12th of June | The 1st XI Pitch | Sunny intervals | 25 Overs

We were back in action on Wednesday for the annual Dollar Derby match played against the school. After back to back wins Dollar CC would have first crack with the bat.

S. Cunningham | M. Tinsley | S. Breasley | B. Harper | C. Glasgow (c/wk) | J. Priestley C. Dunn | N. Schellenberg | A. Douglas | J. Syme | G. Dunsire | P. Fensom (12th) | P. Matthews (scorer) | M. Donaldson (umpire)

Jason Syme was given the ball first from the PK End to face the left/right opening pair. Gregg Dunsire initially was given first shot from the Ochil End, but after an alive and expensive first over the experiment was thrown out. Marcus Tinsley replaced him. The first 4 overs saw a procession of Academy runs through some clever shotmaking. This was further aided by self inflicted frustrating miss-fields and overthrows that led to some of the field using language that would have seen them sent straight to the deputy rectors office.

The commanding presence of Syme then began to make inroads to the left handed Strang via widening his run up. 3 consecutive dots ratcheted up the tension, and then he struck as Strang failed time Syme’s pace and the ball was gently directed to the safe hands of Tinsley at mid-on. Strang gone for 13

~ 37 for 1, from 5

The pressure was building and on numerous occasions it almost paid off, but for a plethora of missed chances. Sillcock accepted his extra lives and started to punish the mistakes as he used Syme’s pace and Tinsley’s swing to his advantage.

The school continued to score at rate over a run-a-ball as they took the shine off the pink ball, but Tinsley would break their momentum as he finally saw a chance go to hand. A typically Tinsley out-swinger pitched on a full length was met with a solid chuck of Gallagher’s outside edge. It flew to the half-asleep Alan Douglas at 1st slip who instinctively stuck out a paw and showed his skill to calmly gather the ball on the second attempt, Gallagher gone for 9.

A few more half chances came of the bowling of Syme and Tinsley, but they would end their well bowled spells with a wicket a piece. They were replaced by Sandy Cunningham and Charlie Dunn respectively. Cunningham immediately found his unrelenting consistency while Dunn was generating far better initial results than previous outings.

Suddenly runs became elusive as the field came to life. Spurred on by his shocking lack of wides Dunn was keeping the batsmen on their toes and then got his reward. He pitched one on an okay length, but a good line and flicked the top of middle to see Kelly depart for 19.

The extra energy would soon be encapsulated by an extraordinary piece of fielding. Sillcock, who had batted brilliantly to bring up his 50, suddenly found it a struggle to rotate the strike. He looked to heave Cunningham to the boundary over mid-off; unbeknownst to him Tinsley was on the prowl. Demonstrating a level of athleticism that could see him be called into the gymnastics squad for the upcoming Olympics, he darted back and then on the half-turn leapt like a gazelle with one hand to take a momentum shifting screamer of a catch. Sillcock departing for an excellent 53.

~ 108/4 from 17 ~

Only a further 8 runs would come off the next 4 overs as Cunningham and Dunn rounded off their spells, with the former displaying his usual high level of skill and consistency, and with the latter bowling alright.

Simon Breasley and Bruce Harper were given the honours of bowling out the remaining overs, and quickly picked up where their predecessors left off. First Harper bowling to a 6/3 leg-side split had Seti look to his right, but he got it all wrong as Dunn raced in from deep-ish point to slide stumble under the ball and secure it to his stomach to see Seti depart for 14.

~ 124/5 from 22 ~

Breasley too would unearth himself an early prize as a couple of streaky singles came off the bat, but his troubling swing was far too cunning as Milne turned to see his off and middle stumps rearranged, gone for 9. The pair of club stalwarts started to starve the tail into submission as runs came at a premium. Breasley bowled out a maiden in the penultimate over leaving Harper the opportunity to add to his pile of early season wickets. Mumba was no match for Harper as he called last orders on the innings and raced the ball past the desperate swing and into the stumps.

A superb second half of the innings fight back from the (much, much) older Dollar CC side to see us rectify an early situation that was looking perilous and turn it into a chase-able target.

DOLLAR ACADEMY 1ST XI 133/7

Harper, 3 for 11 from 3 | Breasley, 1 for 2 from 2 | Cunningham, 1 for 19 from 5

After a quick turnaround the opening pair of Sandy Cunningham and Marcus Tinsley ventured out to the middle to begin the chase. The required run rate of 5.4 immediately started to shrink as the pair rattled off boundaries with ease.

Cunningham took on the brunt of the early scoring through his flowingly punchy technique while Tinsley calmly navigated the tricker deliveries and punished the loose change.

The fourth over went for 16 runs thanks to a picturesque 4 from Cunningham and an effortless maximum down the ground from Tinsley. The unmistakable noise of a leather ball coming straight out the bat’s middle was echoing along the Ochills. Unfortunately it would soon be drowned out by the sound of jubilant youthful cheers as Cunningham’s innings came to an all too soon end. He looked to go airborne against Edwards, but the ball lack sufficient height to clear Strang back-pacing from mid-off, Cunningham out for a quick fire 23.

~ 38/1 from 5 | 96 required from 120 ~

Simon Breasley joined the fight from 3. The score continued to leap up through the overs with consistency as Breasley’s sensibly shot selection played the perfect foil to Tinsley’s desire to attack as the pair of Yorkshiremen took command of the contest. Tinsley smashed Sillcock for 6 and then cut, drove, and pulled away a number of 4s with the timing of a Swiss train conductor to see the partnership eclipse the 50 mark in only 6 overs. Breasley’s knack of finding the gaps frustrated the Academy as his near constant ability to get off strike dismantled any attempts the bowlers had at building a semblance of pressure.

With only one potential shot standing between him and the honour of raising his bat, Tinsley attempted to bring up his half-century in style. He made a solid connection off Strang’s bowling and the ball flew towards long-off, but sadly just before it could reach the boundary it had its wings clipped and went into the hands of the Sillcock. Tinsley gone for a stellar 46.

~ 100/2 from 13 | 34 required from 72 ~

With victory creeping over the horizon the inform Bruce Harper arrived at number 4. Both batsmen could have easily opted to take the risky strategy of slogging, but demonstrated composed restraint to avoid jettisoning their towering platform.

Captain Glasgow was in awe of the ‘proper cricket’ on show as the pair connected with crisp and clean confidence to nurdle the ball around the field to only add further misery to the Academy’s capsizing chances. The odd boundary was singled by the umpires as we needed only to apply the finishing touches.

The partnership continued to grow as the required runs entered single digit territory. Like the first innings, it would fall to Harper to bring the curtain down on the chase as he hit away a superb back foot 4 to see us home, Breasley finishing on 28 not out and Harper on 25 not out. A dominant DCC derby day victory. Three local rivalry and four Dollar Derby wins on the spin!

Dollar Cricket Club 137/2 from 20.3

Tinsley, 46 | Breasley, 28* | Harper, 25*

After the conclusion of the contest we made our way to the marquee to enjoy a social and ambient barbecue provided by the Academy. We take this opportunity to give thanks to the school for our continued use of their facilities, to wish the 1st XI luck in any remaining fixtures, and give our best wishes to any leavers of the current team. We hope to see some of our opponents join the light/ dark side (depending on your persuasion) of Dollar cricket in the upcoming years. Until then, here’s to 5 in a row in 2025.

RESULT: DCC VICTORY BY 8 WICKETS

The BSB MOTM: Marcus Tinsley