CARLTON claimed a third successive Murgitroyd Masterton twenty:20 Trophy with an emphatic 43-run victory over Grange last night to leave skipper Jamie Kerr savouring the prospect of creating Scottish cricket history early next month.
For the first time the Masterton Trophy winners go into regional finals alongside representatives of Glasgow, Caledonia and Borders, at Poloc on Sunday August 3 when a £1000 first prize will be at stake.
And Kerr sees no reason why, after a Grange
Loan triumph in which Fraser Watts earned man-of-the-match honours with an innings of 54, his side cannot go all the way in being the first name on that silverware.
"The key is bowling in the right areas and keeping the fielding tight; we didn't concede many extras (ten] and made no silly mistakes so, although it will be tough at the next stage, we'll be in with a shout if we repeat that kind of form," said Kerr.
In fact, star performer Watts will be missing for the national finals due to Scotland's bid to qualify for the world twenty:20 finals in England next year.
Nevertheless, Kerr is confident back-up will continue to be strong while acknowledging the bowling effort which did much to render any Grange challenge dead in the water and lay claim to a £500 cheque.
"Ally Evans took three wickets and Cedric English made an important all-round contribution," said Kerr.
After hitting 28, including a second-wicket partnership of 47, English's bowling was instrumental in persuading Grange danger-man Stuart Davidson to pull a catch to Watts on the short boundary.
English wasn't finished though, first bowling Simon Taylor for 12 then executing a brilliant one-handed pick up and throw to run out Max Banks.
Carlton's efforts drew admiration from top Grange performer Simon Smith (43 not out) in refusing to make excuses for the fact a string of regulars were absent including three on Scotland duty at the European Championships.
"The excuses are out there if we wanted them which we don't. The reality is that Carlton batted, bowled and fielded better than us.
"Besides, it's swings and round-abouts because when we faced Greenock in the league recently they were short-handed through representative calls.
"On the night Carlton deserved their win and are entitled to fancy their chances in the finals (against Dumfries, Dunfermline and Clydesdale], said Smith."
It had all started so promisingly for Grange when spinner Andy Wilson opened proceedings with a maiden over that is rare in this type of competition.
But, as Kerr pointed out, his side, particularly Watts, took the game "by the scruff of the neck" after Wilson had thrown down the gauntlet.
Still, there were some highlights for Grange including Simon Taylor's superb catch running down the hill which removed Cedric English while Oliver Hunt excelled by pulling off a diving catch running in from long on to account for Steve Gilmour, one of four victims for the in-form Johnny Gray.
Also, Banks' bowling took some stick, notably from Watts, but the youngster showed character in persevering to claim the wicket of Charles Legget.
"We did lose wickets are fairly regular intervals but that's where the value of Fraser Watts sticking things out came into play," Kerr went on. "Also, we struck at the right times in their innings with Mo Afzal getting an important breakthrough by bowling Cameron Coles before Stuart Davidson followed.
"All credit though to Simon Smith who put his head down and tried to steer Grange home."
Sensible rather than flamboyant, Smith reached 26 before notching a boundary and at that stage, too, almost all his runs had come in singles with only one double. But the 'keeper did provide a valuable anchor for others albeit the Carlton attack proved just too strong.
"I'm pleased to be back contributing after a few weeks out (nursing a broken thumb) but, really, my score had to be set against losing a final in which we felt we could have chased down 147 if our top order had got away."
Carlton 147-9 (F Watts 54, C English 28, O Ahmed 15). Grange 104 -8 (S Smith 43, M Hammond 20, S Taylor 12).
The full article contains 714 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
