Scotch College

Old Scotch criket's upbeat, despite tough start

Although the Old Scotch Cricket Club has played finals the last two seasons, it experienced a tough start to the 2006–07 season.

However, despite going down in the first few matches, the new skipper, James ‘Plugger’ Simon, kept the squad upbeat, and at the time of writing was optimistically looking forward to winning some games. Plugger made time in his busy schedule to comment on the season as it stood:

‘Sure, it’s been a disappointing start with most of our stars unavailable in the first few weeks. But we have been competitive, and if we had held a couple of catches offered by key opposition batsmen, we could have been two wins from three starts. But there’s no point looking at ifs and butts. We’re having a look at a few areas to work on, then moving on.’

Great Scot asked if the new competition format, in which all matches are one-day fixtures, helped or hindered the Old Scotch outfit.

‘We pride ourselves on our versatility – most of our players can bat and bowl – so we are well suited to react quickly to the various scenarios the 40-over format may throw at us.

‘For example, we had three different wicketkeepers on Saturday who all bowled as well, and they didn’t concede any byes. And of course the new format equates to more games, so there are more opportunities for points. So our poor start, especially in this traditionally close competition, is not a huge setback, as long as we can get some momentum and get the season back on track.’

Is he happy with the club’s list? ‘We also pride ourselves on working on our deficiencies. Although we have been undermanned so far this season, we need to develop our list so we are strong from October to March. Our debutants, Hugh Sinclair and Andrew Penman, have both shown us their wares, and getting recent school leavers such as these two down to the club is our main recruiting aim. The club is very flexible with fixtures and training.’

If you’d like a game with a great bunch of mates, contact James on 0417 336 240. Training is on Thursday evenings in the Rugby Oval nets at Scotch.

Evan Hunter