1st VIII Merchiston U13 Super 8s tournament

Sunday 17th May 

1st VIII: William, James, Will, Magnus, Harry, Arthur, Henry, George 

As I headed north this morning, I thought the chances of playing cricket today were slim; the rain was pounding down and judging by the puddles, there’d been lots of it! However, Merchiston had stayed dry and other than a heavy shower half way through the day, we got away with it. The six teams had been split into 2 groups and we had been pooled with Merchiston and The Grange; Merchi was our first game. 

Magnus won the toss and elected to bat first. Rules stated that each player had to bowl an over, with no bowler bowling more than two and that batsmen had to retire on 25. James and William opened the batting and both batted well, although struggled to get the ball off the square. The scoreboard was ticking along but perhaps slower than hoped. When James was given out LBW, Will came to the crease and he and William picked up the pace. Will retired on 30 and Magnus came to join William. Again, both boys batted nicely and ran well. William retired on 8 after the 9th over to allow Arthur an over to make an impression which indeed he did. He hit a couple of lovely shots including a much need boundary. At the end of the over he finished on 5 not out, Magnus was unbeaten on 10 and the team had set Merchiston 89 to win. 

Henry opened the bowling and set the tone with a tight over. Wides and no-balls counted as two runs, so keeping the bowling tight was imperative. Henry took the first wicket of the day with his 5th ball, a good catch by Will at mid-off. Arthur followed with another accurate over, whereupon James bowled the Merchi opener with his first ball and took his second wicket with his 5th ball, another devilishly accurate ball, claiming the batsman’s middle stump. After 3 overs, Merchi were 14 for 3. George bowled next and took a wicket with his first ball, a simple catch by Magnus and he then took his 2nd wicket in his 2nd over. James also took another wicket in his 2nd over, his 3rd of the innings, helping us through to a 27 run win. 

There was no hanging about before going into our 2nd game of the day, this time against The Grange CC. Being a Club, they had a strong team of capable and enthusiastic boys; we batted first in what turned out to be a low scoring but brilliant game of cricket. This time James and Will opened the batting but some accurate bowling made runs hard to come by. Will was the first to find himself back in the pavilion, playing around a straight ball. James followed soon after, a mix up seeing him run out. The 5th over saw further wickets tumble, both Arthur and Harry hearing that awful sound of the bails being dislodged! Magnus was looking strong but called a run that was never on and he too was run out but not before scoring a much needed 14. Henry was also run out and George hit a super shot but was caught. That left William on his own at the crease; last man standing. In that scenario, batsmen have to run two and he managed to add a couple to our total before he was bowled. We’d set The Grange 45 to win. 

This was always going to be a challenge but the boys set about the task really well. Mangus and Will set the scene with a tight over each. Arthur’s over was more expensive but he dismissed their opener, taking our first wicket of the game. Henry’s over was also good and he too took a wicket, so after 4 overs, The Grange were 19 for 2. Mangus bowled the 5th over, a valuable maiden. Harry’s over was excellent and mounting pressure enforced the batsmen to attempt a quick single, but tight fielding from Will and Harry, took our 3rd wicket, so after 6 overs, they were 22 for 3. Will bowled the 7th over, another super spell which claimed the team’s 4th victim, this time an excellent catch by Harry at mid-on. This meant that The Grange now needed 20 runs from 18 balls. James’s over, our 8th, was also good, six from it but he added another wicket to his tally, bowling their captain; they needed 14 off 12 with 2 wickets to hand. George bowled the next over which had to be tight and it was. He bowled a brilliant over, with only 5 runs coming from it, leaving The Grange needing 9 from the last. Arthur took responsibility for bowling our last over and he did a good job. A couple of careless overthrows combined with some good running saw the scores tied with two balls remaining, whereupon they ran a tight single off the penultimate ball, claiming the win by the narrowest of margins.  

It was a super game of cricket which really could have gone either way. So, this meant that we had come 2nd in our group, so faced Cargilfield in the 3rd/4th playoff, as they too had come 2nd in their group. 

Cargilfield elected to bat first and set about posting a very challenging total. Wickets fell intermittently, three to great catches from Will, Harry and Henry. There was also a tidy runout in the last over but we’d been set 100 to win. In reply, Will and Magnus did a super job. They got the scoreboard moving well and although we were always slightly behind the needed 10 runs per over, it looked possible. Will (19)  was the first to go but it took an excellent catch. He skied one which would have cleared most boundary ropes but was caught just shy of the rope; a super catch. Magnus (15) followed a couple of overs later, driving a ball straight back to the bowler, who also took a sharp catch. Arthur continued the good chase with some super hitting but was eventually caught on 14. James (4 not out) joined Harry (2 not out) to face the final ball, clipped the ball off his legs and thanks to some good calling, the two were alert enough to seize upon some overthrows and ran 4! We ended 35 runs short but I was chuffed to see so many of the team making their mark, whether with the ball, the bat or in the field. 

Thank you to Merchi for another tremendous day of cricket. The standard today was remarkable and I thought that the boys from St. Mary’s more than held their own. Thank you also to the parents for their loyal support and encouragement. Now we have to pray that the predicted rain this week doesn’t materialise before Wednesday!  

Mr P MH