Selkirk Cricket Club

The stakes for Selkirk at Philiphaugh on Saturday couldn’t have been higher – lose to fellow strugglers Westquarter & Redding and they’d be relegated.

That said, having their backs against the wall seems to bring out the best in Selkirk’s players, and so it proved again on Saturday – the Souters snatching a dramatic victory in the final over.

“Perhaps the best game of cricket I’ve seen at Philiphaugh,” is how former Selkirk CC chairman Chris Highton described a truly epic contest.

The victory lifts Selkirk off the bottom of the Division 3 table, and a win over Marchmont 2 in next weekend’s final fixture could see them avoid the drop, although this will depend on how other results go in their own league, and in leagues above them. Whatever the outcome, on Saturday’s showing this never-say-die Selkirk team aren’t going down without a fight.

Put in to bat, openers Greg Fenton (32) and brother Michael (10) got the home innings off to a solid start, but at 47-2 it needed other Selkirk’s batters to follow suit if a realistic total was to be achieved.

Step forward Rory Banks and Ewan Torrance, both of whom got their heads down to steady the ship with a crucial 64-run partnership.

Not for the first time this season, the 20-over drinks break triggered a breakthrough for the fielding side – Torrance (30) falling victim to Umar Salik’s third ball. But
Banks maintained the momentum by compiling a fine half-century, his 53 runs taking him past 3,000 career runs in the East Leagues – a remarkable milestone.

Blaine Gillie (19) added more valuable runs to the home total, before two run-outs took the gloss off Selkirk’s innings, which ended with the home side 168 all out.

Salik (4-23) was Westquarter’s top bowler, well supported by A. A. Shehnaz (2-25).

In reply, Westquarter openers Richard Tressider (51) and Adham Aslam (33) were well up with the required run rate after 17 overs, that is until home skipper Daniel Heard decided to toss the ball to second change bowler Rory Banks

In 1993 Shane Warne may have bowled the ‘ball of the century’ to dismiss Mike Gatting, but Rory Banks can lay claim to having bowled the ‘over of the season’ at Philiphaugh on Saturday – dismissing the visitors’ top three batters to record a triple wicket maiden. The roar this produced from the home support echoed right around the ground, and from this moment onwards the on-field drama only intensified.

Skipper Zulfiqar Chaudhry (22) held his nerve to keep the scoreboard ticking over, with the home players desperately trying to remain positive as the visitors’ total crept past the 140-run mark. But that old cricketing adage, ‘catches win matches’, never rung truer as Michael Fenton’s athleticism saw him take four brilliant catches to put the pressure right back on the visiting batters.

Resounding cheers then rang out as Bob Wilkinson and Ewan Torrance both snapped up sharp chances, leaving Westquarter’s last men at the crease needing eight runs off the final over for victory.

In that over, Greg Fenton’s first two dot balls were followed by a quick single, with the ‘coup de grace’ eventually coming after his fourth delivery. Wicketkeeper Mikki Badenhorst took Shaun Wilkinson’s clean pick-up and throw one-handed, before whipping off the bails to run out the scrambling Umar Salik.

It brought the curtain down a riveting contest, with both sides having to handle huge swings of fortune at different stages of the afternoon.

Unsurprisingly Rory Banks (4-22) took the Roy Owen ‘Selkirk Man of the Match’, while Selkirk’s other wicket-takers were Liam Skeldon (2-21), Greg Fenton (2-29) and David Gardiner (1-38).

The focus now switches to Selkirk’s final league fixture against Marchmont 2 at Philiphaugh on Saturday, August 22nd, when the fate of both clubs will be decided.

Match report and photos by John Smail.

The solar eclipse took place the day before Gala and Selkirk met in the final of the 2026 Border T20 Cup at Meigle Park on Thursday night, and it was the home side who eventually outshone the cup holders to win by 35 runs.

Having won the toss, Gala took first use of the wicket and got off to a flying start, openers Sean Taylor and Benji Potgieter plundering 44 runs from the first five overs.

Selkirk’s cause wasn’t helped by a series of spilled catches, allowing Potgieter to go on and compile a well-struck innings of 70 runs before being caught on the boundary by David Gardiner off the bowling of Blaine Gillie.

Taylor (23), John Imray (36) and Darius Maritz (17) all made important contributions to the home total, with Gala’s innings ending on 164-5. Selkirk’s wicket-takers were Blaine Gillie (2-25), David Gardiner (1-22) and Rory Banks (1-42).

In reply, Selkirk faced a mammoth task if they were to keep up with the required run rate of 8.2 an over, and at the halfway stage were 59-2.

Undaunted, vice-captain Greg Fenton single-handedly kept the runs flowing, producing a magnificent array of shots to all parts of the ground.

Even the fast-fading light didn’t put the brake on the 32-year-old’s scoring, with the talented opener carrying his bat in a fabulous 80-run innings from 58 balls faced that included no fewer than five sixes.

Selkirk eventually reached 129-6 in their allotted overs, with the last few balls being bowled in almost complete darkness. Gala’s wicket-takers were Jamie Crooks (2-17), Darius Maritz (1-18), Iqbal Qasim (1-20) and Benji Potgieter (1-36).

Match report and photo by John Smail.

Long traffic jams on the Edinburgh city by-pass meant the start of Selkirk’s away fixture against Livingston 2 on Saturday had to be delayed.

When play did eventually start at Bankton Mains, it proved to be mostly one-way traffic, with the Livingston 2 batters taking a liking to Selkirk’s bowling to rack up 240-5 in their innings. Both A. Rana (59) and M. Khalid (54*) recorded half-centuries, with opener A. Bilal (33) also in impressive form.

Selkirk’s wicket-takers were Shaun Wilkinson (2-52), David Gardiner (1-32), Daniel Heard (1-48) and Ewan Torrance (1-58).

Having to score at a rate of six an over was always going to be a big ask for an understrength Selkirk team, but thanks to a superb batting display by opener Greg Fenton (71), at the halfway stage they were very much in the game at 110-2.

Disaster then struck, as it so often does, when play resumed following the 20-over drinks break. Fenton was caught off the very first ball of the second session, leading to a lower order batting collapse which saw the visitors bowled out for 148.

The only Selkirk batters to reach double figures were Shaun Wilkinson, who struck a defiant 17 in the final overs, Mikael Badenhorst (13) and Ewan Torrance (11).

Rana (4-22) was Livingston’s top bowler, followed by Singhla (3-11) and Dubey (1-16).

Selkirk must now win both their final Division 3 games against Westquarter and Marchmont 2 (both at home), to have any chance of the avoiding the drop.

Match report and photo by John Smail.

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