The Form 8 A Team played Merchiston 1stXI and managed to dodge the showers and got a game in before the heavens opened at 4.15pm as we were jumping on the bus to head home! We only had nine players and half the 1stXI team who played on Saturday against the Grange were unable to play whilst our hosts put out their very best side, so we would be in for a battle.
We decided to play a 100 ball game, a new format of cricket which is about to start in earnest down in England and will be broadcast on the BBC, so it should attract a wide following. 10 ten ball overs, everyone bowling one over and two bowling a second. It turned out to be a terrific format which both teams enjoyed and is one we shall repeat, especially when pushed for time, trying to avoid the rain and when there is not enough time to play a 25 over game.
We bowled first, and generally, we bowled a pretty good line, although we found wickets hard to come by. They scored 116-4 in their 100 balls and what was disappointing was that some poor fielding gifted Merchiston at least 20 runs by conceding a number of feeble boundaries; putting your body on the line rather than watching the ball run past you is important and I was really upset that one or two of us did not reach the required standard in the field for playing at this level.
In reply, the soft and unpredictable bounce of the wet pitch caused problems. Oliver and Rory fell cheaply and it did not look as though we would get anywhere near our target; however, in cam Glen, and although he struggled at the start of his innings to get used to the conditions, he played a fabulous innings, full of swashbuckling shots all around the wicket, but proper cricket shots and suddenly we were right back in the game, needing 50 runs off 40 balls. It couldn’t happen, could it? Sadly, Glen was caught after scoring an excellent 36 and then we found scoring more difficult and ended up 20 runs short of our required target. Those fielding mishaps the difference. Pure and simple
When our Form 8 team loses to Merchiston’s 1stXI, there is no shame in that. Our 1stXI would be more than a match for them and I would certainly fancy our chances with our very strong bowling line up and much stronger batting team, but we are where we are and today it was our F8 team who had to do battle. We did not bowl in the right areas to their key batsman, we also dropped him and our fielding left much to be desired if truth be told - that was the difference and a reminder as to how important fielding is. Some valuable and important lessons learned, but at least we got a game in, we played some cricket and I certainly enjoyed the new format, which is coming to your screens on the BBC later this summer.
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