The 1st XI had back-to-back away matches this weekend, facing Morton at Loretto School in the Championship and Arbroath at Lochlands in the first round of the Scottish Cup.

Against Morton, we won the toss and opted to bat, fresh from last week’s 319/4 against Grange 2. We managed even better, reaching 334/8, only the second time in club history that we have scored more than 300 in consecutive weeks, and making our highest score against an Edinburgh rival (bettered by two scores against Falkland and one against Aberdeenshire). The batting card looked as it should, stacked at the top with middle order support. Oli Hairs made his batting debut for 2025 with an exciting 74 off 38 (11 fours and 3 sixes). Mike Carson became the first person in club history to score successive centuries for the 1st XI (105 this week, 135 last) more than once, having done it before in 2017. He partnered with Oli Hairs for 111 and batted on with Kenneth Rae for 129 more. You may recall that last week we celebrated the second occasion of having two 1st XI century partnerships in an innings – here it is again! Kenneth’s 50 was his second for the 1s and Tom Wylie performed well again with 39*. Credit must go to Morton’s Vijay Jalagandeeswaran who took 5/57. Our bowling unit was more than ready for the challenge, five bowlers sharing the ten wickets, Oscar Kirkwood with best figures of 3/35. Morton struggled throughout but put on two good partnerships of 55 for the fifth wicket and 66 for the tenth, prolonging the match by 14 overs. Nevertheless, Morton were all out for 173 and, for the second week in a row, we won by 161 runs.

At Lochlands on Sunday, we won the toss and opted to bat, for the fourth match in a row. EPL team Arbroath were expected to provide stiffer opposition than our Championship rivals and they bowled effectively from the start – Cameron Brown and Craig Ross in particular. Our first three wickets fell for just 53, a sharp reversal of our batters’ strong early season form. Tom Wylie (61, his second half century for the 1s) and Donovan du Randt (67, his first) batted well to steady the ship, adding 108 to the score. Hopes of another century partnership between Donovan and Kenneth Rae were dashed by a very unfortunate early run out, the bowler getting a finger to a shot struck straight towards him which turned on to Rae’s stumps. Bruce Weatherhead added 30 to help us to 231/8 from our 50 overs. In reply, Craig Cameron and Iain Worth put on a fast-paced 94 opening stand from 13.3 overs, getting Arbroath well ahead of the required rate. Oli Hairs was much our most effective bowler, taking 3/32 off his 10 overs – the first three wickets to fall. At 130/3 the match looked as if it could go either way but an 87 run stand between Hayden Laing and Shouvik Chakraborthy took the game out of our reach, Arbroath beating the target in the 36th over and knocking us out of the Cup.

Batting first was Musselburgh’s choice too at Myreside in the Division 1 match against our 2s. Will Ellison soon made them rue their decision as he had them 3/17 inside the fifth over. Two in two balls is becoming a regular occurrence at Myreside. We haven’t had a hattrick yet this season but we’re getting close – Will’s three wickets came in the space of just five deliveries. All of the bowlers turned in great figures. Mati looked deadly ripping out the stumps of a couple of middle order batters, Vikash took one and Rory two. It was great to see our uni student cohort returning to action, with George Baltzer, Ben Hogg and Farhan Khan all back this weekend. Their 16.5 overs went for a collective 36 and the last two wickets, a further strengthening of our bowling attack. Jamie Reid’s return to the 2s was ill-fated, however. The injury replacement for Ross Tait was himself injured a few overs into the game, pulling a muscle and appealing for any available substitute fielders. Zach Baltzer answered the call and made his senior debut, proving a valued replacement. Musselburgh stretched out their innings until a ball short of the 45 overs but could only muster 106 all out.

With limited scoreboard pressure, our batters were able to take their time and leave the good balls be. Rory hit a useful 26 while captain Dan Kirk continued his glorious league form with 55*. We surpassed the target with seven wickets in hand and more than ten overs available, finishing on 109/3 and racking up our first win of the season.

The 3rd XI assembled a tour party for the trip to Melrose, favouring those who could drive for selection. Playing the clubs with first teams in Division 5 (Melrose and Dunbar this year) is a lottery. The clubs’ best players will normally be playing so if they have a few and they have a good day, they will be very tough opponents. If they are missing stars, temporarily or across a season, they can fall through the divisions all too easily. Melrose were in Division 3 in 2022, for example. Melrose had lost their first two league games this year but showed more star power with the bat this week. Campbell Scott anchored Melrose’s innings, batting for nearly 38 overs and accruing 111, including 7 fours and 9 sixes, before finally being bowled by Caylin Pickett, one of Caylin’s 3/45. Jake Wojcik (54) partnered with him for 97 early on and others chipped in to help Melrose to a very good 266/8. Our own batters found it much tougher going, with the notable exception of Ujjwal Upadhyay who made his debut half century for the club, hitting 54 off 43 including 9 fours and a six. Our chase ended with Ujjwal’s wicket in the 22nd over for a combined total of 100.

The 4th XI hosted Bass Rock’s 2nd XI at Craiglockhart. Bass Rock put us in to bat first and may have been surprised by the robustness of our batting order. Playing at home for the first time this season obviously invigorated our players, Toby Tucker especially, making his highest score for the club to date of 73. Matt Burgess made 37, Jamie Stevenson 19, Alan Borthwick 16 and our batting pair at the close of the innings were on 19* (Matt Lancashire) and 21* (Pranjan Patel) respectively, getting us to an excellent 208/5. Further surprises lay in store for Bass Rock’s batters as they faced the customary assortment of eight bowlers including a merciless Alan Borthwick, taking 5/15 from his 7 overs. Kenny Kerrigan for Bass Rock did well, amassing 60 not out, and Gervaise Miller provided 39, but Bass Rock finished 138 all out after 32 overs, 69 runs short.

The Women’s 1st XI (our combined team with Dumfries CC) played their first game of the season against Grange at Portgower Place on Sunday. Opting to bat first, captain Megan McColl led from the front making a quickfire 62 from 41 deliveries. Iona Lowry (30) and Anne Sturgess (67*) in the middle order provided the impetus that drove us, along with more than a few extras, to 258/7 from our 30 overs. Our records for the Women’s 1st XI are not complete but of the records we have, this is our highest team score and Megan and Anne’s half centuries are their first for the club. With the ball, both Kirsty McColl (3/25) and Erin Leslie (3/35) proved very effective and Megan very economical (1/18 off six overs). Macey Corbett-Byers, Elizabeth Sweetman and a run out provided the remaining wickets. Catherine Edwards for Grange top scored with 55 and Chloe Milburn contributed 24 but they finished 116 runs short, giving us a winning start to our league campaign.

The next week promises a full slate of senior fixtures including the first round of the Masterton Trophy, the T20 competition, on Thursday evening when we will host Drummond Trinity at Myreside.