The 1st XI followed comprehensive defeats in their previous two matches with a nail-biting finish in defeat by Stoneywood Dyce at Myreside. Fielding a side welcoming back skipper Mike Carson, after injury, but without Oli Hairs, on paternity leave, we were asked to bowl first after the visitors - in second place in the league - decided to bat. A quiet start reflected some accurate bowling and at 48 for 3 we were in the ascendancy. Thereafter, some indifferent fielding and a number of dropped catches led to our opponents taking charge. A missed chance at 128 for 4 was to prove crucial, as the beneficiary (Lennard Bester) - having made only 9 at the time - proceeded to hit all round the ground in making 82 from only 46 balls (with 8 fours and 4 sixes) before being dismissed. Stoneywood Dyce accumulated 112 runs from the last 10 overs of their innings - two of which went for 20 runs each - and closed on 254 for 6. Our innings set off in similar fashion to our opposition’s with 3 wickets down for 39. Mike fell for 42 with the total on 82, with the seventh wicket falling at 142. Gregour Carr then joined Andrew Chalmers who, in customary fashion, had started off quietly. With 40 overs gone, 100 runs were still required if victory was to be secured. Andrew and Gregour started to made inroads into the target, Andrew being particularly hard on the opposing bowlers in much the same way as he had approached his match-winning innings against Kelburne in the first round of the Scottish Cup. He reached his century with his sixth maximum and continued to take his toll of the bowling before being controversially dismissed for 121 (from 118 balls with 7 fours and 7 sixes) in the 49th over with 10 runs required for victory. The controversy surrounded the delivery from which Andrew was dismissed – a high full-toss, above waist height, which should have been called a no-ball by the umpires. They did not do so and, when Gregour fell for an invaluable 24 (his best for the 1st XI) with only two balls left in the final over and 7 runs required, we were unable to make it over the winning line, losing by 6 runs. Andrew’s valiant century was his fourth - and highest - for the club (his third for the 1st XI), while his 8th wicket partnership of 103 with Gregour was the second highest recorded in the 1st XI and the fourth highest in the club.

Our women travelled to Aberdeenshire CC’s lovely ground, on Aberdeen’s own Morningside Road, to play the recently created best-of-the-north team, the Northern Lights, in their home debut. The hosts won the toss and elected to bat putting in Scotland players Megan McColl and Ailsa Lister. Megan continued her fine form from the previous week, battering our bowlers with a 63-ball century and retiring not out. Ailsa matched her almost blow-for-blow, also retiring not out after her hundred came up. Scotland U19 player Emma Halliwell continued the merciless display with an excellent 72 before being caught behind by Erin Leslie off the bowling of Emily Tucker. Captain Victoria Gadd took the only other wicket in the first innings, Megan’s sister Kirsty, bowled, as the Northern Lights thundered to 338/2 off their 30 overs. Our women have a wonderfully positive focus on the ‘little wins’ as they grow in strength and numbers. Each team and personal milestone is celebrated as a marker of progress. Rising star Emily Tucker batted positively while opening, hitting a quickfire 32 off 34 balls. Her replacement at the crease, Erin, guided the team through the remainder of our rain-reduced 23 over innings, carrying her bat with 25 runs to her name including 4 boundaries. While the result was never in doubt, we were delighted to have four returners to the game – Sarah Hatch, formerly at Derbyshire, Caitlin Lowry (Stewarts Melville), Cecily Douglas (Stirling) and Emma Baltzer (‘on a break’) and a league debutante, Anne Baltzer. As well as the Baltzer mother-daughter pairing, Caitlin featured with sister Iona. The warm welcome from the hosts, a season-high team total and a smaller losing margin than Northern Lights’ previous opponents all made for a great day out.

The welcome in Kelso for our 2nd XI was no less warm though the batting totals were lower. Having started the season in fine form with the bat, getting bowled out for 71 was something of a cold shower for our 2s. Kelso’s professional Tendai Chisoro, a Zimbabwean international as recently as May 2021, took 5/14, supported by Oliver Farr and Murray Mason with two-a-piece and Jake Amis with an unfortunate runout after a good start. Captain Alan Sievewright, ever bullish, fired up his bowling attack in the break and his belief was immediately validated when Abdul Bukhari took a wicket in the first over. The second pairing settled in but struggled to score against Bukhari and Rory High. The next breakthrough came with the first bowling change, George Baltzer taking a wicket in his first over, caught by fellow schoolboy Farhan Khan. George and Farhan combined for an excellent middle overs spell, George taking the wicket of Chisoro in the 16th over with Kelso on 46/3, Farhan taking wickets in the 17th and 19th and George trapping the Kelso captain lbw in the 22nd. Farhan pulled up after the first ball of his sixth over, Alan taking a wicket immediately upon replacing him giving Xander Abbey his third catch of the afternoon, the score then on 55/7. Mason lost his head and his wicket in Alan’s second over, getting needlessly run out and Alan reeled away roaring in celebration having bowled a tailender in his third over. Xander finished the job off taking the last wicket in his only over of bowling leaving Kelso ultimately seven runs short. The last time the 2nd XI successfully defended such a low total was before any of the players on the field were born, in 1969 (it happened twice in that year) and only once before in the records still in existence, in 1889. A fine result.

The 3rd XI hosted Dunbar at Craiglockhart and saw their difficult start to the season continue. Batting first, we put on 122/9 in our 40 overs, everyone making a start but no-one able to push on. Cameron Miller starred for Dunbar, taking 5/29 with the ball and making 54 in Dunbar’s reply, helping his team ease to a seven wicket win inside 30 overs. Having tried out 36 players in the opening weeks of the season, our captain Ross Martin is hopeful of shortly settling on his best XI!

The 4th XI travelled to Clackmannan County to face their 2nd XI. Clackmannan won the toss and chose to bat first. Their batters struggled for momentum with five different Watsonian bowlers taking wickets at fairly regular intervals, Clacks finishing on 155/8 from their 40 overs. Our reply was similar but slightly slower scoring, leaving us 21 runs short and 7 wickets down at the close of play. Kudos to Matt Burgess for clearing the ropes and to Toby Tucker for playing despite some very colourful bruising which no-one wants to see or hear about again!