Doo’cot reflect on a drookit season
But captain Ferguson wants to finish in style
It’s turning out to be a dismal season weather-wise for Perth Doo’cot Cricket Club.
For the third time this campaign they watched on as a league game was abandoned due to the rain, this time at home to Strathmore.
Add in three matches which failed to get the green light to start and you have six of 15 Premier Division matches - 40% - falling victim to the weather.
Fingers are crossed for the remaining three Saturdays of the summer as Doo’cot plot a positive finish.
Captain Graham Ferguson said: “It’s been a frustrating year due to the weather and we’ve not really managed to get up any momentum due partly to that but also due to our own inconsistency.
“The perfect evidence of that is that we are the only team to have beaten the league leaders Stoneywood but are also the only team to have lost to the bottom side Kinloch.
“That about sums our season up. However, I am enthused by the fact we are sitting in mid-table safety having slashed our average age in the team.
“Curtis Taylor, Emeul Knoesen, Khyamm Sarral, Grant Anderson, Rory Pennycook, Musakhar Rehman and Jack and Stuart McCreanor have all been fixtures in the 1st XI and will be better players for the experience.
“That can only be a positive thing as other players such as myself think about either retiral or stepping down to 2nd and 3rd XI cricket.”
Only 10.5 overs were possible on Saturday by which time the home side had reached 39 for one with Fawad Ali looking in good form with 26 not out.
Then the heavens opened and the players chose to have an early tea. Rain relented until about 4pm and sterling efforts were made to dry out particularly wet areas of the ground.
But the umpires took the view that conditions were dangerous and a further 78 overs were unlikely to be possible and called the game off.
Bizarrely, the 2nd XI game on the adjoining pitch - which did not have neutral umpires - was played to a conclusion.
Credit must go to Dundee High School for doing so as they had been bowled out for 112 and could easily have declined to play on.
As it was, the home batsmen did their best to hand victory to High School with some kamikaze batting and it took U15 players Tehmore Sarral and Harry Jaffrey-Smith to see them home with one wicket to spare.
This weekend sees all three teams away from home with the 1st XI in Broughty Ferry to play Forfarshire 2nd XI, the 2nd XI up in Aberdeen to play Stoneywood 2nd XI and then on Sunday, the 3rd XI take on Kinrosshire at Loch Leven.
Weekend squads: 1st XI v Forfarshire at Forthill on Saturday: From G Ferguson (capt), E Knoesen, C Taylor, F McGaffney, R Pennycook, G Anderson, F Ali, S Boyd, I Patterson, J Ali, S McCreanor, J McCreanor, T Brown, K Sarral. R McPhee (scorer). Players meet Broxden park and ride 11.15am prompt.
Second XI v Stoneywood 2ndXI at Dyce on Saturday: From D Armstrong (capt), T Sarral, H Jaffrey-Smith, H Gow, J Paul, N Price, A Sutherland, J Emslie, R Armstrong, P Murray, M Rehman, T Rehman. Players meet Broxden park and ride 10.30am prompt.
Third XI v Kinrosshire at Loch Leven on Sunday: From A Blair (capt), T Rehman, O Patterson, I Patterson, S Mackenzie, H Gow, N Price, A Chalmers, I Chalmers, L Wyatt, M Rehman, T Sarral, G McKinnie, R Rajcoomar, H JaffreySmith. Players meet Broxden park and ride 11.45am.