Issue 5

A Misty Start for Brad It is hard to imagine that there was a time when Brad McKay was not counting the pennies at Grange Loan. Brad remembers his arrival at the club. I joined Carlton in 2004, not long after I’d arrived from Australia on my two year working holiday visa (note I’m still here!). Sitting in my flat on Marchmont Road one evening, I looked at a map to familiarise myself with my new home. I saw ‘cricket club’ just up the road and thought I’d go for a walk. I wasn’t even planning on playing. I actually hated cricket after a particularly unsuccessful season in Oz. But maybe it’d be a good way of meeting people. I looked over the wooden gate that was there then and saw the ‘interesting’ outfield, a big hole in the ground where the pavilion used to be and a number of portacabins. Brian Forrester’s number was on the gate, so I went home and called it. I told him I was a gun player, which he ignored and invited me to nets. I duly went on the Thursday and was picked to play 3’s on Saturday. Saturday came. I had no kit so I went to Aitken and Niven and bought some whites but nothing else (exchange rate was a killer) and then to Grange Loan where I met my new teammates and skipper Alan Murray. Heriots 3’s were the visitors and I recall them all being old and fat, the Carlton team a mixture of teenagers and men. We batted first and racked up 260 odd. Despite being listed to bat 7 (good times!), I wasn’t required. I did open the bowling (the inevitable uphill into a hurricane) and couldn’t get used to the softer, slower pitch. A mixture of half trackers and full tosses finally reaped rewards with my first Carlton wicket - a catch off a full toss. We were well on top and an easy win looked likely. However, the haar came down late afternoon and Heriot’s used it as an opportunity to try to get the game called off. To my surprise, it worked; so with no pavilion to retire to, we repaired to the portacabin for some beers out of a box and I got to know my team-mates a bit better. An enjoyable day out, so much so that I came back the next week for more. The rest is history. Last week’s pads belonged to Stevie Gilmour

Carlton’s First Lady Before Helen Blair started her career as a zippy PR professional in London, she was Carlton’s first women’s skipper, leading them to the Scottish Cup in 2013 and a league and cup double in 2014. She shares some memories of the social side of her time at Grange Loan. Having joined Carlton in 2012 and with the backing of a supportive and progressive committee, we set out to start up a women’s team at the club. We soon got into the rhythm of things with recruitment, training and matches, but one of my favourite rituals was our famous Friday night teas at the club, which became an essential part of every training session. Whilst we were there for the cricket (of course…) it was always nice to grab some food together and play a few games. On one occasion I even recall cricket ball pinatas in the clubhouse…. Another great memory I have of Carlton is the Burns’ Night. I can’t pretend I still fully understand the full formalities of a Burn’s Supper, but I fondly remember John Boyd’s toast to the Lassies and having to deliver the Lassie’s response on behalf of the women’s team! A slightly less successful social was an Aussie night we hosted to welcome new players. Buying far too much Fosters for the bar and having a severely delayed BBQ because it wouldn’t light due to rain wasn’t my finest hour! The women’s team, under Ruth’s leadership, has come such a long way in the past 5 and a half years and I’m tremendously proud to see how it has grown to be more successful, more competitive and more diverse than ever before, welcoming a range of players and ages from internationals to complete beginners. It’s the people that make Carlton such a special club to be involved with. It takes a special type of person to travel half-way across the country for a game to be rained off in the first 10 overs and still want to do it all again the next week. The teams, particularly the women, always played in such good spirit, helping each other improve and learn while having a lot of fun in the process. While it’s been a while since I’ve put my whites on, I still keep an eye from afar and look forward to coming up and walking laps of the GL boundary again soon.