HCC vs Loretto School, April 2022
Haddington enjoyed their annual fixture with a Loretto School XI in an excellent contest at Pinkie. Surrounded by pink blossom, the boys elected to prepare for the inter-school T20 cup with a pink ball and navy pyjamas, under the watchful eye of cricket master Hinchcliffe. Rather out of place were Haddington’s ten men, missing one to illness, in a variety of whites and creams. Sent in to field, a little stiff in the April breeze and lingering haar, The Goats appeared every bit as having stumbled off an Edwardian village green to face the T20 Blast generation.
Callum B, in his third game against the club, too advantage and batted beautifully for 66 off 79 balls. The Musselburgh soil hard and true, he drove powerfully down the ground and only targeted the short boundary square when Haddington dropped short. Lorenzo A was organised and compact at the other end in their partnership of 61, before Rob Hiley sent his middle stump tumbling. Callum eventually fell to Ash Kumar, good value in his 1-25 from 7. Hiley went for a miserly 16 from his allocation, Whilst Rhett H was compact and at times graceful, playing terrific shots and unlucky to find the fielders more spritely than they had been earlier in the day. Good value for his 27. Skipper Hamish M struck four boundaries as they school looked to pick up the rate, but Alan Cruickshank spun his web and picked up 2-23 to keep the score to 153 from 35 overs.
The reply could not have started more dramatically, Cardwell-Moore bowled very first ball at the scene of his offspring’s education. A real peach from Lang, who threatened all spell but didn’t break through again. More damage occurred at the other end however as Rhett saw off Sale and Hiley, both LBW, to leave HCC 18/3. James Shaw joined Cruickshank and together they rebuilt brilliantly, using the pace and rotating strike, putting on 55 for the 4th wicket. Shaw was unlucky to be caught brilliantly by Lang at short cover, a stinging drive off a full toss. Cruickshank then fell soon after for a composed 21, and the short Haddington batting line-up was in bother at 75/5. Blades struggled against the spinners, yet Andy Bell found his rhythm and pounced on anything loose with smart hooks and sweeps. His hurried 1s and 2s rather took the boys aback on a tough ground to defend, not knowing whether to protect boundaries or try and stem the flow of singles. All of a sudden Bell had 31 and the partnership was 58 - only 21 to win with 4 wickets in hand and plenty of time.
However, twists abounded as the mist decended on a chilly late afternoon. Hamish prised Bell out, and Alistair Prenter was cruelly run out by Blades trying to keep the strike. The boys reverted to pace on, and young Callum extracted impressive bounce but perhaps missed a trick not finding more overs of spin, which had proven hard to get away. With Proctor exposed by another mix-up, Haddington needed 6 to win, and Kumar masterfully blocked out an over. Blades took no further chances, depositing a six over midwicket to secure a tight one wicket victory with 34 not out. It was a great warm-up for the league season, but real plaudits must go to Loretto for how they constructed an innings then went about defending a total in the field. A fixture to be savoured and kept for many years to come!