Congratulations to our magnificent under 15 squad, who yesterday became Scottish Champions! Congratulations and thanks to Phil Wood, Rahul Chandu and their team of coaches! Many thanks to the hugely supportive parents and families of these fine, young players! Yesterday you put the name of Aberdeenshire Cricket Club back at the top of Scottish cricket.

We are all very proud of this wonderful team!

In the semi-final our lads dominated Uddingston from the out-set. Marcus and Oscar Vila Domini O’Kennedy both scored undefeated half-centuries, giving their team a glorious start to the match and leaving the Western Union side with a mountain to climb to get back in contention; our final score was 157 for 5, a daunting total for youngsters to chase in twenty overs.

Opening ‘Shire bowler, Ethan Shedbal, then clean bowled the Uddingston opener with the second ball of the innings and Tristan Finch took two more, early wickets, both catches to Ethan. Uddingston did rally with a brave partnership by Noah Ferguson and Joshua Hambley, but by then their mission was impossible and their side fell short by 80 runs. Aberdeenshire were well served by several wicket-taking bowlers: Marcus Vila, Vikaash Saravanan, Jay Thunuguntla and Aarav Kola- all told, a highly successful team performance!

Waiting for us in the final was a talented Watsonian squad. The Edinburgh side had first use of the pitch. A strong second wicket partnership between John Boothman and Lewis Scott gave ’Sonians a promising platform, but crucially, wickets then tumbled to the bowling of Oscar Vila, Vikaash Saravanan and Jay Thunuguntla, while Marcus Vila acted sharply and accurately to run out two more luckless opponents. Thus, the Edinburgh side could muster only 106 runs and our target appeared achievable.

We did face a couple of worrying mishaps at the start of our chase, but crucially, our most experienced bat, Marcus, remained at the crease. He was joined in the middle by Sahdev Vijayamirtharaj and this pair grew a healthy, productive partnership, bringing the winning line in sight. When Marcus was obliged to retire for his second maximum score of the day, we were able to turn to Ethan to partner Sahdev through to the winning line.

So, Aberdeenshire Cricket Club emerged, not for the first time, as worthy winners of the Scottish under 15 Knock-out Trophy! Let us hope more of our senior and junior sides can lift added silverware later in the season. This week, our under 13 players face Gordonians, in an attempt to follow their older clubmates to the national finals next week-end. We wish you every success, lads!

Our first eleven returned to winning ways with a comfortable, away win over Dundee High on Saturday. On a low-bouncing pitch, typical of the Dalnacraig that I remember. neither side found run-scoring easy; a score of 150 runs plus would have proved challenging to the chasing side. In the event, Lewis did two things spectacularly well in this match: the first was to win the toss and invite our hosts to bat.

Our skipper then settled into a devastating spell of medium-quick, seam bowling, using a fresh breeze to assist his natural away swing and crucially, maintaining pinpoint accuracy with the vast majority of his deliveries. At the other end, Luke Bain also kept a consistent line and the pair tied the openers down during the early overs. Scoreboard pressure then told, as Luke made the vital breakthrough by removing opener, Ansh Pavan; he then had to look on, as the support-act to our Skipper, during a match-winning few overs. The first to fall was the dangerous Alexander Parthenis, one of the in-form batsmen of the season so far. Lewis was magnificently assisted in this dismissal by yet another spectacular, diving catch by young Ethan Shedbal. Catching this dangerous opponent in such style provoked loud cheers for Ethan from his jubilant team-mates. This vital breakthrough then inspired Lewis to deliver one of the overs of the season, in which he removed no less than three Dundee batsmen, without conceding a run! The High School batting order was thus in tatters and an effective clean up was carried out by Akhlaq Bashir and Ethan; Ethan’s final wicket yet again involved his fielding skill and agility, when he took a tricky, low, return catch.

This was both a fine display of fielding and bowling by our lads, as well as a poor batting performance by a very disappointing Dundee side. A final total of 57 runs was woefully short of respectability!

We did enough in our reply to safely take the points, without looking very comfortable at any stage. Akhlaq top-scored with 22 runs and we passed the High School score for the loss of just four wickets. This result puts us in second place on the table, above Dundee and chasing Perth Doo’cot. On Saturday, Perth come to Aberdeen in prime form, having brushed aside the challenge of Huntly in last week-end’s key encounter. Saturday’s tie should be the most important match of the season to-date at Mannofield. Players and fans are looking forward to it!

Our second eleven carried on their winning run with a regulation victory over a disappointing Inverurie. The highlight of this match was undoubtedly an opening partnership of 139 runs between George Gill (78 runs) and thirteen years old Oscar Vila (52 runs). There were later, notable contributions from Skipper, Rizwan Tahir, and our President, Clark Cameron, as our lads posted an impressive 287 for 6.

When the weather is threatening and Duckworth-Lewis looms, it is important for the chasing side to score steadily, but to do so without losing wickets. Abid Ali and young Kanishk Tata trapped a couple of the Garioch batsmen, making the visitors’ task nearly impossible. The Garioch men were well short of the winning target when play did close after just 23 overs.

The all-conquering seconds now face their biggest challenge of the season, when they go to Harlaw, to meet Bon Accord on Saturday. Lying close behind us in the league, with only one defeat to date, Bon Accord have a glorious record in this division of cricket; they are sure to be the toughest of opponents. Nevertheless, no side goes on a lengthy winning run like our seconds without a lot of quality in the ranks. To date, these players have been very good value for each of their wins and Rizwan’s team will most surely be up for this challenge.

The third eleven were unable to finish their match at Rubislaw and now must face up to Gordonians at Countesswells, on a pitch that normally produces lots of runs. Gordonians are among the leading sides, chasing the title and a stiff test is likely for our youngsters in this match.

Our noble fourth eleven have a Sunday match at Inverdee against Stonehaven. Stonehaven are on a run of poor form and this is a match that we are very capable of winning.

Very best of luck to all our players for this important week-end in the season, 2026!