Archive 1-5
Macca’s Maiden ODI 100
Scotland v Ireland 30 January 2007
Scotland won by 3 wickets
At Nairobi
ICC World Cricket League Division 1
Man of the match Neil McCallum was delighted to have scored his maiden one-day international century in this game as Scotland chased 281; but when he was out, he was a worried man as he thought he had left his side too much to do, because his dismissal still left Scotland needing 33 from just 21 balls. It was left to the injured Colin Smith, who was batting with Fraser Watts as runner, and skipper Craig Wright to pull off a very exciting win off the final ball.
In fact Neil had almost missed out on his century as he was magnificently caught on the fine-leg boundary by William Porterfield in the previous over, and was halfway back to the pavilion. However the fielder was adjudged to have touched the rope, and the 6 took Neil to 99. The line between success and failure is small as he had needed luck very early on when he was trying to force the pace, and was nearly caught at deep mid-on off a skier. He then reached his century from 92 balls, and was immediately caught at long-on. He and Colin Smith had put on 104 in 12.3 overs.
So 15 were needed off the final over. A single to Craig Wright off the first ball allowed Colin to face, and he lofted the biggest six of the day over the bowler’s head. Eight runs were required off four balls, then 7 from three. From the fourth ball it was Craig’s turn to launch another monstrous six over long-on to bring the scores level with two balls left. However Craig’s shot was stopped by mid-on to prevent the single. Fortunately Kevin O’Brien overpitched his final ball, which Craig dispatched for four; his 23* had taken only 11 balls.
Earlier Scotland had kept on losing wickets, including Dougie Brown off a reverse sweep, and at 144-6, Ireland were clear favourites. Majid Haq had a very good game, taking 3 wickets and scoring 52 as opener. Paul Hoffmann also took 3 wickets. For Ireland Bray took 49.3 overs to score 116, and it was left to Australian Trent Johnston to increase the tempo by scoring 45* off only 19 balls. Maybe Scotland’s bowlers were still suffering the after-effects of their digestive troubles of the past week.
Several of the Scots side achieved their personal best. Neil’s previous best was 68, Colin’s was 30, and Craig Wright 18, Majid Haq’s 2-53 beat his previous best of 2-57.
Craig Wright secured the scalp of Eoin Morgan. Eoin had made his ODI debut in August 2006 against Scotland at the age of 19, becoming the first ODI debutant to be dismissed for 99. Five days after the match where Neil MacCallum scored his century, Eoin also made his maiden ODI century (Feb 4 2007) against Canada; he didn’t play for England till May 2009.
The day after Neil’s century, Scotland played Canada, which was another very close match. Someone different was going to be a star!
Ireland
JP Bray b Hoffmann 116
WTS Porterfield c Smith b Hoffmann 11
ETG Morgan c Smith b Wright 41
NJ O’Brien lbw b Haq 10
KJ O’Brien c McCallum b Haq 13
AC Botha st Smith b Haq 4
WK McCallan b Hoffmann 22
DT Johnston not out 45
JF Mooney not out 3
Extras (b1, lb5, w5, nb4) 15
Total 280-7 (50 overs)
AR White and D Langford-Smith dnb
PJC Hoffmann 10 0 44 3
JAR Blain 7 0 35 0
CM Wright 10 1 47 1
DR Brown 6 0 38 0
RM Haq 10 1 53 3
RT Lyons 7 0 57 0
1-24, 2-95, 3-119, 4-142, 5-155, 6-206, 7-271
Scotland
DF Watts c Sub b Johnston 2
RM Haq b McCallan 52
RR Watson c KJ O’Brien b Botha 22
GM Hamilton c Morgan b Botha 11
NFI McCallum c White b Botha 100
DR Brown c sub b McCallan 3
PJC Hoffmann run out 0
CJO Smith not out 49
CM Wright 23 not out
Extras ( b2, lb7, w7, nb6) 22
Total 284-7 (50 overs)
JAR Blain & RT Lyons dnb
DT Johnston 9 0 51 1
D Langford-Smith 7 1 46 0
AC Botha 10 0 46 3
KJ O’Brien 8 0 52 0
WK McCallan 10 0 41 2
JF Mooney 3 0 26 0
AR White 3 0 14 0
1-25, 2-60, 3-90, 4-137, 5-141, 6-144, 7-248
Fun for SMRH on their Travels!
Penicuik 2nd XI v SMRH 2nd VII (sic)
August 21st 2004
Penicuik 2nd XI were struggling for players in 2004. They were bottom of Division 1 in 2003, and now they suffered the indignity of losing all 14 2nd division games in the 2004 season. Worse than that, SMRH 2nd XI, who had also struggled to get full sides out each week, sent a team of only 7 players to Penicuik and beat them comfortably.
SMRH’s 3rd & 4th XIs had 11 men each – which provided an interesting talking point. Fortunately for SMRH, the players they did have were seasoned campaigners; Penicuik had today’s 1st XI skipper Grant Davidson but the youngsters weren’t as experienced as SMRH. James Crispin says the long grass helped (the ratio at the school)and the run-out was crucial as Penicuik were getting their momentum back then. Peter Kingsbury (who was run out) remembers Cliff Hutt calling him for a run and being sent back when he was almost at the other end. Peter says “I never forgave him for it”!
In 2004 each bowler could bowl 15 overs rather than the limit now of 1/5 of the overs played. 31 extras helped their cause as they won by 26 runs.
SMRH 2nd VII
SC Farquharson lbw Kingsbury 22
SR Foubister lbw Bentley 16
CJ Grahamslaw c Bentley b Kingsbury 0
M Meacham b Kingsbury 17
P Mitchell b Hopkins 47
CD Butcher not out 11
JR Crispin b Hopkins 0
(Extras b19, lb7, nb2, w3) 31
Total 144
G Hopkins 13 4 48 2
P Kingsbury 15 4 36 3
J Bentley 11 1 34 1
Fow: 28, 28, 64, 94, 144, 144.
Penicuik 2nd XI
J Bentley c Farquharson b Mitchell 4
J Fraser c Meacham b Crispin 4
G Davidson b Crispin 1
R Cursiter c Meacham b Crispin 9
C Hutt c Farquharson b Butcher 37
P Kingsbury run out 9
T McKenzie b Meacham 16
G Blasard lbw Crispin 2
G Hopkins lbw Crispin 9
M Lister c Mitchell b Crispin 2
B Bartas not out 0
Extras ( b14, lb2, nb3, w6) 25
Total 118
P Mitchell 13 3 25 1
JR Crispin 14.1 3 22 6
CD Butcher 10 2 23 1
G Grahamslaw 4 0 10 0
M Meacham 2 0 12 0
Fow: 4, 10, 26, 31, 61, 88, 101, 111, 112, 118
Dougie Brown Keeps His Cool
Nairobi
Canada v Scotland – 31 January 2007
Scotland won by 7 runs
The day after Scotland beat Ireland by scoring the 15 runs which they needed from the final over, Canada gave them a real fright, needing 13 from the final over with centurion Bagai still unbeaten at the crease. Dougie Brown showed all his experience and conceded only four runs from the over.
Apart from his final over Dougie hammered 50 not out off only 27 balls including two sixes from successive balls; then in Canada’s innings he took the important wicket of Samad with his first delivery. Samad and Bagai had just scored 71 for the 2nd wicket in 11 overs, and Samad had hoisted Hoffmann for 6 in his first over; now Hoffmann was not overjoyed to be getting the treatment which he likes to give opponents when he bats, and was guilty of obstructing Samad. Hoffmann allegedly deliberately dropped his shoulder to bump into Samad in his follow through and knocked him to the ground. Samad got up to complete the run but then needed four minutes of treatment. Hoffmann was fined 50% of his match fee.
You can watch it on Youtube!
The comments on the Youtube clip are interesting.
Macca “This just gets funnier and funnier with every viewing”
Ross Lyons:- “memories hoffy… looked even funnier from third man”
Anon:- “This man is an animal. He has no place in the sport and should be given a lifetime ban”
Bagai was named Man of the Match for his 137* and always kept the Canadians in touch; his century stand forced Scotland on the back foot, as Canada need 77 with 7 wickets left. Craig Wright shuffled his bowlers in search of a breakthrough, and in the end it was Wright himself who got two vital wickets with excellent catches in the deep by Watts and Blain. By conceding only 3 wides compared to 14 by Canada, all Scotland’s bowlers contributed to the win, each going for about 5 an over.
With Canada requiring 38 runs from the last four overs with 3 wickets in hand, another superb catch, this time by Ryan Watson, running in from the long-on boundary, got rid of Bhatti.
Bagai meanwhile was proving obstinate, and his 137* earned him Man of the Match and remains the Canadian highest score in an ODI. But it didn’t win the match, and Dougie Brown perhaps should have received the award. He bowled the final over and conceded just 4 runs when 12 were needed; just as important was his 50*, scored off just 27 balls, his highest score ever in an ODI. Fraser Watts and Gavin Hamilton had given the team a very solid foundation; people commented on excellent running between the wickets, but it needed an innings like Dougie’s to set a formidable target.
Scotland
DF Watts lbw b Davison 70
RM Haq c Davison b Bhatti 27
RR Watson b Dhaniram 27
GM Hamilton not out 64
NFI McCallum c Mulla b Cummins 6
DR Brown not out 50
Extras (b1, lb13, w14, nb4) 32
Total 276-4 (50 overs)
Bhatti 10 0 32 1
Cummins 10 1 67 1
Osinde 10 0 61 0
Maxwell 3 0 12 0
Dhaniram 5 0 29 1
Davison 10 0 45 1
Sandher 2 0 16 0
1-66, 2-110, 3-166, 4-179
DR Lockhart, PJC Hoffmann, CM Wright, JAR Blain & RT Lyons dnb
Canada
JM Davison b Blain 4
AM Samad lbw b Brown 32
A Bagai not out 137*
Qaiser Ali, lbw b Wright 0
AA Mulla c Watts b Wright 48
S Dhaniram c Blain b Wright 8
DES Maxwell lbw b Haq 4
U Bhatti c Watson b Hoffmann 11
AC Cummins c Lockhart b Hoffmann 3
H Osinde run out 1
KT Sandher not out 0
Extras (b7, lb8, w3, nb3) 21
Total 269-9 (50 overs)
Hoffmann 10 0 56 2
Blain 7 1 38 1
Wright 10 0 46 3
Brown 6 1 28 1
Haq 10 0 51 1
Lyons 7 0 35 0
1-20, 2-91, 3-92, 4-192, 5-202, 6-207, 7-241, 8-256, 9-268
Paul Hoffmann Blitzes Carlton!
Carlton v Uddingston May 14th 2005
At Grange Loan
Uddingston won by 6 wickets
Paul Hoffmann was a fine bowler and seldom got a chance to bat high up; but on May 7th 2005 he hit a quick 37 at No 7 for Uddingston, and the following week was given the opportunity to open the innings at Grange Loan. Chasing 233 he reached his century in just 35 deliveries while his partner, the fine Australian Professional Tom Plant, was barely into double figures. This even eclipsed the famous effort of Hoffmann’s Saltires colleague Ryan Watson who took 43 balls to fire the Scots to their historic triumph against Somerset Sabres in 2003. Chris Gayle now holds the world record with a century in 30 balls in the IPL.
Carlton’s openers had given their team a wonderful start with a century stand; Stevie Gilmour carried his bat for 108*.
Paul hit eleven fours and seven sixes, having been told by his skipper to enjoy himself and entertain the spectators. He was dismissed in the 12th over with his partner on 10. Charlie Stronach’s first ball went for four, and his figures were 1-70 off 8.2 overs; Fraser Watts conceded 54 off 5 overs; Tom Clarke who came on later even bowled 3 maidens when sanity was restored!
Paul Hoffmann explained modestly: “To be honest, I’ve always enjoyed batting more than bowling – it’s just that I’m not as good at it.” His skipper said: “It was an awesome display of clean hitting, and there was nothing lucky about it. I always knew Hoffy was capable of something like this, and today everything went right.” Uddingston won comfortably with ten overs to spare.
Carlton
Watts run out 44
Gilmour not out 108
Bryn Lockie b Afzaal 23
Kerr lbw b Plant 10
Thornton c Bill b Plant 2
Guy b Plant 4
Zengerink run out 16
Frost not out 2
Did Not Bat Marshall, Clarke & Stronach
Extras (b3, lb7, w13, nb1) 24
Total 233-6 (50 overs)
Hoffmann 10 1 39 0
Bawa 7 2 17 0
Z Mohammed 2 0 20 0
Bill 2 0 18 0
Townson 10 1 26 0
Amir Gul 8 1 33 0
Plant 8 0 44 3
Afzaal 3 0 26 1
1-105, 2-158, 3-188, 4-190, 5-198, 6-231
Uddingston
Plant c&b Gilmour 37
Hoffmann c Watts b Clarke 103
Amir Gul c&b Thornton 21
Pyke not out 41
A Mohammed b Stronach 9
Ayaz Gul not out 0
Did Not Bat Townson, Z Mohammed, Afzaal, Bill & Bawa
Extras (lb3, w20) 23
Total 234-4 (40.2 overs)
Stronach 8.2 0 70 1
Thornton 10 0 52 1
Watts 5 0 54 0
Clarke 10 3 15 1
Gilmour 4 0 20 1
Marshall 2 0 8 0
Frost 1 0 12 0
1-121, 2-174, 3-186, 4-230
Timed Out – A Rare Cricketing Experience!
Only four instances of being “Timed Out” existed in first-class cricket before June 25th 2005 – the day we had such an occurrence in the East League (ESCA).
The match involved Mdafs 2nd XI. Amjid, Ali, a left-hander, went to get his batting gloves at the fall of a wicket but couldn’t find them; he looked in vain for a pair in the kit-bag; the only other Mdafs player with left-handed gloves was in the middle umpiring, and it took about six minutes to get things sorted. Most teams would just mutter about the tardiness!
But the opposition did appeal, and Mdafs’ umpire asked if they were sure they wanted to appeal for this kind of dismissal. They said they did, and as it was well over the time allowed in the laws, Amjid had to be given out. Some of the opponent’s team, to their credit, made a point of apologising for their captain’s appeal, saying that they were really embarrassed about it.
The first example of a player timed-out was back in the 1987-88 season. Playing against Transvaal at Port Elizabeth, Eastern Province’s Andrew Jordan, who was not out overnight, failed to arrive in time the next morning as the roads were bad after a downpour. [Before 1980 if a player failed to appear in time, the whole team was considered to be refusing to play!!]
On December 20th 1997 Hemulal Yadav of Tripura was given out in this way against Orissa in a Ranji Trophy match at Cuttack, after apparently showing no inclination to go out to start his innings after a drink break; he was sitting chatting to the team manager. It was a bit odd for the umpires to call for the drinks break because Tripura had just lost their 9th wicket. With an average of 1.37 from 13 innings, perhaps it wouldn’t have made much difference if Hemulal had come out to bat.
Vasbert Drakes, the West Indian fast bowler, is down on the scorecard as Timed Out for Border v Orange Free state in 2002-3; he was rather unfortunate as he wasn’t even in the country at the time – his plane to South Africa had been delayed.
An unusual incident occurred in England in 2003 when Nottinghamshire’s Andrew Harris took too long to get the the crease when playing against Durham UCCE at Trent Bridge. Andrew was injured and hadn’t expected to bat, but when Chris Read wanted to reach his century (he was 94 when the 9th wicket fell), he quickly tried to get ready and hobble out but failed to make it in time.
Mdafs seem to specialise in odd dismissals. In 2006 Paul Leonard was “Mankaded” – runout backing up at the bowler’s end, and the opposing captain appealed; Mdafs lost by one run! Their statistics also show one dismissal that season for “handled the ball” but who it was is a mystery.
David Potter added :-
I like the game at Taunton on May 22 1919, the first game there after the war. Sussex had a player called Mr HJ Heygate who clearly would not have been playing if they had not been so short of players in 1919 after the war and a previous pandemic called the Spanish flu. The poor man had rheumatism and it had been said that he would not bat in the Second Innings, but when the ninth Sussex wicket fell with the scores level, Heygate indicated that he was going to come out and attempt to bat. But he was almost crawling to the wicket when the two minutes were up, and a dastardly Somerset player (not JC White the acting captain, according to Wisden) said “How’s That?” to Umpire AE Street who upheld the appeal, and the game was a tie.T he MCC Committee confirmed the decision which was, after all, the correct one. I am a Somerset supporter, but I am ashamed of that one! DP
[It isn’t a mystery to me which teams were Mdafs’ opponents in the two incidents, but in the present climate this should remain secret!]