Shipwrecks' Maiden Victory

The Shipwrecks charted their first victory of the 2015 season at a breezy Kingholm Park on Thursday evening. Victory came thanks to a hearty batting performance delivering 144 - 3, one of the highest Shipwrecks tallies since nautical records began.

Batting first, Mike Lumb and Donald McCuaig pirated four runs from the first over before the latter was bowled by a good'un from Aidan Collingwood, who then nearly disposed of Alex Taylor with a yorker.  Lumb and Taylor then built a steady partnership. Lumb looked increasingly in control and

Top Scorers - Lumb and Fallas

started to play some firm shots, finishing on 28 retired after a couple of late sixes. Struggling for form, Taylor adopted a "hit out or get out" policy and was obligingly dropped by the Burgh Boys half a dozen times before a catch finally stuck when he was on 23.

Both left the field in quick succession and, after Jason Hall departed early, there was still a need to increase the knots when Colin Taylor joined Davey Fallas with about six overs to come. Fortunately Fallas succeeding in propelling a typical series of missile launches on the legside before retiring and Mike "Senior" Service continued the assault, hitting his first ever six and following with another shortly afterwards.  Meanwhile elder Taylor scuttled round the decks in the normal manner for another not out.

At this point records of the conflict become hazy as we neglected to get a look at the Burgh Boys log book before they retreated sharply in the face of the chill wind after the game.

Shipwrecks fielding display did not start brilliantly when wicketkeeper Lumb was struck by friendly fire - a grenade lobbed by Taylor (Sr.) with untypical accuracy to hit him just above the left eye while he was arguing a point of naval etiquette with the umpire.

A notable asset in the covers was new recruit Nerea Ferrando, who was recently conscripted off the Spanish Main by deckhand Danny McBride. Nerea attacked every ball with gusto and impressed High Command with the power of her throwing, which nearly caused a run out. Suitably inspired, the old lags caught everything going including a nice take by Lumb standing up and seemingly unaffacted by his earlier wound apart from a bruise the size of a grapeshot.

Meanwhile some good accurate bowling, notably from Fallas and left-armers Andy Cameron and Hall meant Shipwrecks were always in control.

For the Burgh Boys, Ben Flack was unfortunate to be last out off the last ball of the innings from Hall when on for a maximum.

Very Approximate Scores: 

Shipwrecks 144 - 3 (Lumb 28 ret., Fallas 25 ret., A. Taylor 23, Service 22 n.o., C. Taylor 12 n.o) : Burgh Boys ?? all out (B. Flack 2? ; sorry no bowling figures)

All Hands To Battle Stations!

In direct contravention to the Shipwrecks' Constitution, Commodore Dean has called a practice (!?) to take place at Kingholm Slipway this Sunday (26th April) between 10 and 12 bells.

This will be a full-scale drill of battle tactics in preparation for the resumption of hostilities in the Dumfries Midweek League on 7th May, when it is hoped to overthrow the current government.

We will however not be able to set sail on Sunday unless there are enough hands to man the rigging. All old and new sailors should contact Geoff to let him know if they are fit for duty.

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!

Practice Voyage

In direct contravention of the team's original constitution, which expressly forbids practice sessions, there will be a knockabout at Kingholm 2 tomorrow (27th April) from 10.00 am for a couple of hours.

A previous communication from Admiral Dean stating a cast-off at 14.00 hours was merely a cunning manouevre to outfox enemy craft.  Anyway, I can't make the afternoon and have the kitbags stowed away on the afterdeck of my C4.

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 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)