Issue 17

They say you should never meet your childhood heroes. However any concern I had over working with one of the game’s greats turned out to be groundless, and although a lot of hard work was involved over 7 full days working together on our investigation and report at Old Trafford, including 5 consecutive Saturdays, the experience was far more rewarding and entertaining than I expected. The ICC and Lancashire provided excellent hospitality; I stayed at the hotel on the ground, and we worked throughout in the Lancashire Committee Room in the main pavilion, the "best room in the house", and a thrill for a cricket lover like me, but clearly just "another day at the office" for Clive who is very much "part of the woodwork" at Lancashire, and clearly a much revered figure and rightly so, given his years of service to the Club as player and captain when not on international duty with the Windies. I won't go into the minutiae of the work, but when you spend about 60-70 hours all in with somebody on a project that invariably includes a lot of down time too, with breaks and lunch, and the opportunity to chat more generally, you get to know them quite well. Some memorable things stand out; we had to joint interview a number of prominent and not so prominent figures in the game, and I was struck by Clive's warmth and humility, respect for all those involved in the game at whatever level, and his firm no-nonsense approach with those of "high standing", but who did not perhaps have the same reverence and humility. But mostly I remember his humour and consideration; after a while I plucked up the courage to ask what it was like to have to captain such a strong character as Viv Richards, and he just looked at me deadpan and replied "What do you think...", and when we were discussing cricket in the 70s and 80s one day he suddenly interjected, equally deadpan, with "You know Brent, I'd forgotten most of my career, then I met you..." - and the time we broke off work to go onto the hallowed turf on our last day; he realised I had never been out to the middle; and for him to introduce to some of the Lancashire players who were having middle practice." Brent alsop sends his best wishes to all at Carlton. You might think that this is the title of the latest crime busting duo to hit the screens. But you’d be wrong In 2010 Carlton’s Brent Lockie was invited by the ICC to investigate difficulties with the early introduction of the DRS system. No sweat for the advocate and run-accumulating left hander, you would think. Then he learned his colleague on the investigation would be Clive Lloyd, former W Indies skipper. Two left handers together - Brent tells how it went. Lockie and Lloyd

Dear former club-mates, I hope this finds you and your families keeping well in these difficult times. Some of you probably know that I quit my job in the world of academia a couple of years ago to go work for a small orchestra called Scottish Ensemble based in Glasgow. It’s been quite the adventure and I can highly recommend the experience of just trying something different in your professional life! I’m back playing my cricket at one of the great grounds in the country, Hamilton Crescent (HC) with West of Scotland. We had a frustrating ‘nearly season’ last year with all three adult men’s sides finishing 2nd in their respective leagues. It was good fun having former Test and ODI all-rounder Rory Kleinfeld as our pro last year, a man who bowled and hit a very heavy ball and liked to hit a pint of heavy in the club house after each game. One of the most successful aspects of last year was the first full season of our ladies XI, who I know locked horns with our Carlton counterparts. Our Juniors are coming on as well and I’m always keen to try and pass on some of what Carlton do so well to our coaching team over here. I’m glad to see cricket returning to Grange Loan; I hope the sun gods are good to us all and at every level we squeeze as much cricket out of the short season as we can. I was trying to reflect on my favourite memories of Carlton and selfishly (like any good bowler) my thoughts turned to my best day for the club picking up 5-24 the 3rd XI at Inverleith park, including a particularly stunning one handed grab by skipper Paul Kentish at first slip. It was a very low scoring game and in our faltering reply it came down to a strong last wicket partnership between myself and Callum Sibley to win the game… all in all a pretty satisfying Saturday for myself. I obviously miss playing at Grange Loan, but despite the pitches, the wayward tourists and the sometimes dubious quality of cricket… on a hot sunny day it’s hard not to miss the festival atmosphere of playing in the Meadows. Keep well all and see you anon. Duncan Hearing from former 3s and 4s stalwart Duncan Sutherland Here is the pitch for last Tuesday’s intra-club match. There might have been no cricket during lockdown but the ground staff did not stop working hard.

Leading the list of Carlton centurions is Cedric English who passed 100 17 times, 10 of those being at Grange Loan. Cedric is closely followed by Fraser Watts with 15 centuries, 9 of which were at Grange Loan. Fraggle’s highest score of 162, against Falkland in 2017, shades Cedric’s top 148* against Uddingston in 2010. Cedric hoovering up the awards for his 2010 season The highest 1st XI innings at Grange Loan was by Michael Castle on 17 May 2018 - fresh off the plane he blasted 181* in a Masterton Tie against Edinburgh CC. Remarkably this is higher than the highest score in a 50 over match, which was Gordon Drummond’s 168 in the Scottish Cup tie against Renfrew on 5 June 2011. The highest 1st XI innings away from Grange Loan was by Cedric English who scored 146 at Uddingston in August 2010. He had obviously taken a liking to the Uddingston attack for this was the week after the 148* GL noted above. The highest score ever recorded at GL is Ali Shah’s 207* for the 2nd XI against Watsonians’ 2 on 27 April 2013. The match report includes a link to a video clip of him bringing up his 200 …..with 1 over to go Ali needed only 1 run for an unforgettable double century. This Ali duly recorded with a single to deep mid-on. Fittingly Ali ended the innings with another six over wide mid-on leaving Carlton at 5/301 with Ali unbeaten on 207 ( 15 fours and 10 sixes) Ali on his way to 207* Tom Barrett’s 154 against Dunfermline in August of the same year is the highest 2nd XI away score. The Centurions With the assistance of Brian Forrester, the Newsletter staff have been looking at Carlton’s leading performers. For the 3rd XI, Charles Welsh scored 137* against Fauldhouse in June 2007. Away from GL, Anirban Majumdar racked up 188* in 2013 against Kirk Brae at Double Hedges. Ani at Grange Loan

It is close at the top of the rankings for the 4th XI - Eric Edwards’ 154* in June 2018 against Largo 2 just shades it from Zaki Yusaf’s 152* against Musselburgh 2. The highest 4th XI away century is Mike Kennedy’s 103 at Peebles in 2009. This was the first ton scored in the 4th XI and still lives in the memory of those who witnessed it. The match report describes Mike’s innings in its full glory: ‘He was particularly brutal to anything, whether short/full/yorkers/leg-side/offside/full-bunger s/occasional pies. ‘Like Desperate Dan at an “All you Can Eat” Cow Pie banquet he feasted on the change bowling. An umpire’s dream, feet firmly planted outside of leg, unmoving except to clear his left leg even further towards mid-wicket he bludgeoned the ball to all parts. His first and last scoring shots were sixes, there were nine more between, plus 5 one bounce fours in a belligerent 103.’ A century has yet to be scored for the 5th XI - Paul Bailey’s 90* against Leith FAB in June 2017 being the nearest so far. ‘After taking his customary three “sighter “ balls and being surprised to find himself still there, Mike decided to take the pitch out of the equation and adopt a Babe Ruth style of batting. For the women, Olly Rae’s 171 against Galloway in July 2016 is the highest score at GL. Olly also has the highest score away from GL, with 103 against West District at Greenock the following year. Fraser receives an ESCA award from Bruce Dixon for his 103. The youngest to score 3 figures is Fraser Allardice, who was 15 when he scored 103 for the 4s on 31 July 2011 against Fauldhouse. Ruaridh Main was 16 when he scored 100* against Boroughmuir for the 3s in 2016. Two 17 year olds Doug Tidy, 102* for the 4s v MDAFS in 2017 and Pete Gill, 108* for the 2s against Heriots in July 2019, have reached the magic figure. Next week - the bowlers