Local artist James Fretwell presents a portrait to Dave Christie

We asked the artist, Freuchie’s own James Fretwell, about his inspiration, process and reasoning for producing such a beautiful piece of art.

James replied:

How could I borrow Dave’s 1985 tie for reference purposes, without arousing his suspicions?

How could I ask him why he’s the only team member who hasn’t got his jacket buttoned on the Grace Gates photo, without appearing rude?

How could I look into his eyes to see what colour they are, without him getting the wrong idea about me?!

And my answer to anyone who asks why I’ve painted Dave’s portrait is simple:

“How could I NOT?”

 

  Portrait of Dave Christie holding The Village Cup in 1985

James must have spent many hours on this labour of love for it certainly brings to life the admiration and affection  Freuchie has for Dave “Dad” Christie.

When asked for his feelings on the gift, Dave responded:

"Superb!"

We’ll hang it in the house for the time being, although it may be so big we’ll have to think about building an extension!

I’m delighted that James based it on the 1985 photograph and  has given me more hair and fewer wrinkles than I have today.

My daughter (Linda) says that she wouldn’t want it on her wall because she’d feel her dad was watching her all the time!
(Editor’s comment: We suppose that’s a rather back-handed compliment, but it’s a sincere compliment nonetheless).

Dave has suggested that at some stage, the painting might be hung in the club.

Technorati Tags: Dave Christie, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, James Fretwell, The Village Cup

One of the main features of Saturday’s Family Fun Day was the official opening of the new Sports Court, even if it’s likely to retain its now unofficial title of ‘the MUGA.’

‘Taster Sessions’ were on offer – was that not supposed to be about sampling the sporting activities rather than scran?

Patrick Laughlin, Chairman of Freuchie Community Council, kicks off the MUGA opening ceremony whilst Dave Christie and Cllr Andrew Arbuckle wait nervously for their parts to come…

Dave Christie cuts the ceremonial ribbon ably assisted by Cllr Andrew Arbuckle and Mr 60 Minutes, whilst every kid in Freuchie enthusiastically crowds around.

Freuchie Cricket Club coaches teach key skills to our youngsters during the Kwik Cricket Taster session.

The activity tents with Freuchie Church as a back drop.

The new Player’s Disciplinary Unit? Or the new dressing rooms?

Just Chillin’ in the Freuchie sunshine

Great crowds, great weather and good fun all round.

Sunday was more about cricket, with a T20 game against Falkland and the official launch of our book “Freuchie Cricket Club, 1908 – 2008.” Events were opened by Sir Menzies Campbell, attention initially divided between the cricket and a ceremonial tree-planting in the school playground to commemorate the thirteen players in the Lord’s squad. No less than nine of them were at the ceremony.

Sir Menzies Campbell opens events on the Sunday

….. but what on earth is Coo looking at?

“And dae ye mind yon time ….?

The closing ceremony with Sir Menzies Campbell, our president Ian Paterson, the irreplaceable Dave Christie and Cricket Scotland president Bob ‘Faff’ McFarlane.

We’re betting this blanket has a story or two to tell…

Like so many days of the kind, it’s hard to do justice to all the people who worked to make this weekend what it was, but we have to mention Helen Lawrenson and her team for much of Saturday’s events, Rachel and Dave Tosh for the catering, our bar staff, the players who ran Saturday’s sports for the kids, Falkland Cricket Club for joining us on the Sunday, Liz Smith MSP, Sir Menzies Campbell MP, our local councillors and Bob McFarlane, Scott McCrone for ‘The Book,’ (all but five of our fifty copies already spoken for) Jock and Black Light for the Lord’s video display – the list just goes on and on. And we finished the day with a win over our old rivals, Falkland. What more could a body ask for!

Over the next few days we’ll be adding more blog posts with even more photos and commentary from the weekend.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Cricket Scotland, Falkland Cricket Club, Liz Smith, Menzies Campbell, MUGA, Scott McCrone

Scott Galloway, Dave Cowan, Scott Birrell, Robbie Birrell, Scott Gourlay, Dale Cowan, Steve Rowley, Jock Wallace, Mike Jackson, Liam Kelly, Stewart Gibson

Saturday 22nd, Seconds away to Marchmont, meet at 10.30

Blair Forrester, Alan Wallace, Robbie Wright, Shane Munro, Lee Duncan, Grant Horsburgh, Ross McMurdo, Rory Brown, Chris Hunt, Blair Lawrie, AN Other

Sunday 23rd, Third XI at home to Kinross, meet at 11.30

Dave Cowan, Scott Galloway, Greg Birrell, James Fretwell, Shane Munro, Robbie Wright, Rory Brown, Grant Horsburgh, Max Brown, Liam Kelly, Ross McMurdo

Technorati Tags: cricket, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Corstorphine, Marchmont, Kinross

At Nunholm on Saturday we saw another excellent game of cricket, which ended in victory for the Doonhamers by 4 wickets

Dumfries won the toss and Freuchie batted, the Birrell twins getting the visitors off to a solid start with 62 for the first wicket in 23.2 overs, when Scott Birrell was caught behind off Josh Geary for 24. Skipper Scott Galloway made a brief appearance but was caught on the square leg boundary for a single. Another indifferent shot was that by Scott Gourlay, who played a deplorable reverse sweep to be caught at slip for 14. Then Robbie Birrell was lbw to Geary for a patient 35 off 83 balls with 5 4s. Another wicket fell at 98 but Steve Rowley and Jock Wallace added 50 for the next wicket. Dale Cowan helped Rowley to add 40 for the 7^th wicket. There was just time for fair-haired youngster Liam Kelly to make his first SNCL run before the innings closed at 214 for9. The score was boosted by a tally of 37 extras, the highest score on the card. For the homesters, J Goodin took 3 for 38 in six overs, J Geary 3 for 49 from 10 overs. Steadiest bowling of all was by Jim Patterson who bowled his off-breaks for 1 for 20 from his ten overs.

Russell Johnston was caught behind off Scott Birrell, who opened with his slow left arm opposite Dale Cowan, who saw his father spill Tom McBride at slip. Thereafter it was McBride who scored steadily while the other Dumfries batsmen helped him along. Skipper Scott Beveridge was lbw to Rowley for 6 but Geary went on to make 56 in a stand of 126 with McBride in 27.5 overs. By this time, McBride had moved on to 80 off 132 balls and the score was 175 for 3, but Dumfries lost a further 3 wickets, all to Gourlay, before they crossed the finish line in the second last over. Just before the end, McBride completed a determined and well-played hundred, scored off 151 balls with only 6 4s. Gourlay took 4 for 26 off his 10 overs but Freuchie are needing more runs from him and the other recognised batsmen.

Meanwhile, the Seconds were at home. Captain Kenny reports:

This Saturday saw the 2nds play Leith FAB at Muir Road. After Kenny WINNING his first toss of the season he decided to put the visitors into bat. Freuchie’s bowling started strongly with a couple of early wickets but Lovatte of Leith decided he wasn’t going to hang about, hitting a quick 50, and with help of his fellow players he had Freuchie thinking they were going to be chasing a high score. However, after drinks Freuchie didn’t give up and after a continuous fall of wickets, ended up bowling Leith all out for 198 with Lovatte unbeaten on 83. The pick of our bowlers was Blair Forrester with a 4-for and Ian Patterson (president) taking 2 for just 9 runs, while young Ross Mcmurdo was the pick of the fielders.

After tea, Freuchie’s innings saw an early wicket with Allan Wallace out for just 4. but Blair Forrester and Robbie Wright batted on, with Blair getting his 50 and Robbie Wright scoring 26. Stuart Gibson and Kenny Crichton carried the team win what was in the end a fairly easy win. Blair scored 87 to go with his 4 wickets. Freuchie have now made it 3 out of 3 for the 2s. Once again Kenny was very pleased with the great team effort.
(Secretary’s note: I was watching the late stages of the innings and it didn’t look all that comfortable to me!).

Injuries and call-offs meant that we didn’t settle on the Third’s team to go to Meigle until late on Sunday morning, but the unexpected availability of Stuart Gibson (early finished work) Chris Hunt (home from holiday), Gordon Mutch (dragged out by his cousin Robbie Wright) and the addition of Robbie Birrell saw us with a very respectable side. For Meigle, it turned out to be a bit of a one-man show, our former player, Arun Trivedi, getting the home side to 212 for 2. “Ouch,” you would have thought. Not so. Liam Kelly batted well for 39, while skipper Dale Cowan hit 115 off 75 balls – six sixes and six fours among them – until caught on the boundary. He had been well supported by Grant Horsburgh, now joined by Robbie Birrell, who hit the winning run.

After the disappointment of having to cancel the Third XI game last weekend (two XIs on a Sunday is nigh-impossible for us) it was great to see our participation in the Strathmore Union doing just what we hoped it would – opportunities for our young lads to get competitive games, supported by a few of the senior players – and especially good to see Mutchy back in the side.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, The Fife Herald, Dumfries Cricket Club, SNCL, The Strathmore Union, Meigle

But this weekend? Wow! On Saturday, Galzo and his men beat SMRH by three wickets. Kenny and his crew beat Corstorphine and Galzo and his lads beat Breadalbane on Sunday. It would be hard to say which of these results gives most satisfaction, but I’ll have a go at that in a minute.

A ‘five for’ for Steve Rowley – 5 for 20, no less, plus 3 for 16 for Scottie Birrell led to SMRH all out for 114. Stevo was also top scorer with 33 not out, Galzo close behind him with 32. It would have been good to have lost fewer than 7 wickets, but there was a lot of criticism of the pitch. Max points for the lads, though, and Stevo has to be man of he match.

Meantime, at home, Corstorphine had compiled 233 for 6 off 50 overs, a pretty daunting target. However, Jock Wallace got 52, Lee Duncan a magnificent 108 not out (his first century) while Robbie Wright weighed in with 26. We finished with 234 for 6 of 40.2 overs. The only downside was that Alan Duncan – Lee’s dad – retired hurt. Speedy recovery, Duffer.

On Sunday a mixed team visited Breadalbane. We would have had more young lads in the side had there not been a U15 match scheduled for the day (which in the end did not take place). Our aim in seeking entry to the Strathmore Union is to get more competitive cricket for our younger players, and on this showing, it’s going to work out really well. Everyone had a good time (well, almost everyone) while the like of Liam Kelly and Chris Hunt got a chance to show what they are made of. “I didn’t realise how good these guys are!” said Galzo. May be too soon to say that this is a plan that will deliver what we are after, but so far, so good.

Tough to pick what has pleased me most, but my pick is the Third XI outcome – not just the result, but the involvement for our promising juniors.

RESOURCE
Cricket Scotland result service for the SMRH v Freuchie match.

Technorati Tags: Cricket Scotland, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, cricket, SMRH, Corstorphine, Breadalbane

I played in one of these forty-odd years ago, in the early days of my involvement with Freuchie Cricket Club. If I thought that this was going to be a “friendly,” it didn’t take long to be disabused of that idea – I never played in such a needle game in my puff. Guys who usually just turned their arms over turned into Freddie Trumans. Guys who usually poked gently at the ball lifted it over Fairfield’s wall … But tomorrow won’t be like that. We’re better behaved. I think. Anyway – fingers crossed for decent weather.

And on Sunday – our first venture into the Strathmore Union. We were delighted to be accepted into the Union this year to give more opportunities for competitive cricket to some of our younger players (and maybe some of the older?). We will be at home to Cupar Cricket Club – some confusion about venue now settled. Cupar have suffered some plumbing disasters after the severe weather of this winter and we wish them all speed in getting things back in order.

So – weather permitting, it’s cricket at Freuchie Saturday and Sunday, with SNCL and ESCA business starting Saturday 1st May. We’ll get the fixtures posted before then.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Glenrothes, Cupar Cricket Club, Cricket Scotland, SNCL, ESCA

Known as The Three Commandos, these kilted (don’t ask) ruffians will break out from Perth Prison to make their way to a secret hide-out. Kenny (The Menace) Crichton, Dale (Youngcoo) Cowan and Michael Jackson (Jacko The Cracker) have fifteen hours to get to their destination, where their collars will be felt by the local polis to verify fact and time of arrival.

There will be a total of ten teams in the Jail Break, all operating under different constraints – can’t use any form of transport that uses fuel, mustn’t spend any money, mustn’t have a pint for two weeks before (all right, I made the last one up) or whatever. Trophies will be awarded to those who get furthest / have the fanciest destination / show most originality in modus operandi etc.

“Cui bono?” as they say in the better class of detective fiction. Who stands to gain by this criminal activity? The aim is to raise funds for the refurbishment of the Black Watch Museum in Perth, the event organised by Alan Duncan (oor Duffer) of the Grey Lodge Settlement in Dundee. (Grey Lodge works in all sorts of different ways to get help to people who need it and is a worthy cause in itself). In the case of The Three Commandos, half the money raised will go to the Black Watch Museum appeal, with half to Freuchie Cricket Club.

Get your hand in your pocket and your name on a sponsor sheet! There’s some behind the bar in the club, or speak to Duffer (07790 026 124), Kenny (07818 504 939), Mike (07800 691 059) or Dale (07716 317 948).

We are also looking for people who might be able to help in whatever way – accessories before or after the fact, as it were. Talk to one of these guys if you want a bit of previous against your name!

Technorati Tags: Black Watch, Perth, Perth Prison, Grey Lodge, Freuchie Cricket Club

Although that’s the best part of a week away, we are concerned about icy conditions on the Lathrisk Road. We might have hoped that the thaw that’s happening right now would last long enough to clear the road, but we are told that the outlook is for the weather to get worse rather than better. Even one or two patches of ice would make things dangerous, and it sounds as though there’s every prospect of a very icy Lathrisk road by next Saturday.

So, sorry, everyone. We’ll get the race organised as soon as we can.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Cycle Race, fund-raising

Apologies to everyone left disappointed at missing out.

Technorati Tags: dance, Hogmanay

Strathmore Union first: We applied to join Division III of the Union with the aim of getting Sunday games giving more development opportunities for our juniors. We have a lot of promising juniors who are not quite at the stage of a guaranteed place in the Second XI and they need competitive matches to keep them involved and develop their playing skills. We’ll be aiming to field as many as possible of our older juniors, with a sprinkling of senior players to give the team some weight. Three clubs had applied to join the Union, Gordonians seeking to get back into the Union, ourselves and Stenhousemuir keen to get into Division III. Gordonians will go back into Division II; the vote went against Stenhousemuir, leaving the three of us biting our nails for a few minutes, but we were delighted to see a near-unanimous vote in our favour. We’ll report further as plans develop.

Indoor Sixes: We were bitterly disappointed not to participate in this tournament in 2009; invitations were sent by e-mail, and for some reason, we never received ours. By the time we realised that the draw had been made, it was too late for any adjustments. However, Cricket Scotland confirmed today that we are indeed in the draw for the 2010 competition. More to come on that one too.

AND THE AGM! Don’t forget that this is in the clubhouse at 2.30 pm on Sunday 6th December. All members – players especially – are urged to come, members of the public cordially invited.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Strathmore Union, Scottish Media Indoor Sixes