Irving Meadow Swamped

The Shipwrecks took on close rivals and fellow Midweek League founder members Irving Meadow at Kingholm Marshes last Wednesday, where K2 was carrying enough water in parts of the outfield to float a toy sailing boat.

Unsure what would be a good total on a swamp, Captain Taylor (Sr) was happy to  lose the toss and let Meadow do the calculations.  Gregory Robinson and Andy Cameron opened the bowling to an umbrella field, which as expected proved difficult to breach..  The only problem was that, after Cameron bowled Irving, no wickets were falling.

That was until Rory Dean came on with another excellent spell, getting Bryden caught at square leg, then claiming two wickets in two balls with a dubious lbw and a nasty one that reared off a length to catch the handle of Dylan Muir's bat.

Alex Taylor calculates his batting average

Meanwhile Sandy McNay bowled Bellwood, who appeared to be targetting the MacLeod Pavilion on the distant horizon with a massive swipe, and Dean bowled Wharton to claim his fourth wicket.  There was even a another run out in what was an alert overall fielding performance as Irving Meadow were all out for 64.

Unfortunately Mike Service's stumps were shattered by Wharton's third delivery and Colin Taylor joined Sandy McNay to shore up the defences.  Eight overs later the score reached 10 and the waiting batsmen were starting to look jittery.  The oldsters upped the pace, but neither could get out, McNay in particular being dropped on three occasions.  Eventually Taylor edged one to the 'keeper to allow the entry of son Alex, who appeared to have an urgent appointment and lost no time in laying into the bowling.

One particularly massive six stood out among the ensuing boundaries and, in the end, Shipwrecks got home with overs to spare.

Scores: Irving Meadow 64 all out (Bryden ??, Moss 16 n.o. ; R.Dean 4-11) : Shipwrecks 65 -2 (McNay 25 n.o., A. Taylor 20 n.o.)

Shipwrecks Win in the Wet

The Shipwrecks took on the Healthpros at the Kingholm last Tuesday in typically dreary July conditions and emerged damp but victorious.

Skipper Taylor, having listened to the Shipping Forecast on BBC Long Wave, invited the opposition to bat first in the hope of scuttling the doctors before the storms closed in.  In fact a rather lame opening few overs meant Healthpros survived 17.1 overs and it took an excellent spell of  3-13 by Rory Dean and some tight late bowling to restrict the score to 68 all out.

Meanwhile the return of Mike Lumb behind the stumps and some more good throwing by Gregory Robinson produced three excellent run outs - another landmark in the annals of a club that rarely runs anyone out.

Man of Match - Rory Dean

Steady rain duly set in during the changeover to make even 68 a tricky chase on the developing merse at Kingholm 2.  The tactic was to get on with it and 20 was added before Sandy McNay was run out and Geoff Dean, realising it was weather for ducks, duly got one. Then Mike Service hoisted one straight up in the air and the whole battle plan look set to backfire.

Alex Taylor and Rory Dean were left with the difficult task of eeking out the rest of the runs in increasingly dire conditions against some accurate bowling.  They showed some resolution in doing this and by the time Taylor younger was lbw to one that kept very low, Taylor senior and Man of the Match Dean  just needed to milk a few extras to get the ship home safely.

Credit however should be given to the Healthpros for playing on in conditions which, if asked for their professional judgement, could perhaps have lead to a major outbreak of influenza.

Scores: Healthpros 68 all out (Choudry 18 ; R. Dean 3-13) : Shipwrecks 70 - 3 (R.Dean, 23 n.o., A. Taylor 16)

Not Enough at Nunholm

Our latest voyage of discovery to Port Nunholm again ended in defeat last Thursday when we failed to hold off CC Colts/Annandale Insurance (does anyone know who?) in the home strait.

Skipper Colin Taylor decided to bat first on winning the toss against a mixed looking CC Insurance line up. Sandy McNay and Mike Service made a reasonable enough start until the latter holed early out but disaster then struck.  Possibly mistaking Chris McBride for Tom the Cabin Boy, key batter Geoff Dean attempted to swipe his second delivery, a googly, to leg - only to be hit right in front of the mainmast on the back foot.

McCuaig hits a single to off

McCuaig and McNay, who has been in vintage form with the bat hung around for a fair while until McNay claimed his maximum and Alex Taylor was finally ready to take the wicket.  The score then started to accelerate as Taylor swatted his way to 25 but batting was  not without problems against some very mixed bowling on a wet outfield.  In the event Rory Dean was the only other batsman to seriously trouble the scorers, playing some nice looking shots through the offside.

Typically, Nunholm introduced late arrival and would-be county cricketer Niall Alexander to bowl two overs at the end and Dean and Ian Whitby did well to avoid conceding another wicket as Shipwrecks foundered to 110 at the halfway stage.

The bowling turned out like the batting i.e. somewhat mixed and certainly proved that Reetz, who was dropped early at short mid-wicket, is strongest outside his leg stump. Once McBride followed him to the maximum, it always looked like the target was reachable.  One bright spot was that Alexander was caught C. Taylor b. M. Robinson for not too many and there was a minor celebration when birthday boy Gregory Robinson claimed his first wicketkeeping victim by running out Trefor Williams.

A late attempt to stifle the singles with an umbrella field at least drew out the finish until the end of the nineteenth over but the truth was that Shipwrecks neither batted nor bowled well enough to deserve victory.

Scores: Shipwrecks 110 - 5 (A. Taylor 25 n.o., S. McNay 25 n.o, R Dean 19 n.o) : Annandale Colts 114 - 3.

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 Sunk by Galloway

Shipwrecks went down heavily but unsurprisingly at Castle Douglas against a Galloway XI sporting six weekend First XI players including South African pro Vootoo, having only mustered a paltry 29.

As if the odds were not heavily enough stacked, it turned out to be one of those nights when everything went wrong for the visitors. Inserted to bat, Ian Whitby and Mike Service survived a couple of maidens before one from Conn took off at Whitby who gloved it high over the 'keeper's head, only to be be swallowed up by a multiple juggling effort by Bradley, whose course started at fly slip and ended at short fine leg.

This was only the start as almost every time the Shipwrecks tried to hit their way out of trouble, the ball deposited itself conveniently in the hands of a fielder as Service, Alex Taylor and both Robinsons all shared the same misfortune and Mike Lumb, returning to duty after a prolonged absence, was given lbw to one that appeared to take an edge. 

It was always a game where Shipwrecks, for whom A. Taylor and Rory Dean had also not yet manned the decks this season, would have needed the luck on their side to have any chance and it all became too much for one team member, who abandoned ship altogether after being run out with his bat in the air.

Skipper Colin Taylor's plan of attacking with all guns in mid-innings then battening down the hatches later if necessary was finally scuppered when McCuaig was bowled by a ball from Montgomery that kept low.

With the outcome virtually a formality, Taylor decided to give returning bowlers some practice but not before Gregory Robinson had bowled Briggs and run out Penrice with a superb throw from mid wicket, which he then claimed was "a fluke".  But the sudden prospect of an embarrassing defeat clearly alarmed the opposition, who immediately sent Vootoo out to reel off the remaining runs, splicing the mainbrace with a couple of onside slogs.

Shipwrecks best moment from Wednesday's game - after the stumps had been drawn

Meanwhile news came through that our longstanding rivals Irving Meadow had suffered a similar fate at Dalton where they were all out for 12.  There maybe sends a message about the nature of the Midweek League this season and certainly sets a target for our own next fixture - at Dalton.

Scores: Shipwrecks 29 all out : Galloway 30 -2 (G. Robinson 1-7)

Can You Play on Wednesday?

Thursday's gale which restricted all craft to port and led to the unfortunate (?) cancellation of our top-of-the-table skirmish with the Kingholm XI has also disrupted communications across the fleet.  Team organiser Geoff Dean has been temporarily restationed to the Balkans and asked everyone to send Captain Taylor a signal regarding their availability for the game against Galloway at Castle Douglas High School on Wednesday 13th.

Unfortunately very few communications have been received by morse code or semaphore and we currently only have four players confirmed.

Can you please respond to Geoff's request and let me know on 07837 367924 if you can make this game or not as I do not have a list of contacts.

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.