Shipwrecks Haulted Mid-Voyage

Shipwrecks' final League game against the J. Walker & Son haulk (St Michael's Youth) was diverted onto Kingholm 1 after their home strip was commandeered by pirates last Thursday.

Lieutenant Geoff Dean won the toss and chose to bat against a strengthened Juniors' team, including former

Donald McCuaig retires

Shipwrecks Peter Harrison and Kevin Kirkpatrick.  Mike Service and Donald McCuaig struggled against the pace of weekender Tom Holmes, who eventually bowled Service for 5 before Alex Taylor nervily hoisted one to Saints pro Thapar in the covers.  Fallas then took slightly longer than usual to run up his 25 not out, but the innings maintained forward momentum as Dean and McCuaig plundered maximum runs from the younger bowlers.

On his first trip of the season, Jason Hall also cleared the decks several times succeeding Dean and a volley of runs came off the last over when he and Colin Taylor ran a chancy two overthrows off the last ball to raise the nominal home team's flag to 130 - 2.

The usual storm of big sixes followed from Dario Cummings, who nearly demolished the Pavilion, and Holmes, the latter turning down half a dozen singles before launching his last effort. This ball was actually very well caught by Mike Service but he was unfortunately standing on the boundary line.

In the meantime, Alex Taylor had caught Lynch off the bowling of Bowie and Taylor C. bowled Kirkpatrick and Harshit Morisetty in successive deliveries before a nasty squall sent the players scuttling from the pitch with the innings interestingly poised at 70 - 3 after 9.1 overs. Once the rain eased at 8.40 p.m., the Captains agreed to abandon it as a draw.

In the Ship Inn afterwards, it was generally agreed that Shipwrecks would probably have won, as the Juniors only had Thapar of the big hitters still at the crease.

Donald McCuaig was nominated Man of the Match for surviving early pressure to record a solid retiral.

Scores: Shipwrecks 130 - 2 (Dean 27 n.o., McCuaig 25 n.o., Fallas 25 n.o., Hall 22 n.o.; Holmes 2-8) : J. Walker & Son 70 - 3 (Holmes 30 n.o., Cummings 26 n.o. ; C. Taylor 2-14)

Shipwrecks Bogged Down

After cunningly evading the previous week's encounter with Dalton Pros because of the waterlogged outfield at Kingholm 2, the Shipwrecks were finally called out again to face the Kingholm XI this Wednesday.

The match was played in excellent conditions for sailing, with a strong, chill north-westerly breeze blowing and bright sunshine reflected in the lakes and puddles on the boundary, between which the upturned sightscreens of ghost ship St Michael's CC looked a bit like capsized yachts.

On losing toss and being required to bat, Skipper Ally MacEwan delegated command to first mate Geoff Dean, who dispatched Sandy McNay and Mike Service out to face the opening Woodhouses.

A low scoring game was always likely as the openers struggled to stroke the ball through the mixture of ankle high grass and marsh plants and those that came were largely from using the pace of the ball.  Service was eventually bowled by Woodhouse (Sr.) in the fourth over, upon which a diastrous middle order collapse ensued.

Sid Oates was bowled by Woodhouse (Jr.) and Sid Barbour by Woodhouse (Sr.) in quick succession, and Peter Harrison's first shot went straight to cover.  There then followed two sharp run outs by the fielding side to jetison Rory Dean and McNay. Dean, curiously electing to bat down the order, edged to slip and it was left to Ship's Clerk Colin Taylor to survey the wreckage.

The missing scorebook

Having earlier forgotten the club scorebook (which may account for some inaccuracies* in the log), Taylor at least made amends by batting out the remaining overs, while Kelvin Maxwell helped avoid an embarrassing total with some late order hitting, which included the only boundary of the innings - a lusty six which splashed into the developing canal next to the river bank. Once he was out, Donald McCuaig and Taylor managed a few more singles to leave the Shipwrecks stranded on 47 - 9.

The outcome was in little doubt after the first four overs, during which Hutchinson amassed a quick 22. But after he was bowled by Harrison, most of the succeeding Kingholm batsmen struggled.  Harrison got the ball to swing in nicely with the wind to claim 3-15. After taking a catch off Dean (Jr.) MacEwan entered the attack to claim two wickets in two balls, Harrison again taking a good catch.  Momentarily, Kingholm lost momentum, but victory was already in sight and there was no fairy tale ending.

*Approximate Scores: Shipwreecks 47 - 9 (Taylor 13 not out, Maxwell 12, McNay about 10) : Kingholm XI 48 - 6 or 8 (Harrison 3 -15, MacEwan 2 - 4)

Shipwrecks Win Early Skirmish

Shipwrecks notched up their first victory of the new Midweek League campaign when they overcame the Burgh Boys on Tuesday. It was a pleasant during a temporary outburst of fine weather - so much so that it was no longer necessary to use a boat to reach Kingholm 2, which had virtually dried out apart from a few remaining mudflats.  The boundary was however curtailed by an abandoned earthworks in memory of St Michael's former ground at the allotment end.

Following a revolutionary putsch a la "Battleship Potemkin", no-one knows who the team captain is so Ally McEwen was dispatched by the Revolutionary Council to make the toss.  Whatever the result, Burgh Boys' fleet of Collingwoods and Flacks ended up batting first. Peter Harrison opened up with a couple of shipshape, nifty overs and claimed an early wicket as did Alastair McEwen when Henderson edged to give Kelvin Maxwell his first ever catch behind the sticks. 

Mystery bowler Sarosh, floating the ball down from half-mast height, tricked Ben Flack into a false shot which Taylor picked out of the air at gulley to put Burgh Boys in some trouble. Victor Collingwood and Carmichael steadied the ship for a time until Maxwell hung on to another fine edge off Sarosh to the amazement of the fielding team.

Aiden Collingwood took a swipe at one of Dean's juicy spinners but Harrison took a fine low catch at wide mid-on and Taylor, switching ends at last found some aerial movement to dismiss V. Collingwood and

McCuaig and Dean -
the winning partnership

Flack in successive balls. McEwen and Harrison returned to finish the innings off on 58.

Tight bowling by Ben Flack and Aiden Collingwood meant Worthington and Oates were under the weather for a while but both batted sensibly and picked up runs steadily.  Worthington was relieved by McCuaig after being bowled by Collingwood, and the new batsman put together a steady shift to hold the innings together with 13 not out.  After being hit in the chest by a riser from Flack, Oates connected with a couple of characteristic shots and Harrison followed him with some classy efforts before trying to launch V. Collingwood into the heavens and missing.

It was then left to Geoff Dean to finish an enjoyable encounter by hoisting a lofty blow up the embankment in the fourteenth over, after which he quickly removed the stumps in celebration (see above).

Scores: Burgh Boys 58 all out (V. Collingwood 19, Carmichael 11 ; McEwen 3-9, Harrison 2-6, Sarosh 2-8, Taylor 2-23) : Shipwrecks 62 -3 (McCuaig 13 not out, Oates 13, Harrison 11, Dean 10 not out)

Pub Quiz

St Michael's CC have organised a pub quiz! For those who are too short-sighted to read the poster illustration (left), it's on Sunday 10th February @ 7.00 p.m. at our home venue The Ship Inn

It is already known that our arch rivals Irving Meadow will be putting in a team, so it's obviously imperative that we put together a coxless four to defend the honour of The Shipwrecks on the night.  Indeed it might be worth turning out some of our old lags who are known quiz maestros (e.g. McMillan, Tate, Pattie, etc) although now confined to sick deck as far as cricket is concerned.

Good news is that the event will be run by our own Geoff Dean and Liz Dickie, so there must be some chance of a few soft, seafaring questions coming our way.

Apparently the terms of engagement are:-

• 3 pieces of silver each to play
• ?? gold dubloons to the winning team
• raffle mid-voyage with hidden treasure

In view of the venue, the worst losing team will presumably have to walk the plank!

Any volunteers? 

Tour de Caerlaverock Cancelled

Just to let the three people who read the previous post know that the Tour de Caerlaverock has now been cancelled due to lack of weather and St Michael's CC conducting irrigation work at the Kingholm on the same date.

Let us hope the rice crop succeeds this year!

Tour de Caerlaverock

No, the mild autumn weather has not led to a re-opening of the cricket season. This is instead a message to the cyclists among you who have some sort of affiliation, former affiliation or no affiliation with St Michael's Cricket Club.

The ageing cycle

SMCC have organised a cycling fun event next Sunday p.m., 28th October, so that ageing Shipwrecks who are fattening up for Christmas can get out for a bit of a run before the sunshine gives way to the advancing polar icecap.

For more details and to sign up, see the events page on the club's Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/81953409795

Alternatively, drop me an email and I will send you details by return.

P.s. Don't forget to tell Sid!

Colin.

Diabolical Plot Foils Shipwrecks

Shipwrecks were surprised to find themselves facing the might of Ashleigh Construction (St Michael's CC) last Wednesday on a K1 pitch that at the weekend had looked like it was ready for a visit from an ocean liner.  But a surprise spell of sunshine saw off the wading birds as the Kingholm conveniently returned to its usual merselike state and was pronounced fit for play.

Old seadog Colin Taylor won the toss and decided to bat, hoping the opposition, who included two professional sailors from exotic climes, would mess things up chasing a modest total. 

Unfortunately Rory Dean was bowled early by a quick one from South African bowler Bridgens and Taylor was soon  run out when he thought McNay had cut one past Kiwi pro Faust, only to see the ball bounce up slowly in the estuary mud, allowing Faust to recover and throw down the stumps sharply at the batsman's end. 

Geoff Dean made steady progress for a while until he played one in the air to Faust, Mike Lumb had no better luck than Taylor taking on Bridgens' arm and Sandy McNay was as usual astonished to be trapped lbw.

Batting lower down this week, Mike Service took some revenge on Faust by hoisting his off spinners amidships for a colourful 18 and annoying the bowler so much that he attempted to pin Saints' young wicket keeper to the sightscreen with a lightning faster delivery. But the tailenders were consigned fairly cheaply to Davy Jones' locker by Brockwell's pace as Shipwrecks sank to to 69 all out in the eighteenth over.

At this point Faust apparently sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a free pizza if he managed to score a maximum 30 runs off the first over.  If Shipwrecks had been aware of this evil plan they would have course have frustrated it e.g. by bowling 70 successive wides but Gregory Robinson's accuracy was just what Faust needed and his dastardly plan succeeded off the last ball of the first over.

The home side obviously decided that the best experience for their junior players was to observe this display from the headland rather than take any part in it and it was left to two of their weekenders to pick off the remaining 39 runs.  Shipwrecks annoyingly dropped a series of catchable chances, notably off Andy Cameron, but it made little difference to the end result.

In spite of this reverse, the latest edition of the league tables shows Shipwrecks in fifth place and in remote danger of sneaking into the end of season playoffs:

 

 Scores: Shipwrecks 69 all out (Service 18, Dean 13) : Ashleigh Construction 70 - 0 (Faust 30 ret)

Shipwrecks Friendly Tie With Saints

Despite a poor shipping forecast from the Met Office, Shipwrecks completed their 28 overs a side pre-season friendly versus a St Michael's XI in balmy Spring sunshine yesterday afternoon. 

Invited to bat by Saints' Sandy McNay, an excellent opening partnership by Donald McQuaig (25) and Mike Service (19) set up a total of 116 and most of the 'Wrecks put a few runs on the board, though chief selector Geoff Dean was unwisely run out early by an ambitious call from Sid Oates - who however attoned by achieving second top score of 23.  New recruit Greg Robinson (14) put together some useful hits to accelerate the score late on.

Steady bowling from Sid Barbour, Robinson and brother Matthew becalmed Saints' batting for a while but the usual injuries to crew members left Skipper Taylor short of bowling options.  These he resolved by a cunning act of piracy, pressing substitute fielders loaned by Saints into action, all of whom took useful wickets.  In particular young Daniel Veitch from Lockerbie produced an astounding 26th over of  left arm spin to take 3 for 1 with wickets off his last two balls before being withdrawn by McNay on a hat trick.

This feat nearly turned the game in the Shipwrecks' favour but McNay himself, needing two runs to win off Dean's last ball, chipped the ball over Matthew Robinson's head to level the scores but not far enough to escape being run out as he went for the winning run.

A tie seemed absolutely the right result as the balance between the young Saints team and our own motley crew was pretty even throughout.

Shipwrecks are still looking to pressgang one or two players for the Midweek season, which starts in earnest on 3rd May.  If you don't want us to come looking for you, volunteer straight away by replying here, via Facebook or by ringing Geoff on 07712666794.