Dollar Cricket Club vs Kinross Cricket Club

Date: 29/05/22 | Overs: 30 | Location: Dollar | Weather: Mild and Pleasant

On Sunday we welcomed our old rivals Kinross and looked to make it back to back victories after our comprehensive display against Freuchie a fortnight ago. The game itself was hastily arranged after a Cricket Scotland cancellation gave us a free ground. The short notice failed to give our opponents enough time to find their XI and thankfully we had a host of players; Murray McBreathy, Nichol Wheatley, Pete Matthews, Sanjoy Prasad, and the Chairman’s son, James Donaldson, to fill out their roster. The purse strings were kept tightly shut, and in lieu of a coin toss it was decided we would have a bat. 

Alan Douglas was sent in to open, and was joined by Tom Hall to get the innings under way. Douglas took the first ball and with careful confidence started seeing the pill away. The first run came off the 5th ball and Hall would face his first, and sadly only ball, as he was caught for a goose egg, quack. Rob Passe entered and quickly got himself off the mark in his first over through a host of singles and a fizzed four. Unfortunately the bowler got his revenge as he mistimed one and was caught for 7. 

Chris Hadley entered and, according to our correspondent on the day, Paul Fensom, ‘shook Douglas into life.’ The pair started churning out quick singles and then began playing it all the way tothe big cow-corner boundary. The pair started taking it to Reid and Ross and the score skipped past 50. Hadley was deploying classical shot making while Douglas had the timing of a Swiss watch on the prime meridian. The partnership sadly failed to reach the 50 mark as Hadley was bowled by Ross for a solid 16. 

Bruce Harper was the next man in and as per took little time to get the bat swinging. This early aggression would ultimately be his downfall as he was caught and bowled looking to smash one over the bowlers head, out for 5. 

Calum Weir was in at 6 and immediately began taking it to the bowlers, racing his own score past 20 with ease, all while Douglas was heading towards a half century. Unfortunately he would fall short of raising his bat as he looked to whack Dollar’s very own James Donaldson but failed to find the meat of the bat and the ball travelled to another honorary Kinrossian Pete Matthews in the deep, out for a very well played 37.

The skipper was in next and was looking to build on the good form he has shown over the last few games. By this stage Weir well and truly had his eye in and was showing his undeniable class as he took the ball on Sunday afternoon stroll across the outfield. Cunningham got the umpires arm flowing early, but sadly failed to make any serious inroads as he was tightly stumped for 9, no 3rd Umpire in attendance. 

The next man in would be Harris Harper. At the grand age of 12 years old he showed aged is just a number as he was unfazed by the bowlers well beyond his years. Having the ever reliable Weir at the other end allowed Harper Jnr to confidently see the ball right into the middle of the bat and take whatever runs were on offer. The final over was bowled and both men left the crease with their wicket intact, Harper scored a solid 3 and Weir tallied up a blistering 47… although his own arithmetic would say he got 3 runs more, he is probably right. 

Dollar Cricket Club, 140 for 6 from 30 overs. 

C. Weir, 47(maybe)* | A Douglas 37 | C. Hadley 16

Tea was taken and thanks as always to those who contributed to the plentiful spread. 

Regular opener Tim Dillion was given first crack with the cherry from the Ochil End and was supported by Weir from Mlyne Avenue. Dillion was metronomically fizzing the ball through the corridor all while Weir was consistently finding a troublesome length that kept the top order hungry for runs. The first breakthrough did not take long as DCC loanee Sanjoy Prasad could not get anything on one from Weir and the bails went airborne. 

Both men kept persevering and Dillion did in fact hit the stumps but the bails decided they were not for moving from their perch. The hunger for runs began to turn to starvation and by the end of the openers spell the score was at 14 for 1 after 8 overs. 

Harper, the Elder, replaced Dillion and Tom Hall was brought on for Weir. Harper instantly found his length and with his 4th beating Dick’s defence and this time the bails did decide to take a trip to ground level. Hall started his spell with a maiden, only adding to Kinross’ desperation to get the score ticking. 

Nichol Wheatley, who was making his second Kinross sub appearance in less than a year, could not translate his brush strokes to cricket strokes and became B. Harpers’ second victim as he walked off without scoring as he flicked the ball to Hall, quack. Hall would get his just reward with his penultimate delivery as he cleaned bowled the talented Adeel. One way traffic. 

Another DCC loanee, Murray McBreathy began showcasing some great shot making, and started scoring at a much quicker rate than his temporary peers. He started to form a decent partnership with Campbell, who was looking unfazed after coming in at 3… until the skipper turned to our secret weapon, Harris Harper. With his first ball in adult cricket the young left-armer sent one down with a nice shape and forced Campbell into a hurried shot that wound up in the safe hands of Passe at Short Cover. A start straight from the desk of a Hollywood Screenwriter. 

With victory now on the horizon, DCC needed to remove the pesky 6th wicket stand to avoid a late surge as McBreathy and the Kinross skipper Dean were playing with confidence. Weir was tasked with the challenge. There was a moment of confusion as McBreathy chased one down the leg side and a slight snick was picked up by the umpire, and up went the finger, but the keeper-captain was not so sure and withdrew the appeal, good sportsmanship from the skipper. Weir cleaned up his middle stump next ball. It was a nice gesture at least.

Harper, the Younger, was brought back on from the Mlyne Av. End and displayed great consistency forcing the batsmen to play shots firmly rooted in survival. Had it been another day at least a couple more would have snuck through the batsman’s defence. 

Fensom was tasked with bowling the final over from the Ochil End and quickly got his reward as he floated down a fine fuller one and removed young James Donaldson’s bails. Pete Matthew took guard for the final couple of balls, and Kinross would wind up well short of the mark. A measured and confident display in the field from the mighty DCC.

Kinross 102 for 7 from 30 overs.

Weir, 2 for 12 off 6 | B. Harper 2 for 26 off 6

We offer thanks to Kinross, and are very grateful for them getting down to Dollar on such short notice and writing another chapter in this very old friendly rivalry. We shall meet again soon.

 A special mention also goes to the DCC Jnr Cricket Corespondent Paul Fensom. He painted a Wheatley-esque picture of the state of play in his notes, which was extremely helpful for piecing together this report as the Chief Cricket Writer was awol until the final 10 overs. 

RESULT: DOLLAR CRICKET CLUB VICTORY BY 38 RUNS

Man of the Match: Harris Harper

“Buzzing to start my DCC career with a win and beating my old man to the Man of the Match award, proving that I’m the best Harper in the club.” H. Harper

Season Record

Played 4 | Won 3 | Lost 1

2 game winning run