In a busy week for most of our players, pride of place must go to our Under 15s, who, with crucial cup ties on successive nights, emerged victorious to earn their place in the Finals Day at Inverleith this Sunday the 6th of July.

In doing so, they survived a major challenge from a talented Dundee High School squad. Our youngsters looked shaken as the visitors got off to a promising start. Openers Sulman Irfan and Ansh Pavan both retired undefeated with half-centuries to their names. In doing so, they dealt effectively and maturely with the home attack. The first new batsman to reach the crease was then caught out by Marcus Vila with a smart, accurate throw in to allow Joseph Scotting to remove the bails and dismiss the luckless No.3, run out. This was a significant moment, and the wicket stirred the home side to life; a sense of belief was restored to the team. Vikaash Saravanan then bowled a very tight spell of four overs, conceding just 9 runs, and the visitors’ runs largely dried up as they finished their innings on 134 for 4 off twenty overs.

This was less than had seemed likely earlier in the match, but it was a total that would prove challenging. Much is expected of the early batsmen in youth matches; they will usually be considerably more experienced than some of their younger teammates. Thus, it came as a blow when Marcus Vila mistimed a shot off Faheem Razak and was caught by the wicket-keeper. It was then clear that Joseph Scotting and Ethan Shedbal would have key roles to play! This, they did magnificently, scoring the third and fourth half-centuries of the night to put the ‘Shire youngsters within sight of victory!

As the winning line approached, a few jitters emerged and wickets fell cheaply. With overs running out, it required a late contribution from Leo Wood and Oscar Vila to see our lads home, with only two balls to spare!

Fabulous stuff by both sides and a big banana skin avoided by our hopefuls!

Arbroath United arrived at Mannofield the following evening and found four of our batsmen – Marcus, Ethan, Joseph, and Vikaash – among the runs as we notched up an impressive 168 for 3 in our twenty overs.

In reply, the Angus side were very well served by opening batsman Josh Stow, who recorded a half-century. The remainder of the Arbroath top order bats could make little of the bowling of Ethan Shedbal and Marcus Vila, and the visitors were bowled out for 112 runs, despite Stow’s heroic effort.

So, our youngsters will meet Perth in the Semi-Finals who will then play the winners of the other semi-final between Grange and Uddingston. Once again, one of our junior squads has made it to Finals Day!

Many congratulations to Head Coach Pil Wood , for the tireless works he puts in behind the scenes with our squad of juniors , keep at it Pil , the future is bright!

Our first eleven welcome Crescent to headquarters on Saturday. The Brechin side looked undercooked in their preparation for the first match of the season, which ‘Shire won comfortably enough. Our bid to retain the Strathmore Union title requires that we follow up last week’s home victory with another positive result on Saturday.

Last week’s results saw Huntly emerge as the leading contenders for our crown. They defeated fellow contenders, Freuchie, with ease and now sit at the top of the table. We must now go on a successful run of matches, building momentum, before Huntly come to Mannofield in August. The significance of this fixture will largely depend on our results in the coming weeks. Our form certainly improved against Dundee, but we know there is more to come from this team!

As the first team had no fixture this week, a couple of our players took the chance to sharpen up with an outing for the Seconds against Master Blasters at Mannofield on Saturday. Rahul, back in his rightful place in charge, chose to bat on a sunny day; his side responded with an impressive total of 269 for 9. Leading scorer was first-team all-rounder Lewis Munro with 69 runs. Others made noteworthy contributions, including Ethan Shedbal with 33 runs, a total matched by the gritty, determined David Gamblen. Andrew Hastie reinforced his all-rounder credentials with a useful score of 31 runs as the challenging total was reached.

Standing between Mannofield and a worthwhile victory was Master Blaster, Safeer Peedikayil, who played with great skill and resolve in remaining undefeated with 55 runs while his teammates succumbed to the combined efforts of Andrew Hastie, Lewis Munro, and Izzy Bandara as the visitors fell for 153 runs.

My successor as President, Clark Cameron, would want me to mention that he also took a wicket, but I won’t!

Next week Chandu’s men will travel to Rubislaw, where Aberdeen Grammar may be tough opponents.

On Sunday our Thirds did battle against Master Blasters at Mannofield. Young wicket-keeper/batsman Joseph Scotting continued his recent spell of impressive form with a useful contribution of 49 runs. Five others made scores in the teens but failed to make more substantial contributions. Thus, the lads had to be content with a total of 179 all out. On Mannofield in the sunshine, a team would surely wish for more!

Mark Broadribb and Vikaash Saravanan both bowled well, in an effort to halt the run chase, but Harshit Gupta achieved the highest score of the day, making 77 runs and setting his side on course for victory. In the end, it required a late flurry by the Master Blasters’ tail-enders to secure the points in another exciting tie at Mannofield this week.

Next week, our Third Eleven take on Dunecht in the rather different setting of the Cowdrey Estate. This may be your chance to return to winning ways immediately. Will veteran player/coach/enigma, Pil Wood, choose this match to make his return to the middle?

Faced with the challenge of league leaders, Granite City, Callum Pratt batted resolutely and effectively to score 39 runs for our Fourth Eleven. However, our innings was seriously damaged by the bowling of Arsalan Tariq, who removed three key middle-order batsmen. We were unable to recover from these losses and were bundled out for just 119 runs.

This total might actually have sufficed, but for a swashbuckling innings of 68 not out by Shahwaiz Siddiqui, who struck 7 boundaries and 4 maximums to keep Granite City in pole position in the table at the halfway point of the season. Their principal challengers appear to be Ceylon Deeside, who will be at Mannofield on Sunday.