It has been over eighty years since our club has been the champions of Grade 1. That record fell on Saturday, after an epic struggle between Rizwan Tahir’s troops and Bon-Accord. After a pulsating climax, our magnificent second eleven emerged triumphant champions, with their remarkable, 100% record still in place!

This vital tie started well for us; a catch by Rizwan off Andrew Hastie’s bowling saw the departure of the dangerous Fazal Awan. However, his opening partner, Pritpal Dhani, then took up the challenge and settled into a long, productive innings, which included a very dangerous fourth wicket partnership of 130 runs with Muhammad Ayaz, which threatened to take the game away from us. The match then swung back in our favour, when young spinner, Vikaash Saravanan, struck to remove this menacing duo. Great stuff, Vikaash! This was one of several telling phases in this spell-binding clash! As Bon Accord wickets fell, our prospects improved and their final total of 261 runs was certainly challenging, but not out-with the grasp of our confident second eleven! Of our bowlers, Vikaash with 4 for 57 and Harry Mapplebeck who took 3 for 53, were the pick on this eventful day.

Understandably, this chase was proving challenging from the outset; only Riyansh Kirodian provided early resistance as we struggled to settle to the task. Enter Noah Kelly, our hard-working, part-time groundsman, promising bat and general good lad! I have previously referred to Noah’s batting as being, “promising”: today he delivered with a determined and above all steadying half-century. We were back in the hunt, but now needed to accelerate our scoring. It required a sustained display of aggressive batting to turn the tide in our favour! Time, surely, for a spell of the marvelous ball striking of Ali Hashmi, arguably the club’s supreme entertainer of 2026! With all aggressive ball-strikers, there is the constant fear of an off-day, in which a sad departure can come all too early for the spectators. Crucially, today was one of Ali’s great days. He cleared the ropes seven times, a modest enough effort by his Herculean standards in 2026, and went on to record a vital 87 runs in just 48 deliveries. It was exactly the devastating input that we required, to put victory in our sights. In my experience, cavaliering ball-strikers seldom seem to end matches not out; so it was with Ali, and it was left to our wonderful opening bowlers, Hastie and Mapplebeck to ease us home in the tensest of finishes, which saw us pass the winning line with just three balls to spare.

No game can be as exciting as this without a huge effort by the losers; Bon Accord are proud cricketers with a magnificent history in recent years in local cricket. They fought with distinction in this match and did come very close to delaying our celebrations for a week.

So, with one game to play, we are undefeated champions. Back in April, Skipper Rizwan impressed me with his enthusiasm, as he chatted about his belief that his players were potential champions. His passion was clear as was his belief in his squad. I was almost convinced! Rizwan, how right you were! How proud we all are that you were spot-on! Everyone at Mannofield is delighted with this wonderful achievement! Go on and finish the job next week!

Saturday proved a day of mixed fortunes for the club however, as the first eleven faltered against a strong bowling performance on a testing surface from Perth Doo’cot. Perth deserve credit for a relentless display of accurate bowling from both their seamers and their spin attack. Our players never really got on top of their probing accuracy on a wicket that was slow, low and delivered just enough lateral movement to challenge the early batsmen.

Our response was disappointing; none of our leading batsmen could build a productive, sustained innings. There was some resistance from George Gill, Kenny Reid and Jordan van den Berg, but each departed, without assuming real control of the match. The later players may wish that hey had played the spin-bowling of Muhammad Babar more shrewdly; his skillful use of flight saw three players trapped in front to straight balls; Babar ended with the splendid figures of 5 for 14; his polished, attacking display ruined our chance of building a challenging total.

So, we had to defend a total of 135 runs. To add to the difficulties facing us, the sun had been shining for some time; the wicket had, to a degree, dried out and batting started to look just a little easier. Each of our bowlers worked hard to turn this match around, but Perth were able to take their time, in accumulating a modest target for the loss of just five wickets. They had been worthy winners on the day!

So, as many had predicted, this intriguing season goes down to the wire. We still head the table and are at home on Saturday. However, our opponents at the weekend are Crescent/Dunecht, currently lying third in the table. On our best form, I expect the lads to have the measure of the Brechin side, but a truly fascinating tie is in prospect and a great deal is at stake for the club.

Our third eleven are finding life a little more challenging of late, as they fight to retain a safe league place in Grade 2. A third eleven in any club must cope with multiple, line-up changes dur to player unavailability throughout the season; in our club in 2026, the fabulous successes of our travelling junior sides have resulted in greatly altered line-ups for the threes as they have battled to establish themselves in this higher division. So far, it has gone well and the lads are currently in a safe position, but on Saturday, they came unstuck against Gordonians. We just needed a few more runs on the board at half-time; ninety-six was a modest total; none of our early batsmen was able to build a big innings. Our tail did indeed wag, thanks to a determined partnership between the extremely youthful Kanishk Tata and our “Supercoach”, Phil Wood. Alas, brave though their effort was, we needed more.

Gordonians number three, Sahid Mir, played the innings of the day, in scoring an undefeated half-century to guide our opponents home. For our thirds, the hope is that we can field the strongest possible eleven next week against Knight Riders. I believe it is important that we always provide each of our players of all ages and abilities with the opportunities to play at the highest possible level. Let’s make sure this fine side stays up!

I was especially pleased to note that our fourth eleven recorded another victory on Saturday. Credit is due also, to a Stonehaven side, that has struggled to fulfil all their commitments this season; they turned out in force on Saturday!

Vihaan Basavaraju was the batsman of the day, stroking no less than fifteen boundaries in a fine innings of 79 runs. There were other useful contributions from Aditya Nagdeve and Sachit Somasundaram, as our lads built an imposing total of 207 runs. Many modern sides seem able to chase all sorts of totals, but it was not to be for the luckless home side this time. Edward Foster put up a fight, scoring a battling 30 runs, but his team-mates lacked the experience to carry off this challenge and our fourths won by a large margin. Our fine skipper, Umesh Basavaraju, had selflessly stayed out of our fine batting display; however, he did display his credentials as a potent all-rounder in this league, by capturing three key wickets in just five overs. A very good day for the Basavaraju family.

It is very pleasing to note that our fourths have recorded seven wins this season! Great stuff, lads!

A healthy number of supporters travelled to Meigle o Sunday to support our under 16 side in their national cup-final. Their opponents, Perth Doo’cot turned out to be a mature, skilled side and, from the start, it was clear the lads had a fight on their hands!

We were put in on a green wicket and our openers, Marcus Vila and Riyansh Kirodian, were beginning to assert themselves, when Marcus was trapped by an evil, unplayable creeper, bowled at pace, resulting in an inevitable L.B.W. When a leading player goes, others must stand up. Our boys dug in against a tight attack. After a hesitant spell, finding his timing, Ethan Shedbal grew into the task facing him. His 31 runs were crucial in establishing a competitive total. The dashing middle -order batsman was joined at the climax of our innings by the youthful Oscar Vila; a thirteen years old competing against lads three years older in a national final, Oscar looked quite at home, sprinting well to keep pace with the electric Ethan, as they stole every quick run they could find. Our final score of 126 runs looked competitive and a tight struggle ensued!

Perth seized the early initiative, with an opening partnership of 48 runs. These runs were scored at just short of the asking rate; our lads were still very much in the hunt; we looked to have the upper hand at times, as wickets fell. The later stages of this match were tense as both teams vied for supremacy. Vikaash Saravanan and Ethan each claimed a couple of vital victims, while the Perth skipper, Aaban Owais, batted on stoically, calmly resisting the challenges of our probing bowling and the indifferent bounce on this pitch.

Inevitably, the dramatic final overs included errors and occasional bad luck for both sides, but, to their credit, it was Perth’s day, as they crossed the winning line with three deliveries left.

Games as close as this are full of key match-changing moments. It is a tribute to both sides that they put on such a thoroughly entertaining spectacle for the enthusiastic crowd. Our congratulations go to a fine Perth side; this was your day!

As with all our junior sides this season, our under 16 team has represented the club with great distinction this year. Despite this disappointment, everyone at Mannofield is very proud of your valiant efforts!

As our attention now most certainly focuses on the events at Mannofield on Saturday and around the other fixtures in the Strathmore Union, as always, the supporters wish all our teams the very best of luck on Saturday!