U13 Glenalmond 6s

Sunday 10th May 

The St. Mary’s 6: Will L, Magnus C, Geordie M-C, William G, Henry F, Harry S-P 

We couldn’t have asked for a better morning for a cricket tournament. The early frost then dew soon lifted to reveal an almost unblemished sky, warm in the sun and perfect for cricket. 

Today’s tournament saw six teams compete in a round robin format. Each innings was 5 overs, with everyone (apart from the keeper) bowling an over. Small boundaries meant there was potential for some big scores and with so much space in the field, running hard between the wickets was a must. The boys arrived in good time and looked eager; first up we faced Ardvreck. 

Magnus won the toss and elected to field first. Henry opened the bowling and bowled a tight first over, a good shot producing the only boundary from it. Arthur and Magnus bowled overs two and three, conceding only 4 runs. Geordie, then Will finished off the innings, with two good overs and although Will claimed the only wicket, a super yorker off his final ball, the boys had restricted Ardvreck to 28.  

In reply, Magnus and Will set about the job in hand and played some brilliant cricket shots. Both boys made the game look very easy at times, with boundaries aplenty. They reached their target after 13 balls, Will finishing on an unbeaten 8 and Magnus on an unbeaten 21. A super start to the day. 

We were straight back on, this time against Cargilfield, and electing to bat first, Will and Magnus were straight back at the crease. What followed next was remarkable. Both boys set about the Cargilfield bowling, which was as tight as I’ve seen in a while, with aplomb. It didn’t seem to matter where the ball pitched, it got dispatched! 15 off the first over, 23 off the second and 26 off the third. Every corner of the field (and car park) were being bombarded. A slightly steadier 4th over, with only 8 from it, preceded the final over where the two hit a further 18 runs. It was quite simply two of the best batting displays I have had the privilege of witnessing in years. Magnus finished on an unbeaten 23 and Will on an unbeaten 64, setting Cargilfield 91 for victory, a mere 3 runs a ball!  

Arthur struggled with his length slightly in the first over, but managed to restrict the Cargilfield openers to only a couple of boundaries. A super run out in the second and two wickets in two balls from Henry in the 3rd over, kept Cargilfield on the back foot and us firmly in the driving seat. Will bowled the 4th, a streaky edge being the only boundary from it, which left Geordie to see out the innings. It was a brilliant win for the boys and two from two for the results table! 

Craigclowan were next and having watched them in their game against Belhaven, which they were a mere 4 runs from winning, the boys knew they would have to keep things tight, which they did. They batted first, on an extremely spongy wicket, but an awesome over a piece from Arthur and Henry, got our bowling off to a very efficient start. Geordie struggled with his length slightly in the third over but also took a crucial wicket, their number 2 adjudged LBW. Magnus and Will wrapped up the Craigclowan five overs and whilst no more wickets fell, runs were hard to come by, setting us a target of 26 to win. 

William and Arthur opened the batting this time and, in short, took 15 balls to surpass the Craigclowan total. Their running between the wickets was good, both played some lovely shots and rightly deserved the cheers and praise. It was a clinical performance against a good team and it gave us our third win in three. 

We had a delicious lunch before our game with Belhaven and winning the toss, the boys elected to bowl first. The wicket was again interesting, not easy to bat on and certainly not easy to chase a big total on. Henry’s over was good and although Belhaven managed a couple of boundaries from it, he claimed the wicket of their opener, bowled. Runs conceded from the remaining four overs were evenly spread. 11, 9, 9 & 10 respectively. No more wickets fell but we felt the Belhaven batsmen were never really allowed to get going. They batted well, but our bowling and fielding were tight and we were set a target of 53. 

Will and Magnus opened the batting and a lively couple of balls was followed by one that stayed low and Magnus was given out LBW. Geordie came out and hit his first two balls for 4 before a hesitation cost him his wicket and he was run out, in the third over. Henry played around a straight ball and was bowled on the first ball of the 4th over, which brought Arthur to join Will at the crease. At this stage, with 11 balls remaining, we needed 21 to win. Dot, dot followed, so 21 from 9. Arthur then hit the most amazing 6 which undoubtedly swung the pendulum; 15 from 8. Dot ball, then a single meant we needed 14 from the final over. It really couldn’t have been tighter, particularly when the next two balls went dot and 1, leaving us 13 from 4. Will middled the next ball for 4, then he and Arthur managed to turn one bye into two, so we needed 7 from the last two balls. Will’s next shot came straight out of the middle and whizzed back over the bowler’s head for 4, putting him back on strike and leaving us needing 3 from the last ball. The last ball was full and straight and again Will did well to get it off the square and they managed to run 2, tying the scores at 53, 53. A quite remarkable effort.  

Our final game of the afternoon was against Merchiston. We won the toss and decided to let them bowl first; William and Arthur opened the batting. They got the innings off to a super start and seized upon some loose deliveries in the first over. Some more hesitancy in between the wickets was the downfall of Arthur in the 2nd over and although both he and William played some good shots, balls they hit seemed to go straight to fielders. We were 15 for 1 after two, in a game we had to win! The third over was also tight with only 8 from it, as well as another run out, this time it was Geordie out, following some indecision. Will came in at 4 and he and William saw out the remaining two overs, adding another vital 26 runs to the total, setting Merchiston a target of 50. 

Our overs in the field were good. Fielding was tight, bowling was accurate and the boys gave away very few scoring opportunities. A clinical run out from Henry, a good catch behind the wicket from William and a stumping from William, kept the wickets falling and Merchiston fell 25 runs shy of their target. 

So, having played 5, won 4 and tied won, the tournament hinged on the final game of the day, Belhaven v Cargilfield. A Cargilfield win, would mean the trophy would be coming back to Melrose, however a Belhaven win would see it heading to the coast. The game was tight. Cargilfield scored 43 off their 5 overs but Belhaven hit the total with 2 balls to spare, which meant they had also played 5, won 4 and tied won. Why did the trophy head to the coast? Well, the rules stated that in the event of a tie after the round robin, the team who lost the fewer wickets in the head to head, would win. In our game with Belhaven, they were 53 for 1 but we ended on 53 for 3, so they clinched the day by those two wickets. 

Coming second having not lost a game is tough but, as we’ve said on more times than I care to remember, tournament sport is often won and lost by the smallest of margins and so it was again today. Will deservedly picked up the ‘best batting’ prize for scoring an unbelievable 116 runs today without being out in any game.  

Glenalmond looked stunning and thank you to all their staff for running and hosting such a super day. Thank you also to the brilliant parents for their support and encouragement of the pupils and finally, a hearty congrats to the boys; what a memorable day out!   

We go again next Sunday at the Merchiston Super 8s. 

Mr P MH