in a spot of bother. Cameron and Rich stabilised the early wobble by taking the easy single off the wall before Rich hit a superb straight drive. He then went to replicate the shot but got a bit of a thick edge and was caught off the wall. Andrew Moffat was next in to the crease and with the score at 18-2 off 3 overs a big partnership was needed. And that’s just was happened; a partnership of 32 off three overs saw Carmeron forced to retire after hitting two 6’s in the over putting the Accies at 52-2 at the end of 6 overs. With one back on the bench who could come back and bat again gave captain Ryan a chance to play with a bit more freedom. Both Ryan and Moff again took the singles off the wall with easy and Ryan helped himself to a maximum off a full toss before Moff batted out the penultimate over for a maiden. Knowing that 70 wasn’t enough to stop a strong Fauldhouse team the captain responded in the final over by hitting back to back sixes before being caught off the wall. Lawrence Mann scored 4 off the final two balls meaning the Accies set a competitive total of 86.

With a decent total on the board the opening bowlers of Rich and Ryan wanted to keep things tight in the first few overs to apply some scoreboard pressure later on. This however didn’t happen with the first 2 overs going for 27, with Ryan being hit for 2 sixes in an over one of which was a dropped caught and bowled opportunity. But Rich responded well in the next over and should have had a wicket when Ryan dropped a fairly straight forward chance at midwicket but by only conceding the 6 runs in the over and reigned the scoreboard back in a bit. Lawrence backed up this bowling in the next over before we had the longest over of the night from Moff. Although his over only went for 7 runs it wasn’t until the sixth ball that he bowled a legal delivery. With the ball moving around a bit for Moff, wicket keeper Andrew Maclaren was kept busy down the leg side and made some impressive blocks that prevented any further runs off the back wall, clearly his goal keeper training is starting to pay off a bit. Moff also claimed the first wick of the Accies after the Fauldhouse opener was forced to retire. So with the score at 50-1 off 5 overs the match was evenly placed going into the final overs. Lawrence then finished his spell having conceded 16 from his two overs and Cameron also kept things tight by only conceding 6 off his first over. With Fauldhouse needing 23 from the final 3 overs it all was to play for when Moff came to bowl his final over and what an over it was. Picking up another wicket early in the over and only leaking 3 runs in the over put Accies in the driving seat with 2 overs to go, and Moff finished with impressive stats of 2-0-10-2, but could have been even better if it wasn’t for the five early wides. The penultimate over was bowled by Cameron which went for 9 runs and also saw a runout which brought the notout batsman back to the crease. And with the score at 76-4 it was down to Ryan to keep things tight and book Accies a place in the finals night. Ryan managed to hold his nerve and only conceded 3 runs in the final over meaning that Accies won the game by 7 runs.

Having now booked their place in the finals week the Accies had a little something extra in their step going into the their final game of the night against the Edinburgh Schools Academy. Having won the toss Ryan decided to have a bowl after the bowling heroic of the last game.

Rich’s pace was too much for the opening batting pair and saw him claim an early wicket and only concede 3 runs from the over. This bowing was then backed up by Ryan who only conceded 6 off his over as to did Lawrence from his first over, to leave the score 15-1 off 3. The fourth over brought Moff on to bowl who yet again took a wicket in every over he bowled, but also conceded 9 runs as the young batsman tucked the ball away into the corners of the ground. Cameron then came on to bowl and took a wicket with his first ball when he strangled a batsman down the leg-side after a great catch from Andrew Maclaren. The over could have been even better for the debutant if Macca had been able to hold onto another leg-side catch and a thick outside edge, but leaking a single off from the final ball spoiled his chance of a wicket maiden over. With the score set at 25-3 off 5 the Accies we in control going into the second half of the innings. Even when Moff went for 10 in his final over, the Accies responded strongly with Cameron taking another wicket in the next over and putting real pressure on the batting side. Lawrence wrapped up the inning by dismissing the final batsman with the score at 42. Although this is a relatively low score the Accies still had a job to do if they wanted to remain undefeated on their run to the finals day.

So with 43 to win the Accies got off to the worst possible start when Macca played on to his stumps on the third ball, but the over wasn’t a complete disaster as the inform Cameron hit a 4 and a 6 to bring the score up to 11. Cameron wasn’t able to build on his earlier boundary hitting as he was dismissed for 11 in the next over. This brought Ryan back to the crease who was keen to repeat his earlier big hitting. However after playing at a wide one and getting a thin edge he walked off having only scored one. With the score at 27-2 the Accies still had a bit of work to do to keep their undefeated run intact. Rich and Lawrence managed to show good control and temperament as they knocked of the remaining 16 runs with two overs to spare and real no scares.

The team as a whole has played some wonderful cricket over the two evenings of indoor cricket and have reaped the rewards for some hard work in the winter net sessions. Huge congratulations to everyone who played over the two nights and with the finals night not far off in the distance the Accies will look forward to try and claim their first piece of silverware of the season.

Accies will start the season by playing an Edinburgh University XI away at Peffermill on 14th April 2013.

If you want to play, get in touch at edinburghacademicalcc@gmail.com to let the skipper know!

Game starts at 11am, and is open to anyone and all who want to can have a bowl or a bat.

This competition is a great opportunity to get a few early wins under the belt before the season starts on the 28th April and also a chance to claim an early bit of silverware.

With the season set to start on the 27th April a friendly match with Edinburgh University will be arranged to accompany the outdoor nets to get that extra match sharpness ahead of the new season.

To see the full list of fixtures click here