The sun shone, the wind blew, and, mercifully, the rain stayed away for our festival of cricket in early August, which was arranged and expertly managed by former club captain and mainstay of the 1st XI batting, Mike Carson.

The opening match at a blustery Myreside on Sunday 3rd August was against an ESCA Select XI, containing such luminaries as former Scotland skipper George Salmond, who has been schoolteacher to almost all of our junior section, and 'Sonian stalwart, Euan “Robbo” Robertson. The match was played over 40 overs and, when ESCA, batting first, were reduced to 80-4, we were anticipating an early finish. However, inspired by an imperious 66 from the evergreen Robbo, the Select team rallied to the highly respectable total of 247. All the WCC bowlers chipped in, with Farhan Khan the pick, bowling 8 overs for 22. The Watsonian reply was dominated by yet another magnificent century from Mike Carson, his second of the weekend. Mike was ably supported by Kevin Singh, who contributed a solid 56, and by a creditable 28 not out from youngster Alex Turner. We chased down the target in 32.1 overs, with only 3 wickets down, Mike having retired when he reached his ton.

Fortunately, no match was scheduled for Monday 4th when Edinburgh bore the brunt of Storm Floris. Clearly, Mike’s golden touch extends from batting to weather forecasting!
Happily, Floris had passed through when we welcomed The Forty Club to a still windy Myreside on Tuesday the 4th for a 35 over match. The Forties struggled against some excellent youthful bowling, with Aryaman Apte recording the excellent figures of 4-26 from only 4 overs, ably supported by Hamish Tucker who took 2 wickets for only 10 runs from 6 overs. Peter Moses scored an assured 71 to enable the Forties to reach 137, with no other batter reaching double figures. In reply, we reached the target in just under 25 overs, with contributions from Sid Rawat (27), Laurie Cox (31*), Rory High (26*) and Lewis Scott (30*).

Wednesday evening was the occasion of the deciding match in the titanic struggle between the 4th XI and Myreside Wanderers, now affectionately dubbed “The Wandies”. Given the hotly contested nature of the series so far and with the score standing at 1-1, Wandies’ boss Callum Martin enlisted the services of Mike Carson and John Reid as independent umpires. A large and vociferous crowd, fuelled by the odd tinny, gathered in expectation that the match would be at least the equal of, if not the superior to, the recently completed England v India test series. They were not to be disappointed.
The Wandies won the toss and elected to bat. A strong all round batting performance by the Wandies with contributions from Conan Sharman (19), Harry Shivmangal (29*), skipper Jason Riley (20*), Neil Irvine-Hess (21*) and Peter Chater (20*) enabled the Wandies to post an extremely challenging 180 from the allotted 20 overs. The top score, however, yet again, was 33 from the evergreen Robbo, although extras ran him a close second at 27!
The 4s suffered the early loss of Laurie Cox and much rested upon the capable shoulders of the father and son partnership of Ewan Robertson (no, not Robbo but the Club Treasurer!) and son Oli. Oli was last man out for a creditable 25 and, despite a couple of lusty blows and a memorable straight drive, the skipper managed only 17, before being well caught in the deep. Unfortunately, the rest of the batting subsided somewhat and the 4s only managed 93, leaving the Wandies handsome winners by 87 runs.

There were no matches on Thursday, although a thoroughly enjoyable social evening was organised at Craiglockhart with a number of fun cricket games. The games were complemented by an excellent barbecue, very well organised by Charlotte Tucker and Fiona Paterson.

Friday saw two matches: the competitive centrepiece of the week against the MCC at Myreside, with the over 50s playing the women’s team in the evening at Craiglockhart.
The MCC match was a traditional time limited one innings match, with play scheduled to commence at 11 and 20 overs to be bowled once 5pm was reached. The MCC fielded a strong side captained by our former club captain, Pete Maksimczyk and bolstered by the inclusion of our very own Gregour Carr. The game’s start was delayed by 20 minutes as Donny du Randt had alarm clock issues, but after winning the toss and inserting the MCC, we were in a strong position when the MCC lunched at 97-4. The MCC position worsened when Gregour Carr was out for 29 to the second ball after lunch, providing skipper Gareth Weatherall with his 150th wicket for the Club. However, a 59-run partnership between Angus Brown and Dylan Davidson, both of the Grange, righted the MCC ship, although we regained the edge when three wickets fell with no runs added, with Mike Carson (who else?) taking two wickets. However, a stubborn last wicket stand of 16 between skipper Maksimczyk and Angus Brown brought the MCC total to 181. The bowling honours were spread around the team, with skipper Gareth Weatherall returning the best figures of 2 wickets for 10 runs in 6 overs.
Our reply did not start well in the face of some hostile bowling from former Scottish international Adrian Neill and Dylan Davidson. Despite a creditable 32 from guest keeper Matt van Dyk, we were staring down the barrel at 78 for 5, which worsened to 99-9. However, Kenny Rae, with a highly accomplished 49 not out, well supported by opening bowler Calum Macleod, who contributed a gutsy 8 not out, steered the side to a well-earned draw when stumps were drawn.
On a personal note and writing as a traditionalist, it was a joy to watch a match played with a red ball between sides wearing whites. From the comments made by the other spectators, I am not alone in holding this view!

Meanwhile at Craiglockhart, a strong over 50s side took on the women’s team, recently crowned as Women's Premier League champions, in a 20 over match. The Women won the toss and invited the over 50s to bat. All round contribution from the top order, Matt Lancashire with 21*, Michael Ferguson 16, Stuart Lockhart 25*, Toby Tucker 25*, and Sandy Henderson with 18*, enabled the over 50s to record a creditable total of 116-2. The Women’s bowling honours were shared by Millie Bailley, Abby Blackstock, and Tara Harrison who all recorded excellent economy rates.
The Women managed to keep up with the required run rate, but the chase was hampered by the regular loss of wickets. However, Millie Bailey with 18* and Lewis Scott (29*), guesting for the team, brought the side home with 2 wickets and 2 balls to spare. Other notable batting contributions included 14 from Abby Blackstock and 23* from Ethan Haire, who was also guesting.

During the week the under 12s, under 14s, and under 16s staged parents versus children matches. First up on the opening Sunday in a T20 match, was a strong combined under 16 and under 18 side, many of whom play in the Saturday league teams, playing the self-styled, “Superteam”. The juniors batted first and posted an impressive 177 for 2, with retired contributions in the 20s from Hamish Tucker, Ludvig du Toit, Louis Ferguson, Abby Blackstock, and Oliver Robinson. At 50-5 in the 8th over, it looked all over for the Superteam, but sterling contributions of 42 and 44* from Greg Prince and Duncan Robinson respectively resulted in a respectable total of 143, a win for the youngsters by 34 runs. The bowling honours went to Hamish Tucker who took 3 wickets for only 5 runs in his 2 overs.

In the under 14 game on Tuesday, the youngsters, batted first and amassed 120-4 in their 18 overs. Major contributions were made by Sam Bleazard with 25* and Harry Bennett and Spencer Martin who both scored 22*. The parents’ Superteam, which contained a number of non-cricketers, fought hard and fell just short, posting a creditable 102. The most notable contribution was from Wendy Bleazard who scored a boundary in her 13 in what was her first ever cricket match: I understand that Charlotte Tucker’s scouts will be in touch!
The under 12s played a softball match, in which different scoring rules apply. The youngsters amassed 231 for 18 in their 24 overs, but it was not sufficient to beat the parents/carers, who scored 302.

The festival resumed on Sunday afternoon, culminating in a 30 over match between the 1st XI and the Watsonian Legends. The Legends was organised by former Director of Cricket, Andrew Chalmers, and captained by his brother Ewan, a Scotland internationalist who was Club captain for many years. The side contained such notables as Andy McKay, Steve Paige, Mike Legget, Tom Cullen, James “Ducky” Easton, and, of course, Robbo! Toby Tucker had to call off, so passed the mantle of club legend to his more than capable son, Jamie, aged 16.
Despite the vast experience in the batting line-up, the Legends, batting first, struggled to 31-4 but were rescued by a 57 from Robbo, yet again, and a very impressive half century from legend in the making, Jamie Tucker. Robbo and Jamie’s 5th wicket partnership added 92 runs, enabling the Legends to post a competitive 167. The 1st XI was in some disarray after Andy McKay rolled back the years with some electrifying pace, reducing the Club to 24-3. Remember, this man claimed the scalp of none other than Sachin Tendulkar in a Test Match! However, some fine stroke play from Salaar Ali, who made 21, and Callum Martin’s typically swashbuckling 35 from only 14 balls (4 sixes), brought the side back on track. However, a late order collapse from 142-5 to 159-9 swung the match back towards the Legends. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and batting at number 11, Gregour Carr was able to knock off the necessary runs to secure a close and hard fought one wicket victory.

The week was a resounding success with all sections of the Club participating, producing many enjoyable matches with some outstanding skills on display. As you can appreciate, a huge amount of work was required to stage the matches, and I would like to thank:

• Mike Carson for arranging all the games, selecting the sides, and liaising with the caterers;
• Craig Eccleston, the head groundsman, for preparing so many fine tracks;
• Stewart Oliver for scoring all the 1st XI matches;
• Charlotte Tucker and Fiona Paterson for the catering at the social evening; and
• Graham Gaw for the photographs of the matches.

I would also like to thank the various guest teams and players who made the week possible by enthusiastically playing in the matches.

The week showcased our Club at its finest: hard fought competitive matches, exhibiting some excellent strokeplay and fine bowling, all played in a true sporting spirit. Well done to everyone involved and I look forward to the next 150 years!

John Reid
Club President