The Club’s 151st season began with a raft of pre-league-season matches against now traditional opening match opposition Carlton on the weekend of 18th/19th April. A combined 1st/2nd XI met an equivalent Carlton selection, with 3rd, 4th and Women’s XI - together with our newly formed 5th XI - all meeting.

A youthful 1st/2nd XI - including new recruit Ollie Pillinger - batted first at Grange Loan and struggled before captain for the day Oli Hairs, batting at number 7, was joined by Evan Howe with the score on 42 for 6. Oli dug in in an effort to provide our inexperienced bowling attack with a reasonable total to defend. Evan provided invaluable support and the pair put together a club record partnership for the 7th wicket of 140, during the course of which Oli recorded his 11th century for the club before retiring unbeaten on 124 and with Evan contributing 26.
The resulting total of 217 proved to be insufficient as Carlton eventually scaped home by 1 wicket with a couple of overs to spare. This, after seemingly cruising to victory when requiring 62 runs from 18 overs with 7 wickets in hand. Having said that, Oscar Kirkwood opened the bowling and took a wicket with the first ball of the innings - and of the season - while Jamie Reid’s 3 for 13 late in the innings led to the interesting finish.

The 1st XI’s competitive season opened with a league fixture against RH Corstorphine at Barnton. Donovan Du Randt returned from South Africa and was joined in the side by fellow countryman Tiaan Kuhn, a fast-bowling all-rounder who had featured for Prestwick in 2025. Opting to bowl first on winning the toss, the game was delayed by rain for two hours after 16 overs. This resulted in the overs being reduced to 39 a side. After reaching a hundred for the loss of only two wickets, RHC progressed to 171 for 9 before a last-wicket flourish took the total to 204 for 9. Oli had 3 wickets, while Tom Wylie and Oscar both accounted for a couple of the opposition. Our early order made little impact and half the side were out for 86 after 24 overs. Some late runs from Tiaan and Alex Turner were not enough to trouble the target, and the overs ran out with 48 runs still required. In his brief stay at the crease Tom passed 1,000 runs for the 1st XI.

The first-round tie of the Scottish Cup followed the next day when the side travelled west to meet Langside. The hosts elected to bat first and were finally dismissed for 168 in the 42nd over. Skipper Gareth Weatherall finished off the tail with 3 for 13, while Tiaan and Donovan both had two wickets - the latter for only 21 runs in 9 overs. The opposition total benefitted from a generous contribution of 42 extras! Our response was amazing. In Mike Carson’s absence, Ollie (Pillinger) opened with Oli (Hairs). 7 overs later 100 was reached before the partnership was broken on 110 when Ollie fell for an excellent 31 from 16 balls, with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Tom only lasted two balls before Donovan joined Oli and the pair completed the victory, adding an unbroken stand of 59. In complete contrast to the manner of his century against Carlton, Oli’s 110 not out, with 7 fours and 11 sixes, came from only 45 balls. Awesome indeed on his 100th appearance for the club! Huntly are our second-round opponents this coming Sunday at Myreside.

The 2nd XI’s season opened with a league match against Musselburgh at Myreside. George Baltzer with 52 and an Abid Shinwari hat-trick - in figures of 5 for 8 in 5.4 overs - resulted in an encouraging victory by 120 runs. This was followed by another comfortable league victory at Myreside against Tranent & Preston Village. George was in the runs again with 44, while Ben Jones followed up his 3 for 11 with 40 not out in the 8-wicket win.

The 3rd XI’s pre-season fixture at Grange Loan resulted in a win by 30 runs. Principal contributions with the bat came from John Boothman, Rob Loomes, Fraser Kinloch and Malcoln Suares in the total of 230. Bowling honours went to Hamish Tucker and Rob Loomes, both with 3 wickets. The less said about the 54 extras in the opposition’s total the better!
The first league game of the season resulted in a convincing victory for the 3rd XI by 87 runs over Morton 3rd XI. That was achieved, largely, thanks to a maiden century for the club (124*) by Malcoln Suares. At 76 for 8 the prospect of a competitive total looked bleak, before Malcoln masterminded partnerships of 87 for the 9th wicket (a record for the 3rd XI) with Ethan Haire (29) and 55 for the 10th wicket with the support of Hamish Tucker who held up an end as Malcoln progressed to his century and beyond. The eventual total of 216 proved more than enough for our opponents. Ethan was the leading wicket-taker with 3 for 34. A second victory – by 8 wickets – followed against Murrayfield DAFS 3rd XI as the target of 121 was chased down comfortably. Key performances were produced by Mike Maclean (5 for 36) and Sukhrajveer Singh (48 not out).

The 4th XI’s pre-season game with Carlton resulted in a loss by 8 wickets. In our total of 138 the key contributors were Malcoln Suares (30*), Patrick Crunden (27) and Toby Tucker (22).
The first league fixture for the 4th XI was lost to Drummond Trinity by 6 wickets in the penultimate over, despite totalling 201 for 4. Robinsons - Duncan (73) and son Oli (42*) - were the main contributors to the total, while veteran Alan Borthwick had 3 wickets. Adverse weather conditions resulted in the latest scheduled fixture, against Grange 4th XI at Raeburn Place, being cancelled.

The new 5th XI’s first game was a pre-season fixture against Carlton and resulted in a victory by 98 runs. Rohan Chowdh, Lochlan Morris, Kevin Weavers and Matt Lancashire all contributed more than 20 runs in the side total of 168. Wickets were shared around.
The 5th XI’s first game in the new Sunday League against Dunfermline & Carnegie saw 148 chased down in less than 30 overs with only two wickets down thanks to Matthew Burgess (51 - his maiden half-century for the club) and Mike Maclean (35) with an opening partnership of 102. Mike and Sukhrajveer had both earlier taken 2 wickets.

The Women’s pre-season fixture with Carlton resulted in a loss by 5 wickets. Batting first, Emily Tucker (53 - a maiden half-century for the club) and Molly Paton (34) added 79 for the first wicket before Anne Sturgess’s 40 pushed the score along with the team eventually totalling 182 for 7 in their 30 overs. Anne Sturgess managed a couple of wickets before Carlton made it home to victory with two balls to spare.
As defending champions - and without Megan McColl now featuring for Glamorgan - the first Women’s Premier League (WPL) match of the season against RH Corstorphine at Myreside was likely to provide an indication of the side’s strength. And that is what it proved to be. Putting the opposition in to bat, there was an outstanding performance from Macey Corbett-Byers who took 5 for 20 in 5 overs as RHC were dismissed for 134 - a total benefitting from 46 extras! It is believed this is the first occasion a member of the Women’s XI has taken 5 wickets in an innings. In response, new recruit Lucy Pillinger (sister of the 1st XI’s Ollie) opened the innings and batted throughout for a splendid undefeated 70 to see the team home by 2 wickets with more than 5 overs to spare. Captain Kirsty McColl, who had taken a couple of wickets in the RHC innings, was the only other batter to get in to double figures. And so, the defence of our WPL title is underway.