Around Scotland - September 2011
Around Scotland September 2011-
Namibia Tour
The Scotland cricket squad, which is to face Namibia in the ICC Intercontinental Cup, embarked on a three week tour yesterday (19 September). The four day fixture will start this coming Friday (23 September). Following on from a draw with the Netherlands, the Scots will be looking for an outright win as they focus on reaching the final for the second successive season.
After a long flight, the squad will have to adapt to potentially very humid conditions quickly. After the I-Cup fixture, Scotland will take on their hosts in a number of One Day games and T20s.
Photo Credit: Donald MacLeod
Intercontinental Cup table can be found here
Squads travelling to Namibia can be found here
Bryce grabs a brace on first start for Scotland
Kathryn Bryce shone on her Scotland debut, taking two Staffordshire wickets in her ten overs.
Watsonians' Kathryn Bryce made her Scotland debut against Staffordshire this month and the 13-year-old bowler took 2-46 in her allocation of ten overs for the Wildcats, including the scalp of one of the Staffordshire opening bats.
Having taken up the sport at the age of nine, Bryce has improved at an astonishing rate. As part of George Watson's College cricket club's under-13 side, she has played a part for the first XI for the last four years and has performed impressively on a number of occasions playing alongside the boys.
Bryce hit the headlines back in 2008 when she became the first girl from George Watson's College to achieve a hat-trick in a competitive match. Just ten years old at the time, she dismissed three players in a row when her school took on the first team from a top Lancashire high school.
Bryce was the school's top batter and bowler last year coming top of the league tables for the most amount of runs and wickets. Liz Smith, head of girls’ cricket at the school, has long predicted that the schoolgirl will go far in the game. Yesterday she said: "Kathryn, at the young age of 13, is an extremely talented sports girl and is not only a great cricketer but fantastic at tennis, golf and hockey. We here at George Watson's are extremely proud of her."
Words: Gary Heatly
Edinburgh Spirit Earns Award
Edinburgh Under 14s finish 6th in the Lord’s Taverners Inner Cities Cup and are awarded the Ken Lawrence Trophy for best display of The Spirit of Cricket qualities at the national finals day at Arundel Castle from 9 to 11 August.
The Lord’s Taverners Inner Cities Cup limits selection of players living within a five mile radius of Edinburgh city centre. Furthermore, the selection panel decided to give first consideration to players attending state schools, to fit the developmental requirements of the competition.
Having beaten Durham and Glasgow in late June, it was Edinburgh’s third successive appearance in the final. In the opening fixture of the finals, Edinburgh had been drawn against reigning Cup winners Bradford, for the third time in three years. A fine bowling and fielding performance and an unbroken third wicket partnership of 86 gave Edinburgh their first win over their Yorkshire rivals. Later the same day in match two Edinburgh made eventual winners, Swansea, work hard for their victory.
Following a hard-fought defeat to Leicester, Edinburgh faced Bristol in the 5th/6th play-off. Bristol won by 7 wickets with only 7 balls to spare, leaving Edinburgh in 6th place.
Despite finishing two places lower than the previous year, the squad showed application and dedication across all three disciplines and deserve great credit for their efforts and achievements. Special mentions go to Haris Aslam, Ruari Macpherson and Ally Sadler for their all round performances and to Finlay Ross for displaying high standard fielding, including a catch of the season contender among three catches against Bradford.
Parker does his bit for charity
A charity 7-a-side indoor cricket event in Aberdeen has raised over £10,000 for the DEC East Africa Drought Appeal.
Organised by Shell employees Aqueel Ajazi and Mudassar Kazi, the event has gained support from Cricket Scotland, the England and Wales Cricket Board and Shell, who will double the total amount raised at the event and in online donations.
Mr Kazi said “Id really like to thank Cricket Scotland for the fantastic signed cricket shirt which was provided along with the attendance of Matthew Parker. With their help we were able to raise £600 for the raffle on the day and have a combined total of more than £11000 for the DEC East Africa Drought Appeal. It really means a lot to us to get the support of the National Cricket Team fully behind us, and their commitment to making a difference to a good cause cannot be recognised enough by myself and all those who took part”
Matthew has been one of Scotland's top performers in recent seasons but is currently sidelined with injury. He will be looking to make his return in the coming months.
Donations to the appeal can still be made online at http://www.justgiving.com/Aqeel-Ajazi0
