The 2006 season got underway on Saturday with all 3 Accies sides looking to make a positive start to the marathon race for promotion. The 1XI and 2XI both put their best foot forward, recording comprehensive wins over GHK and Langloan respectively, while the 3XI were outplayed by Crow Road. Though, as Meatloaf says, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.
GHK lost to 1XI by 68 runs
The 1XI began its season over the fence, taking on GHK in the traditional season opener. GHK won the toss and invited Fraser Murray and his side to have a bat on a fairly flat deck - "a good toss to lose," as Fraser would later say.
Accies began extremely positively, scoring comfortably at above 4 per over, with openers Richard Andrew and Ed Hunter playing positively, taking every opportunity to score and riding their luck when required.
At 66-1, Richard Andrew lobbed young spinner Sami to mid-off attempting an expansive shot. The trouble really began the next ball when captain fantastic Fraser Murray, having looked in the form of his life for his first 13 runs, mistimed a sweep to backward square leg.
This brought to the crease at 66-3 Aussie debutante Dan Scott and young batsman fresh from the Aussie summer, Neil Dowers. They set about rebuilding and taking the initiative away from the bowlers by stealing singles and hitting the bad balls. When Dan was out lbw for 13, the score had reached 124 - a stand of 58 which dragged Accies away from trouble.
Euan Sheridan had a brief stay at the crease, cut short by being run out taking a quick single called by Dowers. It was a sad end to his innings as he had looked in excellent nick.
Dowers then put the Sheridan debacle behind him and went on to his first ever 1XI 50 with Roddy Kelso and then Andy Smith at his side. He played on for 62 trying to up the run-rate in the 43rd over and Accies shortly afterwards capitulated, dismissed for 178 with Smith remaining unbeaten.
Begin the GHK reply. Al Miller and Kashif Rashid produced two fine opening spells, beating the bat on numerous occasions and not getting anything like the wickets they deserved. That said, they removed the openers cheaply, caught Sheridan at cover off Kash, then by a fine slip catch from skipper Fraser Murray off the bowling of Miller.
GHK heads immediately went down and despite brief resistance for the 4th wicket, Accies did what looked inevitable after the openers' spells and finished off the game. Andy Smith was as lethal as ever, using all his guile to remove big hitters by beating them for flight and changes in pace and bounce. He claimed 4-for by the end, while Euan Sheridan, brought on to bowl spinners due to the ailing light, secured his first 3-for with a few accurate overs to the tail as GHK were rolled for 108.
This all made for a very satisfying first day of the season, as Accies laid the foundations for the season ahead.
2XI beat Langloan by 10 wickets
The 2XI were ruthless in their treatment of Langloan. Bowling first, Faraz Chohan produced a masterclass, claiming 6 wickets. Abhay Andar was his usual self, claiming a couple of scalps. Langloan was bundled out for a total in the low 40s. Nothing like going for the jugular, Tommy!
Ross Beattie and Satwant Uppal knocked off the runs as the 2s ran home by 10 wickets.
3XI lost to Crow Road by lots of runs
The 3XI played out a different story. Crow Road batted and passed 300 before declaring. Notable performances in the field were few and far between, but Anthony Revell claimed 2 wickets on debut.
The reply was in tatters fairly quickly, but a half-century partnership for the last wicket between Iain MacAuley
and Callum Nelson took the score to about 120 and a couple of bonus points.