vs Grange 3rd XI 11th August 2018
A second consecutive away assignment against top-half opposition in the Inverleith/Stockbridge area resulted in defeat for Haddington Cricket Club. Once again, the core of the batting unit must take the majority of the blame for this not being a tighter game. The resemblance is closest to the sandwiches of chain coffee shops - apparently devoid of any substance in the middle. In the end, the openers’ good start undone, with blushes & vital batting points saved by the kids in the tail.
On a green but firm Fettes wicket, Grange captain Grant Docherty won the toss and elected to exercise his team’s considerable batting firepower first. Tim Blades kept the pressure on in the opening overs, removing Mike Hay-Smith caught behind by his former school master Peter Talbot. Three balls later Tom Martin fell to a horrible shot, and 17-2 looked shaky ground. This was as good as it got for Haddington, as Darren Chatt cut hard & ran harder in a masterful partnership with Jake Stafford. The latter drove powerfully on the up as the visitors struggled to contain despite good spells from Dylan Pearce & James Shaw. Bar a couple of half chances, there was barely a blip in their 240 run partnership as both registered unbeaten centuries. Blades finishing with 2-32 from 8, the rest 0-211 from 32.
In reply, Tom Dalrymple & Alan Cruickshank again looked to be the sort of wrong-but-right combination that should not go together but just absolutely does - like fried chicken & waffles. The pair took the score to 88 before Cruickshank was bowled. The chase was on pace with Grange’s innings, but disaster struck when Cardwell-Moore sent Dalrymple back in his attempt to steal the strike and he was run out for 55. An all too familiar collapse followed of 7 wickets for 37 runs, a brief Talbot cameo ended in irony by the innocuous looking seamers of Hay-Smith, who finished with 5-29. The win was beyond reach, but it was again a mature innings from young James Shaw which held things together. He took Haddington through maximum batting points and if the Goats stay up this year they’ll have a lot to thank him for. His 22, and Pearce’s flamboyant unbeaten 23, took Haddington to 198-9 (with the help of an absurd 48 extras). With two games to play, any of the teams in the bottom half of the table could go down from Division 3.