Latest News
5th May 2010 - GC off to Pastures New
MCC stalwart, former 2nd XI captain, secretary and all round good guy Graeme Clement is leaving Edinburgh shortly, to set up a new home, with his new beau in deepest, darkest South England. All at MCC wish him all the very best for the future and no doubt we'll all see him in the future.
24th April 2010 - MCC start season with a win
A containing and at times lethal bowling spell from Kiwi Matt Loeffen, followed by an equally impressive half century, inspired Marchmont to a 3 wicket pre-season win over Div 1 outfit Holy Cross at Arboretum. Key contributions from Navin Chetty and debutant Nirmal Gandhi also ensured that new skipper Sam Peachey started his reign as 1st XI skipper with a win.
After a Friday of rain, there was some debate as to whether the early season pitch at Arboretum would cause the first cancellation of the season, however clear skies and hard work from the Cross ground staff allowed the clash to go ahead on a typically green, April, Scottish wicket.
Cross were asked to bat on the drying surface and Loeffen was given the duty of starting the new season, almost a year to the day since injuring his shoulder in a pre-season game vs Leith, which ruled his bowling out for the entire 2009 season.
It didn't take long for the first MCC wicket of the season as Loeffen beat Smith for pace to put the Cross 2-1. Bowling in tandem with Loeffen and having to contend with a mini Everest at the Ferry Road end, Maksimczyk was being equally stingy with the runs. After 10 overs, Cross were 10-1, 4 of which were byes.
Ellis and Bonfield were content to see off the openers and began to make a little head way with the run rate at the expense of Euan Granger and Davi Sardesai. Both bowlers persevered and were ultimately rewarded; Sardesai accounting for Ellis and Granger for Millington, both caught behind by Macgregor.
Bonfield was continuing to put the bad ball away with aplomb, but not without giving a couple of half chances, which the MCC fielders, who generally had a good day in the field, couldn't take.
Another tight spell of bowling, this time from Gandhi, helped keep the run rate down, but it was not until the last ball of Collier's spell that Bonfield departed for 62, cutting straight to Loeffen at point.
Cross were obviously still keen to push on, with 6 wickets left and only 10 overs left, but never seemed to get on top of the bowlers and Neil Granger picked up his first wicket of the season, removing the dangerous Russell for 35; Leburn doing the duties in the covers.
Peachey then turned back to the openers and while Maksimczyk can be pleased with his final figures (0-8 off 6), it was Loeffen who stole the show. Finding his groove (despite not being able to "dial in his yorker") the first 3 balls of 39th over were wickets, utlimately leading to a triple wicket maiden and could well have been even more devastating. Fraser and Robertson were both clean bowled and Pickering was then trapped lbw for the first hat trick by and MCC player since 2008 (Pat Snowdon).
Cross finished on 151-8 off ttheir 40, a useful total. And one which looked a long way off when Macgrgor was run out for 8, with MCC on 20 after 10 overs. Even despite Chetty's 35, MCC lost 3 further wickets for just 1 run and the game was slipping away at 55-4 off 23 overs.
Enter Loeffen and Gandhi. A partnership of 73 pulled MCC back into it, with Gandhi happy to push the single to allow Loeffen the strike. When Loeffen eventually departed for 52, Gandhi upped his involvement and even despite Leburn's first baller and Maksimczyk's early departure for 2, MCC closed in on their target.
Needing 16 off the last 3 overs, Gandhi decided that he wasn't going to wait that long, dispatching the first ball of the 38th over for 6. With Davi Sardesai cutting through gulley for 4, it was left for Gandhi to finish the game in style, again carving the ball away for a 4 through backward point.
A good start for MCC and with other 1sts stalwarts missing on the day (Aaron Sardesai & Steve Mathers in particular) there is a lot to be hopeful about in 2010. An impressive debut from Gandhi, some good bowling (after early readjustments) and of course Matt may give skipper Sam some tough decisions in the following weeks, which can ultimately only help strengthen the 2nds and in turn, the club.
14th February 2010 - AGM Outcomes
The Marchmont CC AGM took place on Friday 12th Feb 2010. There were a number of changes, which are discussed below.
The first relates to the club setup. Two new committee positions have been created to help strengthen the way in which the club is run. The first new position is the Vice President. This new honorary position will complement the existing President role and will act as a committee advisor, in a reactive role.
The second new role is the Club Captain. This position shall take on responsibility for the day to day running of the club, overseeing all club matters, both on and off the pitch and will have a key role in all decision making. The role will take advice from the President and Vice President and, where necessary, the other committee members. This member will also be the outfacing member of the club to other clubs, etc and is the main point of contact along with the secretary.
This is a change from the current setup, as this role was predominantly shared between the 1st XI captain and the secretary. Due to this new role, the 1st XI captain shall deal with organisation of the 1st XI and on field matters only, thus simplifying the role. The secretary role will now predominantly consist of arranging fixtures, organising pitches, issuing correspondence to the Club’s members, etc.
The new club organogram is HERE, along with the members who were voted in at the AGM.
As can be seen, the secretary role and the 2nd XI vice-captain have yet to be filled. Various parties will be approached shortly.
The second change for the club relates to the 2010 subscriptions. More details can be found HERE. Please note the two deadlines for subs.
Many other items were discussed at the AGM including, nets, insurance, recruitment and the state of the MCC finances. These will not be published on the website, but if anyone wishes to know more, please contact a member of the committee.
2nd February 2010 - AGM Date
The MCC AGM shall take place on Friday 12th February at the Golf Tavern, from 7pm onwards. We have booked the upper area and intend to stay on for a few beers after. Please can all members advise the committee if you can make it or not and whether you'd like to put anything on to the Agenda.
1st February 2010 - Winter Nets Announced
With the new season fast approaching, it is time for all at MCC to dig out the old kit and ensure that they are unable to move properly for the next week - Indoor Nets!
This year we have a change of venue. More details can be found here.
1st February 2010 - Fixtures for 2010 Announced
The new ESCA fixtures have been announced for 2010. The 1st XI will open up with a tricky task of facing newly promoted Musselburgh away at Pinkie, while the 2nd XI will start their Div 7 campaign at home vs West Lothian III.
Full fixtures are on the ESCA website, however I will update our website in due course.
We have also seen the first few cup competition ties drawn. MCC face Stenhousemuir (away) in the Masterton (after qualifying through the Cow Corner Semis in '09). We face a tough tie against Carlton at Grange Loan in the President's Trophy and play Morton at fortress Cavalry in the Activcity 20|20 Trophy (formerly the Cow Corner trophy).
The Parks and Terry newcombe Trophy ties have yet to be announced.
December 2009 - Season '09 Club Dinner
The MCC Annual Club Dinner was held in November at the Queen Charlotte Rooms, Leith (Thanks to Callum and family!) and proved to be a great success. The event was attended by more than 20 members, partners, friends and families and amongst the beers and the fine food, speeches reviewing the season were undertaken and awards presented.
Aaron Sardesai was awarded 1st XI player of the year for the 5th time in 10 years, as his batting was unrivalled throughout the season, more impressive considering the knee injury sustained.
Alan Renwick was awarded 2nd XI player of the year (unsurprisingly) after his sterling year with the bat, first win as captain and picking up the ESCA Div 7 batting award.
The President's award went to Davi Sardesai, a man described as Bashir as an unsung hero, for his fine efforts during the season.
The most improved player award went to Ramesh Viswanathan, as his spirit on the pitch, ability to round up players on a Friday night and then his innings in Dunbar at the end of the seaosn showed how much he has progressed as a player and MCC member.
The 3-2-1 Captain awards for 1st XI and 2nd XI went to Aaron and Alan, however the award for 'All Games' went to Matt Loeffen. His outstanding form with the bat, particulalry in the 20|20 games and latterly in the league was key. If he hadn't been injured in the pre-season friendly, who knows what he may have achieved!
The final award - The Spirit of the Game Award - The James Green Memorial Trophy - went to Phil Morris. Phil's unswerving commitment to the club, his outstanding attitude on and off the pitch, particulalry having to ship various boys to various ESCA games in the fun bus, is an example of a true club man that should be respected by all members.
Well done to all and hopefully 2010 can have as an awards ceremony/dinner, with even more silverware!
NB - Previous Award winners can be seen HERE and the video I showed on the night can be found on You Tube (below), though there is no sound on it due to copyright issues, but I can give people a copy if they want to see it.
