Grange Dev XI, April 2022

Haddington kicked off their 2022 season with the annual friendly fixture at Grange CC in Stockbridge. It was yet another engaging encounter, and showed the merits of two sides prepared to give opportunities to all involved, with no detriment to the quality of cricket on show or the narrow fought outcome.

James Shaw, leading The Goats for the first time to begin his captaincy tenure, made a composed and elegant 46, putting on 67 for the 4th wicket with Pete Borrowman, which gave Haddington a strong shot at the stiff target of 190 set by the hosts in this 40 over clash. However, when Borrowman fell to David Hood - who rather curtailed proceedings with a miserly 3-14 - HCC could not muster the 43 required from the final 6 overs and fell to a 9 run loss, despite some good scrapping from Ol Scott, putting to use his T20 finisher expertise. There were glimpses elsewhere in the lineup too, and Dave Arbuthnott would undoubtedly have taken it right to the wire had he not been bowled by a ball which initially got stuck in his pads. He did have time to hit a 6 right across Portgower Place and into the Accies rugby ground, and will be able to recover the ball himself when he begins holding court with the chino set at the NeighbourGood Market once again this summer. All in all the young Grange bowlers had done well to curtail a good batting line up.

Earlier in the day, Jordan Chatt and Matty Knaggs had set pulses racing with a brisk start, scoring 38 and 47 respectively. A somewhat wayward Fergus Syme got his revenge on Chatt eventually but only after the ropes had been cleared a few times. Shaw wisely introduced Cruickshank (2-27) and Arbuthnott (2-21) who made inroads into the middle order, off the back of a promising spell from debutant and late call up Jones, who must be thanked for more than filling a spot! Another debutant, Hoddinott, claimed a well deserved first wicket for the club, before Gervaise Miller and Andy Bell mopped up the tail with three wickets between them.

All in all a tremendous way to start the year on a warm Easter Sunday, with much promise to come for both clubs.

Haddington Innings (batting second) vs Grange April 2022

Grange CC innings (batting first)