Round the Wicket

Date will be Saturday 2nd January, start time 12.30 pm

There’s some concern about the state of the road round Lathrisk; it may have been all sorted by 2nd January, but if it’s not, we’ll do what we did last year and mark the worst of the pot holes with cones. We’ll try to get a better copy of the map for this post, but for the moment, Alan W’s note says:

Why are we racing?

Very good question! From the Cricket Club perspective; sponsorship, the events in the clubhouse during the day and the winter buffet disco at night, this event will raise a substantial sum for the Club funds. From a health perspective the race will allow us to burn off some of those Christmas Calories. From a realist perspective it’s a chance to toast the festive period in good company.

The Race

31½ Mile Relay Race

Each lap is 4½ miles

Each team should consist of one lady (the captain) and three guys. The captain will be required to complete one lap (the first lap), whilst the guys will be required to complete two laps each, therefore each team completes seven laps.

The Circuit

Teams

Each Team consists of four cyclists. Teams will be issued Team Numbers and cyclists will be issued with Letters.

For example Team one will have cyclist 1a (the Captain), 1b, 1c and 1d. For the purpose of timings it is important that cyclists remain in the ‘a to d’ order (first four laps) and ‘b to d’ order (laps five to seven).

Starting

Each lap will start and finish at Freuchie Cricket Club.

This year we have restricted the number of teams competing, so all the Captains will start at the same time.

The Bike

In the interest of fairness, racers are not permitted. Mountain bikes only. Maximum of two bikes per team.

Race Marshals

Volunteer Race Marshals will be positioned around the course. Marshals will record cyclist passing designated points ensuring that each lap is completed correctly, whilst ensuring that the cyclist can race safely. Cyclist must obey the Marshals orders at all time. Any instruction/decision given by the Marshals are final.

Age Restrictions

All cyclists must be aged 13 or over.

Protection

It is recommended that cyclists wear a helmet and high visibility clothing.

Refreshment and Beverages – For Cyclists and Spectators

The Clubhouse and facilities will be open from 11am. Cyclist and spectators are invited to watch the race from the Clubhouse. Soup, Pies and Sandwiches will be available and of course the drink will be flowing, as always everything is reasonably priced.

Prizes

Prizes will be awarded after the race for:

· The team that finishes first

· The team that finishes second

· The fastest individual Lap

· The team with the best name

Winners and ‘not quite winners’ will be announced after the race.

More Information

To enter a team, for more information or sponsor sheets please contact; Alan Wallace (07872 379 224), Robbie Birrell (07960 568 376) or Scott Gourlay (07882 904 765).

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Cricket Club, festive period events

We’ve said before that even if we’ve had a disastrous year on the field, we’ve been been having a great time off it. Nothing could exemplify that better than last night’s Hogmanay Ceildih.

Tickets sold out within a couple of days of going on sale. The club was packed, mostly by family parties. Games for the youngsters, games for the adults, general hilarity and dancing for all. Excellent music provided by John and Catriona Reid. Ever played “The Broons” game? I don’t think any of the rest of us had either, but it was run magnificently by Alan Duncan, assisted by wife Ann and by Jock Wallace. Don’t know who won, don’t even know if the game has winners, but everyone was laughing too much for it to matter, and that just typified the evening.

We’ll see what we can do for some photographs.

Freuchie Cricket Club wishes everyone a very, very good New Year.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club

Another great day. Expect a fuller report in a few days, but the main facts for now -

We had fifteen teams

Fastest race time was 1 hour 48 minutes 52 seconds

Fastest laps were 12 minutes 16 seconds and 12 minutes 20 seconds (from the rider of laps four and eight of the winning team)

These times compare with last year’s figures of 1 hour 50 minutes 26 seconds and fastest laps of 12 minutes 54 and 12 minutes 20, again from the rider of laps four and eight.

So our competitors are getting fitter ….. Well, some of them are. And chaps and chapesses, if you want to succeed in this event, you have to do something about this guy who is turning in these super-fast laps ….. A few drawing pins? A can of Instarust for his chain? Or just make him ride the bike that our unfortunate team of juniors was using – it wouldn’t be quite true to say that they spent more time trying to fix it than they did cycling it, but that’s not far off the mark.

And chapesses? A team of ten ladies had the fifth best start to finish time of the day at 2 hours and 34 seconds, although it has to be admitted that they completed five laps against the others’ eight. They went round in pairs, and if it looked a bit on the leisurely side at times, just be aware that at least two of the lap times beat some of the men’s.

We think we raised about £2,900 for our fund for Junior (and senior) coaching in 2009. Details to come. That’s a great, great effort from everyone, from organiser Alan Wallace to all the riders, all the marshals, the couple sitting in the car tracking times and shouting desperately “what number was that that just came in?”, the ladies with the soup and the pies, the spectators – everyone.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club

Yesterday was the annual Kids Xmas Party here at Freuchie Cricket Club. The youngsters enjoyed themselves immensely, especially as the sound of Jingle Bells raised the roof of the clubhouse and sounded the arrival of Santa, who had travelling down to Freuchie from the North Pole. Thank you Santa.

The new Club President made his first public outing and speech to a captivated audience, well the youngsters could well have been captivated by Santa! President Paterson thanked everyone for their hard work and wished the members and their families a very Merry Xmas. 

It was just unfortunate that the sound system broke down during the children’s games, leaving Faye Dick to do a grand job of belting out the songs at the top of her voice like Ethel Merman on speed.

 
Photos: Photos from the Kids Xmas Party 2008

At this point we’d like to quash the rumours circulating that President Paterson reacted just like Elf (video below) when he was told that Santa would be coming to the party. No truth in that rumour at all!

Finally, Santa has passed on a message to say he hopes all the children are being especially good as he doesn’t want to see anyone from Freuchie moving from the nice list onto his naughty one!

Technorati Tags: Elf, Ethel Merman, Father Christmas, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Kids Xmas Party, naughty list, nice list, Santa

Freuchie Cricket Club will be ushering in their 2009 season next Saturday afternoon with their annual winter sponsored cycle race to raise funds for the cricket club and other clubs in the area.

Teams of 4 will compete against the clock in a relay race for 2 laps each of a 4 ½ mile circuit around the village. The record time from last year’s race was 1 hour, 50 minutes and 26 seconds for the winning team to complete the total distance.

Photo: Dave Cowan and Robbie Birrell  getting in some training

Cricket club first team captain, Robbie Birrell, who was out on his bike practicing last weekend, told us:

“It’s a great way to get all the family out in the fresh air, work off some of those extra pounds gained over Christmas and get ready for the Hogmanay celebrations. Some of the cycling can be a bit tricky at this time of year on wet roads, but we’ve got marshals all round the circuit to keep everyone safe”.

The Fife club, who are the only ever Scottish cricket team to win the UK Village Championship at Lords, managed to raise over £3000 at last year’s event. This year they are also inviting other local sports clubs to join the race and use it as their own fundraising opportunity too.

Vice captain, Dave Cowan, who was also out getting in some training last weekend, added:

“There was a great party atmosphere last year with families out supporting the cyclists, having something to eat and drink, and a disco in the evening to award the prizes. We are hoping to repeat the same success again this year and would welcome anyone from the village or further a field to come along and join in the fun”.

More…

The race starts at midday next Saturday 27th at the rear of the clubhouse on Muir Road, Freuchie. There will be refreshments available all day and anyone who wants to enter either as a team or as a club, or come along to the evening disco should contact the event organiser Alan Wallace on 07872 379224.

Ends

Editors Supplemental Notes

• Freuchie Cricket Club was founded in 1908
• In the 1985 final at Lords, Freuchie became the only ever Scottish team to win the UK Village Championship
• Christiegait in Freuchie is named after Dave Christie, the Captain of the victorious 1985 team
• Freuchie’s first team play in Division 2 of the Scottish National League, the second team in Division 2 of the East of Scotland League and the club have 4 junior teams playing in various age groups
• Freuchie Cricket Club is both a sporting and social venue at the heart of the Howe of Fife village’s community

For further information on Freuchie CC please contact Richard Blanchfield, Press Officer, on 01337 858433.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Fife

Our AGM on Sunday 7th December was the best-attended for a long time. A cynic might suggest that this was because we had such a stinker of a year on the field in 2008 and a lot of people thinking things needed fixed, but that would be quite wrong. The mood of the meeting was very positive and actions before and since testify to that.

Just the one bit of not-so-good news: We have known for a long time that our Centenary Year President Alan Duncan was going to step down. We bent his ear mercilessly about staying on, but in the end admitted defeat – for a good cause. Alan looks after Grey Lodges in Dundee, a charitable organisation dedicated to promoting learning, leisure and local action in the community. His operation had a difficult year in 2008. He knows it’s going to be even tougher next year and we know that what Grey Lodges do is very important in Dundee. Maybe they need him more than we do. Let’s recognise that if we had a bad year on the field in 2008, we had a great year off it – our pre-season tour to Ireland, our mid summer cricket festival and our fixture with the Cross Arrows in September  – all down to Alan’s enterprise and contacts. He remains with us as a committee member (and says he’s in training to get back into the first team!).

Not easy to find a replacement, but we think we have a good one in Ian Paterson. Patsy’s involvement with us came about through the football club, but he’s been a committee member (and 2nd XI batsman of distinctive style – say no more) for the last few years. We had our first committee meeting with Patsy in the chair on Monday night, with more buzz about the place than we’ve seen for a while.

That in turn comes from one of the most gratifying outcomes of the AGM – more players on the committee. Freuchie Cricket Club is about cricket, first and foremost. If our committee has maybe been a bit short of active players in the recent past, it’s not now! Scott Birrell and Scott Gourlay come back, Steve Rowley joins us, Robbie Birrell and Alan and Jock Wallace are still with us, and two really positive additions – junior member Robbie Wright and football club member Davie Houston. Development of our junior players is absolutely crucial, and having Robbie on board will help in that, while the mutually beneficial relationship of the cricket and football clubs is so important for us all. Good on ye, Davie Houston!

Robbie Birrell takes over as club captain and is already making an impact. Indoor training starts in January, with a programme of events already mapped out, and we’ll have the experience of Dave ‘Coo’ Cowan as vice captain. Second team leaders have yet to be elected.

We are also – gulp – working to bring in a pro for next year. We’ve said before that while our overseas players have not necessarily been highest scorers or wicket takers, week in, week out, they have provided a strength in the team that we visibly lacked in 2008. Even more important, we must have top-level coaching in place to bring on our juniors and younger players. Why ‘gulp’? Gulp and gulp again, because we look like pushing our finances to the limit, and there’s a lot of nail-biting about our plan. But we have no wish to be financially comfortably-off and sliding out of the SNCL leagues.

Onwards and Upwards!

Our grand Centenary Dinner and Dance is well and truly over. If we would maybe have been happy to sell a few more tickets, we had a very respectable turnout and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Bill “Faff” McFarlane of Rossie Priory Cricket Club kept up his high standards as MC while President Alan Duncan had plenty to say about his fellow players, but the star was undoubtedly our principal speaker, Bill “Bearded Wonder” Frindall, of BBC’s Test Match Special team. His tales of life in the commentary box and players and commentators past and present were a joy for all, perhaps especially for those of us who used to listen spellbound to the lugubrious tones of John Arlott.

 
Photos: Bill “Faff” McFarlane (left) and Alan Duncan (right)

 
Photos: Bill “Bearded Wonder” Frindall delivering his hilarious after dinner speech 

 
Photo: The audience were captivated by Bill’s stories and anecdotes

Three of our guests could hardly believe that twenty five years had passed since the big 75th anniversary shindig. We’re sure they could tell us a story or two about that evening!

 
Photo: (left to right) David Grant, Harry Barclay and Dave Christie

Least we forget, this was a dinner dance with excellent food, a real culinary delight, plentiful liquid refreshment and followed by dancing of many styles and genres. Everyone looked to be having a grand time.

     

   Photos: The happy revelers (click on a photo to see a hi-res version)

Photo: Our illustrious guest is entertained by the Club President and his wife

Perhaps we have many natural born dancers, maybe the refreshment was particularly good or could it be there is a secret plethora of Strictly Coming Dancing fans in Freuchie! Regardless, the band, “Rough Diamond”, ensured plenty of aerobic exercise to justify the quenching of that dreaded dance thirst!

Photo: Rough Diamond banging out the tunes 

 

Photos: The revelers jig the night away 

Photos: Some of the visiting dignitary from Rossie Priory and Falkland

Bill had kindly presented us with a signed limited edition of his circular chart of Brian Lara’s famous 400 not out against England – an unlikely-to be repeated event, captured here in elegantly succinct form. This was auctioned by Bill himself, raising £100 for club funds.

 
Photo: Bill auctions off his kind gift

Pleasing, too, to report that the event was well supported by our players, with visiting luminaries of Scottish Cricket to add even more to the occasion. The Lomond Hills Hotel made sure we were well fed and watered, the band “Rough Diamond” for the tunes and the exercise, while John Thomson of Roundtrip Solutions Ltd. provided some photographic records.

Our sincere thanks to Bill, to Faff, to Ronnie and the hotel staff, to John T, to the band and to all the people who made this a memorable evening.

Technorati Tags: Bill Frindall, Fife, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Lomond Hills Hotel, Roundtriip Solutions

Some pictorial records have been unearthed from our pre-season tour to Ireland ….

We thought it was just a cricket tour, too …. Did you realise that this was a wedding party? Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage … And is the guy with the dark shirt a priest?

And are the witnesses not impressed?

Get your captions in!

The Century almost in our grasp (Centenary Year, that is). So what’s to be nervous about?

At this stage, really only our long-promised Centenary Whisky, and we’re only one firm shot away from that, so to speak. (It’s tempting to talk about a few weeks of playing and missing, but you can overwork an analogy, can’t you). The Scottish Liqueur Centre has got our whisky (cask strength 12 year old single malt from the Tomatin Distillery), our much-pestered graphics designer has done the label and the design is away to Winter the Printer. So will we have Freuchie Cricket Club’s ‘Fraoch’ Centenary Whisky in time for Christmas presents to your favourite people? Surely. A souvenir to treasure, or a dram to enjoy? Get them two bottles, so they can have their whisky and drink it. A snip at £25, available from the Club or from the Lomond Hills Hotel in Freuchie.

The promised pens (£4) and ties (£10) are already on sale and going well. Get them at the club, at the Lomond Hills Hotel or at the Post Office.

Meantime, the AGM has come and gone, with never a punch thrown. (Not that the referees spotted, anyway). Main points are that we have Alan Duncan back as President, while Alan Wallace takes over as Club Captain. Lawrence’s business is making more and more demands on him, so Dave Christie takes over as Cricket Convener. Thanks for what you’ve done in the last couple of years, Lawrence. Robbie Birrell has taken over as Junior Convener, while the fee structure for junior members has been simplified – £5 for those of primary school age, £10 for those under eighteen, but the £1 match levy dropped. Membership fee for senior players has gone up to £50 – a bit of a hike from where it’s been, but still reckoned to be one of the lowest around.

Technorati Tags: cricket, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Scottish Liqueur Centre, Tomatin Distillery, Winters Pioneer

This column has been deplorably neglected of late, so here’s some bits and pieces.

We’ve finally settled plans for The Centenary Whisky, which will be a cask-strength (46%) 12 year old single malt from Tomatin with our own label. The design of the label is just being finalised, the order is already placed and we should be getting delivery mid to late November.

We’ll have Centenary Ties as well; the design was agreed at the last meeting of your hard-working committee, and I’m proud to say I’ve got mine already. (Just to pay for it!)

We’ve also ordered some rather smart pens which will carry the legend Freuchie Cricket Club, Centenary Year, 2008, with forest green bodies and black ink. They’ll be with us in the next couple of weeks as well.

Christmas presents? Nae problem.

We are delighted to announce that Mrs Elspeth Skinner of Lathrisk House has undertaken to be one of our patrons. Details have still to be worked out, but her support will be invaluable and we’re hoping that we may be able to apply for a Sportsmatch award for one of our major projects. However, they’ve dished out all their cash for this year, so we’ll have to wait to see what can be done.

Plans for Mrs Skinner to meet with Dave Christie this morning didn’t work out, though, because he was away skiving. What? A dry morning and Dave not up the park? What’s his excuse? Answer: Dave has again been awarded the accolade of Scotland’s Grounsdman of the Year, and was off to Ingliston to view the flash ground-keeping machinery and be presented with his award. We are talking about the need to replace our aging outfield mower, and this was a chance to see what’s available. I was glad I was sitting down when Dave told me about costs, but Dave being Dave, he might have a work-around… More news soon.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Tomatin Distillery, Sportsmatch, Ingliston