On Sunday 26th June, following a last minute shift of start time, the Galloway Ladies set off for Ayr Cricket Club to play their first league game of the season against a strong Ayr/Poloc combined side. Taking account of the horrendous forecast for the afternoon the women agreed on a morning game.
The home side won the toss and elected to field first, putting the weary travellers in to bat. Jessica McCulloch and Laura Scobie (sponsored by BS Electrical) opened the batting but it was a slow start and Laura was soon run out for 0 as the girls took a bit of a risky single. Ginger Ramsay (sponsored by Bell Ogilvy Accounts) joined Jessica but it was also unfortunately a short visit as Gill McElnea’s bowling was on top form and Ginger found herself out LBW for 0 with the score on just 5! Louise Cumbley (sponsored by The Gallery at Laurieston) was next to the crease and her level-head and flawless communication skills combined with Jessica’s impeccable calling steadied the ship. It was therefore a crucial blow for Galloway when Louise was bowled out by Karolina for 9. A quick change of plan found captain, Natalie Hamblin (sponsored by BS Electrical) at the middle with Jess, which proved to be a successful combination and the Galloway total rocketed! Lots of singles and very few dot balls allowed Galloway to take back control of the game until Jessica was bowled out by Hazel for 12. Another youngster, Natalie Van Rooyen, was to be the last batsmen to take to the middle for Galloway as the decision was made to shorten the innings as the black clouds loomed over us. Natalie and Natalie took the score to 66 for 4 off 16 overs before a quick change around in an attempt to beat the weather.
Galloway’s strengths have always lain in fielding and this game was no exception. Lots of tight fielding and some fantastic bowling prevented Ayr/Poloc from scoring many runs. The first wicket fell early on in the game when Louise Cumbley (sponsored by The Gallery at Laurieston) trapped Nayanika LBW. Conditions started to deteriorate which made the field slippy and Galloway made a few mistakes out of no fault of their own. Ayr/Poloc found a rhythm and started picking up the pace of their scoring. Enter Laura Scobie (Sponsored by BS Electrical.) An outstanding display of accurate and tricky to judge bowling saw her take 2 wickets in quick succession combined with an incredible run out from 10 year old Katy Anderson. This completely rattled the Ayr/Poloc side who couldn’t get new batsmen padded up quickly enough! Shortly after the fall of these wickets the decision was made by the umpire that conditions were too dangerous to play on and the game was sadly abandoned after 8 overs. Ayr/Poloc finished on 29 for 4 which suggests it would have been a tight and exciting game had it managed to be completed. The game has been rescheduled for August however all women and girls were thrilled to have got some cricket in on what ended up being an awful Sunday weather-wise. A wee shopping trip in Ayr on the way home helped to soften the blow of not getting the match finished.
Anyone keen to give cricket a try please get in touch with Natalie 07872909010 – training takes place at Gatehouse Cricket Ground on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday 6-8pm and the club caters for everyone.
