Lost at Lockerbie

Shipwrecks went down in their first Sulwath Trophy Cup fixture at Lockerbie on Thursday in spite of posting a fair 131 after winning the toss and deciding to bat first.  This was a good toss to win for Skipper McEwan as heavy coastal traffic round the Dumfries bypass meant that many hands were delayed and arrived like flotsam at various stages during the innings.

After Sid Oates and Donald McCuaig were out trying to force the pace, a substantial partnership was established by Mike Service and Geoff Dean, who took the score into the eighties with some good aggressive play.  Both reached the compulsory retirement, Dean with a thumping six to record 29.

Mike Service eyes up a ball from Rogerson

After that point though wickets fell regularly. Davey Fallas was bowled for 11 taking a huge swipe at Stephenson, while Colin Taylor was run out by a sharp throw from third man next ball.  Some forward momentum was continued by Jason Hall, however, with McEwan and Worthington chipping in to take Shipwrecks to 131 - 9.

In tremendous weather with fast outfield conditions, the total was never insurmountable and the absence of leading seaman Derek Rankine meant that the bowling attack was missing its main anchor.

It began well enough when Fallas bowled Crawford in the second over but the improving Naysmith batted impressively with Carpenter - unfortunately only after Carpenter had shaved one to wicketkeeper Mike Lumb and declined the invitation to walk the plank.

Toiling in the heat, it was the Shipwrecks' fielding that ultimately let them down as catches went down, balls were fumbled and run outs missed.  The tiring oldsters were eventually reduced to lumbering around like unmanoeuvrable Spanish galleons as the opposition stole innumerable cheeky runs and only one more wicket fell as Lockerbie romped home with overs to spare.

Shipwrecks Man of the Match was Geoff Dean for his 29 n.o. after a traumatic journey.

Scores: Shipwrecks 131 - 9 (Dean 29 ret., Service 25 ret., Hall 19 n.o., Fallas 11 ; Dawson 2-14) : Lockerbie 132 - 5 (Gracie 27 ret., Naysmith 25 ret., Carpenter 25 ret., A. Veitch 19, D. Veitch 17 n.o.)

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