Shipwrecks Plumb The Depths

Shipwrecks failed to do their duty in the Midweek Cup Quarter Final, losing against Lockerbie at the Kingholm on Thursday.  But for the first time in the current campaign, the performance was at such a low level that the result was in little doubt after the first quarter of the game.

Having elected to bat first, Donald McCuaig and Jim Worthington made a slow but steady start for only 28 off first eight overs before Worthington, becalmed on 3, was run out shortly to be followed by Danny McBryde in like manner and McCuaig - eventually bowled by Gracie, whose away swing proved troublesome when on target.

This heralded a middle order collapse as Alex Taylor and Davey Fallas were bowled in successive deliveries. After Geoff Dean was extremely well caught off his own bowling by Gracie for 10, who then had Mike Service very lbw, Colin Taylor and Alasdair McEwen scratched around until McEwen hit a couple of

Skipper McEwan -
not best pleased

decent shots off Jamie Crawford in the eighteenth over.  Shipwrecks finally docked at 75 - 7 after recording no retirals and only three boundaries.

It was never likely to be enough and Lockerbie quickly knocked off the runs inside 12 overs, Dean's opening three overs having conceded 25.  Alasdair McEwan, although struggling with a back strain managed to pick up the only two wickets to fall in addition to his top-scoring 17 not out, but did not seem overjoyed to be nominated by officers and men as the Man of the Match.

Scores: Shipwrecks 75 - 7 (McEwan 17 n.o., McCuaig 12, Dean 10 ; Gacie 3 - 16, A. Veitch 2-9) : Lockerbie 76 - 2 (R. Crawford 27 n.o., S. Crawford 20 n.o. ; McEwan 2-14)

This was an unfortunate finish to an unlucky season, when Shipwrecks ended up second in the League because of the rainoff against J. Walker & Sons last week, having failed to play Burgh Boys and let only fielded a full team in three of the ten fixtures that were played.

Not just any pork scratchings...

Perhaps most tellingly they ended with four long-term injuries to the sqaud and Lockerbie off the hook in the home League fixture.

In a lighter vein, it has been noted that Mr Porky's Pork Scratchings are no longer available in The Ship Inn, having been replaced by what at first apears to be a more up-market offering, M. S. Pork Scratchings. However on closer inspection, it seems that M. S. stands for "Midland Supplies".

With the season effectively over, Shipwrecks have only possible friendlies, tour rumours and the so-called AGM to look forward to.

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 Cruise Home

Shipwrecks cruised to victory against a Dumfries Juniors outfit strengthened by club pro Loz and an influx of returning public schoolboys.

It was another balmy evening on the Costa del Kingholm, on which the football pitch had been cut shorter than the rest of the ground, obviously reflecting the sporting priorities of our times. Alasdair McEwan lost the toss and led his troops into the field.

Derek "Shabba" Rankine opened with three tight overs, but no wickets fell until Alex Taylor took a fine catch, performing a superb backward hornpipe at long on to dismiss Thornely (Sr.) off McEwan in the fourth over. The innings was nearly half way through before Fallas took a towering catch off Cameron just in front of the boundary to remove Birkbeck.

MoM Davey Fallas

Only three more wickets were to fall but, crucially, none of the juniors made many runs while Lyburn and Loz steamed ahead to record their maximums in the away side's 91 - 5.

Jim Worthington and Geoff Dean opened in pokey fashion until the former was well taken low by Loz at mid on, at which point Dean unleashed a series of stylish off drives to starboard.  Joined by Davey Fallas after Alex Taylor slipped up, the duo found the boundary with great regularity until Dean prodded back to Loz, called for an impossible run and duly walked the plank.

Once Fallas retired after the usual couple of sixes, Rankine was in similar mood and the remaining batsmen were really only needed in a supporting role.  Mike Service and Colin Taylor nevertheless managed to get out before Rankine won the game with his third four in the eighteenth over.

The Ship Inn Man of the Match Award went to Davey Fallas for his match-winning 28 and excellent catch.

Scores: Dumfries Juniors 91 - 5 (Lyburn 30 n.o., Loz 29 n.o ; Cameron 2-31) : Shipwrecks 92 - 5 (Fallas 28 n.o., Dean 24, Rankine 15 n.o. ; Currie 2-21)

Piracy Pays

Shipwrecks sailed towards their third win of the season against hulk merchants J Walker & Sons (aka St Michael's Youth) on Thursday, but only after an inspired act of piracy on the high seas.

As four members of last week's team were on shore leave or nursing battle scars, only nine crew members reported for duty at Kingholm 1 at six bells. However the guardroom immediately dispatched a press gang, which duly returned with Connor "Starboard" Bowie who had been looking for a Thursday bounce game as permitted by the new Midweek League eligibility criteria.

Uh oh! Service skies to Cummings

Skipper McEwen won the toss and despatched Mike "Senior" Service and Jim Worthington to open against a youthful opening attack. Worthington soon edged "Mad Dog" Moore behind after hitting a nice boundary and Service eventually fell to the same bowler, lofting one to Saints pro Cummings for an aggressive 11.

Out of touch Alex Taylor had the bad luck to be caught by Muir for 8 but Davey Fallas was already going full steam ahead, and considerable forward progress was made when he was joined by Geoff Dean.  Fallas characteristically reached his maximum with a flourish, hitting a big six into the banking.

Despite some difficulties timing shots against the aerial attack of the younger bowlers, who were certainly taking the pace of the ball, Dean and Colin Taylor continued to score at over a run a ball until the latter was stumped trying to splice the mainbrace against Ryan Geddes.

After Dean retired with a boundary, it fell to Mike Lumb and McEwen to pick up bonus runs off the last two or three overs. Particularly impressive was the way all middle order batsmen managed to take runs off Cummings, who finished wicketless.

Knowing that Saints pros Rohin Thapar and Cummings would be batting early, the Shipwrecks High Command decided on the amusing strategy of placing all fielders on the boundary on the shorter Pavilion side while they were on strike, and throttling the runs from the youngsters with a tight umbrella field.

Davey Fallas duly caught Muir at deep gully off McEwen and reacted nicely to run Andrew Geddes out from the same position.  Thapar meanwhile extracted revenge, effecting his early retirement with a series of sixes off Fallas' bowling, one of which cleared the mainmast of the Pavilion to land with an ominous thud.

Cummings followed the same ploy and retired in even less deliveries, but this left the younger batsmen exposed and only Sandy McNay and Moore for company.

Assembled Shipwrecks toast MoM Geoff Dean

Replacing McEwen, new recruit Bowie duly removed the promising Smith before clean bowling both Moore and then McNay, the latter after only three lbw shouts.  It was then left to Dean and Taylor (C) to pick up the remaining two wickets, Lumb taking up a nice catch behind off Dean to dismiss Reece McNay. Geoff Dean thereby clinched the MS Porky Scratchings Man of the Match Award.

Celebrations in the Ship Inn continued long into peak viewing time, abetted by an excellent supply of sandwiches.

Scores: Shipwrecks 120 - 4 (Dean 27 n.o., Fallas 25 n.o., C. Taylor 18, Service 11 ; Moore 2-7) : J Walker & Sons 80 - 8 (Cummings 29 n.o., Thapar 26 n.o. ; Bowie 3-7)

Shipwrecks Steam Ahead

Shipwrecks outpaced a strong Healthpros crew in a highscoring game at Kingholm 2 on Thursday night, in defiance of continuing poor visibility and a damp outfield.

Short of Davey Fallas (missed boat at Stranraer) and Donald McCuaig (on boat to Isle of Man), Shipwrecks cleverly argued for the fixture to be relocated from bouncy Kingholm 1, only to find that the K2 boundary line is by now almost completely invisible. This led to a later debate as to the whereabouts of the team's boundary and semaphore flags, which are by various accounts a) lost forever in Davy Jones' locker b) safely dry docked in St Michael's shed or c) in someone's garage (to be continued).

Good fortune was with us as Shipwrecks won the toss and elected to bat.

Jim Worthington was first to go, edging Dave Strachan to gully in the third over, after which Mike Service ignored the 'steady as you go' call from Dean at the other end and slashed round a straight one.  But Chris Lumb, who had been allowed an extra tot to celebrate the end of his exams, then launched into the attack with great gusto, particularly favouring Fraser Strachan's short stuff.  By the time he retired for 27, the score had passed fifty in only seven overs.

Sid Oates swings again

The ball continued to sail off the bat when Alex Taylor took over the shift, but the the longest hit of the night came from Dean, who hit a one bounce six off the towpath into the river before he holed out for 24. Skipper Alastair McEwen was out first ball, but the later batsmen managed to continue progress, albeit at a reduced rate of knots even when Taylor was bowled for 23.  Sid Oates in particular produced a fine little cameo near the end as Shipwrecks reached 120 - 7.

What followed from Shipwrecks was a mixture of sublime and ridiculous.  Chis Lumb struggled to find the right line, but in between bowled Dave Hill and Ian McLelland.  Between more wides, Jim Worthington and Alex Taylor both took fine catches to help McEwen towards a four wicket haul.  But once an erratic Colin Taylor got the key wicket of Faisal to an excellent catch by Mike Lumb standing up, Shipwrecks appeared to slacken sail, as if expecting to coast home to an easy victory.

MoM Chris Lumb

Several takeable chances were dropped, particularly off Dave Strachan and it was only when the doctors looked like they might have some chance of staging a victory operation, helped by the change to a pink ball, that the tide turned. Fielding to his own bowling in the dying overs, Chris Lumb threw down the wicket from a sitting position and Sid Oates took an impressive and much-celebrated catch, diving forward full length to deprive Matt Williams of his maximum.

Mention should be made in despatches of Mike Lumb's excellent wicketkeeping, throwing himself around the quarterdeck to intercept the volley of wides, but the Scottish Qualifications Authority Man of the Match Award went to son Chris for his tonesetting innings, two wickets and excellent run out.

Scores: Shipwrecks 120 - 7 (C. Lumb 27 n.o., Dean 24, A. Taylor 23, Oates 11 ; Faisal 2-14, D. Strachan 2-20) : Healthpros 101 all out (D. Strachan 25 n.o., Williams 23 ; McEwen 4-22 C. Lumb 2-21)

Attention All Seafarers!

To improve team morale and diet, The Ship Inn will be laying on sandwiches and hard tack after all forthcoming fixtures at the Kingholm. N.b. Buy your own Porky Scratchings!

Overconfident Shipwrecks Miss The Boat

A full roll call of Shipwrecks managed to lose against eight man Lockerbie outfit at Kingholm 2 on Thursday, mistakenly thinking that fair winds would blow them to victory without undue effort on their part and going down by a paltry three runs.

Lockerbie won what proved to be a crucial toss and elected to bat, thereby avoiding the gloomy conditions that made the flagrant pink ball hard to spot on the radar later on.

Opening spells from nippy Chris Lumb and Skipper Alastair McEwan were reasonable enough but wickets were slow to fall. A long, wet outfield made the boundary hard to find, but Shipwrecks compensated by sitting deep, allowing easy singles and not covering obvious gaps, and the Lockerbie batsmen grew accustomed to the unvarying attack.

Although Mike Lumb delivered five accurate overs replacing McEwan at the Pavilion End, there was no-one to come back at the far end once Colin Taylor lost his length, and Davey Fallas was left to deliver two overs for 14 at the death as Andy Veitch worked the shorter legside boundary late on.

Perhaps underestimating the difficulty of reaching Lockerbie's 85 on a slow outfield, Shipwrecks relegated key batsmen down the order and struggled to make progress after the opening few overs. Sid Oates was again run out after a bright start - this time by a combination of ineffective calling and a sharp throw from young Daniel Veitch at point. A match changing moment then occurred as Geoff Dean was cut apart by a freakish delivery from Gracie that moved in unpredictably from well outside off stump to bowl him off his pads.

Chris Lumb made considerable amends, forcing the ball square and straight and twice finding the boundary before retiring on 25. But Mike Service was bowled early and, when Jim Worthington was caught for 10 of in the fifteenth over, Mike Lumb and Alex Taylor still needed 35 off the last five with pacy Liam Rogerson

The man most likely to...

yet to return to the attack.

What followed was a creditable effort, but Lockerbie skipper Veitch craftily thwarted Shipwrecks' need for big boundaries by double manning the wide long on area off his own bowling.  Shipwrecks fell short by just three runs. Meanwhile the man most likely to hoist a couple of big ones amidships (Davey Fallas) spectated from the boundary.

As with the Spanish Armada better commitment and guile had triumphed against superior force and numbers and the defeated could only drift back to the Ship Inn to discuss what might have been.

Scores: Lockerbie 85 - 3 : Shipwrecks 82 - 4 (C. Lumb 25 n.o., A Taylor 18 n.o., M. Lumb 13 n.o.)

Remaining Fixtures

After last week's rainoff following a series of nasty squalls and poor visibility in the Irish Sea, you might like advance notice that our remaining fixtures are as follows:

Date	Opposition	Location
15th May	Dumfries Colts	Nunholm
22nd May	Lockerbie	K2
29th May	Healthpros (Away)	K2
5th June	J Walker & Son	K1
11th June	Kingholm Meadow (Cup)	K2
18th June	Kirkmahoe Annandale Insurance (Cup)	Nunholm
3rd July	Burgh Boys (Away)	K2
10th July	Dumfries Colts	K2
17th July	Lockerbie	Lockerbie
24th July	Healthpros (Home)	K2
31st July	J Walker & Son	K2
6th & 7th August	Cup and Plate Round 2
13th & 14th August	Cup and Plate Semi Finals

Weekly post-mortems will be held in The Ship Inn as usual.

Midweek AGM Highlights

Further to the recent call-to-arms for the new season issued by Rear Admiral Dean, you might be interested to know of the terms of combat recently endorsed by the Midweek League AGM High Command at Nunholm.

New Teams

A completely new team, The Panthers, will be playing out of Kingholm I with a mainly Asian crew and Castle Beattie will be returning after a year in dry dock to repair leaks. There are also two mergers as follows:

• Kingholm XI + Irving Meadow = Kingholm Meadow
• Kirkmahoe + Annandale Insurance = Kirkmahoe Annandale Insurance

This would seem to leave Shipwrecks as the sole founder member of the League continuing to sail.

League

With 12 teams available for action, the move to split the League went ahead so that there will be two sections of six teams playing each other twice.  We landed in Section II playing on Thursdays against Healthpros, Lockerbie, Dumfries Colts, St Michael's Youth (now John Walker & Son) and Burgh Boys.

N.b. however that it was agreed that hands can play for one team in either pool.  There was some opposition to this by those who felt it is open to abuse*.

Cup

The format of the cup competition remains the same, except that the first round will be played half way through the League season.  We ended up in the group with Kirkmahoe Annandale Insurance and Kingholm Meadow, which should guarantee us plain sailing into the Plate semi-final.

Rules and Restrictions

The bowling and batting restrictions brought in last season will remain in place.  It was suggested that home teams could mark the run-up restriction and that Captains could agree the judgement of wides before games commence.

*Note: The Laws of Cricket state that anyone joining the game after being absent for more than fifteen minutes after the start cannot bowl until the amount of time by which they were absent has elapsed.

There are also some recent changes (some of them obscure) to the Laws of Cricket which can be viewed at: http://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-cricket/law-changes-2013-explained/  No doubt these will the subject of lengthy discussions in The Ship Inn.

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.

Shipwrecks Confined To Port... Scottish Cricket Sunk?

Even hardened sailors could not face the weather this Tuesday, when consistent rain caused the cancellation of what would have been a fine naval display between Shipwrecks and Kirkmahoe - and a cricket game we might have had some chance of winning.

And so another Scottish cricket season trickles on, as both midweek and weekend teams find it ever harder to persuade players to turn out for fixtures that are likely to be cancelled for the weather.  The last players to have experienced playing much cricket at state schools before the changes to Teachers' terms and conditions in the eighties will just about be coming up for retirement and younger recruits have a vast array of different sports to chose from*, quite apart from rugby and football, which increasingly encroach on what was the cricket season.

As a result, the signs are that many clubs are struggling to put teams out and the standards of play are declining.  The main focus of Cricket Scotland (latest web headline: "Rain halts Scottish run chase") seems to be to put out increasing bureaucratic exercises for clubs to complete, so that one wonders if it could ever be possible to start up a new club and get into one of the Leagues without a five year development plan produced by a management consultant.

Ultimately though, there are two main problems hampering cricket in Scotland - the weather and the fact that current forms of the game are too long to attract young people hung up on instant gratification. Until someone looks seriously at shorter, indoor forms of the game, my fear is that the decline will continue.

Except of course for a small number of elite clubs in the central belt and one or two outposts with hundreds of members paying £££s each in subscriptions, who will be able during climate change to go on playing occasional and cancelling many fixtures with each other until the money runs out.  Will they at some point turn, look around at what is happening to smaller clubs and lower leagues and start to get worried?

Note: This sudden switch to editorial rant mode does not necessarily reflect the views of The Shipwrecks plc or its umbrella organisation, The Ship Inn.

*They won't however have the chance to see much cricket unless they can get Sky Sports.

Kingholm 2 To Be Replaced By Dartboard?

The frustrating news that yet another fixture has fallen foul of the weather, as Kingholm 2 performed a passable imitation of the Nile flood plain earlier this week, set me thinking.

As it is apparent that the majority of sea battles this year will be abandoned without a cannonball being fired, I am considering a letter to the Midweek League Committee (also known as Everett) about the possibility of insisting that the teams involved resolve their differences by playing darts cricket instead.

The concept would be that all teams drawn at Kingholm 2 would instead nominate three players to meet each other on the night of the fixture.  Wikipedia mentions several sets of rules for Darts Cricket, most of which would be beyond the comprehension of most midweek players after a couple of drinks, so I propose to suggest the following format:

The New Kingholm 2?

• Toss is replaced by 'middle for diddle'.
• Players throw in nominated order, teams taking turn and turn about.
• Bowling team goes first
• Bullseye scores two wickets, outer bull one wicket. But darts outside the treble ring are scored to the batting team.
• Batting team scores runs for every three darts thrown less 40 until all out.  Rounds less than 40 score nothing, but bulls are scored as wickets.
• Points are allocated to participating teams as per usual rules (no rain-offs allowed).

Obviously this format has the key advantage that dartboards are always drier than Kingholm 2, so all Midweek League fixtures would be played and no-one would need to get wet unless they spill their beer. Also teams are unlikely not to have enough players.

One obvious problem is that, as there is currently no dartboard at The Ship Inn, we are struggling for a local venue that has both a dartboard and real ale. 

Unless of course, you know better...

Stand By For Action

An urgent semaphore message from Rear Admiral Dean was recently received to indicate that we are resuming hostilities against Nunholm Hybrids next Wednesday (Mayday!).  All hands should report on deck at the enemy port before 18.15 hours for inspection. Extra provisions are being loaded at The Ship Inn for the post-match celebrations/commiserations.

In the unlikely event that you have a) not received your call up papers or b) know someone else who would like to join the party play for us, please get in contact with Geoff (07712666794) immediately and he will welcome you aboard.

A recent outbreak of scurvy and desertions has left us with a reduced crew, so basically we need everyone we can get.

The Ship Inn expects that everyone will do their duty... and have at least one drink after the game.

AGM - Advance Warning!

Shipwrecks in AGM Training

For those who do not own a mobile phone (or have lost it), there has been an urgent semaphore transmission from our Hon. Purser, Geoff Dean concerning the details of this year's AGM:

Date:  Friday 8th March
Time: 19.30 hours (approx)
Location: The Ship Inn, Dumfries

As usual the AGM will be followed by a subsidised meal at a mystery location and a lengthy odyssey taking in various coastal hostelries.

Geoff also requests that all hands reaffirm their unswerving loyalty to the Shipwrecks' cause by agreeing to play again for the coming season.

Note: Being under age is no excuse for not attending the AGM as The Ship has a licence that allows juniors on the premises.

Shipwrecks Win Something!

Hot news from the world of pub quizzery: Last night witnessed a major upset when the Shipwrecks outfit came out tops of the Ship Inn pub quiz, astounding the bookies and bringing back vague memories of our double winning season on the field in 2004.

Less charitable participants claimed that the team had breached quiz rules by fielding five players instead of four, but those familiar with the Club will of course realise that this was just down to the usual disorganisation and remember all those occasions when we have turned up for games overmanned or short-staffed.

The hastily assembled squad of Colin Taylor, John McMillan, Donald McCuiag, Sid Oates and Jim Worthington all performed creditably on the night, amassing a total of 73 which compares favourably with some of our less auspicious cricket totals. Key moments in the quiz, besides gaining an amazing 22/25 in the music round,  were remembering the name of a hurling stick, Lord Rockingham XI's 1958 hit, the oldest whisky distillery in the world and Ronald Reagan's middle name, all of which were answered successfully.

The first prize of £20 was donated by unanimous consent of team members to club funds to help cover the heavy cost of the forthcoming AGM celebrations.

Whether we can maintain this sort of form when the season starts is another matter.

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 "Unlikely" - Dean

The proposed tour of Cumbria now seems 'unlikely to go ahead', according to a recent semaphore message from Fleet Commander Geoff Dean. Pitches in Cumbria are reportedly just as waterlogged as some of the ones we have played on and in over here.

Noggin the Nog

The myth of the "Shipwrecks Tour" now lays claim to be one of the longest-standing and best-loved seafaring stories in the oral tradition, along with "The Oddyssey" and "The Saga of Noggin The Nog." It is lovingly retold in "The Ship Inn" every year around July or August time, along with accounts of heroic deeds undertaken on the foreign fields of Threlkeld, Great Broughton and Baggrow.

In fact the last Shipwrecks tour to take place was around 2005, since when the age profile of the team has made the voyage to Cumbria increasingly hazardous and the prospect of two forty over games in a weekend virtually unthinkable.

It is probably best then that the old stories are now by tradition laid to rest in Davey Jones locker each year as soon as English Premiership season gets underway.

Shipwrecks Back On Course?

Geoff Dean took over the captaincy for the last couple of weeks in June, while Captain Taylor was away in Austria looking for fresh talent.

Unfortunately, this period coincided with a further downturn in our fortunes, namely League and Cup encounters at Dalton, who have filled their team with various stowaways, privateers and mercenaries, presumably in attempt to claim buried treasure at the end of season.

In the two clear defeats that resulted, we did however put up a good performance in the cup game, when both Robinsons bowled some decent deliveries and Mike Lumb rediscovered his wicket keeping gloves.  So it actually took the Dalton Allstars seventeen overs to reach our modest total of 53. Apparently however, the talking point of the game was a rare beamer from Sandy McNay which at least left some mark on the opposition

This week the 'Wrecks steamed back up the League, but only because Kirkmahoe could only muster four players on the night and conceded the fixture.

The succeeding knockabout pairs game was won by Alex Taylor and Andy Cameron and, as well as providing much needed practice, served to demonstrate the current level of fitness of the crew, some of whom could be found indulging in beer and porky scratchings in The Ship Inn after the game.

Shipwrecks Eye Cup Booty

The Shipwrecks sailed through to Round 2 of the Sulwath Brewers' Shield after convincingly outgunning the Police in this Wednesday's midweek fixture, although not without incident.  Due to a major navigational error by Third Officer Geoff Dean, the entire crew was ordered to report to their home port at the Kingholm when they should have been posted deep into enemy territory further up the Nith. Finding their berths occupied by Irving Meadow ratings, they then had to be transported to the correct ground in Dunkirk fashion in a variety of different craft.

On arrival at Nunholm, Skipper Taylor, unsure of how many shipmates had made the trip safely and surveying the gathering storm clouds, won the toss and elected to bat.  But it was apparent that the effects of motion sickness had not worn off when he and fellow opener Mike Service were dismissed within the first three overs, both attempting shots that betrayed a lack of concentration.

Sid Oates and Dean started to make amends for the shaky start and the latter went on to complete a maximum in a good partnership with "Jim Lad" Worthington. Fortunately the Police artillery was decidedly off target and Extras quickly became the most valuable cargo as the opposition bowlers jettisoned the ball in all directions.  Meanwhile Worthington and Gregory then Mathew Robinson put on further useful runs and Donald McCuaig and Davey Dillon, who hit one massive six towards the tennis courts, finished off in similar vein to take the visitors to 149 - 6.

The long yardarm of the Law made a reasonable start but, having been warned against complacency and conceding overthrows, Shipwrecks tightened the screw in the field as Taylor and the Robinsons took no wickets but also conceded very few runs.  Almost before they realised, the Police had lost over half their allocated overs for only 49 before Dillon struck by bowling Chalmers. 

The fraternal competition between the Robinsons took on a fascinating symmetry when they returned to the attack. Both took two wickets in two balls with yorkers, but neither completed the hat trick.  By now Victory was a mathematical certainty but Ian "Surrey Star" Whitby rounded off an impressive overall fielding performance with an excellent catch at point.

The Man of The Match Award (temporarily borrowed from the pub's Dominoes Team) was later presented to the forgiven Geoff Dean by Linsey Mallon of The Ship Inn for his excellent 26 not out.

Geoff receives MoM Award from Linsey

Scores: Shipwrecks 149 for 6 (Dean 26 n.o., Worthington 16, Dillon 17 n.o. ; Richardson 3-23, Chalmers 2-10)  : Police 89 for 7 (Brown 27 n.o., Chalmers 15 ; G. Robinson 3-17,  M. Robinson  2-17, Dillon 2-19. Shipwrecks won by 60 runs.

Full Steam Ahead for Shipwrecks

Following last week's unexpected scrapping of the SS Annandale Insurance by the Nunholm Line, the Shipwrecks returned from a fortnight's shore leave to engage a skiff manned by the Burgh Boys.  Or at least most of them did, as it was only thanks to the Robinson Bros., who press ganged their friends Stefan and Ms. Elgin to strengthen the legside field, that the 'Wrecks sailed with a full compliment.

Hoping for easy pickings and an early return to The Ship Inn, Taylor inserted the opposition to bat on winning the toss and the gamble paid off nicely.  After another first over breakthrough by fit again Andy Cameron, Cap'n Taylor greedily hogged most of the spoils for himself with a personal best of 5 - 4 to demolish the opposition middle and late order for only 49.  Sandy McNay (2) and Gregory Robinson (1) also chimed in with key wickets as the fielding side achieved an unprecedented 100% success in the catching department, repeatedly clinging on to the ball as if it was a lifeline.

A fine day at the Kingholm as Able Seaman Worthington strokes the ball through the covers

The Winning Partnership

In a minor batting reshuffle, swashbuckiling Sid Oates opened the innings with watchful Jim Worthington on guard at the other end.  Oates was soon in the metaphorical Pavilion but Mike "Senior" Service was yet again in form with a hard hitting maximum at number three.  Geoff Dean hit a couple of nice shots before edging to 'keeper Moorehead as he attempted the spectacular finish, leaving Mathew Robinson and Worthington to scamper the winning run off a bye.

This was another enthusiastic allround performance by all hands and suprisingly takes Shipwrecks to their best start to a season for many years in spite of the absence of several seasoned sailors.

"Can it possibly continue?" we ask ourselves.

Scores: Burgh Boys 49 all out (Taylor 5 - 4, McNay  2 -14) ; Shpwrx 50 -2 (Service 25 not out).

Shipwrecks won by eight wickets.