June Match Reports

Ross County CC Senior XI vs Fort Willam CC Saturday 20th June 2009

Ross County maintained their winning streak over League newcomers Fort William with a 149 run victory at Castle Leod on Saturday. Ross County were without captain Jerry Bishop for this 30 over cup fixture so the duty fell to vice captain Chris Blake, whom upon winning the toss elected to bat. Opening bats Skipsey and Smart notched up 47 before Smart was caught for 21 with an uncharacteristic loose shot. Skipsey continued his good form and reached 51 before he was caught off the bowling of Hughes. Ross County hit man Doug Fairley has a very good record against Fort William, but didn’t trouble the scorers on this occasion as he was bowled around his legs for a duck. Mark Watson hit a quick fire 62 in typical style, which included 5 sixes, and was joined by his father Graham Watson who knocked 71*. Young Harry Tolliday added 23*, including a single off the last ball with an attempted “Dilshan” sweep. It appears the Sri Lankan team have nothing to worry about. County finished on 249-4 off 30 overs with a solid batting performance. Fort William bowled well in places, in particular Lavin and Piper, however at tea were sure to be ruing a number of dropped catches.

Ross County bowled well from the off, with good pressure from Cole and Skipsey final paying off when they were rewarded with a wicket each in the 8th & 9th over, both clean bowled. Change bowler Smart took two quick fire wickets and Fort William were reduced to 54 for 4, further wickets were taken by Rae due to a good catch by Blake at square leg, and to Tolliday who clean bowled Piper for 4. Jeremy Done was brought on to bowl at the death and narrowly missed out on a hat-trick, having Lavin and Tregaskis both caught for 0, he dropped a caught and bowled chance next ball. Fort William managed 100 for 8 off 30 overs, a loss of 149 runs. The good batting and fielding performance by Ross County bodes well for the nPower Village cup game on Sunday 28th June against Harome CC from Yorkshire.

Ross County March on in Reserve Cup

Ross County made it three wins from three in the reserve cup with an empathic 8 wicket victory in the match Northern Counties sponsored by Sigma Business Systems Ltd, Dornoch.

Having won the toss skipper Lennox Boyd asked the visitors to bat first and in the first over Ross County got their first wicket when a mix up between the batsmen led to Chalmers being run out for 4. The experienced opening bowlers Lamb and Belli were bowling well and not giving much away and Lamb finished with figures of 0-15 from his 5 overs while D.Alexander replaced Belli at the other end. Alexander and the other new bowler Hardwick continued to ensure that runs were hard to come by and then in his 3rd over Alexander struck twice firstly to remove the stuborn Thomas for 15 and then having Wallace caught by Danson for 0. In his next over Alexander took the wicket of Robinson who was caught by Wright for 22. Alexander finished with impressive figures of 3-20 well supported from the other end by Hardwick who's 5 overs went for a meagre 10 runs. Boyd turned to Monahan and the youngster delivered by bowling Cristie for 10 in his first over. Boyd himself was the next to take a wicket when he ended the resistance of Parasurahan for 23. Monahan then removed Noitre for a duck in his final over to finish with figures of 2-18. Boyd took a smart caught and bowled to dismiss Donald finishing 2-23. Belli came back on for the final over and had Marden (Ross County's 12th man filling in for Northern counties who were a player short) caught at slip by Monahan giving the vice captain figures of 1-19. Northern Counties final score was 103 for 9 from their 30 overs.

Rod Richard and Ross Rae opened the batting and got off to an assured start the score reaching 59-0 after the first 10 overs. A further 20 came from the next two overs and Ross County were in full control. Rae reached 38 and so had to retire and was soon joined by Richard who scored 36. R.Alexander and T.Wright were the new batsmen at the crease and they kept the score ticking along until Alexander was caught behind for 13. Northern Counties had their first wicket with the score on 97 but they didn't have to wait long for the next as Wright was bowled for 6 the next over by Chalmers. However it was too little to late for the visitors and with the scores tied A.Danson hit a four to win the game in the 18th over finishing 6 not out with D.Alexander 0 not out.

It was another convincing win for Ross County who can look forward to a cup semi final.

Ross County 2nd XI maintain 100% record

Ross County were at home to Fochabers in the Group stage of the Reserve Cup at the weekend. Having won the toss stand-in skipper Renato Belli opted to bat first. R.Richards and R.Alexander opened the batting but found scoring difficult against tight bowling from Sharp and S.Valentine(jnr) and with the score on 11 Richards was bowled by S.Valentine for 6. This brought H.Tolliday to the crease and the two young batsmen pushed the singles to keep the score board ticking over. Having survived the opening bowlers the score was on 37 after 10 overs before disaster struck in the 11th over. New bowler Dickson took two wickets with the last two balls of his over. Having both R.Alexander and Tolliday caught off top edges. The new batsmen at the crease were the experienced duo of D.Alexander and P.Dolan. This was to prove the crucial partnership for county as the batsmen accelerated the run rate and both reached the mark where they had to retire. Alexander scoring 37 and Dolan 35. P.Mandy came and went for a quick 5. Captain Belli was at the crease with B.Wilde and the two kept the score ticking along nicely. By the time Wilde was removed by F.Valentine for 14 in the 28th over the score was on 161. Ross county added another 20 in the last over and a half. R.Belli finished on 19 not out and A.Danson was 3 not out.

With 181 to defend County knew they were in a good position when they went out to field. The experienced A.Lamb and the youngster H.Tolliday took the new ball for County and in his first over Tolliday bowled S.Valentine(jnr) for 2. At the other end Lamb was bowing tightly and after 6 overs the two were replaced with the score on 30. B.Wilde struck in his first over with a sharp caught and bowled to remove S.Cole for 8. G.Sharp was offering strong resistance for Fochabers and County were glad to see the back of him when he had to retire having reached 38. Another Bowling change saw another wicket for the bowler in their first over this time for the evergreen P.Dolan who had A.Mehta Caught behind for 10. Dolan struck again to remove D.Gorman for a duck. With Belli and Dolan restricting the run rate Ross County were looking strong favourites. The pattern continued when another bowling change brought about another wicket this time it was M.Monahan who had D.Jonas caught by Tolliday for 2. Lamb came back on and removed J.Carney for 13 and then a very sprightly caught and bowled by Alexander got rid off Dickson for 27. Alexander got another when S.Valentine went for nought caught by Wilde. The Fochabers innings came to an end on 127 in familiar style when Danson got a wicket in his first over, Leiper caught by Wilde for 1 leaving J.Valentine on 10 not out. It was a very encouraging performance from County with all the bowlers chipping in. The match was kindly sponsored by Campbell and Giles ltd (Kempfield Garage), Dingwall.

Next week County face the same opposition in the league. With both teams having won all their league games it is all to play for.

Ross County CC v Crathie – Sunday 14th June

Ross County retained their title as the Scottish Village Cricket champions on Sunday at Castle Leod with an emphatic 168 run victory over Crathie in the nPower Village Cup.

Despite the overnight rain and cloudy conditions Jerry Bishop, the Ross County captain, had no hesitation in batting when he won the toss. The home side were delighted to welcome back opener Dave Smart (fresh from his sojourn in New Zealand) and the skipper decided to pair him with Dave Skipsey – another recent returnee (from University).

This was to be an inspired move from Bishop, as the left/right combination immediately posed problems for the Crathie bowlers. The scoreboard was rattling along at over 5 runs per over from the off, with Skipsey playing the more dominant role and Smart content to stroke the ball around the neatly trimmed Castle Leod outfield. Their fifty partnership arrived in the 9th over, and the century stand in the 15th.

Half way through their allotted 40 overs Ross County had progressed to 157 without loss and the only clouds on the horizon were those gathering over the Heights. Dave Skipsey was approaching his century and with his partner feeding him the strike he seemed intent on getting there with all haste. However, in attempting to hit his fifth maximum of the innings his shot fell just short of the boundary and was snaffled by the safe hands of veteran Bob McAra at long-on. Skipsey departed for a superbly played 99, and the standing ovation from the crowd was small compensation for missing out on what would have been a well deserved century.

Any hopes that Crathie had that this dismissal may staunch the flow of runs were quickly dispelled by the arrival of Graham Watson. From an initially cautious start Watson was soon into his stride, unleashing a flurry of boundaries on all sides of the wicket. At one point some observers were starting to think that Watson may reach his century before Smart, despite giving him 70 runs head start! Alas, it was not to be as Watson chanced his arm once too often and was caught at the wicket for 74. Smart reached his own century with a delightful late cut as the innings was drawing to a close, but was soon out bowled by Bestwick – the pick of the Crathie attack.

As tea had already been taken during the earlier rain break, Crathie had no time to dwell on the unlikely prospect of them scoring 334 for victory, but were immediately in trouble when Drew Cole trapped Bestwick LBW in his first over. Despite some lusty hitting Crathie were inevitably falling behind the rate, and when Bell became the first of three run outs the flood gates were opened.

The home captain had floods of another sort on his mind as he was anxiously watching the gathering clouds, as this was now the only way Ross County could be denied. To hasten through the overs he called on Blake and Smart to bowl off a couple of paces, and as soon as 20 overs had been bowled the game was safe.

Thereafter the home skipper took the opportunity to give some occasional bowlers a chance. Ross Rae took his chance by picking up three wickets, two of these well caught in the deep by Blake, and Harry Tolliday returned to take a couple of wickets and wrap things up with Crathie 165 all out at the end.

Ross County 333 for 3 (D. Smart 101, D. Skipsey 99, G.P. Watson 74)

Crathie 165 all out (R. Rae 3 for 30, A. Cole 2 for 24, H. Tolliday (Jnr) 2 for 26)

Ross County will be at home in the next round of the nPower Village Cup on Sunday 28th June to the winners of the North Yorkshire (North) group – either Harome (near York) or Barton (Richmond), when they will be trying to become only the second Scottish side (after Freuchie) to progress past the last 32 in the National Competition.

 Huntly v Ross County – Saturday 6th June

Ross County made their longest trek of the season so far to play Huntly in their Macallan North League fixture, and on arrival it appeared that their journey may have been in vain as heavy overnight and early morning rain had left the square under water. The Huntly captain had apparently attempted to call the game off (without any real success), but thanks to the willingness of their stand-in captain and the visiting team a 36 over game was hastily re-arranged on the nearby artificial wicket at Gordon Schools.

Another toss won meant that Ross County batted first against a lively home attack of Neil Nicol and Dan Mitchell. Not for the first time this season both openers were soon back in the hutch, but the father and son team of Graham and Mark Watson set about compiling a 50+ partnership on a good batting surface. The younger Watson fell for 33 with the score on 80, but Harry Tolliday took on his supporting role and County were progressing comfortably at 4½ runs per over towards a total of around 170.

However, in the closing overs Watson Snr was joined by Chris Blake, and these two accelerated the scoring with some lusty hitting. Watson finished undefeated just 9 runs short of a century, hitting 5 sixes in the process. Nicol was the main victim of the onslaught, with Watson depositing him over mid wicket for one huge maximum and Blake smashing a sublime late cut for 4 off the final ball of the innings.

Huntly set off at a fast pace in reply, with Nicol being particularly severe on anything off line. Unfortunately there were plenty of wayward deliveries, and the seven Ross County bowlers contributed a total of 26 wides in the innings!

When Howard Tolliday eventually removed Nicol for 57, and then Ross Rae clung on to a catch on the fine-leg boundary to dismiss Jack Mitchell the visitors had a sniff of a chance. But it was not to be as captain Jolly secured the game for his team with a few big hits, leaving the undefeated Thompson to scamper the winning runs with an over to spare.

This was a disappointing end to a valiant effort from an inexperienced County XI, who will hopefully be able to learn from the way Huntly ran between the wickets and bowled a tight line – these two factors ultimately proved the difference between winning and losing.

Ross County 198 for 4 (G.P. Watson 91 not out, M. Watson 33)

Huntly 199 for 3 (R. Thompson 69 not out, N. Nicol 57, S. Jolly 30, H. Tolliday (Snr) 2 for 26)

Ross County CC v Kintore – Sunday 31st May

Ross County eased into the Scottish final of the nPower Village Cup on Sunday at Castle Leod courtesy of a well earned victory at the expense of Kintore, one of the leading sides in the Aberdeenshire Grades competition.

The searing heat dictated that whoever won the toss would take first use of the excellent batting conditions, and the home skipper was delighted when his opposite number called incorrectly. The opening overs were successfully negotiated by Bishop and Rae, although the number of 'play and misses' was a suggestion of things to come. Thanks to some injudicious shot selection Ross County slumped from 26 for no wicket to 42 for 3 in the space of 3 overs, and it was left to Graham Watson and Harry Tolliday to set about repairing the damage.

This they did in steady, if unspectacular, style and the score had progressed to 76 when there was another flurry of wickets. Watson looked particularly hard done by to be given out LBW when attempting to sweep Anderson, Blake then nicked one to the keeper and walked (always a good policy!) and shortly afterwards Thomas Wright was involved in yet another run out – this time his own fault as he turned blind and failed to make his ground when attempting a second run.

At 83 for 6 the home side were in deep trouble, but there then followed the highest partnership of the match as Drew Cole joined Tolliday to initially blunt the Kintore attack, and then gradually take control of the game.

Tolliday started brightly with a couple of boundaries, but then played a superbly controlled innings which belied his years (16) in contentedly stroking single after single off the wily Anderson – one of the most prolific all-rounders in Aberdeenshire cricket. At the other end his partner was more brutal in his choice of shots, scoring freely off anything short. Theses 2 added 59 runs for the seventh wicket and Tolliday eventually brought up his maiden half century off 70 balls faced. He immediately lost his wicket to a tired swipe, but there was still time for Cole (run out on 44) and Moxon (10 not out) to get their side up to 167 off their allotted 40 overs.

The County skipper decided to give first use of the new ball (sponsored by Macleod and MacCallum) to two of the batting heros, Cole and Moxon, who immediately had the Kintore openers in all sorts of trouble. First to go was the veteran Anderson, who dragged on a Moxon in-swinger for just 7. Cole then trapped Middleton plumb LBW with a faster in-ducker, and followed up with the prize wicket of Laird, comfortably caught at mid-on by Rae. This tore the heart out of the Kintore reply and Bishop bowled Cole & Moxon unchanged for 18 overs, returning superb figures of 2 for 28 and 3 for 25 respectively.

At 54 for 5 there was no way back for Kintore, and despite a dogged 46 from their skipper Andrew Stalker (assisted by a 'dolly drop' before he was in double figures), some wayward change bowling from the home attack and one particularly 'indifferent' umpiring decision Kintore were 39 runs short when the final wicket fell. The Man of the Match award was deservedly picked-up by a delighted Andrew Cole, who remarked 'I am looking forward to the final in 2 weeks time, and plan to prepare for this match in the same way as the semi-final'.

Ross County 167 for 8 (H. Tolliday (Jnr) 50, A. Cole 44)

Kintore 128 all out (A. Stalker 46 not out, P. Moxon 3 for 25, R. Belli 2 for 21, A. Cole 2 for 28)

Ross County will be at home in the Scottish Final of the nPower Village Cup on Sunday 14th June to Crathie (whose home ground is at Balmoral Castle). The game will start at 1.00 pm and will again be sponsored by Macleod and MacCallum.