STUMPED BY BADWEATHER
Rain puts paid to two more warm-up games
FERGUSLIE CRICKET CLUB SEASON 2024
Weather-beaten Ferguslie Cricket Club endured another weekend of frustration as two more warm-up games for the 2024 season were cancelled.
Both matches – against Heriot’s of Edinburgh on Saturday then a trip to Ayr on the Sunday to take on the current Western District Cricket Union champions – fell victim to the weather earlier in the week.
This means Ferguslie have had an unwelcome three from three cancellations so far in the run up to the start of competitive play which is now less than two weeks away.
Ferguslie open their Western Premiership One campaign at Meikleriggs on Saturday, May 4 against Stirling County and that’s followed by a visit from Falkland in the Scottish Cup first round the following day.
The team are hoping to finally get out into the middle this weekend when they travel to Dumfries for a friendly.
“It’s been incredibly disappointing to be almost at the end of April without anyone having bowled a ball yet,” said club president Tim Preston-Jones, “and it’s not really any consolation to know that all the clubs are in the same situation.
“We’ve got another friendly arranged at Dumfries on Saturday, April 27, and we’re hoping LMSD Meikleriggs and our second X1, will also be in action at the Clydesdale ground – but it’s a case of checking the weather forecast every day and hoping for the best.
“It must have been one of the wettest Aprils on record all over the UK and we can only hope we catch a break this Saturday at Dumfries otherwise we could be going into the new season completely undercooked, with no competitive action behind us.”
Meanwhile, the club confirmed all-rounder Haroon Tahir will be Ferguslie’s skipper for the 2024 campaign. Preston-Jones continued: “He’s the archetypical example of being a Ferguslie player through and through.
“He’s come from the junior ranks from the very beginning of his playing career and progressed through the senior Ferguslie squads to become an established player before taking on the full-time captain’s role last season, picking up the McCulloch Cup on behalf of the team in his first full season as captain.
“When you throw in his appearances for the Scotland Under-17s and Under-19s, add in matches for the Scotland Academy and A team, you see very quickly that, for a young man, he has packed in plenty of top-level experience when he’s still got most of his senior playing career in front of him.
“He’s one of the top off-spinners in this league and he’s scored more than a few vital runs for the side in the process, like his 49 at Stenhousemuir last season, so he does know one end of the bat from the other.
“I know he was disappointed that we only picked up one trophy last year when other clubs would be delighted with any silverware, but he sets very high standards for both himself and his team-mates, and he’ll be looking to break out the silver polish on a more regular basis this year.”
The poor weather has allowed Tahir to focus on off-pitch matters as he prepares to marry his sweetheart Samra.
“Haroon has his own very special Match of the Day at the end of this month when he and his fiancée Samra tie the knot,” PrestonJones added.
“Everyone at the club wish both of them all the very best for a long and happy partnership together. He’s bowled his maiden over and taken a marvellous catch.”