Pride of place on this occasion must go to the performances in the Women’s XI when tackling Grampian Thistles at Craiglockhart. Looking the get its league campaign back on track, the team was invited to bat first on losing the toss. What transpired was record-breaking. When the innings closed after 40 overs the scoreboard revealed the total to be 321 - without the loss of a wicket! Charlotte Nevard’s contribution amounted to 157 not out with 17 boundaries from 115 balls, while opening partner Lucy Pillinger’s 130 not out contained 16 boundaries and came from 130 balls. The partnership was
• the highest recorded in the Women’s XI
• the highest first-wicket partnership by any club team - by a solitary run!
• the second-highest partnership for any wicket by any club team - by that same solitary run!
Additionally, the innings
• was the second-highest total recorded by the team
• was the first occasion on which two women members have recorded centuries in the same innings
• featured only the second and third centuries recorded by women members
• featured the two youngest members to record centuries for the club
• was when Lucy eclipsed brother Ollie’s record as the club’s youngest centurion - a position he had held for a mere 14 days!

Rather than be intimidated by the target set, the Grampian Thistles side set about chasing it down. Despite only three batters making it into double figures - although assisted by 67 extras! – an outstanding fourth-wicket partnership threatened to prove to be match-winning. However, when that was broken after 171 had been added, the innings closed with the total on 294 (for 8). Of the ten bowlers used, the plaudits must go to Lucy Rynn who accounted for the last five wickets to fall and whose 5 wickets for 35 was only the second occasion on which one of the side’s bowlers has returned a 5-wicket haul. Of course, the only other such return was Macey Corbett-Byers’ 5 for 20 against RH Corstorphine only three weeks ago.

The 1st XI hosted Stewart’s Melville at Myreside in the league, batted first and - after losing the two senior batsmen Oli Hairs and Mike Carson with only 55 on the board - a youthful side proceeded to complete their 50 overs with a very competitive total of 281 (for 8). The side included Alex Turner (aged 16) and John Boothman (aged 15), the latter making his 1st XI debut. Ollie Pillinger continued his prolific run-scoring with 87 and shared a partnership of 89 with Tom Wylie (49), before Donovan Du Randt (60) and Tiaan Kuhn (29) put together a stand of 52.

From 23 for no wicket, our bowlers reduced Stewart’s Melville to 27 for 5 with Donovan accounting for four of them, including two wickets in two balls. He then took another two wickets from successive balls with the score on 46. The later opposition batsmen dug in, with the last wicket adding 40 before John took a debut wicket (to a catch by, unsurprisingly on the day, Donovan!) to end the innings on 114. Donovan’s figures were outstanding – 6 for 17 in 7 overs, his best for the club, to add to his half-century. This is only the second recorded occasion when a member has completed a half-century or better and also taken five or more wickets in the same 1st XI match – the other being in 1925!

The following day the side hosted RH Corstorphine (RHC) in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup. On winning the toss, RHC - to whom the side had lost in the opening league match of the season - opted to bat first and this time it was Tiaan who made early breakthroughs. When Tom then accounted for Scottish international, Brandon McMullen, our attack was very much in the ascendancy and wickets continued to be taken at regular intervals. From 119 for 7, however, the RHC lower order batted sensibly, adding another 69 before skipper Gareth Weatherall’s second wicket ended the innings on 188. Tiaan had 3 for 35, with Tom also ending with two wickets, Donovan and Oli each had a wicket, while Ollie was back behind the stumps and took three catches.

Interestingly, Farhan Khan was promoted to open - following a rapid half-century the previous day for the 2nd XI - with Oli but fell after striking a couple of boundaries. Thereafter, Oli and Ollie added 109 for the second wicket, both recording half-centuries, before Tom and Donovan added 23 each to the total as the target was reached with more than 17 overs to spare. Next up are Clydesdale who will be met at Titwood on 21st June.

The 2nd XI travelled to Fife to meet league-leaders Dunfermline & Carnegie - a side including two former East Premier League players with Falkland as recently as 2025! Batting first on winning the toss, the side reach 50 before the second wicket fell. At that point, Ben Jones (48) and Farhan Khan (62, including five maximums) added 102 for the third wicket before six wickets fell for the addition of only 8 runs. Will Ellison and Evan Howe then took the score on to a total of 189 for 8 before the overs ran out. Seven of the wickets to fall came from the former Falkland players for 52 runs!

Our bowlers were unable to really trouble the home batsmen as 36 for 1 became 98 for 2 before a partnership of 88 for the third wicket was ended with only four runs required for victory which was duly achieved with more than 12 overs to spare. Will, Abid Shinwari and Rory High each took a wicket. Again, the former Falkland members made a major contribution with more than 100 runs between them to the winning Dunfermline & Carnegie total. And so, the 2nd XI’s undefeated start to the season was brought to a juddering halt.

At Leith Links the 3rd XI was inserted by Leith FAB 3rd XI. (For the uninitiated, FAB stands for Frankin, Academicals, Beige!). When the innings closed, an excellent total of 243 was on the board. Key contributions came from in-form Sukhrajveer Singh with 54 and a half-century (51 not out) from Ethan Haire, with another five batsmen also in double figures.

In reply, the Leith FAB batsmen were unable to cope with our bowlers, with six of the seven used taking at least one wicket and not one of the opposition players making it into double figures. Indeed, exactly half the runs in the team total of 50 were extras as a fifth successive league win was celebrated. Not since 2017 has the 3rd XI put together such a run of success.

Craiglockhart was the venue for the 4th XI’s match against Old Contemptibles in Division 8. The 4th XI won the toss and put the opposition in to bat, whereupon Ujjwal Upadhyay struck in the first over. From that point on, the batsmen struggled against all seven of the bowlers used and completed their 40 overs with the score at 121 (for 5). Rohan Chowdhary took a couple of wickets.

The response was emphatic and less than 17 overs later the match had been won by seven wickets. A partnership of 98 between Rohan and Duncan Robinson was dominated by the former with 80 (a maiden half-century), including a dozen boundaries, from 43 balls - Duncan contributing 28 before being dismissed with only 13 runs required.

The 5th XI travelled to Livingston to take on the home side’s 4th XI in the Sunday League and elected to bat first on winning the toss. The innings featured two half-century partnerships - 55 between Siddharth Rawat (45) and Matt Burgess (23) and 56 between Siddharth and Kyle Waddell’s 54 not out - his maiden half-century at better than a run-a-ball with 8 boundaries - as a competitive 194 for 5 was recorded from 35 overs.

Jebran Tarakhel, on debut, opened the bowling in the best possible way and cleaned up the Livingston opening bat for a first ball duck on his way to finishing with 3 for 32. Louis Ferguson and Kyle chipped in with a wicket each in the middle of the innings as the opposition then lost their half-centurion to Alan Borthwick and six wickets were down with 111 on the board. There was something of a recovery by the lower order as the score mounted from 145 for 7 before a couple of late wickets from Jebran and Alan - who finished with 3 for 33 - saw the overs run out with the total on 175 for 9, resulting in victory by 19 runs.

Since the previous review the 1st XI has played, and lost, two matches in Group 2 of this season’s Masterton Trophy. In these matches the opportunity was taken to field several younger members, including a debut for Louis Ferguson against Heriot’s. At the Inch the side lost to Edinburgh South by 5 wickets, while at Goldenacre a side with only six regular 1st XI members succumbed to Heriot’s by 9 wickets - despite 77 from Oli Hairs and 45 from Donovan Du Randt.

Interestingly, a combined Watsonian/Carlton women’s side beat an MCC XI in a T20 match at Myreside last week, the key feature of which was an unbroken partnership of 62 between Charlotte Nevard and Lucy Pillinger who feature significantly earlier in this review!