July Match Reports

Buckie Cricket Club vs Ross County Cricket Club 1st XI

Sunday 26th July 2008 at Munro Park, Buckie

Ross County continued their winning ways in the Macallan NOSCA Senior League with a closely fought victory over third place Buckie on Saturday.

County won the toss and elected to bat in this match sponsored by Media Promotion Productions Ltd; a tactic that has been paying dividends all season. Upon inspection it soon became apparent the wicket was definitely in favour of the bowlers, with occasional balls keeping low, rising up, and some moving off the seam. Ross County had 16 on the board when opener Jerry Bishop spooned a catch to point on 8. Graham Watson scored 15 before being trapped LBW by Jonny Corsie. The in-form Dave Smart succumbed to B Newlands for 25. Mark Watson and David Skipsey did not trouble the scorers, while the tail batted well on a difficult wicket to add further runs, with notable batting from Andy Cole, Harry Holliday and Owen Fleming. County finished on 113 all out off 44.2 overs – a small total by their standards. Jonny Corsie bowled well for Buckie with 1 wicket for 11 runs off 10 overs, Newlands’ figures were 3 for 13 off 7 overs.

County needed to bowl and field very well after tea if they were to win this match, and were handed a stroke of luck as Buckie opener Jonny Corsie played onto his stumps on just 10. Dwayne Creamer and Anthony Wilson added 23 and 30 respectively which brought the Buckie total to 73 at 3 wickets down. At this point in the match was finely poised and by some tidy bowling and very good fielding County managed to claw back into a winning position, reducing Buckie from 73 for 3 to 88 for 6, and then to 94 for 8. Everyone man in the field was poised for catches, and many were taken with 6 different catchers on the score sheet. After some tense overs County finally removed the last batsmen and won the game with 8 runs to spare, a great come back against a commendable Buckie batting effort. The pick of the County bowlers was Andy Cole with 3 for 24 off 12 and David Skipsey with 4 for 34 off 12 overs. Veteran all rounder Dave Smart managed 2 for 31 off 11.

Following the game, County skipper Graham Watson commented “Perhaps some of us didn’t believe we could win this game at tea, but now we can believe we can win every game.” County remain second in the league, despite Lossiemouth dropping points at Fochabers. Lossiemouth stay top of the League by the virtue of having played more fixtures than County, with both teams having lost only one League game this season.

Ross County Cricket Club 1st XI vs Highland Cricket Club

Saturday 12th July 2008 at Castle Leod, Strathpeffer

Ross County continued their good form with a decisive 159 run victory over local rivals Highland on Saturday in the Macallan NOSCA Senior League. Knowing Highland had travelled to Strathpeffer without chasing any significant run totals this season, stand-in county skipper Jerry Bishop won the toss and elected to bat. Opening batsmen Dave Smart and Jerry Bishop got county off to a solid start with the bowling of Rob Nixon providing too many scoring opportunities for the in-form bats. Kenny Goodwin was bowling well for Highland with his first 9 overs going for only 18 runs, however finding an effective partner to consolidate his efforts was proving tricky for Highland. Ross County had scored 83 runs before Bishop lobbed a drive to the covers with his total on 40. Doug Fairley joined Smart at the crease and knocked off 44 runs before being caught in the deep. Fairley notched up seven 4s and two 6s in his innings and once again proved very entertaining batting – not bad for a man that had been up all night with a new born baby. His replacement Mark Watson proved equally as entertaining hitting eight boundaries for his well-earned 65 not out. Smart was eventually caught behind on 65 off the bowling of Goodwin, and David Skipsey followed the very next ball out for a duck. Chris Blake managed to get bat on ball to deny Goodwin his hat-trick and stop the rot. Rod Richard added 20 runs to give County a very respectable 254 for 6 off 45 overs against one of the best bowling attacks in the league.

With a good total behind them Ross County took to the field with high spirits knowing that Highland had struggled to chase more than 100 runs all season. Openers Andy Cole and David Skipsey soon had the Highland batsmen pinned down before young Magnus Monahan replaced Cole after only 2 overs. Monahan did what was asked by taking the wicket of Nixon thanks to a stunning catch by Owen Fleming, and was then replaced by Cole after his one over. It was then obvious that the skipper had set a trap for Nixon using his young spinner, and Nixon had blindly stumbled right into it. It was then time for David Skipsey to work his magic. Finding an extra bit of pace he simply blew away the Highland line up taking the next six wickets. Skipsey had two batsmen caught behind and bowled Rogers for 6. He took the wicket of R Cameron with the next ball, and then had K Cameron caught behind for a hat-trick! Skipsey had managed to achieve what Goodwin could not for Highland, and took 6 wickets for 24 runs from his 7 overs. An outstanding bowling performance by the young medical student had all but finished Highland off, and made up for his golden duck with the bat! Harry Tolliday took two tail-end wickets, before Blake removed the well dug in Goodwin. By the end of play Highland were 95 all out, Goodwin the top scorer on 30.

Overall the match sponsored by Blake Geoservices Ltd, was dominated by Ross County from the outset. Superb bowling, from David Skipsey in particular, and tight all round effort in the field consolidated a good batting performance. As injured Highland captain Jonathan Crabtree pointed out “They were simply too good for us today, we never looked close”. County will look to continue their form into next weekend’s fixtures against Lossiemouth and Keith. Both matches are at home, 2pm start all welcome.

With a good total behind them Ross County took to the field with high spirits knowing that Highland had struggled to chase more than 100 runs all season. Openers Andy Cole and David Skipsey soon had the Highland batsmen pinned down before young Magnus Monahan replaced Cole after only 2 overs. Monahan did what was asked by taking the wicket of Nixon thanks to a stunning catch by Owen Fleming, and was then replaced by Cole after his one over. It was then obvious that the skipper had set a trap for Nixon using his young spinner, and Nixon had blindly stumbled right into it. It was then time for David Skipsey to work his magic. Finding an extra bit of pace he simply blew away the Highland line up taking the next six wickets. Skipsey had two batsmen caught behind and bowled Rogers for 6. He took the wicket of R Cameron with the next ball, and then had K Cameron caught behind for a hat-trick! Skipsey had managed to achieve what Goodwin could not for Highland, and took 6 wickets for 24 runs from his 7 overs. An outstanding bowling performance by the young medical student had all but finished Highland off, and made up for his golden duck with the bat! Harry Tolliday took two tail-end wickets, before Blake removed the well dug in Goodwin. By the end of play Highland were 95 all out, Goodwin the top scorer on 30.

Overall the match sponsored by Blake Geoservices Ltd, was dominated by Ross County from the outset. Superb bowling, from David Skipsey in particular, and tight all round effort in the field consolidated a good batting performance. As injured Highland captain Jonathan Crabtree pointed out “They were simply too good for us today, we never looked close”. County will look to continue their form into next weekend’s fixtures against Lossiemouth and Keith. Both matches are at home, 2pm start all welcome.