Peebles County Cricket Club

ESCA Division 7, Match 6: Peebles CCC vs Murrayfield DAFS, Saturday 1st June 2024.

Last Saturday Peebles County welcomed Murrayfield DAFS down to Whitestone Park on what turned out to be the warmest weekend of the year.

Skipper Caddick won the toss (again) and County went out to bat first with Chris Richardson (0) and Caddick (19) opening the innings. Nick Jenkins (12) was the immovable object as County looked to remain in the game early but found run scoring difficult in the long outfield with some accurate bowling. County welcomed season debuts to Adam Hayward (1), Neil Cummings (dnb) and Ian Price (1*) as DAFS kept the runs down at drinks. Zeeshan Gohar (17) continued his good form this season and Niall Burns (6) struck a mighty blow out towards Cardrona. Darren Gray (13) enjoyed a longer stay at the wicket and Aarad Ajmal (0) perished quickly. County got to 83 at tea with just Neil Cummings and Lawrence Dritsas not batting.

DAFS and County have shared many games and a few players have moved south between the clubs, so an enjoyable tea was had with a few cricket stories before County went out to field. The skipper encouraged tight bowling and with a few wickets and slow outfield county were still in the game. Burns (0-15) and Ajmal (1-26) opened the bowling before Hayward (0-29) and Gray (0-14) took over. Ajmal bowled the young DAFS opener but that was the only breakthrough as DAFS reached the target with overs to spare.

Player of the match went to the returning Neil Cummings keeping wicket tidily today. Champagne moment shared between Burns and Gray for some surprising and comical running between the wickets that was slower than stop with both requiring energy bars and shakes (Paris Olympics beware!).  Well played to DAFS and a game played in an enjoyable fashion with County calling back a batsmen following the cricket laws for a double hit.

County are delighted to be sponsored by Beech Joinery and Harrison’s Ford. Senior training continues on Wednesdays at the Gytes (630pm) with juniors on Fridays (430 pm). DAFS returned over the hills to Edinburgh as County set their thoughts to Saturday’s home game against Carlton.