Children’s Christmas Party - in case you are not here to see the notices around the village - the party is in the clubhouse on 21st December, from 2.30 to 4.30 pm. There is a list in the clubhouse to enter names of all children who wish to go, and the deadline for entry is 23rd November. If you can’t make it to the clubhouse, give Lesley Ramage a ring on 01337 857 496.

To be eligible, children must have parents who are club members, or be junior members in their own right, and be of primary school age or under.

Robbie Birrell was elected unanimously as captain for 2009, Alan Wallace stepping down after what everyone agreed had been a very difficult year. More of that in a moment as well. Dave ‘Coo’ Cowan was unanimously elected as vice captain, with some delicately euphemistic words from Dave Christie. ‘Delicate’ like “then he needs to get himsel’ fit. Get some o’ that weight aff.” Coo has been plagued with injuries for a long time, but he still has so much to offer, both as a player and as a reader of the game, and we all hope that we can indeed see him back as a playing regular next year. Elections for second XI captain and vice will be held at a date to be advised.

Now to the bits alluded to above - ‘all the players’ and ‘a difficult year.’

One of the big factors in our ‘difficulties’ was the fact that we had no overseas players. In the last few years, our overseas players have not necessarily been our highest wicket takers or run-scorers, but they have always been very, very, useful players who did a lot to add to our home-grown guys. The problem has not been about finding candidates - it’s been about getting accommodation for them. So we have a team of three guys charged with the task of finding us suitable players for 2009, and another team responsible for making sure there will be accommodation for them.

And ‘all the players’? In the season just past, we sometimes had difficulty in getting two teams on the park on a Saturday. When Bill Frindall was with us for our Centenary Dinner, I was telling him about our concerns over player numbers. “It’s the same all over,” he said, “shortage of players leading to clubs having to merge, in many cases to clubs going out of existence.” We have to make sure that doesn’t happen to us, and that calls for more commitment from some of our people. Remember the picture of the ninety or so kids taken up the park this summer? We have to make sure that a decent proportion of these kids come through to the senior teams, and that the club is competing a senior level when they get there. The AGM is on Sunday 7th December at 3 pm, and that’s going to be one of the items on the agenda. Make sure you are there to help.

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.

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” that we got plenty of exercise to keep us thirsty, while John Thomson of Roundtrip Solutions Ltd. provided some photographic records.

Bill had 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.

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

Technorati Tags: Bill Frindall, Lomond Hills Hotel, Roundtriip Solutions

A hoolie for all!

Our Centenary Year, which started with so many off-the-field successes and such high hopes, ended in our relegation from SNCL Division I to Division II, while the second team, struggling for players throughout the year, has also been relegated to East League Division II. We can’t even say that there was anything marginal about either outcome.

One can usually find plenty of happier events to reflect on, but we didn’t have all that many of them this year. However, our Centenary Festival game against Sussex Ladies was definitely one of them, and yesterday’s ‘Sixes’ was another. The plan was to give the tournament a bit of a twist, with visiting clubs sending four players to be boosted by one Freuchie player and one social member. Cupar won the tournament. The only snag is that Cupar is on an end-of-season tour and could not send a team. The “Cupar” side therefore consisted exclusively of Freuchie players, Andy Sutherland clouting a couple of enormous sixes into the neighbouring football practice ground. How, and to whom, do we now award the trophy? A day of good fun all round.

A wry rider to that: We have just been docked points by SNCL’s Competitions Committee for fielding an ineligible player in a first XI game. Sounds like this was cheating, but the player in question has been one of our second team players for a matter of years - including 2008 - never in the last few years selected for the Firsts. Hardly a matter of wheeling in a hit man in a desperate attempt to scrape up some points. However it turns out that through carelessness on my part (no surprise to those who know me), I have never registered this player with SNCL. My wife now wants to know if these guys who won the Sixes Trophy are eligible to play for Cupar?

And our Junior Coaches deserve so much praise for their efforts throughout the year. So many kids up the park on a Friday evening, so many potentially good cricketers. The task for the rest of us is to keep the club playing at a high standard to make sure these youngsters will enjoy a worthwhile level of cricket competition when they reach the senior teams in a few years time.

And if the weather wasn’t great for cricket, spare a thought for the Freuchie folks who were flooded out a couple of weeks ago, not least our own John Thomson of Roundtrip Solutions Ltd, whose house and car have been pretty comprehensively wrecked. Check it out on ‘Freuchie Mill’ on YouTube.

But the Centenary Dinner Dance is coming! It’s on Saturday 13th September at the Lomond Hills Hotel in Freuchie. If you haven’t got your tickets yet, call Danny Ramage on 01337 857 292. Emcee for the night will be Bob McFarlane of Rossie Priory - ‘FAFF, to his many friends, and the principal speaker England’s scorer Bill Frindall (The Bearded Wonder). We’re looking forward to a great night. Come and join us!

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Lomond Hills Hotel, Roundtrip Solutions Ltd.

So many people did so much to bring the Festival about, not least our main Festival Sponsor, Belhaven. More of that in a moment, recognising at the outset that my sieve-like memory is likely to do a grave injustice to many who helped.

The first of our games was on Tuesday 17th June (I’m only a month late in writing this!) against a Scottish President’s Select. Captained by Euan McIntyre from Cricket Scotland with luminaries such as Pete Drummond and Bill Scott from Meigle with a big partnership from Gregor Maiden of Grange and Ian Young from West of Scotland, the Select was a bit much for us, despite a brave innings from Arun Trivedi.

Just in case you missed it, information and photos from this match were posted earlier.

Wednesday was the Big One, our visitors Sussex Ladies. For anyone who might have thought that Ladies’ Cricket is a kindergarten pat-about, this would have come as a revelation. Technically superb, commanding batting, excellent bowling, crisp throwing-in. Just a pleasure to watch. However, our 239 for 8 (half centuries for Scott Galloway and Stevie Rowley) was a bit much for the ladies. They finished 175 all out, Ebony Rainford-Brent top-scoring with 53. We hope Katherine Brunt has fully recovered from her altercation with a cricket ball.

Photo: Freuchie Cricket Club & Sussex Ladies photo call 

Photo: Timeout for a wee break and a drink…. note the marquee

Fife Scouts had put up a marquee for us and Belhaven had equipped it with a bar. We planned a barbecue, hoping for one of these balmy evenings, but it was decidedly cold. We moved inside and the Milenberg Jazz Band got the dancing going. “Let Ebony play the drums,” cried the ladies. That’s usually a cue for all-round embarrassment, but not this time - Ebony’s drumming was up to the standards of her excellent batting. (Our drummer was lucky to get his sticks back at all).

Photos: Ebony on drums and the Milenberg Jazz Band in full swing 

Thursday brought us Falkland Cricket Club and the Archie Cowan Memorial Trophy match. I think we’d have to confess that getting out a mid-week team three days in a row was a struggle, and like the President’s Select, Falkland, with pro Tim Lythe, proved a bit much for our somewhat depleted side. Family Watson (Brian, with 30-odd not out and next generation Graeme and Paul) provided a solid core that we could not match on the day.

Although we may have failed to recapture the Archie Cowan Cup, the presentation of a centenary celebration gift to the club by Falkland’s Paul Watson, graciously accepted by Alan Duncan, demonstrates the close links and comradeship between us and our local rivals. Perhaps next year they’ll remember to bring the cup with them so as to save us the trip to retrieve it!

Photo: Paul Watson presents Alan Duncan with a gift from Falkland Cricket Club 

So - at risk of forgetting major contributors - big, big thanks to Harry ‘The Barbecue’ Barclay, The Scotsman, the BBC, to Belhaven, whose generosity covered the travel costs for the Sussex Ladies, to the local families who provided bed and breakfast for the ladies, to our own committee, who put in so much work, to the Lomond Hills Hotel who loaned us a barrel of Best for our beer tent, to the Scouts for the beer tent, to the Milenberg Jazz Band for their good-time music, to all the players, visitors and our own, to visiting photographer Alan Richardson and our own John Thomson of Roundtrip Solutions …. The list just goes on and on, but it really has to include our President, Alan Duncan, who was the means of our having Sussex Ladies here, and also who provided many of the ideas that made our three-day Festival a success.

Now, when we get to the bi-centenary …..

Technorati Tags: Cricket Scotland, Belhaven Brewery, Cricket, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, The Lomond Hills Hotel, Sussex Ladies’ Cricket Club, Falkland Cricket Club, Meigle Cricket Club, The Scotsman, BBC

It isn’t until you stop and take a close look at the work and artistry involved in this display that you realise the importance of this year to the whole village. Let’s take a moment to explore the centre piece of The Millennium bed display…

A few words were passed along to us by Joan Cran by way of explanation of this colourful and pretty display that livens up the outlook for the many horses grazing the adjacent fields and those people walking past that take the time to notice.

The Freuchie in Flower Team were asked if The Millennium bed could be planted this year to recognise the centenary of Freuchie Cricket Club.  Two members of the Team, Mick Adams and Anita McKain, planned, planted and maintain this magnificent tribute, which has drawn many compliments and recognition of the tremendous amount of imagination and skill put into the project by Mick and Anita on behalf of  Freuchie in Flower to benefit the whole Community.

Everyone at Freuchie Cricket Club would like to show our appreciation to the Freuchie in Flower team, and in particular Mick Adams and Anita McKain, for the inspiration, thought and sheer hard work that went into making the tribute to Freuchie Cricket Club in our Centenary Year. You have truly done us and the village proud.

Please take a moment to take in the display when next you’re passing and maybe even leave a comment here for the Freuchie in Flower Team.

Technorati Tags: Anita McKain, Fife, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Freuchie in Flower, Mick Adams, Tony Cran

A higher quality version is available for viewing and downloading.

This video is also available in two parts from YouTube: Part 1 and Part 2. Sorry, it is in two parts due to YouTube only allowing videos to be 10 minutes or less in duration.

If you are an auld player and would like to be interviewed then please get in touch by sending us a message or by letting one of the club officials know.

Technorati Tags: Auld Players, cricket, Fife, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Jim Grieve, Peter McKinlay, Scotland, YouTube

The strength and enthusiasm of the Sussex Ladies shines through in an interview with their Captain, Alexia Walker.

Dave Christie reminisces on what is unarguably Freuchie’s (if not Scotland’s) finest cricketing moment, the National Village Cup win in 1985.

Our new signing, a Mr Andy Goram, seemed to be attracting a fair amount of media attention for some reason! Welcome to the club Andy. We’ll have more about and from the new signing in due course.

… and finally….

According to the reporter, John Anderson may be “the most important delivery of all”. 
Or maybe it was the barrel of beer he had in tow at the time. Decide for yourself.

[Updated: BBC Reporting Scotland don't appear to keep news reports online. The link to the news report was removed from this original blog post as it is used for the most recent show.]

Technorati Tags: Alexia Walker, Andy Goram, BBC, cricket, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, National Village Cup, Reporting Scotland

A higher quality video is available on the Freuchie Cricket Club TV channel. You can also download it for offline viewing if you so wish from there.

YouTube fans can view it here if that is your preference.

Keep checking the blog over the coming days for more photos and videos from this match.

Technorati Tags: Centenary Year Celebration, cricket, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Sussex, Sussex Ladies