New tubs
A return to Neilson Park in week three - but not to the same building. From the old pavilion we have travelled the length of the park to the HRFC clubhouse, a partnership with our neighbours being more advantageous for both clubs. The first home game also brought the first appearance of a Tea Lady, always a welcome sight at home or on the road.
Another lost toss, but this time the Goats put out to pasture in the baking heat. A hard pitch given the lack of rain, a freshly cut outfield that ran, and un-Scottish weather giving clues of a long day for the Goats.
The Goats and home supporters did not have to wait long for a breakthrough, Syme striking in the first over, bowling Khan for 2. MacDonald from the other end as the opening pairing for another league fixture started tidily with a maiden. Syme went on to remove the over opener, Abid, adjudged LBW by the umpire for 19.
What then followed was a fierce battle between McAuliffe and Syme, the bowler creating chances and getting close to removing the set number three, but unable to do so. MacDonald later returned for a second spell of four overs and removed McAuliffe for 58, having been dropped more than once during his innings, eventually being caught at long on by Hiley. There is no such thing as a chanceless innings at this level.
MacDonald picked up his second later on, another LBW decision for the Goats. Two wickets for MacDonald, two for Syme, any more for any more? Yep, Arbuthnott and Hiley joined the party with two apiece, Arbuthnott clean bowling both Hiley bowling one and and a catch I shall talk about shortly, as I believe it deserves it’s own little piece.
Kumar, never one to be left out, played catch up in his fifth over, bowling batters nine and ten with consecutive deliveries. Unfortunately I am a novice match report writer so I have aleady given away the conclusion to this next delivery. The batter dotted up and there were to be no special celebrations for a hattrick.
The final wicket fell as batter eleven went down swinging, an edge caught behind by a rare inland salmon leaping upstream towards the pub for another pint, as he had done so many times the night before. Logan was the stand in keeper, fresh off all of two hours of training in the mitts, learning of all the back and thigh ailments that befall so many keepers. We remembered them fondly as we ranked Logan as our fourth (fifth) choice keeper for this season over tea.
Due to Logan’s stint behind the sticks, he elected not to open in order to give himself a break before having to strap pads back on again. This respite was granted in the form of a twenty over umpiring stint alongside Syme having bowled eight straight at the hottest point of the day. No rest for the wicked.
The first twenty overs went in a blur, the combination of Cruickshank and Arbuthnott, right and left handed, buff and much less buff, feeding the goats an ample supply of runs for the opening stand, a 90 run partnership with shots in all different regions and of all different styles coming thick and fast. Arbuthnott departed first for 40, Cruickshank departing after a seven run partnership with Cardwell-Moore for his own 37 run haul.
Cardwell-Moore and Hiley paired up for an 18 run stand, Cardwell-Moore departing with 13. At this point HCC are sat at 115/3 after 26. Continue at this rate and they win. I’ll give you three guesses
Things carry on as expected for a while with Hiley hitting out, adding three boundaries to the total before being cleaned up by Wafa. Logan came and went after his short rest, again judged out LBW and finding out that it is a much longer walk to the rugby club from the middle than it is to the pavilion, his favourite joke of the day until that point.
The souffle had been taken out of the HRFC oven slightly too early and decided against the towering heights of victory, opting instead to collapse in on itself to a familiar taste of scrambled pads and poached wickets. The batters came and went in a flurry with no real trouble for the scorers apart from the fall of wicket boxes which remain half filled in the book sat next to me. To cherry pick figures, a tumble from 95/0 to 158 all out is not great, but 140/3 to 158 all out is worse. A lack of batting depth costing the home side on this occasion.
The Goats left baked mentally and physically by the heat, missed chances, and in one case barbecued rather than baked, hit the showers with a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. On the bright side, the rugby club facilities were much nicer, so it was a more pleasant grump this week than the prior grumps we have observed this season.
This match marked the start of subs being due (please pay them, the treasurer does not like chasing you) as well as the start of the team stats being counted for wickets, runs, and catches. From this point they will be a feature at the bottom of these posts.
POTM: Hiley, Arbuthnott unluck to miss out but the catch to dismiss McAuliffe edges him out here
Tea ladies: 1/3 - hoping to see more of them soon
Leading run scorer: Arbuthnott - 79 @26.33
Leading wicket taker: Syme - 6 @10.50
Most catches: Arbuthnott - 3
