Cargilfield 1stXI beat Loretto by 122 runs
Cargilfield 174 all out (19.3 overs) (C S-Wilson 40, C Adams 39)
Loretto 52 – 8 (20 overs)
After the pretty driech afternoon on Saturday in our win against Merchiston, it was lovely to be greeted by warm sunshine when we made the short trip over to Musselburgh this week, and playing on their 1stXI square is always a real treat – a terrific setting for a game of cricket!
We lost the toss and were put in to bat (thank goodness). This week, Milo and Xander moved to the top of the order but unfortunately Milo fell in the first over, scooping a short ball to mid wicket; so early in your innings, you just need to drop it at your feet rather than push with the bottom hand. Look for singles and be patient rather than trying to force it too early. Xander played some good shots but was out for 13, bowled not moving his feet and stuck in the crease. Cameron came and went and so it was left to Cody and Charlie to rebuid the innings putting on 62 in seven overs; the pair of them batted very sensibly and patiently against some pretty wayward bowling – concentrating is much easier when the bowling is accurate – and they ran well together as well as looking to hit the ball to the boundary. It is important not to get carried away and try to hit the ball too hard, particularly when it is down the legside, but both played very well today and it was good to see Charlie getting his first score of the season. Just remember to get that big stride forward on the front foot so you do not overbalance and get stuck in the crease. When Charlie was out in the 16th over, James batted extremely positively scoring 34 from just 18 balls to push us up towards 180: he struck the ball powerfully to the boundary and gave us just the impetus the innings needed as we were all out in the final over for 174. An imposing total which would take some chasing.
In reply, right from the off, Loretto found it hard to score due to the accurate bowling and excellent ground fielding from the whole team – such an improvement from Saturday when we gifted Merchiston so many extras! Alexander grabbed another two wickets as he bowled a very good four over spell (4-1-13-2) to get us off to the perfect start, and Charles was very miserly at the other end, picking up a wicket too. My mantra at this level (and indeed at any level of cricket) is to ‘bowl at the stumps’ – the vast majority of prep school cricketers are out bowled, and perhaps one or two of us were guilty of bowling at a 5th stump which is fine, but given the paucity of run scoring from the Loretto team, the straight ball was the one required today. Once again, Thomas and Oliver bowled excellent spells, both picking up two wickets as the runs dried up and Loretto ended up on 52 for 8 after their 20 overs. A very convincing win.
I made a bet at the start of the day that having given away 57 extras on Saturday (I know, just typing it again gives me nightmares!), if we conceded 15 or less today, I would get the team a Lucas ice cream at the end of the game……it was sweaty palm time as we reached 15 with still two overs to go and somehow kept our nerve to give nothing else away so there were plenty of smiles as the innings closed and a trip to the Lucas ice cream shop beckoned! A much tighter performance in the field today though which bodes well for the coming weeks.
Well played, boys. An excellent performance albeit the opposition were not strong. Hopefully sterner tests await.
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