Wednesday, May 30, 2012

2012 Results

Standard Life v Preston Village

29/05/2012Arboretum
Preston Village 128 for 3 (20 overs)Standard Life 129 for 2 (15.5 overs)
I.Patterson 63, S.Ramzan 21M.Gandhe 58*, D.Sangster 34, G.Kulasekaran 21, S.Gul 14*,
I.Wallace 1-27A.Sibbley 1-10

Won By 8 Wkts

On a horribly grey, murky evening after a brief spell of fine weather, we took on East Lothian outfit Preston Village at Arboretum in the second round of the Parks Trophy. Dolphy (0-22) and Mukesh (0-10) had a good opening burst with only Dophy's final over coming in for some treatment. Patterson began to open up as Wallaci came on, but PVCC didn't build up real momentum in the face of decent bowling from Ramana and Sangster. Paul Watts threw down the stumps from distance to run out one opener and Sangster touched the ball on to the stumps to remove the potentially dangerous Razman, run out backing up, for 21. Wallaci returned to pin Patterson LBW for 63 and PVCC closed their innings on 128 for 3, which looked within reach provided our batting came off.

And it did. Gopi and Mukesh started well, with 24 runs coming off the first 3 overs and bad balls being summarily dispatched to the boundary. Mukesh offered a chance which nobody fancied then Gopi top-edged a square cut to be caught for 21. Dave had a streaky boundary off the top edge to open up with but from then on we were ahead of the rate, often starting an over with a four. Mukesh hit a fine six over extra cover, matching by a towering straight six by Sangsta who was finally out LBW for 34. Mukesh slowed down and serenely passed his fifty while Shazad weighed in with a trio of boundaries in a brisk 14 not out. Mukesh pushed the winning run with 25 balls to go to finish on 58 not out. Despite the mist and damp and lush outfield, the wicket played well and the scoring rates were good. This takes us into the quarter-final, possibly against last year's nemesis, Murrayfield DFAS.

Boroughmuir v Standard Life

23/05/2012Meggetland
Boroughmuir 143 for x (20 overs)Standard Life 122 for x (20 overs)
S.Gul 45*
  

Lost By 19 Runs

Standard Life v Bank of Scotland

09/05/2012Arboretum
Standard Life 177 for 2 (20 overs)Bank of Scotland 96 all out (19.5 overs)
A.Hislop 82*, G.Kulasekaran 47, S.Gul 18*, M.Gandhe 15C.Bryen 31*
 G.Das 2-14

Won By 81 Runs

A fine 93 opening stand from debutants Andy Hislop and Gopinath Kulasekaran was the foundation for a comfortable Parks Trophy victory over BofS at a chilly Arboretum (our new part-time home venue). Andy hit a classy fifty and accelerated late on, in the company of Mukesh and Shazad, who both hit sixes. Tim Hyatt worked up soem decent pace and our Indian contingent all chipped in with the ball, Ramana throwing himself to his left for a spectacular caught and bowled. Goutam rounded things off with a direct hit run-out from short fine leg.

Scottish Widows v Standard Life

01/05/2012Newfield art.
Scottish Widows 113 for 4 (16 overs)Standard Life 69 for 9 (14.1 overs)
E.Edwards 51M.Gandhe 39
R.Tumu 1-8P.Mitchell 4-6

Lost By 44 Runs

The season opener was a one-sided affair, as Eddie quickly raced to a fifty on the artificial at Newfield before retiring. Wickets were hard to come by with a couple of run-outs all we had to show until Ramana, one of the four Indian players making their debut, hit timber. We might have had a chance so long as Mukesh stayed in but the collapse from 42 for no wicket to 69 for 9 (Kieron couldn't bat after turning his ankle in the field - again!) was all too familiar as leg-spin and lob bowling proved our undoing, a succession of wild heaves and bewilderment par for the course. Chris Scott managed to secure the first golden duck of the season, stumped.

Results 2010-2019

DateDetailsVenueTypeMatch Result
29/05/2012Preston Village 128 for 3
Standard Life 129 for 2
ArboretumParks TrophyWon By 8 Wkts
23/05/2012Boroughmuir 143 for x
Standard Life 122 for x
ArboretumFriendlyLost By 19 Runs
09/05/2012Standard Life 177 for 2
Bank of Scotland 96 all out
ArboretumParks TrophyWon By 81 Runs
01/05/2012Scottish Widows 113 for 4
Standard Life 69 for 9
Newfield art.FriendlyLost By 44 Runs
17/08/2011Standard Life 137 for 6
E=MCC 61 for 7
PeffermillFriendlyWon By 76 Runs
09/08/2011Standard Life 124 for 6
Kirk Brae CC 85 for 8
Double HedgesFriendlyWon By 39 Runs
03/08/2011Standard Life 126 for 8
Edin Univ Staff 77 for 7
PeffermillFriendlyWon By 49 Runs
21/07/2011Standard Life 165 for 7
E=MCC 64 all out
NewfieldFriendlyWon By 101 Runs
13/07/2011Currie & Balerno 115 for 4
Standard Life 109 for 9
NewfieldFriendlyLost By 6 Runs
29/06/2011Standard Life 115 for 6
Bank of Scotland 72 for 9
PeffermillInsurance TrophyWon By 43 Runs
28/06/2011Standard Life 82 all out
Scottish Widows 84 for 1
Inch ParkTerry Newcombe TrophyLost By 9 Wkts
16/06/2011Standard Life 158 for 9
SWIP CC 112 all out
NewfieldFriendlyWon By 46 Runs
26/05/2011Standard Life 126 for 4
Kirkbrae 127 for 4
Newfield art.FriendlyLost By 6 Wkts
18/05/2011Murrayfield DAFS 177 for 3
Standard Life 142 for 6
NewfieldParks TrophyLost By 35 Runs
12/05/2011Standard Life 170 for 5
Scottish Widows 164 for 4
Newfield art.Insurance TrophyWon By 6 Runs
26/08/2010Standard Life 105 for 2
Kirkbrae 109 for 4
Double HedgesFriendlyLost By 6 Wkts
18/08/2010Standard Life 155 for 4
Bank of Scotland 106 all out
PeffermillInsurance TrophyWon By 49 Runs
04/08/2010Standard Life 113 for 6
Leith FAB 103 for 7
NewfieldParks Trophy FinalWon By 10 Runs
03/08/2010Edin Univ Staff 91 for 5
Standard Life 92 for 0
FettesFriendlyWon By 10 Wkts
28/07/2010Standard Life 92 all out
Murrayfield DAFS 93 for 5
NewfieldTerry Newcombe Trophy FinalLost By 5 Wkts
26/07/2010Standard Life 130 for 4
Musselburgh 129 for 8
FettesTerry Newcombe TrophyWon By 1 Run
20/07/2010Standard Life 139 for 5
Scottish Widows 61 for 9
FettesInsurance TrophyWon By 78 Runs
08/07/2010Standard Life 143 for 1
Kirkbrae 114 for 9
FettesFriendlyWon By 29 Runs
30/06/2010Drummond Trinity 161 for 4
Standard Life 162 for 6
Inverleith ParkTerry Newcombe TrophyWon By 4 Wkts
23/06/2010Standard Life 192 for 4
Currie & Balerno 102 for 6
NewfieldParks TrophyWon By 90 Runs
22/06/2010Standard Life 170 for 9
E=MCC 108 for 6
NewfieldFriendlyWon By 62 Runs
17/06/2010Inchcolm CC 87 all out
Standard Life 88 for 5
NewfieldFriendlyWon By 5 Wkts
02/06/2010Standard Life 194 for 3
Currie & Balerno 147 for 7
NewfieldTerry Newcombe TrophyWon By 47 Runs
25/05/2010Standard Life 142 for 9
Holy Cross 132 for 6
NewfieldParks TrophyWon By 10 Runs
18/05/2010Standard Life 122 for 5
Old Contemptibles 107 all out
NewfieldTerry Newcombe TrophyWon By 15 Runs
13/05/2010Botanics 83 for 8
Standard Life 86 for 3
Newfield art.Parks TrophyWon By 7 Wkts
06/05/2010Standard Life 158 for 4
Scottish Widows 161 for 5
Inch ParkFriendlyLost by 5 Wkts
04/05/2010Standard Life 152 for 2
Edin Univ Staff 115 for 7
PeffermillFriendlyWon by 37 Runs

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Memory Lane

Courtesy of James Whitson, who's got his scanner working, here are a couple of photos from the nineties. First up it's a tour photo from the Norman Berger Underpants tour to Leeds in 1994. We are wearing our drinking hats.

Back row, l-to-r: Brian St. John, Neil Mackay, Neil Smith, Peter Robertson, Ian Wallace, Dee Harley. Front row: Bob Mottram, Donald Pretsell, Euan Kennedy, Paul Chowdhry, James Whitson, Alan Stevens.

Next up it's the Parks Trophy winning team from 1999, fresh from victory over Marchmont at Newfield (130 for 4 beat 127 for 8).

Back row l-to-r: Chris Goddard, Robin Crouch, Bob Harston, Ian Wallace, Steve Davey. Front row: James Whitson, Mike Everett, Richard Donald (capt), Paul Chowdhry, Euan Kennedy.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Club Stats for Season 2011

Season 2011PWLTARatio
Results11740063.6%

Batting summary

Name                      P Inn NO Runs  HS 6's Avg.
Blake, Kieron            10  9  0   182  40  3  20.22
Thornton, Rob             3  3  0   180  88  4  60.00
Sangster, David           7  7  0   119  55  4  17.00
Chouguley, Nikhil         6  6  2   108  32  3  27.00
Colvin, Steve             7  6  0    91  31  1  15.17
Gandhe, Mukesh            7  7  0    89  25  2  12.71
Desai, Abhishek           3  3  2    85  59  0  85.00
Rogers, Ian               7  7  0    63  20  0  9.00
Donald, Richard           3  3  0    51  28  1  17.00
Kumar, Hemant             6  5  0    48  27  0  9.60
Das, Goutam               3  2  0    45  30  0  22.50
Jones, Doug*              2  2  0    36  24  0  18.00
Smith, Bruce*             1  1  0    30  30  3  30.00
Gul, Shazad               2  2  0    30  20  0  15.00
Studders, David           1  1  0    25  25  0  25.00
Wallace, Ian              9  5  3    24  10  0  12.00
Goyal, Rohit              3  3  2    21  19  0  21.00
Panneerselvam, Elangovan  1  1  0    16  16  0  16.00
Douglas, Greg             6  5  3    11   7  0  5.50
Watts, Paul               5  5  0    11   4  0  2.20
Chopra, Nikhil            2  2  0     8   6  0  4.00
Dhanjal, Amreek S         2  1  0     5   5  0  5.00
Dann, Chris               1  1  0     4   4  1  4.00
Steer, Matthew            1  1  1     3   3  0  -
Hyatt, Tim                4  2  1     3   3  0  3.00
Scott, Chris J#           2  2  2     1   1  0  -
Seditas, Colin*           2  1  0     0   0  0  0.00
Shrivastava, Sumit        4  2  1     0   0  0  0.00
Kirkman, Simon            1  0  0     -   -  0  -
Pilli, Rakesh             1  0  0     -   -  0  -

Bowling summary

Name                    O      B  M    R  W   Avg.  R/R   S/R 
Gandhe, Mukesh         20.5  125  4   74 10   7.40  3.55  12.50
Douglas, Greg           9.0   54  1   44  6   7.33  4.89  9.00
Blake, Kieron           8.3   51  0   44  5   8.80  5.18  10.20
Hyatt, Tim             15.0   90  2   59  5  11.80  3.93  18.00
Chouguley, Nikhil      17.0  102  1   86  5  17.20  5.06  20.40
Kumar, Hemant          20.1  121  2  107  4  26.75  5.31  30.25
Sangster, David         3.0   18  1    8  3   2.67  2.67  6.00
Chopra, Nikhil          7.0   42  1   17  3   5.67  2.43  14.00
Goyal, Rohit            8.0   48  0   47  3  15.67  5.88  16.00
Shrivastava, Sumit      7.0   42  0   48  3  16.00  6.86  14.00
Seditas, Colin*         6.3   39  0   50  3  16.67  7.69  13.00
Thornton, Rob           9.0   54  0   70  3  23.33  7.78  18.00
Wallace, Ian           26.0  156  2  136  3  45.33  5.23  52.00
Studders, David         3.0   18  0   14  2   7.00  4.67  9.00
Smith, Bruce*           0.2    2  0    0  1   0.00  0.00  2.00
Steer, Matthew          2.0   12  0   17  1  17.00  8.50  12.00
Rogers, Ian             4.0   24  0   25  1  25.00  6.25  24.00
Scott, Chris J#         5.0   30  0   36  1  36.00  7.20  30.00
Desai, Abhishek        10.0   60  2   40  1  40.00  4.00  60.00
Das, Goutam            10.0   60  0   69  1  69.00  6.90  60.00
Donald, Richard         7.1   43  0   52  0   -     7.26  -
Pilli, Rakesh           2.0   12  0   22  0   -    11.00  -
Watts, Paul             1.0    6  0   14  0   -    14.00  -

Fielding summary

Name             Cts  St RO
Colvin, Steve      3  0  0
Desai, Abhishek    3  0  0
Douglas, Greg      2  0  0
Sangster, David    2  0  0
Chouguley, Nikhil  1  0  1
Gandhe, Mukesh     1  0  1
Rogers, Ian        1  0  0
Blake, Kieron      1  0  0
Dann, Chris        1  0  0
Smith, Bruce*      1  0  0
Thornton, Rob      1  0  0
Wallace, Ian       1  0  0
Watts, Paul        0  1  0

* denotes a guest player

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

2011 Results

E=MCC v Standard Life

17/08/2011Peffermill
Standard Life 137 for 6 (18 overs)E=MCC 61 for 7 (18 overs)
D.Sangster 28, K.Blake 28, M.Gandhe 25, I.Rogers 20, N.Chouguley 15 
 G.Douglas 3-16

Won By 76 Runs

Our last match of the season was notable for very little, other than being played in increasingly heavy rain and veteran skipper Wallace bowling his 10,000th competitive (legal) delivery for Standard Life in his final over. He dropped a caught and bowled chance off his 9.999th delivery. Despite a valiant effort in the rain, diving to his right, Kieron dropped a chance off Wallaci's 10,000th delivery. So the milestone was marked in characteristic fashion. Such is a bowler's lot...

Kirk Brae CC v Standard Life

09/08/2011Double Hedges
Standard Life 124 for 6 (20 overs)Kirk Brae CC 85 for 8 (18 overs)
D.Sangster 55, S.Colvin 31 
 D.Sangster 2-8, N.Chopra 2-13, K.Blake 2-16

Won By 39 Runs

Edin Univ Staff v Standard Life

03/08/2011Peffermill
Standard Life 126 for 8 (20 overs)Edin Univ Staff 77 for 7 (20 overs)
K.Blake 25, D.Sangster 19, M.Gandhe 16 
 M.Gandhe 2-3, G.Douglas 2-16

Won By 49 Runs

Standard Life v E=MCC

21/07/2011Newfield
Standard Life 165 for 6 (20 overs)E=MCC 64 all out (19.2 overs)
S.Colvin 30, B.Smith 30, D.Studders 25, K.Blake 20, A.Desai 19*, N.Chouguley 18*R.Moody 12
Karthee 1-25, C.Maynard 1-38T.Hyatt 3-5, D.Studders 2-14

Won By 101 Runs

On the day the 2000th Test Match began at Lords, with England taking on India at the start of a series which could decide who is the number one Test side in world cricket, Wallace captained Standard Life for the 200th time at the opposite end of the cricketing spectrum, against the mighty E=MCC. He lost the toss. That was the only reverse of the evening. The Equals had one or two decent bowlers in their midst, with opener Rajesh swinging and cutting it off the tacky Newfield wicket. K-Dawg smashed his second ball for six and from then on we pulled away like a young starlet in a sports car. Bar one or two, there was as much chance of the Equals' fielders catching a meteorite as catching the ball and a number of chances went begging. Only Kieron, spooning a wide off the back of the bat to be caught behind for 20, Greg Douglas (run, Greg, run!) who was run out for 1 and Sangstakarra, bowled for 6, fell victim to the Equals' powers. The Colvinator retired after a six, guest star Bruce Smith retired after three sixes and sporadic Studders knocked off his customary 25 with aplomb. Or possibly a bat. Nikhil and Abhishek shared an unbroken 7th wicket stand of 36 as the big hits dried up but the runs kept flowing. 165 was always going to be beyond the reach of E=MCC, especially given this week's retiral of the Space Shuttle.

Wallaci and Hyatt opened the bowling with Timpani striking the High-Hat three times as the Equals' top order was drummed out in the style adopted by our batsmen last week. Even Wallaci's s-l-o-w-e-r ball did the business. 16 for 4 after 6 overs. Nikhil and Abhishek beat the bat more times than Catwoman but the fifth wicket partnership lingered until Nikhil finally induced an edge, safely gathered by keeper Sangster in a fine performance behind the stumps. Enter Studders. Released from the shackles of facing Nikhil, Tonge's eyes lit up and he had a big yahoo. Bowled by Golden-arm Studders, obviously inspired by receipt of his Parks Trophy medal from last year. Moody played his shot through midwicket to the tune of three boundaries before Lefty Greg picked up his first wicket for the club with his second ball, thanks to Abhishek taking a sharp catch in the gloaming at mid-on. The presence of a young lady at the crease rekindled our interest. Our keeper was especially keen to show her how to grip the bat and one or two fielders got a bit excited about singles in the covers. The running between the wickets became as decisive as a Libran in a sweet shop but there were no run-outs. Instead, Blake and Smith wrapped things up with a wicket apiece. Sometimes you need a comfortable victory against weaker opposition to boost low self-esteem. So we decided to celebrate with a drink in the Barony afterwards.

Standard Life v Currie & Balerno

13/07/2011Newfield
Currie & Balerno 115 for 4 (20 overs)Standard Life 109 for 9 (20 overs)
M.Hiller 69*, K.Cryton 27A.Desai 59*, D.Jones 24
M.Gandhe 1-9, I.Wallace 1-10D.Barry 4-4, AN.Other 3-24

Lost By 6 Runs

Where do we start with this one? On the best evening we've had this damp summer we had a good competitive match with the villagers. Winning the toss and batting C&B were pinned down by Wallaci and Mukesh who claimed an opener each in the opening burst. 9 for 2 after 4 overs. Hillier served notice of his legside predilection, hoisting a Wallace full toss for 6 towards the gardens but Rayside top-edged one to Abhishek Desai at cover off Tim Hyatt to leave the villagers at 36 for 3 at the halfway stage. Cryton (K) proved to like the drive, and he and Hillier began to find the boundary more regularly. Abhishek pinned them down initially but Colin Seditas's first over went for an eye-watering 17, which would have been less had skipper Wallace judged a Hillier pull out of the sun more swiftly and taken the catch. Colin recovered well and eventually bowled Cryton for 27, but the partnership of 81 in 10 overs set up C&B with a competitive score.

After five overs of our innings, it was a score that looked as far out of sight as Usain Bolt jogging on ahead of Sumit. While Scotland wilted like wet tissue paper in the face of Lasith Malinga's yorkers down the road at the Grange, our batsmen showed an ages-old failing against slow trundlers. In a top-order performance reminiscent of a previous encounter with Currie & Balerno so eloquently described ten years ago by Nick Clarke's purple prose, and the worst start to an innings I can recall since a thoroughly inept run chase against Murrayfield in 2003, it was the 20th ball of the innings before we registered a run off the bat. By then, Ian Rogers had been caught for a duck at deep square leg, Mukesh had been caught at extra cover for a second ball duck, Greg Douglas departed, bowled, two balls later (for a duck) and Hemant dragged his foot out to be stumped (for a second ball duck). Our four runs at this point were all wides. Sangster had watched agog from the non-striker's end as our inability to play lob bowling plumbed depths previously the reserve of the News of the World. In the event, we folded even quicker than that august publication. Two overs later and even Sangster had gone, triggered for 4.

We were 9 for 5 after 4.2 overs.

At this stage, the record low total of 25 was under threat. Debutant Abhishek Desai was scratching his head wondering what to make of a batting line-up that was as robust as an abstinence pledge made by Charlie Sheen. Doug Jones joined Abs and together they pieced together the makings of a reply. Daniel Barry departed after 4-2-4-4 and his warning that they didn't have much bowling seemed prophetic as Abhi tucked into the change bowler with a 2-4-6 onslaught to take us past the record low score. Doug batted sensibly and ran well and by halfway our 39 for 5 looked more respectable. Abhi found and cleared the ropes some more with some fine hits and when he was dropped at long-on it looked as though C&B may have made a costly mistake. 53 needed off 7 overs was slashed to 30 off 5 and at a run a ball required we were amazingly back in control. C&B then found a bit of line and length and pinned us back once more. With 22 needed off 18 balls, Doug was bowled for a sterling 24. The sixth wicket partnership of 85 was probably a club record (previous record up to 2003 was 71*). Colin Seditas was yorked first ball (golden duck). Abhi finished the over with a smacked straight boundary to leave us needing 17 off 12 balls. Lobban's lobs signalled a return to the slow bowling that had so ailed us to begin with. Wallaci swept one for four and at 9 needed off 9 we were looking good. The skipper lost the head though and spliced one to midwicket before setting off on a suicidal run. Tim Hyatt failed to score off the remaining two balls of the over. Abhi faced down the last over but couldn't get a decent connection. Tim was run out (another two ball duck) getting Abhishek back on strike, but the well ran dry. Sumit needed a six to tie from the last ball. It didn't happen.

So we lost. Six ducks is most likely a record and largely tells why our goose was cooked. Had it not been for Abhishek's 59 not out and Doug's 24 we could have been very embarassed, leaving a sunny Newfield with hot tears of shame running down our cheeks.

Bank of Scotland v Standard Life

29/06/2011Peffermill
Standard Life 115 for 6 (20 overs)Bank of Scotland 72 for 9 (18.5 overs)
K.Blake 32, G.Das 30A.Scott 26, Mojin 19
A.Scott 1-13, Navneet 1-21M.Gandhe 4-1, S.Shrivastava 2-6, H.Kumar 1-3

Won By 43 Runs

After the gloom of Tuesday's defeat, the Colvinator led us to an Insurance Trophy win against another part of the Lloyds Banking group to ensure the trophy cabinet (in Wallaci's living room) would not be bare for 2011. (Note to self - get the trophy engraved). The K-Man continued his fine form with the bat and put together a good partnership with Goutam the formed the basis of our total. Doug Jones, bearded photographer and guest, chipped in with 16 not out.

BofS's run chase was sedentary, constrained by an opening 4-2-3-1 spell by Hemant, and ultimately floundered in the face of Mukesh, first bowling his usual pace and then reverting to off-spin. Both styles were beyond the BofS lower order who subsided like a Lincolnshire cliff-top back garden. An impressive 4 for 1 off 11 balls for Mukesh. Sumit picked up two wickets in two balls but couldn't manage a hat-trick.

Scottish Widows v Standard Life

28/06/2011Inch Park
Standard Life 82 all out (19.5 overs)Scottish Widows 84 for 1 (11.1 overs)
R.Thornton 15, N.Chouguley 14E.Edwards 52*, R.Hannam 20
Kartik 3-19, R.Hannam 2-10H.Kumar 1-11

Lost By 9 Wkts

Our 2011 competition woes continued as another weak performance saw us slide out of the Terry Newcombe Trophy at the quarter-final stage. Given we advanced by virtue of a walkover against Preston Village this means we didn't really win a match in either the Paks or TNT this year.

We never got going on a grassy Inch park pitch. The ScWids bowled well but our circumspect batting never put them under any pressure in the field. We made a decent enough, run-a-ball start, but a collapse from 23 for 0 to 37 for 4 in 26 balls meant Rob and Nikhil had to re-group. Rob was run out going for a second with the score on 52 and Nikhil followed 12 runs later. The tail showed little life until Greg Douglas and Wallaci wagged in a last wicket partnership of 12 before the veteran number 11 offered a catch to Butcher. 82 all out with a ball remaining. Poor.

Edwards belted Rob's first ball for four and thereafter we were chasing leather. A couple of hearty LBW appeals and a stick-on run-out may have halted the ScWids progress but Edwards and Hannam were untroubled as they rattled to 50 in the 7th over before Hemant bowled Hannam. There was no quellnig ScWids' record run-scorer as he moved to his own fifty before Robertson drove down the ground to seal an easy win for the ScWids.

Standard Life v SWIP CC

16/06/2011Newfield
Standard Life 158 for 7 (20 overs)SWIP CC 112 all out (16.1 overs)
N.Chouguley 32, K.Blake 30, H.Kumar 27, I.Rogers 18, E.Panneerselvam 16J.Twigg 40*, A.Ahmed 15
B.Sleeves 2-13, L.Run 1-7, M.Top 1-12N.Chouguley 2-6, R.Goyal 2-13, H.Kumar 2-25

Won By 46 Runs

This was Scottish Widows Investment Partnership's (SWIP) first ever game. Kieron skippered us to a comfortable victory, leading the way with a flurry of boundaries that was matched by Hemant and Nikhil as the "retire at 30" rule was instigated. The match was perhaps most notable for the length of names of two of our debutants, Sumit Shrivastava and Elangovan Panneerselvam. The latter probably has the longest (unadulterated) name of any Standard Life player. His surname laid along the bottom line of a Scrabble board would score 198. He scored 16. Sumit's surname would only score 189. Under such weighty expectations he ran like Inzamam ul-Haq and made a duck.

We contained the SWIP swipers with the exception of Twigg, who was not brittle and returned to finish 40 not out. Paul Watts took a stumping and Matthew Steer took a wicket on debut.

Standard Life v Kirkbrae

26/05/2011Newfield
Standard Life 126 for 4 (20 overs)Kirkbrae 127 for 4 (20 overs)
K.Blake 40, R.Donald 28, R.Goyal 19*, H.Kumar 15R.Patel 83*, I.Rogers 15
R.Goyal 1-14, D.Sangster 1-19, B.Smith 1-24C.Seditas 2-24, K.Blake 1-2, I.Wallace 1-22

Lost By 6 Wkts

We only had five men. A poor turnout for our first friendly of the season, not helped by playing the team that generally supplies half our team, but a long list of late call-offs left us perilously close to farce. In the end we engineered a game which had a very tight and bizarre finish. Richard started well and Kieron stroked the ball about imperiously as we mustered 126 thanks to contributions from Rohit (who bowled for KB then batted and bowled for us) and Chris Scott (who ended up batting for both and bowling for us). Confused?

Kirkbrae began the chase and were stuttering between dots and boundaries (there were some gaps in the field...). Our cause wasn't helped by K-Man standing on the ball and turning his ankle, three balls into his spell. Colin Seditas took over and with other KB boys in the field the game was tipping "our" way as 31 was needed off the last three overs. Chris Scott went for a few leaving Colin to bowl the last with 11 needed to win. George Futcher sliced some twos but the option to only run one off the fifth ball left Patel on strike needing three to win. He clothed it straight to midwicket who only needed to pick it up and lob it to the keeper to prevent a two. Instead, he tried to throw down the stumps leading to an inevitable overthrow. While Wallaci stood with the ball rather gobsmacked at this turn of events, the KB boys decided to sneak a third. They made it. So a win became a tie then became a loss. But given the person who threw from midwicket was the opposing skipper Bruce Smith, it could all get a bit existential trying to work out who really won.

Murrayfield DAFS v Standard Life

18/05/2011Newfield
Murrayfield DAFS 177 for 3 (20 overs)Standard Life 142 for 6 (20 overs)
L.Hayes 90, M.Akerkar 39R.Thornton 88, G.Das 15*
M.Gandhe 2-15, R.Thornton 1-27B.Nussum 3-21, T.Wheeler 1-16, A.Akram 1-22, A.Mohammed 1-41

Lost By 35 Runs

We gave up our Parks Trophy crown on a horribly windy night against one of the strongest teams in the competition. The fierce wind made bowling difficult and hitting with the wind relatively easy as the sixes hit by Hayes (seven) and Rob (four) proved. Three of our balls ended up in the gardens by Newfield as MDAFS piled up a big total, despite a sterling effort by Mukesh with the ball and a generous helping of LBWs (three) from the MDAFS umpires.

Mukesh opened our reply with the shot of the game, a six over extra cover off the first ball, but the MDAFS bowlers coped better with the conditions and soon tied us down. We threatened briefly as Rob took 48 off 12 balls bowled from the bottom end but the momentum was lost when left-armer Nussum returned to take three wickets in four balls, including Rob for 88 (out of 107 scored while he was at the crease), Sangers second ball and Kieron, leaping to the top of the golden duck charts with a fended off catch. See the MDAFS report here.

So, our defence of the venerable trophy was literally blown away.

Standard Life v Scottish Widows

12/05/2011Newfield art.
Standard Life 170 for 5 (20 overs)Scottish Widows 164 for 4 (20 overs)
R.Thornton 77, M.Gandhe 25, S.Gul 20*E.Edwards 50, E.Robertson 50, K.Ramashan 28
J.Crispin 1-30, K.Ramashan 1-32R.Thornton 2-19, G.Das 1-19, M.Gandhe 1-28

Won By 6 Runs

The season opened with an early Insurance Trophy tie against the Widows, almost forty years to the day since Standard played their first ever official match, against the same opponents. On that day we lost heavily in a low-scoring encounter at the long gone Sighthill pitch. Not so tonight, on the batsmen-friendly artificial at Newfield. Rob tucked in after a bright start from Mukesh and the returning Richard Donald and with Shazad lending a hand with a few useful boundaries near the end, our total was intimidating but not out of sight.

The ScWids openers dealt severely with anything short or off line and at 87 for 0 off 10 they were well on their way to victory. Euan Robertson smashed one straight to Rob at extra cover off Goutam and then Nikhil held on to a skier to dismiss Edwards with the score on 121. The Widows struggled thereafter, Goutam tying them down and Rob keeping the boundary count down. They needed 30 off the last two overs and only a loose final over from Nikhil made the score look closer than it actually was. A good win to open the season and half a hand on the Insurance Trophy - we'll have to seal the deal against Bank of Scotland later in the year.

Monday, September 20, 2010

About the club

Standard Life Cricket Club was formed in 1971 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is a member of the Edinburgh Public Parks Cricket Association and the Edinburgh Insurance Society (Cricket Section) and participates in competitions run by those august bodies.

The club also indulges in midweek social friendlies against local sides. As Standard Life players can range in ability from sublimely talented to simply dreadful, often in the same over, we are usually able to provide a decent match for most of the midweek elevens in the Edinburgh area.

When not cursing the vagaries of unpredictable bounce on public parks wickets and outfields, Standard Life is fortunate enough to play most of its home games at Newfield, Edinburgh Academy's school pitches and one of the better wickets in the city.

The ageing demographic of Scottish cricket has affected Standard Life CC but a sudden resurgence in 2007 saw us clinch a historic treble (Parks Trophy, Terry Newcombe Trophy and Insurance Trophy). We almost repeated this feat in 2010, failing only in the final of the Terry Newcombe Trophy. We may not have the young blood to sustain that level of performance in the future but we'll do our best!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

2010 Results

Kirkbrae v Standard Life

26/08/2010Double Hedges
Standard Life 105 for 2 (18 overs)Kirkbrae 109 for 4 (18 overs)
S.Gul 45*, C.Dann 43*B.Smith 35*, I.Rogers 35, Harish 23
T.Skinner 2-1M.Gandhe 1-12, I.Wallace 1-15, S.Colvin 1-19

Lost By 6 Wkts

The Badgers exacted revenge for our earlier victory over them at Fettes with a comfortable win in the late summer light at Double Hedges. Despite a century opening partnership from Chris Dann and Shazad, the loss of Colvin (caught Sangster, sub) for a golden duck meant the score stuttered to a total that was just under a run a ball. The end of the innings was notable for Fida Gul partnering his dad (the first instance of a father-son partnership for Standard Life) and surviving the hat-trick ball. Fida made one not out.

In reply, Kirkbrae were always ahead, even after they lost Moss on nought, caught by Colvin to give the skipper his 450th career wicket for the club. Sometime SL player Ian Rogers swung the bat to good effect, hitting three successive boundaries off K-Pie and Harish chanced his arm too, evading the fielders with some hard-flashed edges. It took Mukesh to finally york Ian for 35 (I hope to see him repeat that form for us next season) but Smith took up with some fine straight hitting off Mukesh and Sangster who were having no joy against their Saturday team-mates. By the time Dann and Colvin came on, 35 was needed off the last six overs, but Harish and Smith cracked on against the "death" bowlers. A touch-on-to-the-stumps run-out by Chris saw Harish unluckily dismissed and Tom Skinner was lulled into a false shot by Steve's preceding 11 balls of variable height, width and bounce to be bowled for 6 with the scores level. Two maidens required for a tie. It didn't happen. We suffered our second friendly loss of the season with ten balls remaining, Smith dispatching a Dann half-tracker into one of Double Hedges' eponymous borders.

As the sun disappeared behind Blackford Hills and the gloaming descended on Double Hedges, there was a sense of melancholy as we tucked the kit away for another eight months. It's been a fine season though, with two trophies (and reaching a final) a fitting way to mark the club's fortieth season.

Standard Life v Bank of Scotland

18/08/2010Peffermill
Standard Life 155 for 4 (18 overs)Bank of Scotland 106 for 9 (18 overs)
M.Gandhe 33, D.Sangster 32, C.Goddard 30, S.Gul 23*, H.Kumar 17*X.Xxxx 30*
C.Goddard 4-10, I.Wallace 2-20, C-Scott 2-25

Won By 49 Runs

The 2010 Insurance Trophy was secured with a comprehensive win over Bank of Scotland. Mukesh and Goofy got us off to a sound start and Sangers took over once Goof retired. Mukesh slowed after a six-six start to his innings but he too retired and, despite Paul Watts being castled for 7, Shazad and Hemant took our total into safe territory. Wallaci opened up with a couple of wickets, passing the 20 mark for the season and although BofS got a bit of momentum in the middle overs they never really threatened, especially once keeper Watts entered the fray with a stumping and a dramatic, plunging one-handed scoop of a catch off Chris Scott. Apart from taking three catches, Goof came on to pick up four cheap wickets in the last few overs, twice taking two in two balls, the last a gift as the batsman walked past the delivery for another stumping for Watts. Apart from the four wickets, three catches and a brief 30, Goof had a quiet game. So, a trophy double this season: not a bad return. I suppose we'd better get it engraved this time!

Standard Life v Leith FAB

04/08/2010Newfield
Standard Life 113 for 6 (20 overs)Leith FAB 103 for 7 (20 overs)
R.Thornton 40, M.Gandhe 33, S.Gul 15*R.Mathos 26, P.Bilson 21*, S.Khan 17
T.Heinitz 4-14G.Das 3-13, N.Chouguley 1-14, M.Gandhe 1-26, R.Thornton 1-27

Won By 10 Runs

See the match report here.

Standard Life v Edin Univ Staff

03/08/2010Fettes
Edin Univ Staff 91 for 5 (18 overs)Standard Life 92 for 0 (11.5 overs)
Ewen 26*, Mikhail 18M.Forbes 36*, S.Gul 28*, Extras 28
I.Wallace 2-16, K.Blake 1-16, C.Dann 1-21

Won By 10 Wkts

Standard Life v Murrayfield DAFS

28/07/2010Newfield
Standard Life 92 all out (18.4 overs)Murrayfield DAFS 93 for 5 (13.3 overs)
R.Thornton 26, M.Gandhe 21A.Mohammed 37, S.Ferguson 24*
T.Wheeler 3-13, R.Davangere 3-20, M.Akerkar 2-10G.Das 2-17, R.Thornton 2-25, N.Chouguley 1-12

Lost By 5 Wkts

Standard Life v Musselburgh

26/07/2010Fettes
Standard Life 130 for 4 (20 overs)Musselburgh 129 for 8 (20 overs)
C.Goddard 60, S.Colvin 30, M.Gandhe 20M.Tucker 31, A.Tufail 23, E.Gatner 22
J.Allen 2-22, K.Bhadwaj 1-22G.Das 2-10, M.Gandhe 2-16, R.Thornton 2-29

Won By 1 Run

Standard Life v Scottish Widows

20/07/2010Fettes
Standard Life 139 for 5 (20 overs)Scottish Widows 61 for 9 (16 overs)
S.Gul 31, P.Watts 27, M.Gandhe 21, S.Colvin 18A.Gregson 25
P.Mitchell 1-11, S.Miller 1-12H.Kumar 5-7, N.Chouguley 2-12, M.Gandhe 1-4

Won By 78 Runs

See some photos courtesy of Colin Seditas here.

Standard Life v Kirkbrae

08/07/2010Fettes
Standard Life 143 for 1 (20 overs)Kirkbrae 114 for 9 (20 overs)
S.Colvin 63*, M.Gandhe 46*, D.Jones 13L.Rive 43, C.Seditas 23*, T.Snow 18
G.Futcher 1-7H.Kumar 3-8, K.Blake 2-20, I.Wallace 2-18

Won By 29 Runs

Drummond Trinity v Standard Life

30/06/2010Inverleith Park
Drummond Trinity 161 for 4 (20 overs)Standard Life 162 for 6 (19.5 overs)
S.Nagi 61, J.Nasir 43, M.Hansen 20D.Sangster 62, M.Gandhe 48, H.Kumar 16*
I.Wallace 2-23M.Hansen 3-23

Won By 4 Wkts

Standard Life v Currie & Balerno

23/06/2010Newfield
Standard Life 192 for 4 (20 overs)Currie & Balerno 102 for 6 (20 overs)
R.Thornton 97, D.Sangster 47*Rodgers 43
F.Ashgar 3-21R.Thornton 2-8, C.Goddard 1-6, P.Acheson 1-7

Won By 90 Runs

Standard Life v E=MCC

22/06/2010Newfield
Standard Life 170 for 9 (20 overs)E=MCC 108 for 6 (20 overs)
M.Bessell 35*, D.Studders 27, S.Colvin 27, D.Jones 25, I.Wallace 11F.Robertson 25, M.Evans 23
C.Maynard 3-18I.Wallace 1-4, K.Blake 1-8

Won By 62 Runs

Standard Life v Inchcolm CC

17/06/2010Newfield
Inchcolm CC 87 all out (17.2 overs)Standard Life 88 for 5 (12.3 overs)
J.Findlay 23S.Colvin 28, D.Studders 25
P.Acheson 3-4, P.Watts 2-8A.Bowler 2-16

Won By 5 Wkts

Standard Life v Currie & Balerno

02/06/2010Newfield
Standard Life 194 for 9 (20 overs)Currie & Balerno 147 for 7 (20 overs)
R.Thornton 102*, C.Goddard 38, D.Sangster 36Stewart 68, Holroyd 30, Shaw 28
I.Wallace 4-25

Won By 47 Runs

Rob became the fourth Standard Life player to hit a ton, as we racked up our biggest evening score in ten years against a decent Currie & Balerno side. A boundary off the last ball secured Rob's ton, the first in an evening game since Richard Donald hit 107* in the 218 total we racked up against the Widows in June 2000 (Iain Murdoch 96*). It's fair to say we accelerated well last night: Rob advanced from 50 to 102 in 15 scoring shots, with 86 runs being flayed off the last 30 balls of the innings. Goof was timing the ball well with some deft clips off his legs and a sweet pulled six, and Sangers put away bad and not so bad balls with aplomb.

C & B were always up against it, especially once Corstorphine opener Biddulph was adjudged caught behind early on, one of three snicks pouched by a resurgent Goddard. Despite Kieron's entry for the Prize Tosser award in which his single over went for 22, the ball finally seeking relief by leaping into one of the Newfield gardens, wickets for Gandhe, Kumar (bizarrely named as Chindaba in the book) and Rob allowed the skipper a cheap four-for in the space of about 8 balls to cement the win.

Standard Life v Holy Cross

25/05/2010Newfield
Standard Life 142 for 9 (20 overs)Holy Cross 132 for 6 (20 overs)
R.Thornton 52, H.Kumar 21, M.Gandhe 19K.Fraser 44*, J.Bates 17
D.Russell 4-26, S.Bonfield 3-18, N.Webb 2-30M.Gandhe 2-13, I.Wallace 2-26

Won By 10 Runs

Report may follow or see Holy Cross version.

Standard Life v Old Contemptibles

18/05/2010Newfield
Standard Life 122 for 5 (20 overs)Old Contemptibles 107 all out (18.1 overs)
H.Kumar 25*, P.Watts 21, S.Kirkman 20A.Lomax 25
S.Neopane 2-26D.Sangster 3-24, H.Kunar 2-12, K.Blake 2-26

Won By 15 Runs

Report may follow

Standard Life v Botanics

13/05/2010Newfield (art.)
Botanics 83 for 8 (19 overs)Standard Life 86 for 3 (7.2 overs)
Graham 25, Jonty 19, Neville 15M.Gandhe 50, G.Das 15*
P.Ahluwalia 3-13,G.Das 3-17

Won By 7 Wkts

Report may follow

Scottish Widows v Standard Life

06/05/2010Inch Park
Standard Life 158 for 4 (18 overs)Scottish Widows 161 for 5 (18 overs)
D.Sangster 95*, M.Gandhe 37, N.Chouguley 22E.Edwards 91, R.Hannam 40, K.Bowron 13*
N.Chouguley 2-30

Lost By 5 Wkts

Report may follow

Edinburgh Univ Staff v Standard Life

04/05/2010Peffermill
Standard Life 152 for 2 (18 overs)Edin Univ Staff 114 for 7 (18 overs)
D.Sangster 64, A.Millington 31*, S.Kirkman 31Ken 19, Joe 16*, Vijay 15
M.Gandhe 2-7, I.Wallace 2-15

Won By 38 Runs

Report may follow or read the EUSCC report here. Over-serious indeed!