Saturday 29th August

Grange 1st XI beat Greaves Clydesdale 1st XI by 3 wickets
Titwood

Greaves Clydesdale 138-5 (28 overs, SJ Chalmers 3-26)
Grange 139-7 (27.5 overs), match reduced to 28 overs a side

Link to scorecard

Good game in the end, nearly cocked it up, but Moffat and then Davidson pulled it out of the bag at the end, mighty hitting.All in vain though as Aberdeenshire kept up their form to finish league champions.

From Misc Pictures

TheMighty3s ™ lost to Kismet by 77 runs

Kismet 270 for 9 (Nick Peet 4 for 26; Krishna Agasthyaraju 3 for 46)
Grange 193 all out (Brian Kaczynski 83)
 
A strong and experienced 3s batting line up should have been able to chase down a decent target of 271 on an excellent Grange batting wicket. Unfortunately only half fit 2s refugee Kaczynski was able to do himself justice with a battling 83 as his team mates collapsed around him; Cameron Conwell and Krishna Agasthyaraju also contributed in the middle and lower order but, with only one man making more than thirty, we never really looked like reaching our target.
 
It was a disappointing end to what has been an enjoyable season for all involved with TheMighty3s. Mixed in with the traditional comedy of errors that is 3rd XI cricket there has been some good cricket played; Nash Muhammad was always entertaining with the bat and had the highest average of all our regulars; Grant Docherty wore colourful blazers and chirped incessantly from behind he stumps but I fear we may never hear the end of Nick Peet’s batting average of 233 for the season!
 
Particularly pleasing were the performances and enthusiasm of junior players such as William Edwards and George Hairs. William opened the bowling most weeks and showed that he can score runs quickly and in some style when not asked to bat above number 8 or 9. George only turned out on a few occasions but showed plenty of talent with both bat and ball and will surely play a bigger role over the next couple of seasons.

Saturday 22nd August

Grange 209 all out (49.5 overs, GI Maiden 50, S Moffat 31)
Ayr 150 all out (48.5 overs, C Coles 3-19)

Link to scorecard

Grange inserted into bat on what myself and Stuart Davidson would call a normal 'Northern League' wicket, got a bit hot under the cravate as none of the usual Grange champagne shots appeared to work on a wicket that leapt off a length from time to time. The Stags lurched to 209, with a great innings by 'total' all-rounder Gregor Maiden supported by a bunch of people in mid to late twenties (unfortunately runs as opposed to age). Ayr got off to a poor start losing their mainstay batsman Papps pretty much straight away, but some fine batting by the up and coming Ayr juniors kept them in contention, but a steady dizzle of wickets saw them run out of steam to give Grange maximum bonus points and take the title decider to the last game of the season.

Of course, yet again, Mr Heatly in the Edinburgh Evening News says this and a whole lot more over on his report of the match 

Grange 2nd XI beat Penicuik 2nd XI by 8 wickets
Fettes School

Penicuik 97 all out – M Powell 3 for 9, B Powell 2 for 5
Grange 98 for 2 – Rae 38 not out, Young 27
 
Once again the captain proved to be an awful tosser and a 10-man Penicuik team, bottom of the league, started batting and giving LBWs (3 in total) as if they had a early barbecue to go to. They did.  61 for 2 in the 16th over became 97 all out ten overs later with the Powell twins doing the damage, Michael 3 for 9 and Blaine 2 for 5.  Like all bowlers, Michael has no clue about his field preferring 7-2 and 3 slips for his off-cutters.  He has no future in the 2nd XI. Such insanity is best kept in the 1s.  By 4.30pm and 20 overs it was all over.  A beardless Lachlan Young, unrecognisable even to his own team until he spoke, seemed to enjoy his debut as an opener with a powerful 27 on a low and slow Fettes pitch in an opening stand of 55 with Ken Rae who again impressed with a compact and solid 38 not out.  One game to go and still undefeated, promotion back to Division 1 was toasted back at Grange in the traditional way, except by Hearn and Heathcote who, as substitute fielders, gave a demonstration of 2nd XI athleticism and inspired a crocked 1st XI to victory.

TheMighty3s ™ lost to West Lothian 2nds by 9 wickets

Grange 3s (103 all out – G Docherty 27)

A disappointing defeat for the Threes as we lost the toss and were put into bat a damp and grassy wicket; a top order collapse was followed by some decent resistance from the lower middle order and tail on a but only Grant Docherty made anything approaching a good score.
 
After tea and on a wicket that had dried considerably from the start of the 1st innings West Lothian quickly reached their target for the loss of only one wicket.
 
All in all a poor performance but the single biggest contributor to the defeat may well have been the flip of a coin.

Saturday 15th August

Match cancelled - no play

Grange 2nd XI versus Freuchie 2nd XI
Freuchie

Match cancelled - no play

TheMighty3s ™ versus Drummond Trinity
Grange

Match cancelled - no play

Sunday 16th August

Grange Sunday XI v The Old Sparks (30 overs a side)

Grange 226 for 4 - Kaczynski 63 (retired), Coles 46 no, H Edwards 35, Enos 34, Metcalfe 25 no
The Old Sparks 211 for 9 - Hancock 59, PK Young 43, M Everett 25, Enos 2 for 14, W Edwards 2 for 21, Coles 2 for 25

From Misc Pictures

Saturday 8th August

Grange 224-7 (50 overs Patel 89, Holmes 48), Aberdeenshire 225-8 (49.5 overs, Coles 3-52, Holmes 3-45)

Link to scorecard

The second tour of the year to Aberdeen, brought no reward for a marginally stronger (well much stronger on paper) Grange team compared to their last visit. Anyway, Grange, decided to make the game extra hard, by a) not getting enough runs, b) dropping loads of catches, c) bowling like drains, so they did pretty well to only lose by wickets on the penultimate bowl of the game. Great catch by young Rankin, standing in for Stuart Chalmers, who was diagnosed with fat ankle overnight. The Stags managed to survive the night out in Aberdeen pretty much intact if not slightly muted. I watched Louis Theroux's documentary on crystal meth on Sunday night, which removed any relevance of losing a cricket match.

Grange 2nd XI beat RH Costorphine 2nd XI by 151 runs
Portgower Place

Grange 332 for 4 – Heathcote 101, Rae 51, Leckie 50, M Powell 44 no, Hodge 40, Hearn 30 no
RH Corstorphine 181 all out – Thomas 4 for 29
 
Lovely day, lovely pitch, all made even lovelier by being put into bat.  Our highest partnership of the season, 123 in 27 overs, was the ideal base for the savagery to come. 200 came off the last twenty overs, including 94 off the last six. Tim Heathcote made his first ever century but everyone made hay with Duncan Hodge and Michael Powell especially severe, each scoring three sixes. We attacked early and, with Tim Heathcote fighting fatigue to take three great catches behind the stumps, they were 35 for 4. At 25 overs, they were ahead of us and there was a nervous 20 minutes when we came off for rain, but a tight spell from Michael Powell (2 for 17 off 10) gave us back control.  Michael Thomas took out the tailenders to give him 4 wickets. A big win by 151 runs against the third-placed team in the league. 

TheMighty3s ™ versus Falkland 2nds
Falkland

Saturday 1st August

Watsonians 210-6 (50 overs S Chalmers 3-47), Grange 211-7 (47.3 overs, O Hairs 72, S Chalmers 33*)

Link to scorecard

Hairs Blocks Another Ball

Yet again Gary Heatly comes up with a decent appraisal of the game in the Edinburgh Evening News.

Grange 2nd XI tied with Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh 143 all out – Thomas 3 for 15, Rankin 3 for 21
Grange 143 for 8 – Rankin 38, Rae 35
 
Soft, green and half-cut.  A description of the pitch not us prior to this potential league decider against the emotionally animated Edinburgh side.  But the sun and the breeze did its stuff and a 2pm start and 40 overs was the decision.  Radically putting them in, we held absolutely everything but their clean hitting resulted in seven 6s and we conceded 21 wides. Good to see Chris Rankin back getting the wickets he deserves, albeit his first since 6 June !  The spectating hamstrung Kaz helped to roll out the divots at half-time and off we set.  Ken Rae and later Simon Taylor, doing charity work in the 2s, got us to 80 for 2 in the 23rd.  Then we lost 4 wickets for 20 runs in 11 overs as our rusty middle order, some of whom had not batted in 4 or 5 weeks, lost its way. We needed 44 off 6 overs on a soft pitch to keep our 100% record.  Tom Vila got lusty (as evidenced by the number of mobile calls he receives during a game) and pulled out a few big ones but we needed 20 off 2 overs.  Chris Rankin had kept our innings together but then he was gone.  Yours truly and Michael Thomas, who had already taken 3 wickets, 2 astonishing catches and a run out, needed 16 off 9 balls.  Scampering got us needing 3 off the last to win and nervous fielding gifted us 2.  A TIE that we all knew was a great escape.  And the captain will be dining out on a strike rate of 200……..Olly eat your heart out**.  The 100% record has gone but we are still undefeated. A victory for the semantics.

** Note from the editor - Robin, if strike rates and dining out somehow had a correlation, I'm not sure you and Olly would be at the restaurant, let alone table. Still, well done, have a bucket of wings on me.

TheMighty3s ™ beat Dunnikier by 5 runs
Fettes School

Grange 233 All out (49.1 overs; L Young 53; S Mullins 50)
Dunnikier 228 All Out (A Collister 4 for 23)
 
For the third match in a row this fixture produced a nail biter; a top order collapse was followed by a strong performance from the middle and lower order with Lachie Young and Scott Mullins both making 50s. Dunnikier’s innings followed a similar pattern, three quick wickets followed by a long partnership which, once broken, led to a rapid collapse with the last wicket going down on the last ball of the game.

Saturday 25th July

Carlton 219-8 (50 overs AB Wise 4-49, A Wilson 3-32)
Grange 220-4 (49.2 overs, S Patel 78, C Coles 58)

Link to scorecard

Carlton have come out on top in the recent meetings between the 2 clubs, and given the wet conditions in the run up to the match, there was always a chance that winning the toss decided the game. As it turned out, that wasn't the case. The wicket resembled a Neopolitan slice, dry at both ends with a damp patch in the middle, but played pretty well all the way through, so top marks to the Carlton staff for their efforts in the run up to the game. Top marks to Grange for a decent fielding performance and a couple of great catches during the innigs (Patel & Chalmers). Bowling was good in parts, a few too many slot & short balls. The run was just about perfectly executed, a good start, got ahead of the run rate and consolidated, Patel & Coles ran well. started to lag before and after drinks, whcih caused myself and Davidson some concern, it looked pretty simple to us walking round the boundary edge. A few wickets fell until International Rugbyist Stuart 'Dolph' Moffat came to the crease and swatted a couple of balls and all looked pretty easy (as myself and Davidson said so all along). The best bit of the game, no song afterwards.

Here's a far better match report from Gary Heatly in the Edinburgh Evening News.

Grange 2nd XI beat Leith by 6 wickets
Portgower Place

Leith 145 for 9  - B Powell 3 for 18, Hearn 3 for 27
Grange 151 for 4 – Heathcote 39, Rankin 39, Hearn 37 not out
 
Sunny day but a wet week meant only a 30 over game was possible and a potential banana skin awaited. James Hearn, before representing Scotland in the European U17 championships, impressed the skipper (who’d never seen him bowl in anger but relied on his scouting network) by knocking over two left-handers with his fast in-swing while Powell, allegedly unable to bowl, took his league victims to 21.  However, 77 for 6 off 20 overs somehow became 147 for 9 off 30 overs.  Any concern was heightened when we were 64 for 3 off 16 overs but Chris Rankin and James Hearn, combined age 35, showed their youthful 20/20 skills by slowly cranking it up, first with quick singles then with lusty blows. 84 runs came off the next 9 overs and we’d won with 5 overs to spare.  Nae sweat, never in doubt.  Epilogues – well done to Tam Heinitz, the Leith skipper who, as the non-striker, told his fellow batsman to get off after he had refused to walk, the umpire being unsure if there had been a nick. And to the Leith scorer who spells bowled as “bold”.

TheMighty3s ™ v Stenhousemuir 2nd XI - Awaiting Score
Stenhousemuir