Back to School
The Lords’ team was sent back to Freuchie Primary School on Sunday afternoon. Had Fife Council Education Services finally tracked down those Freuchie lads who had spent way too much time on the cricket field? Certainly not! Their presence was required at a tree planting ceremony commemorating their 1985 achievement.
Commemoration plaque secured to the school wall
Elizabeth Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, was enthusiastic about taking part in Freuchie’s Glorious Weekend celebration of the Lords’ victory. Liz, who is no stranger to cricket, is a former member of the Scottish Ladies Cricket X1, a Governor of George Watson’s College in Edinburgh, Deputy Convener of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Sport, a coach of two girls’ cricket teams and has been an admirer of Freuchie Cricket Club’s achievements for many years.
Elizabeth Smith MSP at Freuchie’s Glorious Weekend
Liz was delighted to be involved in the tree planting ceremony and spoke of the wonderful cooperation in Freuchie between village, club and school to the benefit of the whole community:
"I remember the famous Lords’ occasion in September 1985 very well indeed. It was an extraordinary achievement by the 13 men from Freuchie and a real boost for Scottish cricket, the benefits of which I believe we are still enjoying 25 years on. In particular, I congratulate Freuchie Cricket Club on its youth development programme and on its strong links with the local primary school in the grounds of which 13 fruit trees will be planted to celebrate the 1985 victory. That feature is a terrific link between the cricket stars of the past as those of the future."
Side note: The club hopes to arrange a match next summer with Liz’s under 14 girls team, so come on Freuchie girls start training now, the facilities are there.
The tree planting delegation and VIPs listens to Liz Smith’s tribute
Left to Right: Ann Duncan (wife of Alan Duncan), George Crichton, Stewart Irvine, Mark Wilkie, Dave Cowan, Fraser Irvine, Sir Menzies Campbell MP, Dave Christie, Brian Christie, Andy Crichton, Elizabeth Smith MSP, Bob McFarlane (President, Cricket Scotland) and his daughter and Pete Hepplewhite
Formalities complete, it was down to the Lords’ players and their representatives to plant the new fruit orchard.
[ Click on any photograph to see a larger version ]
Davie Cowan aka “Coo” plants a Pear “Williams” tree
Ann Duncan plants an Apple “Tydeman’s Early” on behalf of her hubby Alan aka “Duffers”
Ann had a starring role in the 1985 BBC and STV documentaries which were running in the clubhouse all weekend, courtesy of the broadcasters and Black Light.
Editor’s comment: It was noted Alan didn’t turn up until after Mr 60 Minutes had finished up for the day and gone home. Could this be another “Stig” type identity? Just a thought!
Mark Wilkie plants a Pear “"Williams” with headteacher Rona MacLean-Ross keeping a watchful eye for any misbehaviour
Pete Hepplewhite plants a Pear “Conference” tree
Stewart Irvine aka “Jasper” plants an Apple “Blenheim Orange” tree
Brian Christie puts an Apple “Ellison’s Orange” into the ground
Fraser Irvine plants an Apple “Blenheim Orange”
George Crichton jokingly asks, “Where’s the rest of it?”, as he plants an Apple “Charles Ross” tree
Club President Ian Paterson aka “Patsy” is honoured to plant a Cherry “Stella” tree on behalf of Niven McNaughton
Editor’s comment: The tree planting was really motoring at this point! Our photographer wasn’t getting a moment to line up the shots before the tree was planted and it was onto the next one. Please send us any better photos you may have of Patsy planting this tree.
Many people expressed their delight to see Niven had managed along to the club on the Sunday even if someone had to stand in for him at the tree planting ceremony.
Andy Crichton plants an Apple “Charles Ross”
Dave “Dad” Christie gets help from Jasper to plant an Apple “Ellison’s Orange” tree
Davie Houston aka “Housty” plants a Pear “Williams” on behalf of George Wilson… but where’s Robbie!
And finally…
Alan Wood of Norsk Hydro, a sponsor of the 1980’s, plants an Apple “Bramley” on behalf of Terry Trewartha
Gasp! Job done and it was time to watch Freuchie beat Falkland.
The Daily Record produced an excellent reunion article earlier in the week which provides a little background on each player and their contribution to the victorious Village Cup run. We heartedly recommend you take a look if you’ve not already done so.
Once again there are so many people to thank for making this special commemoration possible: headteacher Rona Maclean-Ross; the pupils and the staff of the school; our invited VIP guests; the Lords’ squad and their representatives. There is also a long list of people who shovelled and trundled barrows around to prepare the ground: David Girdwood; Andy Mather; Mrs.Lesley Thomson; Mrs. Catriona Nimmo; Mrs. Wendy Simpson; Gill Milne; Mrs. Cam McIvor and Scott McCrone. Thank you one and all.
It is heartening to see the Fife Council Community Payback Offender’s Scheme being used for such good work in our little village. A big show of appreciation to the staff and clients of the service who also put in so much hard work.
Members of the community who missed the start of the Freuchie vs Falkland 20/20 match to watch the ceremony should also be thanked for choosing to come along to witness this historic moment.
Editor’s comment: Hopefully we’ve not missed anyone out!
One final thing, the man from Del Monte has been on the phone and he says “Yes”! – for those too young to remember the advertising campaign, you can check out this advert on YouTube.
Technorati Tags: Alan Duncan, Ann Duncan, Brian Christie, cricket, Dave Christie, Dave Cowan, Davie Houston, Fraser Irvine, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Freuchie Primary School, George Crichton, George Wilson, Liz Smith MSP, Mark Wilkie, Niven McNaughton, Pete Hepplewhite, Sir Menzies Campbell MP, Stewart Irvine
Captain’s Corner
I’m very pleased to say that we got our 2nd win of the season on Saturday with a fairly comfortable win over Weirs. Scorecard is here.
The day got off to a good start when Weirs lost the toss so I had the choice to bat or bowl, so bat I did choose. In the end it proved to be the right choice as Freuchie posted a very good total of 249, a total that is well within our grasp if we put our minds to it. The key to this total was a good start by myself and Steve Rowley, putting on 80+ for the first wicket, a great platform for the rest of the guys coming in to play their shots. Big Dave Cowan pressed the accelerator at the right time with a quick fire 30+ to push us up to 249 as well as very useful contributions from the rest of the guys.
Once again we got off to a great start in the bowling with a good opening spell from Scott Gourlay and Dave Cowan. Stewart Gibson on his debut for the 1st XI this year did very well under the circumstances as we were under the cosh for a while when Razza Butt as he was dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground. We eventually got him out on 80 and effectively that was their run chase over. Once again Steve Rowley was the pick of the bowlers with 5 wickets.
As for this weekend, its another big game for us as Renfrew are below us in the league so we really need to make this game count. On Sunday we are relieved by the pressures of league cricket as we are playing in the Scottish Cup against Dunfermline Knights who are doing very well since being promoted to the first division, it will be a very big test for us.
Technorati Tags: Dave Cowan, Dunfermline Knights, Razza Butt, Renfrew, Scott Gourlay, Steve Rowley, Stewart Gibson, Weirs
Captain’s Corner
The club had a very good week with victories in both the Fife Cup and the league, unfortunately we missed out on progressing into the next round of the Murgitroyd T20 Cup. We played Cupar in the Fife Cup on a very tricky wicket and managed to overcome them without too many problems, keeping their runs to below 100. Freuchie made the target without losing too many wickets. Jock Wallace was the main stay with 42 not out. The next round should be played next week but we don’t yet know the opponent.
Congratulations to Dave Cowan who captained the 1st XI to their first league victory of the season in my absence. Freuchie amassed a first innings total of 277, Scott Galloway made 94, Scott Gourlay 56 and Dave Cowan 32. Freuchie then restricted SMRH to 115 all out, Steve Rowley was the main wicket taker with 4 for 23, Andy Sutherland 2 for 25 and Jamie McIntosh 2 for 14 against his old team.The scorecard for this match is available here.
WELL DONE LADS!!
Unfortunately we lost to Dunfermline in the Murgitroyd T20 on Sunday, hopefully we can do better against them next month in the Scottish Cup.
A special mention to the Under 15’s who won against Perth in a very exciting game during the week. The game finished in the pouring rain but Freuchie bowled and fielded very well to defend 74. The young lads are progressing very well and improving with every game.
Technorati Tags: Andy Sutherland, Cupar, Dave Cowan, Dunfermline, Fife Cup, Freuchie, Jamie McIntosh, Jock Wallace, Murgitroyd T20 Cup, Perth, Scott Galloway, Scott Gourlay, Steve Rowley
Captain’s Corner: Must Do Better!
These are the words that spring to mind when thinking of Saturday’s first league game against Corstorphine. I’m sad to say that they out played us in every department.
Unfortunately I lost the toss and was put into bat, Its just a pity the cricket wasn’t up to that standard! Other than Steve Rowley there wasn’t many pass marks on the batting front, as again players weakly gave up their wicket through bad shot selection, 166 was never going to be enough to defend on a drying wicket.
This brings us onto the bowling, apart from the opening partnership of Dave Cowan and Scott Gourlay, who again both troubled the batsmen on several occasions and kept runs to a trickle, the bowling was far too short and the lines not tight enough which enabled the batsmen to score freely on both sides of the wicket and made setting the field very difficult.
We will certainly be working hard at training this week, weather permitting!
Saturday cannot come quick enough to try and redeem ourselves and get our first (much needed) win of the season. We welcome Scott Birrell back into the squad after work commitments last week, this will surely strengthen the batting and bowling at Prestwick.
Behind the scenes we are working fervently to get Mario Saliwa, our professional, into the UK and playing cricket for us throughout Scotland. We’ll keep you up to date on the pro situation as it developers further.
Again we must thank Dave Christie for all his efforts as the wicket was exceptional for this time of year. There were a few comments about how good our ground looked from both umpires and players.
Resources:
Scorecard for Freuchie vs RH Corstorphine
Technorati Tags: cricket, Corstorphine, Corstorphine Cricket Club, Dave Christie, Dave Cowan, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Mario Saliwa, Prestwick, Prestwick Cricket Club, Scott Birrell, Scott Gourlay, Steve Rowley