Cricket in Scotland
Gingers, rain and unintelligible sledging
The following is based on a piece I wrote for Mark Bridgeman’s excellent book Surviving In The Shadows, about the history of the Breadalbane Cricket Club. Established in 1869, the club has a long and storied history of cricket in a beautiful part of central Scotland, an area very close to my heart. I spent two seasons with Breadalbane, 2007-2008, and the following is just a snapshot of my small, somewhat controversial, contribution to the club.
In my mid-20s I flew to London from small town New Zealand. After a couple of boozy weeks in the big city, I decided to venture north on a bit of a whim. I had a cousin living in Perth and I’d had brief contact with Stoney and Ollie after replying to an ad on Gumtree. I only knew them via email as Brian Stone and Oliver Platts, from the Breadalbane Cricket Club and The House of Bruar respectively.
The club was looking for an Overseas Amateur, and I was from overseas and was most definitely an amateur. It turned out I was suited to the job on offer at Bruar, the so-called Harrod’s of the North based just north of Blair Atholl, so I got the gig, despite the fact the club had already filled its OA spot, but more on that later.
I was chuffed. I had a chance to play cricket and work in my ancestral lands. I’d have to say I was in the form of my life at the time. I’d just had a good season in New Zealand and wanted to impress my new team mates. My first game was at North Inch against Perth and I bowled well, picking up a wicket but missing out on another when our pro, Darryn Mortimer, a South African who had played first-class cricket in his homeland, dropped an absolute sitter at mid-on. I didn’t bat as we won comfortably and so I still felt largely unproven.
Our next game was up north against Huntly, and things I remember from this game are:
Bowling tightly and picking up another wicket
My first bat, which netted 2 runs before I was clean bowled by a young Azhar Ali, later to become Pakistan’s Test captain.
Getting sledged in close by a Huntly local and being completely honest with him: “Sorry mate, I have no idea what you are saying!”
The next game, to the best of my memory, was in Dundee and the other Overseas Amateur, Kyle (another South African), and I had been roped in the night before to be security guards at the Bruar offices as something had gone wrong with the alarm system, which meant we had to stay up all night and make sure no one broke in. Easy money, but the next day I was knackered and played one of my worst games ever, getting a golden duck, LBW to a loopy dibbly-dobbly, conceding 10 an over from my 4 overs and dropping a catch on the boundary. The guys at Breadalbane must’ve been wondering what the hell they’d signed me up for.
The next game that springs to mind was for the 2nd XI, at the beautiful Victoria Park in Aberfeldy. I wanted to play as many games as possible so I turned out for the 2nds and was put in to open the batting as a chance for me to show what I could do. Before I went in, club stalwart and my main source of transportation, Stoney, had said to me that there was a hundred here, if I wanted it.
No one had ever said that to me before and I had never really considered it myself. I’d never scored a hundred before, but it obviously gave me an idea as I went on to score 118 and finally prove myself to my club mates. I remember working hard at the start of the innings to get my eye in and then cashing in on loose balls in the later overs as I had Stoney’s words of confidence in mind. Thanks Stoney!
From then on, things picked up. I had some good innings with the bat and was consistent with the ball, all while the team was doing really well in its first year in the higher grade.
Here’s a quick list of some other highlights:
The Aberdeen away weekend, where we got absolutely steamed on Saturday night and were glad it rained on Sunday.
Hitting three 6’s to finish off a Twenty20 at Rossie Priory, one of the weirdest and most unique grounds I’ve ever played at, where the boundary on one side was 30 or 40 metres and on the other side more like 80, and uphill! And yes, I hit my sixes on the short side.
Hitting 65 not out to win a game against a strong St.Modan’s side.
Andy Jacobs saying “What is this? The war?!” after we were served tinned corned beef for lunch somewhere.
Ginger c Ginger b Ginger. A ginger fest as me and me old mate Bowly (Mark Bowler) teamed up to dismiss a fellow ginger. The world was incredibly close to self-combusting at the time.
The way the opposition would laugh when Bowly came into the attack with his high, loopy leg-spinners. They often weren’t laughing later after he had bagged a handful of wickets as batsman after batsman tried to slog him out of the ground. He used his guile and experience to net a truck load of wickets that season.
The great mates and good times I had as part of the club, including our after match gatherings at the Chraggs, and how gutted I was when I learned that because of fielding an ineligible player (me), the club had been docked points and would be relegated after finishing a very credible seventh. It was hard for everyone to take and my heartfelt appreciation goes out to everyone at the club, as no-one blamed me or held me responsible or offered any negative comments. In fact it was the opposite as I was awarded the Players’ Player of the Year. Whether that was out of sympathy or completely genuine I don’t know, but I do know it was one of the most meaningful awards I received in my cricketing career.
I came back for a second season which went okay, but never really reached the great heights of the previous year. I remember a lot more rain and building frustration at said rain, a few more runs and wickets and beers amongst a different cast of characters. By then I had met a Scottish lassie who later became my wife, and so my priorities were drifting a bit from the cricket.
I would love to come back and play for Breadalbane again one day. I loved the environment around the club and the area, the wide range of ages involved and the beautiful cricket grounds it allowed me to play at. I have fond memories of driving around in Stoney’s car as he raced us to practice, or some out of the way ground in the Scottish countryside.
My wife and I now live in New Zealand, but we got married in Pitlochry and have strong connections with Perthshire and Scotland as a whole, and Breadalbane CC will always hold a very special place in my heart.
