Saturday was a very satisfying one for our first eleven. They succeeded in winning decisively, while some of our rivals were unable to complete their matches and did so without, I believe, firing on all cylinders!

Aberdeenshire won the toss and Lewis opted to make first use of a good-looking track. In the early overs, Marcus Vila and Kenny Reid batted carefully to deal with the accurate, probing Freuchie attack. However, as the pair neared a fifty-runs partnership, Kenny missed a ball from Robbie Wright who, shortly thereafter, removed the in-form Ewan Davidson with a simple return catch.

At the other end, young Marcus then had a fortunate escape, as he was caught behind off a no-ball. This was undoubtedly a pivotal moment in the match; the talented opener settled after this lucky escape and built an innings of stature that was to dent Freuchie’s hopes of success in this fixture. Marcus was supported well by Jordan van den Berg and Jack Lambley, as his confidence grew, and he displayed several glorious shots all around the ground in a match-changing knock. Watching him reach his second century in this league, the spectators and his opponents applauded Marcus generously, in the sure and certain knowledge that we will see more from the promising opener in future.

The home side were eventually dismissed for 266 runs. Now here is a point where I have to be honest about my mistaken opinion. Throughout the interval, I frowned and muttered, largely to myself, as I felt we should have scored more runs and thus, I worried about the final outcome of this game!

After four excellent overs bowled by Lewis and Arnav, during which the pacy youngster removed Luan Ryke, my needless worries subsided. I then relaxed to watch all our lads bowl with extreme accuracy and skill, as they rattled through the disappointing Freuchie batting line-up.

As with our batting display, one player emerged clearly as the pick of our line-up on the day. “If you miss, I hit” is an oft repeated mantra of a certain type of straight and accurate bowler. This band of highly effective cricketers most surely includes our own, “shy and self-deprecating” James Robb. On Saturday, James was as ever deadly in his length and direction and on this occasion, five of his opponents dutifully missed, leaving him with the admirable figures of five for twenty-one!

Well done James and Marcus! You can discuss between you the true identity of the Man of the Match! More importantly however, we still lie second in the league behind Dundee High, though with an improved percentage, while other key rivals have not moved. Later in the season, this slight progress in our position may matter!

On Saturday, we travel to one of the most challenging venues in the league, Huntly. The home side pipped us for second place last season and are again eager to challenge in earnest for the title this season. Skipper, Jack Mitchell, often a thorn in our side over the years, has gathered a very useful squad who are always very hard to beat at home. However, our lads are playing well and will relish a demanding fixture, as this match is one of the hurdles we hope to cross successfully this season in our bid for success.

It was no surprise to see our seconds win again on Saturday. Their opponents, Grampian 2nds, have struggled so far this season and Rizwan’s side are proud holders of a 100% league record to date. Our early bowlers, Izzy Bandara and Matthew Baines, shredded the early Grampian batting order; only Subin Sunny offered real resistance with a fighting innings of 53 runs, as the underdogs fell for a modest total of 136 runs.

Akhlaq Bashir carried his bat throughout the run-chase to record another very reliable half-century; his opening partner, skipper Rizwan, eyeing the deteriorating weather, scored a brisk 34 runs as our lads moved confidently towards their target. This confidence wobbled just slightly, when the beloved game that we all adore stopped us in our tracks, if just for a moment. Ali Hashmi who last week hit an astonishing innings including 16 maximums lasted only two deliveries this time, as he was caught by Daniel Thomson off the bowling of Thomaskutty Varghese for a duck!

Cricket catches us out so often!

Clark Cameron then settled things down and batted through undefeated with Akhlaq to take the points. On Saturday, our Twos are at home to Grampian’s first string and we will hope to extend the winning league run in this fixture.

Mahad Firdous and Vikaash Saravanan were the principal wicket-takers, when the Thirds dismissed Aberdeen Tigers for just143 runs. Tigers were hugely indebted to a fine knock by Mynul Nadim, whose 63 runs were to prove crucial to the final outcome of this match. Sadly, for our lads, none of our batsmen produced a significant innings in reply. Mynul Nadim proved to be a fine all-round cricketer as he captured four wickets for only 15 runs to cause terminal damage to our run-chase. Nadim’s match-winning, individual display was ultimately too much for our lads on the day and Tigers took the points deservedly.

This was a disappointing result for our youngsters and next week’s match looks likely to be a tough one as they entertain the undefeated, league-leaders Huntly at Mannofield on Sunday. Doubtless, our youngsters will enjoy playing on our ground and be eager to perform well!

Our bold fourth eleven needed just one more individual innings of substance to post a total that would have seriously stretched their opponents, Stoneywood Dyce on Saturday. Batting first, we were indebted to fine, early innings from the Basavaraju family – Umesh with 47 runs and Vihaan with 18 runs. However, the introduction of Stuart Reid to the attack saw three key wickets fall quickly whereupon, our innings was reduced to a series of low scores from the middle-order and tail-end batsmen.

We did manage to post 112 runs for 9 and our opponents were made to fight to reach this target. Neel Bhamare has been a regular wicket-taker for this side in recent weeks; his 3 wickets for just 10 runs kept the Fours in the match, but in reality, we needed another thirty runs to put Stoneywood under serious pressure. In the end they passed our total for the loss of six players, with six overs to spare – one more productive innings and things might have ended so differently!

On Saturday, our Fours head North to face Fraserburgh in a cup-tie. Last week, we coasted past the Broch side in relative comfort- on their own patch, they may prove just a bit more challenging!

Very best of luck to all our players, as you strive to make 2026 a glorious season for our club!