Season 2015 Round-up
You win some – in March we retained the Cricket Scotland Indoor Sixes Shield, won the Eastern Premiership in August and were crowned National Club Champions in September, beating Clydesdale in the Grand Final at Bothwell Castle, Uddingston. The Watts Frazer Trophy is still to make its way to Grange Loan (Carlton) and stays with us for the third year running.
And you lose some – unfortunately, we were not able to defend the Scottish Cup, having made it to the final for the third year in a row, and we also had to hand over the Murgitroyd Masterton and Murgitroyd T20 Trophies. Congratulations to Arbroath, Watsonians and Forfarshire respectively.
In the Baillie Gifford ESCA Championship, the Seconds finished 3rd and the Thirds finished 4th in ESCA Division 4. The Thirds manufactured 8 wins in a row despite losing their captain, Gordon Reed, in June. Who said he was irreplaceable? It was very rewarding to see five or six juniors playing in the Seconds, and starring. They also brought the average age of the team down considerably.
Our Junior Stags enjoyed their cricket and achieved a great deal at all levels. The U13s deserve a special mention winning their Scottish Cup, Scottish ECB Cup, North of Britain ECB Cup and finishing joint second in the ECB National Cup (out of 1700 entrants). They also won the Primrose Hill Indoor Cup at Lords and friends and admirers all over the country. Life-long memories for all of them. I look forward to watching this group move through the ranks.
In terms of representative honours, it was another good year for the Club. Ten boys were selected for the East squad with five playing regularly, three of those made it into the Scottish U15 squad, but only Robert Edwards was picked. Robert was a constant in the Scottish team throughout the season, including the annual Euros tournament at Rugby School and he is still available next year.
John Blain, our Director of Cricket, and Raj Routray, Club Captain, worked tirelessly throughout the season, their mission being to get boys through to playing senior cricket as soon as they are ready. This year we ran two U15 sides and provided coaching for the U18s squad for the first time. The assistance of senior players with coaching made a huge difference and they appeared to enjoy working with the boys. In January 2016 we will launch our own Cricket Academy!! The future is looking bright.
Mazars, our partners, enjoyed a second successful season. I am very pleased that both Grange and Yorkshire County Cricket Club were able to produce the results they deserve. The Club certainly appreciates their continued support.
Over the season 7 players were Out First Ball , 10 bowlers claimed Five For (Tom Sole 3 times), 7 batsmen accumulated a Ton (George Munsey twice) – all recorded for posterity on our website under The Pavilion .
Finally, my thanks to everyone, who by their efforts make play possible; scorers, umpires, tea ladies and their helpers, coaches, ground staff, the committees (Junior, Senior and General), team captains, Bobby Frazer and Ali Ross (Club Manager) and our bar staff.
Rawdon Hesketh
Hon President