Ee Aye Oh Dearie-o... We Didn't Win The Cup

Shipwrecks unsurprisingly failed to lift the silverware (or any buried treasure) in their Midweek Plate Cup Final against Annan at the Kingholm last Wednesday. But their defeat did not result from  being seriously outgunned but rather from the fact that the sailors once again shot themselves in the collective foot.

Having as desired won the toss and decided to bat in potentially poor light, a full squad including able seamen Harrison and Barbour (back from shore leave) should probably have seen off Annan, who arrived with only enough bodies to fill a coxed eight - which however would probably have sunk if they had all got in it at the same time.

Instead the Shipwrecks reverted to their natural game of running each other out, and three of their best batsmen - Service, Harrison and Dean Sr. - were quickly back in the figurative Pavilion after misjudging the thickness of the Kingholm hay meadow and its resultant effect on the velocity of a cricket ball according to the mathematical formula (x*ro = -x15) runs.

Sid Oates Prepares A Swipe At Pagan

After this Sid Oates and Taylor were out for five apiece trying to make up lost ground and only Rory Dean made any significant progress with a plucky 17 as Shipwrecks floundered.  Minor contributions from Sid Barbour, Alastair MacEwan and Sarosh at least steered the effort to 54 - 9 and ensured the use of the full twenty overs.

Even small totals require some overhauling at Kingholm, and Shipwrecks' fortunes rose when Harrison clean bowled McCann and McEwan struck twice for eight.  Taylor got rid of danger man Bellis but only after being hoisted to the boundary for two sixes that could ill be afforded. More wickets fell to Barbour and Dean Jr. but a couple of missed catches allowed Annan to get home on half throttle with three wickets to spare.

Rory Dean

While enjoying the rations kindly provided by sponsors Sulwath Brewers Ltd. to celebrate a game played in good spirit, it became apparent that Annan are now faced with the unenviable quest of hunting down the Plate Trophy, which like Moby Dick has not been sighted for a number of years. Meanwhile, Shipwrecks can fairly be compared to the Australian Test XI in that they have "lost the habit of winning."

Apart from Run Out, Rory Dean was democratically elected the Ship Inn Man of the Match.

Scores: Shipwrecks 54 - 9 (R. Dean 17 ; McCann 3 - ?) : Annan 55 - 6 (Bellis 18 ; A MacEwan 2-8)

Attendance: 1

Shipwrecks in Cup Final!

Astounding but true... barring an outbreak of scurvy, Shipwrecks will contest the Dumfries Midweek League Cup Final to take place sometime next week!

No, not that cup!

This extraordinary turn of events following our defeat at Dalton has been skilfully managed by Leading Engineer Geoff Dean, who had the foresight to cancel the other preliminary fixture against Annandale Insurance (Nunholm) before it stopped raining at and any more of our team members declared themselves unseaworthy.

Mysteriously, no opposition has been found for the semi-final, giving us a clear passage into the Final and a - probably brief - glimpse of cup glory to recall the former heroics of the double-winning team of 2004 and other previous cupwinning exploits (yawn, yawn...)

Watch this space for further details, as we do not know when this fixture will take place or the venue. Indeed there seems to have been a general lack of clarity about the format of the new Cup Competition this year.  Perhaps it would be worth us employing a private detective to bug the phone of League  Officials (none other than Shipwrecks legend, our own Quartermaster Everett Jeffrey).

Whatever the result, there are bound to be frenzied celebrations in The Ship Inn afterwards.