U13 Winners of the Glenalmond 6s

U13 Winners of the Glenalmond 6s

A fantastic day of cricket!

1stXI at the Glenalmond 6s

WINNERS!

The Glenalmond 6s is always one of the highlights of the season where the boys are challenged with both the bat and the ball, all six players need to be on the top of their game and have to contribute to the team’s success. There can be no weak link, no weak bowler, and you need to cash in and score every run that is available. High tempo, high action cricket, and a great day out as well!

Having won the trophy for the past two years, we were going for the hatrick this year! However, we lost to Belhaven and St Mary’s at last weekend’s Super 8s – albeit, we underperformed in both games and extras killed us! – and so the round robin tournament would be a challenge as both of these teams would be keen to repeat their victories of last week, so it was going to be a long and tough day’s cricket and we would need to be at the top of our game if we were to bring the trophy back to Barnton once again.

Cargilfield 74-4

Craigclowan 39-0

We started the day up against Craigclowan, and we elected the bat first, pile on the runs which would force Craigclowan to take risks against our accurate bowlers. Jamie and Arlo opened up and Jamie was out very quickly, but Arlo batted really nicely for an unbeaten 24, which just beat extras as the top score and we ended up on 74-4 after our 5 overs. In reply, Craigclowan found it very hard to get going and ended up on 39, a long way short. We were up and running.

Cargilfield 87-1 (J Walker 52)

Ardvreck 35-1

Our second game was Ardvreck and we opted to bat first once again. What happened next was utter carnage as Jamie scored 50 off just 12 balls – a quite remarkable display of brutal hitting which sent the spectators diving for cover. He was supported by Edward who rotated the strike and we reached a huge 87-1 off our 5 overs. The game was won but it allowed us to focus on our line and length with the ball.

Cargilfield 76-1 (A Whitehead 29, J Walker 31)

St Mary’s 36-2 (E Balfour 1-0-1-2)

We had lost to St Mary’s at the Super 8s last Sunday, mainly through bowling too many extras (again!) and poor shot selection with the bat. It was important that we won which would set up a Final with Belhaven who were also unbeaten at this stage for our final game of the day. We won the toss again (well done, Edward!) and Arlo and Jamie put on 67 together before Jamie was out at the start of the final over. It was a fine display of batting by both of them, punishing anything short and putting pressure on the fielders with aggressive running. It was a pleasure to watch. A couple of lusty blows to finish and we finished on 76-1 off our 5 overs – a very tall order for anyone to chase and all the more so when Edward bowled a terrific first over, picking up their two best batsmen and they were 2 for 2 off 1 over. Game over and this set up the game with Belhaven as the Final, with all to play for.

Cargilfield 51-1

Belhaven 44-2

And so, we met our perennial cricketing rivals, Belhaven, once again, in the Final, as we did last year! The ‘Three Peat’ was on, but we knew they were a talented side, having lost to them last weekend, albeit mainly to do with bowling too many extras once again! However, our bowling had been so much better today with very few extras, and I felt that it was going to be a real contest, and so it proved!

We won the toss again and elected to bat first, aiming to score big and put Belhaven under pressure by having to chase hard. I decided to change our batting order, promoting Edward to open alongside Arlo, with Jamie coming in at 3 in theory to smash the final couple of overs. Well, that was the theory, and perhaps I was over thinking! Edward and Arlo began very confidently, nudging the ones, forcing the Belhaven fielders to throw overthrows and hitting some terrific shots to the boundary; Edward scored an unbeaten 27 which was a real Captain’s knock, but Arlo hit an important 15 before he was out at the end of the 4th over with the score on 41 and just 7 balls left for Jamie to make hay. Well, it did not turn out like that: Edward had most of the strike and Jamie only faced 4 balls, and the final two Belhaven bowlers bowled very well. But Edward managed to swipe the final ball of the innings for 4 which took us to 51-1 off our 5 overs which was perhaps 10 runs short. We would have to bowl well to retain the trophy!

We knew Belhaven had some strokeplayers and their batsmen, like ours, had not been under pressure all day. Dot balls are the key to building the pressure and forcing the batsmen to take risks. Jamie M bowled the first over which went for 9 – honours even. Next up Hamish and he bowled a superb over with 4 dot balls and conceding only 6 runs. The run rate was climbing for Belhaven. Arlo bowled the third over and picked up a wicket first ball, and only conceded 8 runs, which put us in the box seat; however, a couple of loose deliveries, the game would swing back towards Belhaven. Miguel stepped up to bowl the penultimate over and it was a decisive one as he bowled their number 3 and limited the batsmen to 2s and singles. This meant Belhaven required 22 runs off the final over, to be bowled by Edward. Finger nails were being bitten on the boundary edge and the result could still go either way.

First two balls, both hit to the boundary. Now just 14 needed off 4 deliveries. Third ball, just a single, fourth ball was a dot, the pressure building and Belhaven need a boundary. Fifth ball was a dot, and the games was done. We had showed a huge amount of grit and determination, holding our nerve in the white heat of battle, and fully deserved to win the trophy for the third year in a row.

As I have said before, Team Sport is the best. It really is. Everyone contributes and the team is only as good as the sum of its parts, and to see our very young bowling attack run in and bowl such a good line and length, under extreme pressure, was great to watch.

It also showed the ups and downs of sport: last week, Edward found life tough under pressure with both bat and ball, but this week, he led the team to victory with his performance with the bat in the Final and bowled under extreme pressure at the death.  That is sport in a nutshell - sometimes it is your day, and at other times you have to brush yourself down, get off the floor and go again. Redemption.

So a magnificent team effort. To see the smiles on all the boys’ faces at the end of what had been a pulsating Final, after what had been a long day of cricket in the sunshine, was wonderful to see. All of them contributed at some stage in every game which is the beauty of 6-a-side cricket. Thank you to the parents who came along to support and to Glenalmond for hosting us all so well.

A day to remember indeed.

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