Having just passed his half century( Years not Runs!) Mark Woodhouse started the season with a duck as the opposing captain Blair Thomson struck in the 1^st over. Phil Cox hit a couple of nice boundaries before playing all round a straight one. Steve Murphy started well with his usual quota of mainly boundaries, survived a huge appeal for caught behind then was given out LBW to the next ball from Thomson who now had 3for10. Stuart Anderson scratched around mis-timing nearly everything before top edge to midoff. Colin Addison weighed in with the visitors best score of 24 with, would you believe, more singles than boundaries! Couple of lusty blows from Bremaneson and MacFarlane gave a round total of 100 all out.

Gordonians reply started briskly and they were scoring freely until Murphy struck with 2 wickets in the over. Mike Mitchell came on for the out of sorts Brian Anderson and took two wickets both stumped by statistically the best wicketkeeper in grade 2, Woodhouse. P Ballal top scored for the home team with extras next.

The next game is against Crescent at Duthie park 2 who have been promoted from G3 last season

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Cont:- Forbes bowling a tight fast line was difficult to get away but Malireddy, trying to find extra pace was dispatched for consecutive 4’s off his first two balls by Anderson. The attack on the bowler continued with the boundaries mounting and was taken off after only three overs, being hit for 23. Anderson continued to take on the bowling with Woodhouse, looking to find form and timing, defending against the more accurate bowlers. Anderson, on 37, was the first wicket to fall LBW but the score had reached 60 from only 13 overs, setting up a fine platform for the following batsmen. With the big hitting Murphy striding out to the crease a score of 200 looked a minimum target. The boundaries soon started to mount with Woodhouse also beginning to find the middle of the bat until Murphy hoisted one to mid-on and a fine running catch was taken by Malireddy. The score had reached 92 for the second wicket.
Sunny, promoted up the order came in to provide some of his gloveless hitting but fell after only one run to the returning Forbes, bowling at a slower pace from a shorter run-up. This brought out the in-form Mitchell who ended up in the Duck Pond, falling clean bowled without scoring to the accuracy of Forbes. 

Addison and Woodhouse then steadied the innings with a 41 partnership, Addison creaming the bowling with some big boundaries, until Woodhouse finally succumbed at 42 to probably the easiest ball faced, popping a leading edge to cover. This left the innings teetering on 135 for 5 with not much batting to come. Addison soon followed, again bowled by Forbes, and it was then left to the courageous Gerrie carrying his bat for 21, ably supported by the young Grant Anderson who played some marvellously confident shots, and was only ousted with the return of the opening pace of Malireddy. The innings closed on 166, probably 30 runs short of par.

With 167 required from 47 overs, Anchorians made the worst possible start losing Forbes caught and bowled from a Brian Anderson first ball full toss. Lambley was then bowled by the in-swinging pace of Murphy and Ghanea, trying to play off the front foot, was stumped by Woodhouse off Sunny. This left the score in tatters at 37 for 3 from 17 overs. 

A problem creeping in to the Methlick game is allowing the opposition to recover from desperate situations and again we saw a 90 run partnership from the Anchorian middle order. Despite restrictive bowling from Mitchell and Addison the scoreboard ticked over. An obvious nick by Kumar to the keeper was turned down and he went on to pass his half century. Murphy and B. Anderson returned to take two more wickets but with 10 balls to go victory was wrapped up by Anchorians by 4 wickets.

Success this season will depend upon the team being able to reach 200 when put in to bat and more of a killer instinct when the opposition are on the ropes. Let’s hope we can see this when, for the fourth week in a row, Methlick travel to Aberdeen for next Saturday’s game against St. Ronald.

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Conti:- The toss won by the travelling side saw St. Ronald put in to bat and the Methlick openers set about their task with the pace of Murphy proving a handful from one end and the swinger, Brian Anderson, taking the first wicket from the other with Gundra caught by Sam Williams for a duck.This bought Rehan to the crease looking ill at ease until Murphy strayed on to leg stump and was lifted for a mighty six backward of square. The shot was repeated two balls later and Anderson similarly came in for punishment calling for a double bowling change. Sunny, normally so impeccable, was walloped over leg for 16 in his second over and continued to take punishment. Rehan was merciless with anything straying slightly off middle. Only Mitchell’s tight away swing bought any respite.
Addison came on to tighten things up temporarily, taking a further wicket and Vai fell to Sam Williams, but Rehan was irrepressible and as further runs piled on, MCC heads lowered and fielding grew shoddier. The inning finished on 269 for 5 with Rehan undefeated on 163.

The tea time chat from the skipper was about not trying to do anything out of the ordinary and play the match as a practice session and if things went well, who knows what might happen. Woodhouse and Stuart Anderson opened, playing sensibly for the first 6 overs and then Anderson, being the first to find his touch, slipped up a gear to increase the momentum. Suddenly, after being so far ahead, St. Ronald were now on the defence and by 20 overs Methlick were breezing along at 108 without loss.

Then came to first wicket with Woodhouse slashing to square and taking a thin edge to the keeper for 35. The little maestro, Anderson, now playing with confidence and supported by big-hitting Murphy upped the tempo, desperate for his maiden century. With his score on 98 he mis-hit a gentle lob back to the bowler, but with the massive hulk of Murphy blocking his path, Anderson was saved and the 100 reached.

Muphy finally succumbed on 32, but with the score on 46 short of St. Ronalds total with 8 wickets and 12 overs left, a win seemed almost inevitable. Then came the usual MCC middle order collapse after Anderson finally went for 140. With 12 runs short Brian Anderson and Ilham McHardy resisted the bowling to draw the game.

After almost succeeding in the biggest run-chase of Methlick’s history a draw almost felt like a defeat, but spirits were lifted by the fantastic innings of Stuart Anderson. Next week’s must-win game against Caledonian will see the return of Phil Cox to bolster the middle order, and hopefully we will see a continuation of the Methlick improvement.

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In the following over Sunny atoned for his earlier drop with a fine run-out and the following ball had Kash caught Cox off Murphy for a duck. Methlick have had a habit this season of letting the opposition recover from poor starts and once again a partnership developed, although this was aided by an obvious caught behind from Arul being turned down, and also a run-out appeal against Van Oorschot being mysteriously denied, although the batsman was two feet short of the crease. Both went on to top score with 49 and 84 respectively and only Grant Cordiner with 30 not out added much to the score.

However, the innings ended on 213 for 6 after 40 overs with another big score for Methlick to chase. Accurate bowling from Duncan, aided by variable bounce from a still damp river end tied up the openers and last week’s hero, Anderson, with pressure building finally tried to hit the wrong ball and was caught at mid-off.

Cox finally went for 33 after a 96 run partnership with the score on 148. This left 8 overs  to get 54 runs. Whilst the huge figure of Murphy was still at the crease, and plenty of wickets available, the total seemed imminently get-able. He finally fell for a fine 64 to the impressive Duncan with 40 still needed, but overs were running short. Mitchell, Addison and Webster all made a brave effort with a flurry of boundarys but, as Caley had used up their full quota of overs, time ran out with Methlick 10 short on 204 and another nail-biting match drawn.

Grade 2 is looking to be at its highest standard for years with a very exciting season in prospect. The weekend saw every team score maximum batting points and only strength in depth will keep teams in contention. With the addition of some new players, Methlick certainly hope to be promotion candidates. Another game at home on Saturday to Banchory should provide more excitement, and tickets are still available.

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Conti:- Resistance was the name of the game and the first 6 overs only produced one scoring shot from the bat. With the pressure mounting and runs in short supply Redpath nudged the ball to mid-off and set off for a suicidal single. Saward swooped and a direct hit saw the first wicket with the score on 17. The very next ball from Murphy took an outside edge and Stuart Anderson took a splendid low, ground-skimming catch at gully.

Brian Anderson, having trouble with the damp ball, was replaced at the river end after 5 overs by the spin of Addison, looking fresh and supple after a reported spell on the massage table under the silky fingers of Gerrie. A poor second-ball long hop was gently lifted to Mitchell in the covers leaving Bachory 3 down for 21. Jalan came to the crease with the intention of pulling everything to mid-wicket and hit Addison for a lusty 4 and 6. However, one pull too many to Mitchell, replacing Murphy at the Beaton Hall end, brought a fine overhead catch from McHardy at mid-wicket ending the only partnership of note at 20.

With Banchory captain, Wilkinson, showing the only defence, wickets began tumbling around him. A full toss from Addison landed on top of Herbert’s stumps, and then a looping top edge from an attempted sweep by Shujar saw Cameron Woodhouse running back to take a great over the shoulder diving catch.

Finally Wilkinson succumbed missing a swinging ball from Mitchell taking his middle stump. Zuffiqar went for another duck with a second great catch by McHardy off Addison with the score on 49 for 8. Haggart then ran himself out going for a second run to the arm of Brian Anderson. Addsion then took his fifth wicket, mercilessly bowling a small child for a Golden Duck to wrap up the innings on 51from 26 overs; the last 7 wickets falling for only 6 runs with the pick of the bowling from Addison taking 5 for 18, and Mitchell 2 for 7.

The two captains agreed to turn the innings straight around however, after padding up, skipper Woodhouse found his team-mates wolfing down the tea so a break was taken. The afternoon had brightened up as Woodhouse and Stuart Anderson opened the Methlick innings, determined not to give away a wicket in the short run chase.

A steady start was made and progress was difficult, particularly against Wilkinson’s slow bowling offering the batsmen no pace to use off the bat. The run-rate began to increase and the opener Herbert was particularly punished with his fourth over going for 13.

By 7 overs Methlick were half-way home and the game was wrapped up in the 15^th over with Anderson clipping Shujar off his legs for 2. This was the third plus 50 opening partnership between the two this season in 5 innings, giving them an opening average score of 64, a strong backbone for each innings. They had offered no chances to the Banchory field.

So, an easy win was wrapped up by 4.30. This has taught us the importance of holding on to catches with some really excellent examples taken today, and keeping up the pressure on the batsmen by starving them of runs. For once, Methlick did not relax once a few wickets were taken and ensured that the tail was despatched in a professional manner. The win has meant a jump up the table in Grade 2 and we are hot on the heels of the leading pack. Next weeks visit by Crathie will offer another opportunity to move closer to the leaders.

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Conti:- After losing Steve Murphy cheaply, skipper Stuart Anderson and the returning Tom Acton put together a stand of 120 before Acton departed for 42. There followed a mini collapse before Anderson was caught only 2 runs short of a deserved century. A late flourish by veteran Phil Cox and the "prodigal" Doug Duguid saw Methlick to a creditable 226 for 8 from their 40 overs. Pick of the Kintore bowlers were C.Laird (3-28) and A.Adams (3-55).

In reply, despite excellent early spells from Murphy and Acton , Adams and D.Grayson produced an opening partnership of 116, aided by missed chances in the field. Mike Mitchell was introduced into the attack and quickly removed both openers, but G.Prosser and Laird gradually got the score moving again. With Colin Addison toiling away at one end and all the bowlers supporting from the other, the pendulum swung towards a Methlick victory. But such is the uncertainty of cricket - Prosser and Laird opened their shoulders in deteriorating light to leave Kintore needing 4 to win from the last over bowled by Duguid. 3 singles brought the scores level before Doug took 2 wickets with the last 2 balls of the match, leaving Kintore on 226 for 4 and victorious as a result of losing fewer wickets.

An excellent sporting contest went right to the wire, leaving cricket the winner and Methlick regretting their missed chances. Alas, the MCC men from Lairds will not be playing at Lord's this year!  

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Conti:- Without the services of Stuart Anderson, after his heroics throughout the season, and Adrian Saward, the batting line-up was somewhat depleted, but Methlick benefitted from the strongest bowling attack of the season. Fraserburgh won the toss and, as is the norm, put the Lairds men in to bat. With the prevailing conditions causing the ball not to come on to the bat, and a slow outfield, led the skipper to say that 160 would be a tough score to chase.

Woodhouse and foxy Coxy opened the batting facing the swing of Lawrence and the pace of Clark. Woodhouse despatched Clark for 7 off his first over but then played across the line to an in-swinging yorker from Lawrence and the first wicket fell at 10. Cox nurdled away picking up the odd single but, with the ball seaming off a green wicket, was bowled by the first change, Rennie, with the score on 28 for 2 off 15 overs.  

This brought together the free-swinging, free-hitting, Murphy and Kennedy and in the space of 8 overs added another 55 runs until Murphy lifted a gentle, half-tracker from Liam Bowie to mid-on. Mitchell then came in to support some ballistic hitting from Kennedy, who was particularly vicious against the medium pace of Rennie,  retiring from the fray after being hit for 22 off his sixth over, the third six being marvellously caught by the onlooker, Duffy, before it landed on the road in front of the Beaton Hall. During the over Kennedy reached his half century. He finally fell to a catch by Ironside in the deep for 59 with the score on 113 for 4 off 28.

Then came a period of calm in the middle order. Bremenesen came and went quickly and Carr joined Mitchell in the middle, but both found scoring difficult and Mitchell fell to Lawrence for 11, quickly followed by Carr going for a suicidal single and being easily run out. Suddenly the score had struggled to 139 for 7 with only a maximum of 6 more overs to go. Further problems came as Sunny went LBW off his first ball.

Gerrie and Duffy both showed an aggressive edge until Gerrie, sacrificing his wicket, was caught off Liam Bowie and Duffy swung across the line to Rennie for a quick 15 after Brian Anderson had driven his only ball faced for 4. This left Methlick all out for 163 but given a drying wicket and outfield, possibly 30 runs short. However, a line up including eight bowlers was going to make things as difficult as possible for the Brochers.

Murphy opened the attack from the Beaton Hall end with a maiden and the ball swinging wildly in the overcast conditions. Duffy, with his looping in-swingers, clean bowled Parkin with his fourth ball. The pressure on the batsmen quickly built and Oldham, going for a sharp run, was well run out on 5 by Brian Anderson. Murphy then had Ironside for a duck, LBW from another in-swinger, and the Fraserburgh innings was in tatters at 15 for 3.

Liam Bowie joined his brother, Cory, only to see him bowled by Kennedy for the side’s top score of 22. Flowerdew hung in briefly until caught by Murphy off Mitchell for 3. Watson then came to the crease, flashed outside off, frustrated by the miserly bowling of Sunny, the ball screaming towards the boundary until Gerrie, fielding at slip, threw himself full length to pluck the ball out of the air. A catch that he will surely talk about for years to come.  With 14 overs to go and only one wicket to take the game looked over, but dogged resistance from Rothwell and Rennie took it to the line. Rapid changes in bowlers had no effect until Duffy returned at the death and had Rennie LBW, going back in front of his stumps.

A victory by 81 runs for Methlick looked certain to leapfrog over Fraserburgh in the table. However, with Anchorians being deducted 16 points for fielding an illegible player, and themselves beating Caley, remarkably MCC are only just behind Gordonians in third place. Next Saturday sees a crunch match against one of the main rivals at lairds, Cults/Artisans. Victory at the halfway stage of the season would put Methlick in a prime position for promotion and it looks as though we will have a strong line-up.

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 1st XI (Home) vs Arrowdawn Gordonians - Lairds 

Warm, dry, blustery conditions provided a nice hard wicket to bowl on and captain Woodhouse, winning the toss, had no problems in deciding to let Gordos bat first. Murphy opened from the Beaton Hall end and the youngster, Sam Williams, was given the chance to show his prowess from the River End. The two young opening batsmen decided to take the attack to Methlick with the ball flying to the boundary from a combination of edges and shots just falling out of reach of flailing fielders hands. The batsmen were also aided by some strange umpiring decisions, turning down an obvious stumping and two excellent run-outs.

Murphy, bowling his quickest and most accurate spells of the season, finally bowled Selkirk behind his legs in the 14^th over with the score on 46, and followed this up with the first ball of the 15^th, over playing the stumps of Stark.

Brian Anderson and Doug Duguid joined the attack but with a lack of swing, both proved relatively ineffective, and Pettit and Ballal continued to push the scoring along. Jason Peet, on a rare visit to the UK, replaced Anderson and his first ball had Ballal edging to Gerrie in the gulley for a comfortable catch. The partnership was broken at 90 for 3. There was no sign of any rustiness from Peet and the batsmen were unable to handle his pacy off-cutters.

Shortly afterwards Gopinath, going for a second run, was easily run out with an accurate throw from Gerrie to Woodhouse who whipped the bails off with the batsman still half way down the track. The stubborn Pettit was then put out of his misery, trying to work out Peet’s bowling, and was trapped LBW. 30 overs gone, 5 wickets down for 101 and things were now looking tough for Gordonians.

Turning the screw, Woodhouse went to his “go to” bowler, wily Addison, to further reduce the run rate. One swipe too much from Mathi saw him loft an easy catch off Peet to Stuart Anderson, finally managing to repay some of his earlier mis-fields. Number 7, Elengical, still looked threatening, hitting Peet for a big 6 over cow corner, but Addison soon had him playing across the line and clean bowled. The death knell was now sounding with the score on 132 for 8, and the innings was polished off with a wicket each for Addison and Peet, both caught by Brian Anderson.

Gordonians finished on 142 all out after 43 overs on a wicket that really should produce 230 runs.

After tea, the captain and vice-captain, Woodhouse and Stuart Anderson opened the batting, hoping to continue their fine run of form as an opening partnership. They were assisted by the Gordos bowlers as the first ball produced 5 wides, and continued in confident fashion, mixing boundaries with sharply run singles to poor fielding. Only Pettit was proving troublesome with his usual slow swing, but the batsmen waited patiently for the poor balls and efficiently despatched them.

The run-rate continued at just short of four an over, and 50 was reached after 14 overs. Finally the first wicket fell with Woodhouse hooking a Pettit delivery and a steepling catch was taken by the wicket keeper running backwards. Another opening partnership of 65 left a long batting line-up plenty of time to finish the game off.

Murphy came to the middle and spent two overs taking a good look at the bowling and was then soon into his stride. Anderson played a supporting role, unbeaten on 45, ensuring that no more wickets fell, and was overtaken by Murphy reaching his 50 off 60 balls. MCC comfortably reached the total in 33 over for the loss of just one wicket, the lack of points for Gordonians may prove costly in the promotion battle over the weeks to come.

Next week sees another home game against bottom of the Grade, Crescent. A win for MCC would be the only acceptable outcome, and should see Methlick climb into the race for promotion.

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Conti- Swabey opened the bowling for the visitors with an accurate first over but Puranik, from the River End, bowled too many short balls which both batsmen dismissed to the boundary with relish. A boundary every over from Swabey meant that the batsmen were soon comfortable scoring at 5 an over. Anderson, looking to punish the bowling further, danced down the wicket to lift an over-pitched ball from Puranik back over his head, only to find the ball glancing off his pads into the stumps, and was out for 19 with the score on 35.

Saward came to the middle, promoted to number three for some much needed batting practice, and opened with two comfortable boundaries to get off the mark. Both batsmen were picking up boundaries from the bad balls, but also decided to take advantage of some sloppy fielding and snatch quick singles, and soon reached the fifty partnership mark off 17 overs.

The introduction of Kalai and Gibson did little to reduce the scoring rate and the hundred was reached off 20 overs with Saward, pulling and late-cutting, and reaching his half-century in double quick time. Woodhouse, just short of his fifty, fell tamely off a slow full-toss from Kalai taking a leading edge and floating gently to Skedge at mid-off. A fine partnership of 91 had taken the score on to 126 for 2.

However, there was little respite for Crescent as the hulking figure of Murphy approached the crease, and opened his account with a 6 off Kalai. Both players set about the bowling. Saward then top-edged a full-toss to square leg. This was no-balled as it was above waist height but Saward, ambling to the non-strikers end, was not alert to the fielders throw and a direct hit saw him run-out. A bizarre finish to a fine innings of 75.

This brought Addison out to the middle and with runs aplenty available to everyone and little pressure on his shoulders, much was expected. However, a tame shot off his second ball saw him stalking back to the hutch with another duck.

A big scoring partnership ensued with Acton and Murphy matching each other boundary for boundary. Swabey’s penultimate over was particularly painful going for 21. Murphy was first to reach his fifty and with the scoring already in excess of 250, it was just a matter of time waiting for Acton to reach his half century, before Woodhouse could declare after 41 overs with the score on 263 for 4.

After tea, Skedge and Swabey, no mugs with the bat, proceeded at a gentle pace, defending against the pace of Murphy and the swing of Brian Anderson. Few runs were being scored against such a mammoth total, but neither bowlers were taking wickets. Time for a change and Acton came on at the Beaton Hall End and Mitchell from the River End. Acton, bowling with great pace, almost produced a fine catch by Gerrie off Sawbey in the gulley. Moments later, an almost identical but easier catch, again to hoof-handed Gerrie, was put down.

Mitchell, with some tricky late-swing, finally took the wicket of Skedge with the score on 37.  The penetrative bowling from Acton deserved a wicket and finally an in-swinger demolished the stumps of Swabey. Little resistance came from Chandana and he was quickly followed back to sidelines by Birch, both bowled by Mitchell who was having the best spell of his season so far. Crescent were now 64 for 4 with matters looking desperate and facing a long tail.

Addison, hoping to make amends for his batting, came on to replace the tiring Acton. His first over was unusually loose, but on the first ball of his second bowled Puranik. Bowling nicely in tandem, Mitchell then struck again taking the top of Parwani’s middle stump, reducing the Crescent total to 86 for 6.

Casey’s stout resistance was bought to an end LBW to Addison, and his next ball bowled Shanmalan. More wickets were available but the final two were both easily run out and the innings closed on 103 with two fine spells from Addison (3-12) and Mitchell (4-34).

A victory by a huge margin of 160 runs now puts Methlick in fourth place only just behind Anchorians. Stiffer opposition will be met next week with an away fixture at Cults/Artisans who are second in the league, and MCC will be looking to improve on a 7 wicket defeat earlier in the season.

Finally, just short reminder of the Methlick Gala Day being held on the 29th of August, all are welcome to come along and enjoy the day’s events.

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1st XI  vs 2nd Banchory - Burnett Park

Conti- Miller opened the bowling with a couple of wayward wides down the leg side and continued to suffer with a lack of accuracy. However, in his second over Cox played a lazy swing and edged to second slip for the first wicket with the score on 10.Following a fine 75 last week, much was expected of Saward and he looked in fine form from the start, farming the strike and playing attacking shots. With the batsmen getting on top and scoring at over 4 an over, Woodhouse lifted Joshi to deep mid-wicket, picking out one of the only leg side fielders and was caught for 8.

Murphy then came to the crease, playing an unusually circumspect innings and pushing singles, letting Saward have most of the bowling. A 58 run partnership developed until the finger of Cox gave Murphy out LBW for 20, but a good start to the innings had Methlick on 106 for 3 after 26 overs.

The initial pace of the batting was maintained by Mitchell, ably supporting Saward who moved on to his second consecutive 50, until being caught by Bode off the bowling of Theron. A further 40 had been added to the score, and with 11 overs left, a score of 230 looked easily manageable.

James Buchan continued where Mitchell left off, and picked off the bad balls with aplomb. Saward, now chasing runs to push the scoring along, finally succumbed to Tiwari 17 short of his maiden Lairds century. The scoring rate had plummeted over the last 8 overs and with 5 wickets in hand and only 4 overs to go, big hitting was required and Colin Addison was just the man for the job. Selflessly going for the boundary Addison was caught of Nadeem for another duck. Acton too, playing for the team, after hitting a four was again caught off Nadeem.

Buchan continued to play his shots scoring a fine unbeaten 27, and little time was left for Bremanesen to have any effect. The innings closed on 191 for 7, coming up 30-40 runs of what really should have been achieved.

Mudie and Bode opened the reply with captain Bode dominating with some big hitting. It was not until 8^th over of Murphy’s opening spell that a breakthrough came, having Mudie LBW playing across the line to a vicious in-swinger. Haider came to the crease having scored an unbeaten 163 in the season’s first encounter, and together with Bode built an imposing partnership.

Addison finally made the breakthrough against Haider on 44, trying to hit one too many across the line, but the score was already 152 from 31 overs. With only 42 to get from 13 overs little could be done on a good batting track to stem the runs.

With only 4 runs needed for his century and 3 runs to win, Bode tried an expensive shot from a full-length ball from Acton, and was sublimely caught by a one-handed reflex catch from Mitchell at mid-on. Miller came in to finish off the game with a single, and the champions-elect cruised to a 6 wicket vistory.

The loss has put a big dent in Methlick’s promotion chances, but with only Anchorians on the horizon offering a more difficult challenge, MCC just have to win their remaining fixtures and hope for some faltering display’s from their fellow contenders. Next week’s fixture a Banchory is a must-win situation.

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Woodhouse and Anderson opened on a typical damp, soft Banchory wicket, and in the second over the captain mis-timed a pull and top-edged to square leg. However, there were no fluttering hearts as the in form batsman, Saward, came to the crease opening his account with a majestic boundary.

However, with the ball seaming wildly on the wet wicket Anderson, too, mistimed a couple of pulls end eventually played one back to Jalal for a caught and bowled. The steadying sight of the experienced Cox came to the middle to join Saward, but with the awkward wicket and heavy out-field runs were hard to come by. The Australian’s frustration got the better of him and another catch was taken off Jalal to leave Methlick on 37 for 3 after 11 overs.

With Cox the only batsmen playing with authority, using the sweep shot to good effect, Mitchell came out to join in but also found the conditions tough and fell, again caught off Jalal for nothing.

Revenge against bowlers seemed on Addison’s mind after a series of ducks, and the first real partnership began to develop between the old warriors. A bowling change was made and Critchley, a small child, came on against Addison, the Nemesis of boy bowlers. But Critchley was no push over and his second ball had Addison caught and bowled; something to tell his class mates back at school!

Jack Chalmers then came in to bat, showing great technique, and would surely have scored more runs if not for the dense outfield. Cox finally went to Wilkinson after a battling 24, with the score at 93 for 6. Gerrie and Young were both bowled by Miller without adding much to the score.  Brian Anderson hit a soaring 6 to cow-corner but the innings was brought to an end when Cameron Woodhouse caught one in the mouth and had to retire amidst blood and gore. 112 for 9 was probably worth 140 in the conditions, but still not enough.

The Banchory innings was opened by Millar and Hicks. Young Chalmers, opening the bowling for the 1^st team for the first time had Millar stretching to play one across his body, and Stuart Anderson dived full length to take a majestic catch in the slips. Jalal went cheaply LBW to Brian Anderson in the seventh over quickly followed by Hicks, again to Anderson, with the catch being taken by James Young at point.

Wilkinson, always a danger, came in, but as he put on the runs, wickets fell around him. Scott went without scoring, again LBW to Anderson, and suddenly 4 wickets were down for only 36. A real possibility opened for a Methlick victory when Addison had Wilkinson and the tail was really exposed.

Again, Addison struck with Young diving forward to take a difficult catch at point and then Moiz, taking a suicidal second run was easily run out by a Woodhouse and Anderson combination. 7 wickets down for 65 and 113 runs to win seemed a long way away. Then a partnership between Taggart and Sunil took Banchory almost within reach, with excessive use of the edge of the bat from Taggart, until he was taken with Chalmer’s 2^nd wicket. With only 12 runs to get, Sunil steered his side home for a win by 2 wickets.

A disappointing Saturday for Methlick firsts who have now all but seen their promotion hopes disappear. A tough game looms ahead against Caley at Duthie Park, but the push continues to finish in the top four, and the future looks bright with some of our younger team members beginning to establish their places in the first team.

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Conti-With the ball swinging through the air, warning bells rang when Forbes was dropped by Saward in the gulley off Murphy’s first over. After despatching a loose leg side delivery to the boundary, Forbes was beaten by a sharp in-swinging Yorker from Murphy and bowled. Four balls later the in-form O’brien was bamboozled by a sharply-dipping full toss from Murphy, hitting the bottom of middle-stump for a duck. 

In his next over, Murphy added to Anchorians’ woes with another duck as Rangarajan was again clean bowled. At the other end Saward, making his opening bowling debut, was taking full advantage of the swinging conditions and making any kind of shot-playing very dangerous. In his fourth over he finally struck with opener Lambley, expecting an outswinger, was bowled by a ball cutting in off the pitch.

The Anchorian’s innings was in tatters with 4 down for 12 runs. Further misery came with Botcha trying to slog across the line once too often and top edged to the keeper for another wicket for Murphy. 5 for 12. 

A small partnership then developed as Kolla threw caution to the wind and hit a couple of boundaries but Murphy, with another swinging ball, bowled Fail for 1. Sam Williams then came on to replace Saward and his third ball saw the end of Kolla. Two more wickets from Murphy put Anchorians on 29 for 9, and gave him a return of 7 for 17 with six wickets clean bowled. An eighth wicket beckoned as a gently lobbed ball looped his way. Everyones Grandmother would have taken it one-handed, but with the aplomb of a Pakistani fielder, it evaded his hoof-handed grasp. Jack Chalmers came on for an over and his first ball took the final wicket leaving Anchorians all-out for 31; an all-time low against Methlick.

Turning straight round, Woodhouse and Stuart Anderson came in, intent on not losing a wicket. Anchorians made a valiant effort with some excellent fast bowling from Forbes. With fielders surrounding the bat it was not surprising that any mistakes would be punished, and his second over went for a heart-breaking 10 runs.  

With only 5 runs short of the target Anderson chased a wide ball and edged to slip, but Woodhouse and Saward saw the innings through with no further losses and a 9 wicket victory.

With two matches left at Crathie and Fraserburgh, maximum points would put huge pressure on the 3 teams above in the league. 60 points would give Anchorians and Caley a target of 46 and 47 points respectively from their last 2 games. The size of the task can be seen when you consider that they have to play each other in the final Saturday. The only target now is for Methlick to finish as high as possible. Fourth place would be a satisfactory outcome from what has been a very competitive season.

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Conti - Defence was the order of the day against Murphy, who was finding both swing and the expected seam movement off the spongy track. Only one single came from his first four overs. At the other end, Acton, looking for pace was a little more wayward and was pulled by Shore for four from a long hop, but was the first to strike in the sixth over finding Elder’s leading edge to Saward in the gulley.

Not content with a cautious approach, Shore looked to attack and lifted Acton for 6 over extra cover but revenge came two balls later when the expected top edge was taken by Addison at deep point. Acton finished his 6 over spell with 2 wickets for 21. Murphy was wicket less but his 7 over’s only cost 4 runs.

Brian Anderson replaced Acton with a first over maiden and then struck in his second over to remove Feeney for a duck, caught at gulley by Saward. Saward himself followed up by bowling captain Summers for 2 and in the next over Thomas, edging out of his crease, was stumped by Woodhouse off Anderson for another duck. This left the innings in tatters at 32 for 5.

A fighting partnership from Bestwick, hitting some lusty blows for 6, and Poole, riding his luck with a few dropped catches, took the score to 72, until Mitchell bowled Poole middle stump. After another brief partnership McAra was caught in the deep by Acton from the spin of Addison, making up for an earlier drop in a similar position. The score had now moved to 97 for 7 from 35 over’s.

Jack Chalmers then came into the attack and after four balls finally put paid to Bestwick’s defiant innings, caught by Saward on 39. It was left to Mitchell to wrap up the innings at 104.

After the best pies of the season, by Royal Appointment, Woodhouse and Stuart Anderson opened the innings. In McAra’s first over, Anderson got a faint nick to a seaming ball and was caught at first slip for a duck. Alarm bells failed to ring however, as Murphy opened his account with a four and a six, and then took McAra for 13 in his next over.

Skillfully keeping the strike, Murphy kept Woodhouse in a supporting role. Thomas was taken out of the attack as his fourth over was torn apart by two fours and two sixes. Murphy’s 50 was reached with two boundaries from only 34 balls. 

Finally, with the score at 73, Bestwick took a low caught and bowled to dismiss Woodhouse. Jack Chalmers came to the middle, promoted up the order to gain valuable batting experience, and partnered Murphy home for the remaining 32 required to provide a win for Methlick by 9 wickets. 

The final match of the season next Saturday is away to Fraserburgh. With the two teams above them in Grade 2 playing against each other, a win against the Broch would leave Caley needing to win and Anchorians requiring 17 points to stop MCC moving in to 4^th place. Gordonian’s  first team have a home match in the Strathmore Union, so a very weakened Grade 2 team would need 8 points against the in-form Cults Artisans to hold on to 3^rd position. So a very exciting final weekend is at hand. 

29^th of August sees the annual Methlick Gala day at Lairds with the excitement of a seven-a-side tournament. Two teams from Methlick, Fraserburgh, Inverurie and Ellon will provide the entertainment along with the usual beer tent, food tents and barbecue plus displays, duck race and sideshows. All are welcome and a fine day should bring out the crowds

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1st XI (Away) vs Fraserburgh - East Link 

Conti - A very bowler friendly wicket gave plenty of problems to openers Stuart Anderson and Adrian Saward who struggled to come to terms with the bounce, but any attacking shot  beating the field was rewarded with a boundary. The 10 over mark came up with only 24 on the scoreboard.

The first wicket fell at 36 with Anderson mistiming a drive and was caught off Fraser for 21, bringing Murphy out to the crease, opening his account with 2 boundaries in the usual aggressive fashion. With such a dangerous pair in the middle, the short boundaries looked even closer to the batsmen but Saward, in a similar fashion to Anderson, failed to time an on-drive off Fraser and was caught at mid-off for 20.

Addison came in with the score on 56. Oldham and Rennie replaced the opening bowlers. The run rate started to increase but, again after batting himself in to the twenties, a ball cutting away flicked Murphy’s glove and he was caught behind. 78 for 3.

Mitchell came in with Addison now scoring freely. Oldham went for 4 and in the next over Addison despatched Rennie for two more boundaries but, with the blood rushing to his head, missed a delivery and was bowled by Rennie. He was the fourth batsmen in a row  to pass twenty only to give away his wicket without taking his score on. 102 for 4.

Having moved himself down the order, Woodhouse now came in expecting to forge a partnership with the middle-order, but almost immediately Mitchell got one that stayed low and was bowled by Rennie for 7.

Not a problem though as Woodhouse could keep the strike and quickly added 13 to the score. However, Jack Chalmers just had to defend and managed to play on from Rennie for a duck. Sam Williams came on and fared little better, and his third swat at a ball from the returning Fraser was caught behind by Watson.

The experience of Brian Anderson would surely assist Woodhouse, stranded at the non-strikers end, but he swatted at a wide first ball end edged behind for a golden duck. This left only Grant Anderson. Woodhouse kept the strike and in the following over took a single off the fourth ball  to leave Grant two to face. However, he tried to launch Rennie into the sea and was easily caught by Lawrence with the last 6 wickets only producing 12 runs.

A score of 116 was way below par considering the short boundaries, and a minimum of 200 had been looked at. However, Murphy’s first ball of the innings flew from a good length and was taken over head height by the keeper. This was an ominous sign for the batsmen, who had to try and defend, whilst attempting to score from the less experienced Sam Williams, bowling some less fiery deliveries at the other end.

Murphy’s first three overs were all maidens and Cory Bowie finally put one away for 4 in the fourth. Celebrations were short-lived as the very next ball swung away, clipping the outside edge and was taken comfortably behind the stumps.

Woods visit to the middle was short-lived and was bowled by Williams in the next over. The dangerous Oldham was next in and an early boundary signalled time for a bowling change to give pace at both ends. Saward immediately had the ball in-swinging with pace and his third ball trapped Oldham LBW. The very next ball followed the same line and flattened the stumps of Liam Bowie.

Flowerdew tried to dig in but again Saward struck and an easy catch was taken by Stuart Anderson. Fraser Lawrence could only stand and watch as his batting partners came and went. Zander Fraser tried to take the attack to the bowlers but Murphy, continuing from the far end, got through his defences and was bowled for 6. With the score at 55 for 6, the Methlick meagre total looked a long way away. Lawrence finally fell as another pacy, lifting ball from Murphy was gloved to the keeper. 55 for 7.

Now well into the tail, Murphy finally finished his spell of 3 for 16 and was replaced by Addison. This was no let-up as the ball found plenty of turn and variable bounce. One kept low and Bowie senior was clean bowled.

Jack Chalmers replaced Saward and not for the first time this season, took a wicket with his first ball, clean bowling debutant Henderson. Captain Watson and Alan Rennie had saved themselves for the end and a couple of well struck fours suggested that the 40 needed might be there for the taking. The final wicket was Addison’s as Rennie pushed one back for a simple caught and bowled and Methlick had a win in the final game by 40 runs.

The league season wrapped up, this coming weekend sees the Gala Day 7-a-side tournament at Methlick on Sunday followed up by the end of season tour to Suffolk in September.

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