Thursday 25 October 2012

Tour de Caerlaverock Cancelled

Just to let the three people who read the previous post know that the Tour de Caerlaverock has now been cancelled due to lack of weather and St Michael's CC conducting irrigation work at the Kingholm on the same date.

Let us hope the rice crop succeeds this year!

Sunday 21 October 2012

Tour de Caerlaverock

No, the mild autumn weather has not led to a re-opening of the cricket season. This is instead a message to the cyclists among you who have some sort of affiliation, former affiliation or no affiliation with St Michael's Cricket Club.

The ageing cycle
SMCC have organised a cycling fun event next Sunday p.m., 28th October, so that ageing Shipwrecks who are fattening up for Christmas can get out for a bit of a run before the sunshine gives way to the advancing polar icecap.

For more details and to sign up, see the events page on the club's Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/81953409795

Alternatively, drop me an email and I will send you details by return.

P.s. Don't forget to tell Sid!

Colin.

Monday 3 September 2012

Tour "Unlikely" - Dean

The proposed tour of Cumbria now seems 'unlikely to go ahead', according to a recent semaphore message from Fleet Commander Geoff Dean. Pitches in Cumbria are reportedly just as waterlogged as some of the ones we have played on and in over here.

Noggin the Nog
The myth of the "Shipwrecks Tour" now lays claim to be one of the longest-standing and best-loved seafaring stories in the oral tradition, along with "The Oddyssey" and "The Saga of Noggin The Nog." It is lovingly retold in "The Ship Inn" every year around July or August time, along with accounts of heroic deeds undertaken on the foreign fields of Threlkeld, Great Broughton and Baggrow.

In fact the last Shipwrecks tour to take place was around 2005, since when the age profile of the team has made the voyage to Cumbria increasingly hazardous and the prospect of two forty over games in a weekend virtually unthinkable.

It is probably best then that the old stories are now by tradition laid to rest in Davey Jones locker each year as soon as English Premiership season gets underway.

Monday 20 August 2012

Er...That's It

Last week's exciting battle with Annan was unsurprisingly washed out by a particular heavy downpour, putting an end to the Midweek action for the season as we have no further part in the cup competitions.

So all craft can be placed in dry dock for repainting and equipment repaired for another year - unless of course the annual rumour of an end of season tour comes to fruition.  Top secret plans of the Admiralty to mount a John Paul Jones style of attack on the coast of Cumbria have been leaked extensively and they may yet be put into force - assuming our undercover agent in Cumbria (Liz Dickie) can come up with two poor quality pub teams for us to play against.

Watch this space...

Monday 13 August 2012

Fielding Positions

It has come to the belated attention of the bridge that some crew members who are not from a nautical background have had a little difficulty understanding the seafaring charts that are commonly used during the game of cricket.

This is an important health and safety issue as navigational errors could lead to collisions endangering both life and property and, more importantly, dropped catches.

It would therefore be appreciated if all those on watch duty during the Annan game on Wednesday could study the following scientific diagram to gain at least an approximate idea of the course they should be steering:-


Obviously the above illustration assumes a right handed batsman and a prevailing westerly wind.  In the case of a left handed batsman, the legside of course becomes the offside (and vice versa) and all the fielding positions become reversed along a vertical axis. 

Hopefully this information will be of future assistance to all those in peril on the sea.

P.s. Whatever happened to backward short leg, long leg and cover point?

Diabolical Plot Foils Shipwrecks

Shipwrecks were surprised to find themselves facing the might of Ashleigh Construction (St Michael's CC) last Wednesday on a K1 pitch that at the weekend had looked like it was ready for a visit from an ocean liner.  But a surprise spell of sunshine saw off the wading birds as the Kingholm conveniently returned to its usual merselike state and was pronounced fit for play.

Old seadog Colin Taylor won the toss and decided to bat, hoping the opposition, who included two professional sailors from exotic climes, would mess things up chasing a modest total. 

Unfortunately Rory Dean was bowled early by a quick one from South African bowler Bridgens and Taylor was soon  run out when he thought McNay had cut one past Kiwi pro Faust, only to see the ball bounce up slowly in the estuary mud, allowing Faust to recover and throw down the stumps sharply at the batsman's end. 

Geoff Dean made steady progress for a while until he played one in the air to Faust, Mike Lumb had no better luck than Taylor taking on Bridgens' arm and Sandy McNay was as usual astonished to be trapped lbw.

Batting lower down this week, Mike Service took some revenge on Faust by hoisting his off spinners amidships for a colourful 18 and annoying the bowler so much that he attempted to pin Saints' young wicket keeper to the sightscreen with a lightning faster delivery. But the tailenders were consigned fairly cheaply to Davy Jones' locker by Brockwell's pace as Shipwrecks sank to to 69 all out in the eighteenth over.

At this point Faust apparently sold his soul to the devil in exchange for a free pizza if he managed to score a maximum 30 runs off the first over.  If Shipwrecks had been aware of this evil plan they would have course have frustrated it e.g. by bowling 70 successive wides but Gregory Robinson's accuracy was just what Faust needed and his dastardly plan succeeded off the last ball of the first over.

The home side obviously decided that the best experience for their junior players was to observe this display from the headland rather than take any part in it and it was left to two of their weekenders to pick off the remaining 39 runs.  Shipwrecks annoyingly dropped a series of catchable chances, notably off Andy Cameron, but it made little difference to the end result.

In spite of this reverse, the latest edition of the league tables shows Shipwrecks in fifth place and in remote danger of sneaking into the end of season playoffs:


 Scores: Shipwrecks 69 all out (Service 18, Dean 13) : Ashleigh Construction 70 - 0 (Faust 30 ret)

Sunday 5 August 2012

Irving Meadow Swamped

The Shipwrecks took on close rivals and fellow Midweek League founder members Irving Meadow at Kingholm Marshes last Wednesday, where K2 was carrying enough water in parts of the outfield to float a toy sailing boat.

Unsure what would be a good total on a swamp, Captain Taylor (Sr) was happy to  lose the toss and let Meadow do the calculations.  Gregory Robinson and Andy Cameron opened the bowling to an umbrella field, which as expected proved difficult to breach..  The only problem was that, after Cameron bowled Irving, no wickets were falling.

That was until Rory Dean came on with another excellent spell, getting Bryden caught at square leg, then claiming two wickets in two balls with a dubious lbw and a nasty one that reared off a length to catch the handle of Dylan Muir's bat.

Alex Taylor calculates his batting average
Meanwhile Sandy McNay bowled Bellwood, who appeared to be targetting the MacLeod Pavilion on the distant horizon with a massive swipe, and Dean bowled Wharton to claim his fourth wicket.  There was even a another run out in what was an alert overall fielding performance as Irving Meadow were all out for 64.

Unfortunately Mike Service's stumps were shattered by Wharton's third delivery and Colin Taylor joined Sandy McNay to shore up the defences.  Eight overs later the score reached 10 and the waiting batsmen were starting to look jittery.  The oldsters upped the pace, but neither could get out, McNay in particular being dropped on three occasions.  Eventually Taylor edged one to the 'keeper to allow the entry of son Alex, who appeared to have an urgent appointment and lost no time in laying into the bowling.

One particularly massive six stood out among the ensuing boundaries and, in the end, Shipwrecks got home with overs to spare.

Scores: Irving Meadow 64 all out (Bryden ??, Moss 16 n.o. ; R.Dean 4-11) : Shipwrecks 65 -2 (McNay 25 n.o., A. Taylor 20 n.o.)

Monday 23 July 2012

Shipwrecks Win in the Wet

The Shipwrecks took on the Healthpros at the Kingholm last Tuesday in typically dreary July conditions and emerged damp but victorious.

Skipper Taylor, having listened to the Shipping Forecast on BBC Long Wave, invited the opposition to bat first in the hope of scuttling the doctors before the storms closed in.  In fact a rather lame opening few overs meant Healthpros survived 17.1 overs and it took an excellent spell of  3-13 by Rory Dean and some tight late bowling to restrict the score to 68 all out.

Meanwhile the return of Mike Lumb behind the stumps and some more good throwing by Gregory Robinson produced three excellent run outs - another landmark in the annals of a club that rarely runs anyone out.

Man of Match - Rory Dean
Steady rain duly set in during the changeover to make even 68 a tricky chase on the developing merse at Kingholm 2.  The tactic was to get on with it and 20 was added before Sandy McNay was run out and Geoff Dean, realising it was weather for ducks, duly got one. Then Mike Service hoisted one straight up in the air and the whole battle plan look set to backfire.

Alex Taylor and Rory Dean were left with the difficult task of eeking out the rest of the runs in increasingly dire conditions against some accurate bowling.  They showed some resolution in doing this and by the time Taylor younger was lbw to one that kept very low, Taylor senior and Man of the Match Dean  just needed to milk a few extras to get the ship home safely.

Credit however should be given to the Healthpros for playing on in conditions which, if asked for their professional judgement, could perhaps have lead to a major outbreak of influenza.

Scores: Healthpros 68 all out (Choudry 18 ; R. Dean 3-13) : Shipwrecks 70 - 3 (R.Dean, 23 n.o., A. Taylor 16)


Monday 16 July 2012

Not Enough at Nunholm

Our latest voyage of discovery to Port Nunholm again ended in defeat last Thursday when we failed to hold off CC Colts/Annandale Insurance (does anyone know who?) in the home strait.

Skipper Colin Taylor decided to bat first on winning the toss against a mixed looking CC Insurance line up. Sandy McNay and Mike Service made a reasonable enough start until the latter holed early out but disaster then struck.  Possibly mistaking Chris McBride for Tom the Cabin Boy, key batter Geoff Dean attempted to swipe his second delivery, a googly, to leg - only to be hit right in front of the mainmast on the back foot.

McCuaig hits a single to off
McCuaig and McNay, who has been in vintage form with the bat hung around for a fair while until McNay claimed his maximum and Alex Taylor was finally ready to take the wicket.  The score then started to accelerate as Taylor swatted his way to 25 but batting was  not without problems against some very mixed bowling on a wet outfield.  In the event Rory Dean was the only other batsman to seriously trouble the scorers, playing some nice looking shots through the offside.

Typically, Nunholm introduced late arrival and would-be county cricketer Niall Alexander to bowl two overs at the end and Dean and Ian Whitby did well to avoid conceding another wicket as Shipwrecks foundered to 110 at the halfway stage.

The bowling turned out like the batting i.e. somewhat mixed and certainly proved that Reetz, who was dropped early at short mid-wicket, is strongest outside his leg stump. Once McBride followed him to the maximum, it always looked like the target was reachable.  One bright spot was that Alexander was caught C. Taylor b. M. Robinson for not too many and there was a minor celebration when birthday boy Gregory Robinson claimed his first wicketkeeping victim by running out Trefor Williams.

A late attempt to stifle the singles with an umbrella field at least drew out the finish until the end of the nineteenth over but the truth was that Shipwrecks neither batted nor bowled well enough to deserve victory.

Scores: Shipwrecks 110 - 5 (A. Taylor 25 n.o., S. McNay 25 n.o, R Dean 19 n.o) : Annandale Colts 114 - 3.

Saturday 7 July 2012

Shipwrecks Back On Course?


Geoff Dean took over the captaincy for the last couple of weeks in June, while Captain Taylor was away in Austria looking for fresh talent.

Unfortunately, this period coincided with a further downturn in our fortunes, namely League and Cup encounters at Dalton, who have filled their team with various stowaways, privateers and mercenaries, presumably in attempt to claim buried treasure at the end of season.

In the two clear defeats that resulted, we did however put up a good performance in the cup game, when both Robinsons bowled some decent deliveries and Mike Lumb rediscovered his wicket keeping gloves.  So it actually took the Dalton Allstars seventeen overs to reach our modest total of 53. Apparently however, the talking point of the game was a rare beamer from Sandy McNay which at least left some mark on the opposition

This week the 'Wrecks steamed back up the League, but only because Kirkmahoe could only muster four players on the night and conceded the fixture.

The succeeding knockabout pairs game was won by Alex Taylor and Andy Cameron and, as well as providing much needed practice, served to demonstrate the current level of fitness of the crew, some of whom could be found indulging in beer and porky scratchings in The Ship Inn after the game.

Saturday 16 June 2012

Shipwrecks Sunk by Galloway

Shipwrecks went down heavily but unsurprisingly at Castle Douglas against a Galloway XI sporting six weekend First XI players including South African pro Vootoo, having only mustered a paltry 29.

As if the odds were not heavily enough stacked, it turned out to be one of those nights when everything went wrong for the visitors. Inserted to bat, Ian Whitby and Mike Service survived a couple of maidens before one from Conn took off at Whitby who gloved it high over the 'keeper's head, only to be be swallowed up by a multiple juggling effort by Bradley, whose course started at fly slip and ended at short fine leg.

This was only the start as almost every time the Shipwrecks tried to hit their way out of trouble, the ball deposited itself conveniently in the hands of a fielder as Service, Alex Taylor and both Robinsons all shared the same misfortune and Mike Lumb, returning to duty after a prolonged absence, was given lbw to one that appeared to take an edge. 

It was always a game where Shipwrecks, for whom A. Taylor and Rory Dean had also not yet manned the decks this season, would have needed the luck on their side to have any chance and it all became too much for one team member, who abandoned ship altogether after being run out with his bat in the air.

Skipper Colin Taylor's plan of attacking with all guns in mid-innings then battening down the hatches later if necessary was finally scuppered when McCuaig was bowled by a ball from Montgomery that kept low.

With the outcome virtually a formality, Taylor decided to give returning bowlers some practice but not before Gregory Robinson had bowled Briggs and run out Penrice with a superb throw from mid wicket, which he then claimed was "a fluke".  But the sudden prospect of an embarrassing defeat clearly alarmed the opposition, who immediately sent Vootoo out to reel off the remaining runs, splicing the mainbrace with a couple of onside slogs.


Shipwrecks best moment from Wednesday's game - after the stumps had been drawn

Meanwhile news came through that our longstanding rivals Irving Meadow had suffered a similar fate at Dalton where they were all out for 12.  There maybe sends a message about the nature of the Midweek League this season and certainly sets a target for our own next fixture - at Dalton.

Scores: Shipwrecks 29 all out : Galloway 30 -2 (G. Robinson 1-7)


Sunday 10 June 2012

Can You Play on Wednesday?

Thursday's gale which restricted all craft to port and led to the unfortunate (?) cancellation of our top-of-the-table skirmish with the Kingholm XI has also disrupted communications across the fleet.  Team organiser Geoff Dean has been temporarily restationed to the Balkans and asked everyone to send Captain Taylor a signal regarding their availability for the game against Galloway at Castle Douglas High School on Wednesday 13th.

Unfortunately very few communications have been received by morse code or semaphore and we currently only have four players confirmed.

Can you please respond to Geoff's request and let me know on 07837 367924 if you can make this game or not as I do not have a list of contacts.


Friday 1 June 2012

Shipwrecks Eye Cup Booty

The Shipwrecks sailed through to Round 2 of the Sulwath Brewers' Shield after convincingly outgunning the Police in this Wednesday's midweek fixture, although not without incident.  Due to a major navigational error by Third Officer Geoff Dean, the entire crew was ordered to report to their home port at the Kingholm when they should have been posted deep into enemy territory further up the Nith. Finding their berths occupied by Irving Meadow ratings, they then had to be transported to the correct ground in Dunkirk fashion in a variety of different craft.

On arrival at Nunholm, Skipper Taylor, unsure of how many shipmates had made the trip safely and surveying the gathering storm clouds, won the toss and elected to bat.  But it was apparent that the effects of motion sickness had not worn off when he and fellow opener Mike Service were dismissed within the first three overs, both attempting shots that betrayed a lack of concentration.

Sid Oates and Dean started to make amends for the shaky start and the latter went on to complete a maximum in a good partnership with "Jim Lad" Worthington. Fortunately the Police artillery was decidedly off target and Extras quickly became the most valuable cargo as the opposition bowlers jettisoned the ball in all directions.  Meanwhile Worthington and Gregory then Mathew Robinson put on further useful runs and Donald McCuaig and Davey Dillon, who hit one massive six towards the tennis courts, finished off in similar vein to take the visitors to 149 - 6.

The long yardarm of the Law made a reasonable start but, having been warned against complacency and conceding overthrows, Shipwrecks tightened the screw in the field as Taylor and the Robinsons took no wickets but also conceded very few runs.  Almost before they realised, the Police had lost over half their allocated overs for only 49 before Dillon struck by bowling Chalmers. 

The fraternal competition between the Robinsons took on a fascinating symmetry when they returned to the attack. Both took two wickets in two balls with yorkers, but neither completed the hat trick.  By now Victory was a mathematical certainty but Ian "Surrey Star" Whitby rounded off an impressive overall fielding performance with an excellent catch at point.

The Man of The Match Award (temporarily borrowed from the pub's Dominoes Team) was later presented to the forgiven Geoff Dean by Linsey Mallon of The Ship Inn for his excellent 26 not out.

Geoff receives MoM Award from Linsey
Scores: Shipwrecks 149 for 6 (Dean 26 n.o., Worthington 16, Dillon 17 n.o. ; Richardson 3-23, Chalmers 2-10)  : Police 89 for 7 (Brown 27 n.o., Chalmers 15 ; G. Robinson 3-17,  M. Robinson  2-17, Dillon 2-19. Shipwrecks won by 60 runs.

Friday 25 May 2012

Full Steam Ahead for Shipwrecks

Following last week's unexpected scrapping of the SS Annandale Insurance by the Nunholm Line, the Shipwrecks returned from a fortnight's shore leave to engage a skiff manned by the Burgh Boys.  Or at least most of them did, as it was only thanks to the Robinson Bros., who press ganged their friends Stefan and Ms. Elgin to strengthen the legside field, that the 'Wrecks sailed with a full compliment.

Hoping for easy pickings and an early return to The Ship Inn, Taylor inserted the opposition to bat on winning the toss and the gamble paid off nicely.  After another first over breakthrough by fit again Andy Cameron, Cap'n Taylor greedily hogged most of the spoils for himself with a personal best of 5 - 4 to demolish the opposition middle and late order for only 49.  Sandy McNay (2) and Gregory Robinson (1) also chimed in with key wickets as the fielding side achieved an unprecedented 100% success in the catching department, repeatedly clinging on to the ball as if it was a lifeline.

A fine day at the Kingholm as Able Seaman Worthington strokes the ball through the covers
The Winning Partnership

In a minor batting reshuffle, swashbuckiling Sid Oates opened the innings with watchful Jim Worthington on guard at the other end.  Oates was soon in the metaphorical Pavilion but Mike "Senior" Service was yet again in form with a hard hitting maximum at number three.  Geoff Dean hit a couple of nice shots before edging to 'keeper Moorehead as he attempted the spectacular finish, leaving Mathew Robinson and Worthington to scamper the winning run off a bye.

This was another enthusiastic allround performance by all hands and suprisingly takes Shipwrecks to their best start to a season for many years in spite of the absence of several seasoned sailors.

"Can it possibly continue?" we ask ourselves.

Scores: Burgh Boys 49 all out (Taylor 5 - 4, McNay  2 -14) ; Shpwrx 50 -2 (Service 25 not out).

Shipwrecks won by eight wickets.

Sunday 13 May 2012

Shipwrecks on Crest of Wave

The Shipwrecks were riding high after they won their second Midweek League encounter with Lockerbie on a murky night last Wednesday, but not without some alarms on the way.  By the time the winning runs were scored it was almsot nightfall, so dark in fact that the Shipwrecks' bowling figures were completely illegible after the match finished.

The late arrival of the ferry from Lockerbie containing skipper Andy Veitch and the away team's kitbag always made it likely that the team batting second would have the worst of it and, inevitably, it was Shipwrecks who lost the toss and were asked to bowl.

Andy Cameron again struck early but asked to be taken off with a knee strain. Shipwrecks then struggled in the field, leaking extras and missing catches as Captain Taylor sought for the right bowling combination to restrict Stevie Crawford and evergreen John Smith.  Eventually he tried himself, picking up a couple of wickets after nearly dismissing Veitch early on.

An exciting moment from Wednesday's game
Faced with a total of 103 and no navigation lights as the gloom descended, Shipwrecks sent out their big guns to try and resolve the battle early and it sort of worked.  Although Davey Dillon, Gregory and Matthew Robinson and Ian Whitby all fell early, Mike Service weighed in with some powerful shots in his 23 and Geoff Dean cruised to another maximum.  By the time Taylor and Sandy McNay were together at nightfall less than 20 were needed with plenty of overs remaining and the field still set deep. So the old codgers realised all they had to do was stay in and not collide with each other between the wickets.

A couple more boundaries helped and the task was duly achieved when they scampered home for two runs off a bye.  So it is an untypically successful start to the season for the boys from The Ship, but they cannot expect an easy passage against Annandale Insurance at Nunholm next Thursday unless they liven up in the field.

Incidentally, fixtures like the above surely restate the case for orange or pink balls in evening fixtures as previously argued in an earlier post

Latest:

Annandale Insurance game is now off as Nunholm have withdrawn one of their teams from the League.

Saturday 5 May 2012

Shipwrecks Win Seesaw Encounter

In a colder than average spring, Shipwrecks' first midweek encounter with the Police took place surprisingly balmy conditions on Thursday with ne'er a squall in sight. However anticipated problems of overmanning proved to be entirely misplaced since only nine players reported for roll call - various members of last season's crew providing a variety of excuses (unfit for duty, confined to barracks, stranded overseas, etc.)

Fearing a difficult passage, Skipper Colin Taylor chose to bat on winning the toss and openers Sandy McNay and Mike Service found themselves batting warily against a much improved Police bowling attack.  At 27 for 0 after ten overs, the innings was almost becalmed but an acceleration of pace took Service to an excellent 28 retired while McNay struck a rare six over mid off. Thanks to a lightning near maximum from Geoff Dean and some late hitting by Taylor and Gregory Robinson, the 'Wrecks eventually posted a reasonably competitive 106-1.  The IX thus survived twenty overs for the loss of only one wicket. Is this a club record?

The Police innings nearly hit the rocks early on as Andy Cameron and Matthew Robinson ripped through the early batting order but the coppers eventually restored order through a great partnership between G. Brown and N. Hewitson.  Both found Taylor's reduced pace particularly to their liking, and at 79 - 4 after 15 overs, it looked like the Shipwrecks' cause was going to founder.

Fortunately old sea dog McNay had spotted that all hits were going to the leg side and quickly reinforced the starboard watch for his own bowling.  The result was a stingy 16th and 18th over, in between which Robinson (G.) had picked up the vital partnership-breaking wicket.  He captured a second to a spectacular try-like diving catch by his brother, and when Bob Davidson hoisted Taylor to the same player in the last over, the Police were still short of the target by ten runs.

Overall this was a very good sea battle that could have gone either way, but Shipwrecks had the advantage through good catching and the fact that they were better at steering the ball into the puddle at long on. Picking a man of the match on return to The Ship Inn would have been a very difficult task as Service, McNay, Dean, Cameron and both Robinsons all made important contributions.


Scores: Shipwrecks 106 for 1 (M.Service 28 n.o.,G.Dean 24, S.McNay 25 n.o, C. Taylor 13 n.o.) :
Police 96 all out (G. Brown 28 n.o., N.Hewitson 24 ; A.Cameron 2-5, M. Robinson 2-6, G.Robinson 2-16)

Friday 27 April 2012

First Fixture Ahoy!

Our first 'serious' game in the John Henderson Midweek League will be against the Police on Thursday 3rd May - 6.15 pm at Kingholm 2.

Please let Geoff Dean know if you are available or not on 07712666794.

Perhaps this is a good time to remind all those who wish to sail with us that there is a match fee of £2 a game, payable to the Ship's Purser who is - er - also Geoff Dean.

Beating the Police is always a pleasant experience - look forward to seeing you there.



Sunday 22 April 2012

Shipwrecks Friendly Tie With Saints

Despite a poor shipping forecast from the Met Office, Shipwrecks completed their 28 overs a side pre-season friendly versus a St Michael's XI in balmy Spring sunshine yesterday afternoon. 

Invited to bat by Saints' Sandy McNay, an excellent opening partnership by Donald McQuaig (25) and Mike Service (19) set up a total of 116 and most of the 'Wrecks put a few runs on the board, though chief selector Geoff Dean was unwisely run out early by an ambitious call from Sid Oates - who however attoned by achieving second top score of 23.  New recruit Greg Robinson (14) put together some useful hits to accelerate the score late on.

Steady bowling from Sid Barbour, Robinson and brother Matthew becalmed Saints' batting for a while but the usual injuries to crew members left Skipper Taylor short of bowling options.  These he resolved by a cunning act of piracy, pressing substitute fielders loaned by Saints into action, all of whom took useful wickets.  In particular young Daniel Veitch from Lockerbie produced an astounding 26th over of  left arm spin to take 3 for 1 with wickets off his last two balls before being withdrawn by McNay on a hat trick.

This feat nearly turned the game in the Shipwrecks' favour but McNay himself, needing two runs to win off Dean's last ball, chipped the ball over Matthew Robinson's head to level the scores but not far enough to escape being run out as he went for the winning run.

A tie seemed absolutely the right result as the balance between the young Saints team and our own motley crew was pretty even throughout.

Shipwrecks are still looking to pressgang one or two players for the Midweek season, which starts in earnest on 3rd May.  If you don't want us to come looking for you, volunteer straight away by replying here, via Facebook or by ringing Geoff on 07712666794.