Selkirk Cricket Club

Selkirk took revenge on Hawick with a 32 run victory at Buccleuch Park on Saturday. There were some concerns about the weather but the rains never quite came and Selkirk were asked to bat first.

Either batting line up would have to overcome both the guile of the bowlers and the unpredictability of the wicket. Murphy didn’t last long but the score picked up pace with the arrival of M.Fenton coming in to join younger brother Greg, who had been, up until that point, uncharacteristically patient. They rattled the score on as the Hawick bowlers were becoming a bit sloppy and not making use of the pitch, G.Fenton flicked three consecutive over pitched balls to the square leg boundary (including 2 sixes) off of the tiring Johnston (2-32). Hawick changed the bowling and whilst one of these changes proved costly for the hosts, G.Alexander (5-12) had an immediate impact and showed the way for all bowlers on the day with steady line and length. G.Fenton (34) fell first and when the rested Johnston returned early to finish his overs he took the wicket of M.Fenton (19) with the score at 61.

At this stage Hawick would be confident that they could restrict the visitors scoring and get started on chasing down another low total. I.Gardiner managed to keep the score rolling along, smacking a  four over the fielder at mid on and then followed up with two boundaries in the next over. G.Alexander however was making short work of his partners removing Henderson and Hughes in short order, although the latter raised a few cheers with his first runs off the bat in 4 attempts. G,Alexander eventually picked up the wicket of Gardiner (20) but the lower order managed to wring out valuable runs, including a first boundary for L.McCulloch (5*). The innings ended with P.McTaggart delivering the slowest arching full toss of the day, J.Allan took aim and imagined the ball soaring over the high fence at square leg on to the rugby field, rather than what it did – plopping on to the top of the bails.

For some the total of 101 looked like an easy target but for others there was the suspicion that the Teries would find it hard in the conditions.  

G.Alexander, a thorn in the side of the souters at Philiphaugh earlier in the season, opened with the fiery J.Tait and both looked at home in the middle, playing some elegant shots. However, the longer grass in the outfield was holding water from earlier rain so they weren’t getting the same reward as the Selkirk players who had taken a more aerial route. After six overs they were comfortable, 28 runs to the good and the opening bowlers frustrated enough for the captain to change himself out in favour of Heard. M.Fenton continued and despite a growing frustration, almost trying too hard at times, he began to get some reward, toppling Tait (12) who hadn’t looked totally at ease facing M.Fenton’s pace, nor the popping ball. The game changed over the next four overs with Heard giving nothing away and Fenton removing, in succession E.Alexander and then the important wicket of G.Alexander (17).

Having bowled all of his overs M.Fenton was replaced by Gardiner who opened with a wicket maiden and the game then made sharp progress to its conclusion as wickets began to fall and in the field players took their catches, John Allan erasing the memory of that looping first ball duck to take two. G.Fenton returned with Heard having bowled his 8 overs and removed the last hope for the hosts as P.McTaggart (14) rapped the ball to J.Allan at gulley. Gardiner capped a solid all round performance with the final wicket ending the Hawick innings at 69, giving the visitors a great win going in to the final fixtures of the season, which starts with a visit from Holy Cross next Saturday.

In one of the two Div 3 games to survive the weather, Selkirk and Murrayfield DAFS 2nds served up their second low scorer of the season on Saturday but the Souters reversed the result with a dominant performance with bat and ball.

The Edinburgh team were sent in to bat first and made very slow progress against the miserly bowling of Greg and Michael Fenton but wickets were hard to come by. Opener Baikie (23) rode his luck at times to top score for the visitors but his opening partner only managed to contribute 2 before being clean bowled by M.Fenton. Banks (1-13) and Paterson (1-19) were brought in to the attack and continued to frustrate any progress, both also picking up a single wicket for their efforts. Paterson finally had Baikie caught behind and there was some hope that Selkirk would get through the lower order quickly.

Gardiner and Heard came on to bowl and both took early wickets with Henderson taking a great diving catch running forward at point to remove Pasala to give Gardiner his first wicket. The Murrayfield middle order rallied somewhat to keep Selkirk in the field for almost all of their 40 overs, Donald adding 18 without losing his wicket. He was however culpable for the final wicket run out with 3 balls remaining of their innings, underestimating the quality of fielding from Brodie Allan who found Ullah short with a direct hit. Gardiner (2-16) and Heard (2-17) both finished with two wickets but were outshone by M.Fenton (3-17) whose pace and accuracy was rewarded with three clean bowled dismissals.

Having bowled out Selkirk for 84 earlier in the season the visitors may have given themselves a chance of defending the 88 they totalled this time. However, this was a different Selkirk team, as it was a different DAFS XI, and the hosts never looked likely to fall short.

A gentle rain had started toward the end of the visitors innings and home players were keen to get their innings going. Murphy (10) was moved up the order to open with the skipper and deselected himself from the duck squad as he edged nervously for his first run in 3 games. Feeling more confidence, Murphy pleased the locals with a four smacked to deep mid wicket and was holding up his end well enough, which made his freakish dismissal all the more frustrating. Attempting to leave a delivery from Mitchell he managed to divert the ball from his thigh pad onto the underside of his bat and back on to the stumps.

G.Fenton was setting a relentless pace against a depleted bowling attack and Banks was also looking to waste little time. However, Mitchell (3-36) was testing technique and patience of the batsmen in equal measure and trapped Fenton (33) in front and tempted Banks (7) with a slow full toss, the Selkirk No.3 holing out to deep square leg where Krishna Dulipalli juggled but held on. Due in next, Paterson (8) was probably thinking that the game would be done without him and had to pad up quickly to join in-form M.Fenton (28) at the crease. With the ground becoming slower from the rain the pair had to work harder for their runs but the quality of shots from both was good and they quickly finished off the job, a victory sealed (in 18 overs) with a well placed push through the covers for 2.

Next week Selkirk travel south to take on the undefeated Hawick side.

Haddington were defeated at home by Selkirk on Saturday by three wickets. The visitors won the toss and elected to field and Haddington openers looked happy enough with their decision. At 20 overs they had only lost one wicket and seen off form bowler M.Fenton who almost returned his first wicketless performance for some time. The hosts would have been less happy with the run rate just above 2 an over and when the wickets started falling it looked unlikely that they would complete their allotted 40 overs. In the space of 6 overs Haddington fell from 55 for 1 to 76 for 7. Banks, G.Fenton, Paterson and Wilkinson all took wickets in the spell with the latter topping bowling figures for the day. With the bat Cardwell Moore top scored for Haddington with 33 but an unbeaten 22 from Pearce at the end ensured that they would push the total into three figures, finishing on 110 for the loss of 9 wickets.

Selkirk conspired to make it difficult for themselves with the loss of early wickets. Murphy was elevated to opener only to lose his wicket without scoring and followed his captain, G.Fenton, who was still taking his pads off having been removed in the previous over. The East Lothian side will have fancied their chances as Selkirk slipped to 45 for 5, which included the important wicket of M.Fenton for just 3 runs. However, Banks outplayed all on the day with a dashing 51 to add to the removal of both openers with the ball. The game wasn’t won when Banks fell and Paterson may find himself up the order again next week after an ultimately match winning knock of 17, ably assisted by first Henderson and then late fill in Gillie, who didn’t even have the time to secure whites for the occasion. Paterson knocked a drive through the covers for 2 to take Selkirk past the target and leap frog their hosts into third position in Division 3.

Its a busy week at Philiphaugh this week with 20/20 games Tuesday and Thursday night (against Gala and Kelso respectively) followed by the visit of Murrayfield DAFS II on Saturday, where Selkirk will be looking for further revenge for another early season loss.

The sun shone on the souters on Saturday with a 8 wicket victory over border rivals St Boswells at Philiphaugh.

Selkirk started with 10 men and chose to endure the hottest part of the day in the field.  The visitors may have had instant anxiety about batting first after an opening delivery from M.Fenton knocked over the opener J.Broom. However older sibling Steven stepped in to uphold the family name and after a slow start he looked likely to score big with prodigious drives and well placed cut shots.

However, a wonder catch from M.Fenton, diving over his right shoulder at second slip, off his brother’s bowling, sent S.Broom on his way. Ironically, the hosts were sloppy in the field for large parts, Hughes personifying this inconsistency with one good catch and a fluffed easier opportunity a few overs later.

The visitors took advantage of opportunities to roll past 100 with 10 overs remaining. S.Laidlaw (35) batted out the last 10 for St Boswells, taking them to 144 for the loss of 6 wickets, and must have thought that his batting would be his most significant contribution to the outcome. D.Gardiner and M.Fenton were the pick of the Selkirk bowlers, Gardiner also taking a sharp catch off of his own bowling to remove the methodical R.Young (21).

St Boswells would have fancied their chances more if they knew that Selkirk hadn’t chased down such a total at Philiphaugh for over 4 years, on that occasion R.Banks hit 74 runs to get a win. On Saturday, having quickly got his whites on to make up numbers, late arrival Banks was also quickly called on for batting duties with opener Paterson falling in Blackie’s second over.

Blackie (1-23) was the dominant St Boswells bowler on Saturday and the Selkirk top order found it difficult to get him away. However, some equally powderpuff fielding from the visitors meant that Banks and G.Fenton (36) were unperturbed until the latter was stumped stepping forward defensively from the crease and misreading a ball from White (1-25). Again, with the total at 90, it took the bold stepping forward of an older sibling to restore the family name with Greg’s older brother Michael finding form with the bat, rattling 30 of the required runs to keep pace with Banks (73).

It could have been a different story for the visitors if Laidlaw, prominent with the bat, had taken an easy catch at mid on with Banks still finding his feet. Banks made the villagers pay and his personal total included 9 well rapped fours and, in the blistering heat, 4 energy sapping threes. Selkirk finished on 145 for the loss of 2 wickets with 9 of the 40 overs remaining.

This was a neat welcome win for Selkirk with a difficult trip to Haddington next week, where the hosts will be seeking revenge for a loss to the souters at the start of the season.