Piracy On The High Seas!

This Thursday's encounter with the young scrap merchants of J. Walker & Son (St. Michael's Youth) presented a major strategical difficulty for the scurvy dogs known as The Shipwrecks. A Council of War showed that, with Davey Fallas on compassionate leave and Geoff Dean awol, the remaining squad would have difficulty coping with a well-drilled young crew led by two experienced Aussie merchantmen.

Fortunately, Mike "Yo ho ho and A Bottle of" Lumb came up with a dastardly underhand plot. In an act of total piracy, an ambitious raid led by Lumb succeeded in kidnapping known mercenary and

Pat Druce
The Scourge of Galloway

buccaneer Pat Druce, the Scourge of Galloway, as he set sail from the Isle of Whithorn on a maiden voyage to Amsterdam. Having been forced to swear an oath of lifelong loyalty to the Shipwrecks with a cutlass to his throat, he was allowed to sail freely to Kingholm No. 1 Dock, where he arrived with only a few balls bowled.

Meanwhile, Skipper Donald McCuaig had continued his excellent naval record of losing the toss and Shipwrecks took the field in some disarray. Opening bowler McEwan soon accounted for Geddes, who succeeded in clearing the masthead with a steepling shot, only to be calmly taken by Danny McBryde on the poopdeck. But Aussie pros Lulham and Jordan were already on the attack, launching cannonballs toward the horizon, so it was helpful that Druce entered the fray for the second over after a leisurely discussion on the Shipping Forecast with the opposition.

A key skirmish ensued between the still sharp bowling of Druce and the batting skills of the Aussies and, once Lulham had retired, youngster Connor Lynch, who is starting to shape up like a real sailor. A key moment in the game came when Chris Lumb, with only one mast to aim at, ran out Jordan with a rocket of a throw.

A quick discussion in the Officers' Mess decided on the introduction of slower bowling from the top end, a ploy which worked well as Andy Cameron then Jason Hall, both claimed two wickets with lobbed grenades in short spells, young Lumb now taking a great catch running sideways off Cameron. Druce had meanwhile ditched the promising Levi White with another sharp throw, and the dastardly Lumb Sr.had stumped the last senior serviceman, Ross Lamb.

After a promising start, the J. Walker youths sunk to 101 all out and were in need of a salvage operation.

The start of Shipwrecks' innings was certainly not plain sailing as talented White used the sea breeze to good effect to eliminate McBryde after Mike Service perished to Fraser Jack, both offering rather unseaworthy shots.

Mike Lumb - wanted for piracy

Opener and chief conspirator Mike Lumb however settled down in the anchor role, as Lamb came on to bowl with pace and accuracy while Druce, who had not taken a wicket, started to show what a skilled helmsman he is, steering his rippling shots to all points of the compass. Gradually, the innings took a calmer course. After Druce's inevitable retiral, the laid-back Chris Lumb took the
wheel in impressive fashion as the two batters avoided a couple of typical Father and Son runout situations.

After Chris was stumped wandering too far amidships against Dan Turner, the force of the bowling had abated and even his piratical father ended with a flourish in tandem with Hall, before Alastair McEwan struck two fours to finish the game as Shipwrecks cruised home by five wickets.

The Man of the Match Award went to Mike Lumb for his resolute 28 retired, but most of all for the dastardly capture of Druce.


Scores: J Walker & Sons 101 all out (Lynch 28 ret., Lulham 26 ret., Jordan 16 ; Hall 2-6, Cameron 2-14, McEwan 2-25) : Shipwrecks 104 - 5 (M. Lumb 28 ret., Druce 26 ret., Hall 14 n.o., C. Lumb 13)