Week 12 Review - Depleted 1st XI no match for Grange

From the start of the season, it has always been known that July and August would be difficult months for the 1st XI as international call-ups and holidays were likely to weaken the team considerably. Saturday's visit to Grange saw the first evidence of this. Berrington, Nel and Weeraratna were in Bermuda for the InterContinental Cup, as was Juddy (as coach, not player!), and Jonathan Hempsey and Shailesh Prabhu were both unavailable. Craig Wright was at least fit again to skipper the team but could only bat. Ian Stanger was persuaded out of retirement and messrs Baum, Brown, Diffenthal and Wooler were drafted in from the lower teams. The lack of bowling options meant that Harry Byrnes Howe would be replaced behind the stumps by Alex Baum at the middle of the innings to allow him to purvey a few overs of off-spin.

Greenock won the toss and elected to field after rain delayed the start and meant that the match was reduced to one of 46 overs per side. A relatively early success saw Coles caught behind off Tim's bowling but that was as good as it got. Patel and Maiden put on a big partnership for the second wicket and then professional McSkimming came in at the end to skelp a quick fifty off a tiring attack. A total of 257 for 4 was probably as good as could be expected given the circumstances and at least offered a glimmer of hope for a surprise win.

Tim McIntosh, as ever, provided a solid base for the Greenock reply and his colleagues did their best to support him, especially Byrnes Howe and Ryan Begley but when the big fellow fell for 61, the writing was very much on the wall. The innings eventually subsided to 169 all out, leaving the home team winners by 88 runs. This victory consolidated Grange's position at the top of the table and it is difficult to see who can knock them off that spot. Greenock, for their part, will now have to concentrate on the Cup. Even here, international call-ups could affect the selection for the Penicuik game on 10 August and Greenock will need to retain full focus to win this match. The scorecard details of the Grange match are available here.

As a knock-on effect of the weakened 1st XI, it was a very much under-strength Glenpark XI that welcomed Bothwell XI to Glenpark on Saturday. The midweek rains had left one end of the pitch more than a little damp but this did not deter Bothwell who were quite ruthless in disposing of their opposition. Glenpark batted first but could make little headway against the visiting attack. Only Sammy Sanghera with 41, Scott Forrest with 21 and John McGlynn with 15 off 4 scoring shots made it into double figures as the home team slumped to 120 all out. In reply, Bothwell were never really in trouble and they cruised to their target in just 20 overs, losing just 2 wickets in the process. The scorecard details can be read here.

The Hillend XI were on their travels on Sunday, this time to Titwood where they took on Clydesdale's 3rd XI, the quaintly named Bees. In an exciting match, Hillend prevailed by one wicket to maintain their recent excellent winning run and ensure that they will be in the top half of the Division 5 table when the mid-season split takes place at the end of next week. The Bees batted first and were indebted to their opener, P Barbour, who hit a splendid 102, for the fact that they reached 165. That ageless skipper, Peter Robertson grabbed 4 wickets for 35 off his full allotment of 15 overs and he got good backing from Kevin Flack who took 3 for 28. Hillend got off to a dreadful start in their response with both openers, Moore and Baum failing to trouble the scorers. But the middle and lower orders responded well, Robbo hitting 29 and Kevin Flack 38 before Mark Farrell saw the team home with a hard-hitting undefeated 26. Check out the scorecard here.