Even though the Spring weather hasn’t leant itself to thoughts of cricket, the new season has finally arrived, and it is an exciting one in prospect for both the school and Accies. The cold and wet has limited most Scottish teams to just one pre-season friendly but it was three wins from three on Saturday 27th May.
At school level, the 1st XI of last year remains unchanged from the 2023 season with a strong group of S6s determined to make their final year of school cricket a successful one.
Their warm-up game against Hutchie also saw a first chance to show off new team kit kindly supplied by the school – complete with thinkfour sponsorship on the back – plus ‘baggy blue’ hats that the team organised for themselves.
Hutchie started aggressively but once their openers fell, Abhi Reddy’s off spin dominated, and he finished with a 5-wicket haul as we bowled them out for 50 runs. The Academy response was impressive with Murray Bett hitting a series of fours and sixes on the way to 32 runs that finished the game in just 5 overs.
Fixtures that the boys are particularly looking forward are a Scottish Cup first round tie away to Gordonstoun on 10th May and a grudge match against their Anniesland neighbours at a date to be confirmed. High School have dominated 1st XI cricket for a number of years, but The Academy team are looking to get the better of them this year.
It has been an equally productive off season for Accies cricket with a significant influx of new players and a genuine air of excitement at the club. Having been promoted in 2022, the 1st XI struggled last year and only retained their place in Western Premiership Division 2 because the 2nd XI teams of bigger clubs weren’t allowed to be promoted. However, over the last few months our numbers have been significantly bolstered and new players have included two former UAE internationalist who will play alongside Sammy Zia – also a UAE cap – who returns for a second season as player / coach. There must have been something in the air around Anniesland as the cricket section has also seen a range of other arrivals from local teams and added to retaining all of our main players from last year, there is already a feeling of competitive excitement around the club.
On Saturday the 1s made a winning start under new captain Dhruv Satpute in an away friendly against Langside CC. We bowled first on a tricky pitch and new signing Nasibullah Safi took 6 wickets for just 14 runs. Accies chased the required 71 at a steady pace finishing the match in less than 20 overs for the loss of a couple of wickets and Sammy Zia retiring to give others some time in the middle. Given that Langside are in our division, we are hopeful of a great season although we start with a tough first league match on Saturday 4th May against Your Move Dumfries who last year were playing in Prem 1.
Last year, the Accies 2nd XI were unbeaten in Western Championship Division 3. Promotion to Div 2 means a jump in standard and we might have been considering a year of consolidation if it wasn’t for such a good close season. Instead, 2s captain Qasim Qayyum is setting his sights high with the likelihood of many players with 1st experience joining their ranks at times this season. The 2s also played Langside on Saturday and also recorded a comprehensive victory, winning by 7 wickets with Angat scoring an unbeaten 50.
Of equal importance is that Accies are entering a 3rd XI into league cricket for the first time. There has always been a very popular and successful Development XI running on Sundays but with the club going from strength to strength, Jim McLaren will lead the 3s in Champ Div 3 with the hope of also running some ad hoc Sunday friendlies. It is shaping up to be a busy season.
Perhaps most important of all, our juniors continue to lead the way and continue a run of three consecutive years with Accies junior teams in the Cricket Scotland national ‘finals’ day. As in previous years, we have juniors representing Western Warriors and chasing places in the Scotland age group squads and teams. Numbers at junior training were strong all winter and in February our U15s played in the WDCU Indoor final. With the sun finally out, we had huge numbers of youngsters and parent helpers at our first All Stars session on Sunday (28th) with kids as young as 5 enjoying an introduction to Kwik Cricket.
We must share our thanks to The Academy for providing us with winter nets at the school and to Robert Cheape and his team of groundskeepers for battling the elements to turn rugby pitches into cricket squares for our upcoming season.
Accies Cricket Club prides itself on an inclusive and welcoming ethos where we have some teams and individuals pushing themselves to improve and others that enjoy a more friendly type of competition on a weekend. Our recent AGM and club meeting stressed this, and we would encourage anyone who would like to find out more about Accies cricket to get in touch.
You can find details online at www.glasgowaccies.com or by following our Twitter / X account @glasgowacciescc
In addition to encouraging new players of all ages, we can offer a warm welcome to any spectators who’d enjoy a few hours on the boundary including making use of our well stocked bar facilities. We would also be very happy to be approached by any big-name sponsors that might like to support us grow and improve our cricket club.