Issue 81

Captaining Scotland U16s and 17s was enjoyable but also challenging at times. Winning our first game against Derbyshire I was thinking to myself this will be an enjoyable summer of winning most of our matches. We ended up winning 3/15 of our games versus multiple English counties. Moral wasn’t the highest that it could’ve been especially with the 17s because we didn’t win a single game against the English Counties. After 4 weeks of playing the English Counties we had one more week of representing Scotland against Ireland away in Belfast. Playing against another Country was a really good and enjoyable experience. We played 5 games over the week with 2 50 over games and 3 T20s. We won the first 50 over game by 5 runs after bowling Ireland out in the second last over. The second 50 over Ireland won by 3 wickets chasing down 140 to make the series 1 all. We then played 2 T20s on Thursday. We bowled first in the first game and reduced Ireland to 100 from their 20 overs. We then chased it down in the 18th over. The second T20 we batted first and put 130 on the board. Ireland needed 8 of the last over to make it go to a decider on the last day. Ireland managed to win from the last ball. The last day was a deciding T20 game. We won the toss and chose to bowl and managed to restrict Ireland to 83 from their 20 overs. We then chased it down comfortably only 3 down in the 14th over to win the Celtic Cup 3-2. James Stronach had a busy summer captaining Scotland u17s The photo above shows James striking the winning runs in the final match. In the Celtic Cup James scored 128 runs averaging 42.67. His highest score was 55, the highest of any player in the series

We arrived the day before the first ODI and stayed at Campbell College. On the day of the first game we did our warm ups and then were put into bat after James losing his 6th toss in a row. Despite that, we scored 237 and won a close game by 5 runs. That game was a perfect start to a great series. The next day the warm up was a bit lighter due to the game the day before and James finally won a toss and we batted first but got bowled out for 140 odd. Despite them being 70/0, they lost 7 wickets on their way to 144. On the third day we had a lie in and then visited the city of Belfast where it was wonderful weather (the whole trip the weather was wonderful actually). Then on Thursday we had 2 T20s. The first one we won pretty easily. The second one went right down to the wire - last ball finish where they won. The series was tied on 2-2. On Friday everyone was a bit nervous as whoever won today took it all. We won pretty easily and everyone was really chuffed about that - especially as before the series, we hadn’t even won one game. Playing under James was very fun - he was always calm - even under pressure and also batted exceptionally well. He also hit the winning shot in the final game. Every game had key moments but the difficult loss on Thursday made us want that win on Friday even more. My highlights were taking a few wickets and hitting the winning shot in the first T20. The ground we played on was lovely - the Ireland boys told us the Ireland test team had played a test here. Overall, it was a great series and a fair scoreline in the end. Shreyas recounts a successful Celtic Cup campaign for Scotland u17 In the Celtic Cup matches, Shreyas took 9 wickets for 85 runs, best 3-10 and scored 66 runs.

I was thrilled to be selected this year for the EK and Scotland girls U15 squad along with my Carlton teammates, Sonia and Keira. One particular highlight for me from the regional programme was taking 5 wickets playing FOR the Western Warriors U18 v EK U18s (I was not popular with the EK girls!!) For Scotland we started the season with a week in Strathallan and six match multi format series against the Netherlands. This was a great experience, playing with other girls from all over the country, and having loads of fun. We won all of our games on that tour and picked up many valuable pieces of advice from both our coaches, and other girls who had been in the team before. I was lucky to get a few wickets for Scotland and had one good match with the bat which helped my confidence. Secondly, we went on tour to the north of England, playing both the Northumberland and Cumbria County teams. These games were far more challenging, and we all got to witness a standard of cricket that we hadn't experienced before at U15 level. We played five games in total, two against Cumbria and three against Northumberland. We beat Cumbria both times, but caught off guard by the standard of the Northumberland team. After being beaten twice on the first day, we dug deep on our final day of the tour and managed to scrape a win, in a very tight game. Overall, we all contributed with bat and ball, which we were all very happy with, as our first year in the Scotland set up. I am so proud of myself and the other Carlton girls, and whilst I know I have lots to work on over the winter, I cannot wait for next season. A SCOTTISH SUMMER WITH AGGIE FOLEY

This season Hamish and I were selected for Scotland U15. Following training over the winter in Dollar, we had three week-long summer tours. The first was in Middlesbrough against a strong Middlesex Schools side. We played two 50 over games on the Monday and Tuesday which were competitive games that we unfortunately lost. We were due to play three T20s but due to bad weather we only managed one on the Thursday. This was an incredible game which ended in a tie and Scotland won on a super over! Next we went to Dumfries to play the Celtic Cup against Ireland. This was a very close series. We played two 50 over games. We won the first convincingly and lost the second game on the Tuesday. Next we had three T20s. We lost two and won one, meaning that we lost the series 3-2. It was a great experience playing against a good Ireland side and it was the closest Celtic Cup at U15 level in the last few years. Scotland u15 - Tom Hathorn tells how he and skipper Hamish Foley go back a long way. The week after we went to Barnard Castle School to play in the BA county festival. It was a really fun week, staying at the school along with the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland andsix English sides. We played five 50 over games in five days in nearly 30 degree heat! We won our first game against MACC academy but unfortunately lost the next 4 including a narrow loss against the winners of the tournament, Netherlands. It was a great experience to represent Scotland and play against good teams. I really enjoyed it and have learnt a lot. It was also amazing to play for Scotland with Hamish who I went to nursery with and have known since we were 4!

This season I was selected for the Scotland and Eastern Knights U15 squads. This was hugely enjoyable and was a great experience to represent the regional and national sides. I had the brilliant opportunity to captain the EK U15 team this year to become the U15 regional championship winners, alongside Tom H, Lewis B and Atreya S also from Carlton contributing to the success. Another highlight of this year was getting called up to play in the EK U17s side against touring team Midstream College from South Africa which was very cool to play against a team from the other side of the world! Later in the season the Scotland Programme kicked off and myself and Tom H were selected to represent Scotland and it was a great honour to be named captain for this side. First was a 4 day series against Middlesex Schools, and we finished the tour by winning a tight T20 in a super over! Next I played for the U16s in the ECB county cup alongside Carlton teammate James S who captained the side. Then the U15 Celtic Cup against Ireland in Dumfries which we kicked off with a Scotland victory in a 50 over game. It was very cool to play and captain against another national side. Unfortunately we narrowly lost the series 3-2 to a strong Ireland team. A hugely enjoyable week none the less. To finish off the Scotland U15s campaign we travelled down to Barnard Castle School to take part in a festival. With great weather all week, my highlight was playing against Netherlands u16 in a close fought match which unfortunately ended in a narrow loss to the eventual festival winners. I also had a first 4-fer in a Scotland top that week! Once again a very enjoyable week and a great standard of Cricket. It was an awesome summer and very cool to play in a national side alongside friends who I have been playing cricket with for years going all the way back to softball juniors cricket at Grange Loan. I look forward to next year A SCOTTISH SUMMER WITH HAMISH FOLEY

While we couldn’t quite stretch to a red carpet, we were very pleased to welcome Omar Henry recently appointed President of Cricket Scotland to Grange Loan. Omar had expressed interest in seeing Carlton’s renowned junior programme in action. Siobhan and Martin were able to tell him how our approach is organised before he watched Dan and Max in coaching action. Max was able to tell him how he had first come to the Wednesday night sessions from age 5 and had developed through the age groups to the senior teams. He described the buzz he got from being part of the coaching team he had once learned from. After name checking a number of mutually familiar S African places and people, Dan described how Carlton's approach compares favourably with anything he had seen in S Africa or England. All in all Omar was greatly impressed by his visit. He hopes he can work with Cricket Scotland to foster similar commitment to junior development across Scotland. He is clear that this is critical to ensuring the continued health of the game. He took note of a couple of things that would improve clubs’ ability to widen opportunities for youngsters to engage in cricket - particularly the development of coaching expertise and the facilitation of access into schools. We hope this is not the last visit Omar pays to Grange Loan during his term of office - our gates are always open. PRESIDENT OF CRICKET SCOTLAND VISITS CARLTON

Omar Henry - Previously at Carlton Omar Henry played as professional in Scotland for 13 years. When apartheid in South Africa ended and they were readmitted to Test cricket in 1992, he became the first non-white player to represent his native country. He played for Scotland 62 times, including 14 matches as captain, with his final appearance being in 1992. During his career in Scotland Omar played for a number of clubs most significantly Poloc and Stenhousemuir. The league structure during his time in Scotland meant that he had relatively few encounters with Carlton, and even fewer visits to Grange Loan. His last previous visit to Grange Loan was on 19 July 1986 with Stenhousemuir, when he took 5-56 in 22.5 overs. - his victims being the cream of Carlton’s batting: SC Alleyne, RG Swan, R Marsden, AS Macpherson, JW Govan. It was not enough to secure victory for his side. Stenhousemuir had been bowled out for 131 largely due to 5-22 from George Innes. Despite Henry’s pressure Carlton scraped home by 1 wicket. Omar seemed to enjoy bowling at Carlton batters - in the 6 competitive matches he played (including as Masterton Final) he took 21 wickets for 226 runs On an earlier visit to Grange Loan with Poloc in 1980 he scored 55* in a friendly match. His best innings against Carlton was his last but it was at the Tryst - in 1988 he scored 88* in a winning draw for Stenhousemuir. Then skipper Hugh Parker remembers the match with mixed feelings, ‘We played Stennies at The Tryst early in 1988. Our opening bowlers bowled really tightly and he wasn't getting going at all. Others suggested I change the bowling but I thought the pressure was building.... Sure enough the big shot came, the ball went spiralling high in the air - our keeper circled underneath it, and I don't think he even got a glove on it! (I won't name the keeper but he retired from cricket immediately after the game!). Omar proceeded to smash us to all parts and completely took the game away from us.* ‘However, later that season he did great service to Carlton in a nail biting finish to the league competition. In the second last week of the season Carlton and Kirkcaldy were nip and tuck at the top. Carlton defeated Watsonians at Myreside and and anxiously waited news of the match between Stenhousemuir and league leaders Kirkcaldy. The news wasn't good - Stenhousemuir were 7 down and still well short of their target. Omar was still in though, and proceeded to do to Kirkcaldy what he had done to Carlton earlier - he smashed them to all parts and won the game single handedly. That put Carlton top of the table and we went on to win the title shoot out against Kirkcaldy the next weekend to win the club's first league title.’ *David Ponniah also remembers a costly miss: ‘I played against Omar when I was playing for Stenhousemuir and he was at Poloc. He was dropped by Hugh McNicol off my bowling and I still remind Hugh about it.

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It was sunshine, smiles, and sizzling cricket at Brechin as the Carlton Women’s 2s stormed to victory over Strathmore Ospreys in the Challenger Cup Final — with a performance as sparkling as the weather. The setting could not have been better. Cricket Scotland pulled out all the stops: official umpires, music booming after every boundary and wicket, and a buzzing crowd of parents, friends, and supporters. The cheery tunes proved infectious, lifting the spirits of players and spectators alike. Captain Sarah won the toss and boldly put Strathmore in to bat. From the first over, Carlton’s bowlers meant business. Strathmore’s batters were pinned down, struggling to find gaps as the wickets tumbled. The star of the show was Libby, who turned the match on its head with a devastating spell — four wickets in just two overs, conceding a mere three runs. Abby kept the pressure on from the other end, claiming two wickets and delivering two maidens across her three overs. Wickets were also taken by Aggie, Ajitha and Lindsay. By the close of their innings, Strathmore could muster only 44 runs from their allotted 20 overs. Chasing the modest target, Carlton opened with Ajitha and Sonia. Cool-headed and confident, the pair made light work of the chase. With crisp strokes and steady partnerships, they reached the target in the 12th over without the loss of a single wicket, sealing a commanding 10-wicket win. The celebrations continued at the post-match awards ceremony, where the Deputy Provost presented medals and the Challenger Cup to the jubilant Carlton squad captained by Sarah Beith. Fittingly, the Arrow Award went to Libby for her match-defining bowling heroics. Behind the scenes, a heartfelt thanks went to Kelly, whose tireless work scoring not only the final but most of the Women’s 2s matches this season has been invaluable.With family, friends, and teammates cheering them on, it was a day to remember in Brechin — a showcase of spirited cricket, team camaraderie, and a club with plenty to celebrate. [Contributed by Ajitha Rajan] Carlton Women’s 2s Crowned Challenger Cup Champions in Style at Brechin

Carlton was pleased to welcome the popular Australian Podcast The Final World to Grange Loan on 21 August. Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon were much taken with the ground and President Bob Irvine was able to tell Adam a bit about the history as well as the challenges of fielding on the hill. The visitors also recognised the picture of Leigh Kasperek in the clubhouse and Bob was pleased to tell of her long association with the club. The Final Word XI then played a match against Watsonians and found out for themselves the challenge of fielding on the hill. The match ended in a very competitive tie. The Final Word hope to return next year. YOU WATCH THE PODCAST ON THIS LINK: https://youtu.be/MDoym7RYmyk OR LISTEN ON https://t.co/U6i5FeRveX

Junior Sixes - 2025 Sunday 17 August: 43 players, a dozen assorted umpires, mentors & scorers, a valiant posse of chefs, and innumerable spectators descended on Grange Loan for the annual Junior 6s tournament. As usual, the day was a riot of colour and big hitting in glorious sunshine For Carlton Fashionistas, the Annual Junior 6s can only mean one thing: the sight of Martin Firth resplendent in bow tie and panama hat. Thankyou to Martin for organising the event with such efficiency, and for scoring throughout the day and for providing this report of a celebration of all that is good about Carlton. The 2025 Junior Sixes were generously supported by WJM

This year’s edition was dominated by big hitting. 1091 runs were scored off the bat, a new record by a considerable margin. 36 6s and 138 4s were logged in the scorebook, although some of those were aided by overthrows. Finlay T and Tom led the way with 102 and 101 runs, Finlay at a remarkable strike rate of over 300. Junior Sixes - 2025 It is often said that we are a family club: eight pairs of siblings played - all but one on the same team. Almost all of them batted together at some point, without a single comedy run out between them.

The day is enlivened greatly by the spectators who arrive in greater numbers as the day proceeds, encourage the players, provide pithy commentary, and keep the barman busy. We played 12 5-over games. The highest team score was 72, the average was 54. The average score for the team batting second was 3.6 runs higher than that for the team batting second: 55.8 vs 52.2. Half the games came down to the last ball and were won by just 1 or 2 runs. These games were split equally between the teams batting first and second. Every team won at least one game (one of the strong goals for the day). The last game was between the two unbeaten teams - Blue & Yellow. In the end, Team Yellow were the winners and were awarded the prestigious Junior 6s trophy. Junior Sixes - 2025

Thank you very much indeed to everyone who helped run the day - umpires, mentors, chefs and barman. ‘Every year the Junior 6s is a highlight amongst all junior members, and this year did not disappoint. The sun was out and the atmosphere was buzzing! I played for the yellow team alongside Dilan, Tom, Benji, Magnus, Ted and Sebastiano, and after some close matches and lots of effort we managed to win the tournament. Special performances from our team included Tom scoring a combined total of 101, Ted taking 2 wickets, plus some cunning team tactics throughout the day. Although winning is a bonus, the Junior 6s is also a great opportunity for juniors of all ages to play together in lots of competitive, fun and exciting short matches. I can’t wait for next year’s tournament!’ Junior Sixes - 2025 A word from winning skipper Sonia Amin

Junior Sixes - 2025 Finally - I love this picture, it sums up the Junior 6s - Carlton juniors having fun playing cricket in the sun. The Junior Sixes were generously supported by WJM

Please sign up to support Carlton Cricket Club for free on #easyfundraising today! It’s completely free and would make a big difference to our fundraising. Once you’ve signed up you can raise free donations when you shop online with over 8,000 retailers. Plus, sign up today and we could win £500: https://join.easyfundraising.or g.uk/carltoncc/j7462x/s2s/Ha YZKgsX/SE890/facebook/ Raise money for Carlton through EASYFUNDRAISING website or app COMING SOON AT GRANGE LOAN SUNDAY 31 AUGUST CARLTON v MCC Former Carlton hero Fraser Watts assembles a star studded team to take on today’s players SATURDAY 6 SEPTEMBER EAST WEST CHAMPIONSHIP Can Clydesdale repeat their stunning Cup Final victory to beat Heriot’s again and end the East’s domination of this Trophy? COME AND WATCH THE ACTION PLAY STARTS AT 11AM BAR OPEN 12PM

MORE ON SIX-A-SIDE CRICKET While the Carlton Junior 6s have in recent years become one of the many highlights of the season at Grange Loan, it was not so long ago that older players were involved in similar frenetic action. In the 1950s a Carlton VI regularly entered the Grange Six-a-Side tournament which was held over successive evenings during June or July. Sadly there is no record of them winning the event. In 1961 the Grange Tournament reverted to a Sunday, hoping to minimise weather disruption to the multi-evening schedule. Carlton did not enter the competition that year, although from teams from Hibs and the US Air Force took the field alongside more familiar names from Edinburgh’s cricket community. The tournament seems to have fallen away after that - or at least it did not attract the attention of the Press in the same way. Six-a-side tournaments were at one time popular around the country and many clubs organised them as a way not only of having a good day’s sport but as a means to improve club finances through a boost to bar profits. Other events were held for charitable purposes. Events are still organised in a number of localities and tend to be very locally based. The high water mark of this format seems to have passed, although local events can still be found. One such event was the Anglo Scottish Sixes held at Berwickshire CC. Carlton won this competition in 2009 under the leadership of Charles Legget, largely through Omar Ahmad’s successful plundering of boundaries in the final against Glasgow Accies played in near darkness. A subsequent visit in 2011 led by Nick Martin was less successful - it being suggested that the celebrations of the club’s championship win the previous evenings blunted the side’s competitive edge. Winners of the Anglo-Scottish Sixes 2009, Tom Clarke, Charles Legget, Omar Ahmad, Tom Barrett, Nick Hunt, Jack Kennedy

Martin Robertson remembers organising Sixes Tournaments involving external teams at Grange Loan in the early 2000s, but there is no trace of them in the records. In 2010 there was a return of 6-a-Side action when Charles Legget (see Arrow 75) organised a competition with five local sides vying for the prizes. Legs himself turned out for a star-studded Carlton Under 25 side, skippered by Omar Ahmad. They faced a Carlton Over 25s team led by Tom Clarke. a team from Grange led by Ollie Hairs, an Edinburgh University CC side with their President (and Carlton player) Seb Rae skippering. Completing the line up was an East of Scotland Under 18s VI led by Carlton’s Nick Martin. The event seems to have been a harbinger for many of the characteristics of present day short form cricket - pink ball, musical accompaniment and so on. It ran for a couple of years with the support of Legget and Coe but there is no record of the excitements of the day. A couple of years later, end of season Sixes became a wholly Carlton event, with sides requiring to field players from across all the club’s senior XIs, including the Women. Fancy Dress became obligatory and teams of Mexican Bandits, Gangsters, Commandos and Darth Vaders vied for the Martin Flynn Trophy. However the interest and enthusiasm of senior players waned at the end of a long and hard season, and bit by bit the event came to be dominated by junior players. Following COVID, Martin Firth stepped into create and manage the current version of the event. MORE ON SIX-A-SIDE CRICKET

MORE ON SIX-A-SIDE CRICKET Not so long ago, during the winter months there were regular Indoor Six- a-Side tournaments. Held first at Meadowbank and more recently at MES, latterly under the sponsorship of Scottish Media. Carlton was always competitive in this competition and won The National Indoor Title in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011 and 2013. Even in the years that they did not win it, Carlton had a strong hand in the destination of the trophy - the Bank of Scotland team who were regular finalists contained within its ranks Fraser Watts and Spike Macleod. Photos: Top Left - Winners in 2010; Runners Up 2012, Winners in 2013. Fraser Watts winner in 2009 with Bank of Scotland shown with legendary umpire Sandy Scotland Carlton Website also records that in 2012 ESCA organised an indoor Sixes tournament which Carlton entered, the side including Nathan Pietsch, Brad McKay,Steven Elder, Matt Wells, Haris Aslam and RuariMacpherson. They faced an Edinburgh Schools 6 which included Carlton juniors Craig Everett and Fraser Allardice. No record of proceedings could be found - nor is it known whether there were similar events in subsequent years. Latterly the winter Six-a-Side scene has been given over to junior cricketers.

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Flora today - and left below with her home club in Devon at her first hard-ball game aged 10. On the right hanging on the coach’s words during her first county game against Wales - age 11. Flora Corbin - from Devon to Grange Loan So my cricketing story starts at home in Devon. The coach of the local club, North Devon CC, was Mark Overton (father to Jamie & Craig). My mother, much to my initial disgust, forced me in to playing given the opportunity. To my surprise - and mild annoyance at her being right - I made some great friends and started taking my cricket a bit more seriously, playing up to county level. Fast forward to the summer before moving to Edinburgh for university: a new girl joined my home club and rocked up to training one day in Edinburgh Uni stash. I struck up a conversation. She turned out to be none other than Ellie Hird – ringing a bell for some of you I’m sure – and she told me, in no uncertain terms, that if I joined a club in Edinburgh it had to be Carlton. Naturally, I ignored this advice, and dabbled a little at RHC in my first uni summer, and then – wiser by my second – made the switch to Carlton. The best decision. I remember my first game for Carlton, away to West of Scotland. On and off for rain all day it was a true welcome to Scottish cricket. Sam had me opening the bowling (back when I was still a seamer) which was quite the shock, but I did manage to get my first wicket for the Arrows. I also remember my surprise at the women’s premier standard up here. While the team-to-team standard at home is perhaps less variable, you don’t get the equivalent to regularly playing alongside or against girls with multiple Scotland caps - and what you can learn from that experience can’t be taught. Now, as I finish my third season with the girls, I’m grateful for every game, every laugh, every silly mid-match would-you-rather, and every friendship I’ve made along the way.

It’s a Family Business Carlton has a long list of fathers and sons and a similar list of brothers who have played together. Cousins too. But this season found mothers and daughters entering the family business as three sets turned out in a Women’s Second XI evening match. It is hard to believe but it is reported that some controversy attached to a familial run out which ended the batting partnership of Alison and Sonia Amin. Sonia’s suggestion that Alison was a tad too slow may have led to a revision of pocket money policy in the Amin household. Meanwhile the ever youthful, but decidedly senior, Murray brothers prepare to open Carlton’s innings in one of this seasons T20s with Watsonians. Regular observers of innings between the siblings may need convincing that the partnership did not end in a run out. Such a dismissal may have been flirted with but was avoided. Instead the 42 run partnership ended with retirement and the feeling of a job well done