Issue 37

The eagle eyed will have spotted several fashion conscious Carlton stalwarts sporting new 100% woollen sweaters in the club’s colours (Oxford and Cambridge Blue) with the club crest. Long sleeved and sleeveless versions have been seen. These have been much talked about (mostly by Martin) and there have been numerous requests for a repeat order. Martin is assembling another order - the smallest club order that can be made is for 12, so let’s hope we can have a full order quickly. These are quality items and are made to order and hence won’t be delivered for 6 to 8 weeks. An ideal Christmas gift for any Carlton fan! To place an order (or to find out more) contact Martin Robertson by email mprobertson@btinternet.com or have a chat next time you see him. The Carlton Heritage Cricket Sweater Can you resist this season’s must have fashion item? Martin Robertson is ready to take your order. Size Price Payment is up front Junior/Woman Small 26”/28” Medium 30”/32” Large 34”/36” Man X Small 38” Small 40” Medium 42” Large 44” X Large 46” XX Large 48” XXX Large 50”/52” Junior/Woman Man X-Small Long-Sleeve £60 Sleeveless £55 Man Long-Sleeve £70 Sleeveless £65 It should be noted that the Cricket Committee want the men’s 1st and 2nd XIs to be uniformly attired and thus would prefer that players in those teams wear regulation outfit ie the Gray Nichols kit. However, this has not stopped being several players in those teams sporting woollen sweaters for after match revelry, to look good and to keep warm around the club and elsewhere.

ALI SHAH Cup Final Man Among many important contributions to the National T20 victory, that of middle order batsman Ali Shah was among the most significant. Ali came the crease with the innings delicately balanced at 47-3 after 11 overs with the main firepower of Tom Simpson, Hugo Southwell and Arun Pillai all dismissed. Together with Shujaa Khan he worked hard to keep Carlton in touch - though patient and watchful of tight bowling, they kept up with the scoring rate. The partnership of 35 in 25 balls ended when Shujaa was dismissed for 24. Crucially the winning total was now in sight and less than a run a ball was required. When Fraser Burnett hit the winning runs, Ali was unbeaten on 28 off 20 balls. ‘Arriving at the crease, the game was nicely poised and another opportunity for me to help the team to win the National T20 cup. Shujaa Khan and I decided to build a partnership and play watchfully, although still with aggression, by putting away the bad balls and rotating the strike. We knew if we built a partnership and did not lose any wickets, we could take the game away from Forfarshire. Shujaa Khan played brilliantly with positive intent hitting boundaries which gave me time to settle in and only put away bad balls’. This is not the first time that Ali has played an important cup final role. In the Scottish Cup Final of 2017, Carlton’s innings was in trouble at 64-4 when he came in. When he left having hit 41 off 53 balls, including a trade mark 6 over midwicket, and the score was 154-8 with the foundations set for the heroic partnership between Evans and Gosain which gave Carlton a defendable total. 2017 was Ali’s first year as a first team fixture, although he had announced his potential a few years previously following his arrival at Grange Loan with brother Ahmed in 2012. His 207* for the Second XI against Watsonians 2s in 2013 remains the highest individual score at Grange Loan. ‘Scary to think this is my 10th season at Carlton CC, I have loved every game, and the club is a family now. Winning the first-ever Scottish Cup for the club and scoring 207* have been the highlights of my time at Carlton. However, I feel the innings in the national T20 final was better than the Scottish Cup because this time around, I was more aware of my strengths and limitations and played accordingly.’

Last Sunday’s under-16 Scottish Cup Finals Day was triumphant for Carlton. But it certainly wasn’t all one-way: there were nervous moments when momentum appeared to be going the way of their opponents. Huge respect to Gordonians (incidentally captained by an ex-Carlton Kwik Cricketer), but the final was not particularly close - Carlton’s 184 was simply too much for Gordonians to chase. The semi was much closer: Carlton’s 156 was well within range of Clydesdale, and they duly came very close to it. The win hinged on two key moments in the field. The first came early in Clydesdale’s innings. Rua bowled the first over for a measly run, but the batters took off in the second, striking 24 runs off one of our fastest bowlers. Rua bowled a second cheap over, but then what to do? Thinking among the spectators was that he might turn to another quick bowler, or spin. But Rua clearly felt that these batters were adept at using the pace of fast bowlers, and he wanted to save Max’s spin for later, so he confounded us all by turning to two medium pacers - Fraser and Kyle. They duly delivered 2 overs for 8 runs and 3 wickets, completely wresting the momentum back. The plan probably wasn’t for either of them to bowl the 4th and 5th overs; it says a lot for the resilience of the captain and his team that they did so, and delivered so well. Clydesdale are a determined team though, and were far from done; they remained within striking distance of the target throughout their innings although Carlton took wickets at a steady rate. Clydesdale reached the last two overs on 133-7, 24 needed off 12 balls. Mark, who hitherto had given very little away, bowled the 19th. His first ball swung away from the batter, past the keeper and all the way to the boundary - 5 wides! His second was a blameless full length, but the batter slapped it away for 4. This was a far less comfortable equation for Carlton - 15 off 11. Rua walked over to Mark; we’ve no idea what he said, maybe it wasn’t even about cricket, but whatever it was, Mark returned with added fire and the tide turned back. Only singles were scored off the rest of the over - 148-7. Rua had 8 runs to defend in the final over, which proved more than enough as he took 2 wickets for just 3 runs to seal the win. Phew! MARTIN FIRTH RELIVES THE KEY MOMENTS FROM THE U16s CUP WIN

My love for cricket started when I would go along with my dad when he played for Gala CC. I would mess about with the other kids there. When I was in Primary 3 I started training and playing with the under 12’s team. One night St. Boswells Ladies team was playing Gala under 15s. The women were short, and I was asked to make up the numbers, so I joined them. I played league cricket on a Sunday for St. Boswells Ladies against the likes of Carlton, Watson’s and Stirling under the guidance of Kathryn White. After 2 or 3 years numbers were falling at the club, so I contacted Ruth Willis to see if I could train with the women’s team at Carlton. It was totally different training here as there were numerous Scottish players to watch and learn from such as Abbi, Sam, Annette, Ollie and various others that I had played with in the Scotland under 17s. When I arrived, I was welcomed to training and learned a lot from Peter Steindl the women’s coach at the time. It was amazing to play alongside these great players and be given the chance to show what I could do. This gave me great confidence with my cricket. CHARIS Charis Scott finished the Women’s Premier League season as top run scorer with 209 at 52.25 and wicket-taker 13 at 12.31. My favourite game for Carlton was when we won the league this year. We went to RHC needing to win and we found ourselves 4 down with not too many on the board. I was at the crease with young Zaara, and we took the score past 100 before I got out on 58. Eventually we posted a score of 143. RHC started well in reply but lost the dangerous Kitty for 3 to Maisie. A partnership had started to build when I came onto bowl, I took regular wickets in my spell and ended with 4 wickets. It was my turn to get the team through that day but over the season everyone has stood up on various occasions to get the team in a good positions to get over the line and win. I first played for Scotland under 17s at the age of 12 and played all the way through until I was 17. In my final season in 2019 I was asked to be Captain which I was honoured to do so. I was also given an opportunity by Cricket Scotland to go to Australia for 6 months. So in September 2019 I left to play for EMP Bombers in Melbourne. What an experience! I was playing alongside Australian internationals and surrounded by top quality cricketers. During my time there, the Women’s T20 World Cup was on and I was lucky enough to be a net bowler for Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. I’ve been in the Scotland Women’s squad for 3 years now and made my T20 International debut on the 29th June 2019 against Germany. It was a great honour and privilege to wear the thistle and represent my country doing something I love, cricket. I can’t wait for what’s to come next.

A DAY OUT Carlton’s u13 Cup XI defeated Chester-le-Street in a nail biting finale at Grange Loan and progressed to the Northern regional finals day held at Neston Cricket Club Cheshire on 27 July Keith Murray’s full report is on the club website and tells the story of an exciting day out for players and parents. Here are some edited extracts. Well-rested (??) after a night at the local Premier Inn or Macdonalds Hotel, the squad (and supporters) faced up to Lincolnshire based Louth (once home to former Carlton coach Matt Crowther). Louth scored 124 for 9 off 20 overs. However the sky was darkening with each run scored and the groundsman’s gloomy prediction of no play after lunch was looking increasingly accurate. The heavens opened with Carlton on 69 for 4, James retiring with a superb 34 from 17 balls. Play was not going to resume any time soon, and the game had to be decided by Duckworth Lewis. Nails were bitten to the quick. Did James’ retiral count as a wicket? If it did Louth would win - if not, Carlton. After an agonising wait ECB officials Carlton were pronounced winners. /over

A consolatory ice cream on the nearby parade at Parkgate…a bit of local knowledge from Rob Grisenthwaite The weather miraculously cleared and the final against Yorkshire club New Rover could proceed - 16 overs a side to ensure a result. Skipper Fergus Foley won the toss and opted to bowl, as he had done in every round of the competition. The New Rover openers were a different proposition to anything that Carlton had faced to date. They scored off most balls and confidently smacked anything slightly loose to the boundary. After 3 overs, New Rover were 31 without loss. At 86 for 3 in the 11th over, they looked set for a big total. Then the Carlton youngsters came roaring back with a wicket from Harry Charman, a run out from Ferg, another from Hamish F and an incredible 2 overs from Ferg where he took 4 wickets for no runs! New Rover were bowled out for 95 off the last ball of the 16th over. A gettable total? Lewis and Oli opened for Carlton, but the New Rover bowling was not easy to score off. At one end, very accurate spin. At the other, real pace. After 4 overs, Carlton were 4 for 2, well behind the ask. James was caught behind for 19 but none of the other Carlton bats was able to get going. Ferg was left stranded on 23* with the score on 62 after 14.2 overs. Carlton lost by 33 runs. Disappointment then for players and (maybe moreso) parents alike. But pride at getting to the last 8 in the UK. New Rover were a very strong team, with 7 players who play for their County. (They eventually ended up runners up in the National Final). Above all the Carlton players conducted themselves magnificently and received many plaudits for their sportsmanship and behaviour. Carlton’s sportsmanship is commended. The presentation An anxious wait for the travelling support

1980 saw Scotland’s first entry into the Benson and Hedges tournament. The Counties and Scotland were split into groups of five so you played four games plus one in the Nat Westminster and the winning side in each group went into the next round which was a true knock-out. I was picked as a batsman in the squad and Brian Close ex-Yorkshire and England came to be our manager. Those who listened to him learned a lot and improved greatly. Some of the older players didn’t take kindly to Brian trying to change the way they played. All he wanted was to tighten each person’s method so that we could compete against the professionals. The next year at pre-season practice over at Largs in the indoor facility there, Brian Close came up to me towards the end of the weekend and said ‘I want you to Captain the side instead of George Goddard.’ I was shocked and embarrassed and did not see that coming. I had the highest regard for George both as a player and as a friend and he, like several members of the team had so much more experience, way ahead of me - so how were they going to take it? However, Brian Close was not someone you said no to so I resolved to make the most of it. That season we had two practice matches down at Worcester and we managed to win one which was a good start. However, the B&H matches, 55 overs per side, did not go that well though with a bit more experience on all our parts we might have beaten Yorkshire who we had at about 36-5 at one point with Boycott run out for 0. However, they rallied and got up to about 220 in their 55 overs. We were all shell shocked because their batsmen put our bowlers to the sword in the hour after lunch in a period which we came to call ‘happy hour’ the 10-15 overs after lunch when they really had to attack our bowling. It was a period which was difficult and confusing for our bowlers and particularly for me as Captain. Even having suffered that hammering in the field we still could have won with a bit more experience and general nous because Bradford Park Avenue was a fast-scoring ground with a good wicket and the Yorkshire attack was not that awesome. /over Richard Swan Richard is one of Carlton's all time leading run scorers. Between 1975 and 1996 he played 258 matches for the club and was skipper in 1981-83 and again in 1989. He was capped 90 times for Scotland between 1974 and 1992. In this extract from his cricketing memoir he recalls how Brian Close, the England Test great, became manager of Scotland and appointed him captain. He skippered Scotland on 63 occasions during the years that Scotland began to play regularly against county opposition. Brian Close

cont’d/ That’s where I think, although he was by then over 50, Brian Close could have helped us so much more by being on the pitch - we would have learned more as a team and individually from him. He was an indomitable character with immense self-belief and of course a lifetime in first class cricket not to mention having also played for and captained England. I do think that although the older payers (particularly) resented his interference in their batting techniques or bowling methods by the end of his time with us they had adjusted to his way of thinking and we were a much more robust side than when we started under Brian’s tutelage. I tried to listen as much as I could and I am sure I learned a lot. Brian and I talked lots about managing the bowling in the field and he greatly favoured chopping and changing the bowling before any batsman had settled to any bowler. The in the bar sessions post matches were very amusing and instructive and I and others who played at that time still reflect on the good fun we all had with Brian. I regret only once seeing Brian after he stopped being our manager. Carlton First XI 1989, with Richard Swan as skipper QUIZ QUESTION Richard Swan’s memoir is the latest in our series on Carlton’s Scotland captains. Negotiations are underway to bring you the thoughts of Preston Mommsen. But a number of other Carlton players have led the national side. In the 1890s AS Cairns captained Scotland twice while at Leith Caledonian before he came to Carlton. CS Paterson also captained Scotland twice in the 1900s and John Kerr, better known as a Greenock player, skippered 18 times in the 1920s. But a more recent Carlton player skippered Scotland on 4 occasions - winning on 3 occasions, making him the Scotland’s most successful skipper. Who is it? (answers in the next issue). BILL POLSON Bill recorded some early memories of Grange Loan in Newsletter 30. Now a recent article in Jaffa Magazine provides some more fascinating insights into Bill’s long involvement in Edinburgh’s cricket scene.

I am delighted to have been asked to provide some reflections about my time at Carlton before I take my first adult step out of Edinburgh into the ‘real world’. I have been lucky enough to have been offered a PE, sport and boarding role at d’Overbroecks boarding school in Oxford at the end of August 2021. I am sad to leave many things behind, but none more than Carlton - it has been my home ever since I was 11 years old. I still remember my dad googling ‘cricket clubs in Edinburgh’ and tossing a coin on Carlton or Grange; turns out to be the greatest decision of my life. I remember my first introduction to cricket was a quick cricket session with Andy Macpherson and Ross Lyons, which then led into me playing for South Morningside Primary (regardless of attending Craigour Park…) and progressing up the age groups to the seniors. Looking back at some of my best memories of Carlton a fair few come to mind. I would have to say it is hard to look past the 2017 Scottish Cup final win where I spectated from the side-lines with great admiration for my friends and teammates producing one of the most special days of live cricket I have experienced. I only took one 5fer in my time at Carlton and I am quite happy to leave the club with that to my name, because you cherish it more closely for all the other games you toiled away with no luck. In the 2’s last game of the season in 2019 we played Morton at a spicy Inch Park, a game which never fails to push the boundaries of sledging and intensity. After being bowled out for 122 we were on the back foot, but we knew the game wasn’t over with our line-up. Slow, low, and sticky wickets are my speciality and I managed to claim 5-10 off my 7 overs twice being on a hattrick. When they were 9 down, I bowled a low full toss. It was adjudged LBW by the umpire. I had the last wicket of the season and finished with a hattrick!. It sent the team wild, only for the umpire to notice in my exuberance that I had clipped the non-strikers’ bails with my foot. He reversed his decision calling it a no ball. But we ended up bowling them out for 65 and won by 57 runs. I sometimes think it would have been great to have taken that wicket, but perhaps the story remains better without the hattrick. /over There is only one Callum Sibley - whether taking wickets for the 2s, coaching the juniors, running the All Stars programme or holding forth in the bar - he bleeds Carlton. On the eve of his departure for an exciting post in the South, Sibs reflects on his years at Grange Loan where he arrived as a raw junior in 2009. SIBS

Another memory must be the 2019 Carlton 6’s / end of season dinner. It was an incredible day of sun, cricket and great fun all round. I was lucky enough to compere the awards to round off an excellent season. (I narrowly missed out on the 2s bowling award by 1 wicket to Nick Martin). Unfortunately I was unable to see the whole evening through and fell asleep in the home dressing room, but regardless it was a highlight of my time at the club. Carlton has been a wonderful home for me over the last 12 years, I’ve had the pleasure of making wonderful friends who will remain the nexus of my life in Edinburgh. My time as a coach has allowed me to gain the experience that has led me down the root of teaching and I can’t thank Stevie enough for his support in providing me with this experience and grow myself as a coach and teacher. Hopefully this isn’t the end of me at Carlton and I hope to return to Edinburgh one day in the future, but this break in this part of my life is made all the easier for I know that I can return to the club which is home and where the people there are my family. Sibs at the mike - compering the 2019 Awards End of Season Calendar 3 September - Junior BBQ and Prize Giving All Welcome 5 September - Inaugural Junior 6s 11 September - The World Famous Carlton 6s for the prized Martin Flynn Trophy Followed by the glittering End of Season Event and Senior Prizegiving Full details will come soon through Pitchero. Stay Tuned! Well done Callum - Carlton wishes you all the best for your future. CARLTON LOTTERY Latest Lucky Winners June Monthly Draw: Shaun Barrett July Monthly Draw: Shaun Barrett July Bi-annual Draw: David Simpson