Issue 43

Carlton in Europe Stevie reflects on things with Rory McCann and Ali Shah Carlton is grateful for the support of the following sponsors for their participation in the ECL. Everyone was certainly very excited about going to the ECL, however, I don’t think anyone quite realised how amazing it would be. The whole squad enjoyed it immensely and learnt a huge amount on and off the pitch. We were all really disappointed to fall at the final hurdle but that’s the way it goes sometimes in short format cricket. Great memories and friendships have been made for life and for me that is the best part of sport.... and the motivation to get out there again next year is sky (blue) high! Stevie Gilmour For all of us watching, while it wasn’t the final result we wanted, but what an incredible week for the club. Representing your club and country in a European competition is an amazing thing to have done. We have only had positive feedback from those organising the tournament and I’m proud of what the team achieved. Playing hard on the pitch but being great ambassadors off it, making new friends and memories with others in the cricketing family from different countries and backgrounds. Im sure everyone comes back enriched from the experience. Thanks to the players and Stevie G but especially to John Beattie who did so much behind the scenes to make the week run so smoothly for the team. Fraser Watts Reflections Stats Corner Ali Shah - 203 runs HS 42 SR 213.68 Adeel Raza - 13 wkts BB 4-8 Econ 6.45 Rory McCann - 12 dismissals (5c, 7st) You can find highlights of all Carlton’s games on the ECN WEBSITE

Thursday 17 February – “Anyone got a Saltire?” Despite months of planning, the Tour Manager’s checklist seems to lengthen as the tournament approaches: issue player information sheets… get passport details… changes to flight bookings… check in sixteen (16) Ryanair flights… buy kit… dig out sunscreen… source Irn Bru, … The Carlton flag is brought to the front door under armed guard. Cricket Scotland loans an ICC-compliant World Cup saltire as large as a Bute House bedspread. We are ready. Saturday 19 February – “John, what colour chinos do I need again?” OK well almost ready. Let’s say that some members of the playing squad are more organised than others. A few players still have some last minute shopping to do, it seems. Tour Manager becomes Whatsapp nag. “Don’t forget … Don’t forget …” I’m starting to irritate myself now. Sunday 20 February – “Tread the borderline between aggression and insanity” Miraculously, everyone arrives on time at the airport looking smart. On the flight I learn which players are quiet, which are chatty, and that Fras talks non-stop when excited. The ECL Team are out in force to welcome us at the hotel. Daniel Weston, ECL founder, is keen that we adapt quickly to T10 tactics with detailed guidance on dot-ball percentages and batting strategies. Effervescent ECL commentator ‘Mr Maximo’ translates: “Basically, lads, you just need to tread the borderline between aggression and insanity”. Thanks, Vinny. Carlton in Europe Carlton is grateful for the support of the following sponsors for their participation in the ECL. Tour Manager’s Diary 2022 On a sunny day in August when Fraser Burnett hit the winning runs in the Scottish T20 Final in Arbroath, there was little thought of qualifying for Europe. When details of the European Cricket League arrived a few months later, we could hardly believe what we were reading. A professional, televised T10 tournament in Malaga in February? Where do I sign? With Omicron surging, the Tour Manager’s initial role seemed to mostly involve tracking Covid case numbers, travel regulations and player vaccinations. And yet as regulations eased, the tournament go-ahead was announced, and February arrived.

Carlton in Europe Carlton is grateful for the support of the following sponsors for their participation in the ECL. Monday 21st February – “THIS IS THE NEW CRICKET!” Bus to the ground. The ECL is a colourful spectacle and an amazing operation, with tents for changing, segregated match areas, TV cameras everywhere, flags, music, and a fanzone with catering … and a bar. Everything runs like clockwork, with run penalties for slow over rates. We are whipped into shape by Fletch – our hard-to-impress Anti-Corruption Officer from Sunderland who warms to us eventually and is singing karaoke by Friday night. Ally leads the team out and the opening win against Cluj from Romania brings the first taste of T10 cricket madness, Arun leading the way with some outrageous biffing and catching. It’s fast, frantic and fun, with the ball flayed to all corners accompanied by a pumping bass. Mr Maximo is wearing gold shoes. A member of the opposition celebrates a six, eyeballing us and shouting “THIS IS THE NEW CRICKET!” It certainly is. Tuesday 22nd February – “We have so much to learn” 6am start, 7am bus, 8am warm-up, 9am match. With four early morning starts in a row, this becomes our morning routine. It is cold and dewy at the ground, and the ECL team distribute handwarmers. Our second match against Prague is close, closer than it needed to be, but players are upbeat. “We have so much to learn, and our speed of learning has to be so quick”. Our third against the Swiss champions Olten is more comfortable, and we feel that we are developing our own style. With power hitting one of the key areas of the game, the umpires come round with bat gauges to check for illegals – Ali Shah looks a bit nervous but his monster bat slips through - the umpires have spotted four supersize bats so far this week. Wednesday 23rd February – “Conquer the Game” The music played when we take to the field, has been written specifically for the ECL. “Take a ball, take a bat, smash it hard…” Cole Porter it ain’t, but it becomes the soundtrack to the week (and is available on Spotify). Our fourth game is against Brescia from Italy, a good looking side who been on the wrong side of two narrow defeats and are pretty pumped up. A controlled bowling performance takes us through with two balls to spare, followed by a rather more comfortable win against a Turkish side weakened by visa problems.

Carlton in Europe Carlton is grateful for the support of the following sponsors for their participation in the ECL. Kids from a local school have been turning up each day, and today’s group take a shine to Harry Simpson, chanting his name. Harry looks nonplussed. The players join in with the kids and sign autographs – it’s a fun end to the round-robin stage of the tournament and a reminder that there is more to our game than biffing sixes. The team celebrates with a swim in the sea - it’s not as cold as the Firth of Forth but far too nippy for delicate Rory McCann. Thursday 24th February – “Not laughed so much in ages” Rain as we arrive at the ground, but it soon clears. The players remove the covers and we are off again. It feels as though we are hitting our stride now, with two controlled bowling performances against Cluj and Olten taking us through to the final day in poll position. Hugo and Ali are hitting bombs, Adeel and Shiv bowling superbly and Rory takes a couple of outrageous stumpings – one is just plain cheeky, waiting for the batter to topple then just tapping off the bails. The players are thoroughly enjoying the cricket and there is something about the team and the tournament that feels special, for the more experienced players as well as the youngsters … “I’ve not laughed so much in ages”. Friday 25th February – “We’ll just have to qualify again next year” We qualify for the final beating Cluj, but it’s not straightforward. We are put into bat and it feels as though we are tested for the first time. Rory finds his form, Angus runs into a fence and Umy takes an impressive c&b to see us home. The final starts well enough, with a controlled batting display posting a competitive total. However, some audacious hitting from the Brescia openers takes the game away in the first few overs, and after “45 minutes of madness” we are out. It’s been an amazing experience – a superbly professional tournament and, personally, a privilege to part of the team. Despite the heartbreaking loss in the final game, I am struck by the positive mindset of the players, how they have visibly learnt and adapted their game, how they supported each other all week, and how they always believed that they could win any game from any position. We made many friends, were proud ambassadors for Carlton and Scottish cricket, and experienced something special as a team. “We’ll just have to qualify again next year.”

THE REIGN IN SPAIN Photos - John Beattie; Diana Oros (ECN)

SEASON 2022 Spanish adventures must be put to the back of the mind as preparations begin in earnest for the start of the 2022 season, only a few weeks away on 30 April. The First XI start their campaign to go one better than last year and top the EPL with a trip to Scroggie Park (below), home of Falkland CC who make a welcome return to the EPL. Carlton’s first appearance at Grange Loan is the following week when Arbroath United are the guests. Starting the season at Grange Loan, the 2nd XI will welcome Edinburgh CC, in what is always a highly competitive encounter. Can they too go one better than the close second place they took last season? Meanwhile the 3rds, 4ths and 5ths also begin battle with fixtures against Boroughmuir (H), Dunbar (A) and Marchmont 3 (H) respectively. Date and venue of lower team fixtures will be subject to some change as the Fixture Secretary seeks to maximise the opportunities to play at Grange Loan. Traditionalists in the lower ranks will welcome the return this season of the full suite of pitches at Edinburgh’s prestigious Home of Cricket, the Meadows (below). Fixtures for the Women’s Premier League have yet to be confirmed. Preceding the serious action will be a set of intra-club tussles and friendlies with Ferguslie and Watsonians.

‘Looking forward to the challenge and enjoying the season with you fellas….’ A big Carlton welcome to Zimbabwean Neville Madziva who comes to Grange Loan this season as player/coach. Neville is a seam bowler and middle order bat, who has 27 Zimbabwe ODI and TY20I caps. His scalps at international level include MS Dhoni, Hashim Amla and JP Duminy. This will be Neville’s first visit to Scotland although he played the 2013 season with Yorkshire club Kirkbymoorside CC. NEVILLE MADZIVA

A 3.30am meet at Glasgow Airport was definitely never on my bucket list but I’ve ticked it off regardless. After 27 hours of travelling we arrived at the hotel in Guyana, only to enter our five day Isolation period. Having barely eaten, the chicken burger we were given upon arrival was incredible so hopes were high for the food to come. Those hopes were very quickly dashed as fried chicken arrived at every meal thereafter along with rice for lunch and tea and some pancakes for breakfast. Thankfully we only had three days of hard isolation and then two days where we were allowed to train each day. The first training ground was the Guyana national stadium. It’s safe to say training at a place like that was a bit of a shock to the system for everyone. You can trust me to get injured in the first session to which I obliged, sustaining some minor ligament damage whilst bowling. This would be my first of many interactions with Dave our physio! The next day, heavily strapped up and on a fair amount of painkillers I was back bowling off a few steps starting the process of building my bowling back up. One of our few trips out of the hotel was to the nearby Marriott where we had an anti-corruption meeting consisting of being shown a hit list of known culprits to stay well clear of! After our first week away, some of the teams started getting Covid cases so it was decided it probably wasn’t wise to have people with the same role paired up so there were a few room switches and I moved into my second room of the trip. After only 2 training sessions in the Caribbean we had two warmup games against Uganda and then Ireland, getting a win and a loss from the matches. Although my ankle wasn’t back to full strength I was able to play in the Ireland game which gave me a real feeling that with the help of strapping and painkillers I could be back to full fitness very quickly. Rua McIntyre Scotland in the U19 World Cup in the West Indies Rua in action v Australia

As happened throughout the whole trip, we had role specific planning meetings the day before the Sri Lanka match outlining our key performance goals and looking at a bit of background about our opposition. At eleven that night I was awoken to some continuous banging on our door. Barely awake, I opened the door to find our team manager and physio at the door. Our latest PCR tests had come back and sadly my roommate’s was positive, so I was told to pack my bags and move into my third room of the trip. Because of this, I had to spend the next day in isolation rather than at the game, which left me with a long and stressful day only being able to watch the score tick over. A brilliant effort from the team who fell just short of a huge upset with some standout performances. That evening my second PCR test came back negative so I was free to leave my room and meet with the team again. The following day we left Guyana behind, flying to St Kitts for our remaining group games. Without a doubt one of the highlights of Guyana was the police escorts. Police motorbikes would guide us through the hectic dual carriageways often on the wrong side of the road parting the traffic for the VIP’s! St Kitts was definitely better than Guyana in many respects. The hotel was much nicer, it even had its own private beach which we frequented regularly. We had one training session here before our TV game against the hosts, West Indies. With lots of question marks around some players’ fitness, with lots of niggles and even a dislocated finger, the team was finalised only once we were at the ground, and I was brought into the playing squad for this game. We were brushed aside by a strong West Indies team, being bowled out for 95 and that total being chased in 20 overs. The most surreal part of the day for us all was arriving back to the hotel and receiving lots of photos and videos of us appearing on the telly. It’s a lot easier to forget that the cameras are following you than you’d think and from what I’ve heard it definitely looked like I’d forgotten about the cameras! Although we had now lost both group games there was still an outside chance of qualification if we beat Australia in our final game. We got off to a fantastic start putting 236 on the board however, Australia were a very good batting side and cruised home after 40 overs. We had some great performances in spells in our group but sadly couldn’t string plays together which made it very difficult to get wins against very good outfits. Above: Warner Pk, St Kitts Below: St Pauls’ St Kitts

St Kitts was a fantastic place with some amazing grounds and great weather but that section of the trip ended in disappointment so we travelled to Trinidad for the Plate fixtures. Thanks to the set-up of the tournament we still had lots to play for even though we hadn’t progressed from our group. Our first game in Trinidad was against Zimbabwe at the Queen’s Park Oval. If we won this game then we would still have a chance of winning the plate competition. We bowled Zimbabwe out for 248, definitely more than we wanted but still a very chaseable total. I had to leave the pitch part way through my 3rd over because of cramp in my right calf; the result of the extra heat and humidity and patrolling the boundary for the whole game. This was sadly an injury that wouldn’t clear before the end of the tour. We couldn’t reach Zimbabwe’s total, only reaching 140. It was amazing to play in a stadium like that but, annoyingly, that was one of the only positives to come from that game. We continued to train before our next match against Canada, although the day before the game we got the news that our game had been cancelled. Canada had returned 9 positive cases in the latest round of PCR’s meaning they couldn’t field a team and we had therefore been given the win. Our last game was against Uganda who played the game like it was their cup final. All credit to Uganda who played really well with fantastic energy throughout, beating us fairly comfortably. Above: Brian Lara Stand, Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad Below Left: Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad Overall, it was an amazing time away getting to experience what it is like to be in a high performance environment. It involves a lot of hard work with very few days off! I was fortunate to play three of the five World Cup matches and even managed to get my first international wicket! Thanks to everyone for the support and kind messages whilst I was away, it really meant a lot. With Carlton’s flourishing junior section hopefully many more will be able to share these experiences of playing at a World Cup.

The Scotland Women’s team - with four Carlton players in the squad - headed out to Malaysia, on the 3 January 2022 to compete in the Commonwealth Games Qualifiers. The trip started with mandatory solitary quarantine which is something none of us have experienced before on a tour. Each day we received food at our door with a ring of the bell and it would be a surprise. Let’s just say some of the meals were questionable and some were really good. Pastries, cereal, pasta, noodles, chicken, rice and plenty more. During quarantine we had a team workout every morning on zoom to keep our fitness up which was good, however the A/C was switched off to help us acclimatise to the heat (up to 33° and 85% humidity). And after that we did some heat training! Everyone had different things to try and keep themselves occupied during quarantine, from reading to Netflix to paint by numbers. We were lucky that after 4-5 days of being stuck in a room alone we were allowed out to training. However, Abbi Aitken-Drummond wasn’t so lucky, her PCR result still wasn’t back so she wasn’t allowed to leave her room. At training we were just getting back into the swing of things with a wee bit of everything; it was just nice to get out and socialise with everyone again. The next day we had training again and unfortunately for Abbi her result still wasn’t back. Our session was more intense with a running session, then we get some news as her results have finally come and Abbi is on her way! The rest of the session included, power hitting, bowling and fielding. Officially out of Quarantine on 11 January, we could now go to the pool, have dinner together and socialise in the team room. In the days leading up to the first game, we continued training, and getting ready for the tournament. Each day we had a pool slot were we could go and do some recovery, relax and enjoy some time in the sun. We won 2 (Malaysia and Kenya) , lost 2 (Bangladesh and Sri Lanka). We didn’t play our best cricket but there was plenty of positives to take away from all the games. It was a really exciting tournament for us all and has shown that all the work we’ve put in over the years is starting to pay off. We are heading in the right direction as a squad and it’s looking good for Scottish Women’s cricket in the future. Overall the tournament was a great experience for us all, we didn’t come away with the results we wanted but there was plenty of positives to take away. It wasn’t our time but we are on our way and in a good place as a team. Scotland Women In Malaysia Charis Scott describes life in the COVID bubble

“One who hasn’t seen Lahore hasn’t been born yet". A Punjabi quote about the jewel of this region of Pakistan. Lahore is famous its cuisine, overall foodie culture, architectural marvels of the Mughal rulers and of course cricket. The National Stadium Gaddafi is found in the city centre 'Gulberg' where there are many restaurants/cafes at each and every 'gate' of the stadium. Opposite lies the National Cricket Academy where there are outdoor and indoor nets including the Bob Woolmer indoor cricket centre picture above. This is also where Grant Bradburn former Scotland coach holds the position of head. Over the wall is the 'LCCA' ground with 6 cricket clubs - including Aqica and Yu Slim - where you will find budding cricketers of all ages and which have produced the likes of Babar Azam, Imran Tahir, and most recently young pace sensation Naseem Shah. In recent days this ground has been seized by the PCB for the use of domestic and National squad camps and games so unfortunately it has affected the clubs and their players. Sadly, as of a couple years now, cricketers have also suffered due to the scrapping internal of department cricket which provided a wage to talented players and coaches. Ironically it was scrapped by Imran Khan - who once benefitted from the system itself to eventually emerge a world cup winning captain for Pakistan. He wishes to remodel the system on australian lines. Despite everything Pakistan continues to have an abundance of talent and produce world class players. Perhaps at the crux of which is a population that treats cricket as more than a way of life. ADEEL RAZA (pictured with coach Abdul Majeed) forsook the gloom of an Edinburgh winter to spend the dark months in the cricket mad city of Lahore. Playing some club cricket he also found time to visit the national cricket facilities and hone his skills as a net bowler to the international squads. He describes the City where cricket is nothing less than a religion.

Music News There is more to Duncan Sutherland (a 3s 4s stalwart of several years) than a useful in-swinger. Duncan has just released an album of new music. Supported by Creative Scotland, the album is Duncan’s reflection on the climate crisis. Listen to Hear Me a track from the album on this link. Duncan has been Glasgow based since leaving Carlton a few years ago and has turned out for West of Scotland. He has worked with the Nevis Ensemble bringing music to new places including the first orchestral concert on St Kilda. But he is about to move to New York, where cricketing opportunities might be more limited. Good luck Duncan! Stump News A sneak preview of the new timbers that Carlton’s bowlers will be cartwheeling out of the ground this season at Grange Loan. Carlton Lottery Recent Winners Jan - Alan Murray Feb - Jenny Hess Isn’t it time you joined? Find all the details on this link. lottery@carltoncc.co.uk

U12 Girls Lindsay Thompson; Bridget Mitchell; Angharad Hunt; Elsie Fraser; Charlotte Bloomer; Sonia Amin Carlton’s first game was against Stew Mel with Sonia as Captain, they were put into bat. The first pair of Lindsay and Sonia scored heavily without losing any wickets, scoring 3 sixes and a five where they had to run twice, quite a feat in an indoor match. Bridget and Angharad kept the scoring moving only losing one wicket as did Elsie and Charlotte with the team ending up on a net score of 61 off their six overs. Stew Mel started well but lost wickets regularly which combined with some good bowling all round left Stew Mel on a net score of 20 – a Carlton win. The second game was against a strong Grange A team who only had 4 players so we provided 2 players when they fielded. Lindsay was captain and again Carlton were put into bat. Grange bowling was much faster and tighter and Carlton found scoring difficult but managed to amass a total of 27 runs. Carlton bowled well for the first 4 overs, fielding well and getting 3 wickets with some excellent catches. Easter Cricket Camps at Grange Loan Monday 11 to Friday 15 April 2022 Book on these links Kwik Camp – age 6yrs to 11yrs – 9am to 12 noon T20 Hardball Camp – 10yrs to 14yrs – 1pm to 4pm If in any doubt please contact Stevie Gilmour for advice on which camp would be most appropriate. This is a great way to kick off the cricket season with an action packed week of learning skills and lots of games! However, the final two overs saw Grange score heavily as their better bats came in for a second time and were comfortable winners. The batting, running between the wickets and fielding (no catches dropped) by Carlton was first class, they all had smiles from start to finish. A joy to coach. IT U12 Boys The very afternoon following England’s meek surrender of the Ashes, Carlton’s U12 boys headed to Broughton High School for their first taste of indoor winter cricket in 2022. Presumably either inspired by the Baggy Greens or determined to restore cricketing pride for England in the 2029/2030 series, our young men put on two fine displays in matches against Murrayfield DAFS and Stew Mel. U12 indoor cricket is not for the faint hearted, and the guys hit big and bowled fast – exploiting the hard surface and even bounce, like a Day 3 pitch at Adelaide. Great catches and fielding as well capped two outstanding displays and wins of Aussie like margins. Well played to Theo, Noah, Archie, Ollie, Elliott P, Elliott M and Daniel. JG JUNIOR ACTION While the stars of the First XI have been swanning about in the South of Spain, Carlton’s juniors at all ages, boys and girls have been flying the club colours in the winter’s indoor leagues across the region. Here are a couple of reports of the action.