Saturday’s result was disappointing for ‘Shire, but a quick glance at the table shows that this year’s race looks set to be one of the most keenly contested in years. Very few teams will relish the trip to Huntly and regrettably, on Saturday our lads fell to the better side.

Once again, their skipper, Jack Mitchell had a huge say in his team’s success: 74 runs with the bat and a miserly six overs delivered, in which he removed the dangerous Kenny Reid, were again testaments to his excellent all-round skills. Mitchell was well supported in his innings by Charlie Kennedy, who scored a fine half-century and shared what was to be a match-winning 144 runs partnership with his skipper. Along with a very useful knock of 49 runs by Roshorn John, these batting efforts saw the home team advance to a challenging, final tally of 243 for 7.

In truth, we were unable thereafter to recover from that magnificent sixth wicket partnership; chasing 243 at Huntly would be challenging for most sides in this league- and so, it proved for Aberdeenshire on Saturday. There were decent batting contributions from Marcus Vila, Ewan Davidson and Jack Lambley, but no one in our side managed a half-century and our biggest partnership was 59 runs between Ewan and Jack. Credit also goes to Huntly’s Cameron Stewart, who was the only bowler in the match to trap three victims.

Every team faces setbacks and judgement, based on this result alone, would be unwise. However, a glance at the league table shows the importance of the next couple of weeks, as we are due to face both Dundee High and Perth Doo’cot. Saturday’s match at Dalnacraig will be an excellent opportunity for the lads to climb above the Dundee side in this enthralling season.

Saturday’s game was rained off for our seconds, who are at home again this week, when Inverurie are due at Mannofield. In fact, an advance party of Garioch cricketers made full use of the facilities last week-end, parting with smiles on their faces after a cultural exchange with our club members. Hopefully, Saturday’s visitors will spend just as freely. I have found matches between these sides very unpredictable in recent seasons, although I know that Rizwan’s players cherish their 100% league record and will fight hard to retain it on Saturday.

The Thirds faced a very tough challenge when they took on league leaders, Huntly. The Strathbogie club came out on top in this fixture as well. A prolific partnership between Mike Louw and Ian Kennedy saw the visitors through to victory, chasing our total of 127 runs. Samarth Somasundaram had been our top bat, holding his own against a probing Huntly attack and scoring an undefeated 30 runs, but ultimately, he had run out of partners and the innings had folded. Thus, Huntly remain the undefeated league leaders and we wish them well! Next week our youngsters Grade 2 adventure continues with a match at Rubislaw against Aberdeen Grammar. This match seems likely to be more evenly contested.

The fourth eleven came up short against Fraserburgh in a T20 cup tie in the Broch. The home side batted first and were indebted to a fine knock of 31 runs by Mike Watson, as his team battled their way to a total of 116 runs. A thrilling chase ensued, as runs flowed from Umesh Basavaraju and Aditya Nagdeve and the tension climaxed, when our lads moved to within just one boundary of their total. Sadly, on this occasion, it was not to be and we congratulate Fraserburgh and wish them well in the next round.

Umesh’s players now turn their attention to Sunday’s home match against Grampian 3rds. This could be another challenging fixture; hopefully, home advantage will tell in this tie.

Last week, our talented u13 squad progressed to round 3 of the Scottish cup with a comfortable win over Stoneywood/Dyce. Our opponents did start well enough with a productive, opening partnership of 41 runs by Muhammad Hassan and Anmay Tenneti, but, when our bowlers settled to the right line and length, they were just too sharp for the opposing youngsters, who fell for a total of 74 runs. In reply Oscar Vila, Chadvick Gubbala and Aayush Nagdeve scored the necessary runs without losing a wicket. The next round is scheduled for Sunday evening against Gordonians, and a tighter match is in prospect. The prize for the victors is a trip to the national finals. No doubt our lads will be raring to go on Sunday!

Very best of luck to the under 13s and all our sides this week-end!