Issue 22

I joined Carlton at the start of the 1970 season, which was the best move I made in my cricket career. Playing under Alun Davies I learned more about cricket, and bowling in particular, in my first few weeks, than I had in my career up to then. Alun set the field and if you did not bowl to it, you did not bowl. So I learned very quickly! In the early 70s we had a team that always challenged for trophies but only managed to win the Masterton Trophy and finished East League runners up in 1971. We had some superb players and great characters with Alun, Chris Smith, Fraser Dall and George Innes leading the way. In 1972 we played a Sunday friendly against Poloc whose pro was Sadiq Mohammed, one of four brothers to play for Pakistan. I was extremely lucky to remove him first ball to a screamer of a catch at leg slip. Two years later Poloc returned to Grange Loan with Hanif Mohammed as pro, another and most famous of the brothers. Our Club umpire and future President, Jimmy Jappy who was famous for always looking to his right when he gave a batsman out, never looking at the batsman, was umpiring. Second ball I bowled to him, Hanif smashed the ball and was caught behind the stumps but JJ gave him not out. Hanif went on to get a big score and win the game for Poloc. As we came off I asked Jimmy about the decision. He replied that he could watch me bowl every week, but when was he ever again going to watch Hanif from 22 yards away!! I had missed out on removing two test players in three balls! In 2016, I was elected Cricket Scotland President and really enjoyed every minute of this privilege. I was able to travel to Hong Kong (where it was the wettest and coldest January on record and we only managed 2 days of cricket out of 11 scheduled) and to Jersey for the qualifying tournament for the Under 19 World Cup. Scotland really should have won this, but managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory twice against Ireland who thus qualified for the tournament in New Zealand. On a visit to Holland to watch Scotland, I was amazed at the facilities at the Amstelveen ground, not just for cricket but a multi-sport facility. In my time at CS, I also visited Lords for a game against MCC, an absolutely brilliant experience, watching the game from the Long Room. However, what was one of the highlights of my time as President, was presenting the Scottish Cup to Ali Evans at Forthill in 2017, having tried to remain impartial throughout the match. From Carlton to Cricket Scotland (and back) with Bruce Dickson

When work-mate Martin Robertson cajoled me in to turning out for the fledgling 3rd XI in 1997, little did I know what I was letting myself into. My first match was at Cargilfield School, the 3s then occasional home, where my major contribution was to trigger Andy Mac after he middled one into his pads. In those early years 13yr old Cranny Watts, Fraser’s younger brother, was a regular feature behind the stumps. His chat was always good value and he scored a few runs, but his keeping was a work in progress. One season he took a solitary catch – in the final match of the season - at midwicket, having given someone else a shot with the gloves. After Martin stepped back from the captaincy and his replacement Alastair Arnott moved overseas, I took on the role, largely to ensure my continued selection in the face of the now familiar conveyor belt of talent emerging from the Carlton junior section. The 3s generally played in the bottom league of ESCA and were competitive in the main. The lower leagues can be a strange environment, with new clubs entering the league determined to gain promotion mixing with other teams with more of a development or social motivation. We were happy playing and exposing the juniors to a different challenge while giving the older players a chance to extend their playing careers. Also, the seniors take great pleasure in seeing young players they’ve played with progress through the ranks knowing they have played a small part in that success. Originally selected for my ability to drive juniors to matches, assumed (incorrectly) umpiring competence and potential with the bat I evolved into a specialist mid-off and surprisingly effective dibbly-dobbly bowler. I also bought a bigger car. As a captain I was probably a better administrator than on-field tactician, but hope I was successful in helping folk enjoy their cricket and getting as many people as possible involved in the game. From about 2005 onwards the 3s became genuinely competitive as the juniors improved at all levels, strengthening the whole club. We won Div 7 that year and in 2007 went undefeated in Div 6 – the only team in Scotland that year not to lose a game. Family commitments and the growing strength of the club meant I was happy not to pick myself for almost all the season. As glory beckoned I eventually turned out in the final game of the season to claim the Div 6 title. The writing was on the wall however and in 2008 we launched the 4th XI so that lower league players like myself had somewhere to play. However, testament to Carlton’s focus on development at all levels and with the help of quality coaching from the likes of Stevie Gilmour & Pete Steindl, I’ve just about managed to keep pace with the 4s’ rise through the leagues to the heady heights of Div 4. And, if I can avoid breaking any more fingers, who knows where the journey will end? Al Murray - a key man in Carlton’s on and off field success - recalls his recruitment by Martin Robertson which lead to a life well-spent in the lower leagues A warning from history When there was no junior section From the Scotsman 1883 (with thanks to Bill Lothian for spotting this on the Grange Association website)

Carlton CC Lefties XI August 13 was International Left Handers Day. Roughly ten percent of the population is left-handed, but in international cricket about twenty percent of top order batsmen and frontline bowlers are left-handed. The proportion in club cricket is a bit lower - at Carlton lower still. A celebrated April Fool ahead of the World Cup in 2010 reported that the ICC were considering making left handers participate in a separate competition to speed the game up. There have been occasional similar suggestions from lower league cricketers struggling to adjust their line against left handed batters or straining necks to meet the unfamiliar angle of the left arm over bowler. The NewsLetter puts such suggestions to one side and, inspired by the social media traffic discussing the Best Ever Test Left Handers XI, invites you to select the All-Time Carlton Left Handers XI. Here is the full squad of Carlton players who bat and bowl left handed. It includes two pros - Peter Wooden and Michael Castle - and two overseas amateurs - Ben O’Connell and Jason Trembath. You can choose one pro and one amateur. Make up the rest of your Lefties XI from the following players - and see if you can identify them in the montage below. Fraser Allardice Angus Beattie Tom Clarke Richard Donald* Will Hardie John Hutton George Innes Saif Khan Neil Kirk Ross Lyons Nick Thomson Nick White ● No photo could be found of Richard

The 7 Year Itch Seven years after his final match for Carlton, Jamie Kerr still misses it. On 31 August 2013 Jamie Kerr played his 451st match for Carlton - it was also his last. In 20+ years service behind the stumps Jamie only ever missed 3 matches - one for a wedding, one for a funeral and one for a significant birthday. Broken fingers could not keep him on the sidelines. His record of 335 catches and 173 stumpings speaks for itself. More lefties Here are the squads for the Alternative Leftie XIs Bat left handed but throw or bowl right handed. Again there are 2 pros to choose from, Robin Singh, Paul Persaud. The others are: Mikey Brown, Fraser Burnett, Alun Davies, Tony Gilbert, Alex Leslie, Alex Mayes, Nick Ross, Ali Shah, CC Smith, Charles Stronach, Duncan Sutherland. Bowl left handed but bat right handed. No pros but 2 recent overseas amateurs Michael Herdman and, Tom Freshwater. The others are: Rob Aitken, Akeel Aslam, Amit Bij, Paul Fraser, Chayank Gosain, Murray Johnston, Alan Macleod, Grant Newman, Ben Stronach. It is entirely possible that the defective memories of the NL staff have omitted some valid members of these lists. We would be happy to take corrections. Jamie vividly remembers his first match for Carlton - a win against Grange. ‘It was sweet,’ he says. All such victories are, but this one especially because Jamie had only recently moved to Carlton from Grange to get first team cricket. ‘Moving to Carlton was the best thing I ever did’, Jamie says. ‘I played with great players, played on excellent pitches and made friends for life. A highlight was winning the league in 2011, but I also had the privilege of being part of several Masterton and Murgatroyd Trophy winning teams.’ Jamie still turns out occasionally for MCC. We look forward to seeing him and his canine companion around the Grange Loan boundary sometime soon. Truly a Carlton legend.