Unsatisfactory end to weekend
Greenock’s involvement in this season’s Scottish Cup was brought to a premature and quite unsatisfactory end on Sunday when their 3rd round tie with Clydesdale was decided on a bowl off….. the cricket equivalent of a penalty shoot out in football.
The 3rd round tie had originally been scheduled for Sunday 19 June, but rain last week meant that yesterday’s reserve date was brought into play. Once again, however, the miserable weather intervened and no play was possible. But, as the competition rules state that the final date for a decision on the tie is this coming Wednesday, should both sides agree to this, Greenock anticipated that a reduced overs midweek match would take place. Unfortunately, Clydesdale would not agree to play midweek and the umpires had no option but to conduct a bowl-off to decide the winner, a bowl-off which Clydesdale won by 4 to 3.
Greenock made clear their dissatisfaction with Clydesdale's decision and have stated that they will contact Cricket Scotland with a view to getting the rules of the competition changed to prevent a re-occurrence of such a situation.
Murgitroyd SNCL Regional T20 Festival at Ayr
Match 1 Greenock 109 for 5 (TG McIntosh 35) Ayr 89 for 8
Match 2 Dumfries 110 for 7 Greenock 112 for 1 (TG McIntosh 68*, C Bellwood 31*)
Greenock took part in the Cricket Scotland T20 festival at Ayr on Saturday sponsored by Murgitroyds, a Glasgow based firm of patent attorneys. Similar festivals took place in other parts of Scotland on Saturday involving the top clubs in the country.
Greenock opened the day’s play in mid-morning at New Cambusdoon against host side Ayr and scored 109 for 5 with Kiwi pro Tim McIntosh, fresh from his lengthy plane journey from New Zealand, scoring 35 and Andy Hislop adding 27. In reply Ayr managed just 89 for 8 giving Greenock a comfortable win in their first match.
In match number two, Greenock were once again involved, this time against Dumfries. The Nunholm side batted first and got off to an electrifying start scoring 30 runs from the first three overs and by the end of seven overs had more than 70 runs on the board. The capture of a number of key wickets allowed Greenock to get into the game and slow down the Dumfries scoring rate. By the end of the 20 overs Dumfries had scored 110 for 7 and the Glenparkers had given themselves a chance to win.
A slow start to their innings, and some tight bowling by Dumfries, put Greenock on the back foot with only 19 runs on the Glenpark scoresheet after the first seven overs......in stark contrast to where Dumfries had been at the same stage in their innings. A remarkable over, which saw Tim McIntosh smash five 6s, changed the game and Greenock went on to overtake the Dumfries total for the loss of just one wicket. McIntosh was 68 not out at the end and Chris Bellwood had helped himself to 31 not out in support of his Kiwi batting partner.
