Another Weekend of Wins

The weather finally cleared and made it possible for two, yes two, matches to take place this weekend, featuring St Boswells 1st XI and St Boswells “A”. About time too. Those of us looking forward to balmy summer afternoons basking in the solar glow with a drink in hand and the gentle sounds of leather upon willow have been sadly disabused of such notions. This is Scotland after all, not deepest Surrey. But as the Jet Stream glides northwards maybe the latter quarter of the season will prove kinder to us afficianados of the great game.

Anyway, on with the match reports.

Top of the East Division 2 table St.Boswells 1st XI won the toss and elected to
field first against Boroughmuir up at Meggetland on Saturday 21st July. The move immediately paid off as Turnbull bowled the Borughmuir captain with the very first ball of the game. In his next over he got 2 more in two balls to put the Villagers firmly in command with the score only on 5 for 3 wickets. Boroughmuir then stuck to the task well and defiantly, but still losing regular wickets, to finish on 108 all out in 45 overs. Turnbull finishing with 4 wickets and Prabhakar with 3.

After tea, the Villagers set about their work in brisk fashion. Openers Cletus Mathurin and Elliot Ruthven rarely troubled as they picked off the bowling with ease to race past 90 runs in 12 overs. Mathurin eventually went LBW shortly after getting his 50. Patterson was next in and was unlucky to hole out for a duck to midwicket. With Ruthven unbeaten at the other end, Prabakhar came in and hit the winning 4. St Boswells stay clear at the top, however in their next 2 games face Edinburgh South and Edinburgh CC who are 2nd and 3rd respectively with only 1 defeat each.

A windy Sunday at Manderston saw St Boswells “A” with a team slightly weakened in regulars but certainly not weak in spirit. Manderston were to prove a tricky team to bowl against, however, and such was their resistance in the 40 overs that St Boswells stalwart Thomas Goodman was brought in to provide his own unique take on spin bowling. A fabulous spell from Elliot Ruthven (9 runs for 1 in 8 overs) limited Manderston to 154; a testing target nonetheless.

With the loss of Greg Lane for 8, that man Ruthven along with Goodman stuck and stuck, almost reaching a century for the loss of just 1 wicket. With the fall of Goodman the wickets started eroding away, but not without the accumulation of valuable runs, and St Boswells eventually reached their target with a 3 from Craig “Bubba” Paterson. Only only ball remained, but the victory was ours. The next match will be a tricky home tie against Penicuik.

Our New Sponsors: The Main Street Trading Company

We are delighted to say a big “hello” to our new sponsors. The Main Street Trading Company is a multi award-winning bookshop and café situated in, not surprisingly, Main Street, right in the heart of St Boswells.

The sponsorship arrangement entitles Main Street Trading to a display advertisement right on the edge of the busy A68, safely within the 30MPH zone, and also a large board on the boundary next to the clubhouse. It is particularly important to St Boswells Cricket Club to encourage partnerships between ourselves and local businesses and organisations given how vital a strong community is to the success of our club, and so we always seek out local sponsors wherever possible so that we are able to continue and build on our success.

We are very happy that so many of our existing sponsors (see the panel to the left) have been able to continue their support of our club in these hard financial times. We keep our sponsorship fees as low as we possibly can, and the potential return for a sponsor (think one decent job for a joiner, or a contract for garden work) is significant.

If you are interested in sponsoring St Boswells Cricket Club in any capacity, please contact secretary@stboswellscricketclub.org and we will call you back for a chat about the possible options.

Double Weekend Triumph for St Boswells

Border Sixes Trophy: Sunday 1st July 2012

As the skies bulged and leaked onto a slippery Philiphaugh pitch, it looked bleak for a 2012 Border Sixes Tournament taking place. Nevertheless seven teams turned up on time, the disappointing withdrawal of Langholm notwithstanding, to play a 4 + 3 set of group matches. The groups had been drawn months before and one could have been forgiven for thinking they were arranged for maximum excitement: St Boswells, Gala, Kelso and Hawick being placed together in Group 1, with Melrose, Selkirk and Biggar making up the smaller Group 2.

Four overs per innings demanded big hitting, but the low bounce made running the order of the day for most batsmen except notably Kelso’s Yorkshireman McCarry, and St Boswells’ captain Broom, both of whom made mincemeat of most bowlers. As it turned out Group 1 was dominated by St Boswells, not just in batting terms but with some excellent bowling particularly from Ruthven and Elms (who also fielded exceptionally).

While St Boswells mopped up Group 1, with Kelso and Hawick fighting for second position, Group 2 was a more balanced affair with Melrose coming out top after tight matches across the board.

The final was a somewhat muted affair with most competitors having taken their leave, and the storm clouds threatening over the hills. St Boswells’ 59 for 1 proved too much for Melrose, especially with the loss of key batsmen early on, and the final over from Hunter was almost unplayable, leaving St Boswells with the cup and the chance to reflect on a summer which may see a little more cricket than has been possible so far.

---

Heriots 2nd XI vs St Boswells 1st XI, ESCA Division 2: Saturday 30th June 2012

St Boswells 1st XI played Heriots 2nd XI on Saturday with the Villagers already at the top of Division 2 of the East League. This was to prove an easy victory for a match-starved team who managed to all but smother Heriots’ attempt to score runs in their innings. Pick of the bowlers was Elliot Hunter, who took 4 wickets for 18 runs in his 8 overs, with both Elms and Turnbull taking 2 wickets apiece for similarly paltry totals. Heriots ended all out for just 59 runs in 28.2 overs, well short of the allotted 40.

With the rain threatening, Mathurin and Broom took it upon themselves to carry out a destructive batting display, Broom top scoring with a thunderous 42. The 60 runs was preceded by an enormous 6 towards Princes Street, and completed with nearly 29 overs to spare. St Boswells remain at the top of the division with 5 wins out of 5 and an away match to Freuchie 2nds a mouth-watering prospect for 7th July.

St Boswells (20) beat Heriots 2 (0) by 10 wkts

Heriots 2 won the toss and chose to bat first.

Innings of Heriots 2

*+	J Case		b R Elms	2
	C Thomson		b R Elms	10
	C Mcdougall	c S Broom	b S Turnbull	6
	G Singh	c E Hunter	b C Mathurin	10
	C Jones	Run Out		12
	C Mackellar		b E Hunter	11
	C Acheson		b E Hunter	0
	M Watt	c R Graham	b E Hunter	0
	A Anderson	c J Broom	b E Hunter	0
	J Small		b S Turnbull	1
	D Hamilton	Not Out		4
	Extras		1lb 2w	3
	TOTAL	All out (28.2 ovs)		59

	Bowler	O	M	R	W
	S Turnbull	6.2	3	17	2
	R Elms	6.0	2	9	2
	C Mathurin	8.0	3	12	1
	E Hunter	8.0	0	18	4

Innings of St Boswells

	C Mathurin	Not Out		18
*	S Broom	Not Out		42
	E Ruthven	DNB
	C Prabhakar	DNB
+	R Graham	DNB
	R Young	DNB
	E Hunter	DNB
	S Turnbull	DNB
	R Elms	DNB
	C Paterson	DNB
	J Broom	DNB
	Extras			0
	TOTAL	for 0 wkts (11.3 ovs)		60

	Bowler	O	M	R	W
	C Mackellar	6.0	2	26	0
	J Small	4.0	0	23	0
	D Hamilton	1.3	0	11	0