Issue 67

Scores over 200 Chris’s innings is the highest scored by a Carlton player. It is the first score over 200 by a Carlton batter since Ali Shah scored 207* in 2013 for the Second XI against Watsonians 2. Prior to that the only Carlton player to top 200 had been in 1908 when George Jupp scored 202* against Royal High School FP. Highest Scores in Scottish Cricket Chris’s innings equals the highest in the Eastern Premier League. George Munsey was dismissed for 220, for Watsonians at Falkland in 2017. There is one other score of 200 in the EPL - Matthew Cross scored 200* for Heriot’s against Arbroath United in 2021. However the highest scores in league matches in Scotland happened in the now defunct Borders League. In 1976 Rae Nichol blasted 232 for Gala against Selkirk (for whose soccer team he was goal-keeper) which was exceeded in 1989 by Steve Carr’s 254 for Langholm against Lanark. Big scores may be even less frequent in the lower leagues, but they do happen. In 2010 Ritchie Bartsch scored 236* against MDAFS 4 It must be a record How do Chris McBride’s innings of 220*, and the First XI’s total of 420-3 on 11 May stand in the record books? Fastest Scoring Rate Chris’s innings came off 115 balls and included 24 4s and 11 6s. His strike rate was 192.98. Munsey faced 125 balls and hit 25 4s and 12 6s, a strike rate of 176.00. Cross faced 162 balls had 18 4s and 7 6s and had a strike rate of 123.5. as newly formed Teuchters CC entered the leagues for the first time. He would later that season hit 91 at Grange Loan against Carlton 4. Teuchters disbanded in 2016. Highest Scores at Grange Loan It is the highest individual score at Grange Loan. The previous highest individual innings was 177* scored by George Munsey for Grange in 2015. In 1999 Zahoor Elahi scored 170 for SMRH. The previous highest by a Carlton batter was Ollie Rae’s 171* in 2016 against Galloway. The highest by a male Carlton batter was by Gordon Drummond with 169 against Renfrew in the 2011 Cup Tie. The highest score by a Carlton male batter in a league match was Fraser Watts’ 162 against Falkland in 2017.

Carlton Women’s victory over Galloway in 2016 was by 260 runs which is GL’s biggest margin. The biggest margin in the EPL is Watsonians’ crushing of Falkland by 314 in 2017. Ancient History But there is a long way to go to reach the highest total ever recorded in a Scottish cricket match - in 1919 the Australian Imperial Forces XI relaxed after their efforts on the Western Front by scoring 733-6 against Western District Select at Shawholm. The highest individual innings recorded on Scottish soil was in 1898 when W H Holms scored 303* for Blair Lodge School against Campsie. Blair Lodge was a public school on the English model and was attended by NL Stevenson. It had a formidable record in sports. Holms was the school captain and was selected to play for Scotland at rugby while still at school. Blair Lodge School closed in 1904 - the property subsequently becoming a Borstal and most recently Polmont Young Offenders Institution. As referred to in the previous issue of The Arrow, the highest innings by a Scottish batter is Stewart Carrick’s 419* for West of Scotland against Chichester Priory Park in 1885. Partnership Chris and Dan Da Costa put on 205 for the 3rd wicket. This is the highest Carlton partnership for the 3rd wicket, beating by one run Preston Mommsen (119*) and Jamie Kerr’s (109*) unbeaten partnership of 204 in 2010 at Titwood. It is the 13th partnership for Carlton over 200 (including 3 prior to World War II). The highest partnership of 262 was achieved last season between Ruaraidh Main and Dan Da Costa. Highest Team Total Carlton’s total of 420-3 is the highest First XI total in the club’s history, easily eclipsing the previous high of 388-5 against Stoneywood Dyce in 2016. It is the highest total scored at Grange Loan. However it is not the highest in the EPL. Watsonians, powered by Munsey’s innings referred to above, got to 440-4. Nor is it the highest by a Carlton XI, since the Third XI scored 441-5 against LFAB 2 in 2010 in an ESCA Division 5 match. Victory Margin The margin of victory of 237 runs is the highest for Carlton’s First XI batting first. Photos - previous Grange Loan record holders: Ollie Rae 171* ; Gordon Drummond 169, Ali Shah 207* More Records

The pavilion was constructed just before the First World War and has subsequently been developed and extended several times. In 1902 the Scottish Counties Championship was inaugurated and Aberdeenshire won the competition in its second year. They went on to win it 11 times. They dominated the competition in the 1970s and 80s, winning it 6 times between 1975 and 1983. The Championship disbanded with the founding of the Scottish National Cricket Leagues in 1996. Aberdeenshire were also winners of the Scottish section of the National Club Cricket Championship in 1981 and 82, known at the time as the John Haig Trophy, reaching the quarter finals and losing to Scarborough the eventual winners on both occasions. Aberdeenshire won the first Scottish National League in 1996, the SNCL North Division in 2004, SNCL Division 1 in 2008, the SNCL Premier division in 2009 and the Eastern Premier League in 2014, when they also won the National Club Championship, beating Ayr by 5 wickets. They fell out of the Eastern Premier League at the end of the 2019 season and have subsequently competed in the Strathmore & Perthshire Union where they were runners-up in 2021. Aberdeenshire have won the Scottish Cup twice, in 1996 and 2009. The Mannofield XI, in effect Aberdeenshire’s Second XI, were a force in the Strathmore Union winning it on 4 occasions. They have won the Strathmore & Perthshire Union Premier Division 7 times. In 2022 the club was home to the Northern Lights women's team who competed that season in the Woman's Premier League. Carlton in Aberdeen Long before Edinburgh’s Carlton ventured north to Mannofield, there was a club of the same name, established in the 1870s, who competed in the local leagues. They were Aberdeen Junior League Champions in 1928, 29 and 30, and also winners of the Bon Accord Cup on occasion, but did not survive World War 2 Carlton v Aberdeenshire The forthcoming Scottish Cup second round tie with Aberdeenshire gives the opportunity to look into the history of contests between the clubs. Aberdeenshire Cricket Club was founded in April 1857. Within 2 seasons the team was strong enough to entertain Grange CC and to employ its first professional: Harry Lillywhite, a member of the distinguished cricketing family of the Victorian era whose members also included the founders of the great sports store at Piccadilly Circus. (There was a branch of the store in Edinburgh’s Princes St until the 1980s). The club was an early member of the fledgling Scottish Cricket Union. With the support of prominent local businessmen, the club purchased Mannofield, its current ground in 1890, its third location in the city. The opening fixture was a match against the Gentlemen of Edinburgh.

Carlton v Aberdeenshire While Aberdeenshire first played Grange CC in 1859, it is uncertain when Carlton and Aberdeenshire first crossed swords. NL Stevenson refers to the fixture being revived in 1906, when Carlton were victorious at Mannofield, after dismissing the home side for 71, but there is no record of those earlier encounters. He makes reference to some subsequent matches - in 1908 he himself took 7 wickets for 35 to bring victory at Grange Loan. In 1913 Carlton won by 8 wickets at Grange Loan and there were further victories in 1920 and 21. In 1921, Aberdeenshire were the county champions and the defeat by Carlton was their only loss of the season. Carlton were dubbed by the newspapers Scottish champions that season. Following the Second World War there were only 3 encounters between the clubs prior to the SNCL. A drawn friendly in 1972 and cup ties in 1982 and 1995, both of which went Carlton’s way. Overall in this period, there have been 39 matches between the clubs. Carlton have won 19 and lost 12 with 4 draws and 4 matches abandoned. The most recent meeting was in the 2019 SC at GL when Carlton won convincingly by 218 runs. Batting first, Rory McCann’s 119 (photo below) helped the home team post 315 for 6 before the Carlton bowlers knocked the visitors over for 97. Four years previously things had been considerably closer with Carlton emerging the narrowest of victors on DLS at Mannofield. A century opening partnership between Hamish Gardner and Fraser Watts was the foundation of the victory. Carlton pro Robin Singh was the first Carlton player to score 100 against Aberdeenshire, which he did in the 1995 cup tie. Cedric English scored 2 centuries (108 in 2001 and 146 in 2010) and Rory McCann (see above), Fraser Watts (103 in 2015) and Michael Herdman (104 in 2017 - photo below also got three figure scores against Aberdeenshire. Mike Smith (above right - elder son of CC Smith, see elsewhere in this issue) scored 120* for Aberdeenshire in the 1996 cup semi final as Aberdeenshire demolished Carlton by 10 wickets at Grange Loan. They went on to win the final. Omar Ahmad (seen below) is the only Carlton bowler to take 5 Aberdeenshire wickets. He took 5 for 13 at GL in 2012 as Aberdeenshire were skittled for 64. Ali Evans is Carlton’s leading wicket taker against Aberdeenshire with 24 scalps including 4-23 in 2018’s league match at Grange Loan.

Aberdeenshire - Professionals More recently, New Zealander Todd Astle was pro at Mannofield in 2008 and 2009, playing a big hand in the club’s double trophy success in his second season. He subsequently played 5 Tests and 9 ODIs for NZ. Without doubt the most celebrated professional to have played at Aberdeenshire is West Indian test star Rohan Kanhai who spent 3 seasons in Aberdeen between 1958 and 1960. The West Indian connection at Aberdeenshire was strong and Kanhai was the third of a line of highly effective West Indian professionals at Mannofield. The first was Bermudan Alma Hunt, who had been overlooked by the West Indies selectors in 1933 (Bermuda not being affiliated to the West Indian set up). He came to Scotland and played eight seasons at Mannofield between 1933 and 1947. During these years he plundered 8,190 runs, including 22 centuries, and took 685 wickets. In the process, he steered Aberdeenshire to their first county championship in 24 years in 1946 and repeated the feat the following season which was his last in Scotland. In one legendary match for Aberdeenshire in 1939, against West Lothian Hunt took seven wickets for 11 runs as West Lothian scored 48. In response, Hunt opened the batting and scored all 49 runs required to win, hitting two sixes and eight boundaries in 25 minutes. Hunt also became the first black cricketer to represent Scotland, when he played two games in August 1938; a draw against Australia in a two-day game played at Forthill, followed by a loss in a three-day game against Yorkshire at Harrogate. NL Stevenson described Hunt as a ‘genuine personality… who played his cricket with a captivating and refreshing zest, …and panther like in the field like the great West Indian contemporary [Leary] Constantine.’ He moved back to Bermuda, and became heavily involved with administration of cricket on the island. He became President of the Bermuda Cricket Board in 1966, holding the office for 18 consecutive years. As Bermuda's delegate to the International Cricket Council he was instrumental in advancing Associate Cricket and instituting the ICC Trophy, which Scotland won in 2005 and 2014 to qualify for the World Cup. He was awarded the OBE in 1978 for services to sport in Bermuda. Scotland made a lasting impression on Hunt, he named his house in Bermuda “Mannofield” after Aberdeenshire’s ground. He died in 1999. Hunt (above) was followed at Mannofield by his cousin and fellow Bermudan Nigel Hazel (below) who went on to play for an extended period at Strathmore CC where he led them to the Scottish Cup victory in 1971. He died in 1996 at the age of 75.

By the time 22 year-old Rohan Kanhai arrived at Mannofield he had already played Test cricket having made test debut at Edgbaston in 1957 and played throughout the series. The subsequent three summers he spent at Aberdeenshire where his batting dazzled - he was at the time rated in the top 5 batsmen in the world. He started off like he meant to continue - scoring 101* in his first match (out of 129-4) despite batting with a pulled hamstring. In his first season he scored 1128 runs at an average of 104. It was not enough to give Aberdeenshire the title - a drawn final match allowed Perthshire to win the tightly contested championship. In his final season Kanhai scored a record aggregate of 766 runs in the Scottish Counties Championship alone. Sadly for Aberdeenshire, despise his box office appeal, they could not afford to keep such a star for a fourth season and Kanhai went to Blackpool CC. Kanhai subsequently spent 10 seasons at Warwickshire where he scored over 11,000 runs at an average of 51.62. Kanhai played 79 Tests for the West Indies scoring 6227 runs at 47.53 with 15 centuries. Following the retirement of Gary Sobers in 1973 he was briefly skipper. Kanhai had many admirers. Perhaps the greatest was the great West Indian cricket writer C. L. R. James. “Kanhai,” he wrote, “discovered, created, a new dimension in batting. He had found his way into regions Bradman never knew.” Another admirer was Indian run machine Sunil Gavaskar. He said that Kanhai was the greatest batsman he had ever seen, and he was so impressed by Kanhai that he called his own son Rohan. Rohan Kanhai Before Kanhai could go on to excite regular headlines like the below, Aberdeenshire had to find somewhere for his to stay.

Mannofield has been Aberdeenshire’s home since 1890. It was awarded ICC ODI status in 2008. There have been 47 Scottish Cap matches at Mannofield, The first was in 1930 against Ireland, which Scotland won by 10 wickets, Carlton and Greenock’s John Kerr scoring 89. Scotland’s most recent match at Mannofield was a loss in 2022 to USA in the final match of a World Cricket League series. They had won the previous matches against USA and UAE In 2014 Scotland lost to England in a on-off ODI which the weather reduced to 20 overs per side. Carlton’s Ali Evans could do little to stop the flow of runs from Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Eoin Morgan. In 1971 Stenhousemuir’s Brian Hardie, soon to move to Essex, scored 100 in each innings of a drawn 3 day match against MCC. In 2009 in a ODI against Canada Gordon Drummond took 4-41, his best bowling performance for Scotland. While Fraser Watts scored 0 in that match, he had scored 101 in the match between the teams the preceding day, his top score for Scotland. In 2008 New Zealand had an easy victory - although Brendon McCullum was dismissed by current Carlton coach Dewald Nel. Mannofield But the most celebrated match in Mannofield’s history was in 1948 and featured the last appearance of Don Bradman in Britain. He is seen below leading his team out. Bradman scored 123* in front of a reported crowd of 10,000 as Australia coasted to an easy innings victory. Carlton’s Tom Crosskey was Scotland’s most successful batter with 49 in their first innings. Also in the Scotland side was Aberdeenshire’s George Youngson who took 3 wickets for 114 runs off 35 overs. The Australians visited Mannofield on two further occasions in 1956, when they had another easy innings victory, and in 1964 when the match was drawn.

Towards the end of the 2016 season, Carlton travelled to Mannofield with the championship in the balance. A win would secure the title. A waterlogged ground meant that there was no play, leaving Carlton in an unassailable position at the top of the league. A small celebration took place.

There have been 2 significant players to have played for both Carlton and Aberdeenshire during their careers. Aberdeen born RS Clark played for Aberdeenshire prior to the First World War. He was selected to play for Scotland against Ireland in 1912. Though he scored only 4 in the first innings and 0 in the second - this was a vital contribution, as Scotland won the match by 3 runs. Clark may be better known as the biologist on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated Antarctic Expedition in 1914-16. Following the abandonment of their ship the Endurance in the pack ice, he was among those left on Elephant Island while Shackleton sailed to South Georgia to seek help. They were eventually rescued over 4 months later. During the stay on Elephant Island Clark managed to produce a primitive alcoholic beverage from methylated spirit, sugar, water and ginger which became known as "Gut Rot 1916" and was drunk with a toast to "Wives and Sweethearts" on Saturdays. He came to Carlton in 1921, often travelling from Aberdeen where he became Director of the Fisheries Research Station. NL Stevenson described him as ‘a super batsman, so effortless was his play.’ He was selected again for Scotland in 1924, when he played two matches against the touring South Africans. He also played for Devon in the Minor Counties Championship when he was stationed in the South West. RS CLARK, CC SMITH Carlton and Aberdeenshire Chris Smith, joined Carlton in 1961 and quickly became established as the club’s key all-rounder. He scored 6,168 runs and took 463 wickets. He was the club’s Best Bat four years in succession between 1963 and 1966, and subsequently in 1968. He was best bowler in 1966. 71 and 73. He moved to Aberdeen in 1973 to pursue his medical career and became a key player for Aberdeenshire until the mid-1980s. During his time at Mannofield Aberdeenshire won the County Championship 6 times. While Chris did not score a century while at Carlton, he regularly topped 3 figures at Aberdeenshire and his 132* in 1977 was the highest score by an Aberdeenshire amateur. While he was at Carlton Chris played against Aberdeenshire in a friendly in 1972. He took 4-23 in the drawn match. In 1982 he played for Aberdeenshire in a cup tie at Grange Loan. He may not have enjoyed his return to his previous hunting ground too much since he scored only 1 and didn’t bowl as Carlton won by 28 runs. Chris retained a high affection for Carlton and was a match sponsor for many years. He was also awarded Honorary Life Membership. Chris’s two sons Mike and Roddy became fine cricketers themselves. RS Clark in Carlton and Antarctic gear Report of CC Smith’s last match for Carlton. It was at Leith Links as had his first league match in Edinburgh when he played for Edinburgh University.

Chris Smith is seated far left in the First XI photo for 1973, his last year at Grange Loan In August this year, Mannofield will be the venue for the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier, and the Scottish Super 10 Franchise Event.

Aberdeenshire and Scotland Colin Smith The wicket-keeper batsman is Aberdeenshire’s most capped player with 182 caps between 1999 and 2009. In Scotland’s 2007 World Cup match against Australia he top scored with 51. Dallas Moir The left arm spinner played 16 cap matches for Scotland and went on to play First Class cricket at Derbyshire. His best return for Scotland best 4-43 v Ireland and for Derbyshire he took 6-60 v Notts. While at Aberdeenshire, his 3-8 off 11 overs was central to Aberdeenshire’s cup final victory by 2 runs over Clydesdale in 1986. George Youngson had 17 Scottish caps between 1947 and 1955 In 1950 against Ireland at Perth in 1950 he took 7-42 in the first innings and 4-77 in the second innings. Willie Donald He played 58 cap matches for Scotland between 1978 and 1987 and was President of Cricket Scotland in 2018-19. His brother Richard Donald played for both Carlton and Aberdeenshire.

There have been a few changes to the GL bar both behind the scenes and front of house. Very sadly Susanna won’t be behind the bar this season as she now has a job in London and we couldn’t persuade her to come back every weekend. Although she has assured me she will be back as a customer when watching Zaki play ! Grace Simpson will be working most weekends with Leo Crutchley and Callum Glass also doing shifts. You might see Al Murray or John Beattie serving after a Sunday match - and if anyone else would like to be trained to do a volunteer shift after a match, please let Kerryknow. If you have been at the bar since the start of the season (and if not, why not ?) then you’ll have noticed that we have a new beer on tap - Ice Breaker IPA. We have also expanded the variety of drinks at Carlton Cocktail Corner with the new Grange Loan Spritz one to try. As always we have a large variety of soft and non alcoholic drinks including Jump Ship Lager and IPA - a big thank you to them for continued sponsorship of the club. Social events are a big part of Carlton. Not only are they a great way to mix with other members but they bring valuable revenue into the club. Expenditure on the ground and the nets has to be paid for and by coming along to support events at the club, you can do your bit - and have a good time too!

Catch Me if You Can! Epic Run Chases There was great excitement at Grange Loan at the start of the month as Carlton 2 chased down Drummond Trinity’s apparently unassailable 262 to give them an important victory in the first skirmish of their Division 1 campaign. All the batters contributed, with Ben D’Ulisse’s 67 and Charles Buchanan-Smith’s 51 ensuring that they stayed in touch with the run rate. Even so 12 was needed off the last over. Cometh the hour…… skipper Charles Stronach’s mighty six off the second ball brought the victory within grasp and with 2 needed off 3 balls, misfield mayhem allowed Max D’Ulisse to scramble the necessary runs for victory (photo below). It was said after the match that the biggest cheer came at Goldenacre when the moment of victory interrupted Arun Pillai’s post mortem on a disappointing day for the First XI. Awesome as this chase was, it was not the highest in the Second’s history. In 1991 they faced up to chase 263 at Inverleith against StewMel 2. Things got off to a poor start and they were soon 11-3. But an unbeaten stand of 253 between Chris Kear (140*) and Paul Bailey (90) (nb this is not the same P Bailey who has recently featured in the 5th XI) took them home to a momentous victory in 41.5 overs. The First XI’s highest chase was in 2009 against Uddingston at Bothwell Castle. Uddingston put 271-5 on the board built on Australian Tom Plant’s 108. When Bryn Lockie was third out with the score on 96, a victory looked a distant prospect. But a partnership of 165 between skipper Cedric English (143*) and Ross Lyons (80) brought Carlton within sight and the secured the victory in the 49th over. English quite liked the Uddingston attack - the next season he scored 148* against them at Grange Loan. This was the highest of the 18 centuries he scored for Carlton. The Third XI scored 237-3 in 44.2 overs to overtake Dunfermline Knights 2 at McKane Park in 2011. An unbeaten 100 for Aravind Srinivasan and 98 for Seb Rae. Younger members celebrate a great 3rd chase. The Fourth XI went to Largo for the final match of the 2018 season needing victory to secure their promotion slot. Things did not go quite to plan when the home team racked up 234-5 off their 40 overs. But when Paul Kentish was was dismissed for a magnificent 140, 12 were needed off 4 overs and to youngsters Euan Burgess and Rua McIntyre were able to take the 4s home. For the Fifth XI, Fergus Foley’s 80* and skipper Keith Murray’s 58 were the basis of their 195-4 against Drummond Trinity 5 at Grange Loan in 2022. The visitors’ innings had seen the unusual sight of James Stronach bowling - he took 3-26. Fergus reaches his 50 in the Fifth’s Great Chase - Highlight on this link In 2022 Carlton's women chased down 172-8 to secure a momentous victory against the Northern Lights at Mannofield. Sam Haggo’s 61 off 32 balls being the top score after Gabby Fontenla’s 4-26 had done much to slow the home momentum.

Carlton teams have also suffered by seeing a seemingly impregnable total chipped away. In the final match of the 2004 season against Ferguslie, the First XI put 281-6 on the board, with 151 from Fraser Watts, and might have felt confident in defending it. But 100 from the late Con DeLange supported by 54 from Majid Haq gave the Paisley side a 4 wicket victory in the last over. Ferguslie were just pipped by Clydesdale for the title that season. The Second XI, with Peter Swan and Craig Marshall each scoring 94 amassed 261-7 against Watsonians 2 in 2009 at Grange Loan, only to lose by 3 wickets. Watsonians were generous enough to acknowledge later in a message on the ESCA website the sporting nature of the match in which Carlton gave Watsonians a substitute fielder throughout the match when they suffered a late call up to the First XI and and a subsequent injury during the match. The Third XI have twice been chased down for 177. In 2018 it was not enough against Edinburgh South who overtook it with 1 wicket to spare. Dunfermline made an easier job of it in 2022, losing only 4 wickets as they chased down Carlton’s total which had owed much to 71 from Paul Kentish and 51* from the late Amit Bij. Scores of 200 are not the norm for the Fourth XI, so going to tea with 243-6 on the board (thanks to 63 from Leigh Kasperek and 58 from Craig Everett) against Teuchters at Grange Loan in 2010 left them reasonably confident. However the visitors had other ideas and, despite a hattrick from Neil Browning, they reached the unlikely total with one ball to spare. In 2018 the Fifth XI’s 151-3 (Keith Murray 79*) against Musselburgh was not good enough to avoid a narrow 1 wicket defeat. In 2012 the Women failed to defend 94-3 in a 20 over match with George Watson’s. Coming Soon To Grange Loan Fri 7 June - Pizza Geeks Sat 15 June - Social Event by Carlton Women - can they better last year’s Bingo Night? Fri 20 July - Pizza Geeks

I swapped the six months of the Scottish winter to play cricket down under in Melbourne; it’s been one of the most exciting, challenging and rewarding experiences of my cricket career and life so far. After completing my undergraduate studies last year I was offered the opportunity to play as the overseas for Port Melbourne CC in the Victorian Sub-district Cricket Association – regarded as the second-strongest league in Victoria. With nothing planned for the British winter, accepting a deal to travel halfway across the world to play cricket was a no brainer! Upon landing in Australia there was no rest, as I was taken for a tour of the club by the president and coach before joining the team for training in the evening. The club is one of the oldest and biggest in Victoria, with a rich history and an unbelievable ground with many of its past players going on to play first-class cricket. Similar to Carlton, the squad was comprised of young talented players with many in their early twenties, making the environment enjoyable on and off the field. Following a meeting with the first team coach, I was made aware that the club had only moved up to subdistrict level a couple of years ago and had been struggling with the jump in standard, only winning one of their games last season even with the help of Essex’s Feroze Kushi as their overseas scoring over 400 runs. After the first three games, despite some strong individual performances from myself and other teammates, we were yet to have our first win of the season. However, in the fourth game of the season, the team put together a comprehensive win, beating Moorabbin by 73 runs. From then on the team started to click, putting in some solid performances and going on to win seven from our last ten games. We ended up closely missing out on finals, however, the club was more than happy with the way the team performed compared to previous years. I hope they can carry on the momentum we gained from the end of the season and aim for finals next year. Lewis after his 6/69 off 26 overs in 35 degree heat. Two balls had to be used after the first Kookaburra's seam started to split. LEWIS O’DONNELL A Successful Winter Down Under

Personally, I couldn’t have asked for much more from a cricketing perspective. I ended the season with 39 wickets at an average of 14.44, finishing second in the league wicket tally after being top until the penultimate game only for someone to take 9 wickets in an innings and knock me off the top spot! A particular highlight was a game against finalists Ormond, where I took 6/69 off 26 overs, bowling 16 overs in my second spell. With the bat I also put together some strong performances, especially in the white ball games scoring 213 runs at an average of 30.43, including a half-century against a bowling attack including ex-Tasmania and Big Bash bowler Andrew Fekete, taking our side from 79-6 to 8-186 in a tightly fought game in which we narrowly came out on top. At the end of the season I was picked for the VSDCA team of the year and awarded the Port Melbourne 1st grade bowling and club champion awards. Outside of playing for Port Melbourne, I was part of the International Cricket Programme, where I received 1:1 and group coaching. The programme offered two sessions a week with a real focus on individual skills and the mental side of the game, a nice contrast to the team sessions run by Port Melbourne. Under the tutelage of Dimi Mascarenhas, Bobby Quiney and Ian Holland, I feel like my game has steadily improved. As well as improving my cricket, the programme allowed me to meet other overseas cricketers and form some good friendships. I was also fortunate enough to play some games for The Crusaders; an organisation similar to the MCC with the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Will Sutherland having previously represented the organisation. It was a great opportunity to play some more cricket at fantastic grounds with good players, in total I played four matches for The Crusaders against some of the local schools and cricket Australia staff. Overall, the experience of spending the winter in Australia has been amazing and I am excited to get back to Carlton for what should be an exciting and successful summer.

DAVID PONNIAH (POON) RECALLS THE SCOTTISH CRICKET TEAM OF THE YEAR Between 1985 and 1996 Poon played 123 League and Cup matches and 30 T20 matches for Carlton scoring a total of 3243 runs. His top score was 110, scored in a drawn match at Kirkcaldy in 1987. He was Best Bat in season 1986 when he scored 625 League and Cup runs at 44.64. Prior to coming to Grange Loan, David played at Stenhousemuir. For Stenhousemuir against Carlton his highest score was 96* in a drawn match at the Tryst in 1984. He was in the Stenhousemuir side which lost the Masterton final to Carlton in 1982. His best for Carlton against Stenhousemuir was 80* in the Masterton semi-final in 1994. Carlton won the final against Watsonians.

1988 - The Glory Year One of the strange and annoying aspects of playing cricket at Grange Loan was the presence and proximity of the Carlton Buffties (def; a Buffty is an old and eccentric academic), seated on the hill expressing their views on most aspects of life, and in particular on cricket. 36 years later, I am now a Buffty and I thought it is my turn to comment and maybe encourage the present cohort of cricketers, to enjoy the game of cricket and appreciate that winning is not the ultimate goal. At the outset it must be stated, if not widely known, that in 1988 the Club was celebrating 125 years and incredibly won the East League for the first time and further won the Masterton Trophy (presented by Mrs Masterton, the Club Patron). It was an excellent and rewarding year for Carlton. Hence, with the aid of the current buffties I gathered records of the year 1988. I thought it might be interesting to further delve into these records, players and their performances without actually naming individuals. It must be always remembered that Cricket is a team game characterised by individual performances, and overall success is only through the performance of all members of that team. There were about 20 individuals who represented the Club in 1988, and it could be fairly said that 10 players played a significant part in the performance of the team. Professional paid cricketers from around the world were permitted to play in many of the leagues in Scotland, including the East League. Carlton chose not to hire a professional for a number of reasons, including the enormous cost. The Club eventually benefited from this decision, with all the amateur players having the opportunity to contribute to the success of the team, without the professional dominating the proceedings. While many of the cricket clubs in Scotland drew their players from local schools, Carlton benefitted from players joining from outside this group, and the 1988 team matched this profile of players. Few of the players came through the ranks of the club, and the majority were from outside Edinburgh. We had players from the Borders, Dunfermline, South Africa, Ceylon, Aberdeen and even Glasgow. Interestingly the professions covered farmers, teachers (including a trainee priest), academics, racing drivers and some others with dubious activities.Unusually, despite being in close proximity to the Universities there was an absence of undergraduates. Much has been said and written about the ages of the players of that year, ranging from the twenties, thirties, forties and even a fifty. It certainly was a motley crew and rarely brilliant on the field, and even less brilliant at practices. Jim Love of Yorkshire and England was a blunt talker, likened the Carlton Team to Dad’s Army, as in the sitcom. We certainly looked it and even had our own Mainwaring and a Pyke, but Jim was certainly not happy when his Heriot’s side were convincingly beaten! Just as an overview of the individual performances, two of the batsman scored almost half of the runs during the season, with remainder of the runs coming from four other batsmen. These statistics may not be unusual but the bowling statistics are! Two bowlers, the oldest (50+) and the youngest (20+), delivered 50% of the overs and not surprisingly gathered in excess over half of the total number of the wickets. The club won the league in a convincing manner. The rules and the scoring/points system in the East League was tortuous and complicated and does not warrant analysis. What is significant is that Carlton had an overall win percentage of 73%, with none of the other teams even reaching 65%. It was a wet season with soft surfaces to play on and it is not surprising that the bowlers dominated the game. This was also true for Carlton. The final accolade, I personally would give is to the oldest member of the team who bowled brilliantly in 1988, but unfortunately is not with us any more. Carlton 1988 League and Cup Averages R Marsden 574 runs @ 41.00 H Parker 559 runs @ 31.06 D Ponniah 381 runs @ 25.40 R Swan 364 runs @26.00 G Inness 46 wkts @11.17 J Govan 34 wkts@24.54 A Macpherson 27 wkts@21.67 R Dickinson 19 wkts@25.53