Daily Record

• In pictures: Little Freuchie Cricket Club – 25 and not out
• Reunited after 25 years.. the Scots who shook the world of cricket

Smart Community Fife

• Freuchie Sports Court now open!
• New orchard commemorates ‘Freuchie’s Glorious Weekend’
• Freuchie’s Celebratory Cricket Match

The Courier

• From the archives: Fabulous Freuchie win at Lords’
• From the archives: Freuchie cricket glory
• Freuchie Cricket Club to relive Lord’s glory of 1985
• Bowled over by Freuchie’s Lords’ heroes

The Scotsman

• Scotland’s day but Botham got the whisky

We will revisit this blog post over the coming days as we become aware of other links to relevant articles.

Technorati Tags: Daily Record, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Smart Community Fife, The Courier, The Scotsman

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 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 crowds around.

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 open 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… aye Dimples? 

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

More information about the book, including a downloadable excerpt, is available here.

Technorati Tags: book, Freuchie , Freuchie Cricket Club, limited edition

Posters are already on display for what is being billed as Freuchie’s Glorious Weekend, but there’s an important date before that. This Sunday (22nd August) sees us hosting a Kwik Cricket festival – no less than twelve junior teams in competition, groundsmen Dave Christie and Dave McIntosh tearing their hair out to find six wickets dotted about the park.

Then the Glorious Weekend as billed: We are going to have a celebration of our 1985 Lord’s victory, spread across 4th and 5th September, with a family Fun Day on the Saturday and a 20:20 match on the Sunday. Some details have still to be worked out, but here’s the general set up:

The Fun Day will have craft stalls, bouncy castle, face-painting, and most importantly, ‘taster sessions’ of sports in the new games area in the school playground – short tennis, cricket, netball, dodge ball and so on. There will be a free family disco in the clubhouse, starting at eight o‘clock. Tea and coffee will be available at the clubhouse throughout the day, and we are keen to get as many people as possible coming to the club to see what a fine place it is.

Through the efforts of Scott McCrone, there will be an exhibition of some of our historic photographs, backed up by video footage of the great Lord’s adventure, courtesy of BBC and STV and our own Jock Wallace and his employer and major club sponsor, Black Light. That’ll be running all through the weekend (except during the Saturday evening disco, when it will be taken down to protect it from any over-energetic dancers. Swing yer Maw, swing yer Paw, swing yer Grannie through the wa’ …..)

On the Sunday, we will be gathering around one o’clock, with an opening speech from Sir Menzies Campbell at half past one. Cricket Scotland president Bob McFarlane will take over, with our 20:20 against Falkland kicking off at two o’clock. We’re hoping that between innings, there will be time for a very short junior game to let people see a few of our stars of the future.

And THE BOOK – THE BOOK! “Freuchie Cricket Club, 1908 to 2008” – a really beautiful hard-bound book of over 230 pages. Compiled by Scott McCrone (busy man, our Scott) and with an introduction by Sir Menzies Campbell, it has copies of old minutes, photographs, fixture cards, score sheets and a special section on the Lord’s victory. We will be giving it its official launch on 5th September with a limited First Edition of fifty copies. It may sound dear at £40 a copy, but many people, on seeing a draft copy, have said things like “you’re crazy – you’re way under-priced at £40!” and “this is family heirloom stuff!” Come and judge for yourselves – there will be at least one copy to see even if the first fifty have been snapped up.

Also on the Sunday, time yet to be decided, it is planned to have a tree-planting ceremony in the newly-landscaped school playground, commemorating the Lord’s squad and the official opening of the new multi-use games area.

And  there’s more, even if not exactly on the weekend – The Daily Record plans to run a feature on the Lord’s team on the actual anniversary of the victory, while STV cameras aim to be at our ground on 1st September to prepare for a horror show of all these aging faces ….

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Black Light, Falkland Cricket Club, Lord’s, Cricket Scotland, the Daily Record, STV, the National Village Championship

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

Saturday saw Heriots 2s come to Muir Road. Kenny won the toss and put the visitors into bat. Freuchie bowled tightly with the score at only 49 for 2 after 20 overs but then Heriots started to swing the bat a bit, their opener H Wright hitting a few sixes which saw him reach 88 before Allan Wallace bowled him. R Ruru scored 43, Freuchie bowling Heriots all out for 233 in the final over.

After tea, Freuchie’s innings started poorly, with Blair Forrester out from the 1^st ball of the innings and Lee Duncan, who came in at 3, out shortly after for only 6 to leave the score at 7 for 2 off the first over. In came Allan Wallace to start a 71 run partnership with the other opener, Robbie Wright. Allan Wallace was eventually caught by Wallace on 40. Shortly after, the fall of two more wickets saw the score at 116 for 5 off 27 overs. That brought captain Kenny to the crease to start another good partnership and good batting performances from both Kenny and Robbie with a 90+ partnership coming to an end with Kenny on 40 before being run out and Robbie going on to 78 before being caught. That saw Freuchie at 208 for 7 of 40 overs but unfortunately, with some tight bowling from Heriots Freuchie finished 2 runs short of victory.

It was a great game of cricket and although Freuchie didn’t win, they still picked up the maximum points of 12 which Kenny was pleased with.

Special mention for Peter McNicol for stepping in at the last minute to help out after not playing for 4 years.

Secretary’s note: I watched some of the game, in which I thought Heriots had a very strong-looking side. I had seen some of Robbie’s batting when he scored a century against Kinross the previous week but this was different stuff against a very different standard of bowling. Very, very well played, Mr Wright.

We have very little news about Sunday’s Murgitroyd T20 against Stirling County. “Gubbed” was one report, “hammered” another.

However, we end May with the Firsts second from top in SNCl Division II, the Seconds fourth in Division II of the East League. Can we continue this for the rest of the season?

Teams for Saturday 5th June:

First XI at home to Weirs: Scot Galloway, Dave Cowan, Scott Birrell, Robbie Birrell, Steve Rowley, Jock Wallace, Mike Jackson, Dale Cowan, Graeme Christie, Fergus Black, Stuart Gibson.

Second XI away to top of the table Murrayfield DAFS: Kenny Crichton, Blair Forrester, Lee Duncan, Robbie Wright, Shane Munro, Liam Kelly, Ross McMurdo, Grant Horsburgh, Ian Paterson, Rory Brown, Greg Birrell

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, SNCL, ESCA, Edinburgh, Heriots, Stirling County, Murgitroyds

Saturday First XI: Scott Galloway, Dave Cowan, Scott Gourlay, Scott Birrell, Robbie Birrell, Dale Cowan, Steve Rowley, Mike Jackson, Jock Wallace, Stewart Gibson.

Second XI: Kenny Crichton, Blair Forrester, Graeme Christie, Liam Kelly, Robbie Wright, Shane Munro, Lee Duncan, Alan Wallace, Ian Paterson, Ross McMurdo, Chris Hunt. Reserves Grant Horsburgh and Greg Birrell.

Sunday – meet at eight am for 9.30 start at Stirling: Scott Galloway, Scott Gourlay, Mike Jackson, Steve Rowley, Dale Cowan, Robbie Birrell, Scott Birrell, Jock Wallace, Stewart Gibson, Graeme Christie

Come and support Kenny and his men on Saturday, and don’t miss the U15 trials on Sunday.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Heriots, Stirling County, Murgitroyd, SNCL

Photo: Matching winning Freuchie 1st XI

Meanwhile, our Second XI’s 100% record came to an abrupt end. A number of regulars were unavailable for selection, the situation made worse by injuries and call-offs. That said, it was a respectable looking batting XI that took the field against Marchmont. Stand-in skipper Alan Wallace praised Shane Munro for his mature innings of 30 not out and Grant Horsburgh for his contribution, but 139 all out off 47 overs wasn’t likely to be enough. Sadly, so it proved. Robbie Wright bowled economically, but the Marchmont batsmen cruised past our total without difficulty – and without loss. Alan reported that young Ross McMurdo bowled excellently and he had particular praise for the fielding of Cameron Millar and Blair Lawrie. We also have a special thanks to Charles Balfour, who drove up from Newcastle in response to Alan’s appeal for players.

Sunday saw our Thirds at home to Kinross. Both clubs had sides of genuinely mixed ability, but it has to be confessed that our mix was a good deal stronger than theirs. Freuchie batted first, with James Fretwell retiring hurt, but Dale Cowan and Robbie Wright rather took charge at that point, Dale skelping some huge sixes into the football park and retiring when he made his hundred. Robbie was close behind him at that point. He too got to his hundred a few balls later, and likewise retired. That left the way clear for the younger lads, who must have enjoyed batting without any pressure whatsoever.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Corstorphine, Kinross, SNCL

The Firsts were at home to West Lothian on Saturday in what turned out to be an absorbing match. Batting first, things were looking pretty rocky for us at 41 for 4, decidedly rocky at 96 for 5 then desperate, you might have said, at 96 for 6. However, these last two wickets had seen a ship-steadying stand between Steve Rowley and Jock Wallace. Kash Khalil added another 12, but it was the Cowans who did the biz – Dale with 62 not out and father Dave with 32. Freuchie fielded well, Dave Cowan getting pro van Wyk out for 29 while overseas amateur Cookson was run out for 38. Crucially, we had Scott Gourlay bowling the last over, showing his experience and holding his nerve to restrict the visitors to three runs when they needed six for victory. As skipper Scott Galloway pointed out, this is just the sort of narrow margin that we were on the wrong side of several times last year. Let’s hope we stay on that side a few more times this season. For the full scorecard, go to http://www.cricketscotland.com/node/15407.

Meanwhile, the Twos were in the Falkirk area to face Westquarter and Redding. The word is that the wicket had been recently cut and had no markings, the outfield “not likely to offer many fours along the ground.” However, the wicket was marked, Freuchie lost the toss and were put in to bat. Scoring was difficult, but Blair Forrester and Robbie Wright did well, equal top scorers with 44 apiece. Our total was 132 for 7 after 50 overs. Tight bowling and good fielding saw Westquarter all out for 95, with Blair notching 4 wickets for just 21 runs in his ten over spell. Captain Kenny Crichton was delighted with this great team effort.

Sunday. Scottish Cup first round, at home to Soneywood Dyce. Lacking Scott Gourlay and Dave Cowan, our attack was maybe a bit down on what it might have been, but it gave a chance to let a couple of our younger bowlers feel the fire. It really has to be admitted that all of our bowlers got a bit of heat – eight of the eleven had a go, Dale Cowan the least expensive with 1 wicket at 5 an over, Graeme Christie just behind with 1 wicket for 5.3 an over, others nearer 7 an over. The result was a rather daunting 339 for 6 off 50 overs for the visitors. Graeme was an early casualty when we had only 9 on the board, but Robbie Birrell and skipper Scott Galloway were looking good until Galzo went to a good catch at deep square leg. Things were never quite the same after that, although we reached a very creditable 215 all out, which included a sterling 40 from Jock Wallace.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, cricket, Cricket Scotland, West Lothian, Westquarter, Stoneywood Dyce

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